喻世明言

by 冯梦龙 Feng Menglong

《喻世明言》有作品40篇，包括三部分：一是宋元说话人的话本，二是明人的话本和拟话本，三是冯梦龙自己的作品。前两种作品也都经过冯梦龙的加工、修改。《杨思温燕山逢故人》、《汪信之一死救全家》、《简帖僧巧骗皇甫妻》、《宋四公大闹禁魂张》，是宋人话本；《蒋兴哥重会珍珠衫》、《杨八老越国奇逢》、《木棉庵郑虎臣报冤》、《金玉奴棒打薄情郎》、《沈小霞相会出师表》，明人（含冯梦龙）的作品。此次出版上海古籍出版社出版的《喻世明言》（作者冯梦龙、校注傅成），用明天启初年天许斋本为底本。第二十六卷沈小官一鸟害七命飞禽惹起祸根芽，七命相残事可嗟。奉劝世人须鉴戒，莫教儿女不当家。话说大宋徽宗朝，宣和三年，海宁郡武林门外北新桥下，有一机户，姓沈名昱，字必显，家中颇为丰足。娶妻严氏，夫妇恩爱。单生一子，取名沈秀，年长一十八岁，未曾婚娶。其父专靠织造段匹为活。不想这沈秀不务本分生理，专好风流闲耍，养画眉过日。父母因惜他一子，以此教训他不下。街坊邻里取他一个浑名，叫做“沈鸟儿”。每日五更，提了画眉，奔入城中柳林里来拖画眉，不只一日。忽至春末夏初，天气不暖不寒，花红柳绿之时。当日，沈秀侵晨起来，梳洗罢，吃了些点心，打点笼儿，盛着个无比赛的画眉。这畜生：只除天上有，果系世间无。将他各处去斗，俱斗他不过，成百十贯赢得。因此十分爱惜他，如性命一般。做一个金漆笼儿：黄铜钩子，哥窑的水食罐儿，绿纱罩儿。提了在手，摇摇摆摆，径奔入城，往柳林里去拖画眉。不想这沈秀一去，死于非命。好似：猪羊进入宰生家，一步步来寻死路。当时沈秀提了画眉，径到柳林里来。不意来得迟了些，众拖画眉的俱已散了，净荡荡、黑阴阴，没一个人往来。沈秀独自一个，把画眉挂在柳树上，叫了一回。沈秀自觉没情没绪，除了笼儿，正要回去。不想小肚子一阵疼，滚将上来，一块儿蹲到在地上。原来沈秀有一件病在身上，叫做“主心馄饨”，一名“小肠疝气”，每常一发一个小死。其日想必起得早些，况又来迟，众人散了，没些情绪，闷上心来。这一次甚是发得凶，一跤倒在柳树边，有两个时辰不醒人事。……第一卷蒋兴哥重会珍珠衫第二卷陈御史巧勘金钗钿第三卷新桥市韩五卖春情第四卷闲云庵阮三偿冤债第五卷穷马周遭际卖□媪第六卷葛令公生遣弄珠儿第七卷羊角衷舍命全交第八卷吴保安弃家赎友第九卷裴晋公义还原配第十卷滕大尹鬼断家私第十一卷赵伯异茶肆遇仁宗第十二卷众名姬春风吊柳七第十三卷张道陵七试赵异第十四卷陈希夷四辞朝命第十五卷史弘肇龙虎君臣会第十六卷范巨卿鸡黍死生交第十七卷单符郎全州佳偶第十八卷杨八老越国奇逢第十九卷杨谦之客舫遇侠僧第二十卷陈从善梅岭失浑家第二十一卷临安里钱婆留发迹第二十二卷木绵庵郑虎臣报冤第二十三卷张舜美灯宵得丽女第二十四卷杨思温燕山逢故人第二十五卷晏平仲二桃杀三士第二十六卷沈小官一鸟害七命第二十七卷金玉奴棒打薄情郎第二十八卷李秀卿义结黄贞女第二十九卷月明和尚度柳翠第三十卷明悟禅师赶五戒第三十一卷闹阴司司马貌断狱第三十二卷游酆都胡母迪吟诗第三十三卷张古老种瓜娶文女第三十四卷李公子救蛇获称心第三十五卷简帖僧巧骗皇甫妻第三十六卷宋四公大闹禁魂张第三十七卷梁武帝累修成佛第三十八卷任孝子烈性为神第三十九卷汪信之一死救全家第四十卷沈小霞相会出师表

Genres: Fiction, China, 17th Century, Chinese Literature, Classics, Short Stories, Literature

Paperback

First published March 1, 1620

About the author

Feng Menglong (1574–1646) was a Chinese vernacular writer and poet of the late Ming Dynasty.

Most of his literary work was in editing and compiling histories, almanacs and novels. Two of his noteworthy novels are Qing Shi and the shenmo work Pingyao Zhuan. In 1620 he published the Illustrious Words to Instruct the World (喻世明言 Yushi Mingyan), or Stories Old and New.

Feng was a proponent of the school of Li Zhi, which supported the importance of human feelings and behavior in literature. He is frequently associated with Ling Mengchu, author of Slapping the Table in Amazement.

Feng Menglong was in love with a famous prostitute when he was young. Unfortunately, Feng Menglong was not able to afford to redeem his lover out. At the end, his lover was redeemed by a merchant, and they had to leave each other. Feng Menglong suffered from pain and desperation due to the separation, and he expressed his sorrow through poems. This experience influenced the way he portrayed female characters in his stories. In fact, Feng Menglong was one of the few authors who portrayed female as being strong and intelligent; and this is different from other authors, where they tended to ignore the importance of female’s position. The female characters in Feng Menglong’s stories were portrayed as brave and bright when dealing with different situations. For instance, in his story Wan Xiuniang Takes Revenge Through Toy Pavilions from Jing Shi Tong Yan, Wan Xiuniang showed her braveness during her tough times, and she was able to escape using her intelligence. Other female characters, such as Miss Du Shi Niang and Qu Xiuxiu, are example to show Feng Menglong’s respect to female.

Feng Menglong expressed his attitudes towards the society through his works, and the reason was tightly related to his experience during his career. Feng Menglong became a local officer in Shouning in his sixties. He pursued justice and wished to build up his reputation by acting as an honest and upright official. Unfortunately, he was born in a time of corruption; bribery and extortion were common bureaucratic behaviors, and they opposed the principle of Feng Menglong. Realizing that atmosphere of corruption could not be easily changed, Feng Menglong conveyed his discontent and patriotism through words. Each character of his stories has strong and direct characteristics: there is a clear morality line drawn between “good” and “bad”. Moreover, the meaning behind the stories explores the social issues during Ming Dynasty. For instance, the story The White Maiden Locked for Eternity in Leifeng Pagoda and The Young Lady Gives the Young Man a Gift of Money from Jing Shi Tong Yan express the idea of how women pursue their freedom and happiness under a feudal society.

Reviews

[Mel]

A full translation of Feng Menglong's San Yan is totally unbelievable. This is the first volume of 40 stories and 794 pages long. I started reading it back in November but had to stop reading it when I hurt my wrist as it was too big and heavy to hold. I finished up the remaining stories this week. I totally loved this book. The stories are brilliant and Feng's comments are amusing and enjoyable. A lot of the stories are quite long, around 40 pages or so and you get a real sense of the characters. The plots range from the mundane to the supernatural. There are courtesans, bandits, ghosts, fox spirits and deities. One of my favorites was about two men who became good friends. When they parted they agreed to meet again on a certain day in the future. The man who was supposed to travel wasn't able to and having heard that ghosts could travel a 1000 li in a day killed himself so he could travel at supernatural speeds to meet his friend for their visit. They had dinner and then he revealed what he had done. His friend went to his home and buried him, then killed himself after ordering that they be buried together. These stories are all the reasons that I love Chinese literature, culture and history so much. I was bought the second volume (over 800 pages) for Christmas and can't wait to read the next installment. I know this is one book I will read over and over.

[Helmut]

Klare Worte, um die Welt zu erhellen

Der Freund, der viele Lebensjahre für seinen gefangenen Freund hingibt; die Zusammenführung einer Ehe über vier Ecken und viele Verwirrungen; der Weg eines Taoisten hin zur Unsterblichkeit entgegen den Machenschaften vieler dämonischer Feinde: Dies sind einige der Themen der Geschichten, die Feng Menglong in der Ming-Dynastie zusammengetragen, bearbeitet und veröffentlicht hat. Der mündliche Ursprung vieler der Geschichten wird nicht verborgen: Der Erzähler ist klar in Struktur und Inhalt noch erkennbar, sei es durch die direkte Ansprache oder die Vorgeschichten, die den meisten Einzelepisoden vorangestellt werden. Paarweise (erstmals in dieser originalen Anordnung in Übersetzung erhältlich) beleuchten die Geschichten Aspekte der Alltagskultur wie Freundschaft, Liebe, Treue, Loyalität, Gerechtigkeit und Aufrichtigkeit - ein Kaleidoskop der chinesischen Kultur aus verschiedensten Zeitaltern und ein interessantes Fenster in die Vergangenheit. Sprachlich und thematisch vielleicht nicht ganz so ausgefeilt wie die Werke eines Li Yu, so findet sich in diesen 40 Schnurren doch viel Unterhaltsames und vielleicht tatsächlich, wie vom Autor gewünscht, "Erhellendes".

Die Bindung ist fest und hält den dicken, großformatigen 800-Seiten-Wälzer gut zusammen. Papier und Druckbild sind hochwertig, die immer wieder auftauchenden Reproduktionen der alten Drucke etwas grob und zu dunkel. Die Romanisierung erfolgt in Pinyin ohne Tonmarkierung, hin und wieder sind auch chinesische Schriftzeichen vorhanden. Die Randbemerkungen Fengs sind, kursiv gesetzt, an den Originalstellen im Text eingefügt und kommentieren die aktuelle Handlung. Ungewohnt, aber nicht störend, ist der Flattersatz. Die englische Übersetzung ist sehr flüssig und aus einem Guss in moderner Sprache; die Gedichte, die immer wieder auftreten, wurden in freiem Vers übertragen und nicht künstlich in Reimform gezwungen.

Eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit in der Themenwahl zu Pu Songlings "Liaozhai Zhiyi" (auf deutsch als "Geister- und Liebesgeschichten aus der Sammlung Liao-dschai dschi-yi" erhältlich) ist unverkennbar, doch Fengs Geschichten sind deutlich erdiger und humorvoller als die Pus. Trotzdem sei auch diese Lektüre jedem empfohlen, den Feng Menglong mit seinem Werk in den Bann gezogen hat. Oder man greift zu den 80 weiteren "Sanyan"-Geschichten Fengs, die die Welt aufmuntern und ernüchtern sollen.

[Lulu]

1620

[Brysen Rodriguez]

Hoo this took me a while.
If you wanna get into Chinese vernacular fiction, this is a wonderful place to start. It's stories are colorful and paint a fantastical and entertaining picture of life in Dynastic China. From simple mysteries, to romance, supernatural tales of gods, ghosts, spirits and demons, scholar officials, reincarnating monks, trips to hell, and picaresque tales of criminals.

Favorite Stories (in no particular order):
10. Magistrate Teng Settles the Case of Inheritance with Ghostly Cleverness
12. The Courtesans Mourn Liu the Seventh in the Spring Breeze
16. The Chicken-and-Millet Dinner for Fan Juqing, Friend in Life and Death
19. Yang Qianzhi Meets a Monk Knight-Errant on a Journey by Boat
20. Chen Congshan Loses His Wife on Mei Ridge
21. Qian Poliu Begins His Career in Lin’an
25. Yan Pingzhong Kills Three Men with Two Peaches
26. Shen Xiu Causes Seven Deaths with One Bird
29. Monk Moon Bright Redeems Willow Green
31. Sima Mao Disrupts Order in the Underworld and Sits in Judgment
33. Old Man Zhang Grows Melons and Marries Wennü
36. Song the Fourth Greatly Torments Tightwad Zhang

The whole collection is very good. Firm recommend if you wanna get into Chinese Literature without diving headfirst into the Classics. Can't wait to read the other two parts in the Sanyan Trilogy.

[Christopher]

The forty stories in this collection are thematically paired, and each typically begins with a poem and a sort of prologue story before launching into the main narrative. The prologue story often ends abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more, where the main narrative is sometimes a bit overwritten. Many of them sort of washed over me without leaving a strong impression, even though I tried reading them spaced out at different times. Still, they’re sophisticated stories, and in each one I could usually see either interesting cultural context or a thoughtful moral.

[Justin Newland]

Yup, a fascinating read. A great introduction to the beliefs and culture of the Chinese in the Ming Dynasty. I was particularly interested in the social mores and the keen Chinese belief in the supernatural, both of which are amply represented in these unusual stories.

[Emma Mahon]

Jiang xingge reencountering his pearl shirt is crazy 1600s gossip…oh to be a hag in 1600s China yapping about the relationship drama of my towns people 🥹😮‍💨

[Wenxi Chen]

Interesting short stories. Definitely eye opening. It reveals the values and believes of China’s old dynasties.

[Johanna]

I think this is the first book that exposed me to smut stories