明代艺婢探微

The Study on the Artistic Maidservants of the Ming Dynasty

艺婢是明代对在文学、艺术上有突出才能婢女的概括称谓,按其才艺差别可以分为歌姬、舞姬、女乐和文墨婢。根据艺婢娱乐主人方式的不同,可将歌姬、舞姬、女乐称之为声色娱主类艺婢,而将文墨婢看作才华娱主类艺婢。明代艺婢的大量存在,除了儒家传统的内在矛盾以外,还与士绅纵情声色的生活追求相关,亦不乏通过蓄养艺婢加强社会交往、联络感情以及排解情感、宣泄压力的诉求。整体上看,明代社会对声色类艺婢普遍持抵触态度,认为蓄养声色婢会使人迷失心性,容易招致破家之难,更会扰乱内闱,伤及风化;相反,对才华娱主类艺婢却极尽欣赏和赞美。对待两类艺婢的态度差异反映了明人遵守儒家礼法之制与随性自适两种不同的人生价值观。

Artistic maidservants were the general appellation of the maidservant with outstanding ability in literature and art during the Ming Dynasty. According to the talent differences, these girls could be divided into the singer, dancer, player and literary maidservant. According to the different ways of entertainment owners, the singer, dancer, player were once described as carnal maidservants, and the literary maidservants were regarded as the girls of the main entertainment by self talent. In addition to the inherent contradiction of Confucian tradition, the existence of artistic maidservants in Ming Dynasty was related to the gentry＇ s pursuit of life, and there was also no shortage of demands to strengthen social communication, connect feelings and relieve emotion and vent pressure through raising artistic maidservants. On the whole, the society of the Ming Dynasty generally held an attitude of resistance to the carnal maidservants, and believed that keeping the carnal maidservants would make people lose their heart, easily lead to the difficulty of breaking their homes, and would disturb the internal chamber and hurt the people with decency. On the contrary, the literary maidservants were extremely full of appreciation and praise. It reflects the two different values life, such as Confucian ritual system and self adaptability , by the difference of altitude towards the two kinds of artistic maidservants in the Ming Dynasty.