古代小说与早期诗话关系概说

On the Relationship between Ancient Fictions and Early Poetical Notes

诗话作为中国文论的一种独特样式,形式灵活,内容丰富。自宋代欧阳修从名称上将诗话与小说划清界限后,诗话逐渐摆脱了小说这一母体,走上独立发展之路。但早期诗话仍"论诗及事",以"资闲谈"为宗,风格与轶事小说十分接近,难以对二者进行明确界定。古代小说与早期诗话的关系之所以错综复杂,与中国古代小说概念模糊、内容驳杂以及诗话从魏晋以来在形式与内容上对轶事小说的继承有着直接关系。

Poetical note is a unique style of Chinese critical theory, flexible in form and rich in content. Since Ouyang Xiu, the scholar of Song Dynasty, made the division between poetry and fiction, poetical notes led a path of independent development, gradually evolving from fictions, its matrix. But early poetical notes still recounted the story about the poems and sticked to the principle of providing for chatting materials. Poetical notes share a similar style with anecdote fictions, so it is hard to define both exactly. The complicated relationship between ancient fictions and early poetical notes result from the ambiguous conception and complex content of ancient Chinese fictions and poetical notes＇ succession from anecdote fictions in form and content since Wei and Jin Dynasties.