类书编纂与章回小说的标目

Compilation of Encyclopedias and Couplet Chapter Headings of Traditional Chinese Novels

对于章回小说标目体式的成因,本文在肯定传统成说的基础上认为,章回小说双句对偶的标目形式汲取了传统类书编纂体例的营养。首先是类书与章回小说的标目形式都经历了相似的衍变过程,而且类书标目形式成熟在前,章回小说标目体式定型于后;其次,明代的小说作者或书坊主往往既编写小说又编纂类书,他们于两类书籍之间相互借用体例的做法并不少见。

This paper studies the causes for the style of chapter headings in traditional Chinese novels. Consenting to the existing hypotheses, it argues that the form of couplet heading is borrowed from the stylistic rules and layout in the compilation of traditional encyclopedias. First, the forms of chapter headings in encyclopedias and in novels underwent the similar process of evolution, and the former preceded the latter; secondly, novelists and proprietors of bookshops in the Ming Dynasty used to write novels and compile encyclopedias simultaneously, thereby making it a common practice for them to borrow stylistic features across the two literary styles.