搜神记

by [ JIN ] GAN BAO

作者:干宝
出版社:中国书店

装订方式:精装
版次:第1版
开本:16开
出版时间:2019-09-01
用纸:纯质纸
页数:416
“古典精粹”丛书收录了耳熟能详的中国古代典籍，注重趣味、可读。中国古代图籍内容丰富，涉及门类广泛，精刻本校勘谨严。选择其中的经典本影印，可为当代研究提供准确的资料，也可为普通读者接触古籍提供机会。搜神记为笔记体志怪小说集，晋干宝撰。干宝，字令升，新蔡（今河南新蔡县）人，东晋史学家和文学家。曾任着作佐郎、山阴令、始安太守、散骑常侍等职，自幼勤奋好学，博涉经史，为魏晋时通人。有晋纪周易注春秋左氏义外传百志诗等。搜神记包含了许多神话故事和民间传说，表达了古代的思想感情。其中，“干将莫邪”“相思树”“董永身”“李寄斩蛇”等故事对后世文学艺术产生了深远的影响。书中的故事虽篇幅短小、情节简单，但设想奇幻，艺术形象生动，情节曲折，代表了魏晋志怪小说中的成。搜神记早着录于隋书，经籍志“杂传”中，卷数与晋书本传同，均为三十卷。旧唐书经籍志新唐书，艺文志仍着录为三十卷。其书殆在北宋时散佚，今传本为明朝学者胡应麟从北堂书钞艺文类聚太御览初学记苑珠林太广记等唐宋古籍中搜辑重编而成，凡二十卷，故事共计四百六十四条。明万历间胡震亨等刊秘册汇函，收入此书，为传世二十卷本搜神记之早版本。崇祯问，毛晋汲古阁得秘册汇函本书版重印，并编人津逮秘书，故津逮秘书本实为秘册汇函本之后印本。清乾隆间四库全书本、嘉庆间张海鹏刊学津讨原本均出自津逮秘书本。清末湖北崇文书局百子全书本则据学津讨原本重刊。此次出版搜神记，系以明崇祯间毛氏汲古合刊津逮秘书本为底本影印。

Hardcover

First published November 23, 2012

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Search of the Supernatural is a short stories/folklore/legends collection by Gan Bao, a low-ranking governmental official of the Jin Dynasty (350 A.D). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Sear...)

All of the stories are short: many of them have only the length of one page or less, therefore some of the stories/legends in this collection feel like they have only the bare bones of a full story, but some are better developed and more complicated and intriguing.

In Search of the Supernatural most likely isn't as well known as Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio from the Qing Dynasty, and many of the stories do not read as interesting nor dramatic as the latter, still In Search Of... did lay out the groundwork for the many famous Chinese strange tales/ghost tales that were to come after it. Plus, by now many of the stories in the book have long become part of our culture.

The three stories below are among my favorite:

Note: the translation is by my own effort, it is not a professional translation.

The Priest's Magic

A beloved concubine of the Emperor of Han passed away, the Emperor missed her very much and requested a priest/mage to bring her spirit back to meet him.

At night the mage drew a screen up to separate the Emperor from part of the chamber and called the concubine's spirit up. All the Emperor could see was a female figure appearing behind the screen, the figure walked very slowly around the chamber and it looked very much like the dead concubine. The Emperor could do nothing to approach her.

As the night dept the Emperor became sadder, he recited: "Is that her, is that not her? Why she takes so long to arrive?", then he requested his musicians to write a song for his sadness.

Li Kei Slayed the Giant Serpent

In the ancient Kingdom of Minyue, a giant serpent plagued the mountains and its people. In the form of a dream sent to the local officials, the serpent demanded a yearly sacrifice of young virgin girl. So in each year during the August Festival, a daughter of slave or criminal would be brought up to the serpent's cave for the giant serpent to devour.

Nine years passed, nine girls lost their lives in order to bring peace to the mountains. In the same region, there lived a very poor man who had six daughters but no son. Li Kei, the youngest daughter, offered herself to be the sacrifice in exchange for rewards for her parents. Her parents did not agree. So Li Kei sneaked out to offer herself.

When she was about to be sent to the serpent's cave, Li Kei requested for a fine sword and snake-searching hound, and she brought honey cake mixed with wine with her. Then Li Kei brought the honey cake to the mouth of the cave and waited until the serpent appeared and devoured the cake. Only after the serpent was drunk with wine and heavy with honey cake, Li Kei ordered her hound to attack, after the serpent was wounded, she slayed it with her sword.

Afterward she walked into the serpent's cave and saw the nine skeletons of the nine dead girls, she sighed: "Poor girls, none of you had thought of fighting back, so you died."

So the mountains was plagued by the giant serpent no more. Hearing Li Kei's brave deed, the King made her Queen and her family was also heavily rewards.

Daughter of the King of Wu

The King of Wu had a beautiful daughter named Purple Jade, she was in love with a young man who was from a far humbler background. Before the young man went to study, he asked his parents to beg the King of Wu for his daughter's hand. After hearing this propose, the King was outraged and he ordered Purple Jade to marry another man from a more fitting family.

A few years later, Purple Jade's lover came back only to learn she withed and died shortly after her unwilling marriage. The young man went to her grave and cried sorrowfully then unexpectedly, the ghost of Purple Jade appeared. Touched by the young man's sorrow, Purple Jade invited him to come within the tomb with her. Her lover agreed only after Purple Jade promised not to harm him.

In the next three days, the young man and Purple Jade lived together in her tomb like husband and wife, feasting and enjoying their short-lived happiness, until Purple Jade sent her lover out because him staying any longer with her would be harmful to him. Before he went, Purple Jade gifted him a round-shaped piece of jade to show to her father.

The young man went to the palace with the jade and showed it to the King of Wu. Mistaking the young man for a grave-robber, the King was outraged but the young man escaped before he was captured. He ran to Purple Jade's grave and begged for help. Purple Jade again appeared and went to the palace and pleaded her lover's case with her father.

The King of Wu could hardly believe his dead daughter had come back, he pardoned the young man nonetheless. Whilst the King's wife, Purple Jade's mother, hearing the miraculous return of her daughter, rushed in to try hugging her, but at this moment, Purple Jade disappeared like smoke.

[Karen Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! It's ostensibly a 4th century AD collection of tales of the supernatural and other unusual incidents, but all of the stories felt very real to me in how they mirrored the workings of the human heart. And it's a great way to work on your literary Chinese. The large font made this edition easy to read, and the annotations and translations into modern Chinese are excellent - minus a little typo here and there. Traditional Chinese edition converted from the original PRC simplified edition, with pronunciations in Mandarin Phonetic Symbols. I give it my highest recommendation.