揚雄の「解嘲」をめぐって : 「設論」の文學ジャンルとしての成熟と變質

It is said that she lun or hypothetical discourse, a literary genre which prevailed in Han-Wei 漢魏 period, originated with Dong-fang Shuo's 東方朔 Ke Nan 客難 or Response to a Guest's Objection. As a matter of fact, Ke Nan is a kind of parody which is based on the skill of Warring States persuasion and the frame of folktales. Yang Xiong in his Jie Chao or Dissolving Ridicule converted it into a literary work in terms of real meaning. I. The succession and transformation of the skill of Warring States persuasion in Jie Chao: Both Ke Nan and Jie Chao are based on the skill of Warring States persuasion, which include mention of historical environment and citation from classics; and "Yang-zi 揚子" in Jie Chao can well talk the Guest down unlike "Master Dongfang 東方先生" in Ke Nan. Yet on the other hand Jie Chao is full of display of verbal virtuosity, which is an important element of fu 賦. Thus, this piece breaks away from the anonymity practice of Warring States persuasion and exposes Yang's authorship. Ⅱ. The succession and transformation of the frame of folktales in Jie Chao: Though Jie Chao looks like a fu, it also contains plenty of jokes and sarcasms, which are not suitable for the orthodox style of fu. These elements have a great deal to do with the vulgarity of early she lun. Both Ke Nan and Jie Chao are based on the frame of folktales, in which a humble man changes into a wise hero by talking down high officials or highbrows in a humorous way; and "Yang-zi", likened to a phoenix, laughs away the Guest who has a desire for fame and wealth, differing from "Master Dong-fang" who cannot beat the Guest down and liken himself to a mouse. Yet "Yang-zi" is not a representative of the common people, who protests against the authority, but a portrait of author Yang, who ridicules the vulgar. Thus this piece breaks away from the anonymity of folktales and expresses Yang's sentiment. Ⅲ. Jie Chao and the literature of "a sage in frustration 賢人失志": "Yang-zi", who has great learning but is isolated from the world, looks like "a sage in frustration" such as Qu Yuan 屈原 in Sao-form 騒體 poems. But Yang Xiong in his old age could sympathize with this image no longer, because he is faced with his own powerlessness and humbleness after fruitless endeavors to sway 風( = 諷)the emperor's opinion with fu; and he has to go on reproaching his own worthless past as long as he believes the supreme worth of his Tai Xuan 太玄 or Great Mistery. This self-reproach presses Yang to break away from his literary ideal: "elegant and orderly 麗以則", and to imitate not Sao-form poems but Ke Nan, a story of a "fool", with fu-like ornate style, which he regarded as "children's insignificant skill such as carving a design worms or cutting a seal 童子彫蟲篆刻". In Later Han era, however, Jie Chao is recognized as a new literary theme of "a sage frustration" and decided the direction in the development of she lun. To be brief, Jie Chao changes she lun into the literature of literati, still it is above the command of his literary idea. But, precisely because of this, it could express Yang Xiong's both conscious and subconscious, that is, all of his personality.