先秦“说”体及汉代的“小说”观念

“Narrative” Form in the Pre-Qin Period and the Concept of “Novels” in the Han Dynasty

先秦"说"体在春秋之前为祭祀之辞,其主要义界为"攻责",形式上是一种修饰性的语言——"文言"。春秋末期至于战国,"说"由祭祀之辞发展成游士游说之辞。逻辑关系上,"说"用来解释"经"之所以成立的原因和根据。《韩非子》所载诸"说"(尤其是所存"异闻")等战国文献,表明以《韩非子》诸"说"为代表的"说"体文献已包含了大量民间口传故事性材料,即后世"小说家"的材料。事实上,战国末期,《荀子》《吕氏春秋》等一些篇章,开始有意识地辨正"世俗之说"或民间"传语";这种观念发展到汉代刘向、刘歆父子及班固《汉书·艺文志》,体现于图书目录分类,就是从包括"说"在内的文献中析出"街谈巷语道听途说之所造",而借用《庄子》语命名为"小说家",而"街谈巷语道听途说之所造"就成为汉代"小说家"的分类标准。此种文献分类的观念、方式,所折射的是汉代新兴文人阶层或群体的兴起,及其知识结构、观念的形成和建立。

The Pre-Qin＂narratives＂were words presented that accompanied the ritual of sacrifice before the Spring and Autumn Period. Their subject matters were mainly about attacking and accusing, and their forms were characterized by decorative and＂literary＂language. From the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, this＂narrative＂evolved from words of sacrifice to the lobbying of traveling political scholars. In its essence,＂narrative＂was then used to justify the＂classics.＂The＂narratives＂in Han Feizi and other literature in the Warring States Period showed that＂narrative＂in that time had already included huge amount of oral folk legends, contents for＂novels＂in the future.In fact, to the end of the Warring States Period, there had been conscious classification of＂earthly stories＂or folk＂legends＂in writings like Xunzi and Master Lu＇s Spring and Autumn Annals. This trend, when it came to Liu Xiang and Liu Xi, father and son in the Han Dynasty, and Ban Gu＇s History of the Han Dynasty： Records of Arts and Literature, the stories that were popular in the storytelling of neighbors in the streets and alleys were distinguished from other genres of narratives and were named as＂novels,＂a term borrowed from Zhuangzi.＂Stories that were popular in the storytelling of neighbors in the streets and alleys＂then became the standard to classify Han Dynasty＇s＂novels.＂The concept and method of the classification of Han Dynasty＇s novels show the rising of the emerging class or community of literary scholars in the Han Dynasty and the establishment of these scholars＇ conception and structure of knowledge.