《艳异编》编者、《小引》与《金瓶梅》入话关系叙考

An Examination of the Composer of Erotic and Stranger Tales and the Relationship between the Preface to Tales and Introduction to The Plum in the Golden Vase

明代文言短篇小说集《艳异编》的编者为谁?一般认为是王世贞,然尚缺临门一脚。《艳异编小引》的作者"息庵居士"是谁?也尚无定论。新发现的范守己写给王世贞的信《与王元美先生》中言买到王世贞《艳异编》,并连同王世贞的《四部稿》《尺牍清裁》同予赞赏;而王世贞将《艳异编》寄送朋友徐子玉,并告诫其保密,"毋多作业";与王世贞同时代人骆问礼《藏弆集》记载王世贞将《艳异编》送人,又赎回。三个材料可证实《艳异编》的编者为王世贞。而《艳异编小引》作者息庵居士在《小引》中明言其为《艳异编》的编者,并回答客对"是编"的询问。说明息庵居士与《艳异编》编者王世者为同一人。《艳异编小引》所阐发的创作主旨,与《金瓶梅》入话所表述的创作主旨一致,并与《金瓶梅》书名之寓意、廿公《金瓶梅跋》所阐发的主旨一致,从而传递出《艳异编》与《金瓶梅》关系的蛛丝马迹。

It is commonly believed that the composer of the Ming dynasty collection of the classical Chinese short stories Erotic and Stranger Tales is Wang Shizhen, but the determinative evidence is still lacking. And we also cannot determine the identity of the author of the preface to this collection ＂Sir of the Resort Chamber＂（xiyanjushi）. According to the newly discovered letter from Fan Shouji to Wang Shizhen, Fan had purchased Erotic and Stranger Tales and spoken highly of it and other works by Wang ; Wang had given his friend Xu Ziyu a copy, and asked him to keep silent about it. Wang＇ s contemporary Luo Wenli also had record of Wang＇s sending and calling back of Tales to his friend. These evidences support the argument that the composer of Tales is Wang Shizhen himself. ＂Sir of the Resort Chamber＂, in the preface, claims that he is the composer of the collection and answers questions regarding to the collection. This shows that the author of the preface is also Wang Shizhen. The preface to Tales also states creative intention similar to that of the introduction to The Plum in the Golden Vase, the latter＇ s title and the postscript. This shows that there is a deep connection between Tales and The Plum in the Golden Vase