明清历史演义小说的历史衍变

On the Evolution of Historical Novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties

明清历史演义小说承宋元讲史平话而来,是我国长篇白话小说最早出现的一个小说创作流派。问世于元末明初的《三国志通俗演义》是其开山奠基之作。在《三国志通俗演义》的影响下,历史演义小说贯穿了整个明代,曾一度成了长篇白话小说的代称,直到清中叶乾隆、嘉庆年间才逐步走向衰落。历史演义小说的衍变分为五个时期:开辟方向的示范期、萧条沉寂期、重新起步与复苏期、繁荣因革期和走向衰落期。

The historical novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties developed from a kind of story telling in Song and Yuan Dynasties.And they were a school of novel creation which appeared earliest among all novels in colloquial Chinese.Under the influence of The Romance of Three Kingdoms,the historical novels got prevalent through whole Ming Dynasty and once became the nickname of novels in colloquial Chinese.Until the middle period of Emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty,such novels began to decline.The evolution of the historical novels can be divided into five periods： the sprouting period,depressed period,recovering period,prosperous period and declining period.