以「雜學」世其家——晚唐段氏家族的小說撰作

The Tradition of Encyclopedic and Mixed Knowledge (Za xue): Fiction written by the Duan family in the late Tang Dynasty

段成式撰作《酉陽雜俎》，以及其子段安節撰作《樂府雜錄》和其姪段公路撰作《北戶錄》，共同形成了晚唐段氏家族的小說撰作群體。段氏三人的小說撰作雖各有偏重，但從內容到形式都呈現出博雜的特色，形成了「雜學」的風格。而此「雜學」風格的形成，與段氏家族豐富的藏書和三人廣博的閱讀、耽溺知識的態度、遊歷的經驗息息相關。段氏三人著作在音樂、動植物、食物、佛教信仰、異域等題材上的承襲呼應，實為此「雜學」風格的表徵。此外，廣博且信實的敘述特質，以及在博物記述中流露的存史書寫目的，亦共同形塑段氏撰作的風格，呈現出晚唐小說集務求廣博信實且分類敘述的知識化傾向，以及在客觀記述奇物異事後所蘊藏著對應唐代時事之書寫用心，也傳達出唐代小說發展原因的多元現象。

Duan Chengshi wrote Youyang Zazu, his son Duan Anjie wrote Yuefu zalu and his nephew Duan Gonglu wrote Beihu lu, forming the Duan family tradition in writing fiction in the late Tang Dynasty. Although each of the members of this group emphasized their own particular specifics, they all showed variety in content and form, which formed the so-called style of“encyclopedic and mixed knowledge” (za xue). The reason for its formation is closely related to the rich collection of books of the Duan family, their extensive reading, attitude of indulging in knowledge and traveling experience. The works of the three members of Duan family appeared to be in unison on topics such as music, animals and plants, food, Buddhist beliefs, and foreign lands, which was the representation of this style. In addition, the large scope and the truthful narration, as well as the historical writing revealed in the naturalistic description is also characteristic of the Duan style, which shows an intellectual tendency in late Tang stories to be extensive, reliable and informative. It also demonstrates the intention of using objective description of strange things to comment on the current affairs of the Tang Dynasty, and conveys diverse phenomena as reasons for the development of Tang Dynasty fiction.