作为文学创作的仙传——从《列仙传》到《神仙传》

Xian Biography of literary Creation ——from <Lie Xian Biography>to <Shen Xian Biography>

从宗教史的角度看,道家学说中对"至人"等的描述已具有后来得到长足发展的神仙的特征,乃是源远流长的神仙观念和神仙信仰的源头之一。在神仙传说基础上,形成今传两部重要仙传著作———署名刘向的《列仙传》和署名葛洪的《神仙传》。《列仙传》特别强调仙人长生的特性,特别突出服饵的作用,特别突出仙人治病的特异能力。比起《列仙传》里的粗略描写来,《神仙传》则极力夸张仙人的神秘能力和神通变化,描写了许多学仙成功的人物。从小说史发展角度讲,《列仙传》和《神仙传》的编撰正值古代小说体裁形成的时期。乃是后来源远流长的这一类作品的滥觞,正是在这一方面凸显出其在小说史上的特殊价值和意义。

From the point of view of religious history, the description of “Zhi Ren” in Tao theory had taken on some characters of supernatural being, which was one of the sources of immortal idea and religion. <Lie Xian Biography> and <Shen Xian Biography> came into being on the base of immortal story. The former specially emphasized immortal character, effect of remedy and the curative power. Unlike those glancing description in <Lie Xian Biography>, the latter exaggerated the mysterious power and theurgy of celestial being, describing many successful immortal figures. From the point of view of novelistic history, the compilation of the two books was in the time when the type of archaic novel shaped. In this regard, their special value was represented in the history of novel.