“新子学”视域下中国“小说”观念的演进——以诸子“小说家”作品的文体变革为中心

The Evolution of the Concept of Chinese Novels in the Perspective of “New Zixue”——Centered on the Stylistic Change of the Works of Xiaoshuojia

在"新子学"视域中,先秦时代,"说"是相对于"经"而存在的、以解释义理为目的的短篇故事连缀性作品。形式为"说体",包含"经说""要说""纯说"等,诸子对此有大量实践,庄子之后形成一定的文体自觉,区分"大说""小说"。《汉书·艺文志》等确立了诸子"小说"观念,自觉它是结合文体、内容、思想而言的事物:它出于稗官,街谈巷语、道听涂说者所造,文体为"说体";故事一般具有虚构性;主旨虽有可取,但不够精深,否则就应归入诸子九流。这些观念既保留了先秦"小说"的基本特征,又站在经学立场对其有所异化。《四库全书》对此有继承与变革,是晚清小说革命、中国现代小说观念产生的重要产房。

From the perspective of new Zixue("新子学"), in the pre Qin period, shuo("说")was relative to and was a short story collection with the purpose of explaining argumentation. The basic form was shuo style("说体"), including jing shuo("经说") yao shuo("要说") and pure shuo("纯说"). After Zhuang Zi, a certain stylistic idea was formed, which distinguished dashuo("大说") and xiaoshuo("小说"). In the Han Dynasty,Ban Gu believed that Zhu Zi xiaoshuo("小说") was a combination of elements of style, content, and thought. Its style was shuo style, story was fictitious, main thrust was not profound enough, otherwise, it should be classified into the category of other philosophers. Ban Gu’s concept of xiaoshuo preserved the basic tradition and characteristics of the pre Qin xiaoshuo, but it stood in the position of Confucian classics and put pressure on it. Si Ku Quan Shu(《四库全书》) inherited and changed these things, it was an important delivery room in the Revolution in the Novel Circles during the period of late Qing Dynasty and the concept of modern Chinese novels.