晚明勸善之風遍及社會各方面,包括文學。除戲劇和小說等傳統文學體裁外,在當時廣泛流傳的善書中也可見以勸善為主題的文學作品。這些善書皆旨在向大眾宣揚正統道德標準和價值觀,勸人行善止惡。其中一部早遭遺忘的結合文學與勸善的善書,是由晚明地方民兵程公遠所撰的《醒心諺》,收錄了 210 闋具有道德教化意義的詞作。在這批詞作中,有 206 闋採用了詞牌〈西江月〉。蓋〈西江月〉詞式簡潔,易於誦讀,故常用於勸善詞。然而,亦因語言俚俗,程詞雖向社會各界明確傳達勸善旨意,作品的文學性卻不高。透過研析程氏《醒心諺》中不同主題的詞作,本文嘗試了解其作品如何回應晚明的勸善思潮和社會問題,並觀程氏創作這些粗俗且缺乏文學性之詞作的原因。
During the late Ming, a trend of moral exhortation became influential and permeated many different aspects of the society, including literature. Apart from traditional genres such as dramas and novels, literary works written on didactic themes can also be found amongst the widely circulated “morality books” (shanshu 善書), which were published to propagate orthodox ethical standards and values among the common public, and generally advise people to do good and refrain from bad deeds. A long-forgotten example of a morality book that combines literature and didacticism is the Xingxin yan 醒心諺 (Proverbs for Awakening Minds), an uncommon collection of 210 morally instructive ci-poems (詞) composed by the late-Ming local militia member Cheng Gongyuan 程公遠. Among these 210 poems, 206 are composed to the ci-poetic tune pattern “Xijiang yue 西江月” (“West River Moon”), which was frequently used in didactic ci-poetry in the Ming period due to its simple and easy-torecite rhythmic structure. Cheng’s ci-poems are of low literary quality due to their use of vulgar language; however, they nonetheless effectively conveyed exhortative messages to people from all walks of life. By examining Cheng’s poems that touch upon different themes, this article seeks to obtain a better understanding of how his works responded to the social trend of moral exhortation in the late Ming, as well as the reasons why Cheng chose to compose unrefined ci-poems lacking literary quality.
晚明詞;勸善詞;善書;〈西江月〉;《醒心諺》;程公遠
ci-poetry 詞 in the late Ming period; didactic ci-poetry; morality books; “Xijiang yue 西江月”; Xingxin yan 醒心諺; Cheng Gongyuan 程公遠