《海上花列傳》與《紅樓夢》

The Biographies of the Flowers of Shanghai and Dream of the Red Chamber

推究晚清狹邪小說《海上花列傳》的文學血緣，無論是作者韓邦慶或小說史專家魯迅都稱說是《儒林外史》﹔反而是以小說考據聞名的胡適，首先認為其與《儒林外史》之關係並不密切。現代女作家張愛玲承續此說，將其與《紅樓夢》比並。本文試圖從主題（包括言情的方式）、人物（主要是女性角色）到風格（寫實與浪漫）三方面，更詳細地證明《海上花列傳》確實出自《紅樓夢》﹔也說明真正向經典致敬的方式絕非亦步亦趨，而是將其觀察現實與人生的精神與角度融化在作家自己的心眼裡，如此也才能寫出真正具有時代性的作品來。

Han Bang-ch’ing 韓邦慶, the author of The Biographies of the Flowers of Shanghai 海上花列傳 (a famous novel about prostitutes in the late Ch’ing Dynasty), claimed that the literary consanguinity of his novel was with the Unofficial History of the Literati 儒林外史. Lu Hsun 魯迅, an expert in the history of Chinese novels, said the same thing. Hu Shih 胡適, a famous textual scholar, however, held a contrary opinion. Hu was the first to point out that these two novels had only loose connections. Chang Ai-ling 張愛玲 (Eileen Chang) accepted his argumentation, and compared Han’s novel with Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢. This paper will prove the literary affinity between Dream of the Red Chamber and The Biographies of the Flowers of Shanghai in three ways: the theme, the characters (esp. female characters), and the style. The best way to salute the literary classics is not merely to ape somebody at every step. What counts is sharp eyes and keen insight.