从《金瓶梅》到《醒世姻缘传》:晚明性别话语的变迁

From Jin Ping Mei to Awakening Marriage:The Change of Gender Discourse in Late Ming Dynasty

《金瓶梅》与《醒世姻缘传》一起编织了晚明性别话语的变迁图景。二者都描绘了一批与传统女性要求剧烈冲突的女性,但她们之间也有区别:前者以"荡妇"为主,她们追求性的满足,后者以"悍妇""泼妇"为主,更多地追求家庭事务的自由,并明确地对丈夫的"杂情"表示反感。在男女情欲的问题上,《醒世姻缘传》对《金瓶梅》里的人欲横流深表不满,主张回到谨守礼制的西周时代,相比之下,《金瓶梅》以孟玉楼两次改嫁为典范,表现得比较开明中庸。《金瓶梅》里男性中心色彩还相当稳固,《醒世姻缘传》里男性则呈现弱化趋势,并且塑造了好几位对家庭社会有超越于一般男性贡献的女性,只不过作者对此"阴长阳消"的现象相当不满。

Jin Ping Mei and Awakening Marriage weave together the change of gender discourse in late Ming dynasty.Both depict a batch of women who acutely collide with those of traditional ethics,but there are differences between the two.The former are mainly 'slut'who pursue sexual gratification while the latter are mainly'shrew'or'bitch'who prefer to pursue the freedom of family business and explicitly express antipathy towards their husbands' 'mixed feelings'.As for the issue of sexual desire for men and women,Awakening Marriage expresses the author's dissatisfaction with the indulgence in Jin Ping Mei,and advocates returning to observing etiquette in the era of Western Zhou Dynasty.In contrast to Awakening Marriage,Jin Ping Me expresses the author's enlightenment and moderation,which is represented by the case of Meng Yulow's two remarriages.In Jin Ping Mei,male-domination proves to be quite stable,while in Awakening Marriage,males indicate a weakening trend,and the author portrays several females who made contribution to their families and the society which are even superior to those made by males.The point is that the author of Awakening Marriage appeared to be quite discontent with the phenomenon of female flourishing and male declining.