女性空間的召魂想像與題詠編織──論陳文述的「美人西湖」

The Spirit-Calling Imagination and Title-Commenting Structure in Female Space: on Chen Wenshu’s “Beauty and Sihu”

「欲把西湖比西子，淡妝濃抹總相宜」，遊觀中國各地，似乎沒有一處比杭州西湖的女性化更膾炙人口。相對於曾為帝都而以皇家宮殿、園林、陵墓等神聖地景居多的長安、北京，女性空間展演乃中國文人對於西湖的書寫特色之一，此特色來到本文析論之陳文述（1771-1843）尤為專注、堅持。身為杭州人的陳文述將西湖美人化，為之編織一份起自娥皇女英，迄於清代杭州閨秀及其女眷的清單，並且題詠、讚歎。其結果，西湖無處不閃爍著女子的身影，物件、氣息與詞藻，每個空間角落彷彿因女子造訪而更具象、有意義。職是，陳文述特愛修復歷史上或傳奇中的美人祠墓，為之立碑召魂，製造文字哀悼儀式，僅管其中仍有疑信參半的烏有亡魂，終至成為具體化的西湖地景座標，自此坐實或為虛構的女子身分。在陳文述既考古徵實又推測揣想的文字網絡，西湖變成極其繁複、穠豔的女性空間，且不論是否為文人炫耀、誇張的情文賣弄，其對空間地景之主客觀交融建構、想像及其書寫值得進一步探究。

To personify West Lake (Sihu) as a beauty, who looks so much wonderful no matter in thick or light cosmetic. Taking a travel across China, there seems to be no other places appearing as female as West Lake (in Hungchou) is. In contrast to Chang-An and Beijing, which are used to serve as empirical capitals and are characterized by royal palaces, gardens, and mausoleums, West Lake has become the unique writing specialty by Chinese literate to portray the space gender differentiation. This article starts from here to examine the unique discussion by Chen Wenshu (1771-1843) to personify the West Lake as a beauty. As a Hungchou citizen, Chen Wenshu makes a lady list ranging from antediluvian Er-Huang and Nu-Ying to Hung-Chou single ladies and dependents. And then Chen made poetic comments and praises for them. As a result, everywhere in West Lake is glittered with ladies’ shadows, belongings, aromas and words. Every corner appears to be more meaningful and reified with the arrivals of ladies. In that case, Chen Wenshu preferred to renovate the historically legendary pretty ladies mausoleums, and to set up tombstones for them, to call for spirits, producing written lamenting ceremony in the form of either biography or poems, although among them there is dubious fabricated spirits. At last it reified the West Lake as the landscape’s centerpiece, therefore validating or invalidating ladies identities. In Chen Wenshu’s article, which is like a written web full of archaeological investigation and surmised speculation, West Lake became an intricate, thick-cosmetic female space. Even though it may be a flaunting and exaggerating writing styles by literates, the gender construction of landscape space, imagination and its writing deserve of further examination.