新见明末清初小说《桐下听然》版本、作者考略

Research on the Edition and Author of Tong Xia Yin Ran,a Newly-Discovered Novel in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties

《桐下听然》一书是由活动于明末清初的苏州文人“季美”所编纂的文言小说集,共二十二卷367则故事。目前上海图书馆藏有足本,国家图书馆藏五卷残本。该书编纂主旨是希望通过记录个人的志怪见闻,以及相关的报应故事来警醒人心。由于其出发点近似六朝志怪,因此书中诸篇在故事发生地点、时间上大多有较详细的记录。同时该书在明末清初出现不少选本以及引录本,其中尤其以《集异新抄》保存最为完善,共达248则《桐下听然》故事。佐以引用较多的《坚瓠集》《续太平广记》《识小录》使我们确定了现今所见的《桐下听然》并非初印本。

Tong Xia Yin Ran is a collection of classical Chinese novels compiled by the Suzhou literati“Ji Mei”in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.There are 22 volumes and 358 stories in the book.Shanghai Library has a complete copy,and Beijing National Library has an incomplete copy with five volumes.The main purpose of the collection is to alert people by recording their personal experience of grotesque and retributive happenings.Since its starting point is similar to the supernatural stories in Six Dynasties,the stories in this collection have more detailed records of the place and time.At the same time,a large number of selections and quotations of this collection appeared in the early Ming and Qing Dynasties.The complete preservation is Ji Yi Xin Chao,which collected 248 stories from Tong Xia Yin Ran.With more references to Jian Hu Ji,Xu Tai Ping Guang Ji,Shi Xiao Lu,we have determined that the Tong Xia Yin Ran that I have seen today is not a first-printed edition.Due to the literary inquisition in Qing Dynasty,some texts have been deleted.