从《劝善记》到《牡丹亭》——晚明思潮与戏曲出口

From Instructions on Morality to The Peony Pavilion——Outlet of Ideological Trend and Chinese Operas in the Late Ming Dynasty

晚明通俗文学勃兴,传统将戏曲、小说、民歌视为小道的狭隘观念,受到很大的冲击,这些通俗文学的艺术魅力与社会功能有如猛虎出柙、洪水泛滥一般,席卷了宋元明以来,被程朱理学控制,长达数百年的中国的每一个角落,牵系着旧社会中的每一颗人心。追根究底,这种现象的产生,与明代正德、嘉靖后兴起的理学别支——心学,有莫大的关系。明正德间王守仁倡"致良知"、"心即理"、"吾性自足,不假外求"等观念,吹起了心学的号角,也使得士大夫之间的风气,由心驰魏阙,竞逐外务,纷纷转往内心世界的探索。同时,心学左派领袖,号称阳明弟子的王艮,也发展出一套与程朱理学相悖,充分肯定自我、肯定人欲的泰州之学。此风靡当代的心学,蔚为一股社会人文思潮,解脱了几百年来,被理学所束缚的苦闷人心,开拓了当代人的眼界,在文学与艺术上产生了巨大的影响,反映在当时所流行的戏曲小说的创作与批评上,这股力量,后代人是绝对不能轻估的。以《劝善记》《还魂记》两本传奇剧本为主,探讨在心学以及程朱理学的影响下,代表着当代普罗大众思想的通俗文学创作家如何抨击、维护中国传统思想,并且以一种艺术手法表现出来。

Popular literature rose in the late Ming Dynasty, and the traditional and narrow concept viewing Chinese operas, novels, and folk songs as secondary literature was hugely impacted. The artistic charm and social func- tions of such popular literature swept every corner in China that was controlled by Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confu- cianism for centuries since the Song and Yuan Dynasties in an overwhelming manner, and affected the mind of ev- ery person in the old society. The analysis showed that the occurrence of this phenomenon was significantly associ- ated with a school of Neo-Confucianism rising after the reign of Emperor Zhengde and Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty-Neo-Confucianism-school of mind. During the reign of Emperor Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming promoted the concepts, such as ＂attaining conscience,＂ ＂mind is principle,＂ and ＂my nature is self- sufficient and I don＇ t need the assistance from others,＂ which initiated the rise of Neo-Confucianism-school of mind and gradually changed the atmosphere of pursing wealth and fame among the scholars to the exploration of the inner world. Moreover, the leader of left wing of school of mind, Wang Gen, who was acclaimed to be the pu- pil of Yangming, also developed Taichou School that fully affirms selves and desire of human beings and is against Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism. School of mind that was popular at the time became a social and cultural ideological trend, which got rid of the depressed mind of people chained by Neo-Confucianism, expanded the vi- sion of modern people, and had a huge impact on development of literature and art. This ideological trend was re- flected in the creation and criticism of Chinese operas and novels that were popular at the time. Such a power should never be underestimated by later generations. This study mainly focuses on two legendary Chinese operas, Instructions on Morality and The Peony Pavilion to investigate how the popular literature creators representing the ideas of general public at the time protected traditional Chinese thinking under the influence of Neo-Confucianism and Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism and reflected it using artistic methods.