化史为子——《四库全书总目》的小说归类

Turn History Into Zi——The Classification of Novels in The Catalogue of Sikuquanshu

史部以叙事为主,子部则以议论为宗,班固持子部小说观,刘知几持史部小说观,胡应麟将史部和子部小说合二为一,纪昀在《四库全书总目》中收录的小说均以叙事为主,但又被归入子部,为了解决这个矛盾,纪昀采用了化史为子的方法,认为这些小说尽管叙事,但目的是说理,这种观点在《阅微草堂笔记》中得到鲜明体现。

The department of history mainly focuses on narrative, while the Zi department mainly focuses on discussion. Ban Gu believed novel belonged Zi, Liu Zhiji believed novel belonged history, Hu Yinglin combined the history novel and the Zi novel into one. The novels in The Catalogue of Sikuquanshu are mainly narratives, but they are also belonged to the Zi. For solve this contradiction, Ji Yun adopted the method of turn history into Zi. He believed that although these novels were narrative, their purpose was to discussion. This view is vividly reflected in Yuewei Cottage Notes .