歲月易遷，常恐奄謝──唐五代仙境傳說中時間母題之傳承與其命題

As Time Flies, the Fear of Death is Constant—the Transmission and Proposition of Time Motif in the Fairyland Journey of the Tang and the Five Dynasties

本文主要整理、考察唐五代仙境遊歷傳說中，置入時間倍蓰情節作品的傳承淵源及其文化意涵。已知此母題主要闡釋的命題有四：（一）人類必然屈服於時間的事實，應予承認與瞭解；（二）道教以修鍊肉身抗拒時間影響的方法，乃妥善且可行；（三）突顯仙人具備往來空間的自在性格，與不受時間限囿的永恆性質，有助於確立道教仙人及仙境的觀念；（四）加深仙境不受時間影響的原有意涵，並在空間之外，增加時間悠遠的疏離感，區隔與拉大與凡界的差異與距離。惟仙境時間母題本蛻化自傳統思維中對時間概念的感性反映，無法歸納在具有理智意識的道教理論中，即令唐五代道徒已察覺此母題在宣教上的積極作用，也做出容納此概念的嘗試，卻仍歸於徒然。職故，六朝所遺留仙凡兩界時間差異如何換算的疑義，入唐以後亦無法得到解決，更遑論去統攝無時間差異的仙鄉傳說，僅成為仙境遊歷傳說中少數的族類，存續與點綴在各種文類的創作之中。

This paper mainly put in order and investigated the transmission, origin and its cultural significance of the legends of fairyland journey of the Tang and the Five Dynasties, in term of the accelerated passing of time. It is known that this motif mainly explains: (1) Man must yield to the fact of time, recognize and understand it; (2) The Taoist methods of cultivating one’s body against the influence of time is appropriate and feasible, and it helps to establish the concepts of Taoist immortals and the fairyland; (3) The immortals have the ability to travel freely in space and break through the limits set upon man by time; (4) Reemphasize the original idea that the fairyland is free from the influence of time, thus giving readers the far-off feeling of the remoteness in time, and separate and increase the difference and distance between the fairyland and the material world. However, the time motif of the fairyland transformed from the reflection of the traditional idea toward the time concept. It cannot be included in the intellectual consciousness of the Taoist theory. Even though Taoists of the Tang and Five Dynasties were already aware of the positive effect of this motif in preaching and attempted to accept this concept, it was still in vain. For this reason, the remaining question from the Six Dynasties of converting the difference in time between the fairyland and the material world was still not resolved during the Tang Dynasty, let alone to totally influence the fairyland legends that have no difference in time, thus become the minority story type in the legends of the fairyland journey, and continue to embellish the work of various literature.