先秦至唐代鬼靈復仇事例的省察與詮釋

A Study of Divine Retribution in Works through the Tang Dynasty

本文由民間信仰的文化層面切入，透過綜觀先秦兩漢、魏晉南北朝與唐代具代表性的鬼靈復仇事例，分析各時代鬼靈復仇的動機、方式、特色，及其與天道、冥府、報應等信仰交涉的情況，並引入文化人類學的觀念，既藉此窺探民間的思惟模式，也企望由此獨特的面相探索先秦至唐代民間復仇觀的具體樣貌。
本文分三期探論：第一期自先秦至東漢，為鬼靈復仇之濫觴，其意義在於奠定鬼靈概念與鬼靈復仇的基型，並大致分析、歸納鬼靈復仇的特色。第二期為魏晉南北朝，乃鬼靈復仇的高峰，其基本型態承自先秦，但在數量、事件細節、復仇對象與方式上，均更為繁複多端；此一時期的鬼靈復仇事例，已隱然可見在佛、道信仰盛行下所產生的文化概念與思惟模式之漸變。第三期為唐代，乃鬼靈復仇的轉折階段，其事例、模式多承襲前代，但亦有顯著轉變：鬼靈之申訴由天／帝轉向冥司，與人間愈形相近；在托夢／現形申冤的情節中，人鬼互動更為頻繁、多樣；同時也受到宗教信仰影響而出現「報應觀」。
本文透過先秦至唐代鬼靈復仇的歷時性省察與詮釋，略可總結如下：首先，鬼靈世界乃人間的具體投射，但由其復仇方式與動機觀之，鬼靈復仇不同於傳統富人文精神的「五倫復仇觀」，而仍具有較原始、非理性的復仇心理，且鬼靈怨念之強烈與復仇力量之強大遠勝人間，故在鬼靈復仇事例中，活人絕無避仇逃命的可能。其次，鬼靈復仇之所以必然成功，實則反映唐代以前的人依然認為復仇乃理所當然之事；在期待惡有惡報、公義伸張的心理之下，肯定鬼靈復仇，實即對自身安全保障的重新確認，鬼靈敘事的撰述者透過編纂鬼靈復仇事例以儆誡世人的用意不外如是。

This paper looks at major instances of retributive acts by ghosts and spirits in works from the pre-Qin, Han, Six Dynasties, and Tang dynasties. From the standpoint of popular religion and culture, we will analyze the evolving models of divine retributions-including the reasons and motivations behind such acts-as well as overlapping systems of beliefs concerning the way of heaven, the underworld, and divine justice, etc. Theoretical concepts from anthropology will be drawn upon to further our understanding of popular and religious thought on divine retribution up to the Tang period.
This timeframe is broken up into three stages. The first section covers works from the pre-Qin to Eastern Han period, when divine retribution was widely represented in extant literature; we will organize the prototypes of divine retribution by their respective features. Then we will look at works from the Six Dynasties, when the basic models inherited from the previous era were expanded, complicating the intended targets and strategies of divine retribution. We begin to discern the influence of Buddhism and Daoism at work in these examples, reflecting the shifting cultural landscape of this period. The third section brings us to the Tang dynasty, when divine retribution as a theme took yet another turn, though it retained many of its former features as well: ghosts and spirits appeal less to higher powers such as heaven or the gods than to figures in an underworld that increasingly resembles the human world. Whether these appeals were made through dreams or in real life, the types of relations between ghosts and human obtained grew more complex and heterogeneous; at the same time, continuing religious influence strengthened popular belief in the inevitability of “divine justice.”
Having examined the above historical trends in the representation of divine retribution, we can thus conclude: first, even though the world of ghosts and spirits is largely a projection of the human world, differences between them persist. Retributive acts committed by supernatural beings exhibit a kind of irrationality and raw power exceeding those committed by humans for the sake of the “five relations” （五倫）; therefore in stories of divine retribution, rarely do human creatures manage to escape punishment. Secondarily, up to the Tang times, the fact that divine retribution always succeeds in these narratives underscores a widespread desire to see to it that such punishment be efficacious and inescapable. Divine retribution is valued for its ability to exact justice, and to requite evil done, thus giving readers a sense of satisfaction when justice is in question-such, we think, is the larger aim of our authors crafting their stories of ultimate moral justice.