商业出版中的“仙史”:论《历代神仙通鉴》的编刻

The Commercial Publication and the Writing of“Immortal History”:A Study on the Composition and Publication of Lidai Shenxian Tongjian

问世于清代康熙年间的《历代神仙通鉴》是基于前代仙传编撰而成,它以道教仙传为核心,同时兼摄儒释耶回多教,不仅迎合了明清多教合一的风潮,还将其他宗教的圣传化入道教话语体系之中。编撰者徐道和程毓奇怀有著述“仙史”的宏愿,不仅神化成书过程,还通过向宗教权威邀序,提升作品神圣性,推动作品的付梓和传播。尽管他们将此书视为宗教著作,但也仿效了时下书坊中流行的章回小说写作形式,从而放弃了将单篇传记合编为神仙集传的传统,并且还和一般的通俗读物一样增添评点和配图等副文本,以方便大众阅读。作为一部诞生于商业出版勃兴的文化语境中、兼具宗教性和通俗性的作品,该书为我们了解这一时期宗教读物如何顺应时代新变提供了典型案例。

The Lidai Shenxian Tongjian,first published during the Kangxi era in Qing dynasty,was regarded as an“immortal history”based on previous Daoist hagiographies.To promote the publication and circulation of their work,the compilers,Xu Dao and Cheng Yuqi,not only mythologized the process of writing,but also invited religious authority figures to write prefaces.On the one hand,while focusing on Taoist immortals,this work also includes figures from Confucianism,Buddhism and other religions,conforming to the trend of the integration of multiple religions in Ming and Qing Dynasties by transforming other religions into the system of Daoism.On the other hand,the compilers adopt the popular form of chapter novels and abandon the tradition of compiling individual biographies into hagiography collection.Like other popular books,this book also contains commentaries and illustrations for the populace.On the whole,this work is a religious and popular Daoism reader which was made possible in the cultural context of booming commercial publishing era of the Qing Dynasty.