中国古代小说以“物”写“人”传统的形成与发展——以“紧箍儿”、“胡僧药”与“冷香丸”为例

The Birth and Growth of Describing a Character by an Object in Ancient Chinese Novels——Tight Hoop,Aphrodisiac and Cold Fragrance Pill as Examples

中国古代小说以"物"写"人"的传统自唐代发生,至元明间《三国演义》、《水浒传》逐渐被突出起来,但至明中叶《西游记》写"紧箍儿"始,才有了真正作用于人物性格命运的物象设计,至《金瓶梅》写"胡僧药"、《红楼梦》写"冷香丸"而渐次发扬光大。其后先相承,显示了中国古代小说在"文学是人学"方向上的进步,而其为物之来历与作用大都神异怪诞,表明中国古代小说人物尤其是中心人物形象,虽在细节的写实上可能精妙绝伦,但其基本性格命运却多因作者的意图而成,很大程度上是作家理念的产物,与西方所谓"现实主义"的风格相去甚远。我们切不可只是套用西方文论来解读中国古代小说,而应从文本出发,适当参照西方理论,独立自主地发现中国古代小说的民族特点与独特内涵。

The writing way of describing a character by an object began in the Tang dynasty and took shape in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but in the middle of the Ming dynasty this way was widely used in the novel writing. In ancient Chinese novels the saying of ＂literature being a human study＂ is reflected but the object used to describing a character is usually related with fantastic grotesque, which comes from the author＇s idea to some degree, different from the realistic style of the Western countries. Ancient Chinese novels should be analyzed according to the Chinese spirit instead of applying mechanically the Western literary theory.