明代文人视野中的民间说唱艺术

Literati's Views of the Popular“Telling and Singing Arts”in Ming Dynasty

明代说唱艺术风行于市井闾巷以及殊方异域,甚至进入宫廷、闺阁,因而引起文人士大夫的广泛关注。不少文人士大夫将欣赏说唱艺术视为日常娱乐的重要方式,对民间说唱另眼相看,持欣赏与肯定态度者不乏其人。当然,也有一些文人对于民间说唱,或从道德角度批评其伤风败俗,或从艺术角度贬斥其低俗、村鄙。喜欢民间说唱的文人,还主动搜集、整理、加工其偏爱的民间说唱作品,或亲自改编、拟作说唱文学,或从民间说唱中汲取艺术养料从事小说、戏曲、诗文等创作,从而有力地促进了雅俗文学的交融转化与创新发展。

Telling and singing arts,or story-telling and ballad-singing,gained a wide popularity in both urban neighborhoods and peripheral rural areas in Ming China,and it even made inroads into the circles of imperial court and the inner chamber of elite household.Literati paid a close attention to this popular form of performing arts.Although some denounced it as vulgar,coarse,contributing to moral degeneration,there are literati whoaccepted and even appreciated the telling and singing arts as an important form of grassroots entertainment.They actively collected,cataloged,and edited those storied and ballads.Some went about to produce＂telling and singing＂works themselves.Furthermore,some literati drew inspirations from these popular stories and ballads to produce novels,dramas,and poems and essays.These literati played a crucial role in facilitating the exchange between elite and popular art forms and promoting cultural innovations in Ming China.