重新评估《上清传》的思想价值

The Reevaluation of Moral Value in Qing Preach

《上清传》是政治小说,但并非党争政治小说,其用意不在攻击陆贽,而在批判皇帝。德宗是真正的核心人物。小说向人们揭示,封建官场各色人物的升降、荣辱和生死皆为皇帝所掌握,只要皇帝不信任、不满意、不高兴,厄运就会随时降临。小说在批判皇帝的深度和力度上超过《长恨歌传》《东城老父传》等著名传奇小说,在小说史上理应给予应有的地位。其思想价值是批判锋芒直指封建皇帝的道德和人格,敢于直白表达对皇帝的不敬和否定,充分体现了唐传奇作家的政治勇气;反映了封建帝王信重臣子有始无终,封建官员难有善终的现实,揭示了当时当官从政的巨大风险;反映出皇帝是官场斗争的总根源,揭示了祸自君出,乱自上作的历史规律。

＂Qing Preach＂ is a political novel, but not one about party struggle. What it criticizes is not Luzhi, but instead Dezong, the emperor who is the central character of this novel. This novel reveals that everyone＇s fate, promotion or demotion, living or dead, is totally in emperor＇s hand in a feudal dynasty. The depth and strength of critique on emperor is fiercer than those in other stories, including ＂Everlasting Regret＂ and ＂East Father＂. Thus the novel should figure importantly in the history of novel. It is of high moral value in that it criticizes the morality and ethics of a feudal emperor, shows bluntly its disrespect to and negation of an emperor, displays the political courage of Tang novelists, reveals feudal officials＇ tragic fate and huge risk in their political career; demonstrates the fact that the emperor is the root of all political struggle, and reiterates the historical pattern that the emperor is the source of all disorder and tragedy.