「妙文」の「讀法」 --江戶時代における『第六才子書』の讀まれ方--

Abstract

Guanhuatang Edition of the Sixth Work of Genius: Romance of the Western Chamber 貫華堂第六才子書西廂記, also known as the Sixth Work of Genius, edited by Jin Shengtan 金聖歎, was the most popular text of Romance of the Western Chamber 西廂記 for nearly 300 years since its first publication in the mid-seventeenth century, early Qing Dynasty. Its popularity extended beyond China and it was the most well-known text of Romance of the Western Chamber in Japan as well after it was imported in the Edo period. Interestingly, two manuscripts of Romance of the Western Chamber edited by Tôyama Katô 遠山荷塘 in late Edo Period vary in the ways and extents they incorporate Jin Shengtan's commentaries and editorial elements from the Sixth Work of Genius. The differences between the two manuscripts may inform us how Romance of the Western Chamber was read at that time when focusing on the reader's side. Comparing the diffrences between the two manuscripts, this article suggests that there were two ways to read Romance of the Western Chamber in the Edo Period. One is to read aloud in public, which is a method to study the written vernacular Chinese and an extension of the traditional scholarship to study Chinese literatures in Japan. At this time, at least on the surface, readers may not use the Sixth Work of Genius so often due to the notoriety of Jin Shengtan. The other one is to read sillently and privately, sometimes secretly, which is a transfromed way of reading Chinese literatures that manifests an attitude of reading which may appear to be more entertainment oriented. The Sixth Work of Genius is more popular to be used in this way. The distinctions between these two ways to read are informative on the change of the treatment of Chinese literatures by the Japanese people.