古代仙草叙事的生命意识及生态伦理意蕴

The Life Consciousness and the Ecological Ethics in the Ancient Fairy Plant Narrative Novels

明清小说植物生态叙事中的仙草可分为返生(重生)草系列、长生草系列和疗病草系列。仙草奇特的疗救、甚至起死回生功能,与古代中医的实践经验密不可分,其神秘感往往还同当事人的命运联系起来,即植物、动物昆虫与人类之间存在着某种生命体内在有机联系,借助植物的"生命素"来维护、延续人类有机体。除了仙草还有类似的珍稀植物,如肉芝。人参、枸杞精、茯苓等相关文献载录历史悠久,因叙述者文化背景不同而不免各有侧重,或盲目艳羡幸运者,或藉以传达伦理好尚,或彰显自身族群优势等,本土影响主要来自仙道信仰。

There are three series of fairy plants in the novels on the Ming and Qing Dynasties：the rebirth, the longevity and the healing. The amazing functions of those fairy plants are closely related to the experience of ancient Chinese medicine. In the novels, the mysterious plants are associated with the destiny of the main char-acters. That means plants, animals, insects and person have some inner contacts among each other. Apart from the fairy plants, there are other precious plants such as soft cora. Ginseng, Chinese wolfberry, poria cocos have a long-time recorded history. The narrators have different cultural background, so they are either the fan of blind admiration, or they use the fairy plants to convey their ethical spirits, or to reveal their advantages. The local influence mainly come from the fairy Taoist beliefs.