論明代總集之選經入集

On Inclusion of Classics in Anthologies in Ming Dynasty Literary Collections

總集之選經，殆興於宋而盛於明。明人之選經需求，一由「文本於經」之理念實踐，故以《六經》為文章之宗，成其辨體本源；一由「文章復古」之風氣使然，故舉《六經》為古文範式，全其習文之用。一為辨體，一為復古，選經入集，遂致經、文同集，此「集中之經」之雙重意義也。而文章選本因先後在明孝宗與明神宗提倡《古文真寶》的背景下漸次萌興，加之宋代真德秀《文章正宗》選錄《左傳》的示範作用，他經遂在明代步武入集。明人選經入集以為文章極則，刪經節文、批評圈點，儼然以論文之法說經，遂致變經為文，此聖經之「讀本化」歷程。萬曆以降，選政氾濫，書賈競售，古文選本由是在復古的風氣下因科舉而時興，入選經文亦隨同廣傳。要之，「選經入集」係一聖經載體轉移而致經、文性質變異之跨部流動現象，究其成因，得就學術風氣、官方影響、民間需求等面向形塑如本文所述。

The practice of selecting classical texts for inclusion in anthologies began to emerge in the Song dynasty and flourished in the Ming dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, the motivations for including classics were twofold. First, this stemmed from the implementation of the idea of anchoring the text in the classics, which treated the Six Classics as the foundation of all writing, thereby affirming their role as the origin of literary forms. Second, it reflected the prevailing trend of literary restoration, in which the Six Classics were upheld as paradigms of ancient prose, serving practical purposes for literary study. These two motivations led to selecting classical texts for inclusion in anthologies, giving rise to a dual meaning of classics within collections. The popularity of prose anthologies gradually grew under the influence of the emperors Hongzhi and Wanli, who promoted Guwen Zhenbao; additionally, the exemplary role of Wenzhang Zhengzong in selecting texts from Zuozhuan encouraged the inclusion of other classical texts into anthologies. Ming scholars treated these classics as models of supreme writing, abridging and annotating them, and applying literary critique methods to interpret them. This transformed sacred classics into literary texts, and their literarization subsequently gave rise to their textbook-ization. After the Wanli reign, a boom in ancient prose collections resulted from the proliferation of anthologies and commercial competition among booksellers; ancient prose anthologies thus gained popularity amid the trend of literary revival, driven by the civil service examinations, and the selected classical texts were widely circulated along with them. In brief, selecting classical texts for inclusion in anthologies represents a cross-domain transformation, where changes in the medium of sacred scriptures resulted in a transformation in their nature, i.e., from sacred to literary, and eventually to popularized texts, as their popularity grew. This phenomenon was shaped by academic trends, governmental endorsement, and popular demand, as detailed in this paper.