《聊斋志异》中幽明审判的叙事探赜

A Study on the Narrative of the Nether-World Trial in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

摘要: 《聊斋志异》作为传奇志怪文言小说的经典著作之一，有着“公案小说史的‘龙头’之称呼”。蒲松龄用志怪的浪漫手法，撰写出《梅女》《阎王薨》《席方平》等许多脍炙人口的鬼怪小说名篇，构建并行存在的阳世司法与冥界审判体系的双重世界。文中通过剖析阳间官府的腐败、制度的非理性与压迫以及“清官”幻象叙写，折射出清代基层司法的失效，而冥界凭借符号化的审判程序、超自然的因果报应机制，则被视为对阳间司法不公的心理性补偿。此外，两者之间的“越界”叙事成为情节推动的关键，也构成了对现实司法的无力回应。同时，蒲松龄借助“异世氏曰”式的评点与叩问，展现了其对清初黑暗社会的抨击，对司法不公的批判以及对正义渴望，也体现出底层百姓对“清官”的理想化渴求。

Abstract: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio is a classic work of classical Chinese legendary and supernatural fiction, and also regarded as a significant text in the history of Chinese gong’an (court-case) novels. Using a romantic and supernatural writing style, Pu Songling created numerous well-known supernatural stories such as “The Maid Mei”, “The Death of the King of Hell”, and “Xi Fangping”, constructing a dual world where the mortal judicial system and the underworld trial system coexist. By depicting the corruption of mortal officialdom, the irrationality and oppression of the system, and the illusion of “upright officials”, the novel profoundly reflects the failure of grassroots justice in the Qing Dynasty. In contrast, the underworld, with its symbolic trial procedures and supernatural mechanism of karma and retribution, serves as a psychological compensation for the injustice in the mortal world. Furthermore, the narrative of “transgression” between the two worlds is not only the key driving force of the plot but also constitutes a helpless response to real-world judicial problems. Through his comments and inquiries in the style of “The Historian’s Words”, Pu Songling expresses his criticism of the dark society and judicial injustice in the early Qing Dynasty, his longing for justice, and embodies the idealized desire of ordinary people for upright and incorruptible officials.