清代小说禁毁述略

A Brief Discussion of Prohibition and Destruction of Stories & Novels in the Qing Dynasty

禁毁小说是君主专制文化政策的一部分,与明代相比,清代禁毁小说更是常态化和法制化。然而小说的性质和受众与传统诗文毕竟有别,朝廷或有鉴于此,在申饬禁令之时,不像处置"悖逆"诗文那样严酷。纵观清代,小说之禁令屡申不绝,而小说的编刊也从未有过中断。不过,在朝廷文化专制的高压下,小说的整体风貌和发展轨迹却发生了相应的深刻变化。论文按时序记叙有清200多年禁毁小说的重要政策举措及其对小说发展的影响,以呈现清代小说生态环境的一个重要方面。

Prohibition and destruction of stories and novels formed a part of the cultural policies in an autocracy. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, prohibition and destruction of fiction in the Qing Dynasty became a rather more common phenomenon allowed by the law. However, stories and novels, after all, differ from traditional poetry or prose in terms of their nature and addressees. In view of this difference, the imperial court did not dispose of fiction as severely as they did of ＂rebellious＂ poems and essays while issuing bans. A sweeping view of the Qing Dynasty reveals that bans of fiction were issued again and again. Nonetheless, editorial work on fiction magazines or fiction periodicals was never suspended. However, under the high pressure of the imperial court＇ s cultrural tyranny, the general style and features, as well as the development trend of stories and novels experienced corresponding profound changes. This paper provides a chronological account of important policies and measures concerning prohibition and destruction of stories and novels, as well as their impact on the development of fiction during a period of over 200 years, so as to present a significant aspect of the ecological environment of fiction in the Qing Dynasty.