一種「歷史」、兩種「故事」——以兩漢的聶政傳說為例

One “History” vs. Two “Stories”: Using “Nie Zheng” the Legend Popular in Han Dynasties as an Example

在今山東嘉祥武氏祠堂的歷史人物故事畫像中，有一刻有「聶政」刺「韓王」的故事畫像，惟據《戰國策》、《史記》的記載，聶政所刺對象應為「韓相」韓傀。過去，相關的研究者多以為畫像中的「韓王」乃刻工誤題或與其它故事主題混同。惟細考相關內容，除所刺對象外，畫像中的情節與內容亦與《戰國策》、《史記》有不小差異，卻反與《琴操》及《大周正樂》等「紀事好與本傳相違」的民間軼聞傳說不謀而合，因而呈現出「一種『歷史』，兩種『故事』」的現象。
本文結合傳世文獻與出土文獻中所保留的聶政故事材料，考索兩漢時期關於「聶政刺韓」此一敘事的流傳情形與多種樣貌，以及其在流播的過程中如何調節其中人物形象與情節，以使此一故事更符合社會群體期待的現象。而通過對相關史事、故事的傳承與變衍之脈絡梳理，以為「歷史」與「故事」的界線並非截然兩分，而無論是「歷史」或「故事」，當它被作為一種表達個人理想、宣揚道德教化的「話語」時，其情節、內容，甚至結局，往往會受到各個歷史社會階段對相關「知識」的理解與詮釋所制約與作用。

This paper mainly discusses the significant difference between the story of Nie Zheng, one of the glorified assassins, illustrated in the 列士圖／Portrait of Martyrs hung inside the Wu’s Ancestral Shrine in Jiaxiang Xian, Shandong Province, and that described in grand literature, such as Shiji (Records of the Grand History) or Zhanguo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States) for the difference in question ranges from assassinated targets to specific plots. Furthermore, since the story rendered by the first records happens to agree completely with folklore, such as Qincao (Showing Virtue by Playing Stringed Instruments) and Dazhou Zhengyue (Records of the Grand Music Scores) recognized as ‘an anecdote preferred to differences from authorized history’, the phenomenon of ‘One History vs. Two Stories’ has hence occurred. This paper combines the two stories and examines the diverse appearances and circulation of “Nie Zheng Assassinate Han” throughout the Han Dynasties, and how its characters and plots were adjusted in order for the legend to answer to the collective expectation of society. Careful examination of traditional records passed through time and of the variations of the story, reveals a change in the storyline from that of Nie Zheng assassinating Xia Lei the Prime Minister of Han Kingdom in order to ‘convey the deepest gratitude’ described in Shiji and Zhanguo Ce, (i.e. the authorized history, into him assassinating the King of Han) to ‘revenge his murdered father’, as depicted in Qin Cao, Dazhou Zhengyue. Even the popular burial figures, such as the one in Wu’s Ancestral Shrine served the function of advocating morals and imparting indoctrination, and the change in plots, contents, and even endings, was frequently conditioned and affected by a variety of subjective and objective causes behind the comprehension and interpretation of “Knowledge” made by different social stratums during different historical phases.