明代厨婢现象的历史文化蕴涵——以《醒世姻缘传》为中心

The Historical Cultural Implication on Cook Maidservants Phenomenon——To Center around Marriages to Awaken Common People

《醒世姻缘传》是明代历史章回小说的典型代表,它对明代中下层社会生活进行了共时性、整体性的展现。以《醒世姻缘传》反映的厨婢群体为研究对象,通过小说描述与各种史料的相互印证认为,明代厨婢呈现出数量庞大、分布广泛的时代特征,这与明代商品经济的发展与奢侈之风的盛行息息相关。奢侈之风拉动了社会对家庭服务类厨婢的需求,而商品经济的逐步深入使这种需求成为现实,它一方面健全了厨婢买卖的市场运行机制,另一方面改变了社会上的思想观念,物质生活条件的考量冲击着传统道德的良贱分野。这一现象的背后也透露出明代社会女性生存空间的狭窄。商品经济尽管为明代下层民众提供了更为广阔的社会生存空间和谋生机遇,但女性却被儒家两性体系中的"男外女内"原则所阻碍,她们不得不在家庭内部的有限空间中寻求适合的生存方式,明代厨婢的大量出现正是有明一代这种经济社会以及思想文化整体变迁的反映。

The daily life of middle -lower classes unfolded in ＂ Marriages to Awaken Common People＂ as history chapter novel typical represents in the Ming Dynasty. This paper is based on cook maidservants by Marriages to Awaken Common Peo- ple meantime verified one another with fiction depict and historical materials. It considers that the tendency of cook maidserva- nts＇increase in number was closely linked with development of commodity economy and luxury ethos. The luxury ethos pulled a need for cook maidservants used on domestic work and the need had become reality with development of commodity econo- my. It not only had perfected market mechanism on the sale of cook maidservants but also had changed social ideas that mate- rial life impact traditional moral. The female living spaceg narrow had been revealed in the Ming Dynasty. The prosperity of commodity economy provided more advantages for middle - lower classes of Ming Dynasty but the female living space had been restricted with Confucian gender system on men outside and women inside. In consequence, the female only could sought suitable means to survival within the household. The tendency of cook maidservants＂ increase in number had reflected the whole transition on economy society and thought culture in the Ming Dynasty.