“说”、“传”、“语”：先秦“说体”考索

“Telling”,“Relating”,“Talking”:A Survey of the“Narrative Style”in the Times of Pre-Qin

本文通过考索传世典籍和出土文献,推断先秦时代曾存在一种以讲述故事为主旨的叙事文体,被时人称为“说”、“传”、“语”,鉴于它们与“小说”的关系,可统称为“说体”。说体以口头方式传播而得名,其内容常被史家、诸子所称引,它直接导源出三种文学样式,即史传文学、寓言和小说。

By the perusal of classical documents and unearthed relics,this text comes to maintain that a kind of“narrative style”for telled the story existing in the times of pre-Qin,which may be related with the nowadays“novel”.Such a“narrative style”was spread and known by way of colloquial speeches,which were often quoted by historians and philosophers.From this style came following three literary genres:historical literature,fables and novel.