太平廣記（全十册）

太平廣記

by 李昉 (Editor)

《太平廣記》是宋代人編的一部大書。因為它編成於太平興國三年（公元９７８），所以定名為《太平廣記》。全書五百卷，目錄十卷，專收野史傳記和以小說家為主的雜著。引書大約四百多種，一般在每篇之末都註明了來源，但偶爾有些錯誤，造成同書異名或異書同名，因而不能根據它作出精確的統計了。現在書前有一個引用書目，共三百四十三種，可是與書中實際引出數目並不符合，大概是宋代之後的人補加的。《太平廣記》是分類編的，按主題分九十二大類，下面又分一百五十多小類，例如畜獸部下又分牛、馬、駱駝、驢、犬、羊、豕等細目，查起來比較方便。從內容上看，收得最多的是小說，實際上可以說是一部宋代之前的小說的總集。其中有不少書現在已經失傳了，只能在本書裡看到它的遺文。許多唐代和唐代以前的小說，就靠《太平廣記》而保存了下來。書裡最值得重視的是第四八四至四九二卷，九卷雜傳記裡所收的《李娃傳》、《東城老父傳》、《柳氏傳》、《長恨傳》、《無雙傳》、《霍小玉傳》、《鶯鶯傳》等，都是名篇，最早見於本書。還有收在器玩類的《古鏡記》，收在鬼類的《李章武傳》，收在龍類的《柳毅傳》，收在狐類的《任氏傳》，收在昆蟲類的《南柯太守傳》等，也都是非常有名的作品。但是《太平廣記》的分類標準並不統一，如講精怪的《東陽夜怪錄》、講龍女的《靈應傳》，都收在雜傳記類，按類別就一時不容易找到。從這裡可以瞭解到宋初人把一部分唐代傳奇稱作「雜傳記」，還沒有用「傳奇」這一名稱。
《太平廣記》引書很多，有些篇幅較小的書幾乎全部收入了，失傳的書還可以根據它重新輯錄復原，有傳本的書也可以用它校勘、輯補。例如《劇談錄》、《闕史》、《三水小牘》等書，引文和現有版本的文字略有不同，就很值得研究。研究古代小說的人都要用《太平廣記》作為基本材料。魯迅編輯《古小說鉤沈》和《唐宋傳奇集》時就充分利用了本書。他在《破〈唐人說薈〉》一文中指出：「我以為《太平廣記》的好處有二，一是從六朝到宋初的小說幾乎全收在內，倘若大略的研究，即可以不必別買許多書。二是精怪，鬼神，和尚，道士，一類一類的分得很清楚，聚得很多，可以使我們看到厭而又厭，對於現在談狐鬼的《太平廣記》的子孫，再沒有拜讀的勇氣。」
《太平廣記》的分類，的確便於檢查，也很有研究的價值。書中神怪故事佔的比重最大，如神仙五十五卷，女仙十五卷，神二十五卷，鬼四十卷，再加上道術、方士、異人、異僧、釋證和草木鳥獸的精怪等等，基本上都屬於誌怪性質的故事，代表了中國文言小說的主流。直到清代《聊齋誌異》系列的擬古派小說，都跳不出這個範圍。書中神仙加上女仙的故事，共計七十卷，又排在全書的開頭，可以看出唐五代小說題材的重點所在，也可以看出宋初文化學術的一種傾向。唐代道教和佛教競爭很激烈，道教雖然不佔上風，然而由道士和信奉道教的文人編造出來的神仙故事卻影響很大，產生了不少優美動人的小說。例如寫方士上天入地尋找楊貴妃的《長恨歌傳》就是一篇代表作。唐代小說中的名篇如《柳毅傳》、《無雙傳》、《虯髯客傳》以及《杜子春》、《張老》、《裴航》等，也都和道教有關。晚唐五代神仙家的思想更是彌漫一時，杜光庭就是一個神仙傳記的大作家，《太平廣記》裡收了不少他的著作。宋初的小說還保留著這種風氣。《太平廣記》的編者把神仙、道術放在異僧、釋證等類的前面，顯然有尊崇民族的宗教文化的意思。作為小說，宣揚佛法靈驗和因果報應的故事雖然可以誘惑一部分讀者，但藝術性實在不如神仙故事。唐代小說裡往往講仙女下凡，又有靈丹度世，還有許多神奇靈異的變化，更能眩人耳目。當然，所有神仙鬼怪的故事，都是幻想的產物，一般帶有消極出世的宗教迷信的宣傳，都需要用批判的眼光來看待。唐代小說的代表作，還應該數那些寫人間現實生活的作品寫得最好，如完全不帶有神怪成分的《柳氏傳》、《鶯鶯傳》、《李娃傳》等，寫作方法更接近於現實主義的道路。
中國的小說成熟於唐代。唐代小說的絕大部分收集在《太平廣記》裡，明清人編印的唐代小說集卻往往是改頭換面的偽書，所以魯迅指點讀者看唐人小說還是要看《太平廣記》。當然，《太平廣記》裡收的不只是唐代作品，還有不少是漢魏六朝的作品。其中單篇流傳的唐代傳奇大多已經收入了新的選本，如魯迅編的《唐宋傳奇集》、汪闢疆編的《唐人小說》等書，比較容易見到。但不少已經散失的小說集還很少有經過認真整理的版本，我們要瞭解宋代之前中國古代小說的全貌，也只能通讀《太平廣記》。
　
《太平廣記》對後來的文學藝術的影響十分深遠。宋代以後，話本、曲藝、戲劇的編者，都從《太平廣記》裡選取素材，把許多著名故事加以改編。例如演張生、崔鶯鶯故事的《西廂記》，有各種不同的劇本，這個故事差不多已經家喻戶曉了，可是最早保存在《太平廣記》裡的它的素材《鶯鶯傳》，卻很少人知道。
《太平廣記》是中國古代小說的一個寶藏，很值得閱讀。但它到底是古代的作品，文字障礙很多，還不便於向廣大讀者推薦。現在高光、王小克、汪陽等同志發願為年輕一代的讀者掃除障礙，架設橋梁，費了很大工夫，把全書譯為現代漢語，這是一件很有意義的工作。我非常高興其中許多優美的古代小說能為更多的讀者所接受，因此樂於為本書作一點粗淺的介紹。

4106 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2014

Reviews

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

476-Taiping Guangji-Li Fang-Novel-978

Barack
2023/09/04

"Taiping Guangji" was written in the third year of Taiping Xingguo (978). It is the first collection of classical Chinese documentary novels in ancient China. Because the book was compiled during the reign of Taiping and Xingguo in the Song Dynasty, it was compiled at the same time as "Taiping Yulan", so it is called "Taiping Guangji".

There are 500 volumes in the whole book and 10 volumes in the catalog, which belong to the category of books. The book is divided into 92 categories according to themes, such as "immortals", "female immortals", "ghosts", "spiritual monsters", "foxes", "responses", "prophetic responses", "famous sages", "clean and frugal", "qi and righteousness", "knowing people" and "exquisite investigation". "Jungian", "Youmin", "Heroic" and so on. There are more than 150 sub-items under the category, such as cattle, horses, camels, donkeys, dogs, sheep, hogs, and other sub-items under the animals, which is more convenient to find. From the content point of view of the whole book, novels are the most collected. In fact, it can be said that it is a collection of novels before the Song Dynasty. Among them, the stories of gods and monsters account for the largest proportion, such as "Shenxian" with 55 volumes, "Nyxen" with 15 volumes, and "Fairies". God" has 25 volumes and "Ghost" has 40 volumes. From this, we can see the tendency of Chinese novels.

Li Fang was born in Raoyang, Shenzhou (now part of Hebei) in 925 and died in 996. He was an official, writer, and scholar in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Li Fang's articles are simple and easy to understand, while Mu Baiju's style of writing is easy. There are 50 volumes of anthology. Feng Chi edited "Taiping Yulan" with 1,000 volumes, divided into 55 categories, and used more than 1,600 books. He collected a lot and preserved a lot of lost articles. In addition, "Taiping Guangji" has 500 volumes, divided into 92 categories, collected 475 kinds of books, and recorded many anecdotes, gods and ghosts, and allusions to famous things. Also "Wenyuan Yinghua" has 1000 volumes, which is a collection of poems and essays from the end of the Liang Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, and the style is the same as "Wenxuan". He also participated in the compilation of "Old History of the Five Dynasties".

Table of Contents
1. Volume 001 Immortal One
2. Volume 056 Fairy One
3. Volume 071 Taoism 1
4. Volume 076 Alchemist One
5. Volume 081 The Inhuman One
6. Volume 087 The Strange Monk One
7. Volume 099 Interpretation 1
8. Volume 102 Retribution I (Diamond Sutra)
9. Volume 135 Conquest 1 (Emperor's Requisition)

The first volume is about "Shen Xian", and the first one in Shen Xian is about Lao Tzu. Laozi is different from some legendary immortals who do not have any credible words left for later generations. If there are no words left for later generations, there will be a lot of room for future generations to imagine. With the spread of words, the image seems to be pulled from the sky to the world, which is not so mysterious. However, only the 5,000-word authentic biography has left a deep imprint on the history of China in the past 3,000 years. His image not only did not become dim with the passage of time, but was attached to many mysterious stories by later generations, and was gradually deduced by legends to become a fairy-like figure in people's hearts today. Why can I leave such a high status with these 5,000 words? Is it because someone really realized the way to achieve Taoism and immortality? Or did people who studied Taoism in later generations deliberately set up such an idol in order to propagate Taoism? Could it be that for immortals, the only purpose is to seek the way and seek longevity?

The first chapter of "The Fairy", is about the Queen Mother of the West. The Queen Mother of the West and the Prince of the East, one West and one East, are both born in response to the spirit of heaven and earth, and they are equal. But Dong Wanggong is introduced in the second chapter of "Shenxian". In the past thousands of years of human beings, because men have dominated the economy and society, the core of power is also men. The writers of the book are men, and the readers are basically men, so there are relatively few parts involving the opposite sex, secondly, it attracts readers' interest, so maybe it is because of this that the female fairies are listed separately. What Taoism pursues is the way of longevity, and pays more attention to personal self-cultivation, so the images of Taoist masters are all independent from the world. Buddhists talk about compassion and seeking reincarnation, and they don't pay much attention to the present world. However, Confucianism emphasizes that a gentleman with a healthy nature is always strong and encourages people to make a difference, so it is no wonder that he is respected by rulers of all dynasties.

The first volume of "Taoism" is about Zhao Gao. Most of the immortals and Taoists recorded in the book are positive images, and not many negative images are recorded. Probably because Zhao Gao is too famous. Most of what future generations can remember are the great virtuous and the great evil. Even if it is to promote Taoism, it also pays attention to celebrity effects. Immortals are born miraculously, giving people a sense of distance. However, if the benefits of Taoism are reflected in the experience of real people in history, ordinary people will feel close to themselves and have a heart of refuge. The essence of Taoism may not lie in Taoism, but mortals are suffering so much, so they care more about immortality. All the religions in the world also start by curing diseases saving people, and manifesting miracles. If you can't bring benefits to people, how can you get followers? This is true of religion, isn't it also true of science? Isn't there no one interested in studying science that is not helpful to people's real lives?

The volume of "Alchemist" mainly talks about people who are good at divination. It probably also belongs to the Taoist lineage. The reason why it is separated from "Taoism" may be because of different genres and different majors. Probably the same as the computer major, the following is also subdivided into many different directions, each with its own specialization. According to the viewpoint of classical physics, since the initial state and physical rules are fixed, the future should be predictable. It's just that we can't grasp all the information and rules, so we can't deduce it. However, according to the viewpoint of quantum mechanics, the future is unpredictable and unpredictable. Whether fate is destined or not has been debated for thousands of years, and there is no conclusion. Sometimes I think, if it is destiny, then what is the use of prying into fate? It cannot be changed anyway. If fate is not predestined, why bother to spy on fate? Isn't it okay to just follow the heart?

The people in "Strange People" also have various special abilities, but compared to supernatural powers such as immortality and immortality, they seem to be closer to life, more like talents or knowledge, rather than immortals. Many example characters seem to be from the branches of Taoism, so what is the basis for dividing "Taoism", "Alchemist" and "Yiren"? Is it divided according to the size of supernatural powers? From the perspective of today's people, many stories are suspected of being fabricated out of thin air, especially when some words are clearly told when there is no one around, how can they be passed down? Even those who have personally experienced it, how can they record the original words intact? If the descendants after a thousand years get the novel at the starting point, will they also doubt that the stories in the book are true? Even further thinking, is the world we live in also a paper world, or virtual reality? But even if it is virtual, the reason why we are addicted to fiction is because we think fiction is more interesting than reality. The reason why we are addicted to games is because we feel that games are more exciting than reality. So what does it matter whether our world is real or not and whether the strange people in these stories are illusory or not?