关于《水浒传》成书时间研究的方法论思考

Reflection on the Research Methods About the Water Margin′s Time of Completion

《水浒传》成书时间众说纷纭,从方法论层面对相关研究加以反思是必要的。近年来学界从文本中的名物、制度、舆地等信息对《水浒传》成书时间加以讨论,往往未充分考虑《水浒传》版本的复杂性、故事来源的多样性、名物制度的累积型特征,所使用的信息点多不具备典型性、无争议性、不可逆性,这种个例的内证法并不能有效证明《水浒传》的成书时间。也许更可取的研究路径是借用传播学的方法,通过考证现有的相关文献,尤其是有关《水浒传》的早期传播文献,建立一个具有科学可靠的"保护带"证据的"辅助假说"。借助这种方法,可以在有效的科学文献或实物支撑下,对诸说进行审查,从而推动相关研究的深入。

There were a variety of claims about the Water Margins Time of Completion,which was necessary to reflection on the past century research from a methodological level. In the case of the lack of existing data,the major breakthrough of the study should take full account of the complexity of its version,the story of origins,the text records and the cumulative characteristics of its form. The research should combine text of the Water Margin with undisputed,typical or irreversible information and related documented,and cross-use of internal evidence and external evidence,take the dual rule of the facts and theoretical evidence. We needed to establish an evidence to support the hard core or built a protection zone evidence to support some kind of auxiliary hypothesis,so that it could be to establish a platform which was provided with rational,scientific and recognized by academic to discuss the Water Margins Time of Completion. In terms of what who was in favor of the same argument or opposed,scholars could fix their views constantly by valid-scientific evidence,it helped to promote research in-depth.