丝路与博物:唐前小说殊方异物的文学书写与美学特质

Silk Road and Natural History:Literary Writing and Aesthetic Characteristics of Fantastic Overseas Products in Novels before the Tang Dynasty

回顾小说的发展历程,殊方异物是中国古代小说发生与发展过程中的重要题材。殊方异物题材的产生与两汉时期丝绸之路的开通有密切关系,此类内容的出现,反映了小说这一文体在发展之初即已凸显出的开放包容态势。殊方异物是博物小说的源泉与重要组成部分,殊方异物类小说的出现与丰富,使博物小说逐渐独立为一类。殊方异物类小说在故事情节与叙事方面的充实,也使博物小说从《山海经》所代表的早期博物传统中跳脱出来,为唐以后博物小说的成熟提供了更加广阔的前途。在域外色彩与博物传统的加持之下,唐前小说殊方异物书写具备独特的审美特质与叙事程式,光怪陆离而又珍异非常的殊方异物物象是中国小说早期发展过程中最具文学性的物象群体,并在有限的情节中展现出较丰富的文学性与美学性。

In retrospect,fantastic overseas products were the important themes throughout the development course of Chinese novels since its generation which was closely related to the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty.Their appearances reflected the openness and inclusiveness of the novels that got highlighted at the beginning of their development.As the source and crucial part of the museum novel,the emergence and development of fantastic overseas products made the natural history novel independent as a category.The enrichment concerning to the plot and narrative of novels made natural history novels break away from the early natural history tradition represented by the Classic of Mountains and Seas,providing a broader future for this kind of novels to get mature after the Tang Dynasty.Supported by the foreign culture and the tradition of natural history,the fantastic overseas products before the Tang Dynasty were described with unique aesthetic characteristics and narrative styles.As bizarre,precious,and special as they were,these products became the group of objects and images with the most literariness in the early stage of Chinese novels,showing abundant aesthetics and emotional projection in a limited plot.