“村童闹学图”究竟反映了什么?——兼谈图像、谣谚、小说及传记材料在教育史研究中的运用

What Do the Images of Mischievous Village Schoolboys Reflect? ConcurrentlyDiscussing the Application of Images, Proverbs, Novels andBiographies in Educational History Studies

“村童闹学”是传统社会中一个深受喜爱的画作选题,千余年来诞生了不少作品,既有文人所绘,也有画店所印,都不乏佳作。它们展现了异样的私塾教育。或许是因为画面过于奇幻,后人对它们的解读,也一度陷入奇幻当中,甚至有截然相对的意见,如有认为其为写实之作,亦有认为其乃虚拟之品;有认为其源于教育事实,亦有认为其源于戏剧创作,分歧颇多。本研究从浩瀚的画海中搜集了20余幅作品,发现其可分为“师寐生嬉”“师醒生嬉”和“师出生嬉”三类,而亲历者的记忆、亲见及亲闻者的描述及创作,即谣谚、诗词、小说及传记也能证明是项事实。不过,图像的材料与其他材料还是有所不同,视觉与知觉之间有个颠倒,但这并不妨碍“村童闹学图”乃是教育风俗的真实写照这一判断。由此,“村童闹学图”也间接揭示了私塾教育弊端之所在,儿童处于重压之下,故但遇机会便会尽情地宣泄心中蓄积已久的情绪,甚至不计后果,而这似乎由来已久,且一脉相承。此例也说明,图像证史并非易事,需要结合多种材料才有可能揭示其内涵之所在。

In the Chinese traditional society,mischievous village schoolboys is a popular painting theme,of which a lot of works were created by literati or produced by art shops over thousands of years.These paintings presented an interesting picture of Sishu,on which there appeared some fantastic interpretations and even opposite viewpoints,that is,realistic or imaginary,educational facts or artistic creations.This study collected more than twenty works,which can be divided into three categories,i.e.schoolboys frolic while the teacher asleep,awake or absent.That also can be proved by descriptions and creations from those who have experienced,seen and heard about that,namely proverbs,poems,novels and biographies.Despite that images differ from other materials as there is an inversion between vision and perception,these paintings still mirror the real educational phenomena.Moreover,they indirectly reveal the disadvantages of Sishu,in which stressful children gave vent to their accumulated emotions,even recklessly,whenever the opportunity arose.This can be a good case,showing that it is not easy to verify history with images and that it is necessary to combine various kinds of materials in history study.