宋元明負心題材在戲曲中的流衍--兼述高明「琵琶記」的翻改

Abstract

宋代書生負心情變之劇本?出，蔚為南戲題材之主題，誠與朝近廣開仕進之門，「臠婿」之風甚熾有關，一般文士發跡變泰而棄糟糠者迭出不窮，萌興於民間之南戲對此遂多所抨擊、詛咒。迨至蒙元，書生地位驟降，科考之路偃蹇，此類負心戲乃紛紛轉型以求精神之慰藉；有明一代，文士地位翻高，士大夫躋身曲壇染指創作，為扭轉書生形象，更積極從事劇作之翻改。就中被譽為傳奇鼻祖的《琵琶記》，由於作者深心結撰，故與一般團圓熟套有別。本文釐為五端：一、早期南戲的中心主題－負心情變，二、負心戲攢興原因之探討，三、負心情變戲之轉型，四、《琵琶記》團圓結局之省思，嘗試就時代背景、政治社會、民心好尚、文士地位之隆降，以及劇作家之創作旨趣諸方面，探討宋元明負心題材在戲曲中之流衍。

Ungrateful love story was a popular theme in the Southern school of Chinese drama. And most of these works were created in the Sung Dynasty. However, it was a reflection on social environment. In the Sung Dynasty, literators had great opportunity to upgrade to higher society by means of official examinations. When a literate advanced to official rank, he might abandon his wife whom he married in poverty. Such a tragedy happened from time to time and then became the creative material in local drama. The ungrateful man was often condemned for his irresponsibility and held in contempt by the public. Typically, in local drama, such a character was deserved for retribution. However, in the Yuan Dynasty, literators were degraded to the most humble class by aliens. There was no avenue for them to develop their official careers. Therefore, local drama had sought for other materials. In the Ming Dynasty, literitors tried to change the negative image of literate as an ungrateful character in local drama. Some of the authors had modified the plays. "The Romance of the Lute" was one of the masterpieces authored by Kao Ming. In this paper, I will discuss the background and its transformation of these dramas in five sections. I. The theme of ungrateful love stories in the southern school of Chinese local drama. II. The background III. The transformation IV. Reflection on the happy ending of "The romance of the Lute" I explore the social background, the political evolution, the folk custom, and the position of literators in the Sung, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Based on the above information, I discuss the themes of plays in different periods, and the popularity of ungrateful love stories in local drama.