「三言二拍一型」之城隍敘事研究

Narrative of city god in Sanyan, Erpai and Xing Shi Yan

本文論「三言二拍一型」之城隍敘事意義與價值，及在小說史上之重要性。首先，「城隍的江南出身」反映出明末江南城市的繁榮，而小說編創者的出身、仕宦行跡與出版地（如蘇州與南京）多有地緣關係，故以江南城市為主要故事背景，城隍出身與任職地域則多無關聯。而凡人成城隍之資格為品德高尚（如清廉、忠）的文官，因二者的職務相對應，城隍的裝扮近於陽世官員形象，反映出時人認知的城隍職能。其次，城隍的「冥界行政官職能」與地方官相近，並可「監督地方官與協助破案」，即使偏遠的貴州也在此信仰範圍內。又，城隍職能尚有與土地相近之「維護地方安寧」，小說的明代前文本反映出當時道教重視並收編城隍信仰；而南宋至明代的城隍與土地職能近似，反映出城隍管轄當地精怪，及未與土地職能區隔的民間信仰特色。最後是「城隍廟之空間敘事意義」，城隍廟有隱惡揚善的公開場所功能，也有模糊神聖與世俗空間、見證男女私情的意義，而「祈雨與求籤」情節則反映城隍、巫覡信仰和道教的交融。「三言二拍一型」呈現出明代官方較唐代更重視城隍信仰敘事，故編創者抬升城隍的重要性和地位，靈驗的城隍形象也反映出明代盛行此信仰之因、城隍廟多元的空間敘事意義，及以宗教勸世之編創目的，可見城隍敘事在小說史上之重要性。

This article discusses the significance and value of the Sanyan, Erpai and Xing Shi Yan narrative of City God, and its importance in the history of fictions. First of all,“City God’s Jiangnan origin”reflects the prosperity and development of Jiangnan cities in the late Ming Dynasty, and the fiction’s editors have a geographical relationship with the place of publication (such as Qiantang, Suzhou and Nanjing), or are related to the official career of the editors, so most of them are based on Jiangnan. The city is the main story background, and the origin of the City God has nothing to do with the region where he works. The qualifications for a mortal to become the City God are civil servants with high moral character (such as honesty and loyalty). Since the two positions correspond to each other, the dress of the City God is close to the image of an official in the world, reflecting the functions of the City God recognized by people at that time. Secondly, the city god’s“administrative function in the underworld”is similar to that of local officials, and he can“supervise local officials and assist in solving crimes”. New officials must pay homage to the City God before taking office, and the representatives will be supervised by him, and local officials would still pray to the City God for help in solving the case. In addition, the City God also has the function of“maintaining local peace”similar to that of the Earth God. The functions of the City God from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty were similar to those of the land. Finally, the spatial narrative significance of the City God’s Temple, and the Temple blurs the meaning of its public and private space that witnesses private gatherings between lovers, and the area around the City God’s Temple is a temple market where people gather and trade, so it has both religious and secular significance. The City God’s Temple publicly declares the punishment of evildoers and transcends the souls of the dead, demonstrating the God’s judgment function of the City God. The plot of“Praying for Rain and Asking for Lots”reflects the integration of the City God’s belief, Taoism and shamanism. Sanyan, Erpai and Xing Shi Yan highlights the prosperity of the City God’s belief in the late Ming Dynasty, and shows that the Ming Dynasty officials paid more attention to the narrative of the City God’s belief than the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the editors elevated the importance and status of the City God when adapting the previous text. The diverse spatial narrative significance of the City God’s Temple shows the importance of the City God’s narrative in the history of fictions.