Is Ancient Water Margin (120) the original work of Shi Naian?

I remember when The Water Margin 1985 was first published, I indicated in the preface that the author of the book was Shi Naian, which caused an uproar in the water margin research field, and the voice of criticism obviously exceeded the voice of praise.

It is no wonder that the appearance of ancient water margin itself is contrary to many traditional views in the field of water margin. The original version of Rong Hui will be regarded as a follow-up version, and many issues that are regarded as conclusive will be discussed again.

With the deepening of people's research on the ancient water margin, especially after 1988, a famous expert on water margin, Mr. Dong Liu, published the article A Study of Novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties, many scholars published articles confirming that the author of The Ancient Water Margin should be Shi Naian.

Why is Shi Naian the author of Ancient Water Margin?

It is difficult to explain clearly in a few words. Here, I will introduce the relevant research as briefly and comprehensively as possible, hoping to inspire readers. Finally, introduce some difficulties encountered in the research, hoping to get the help of the water margin fans.

Attachment: 1985 Preface of Ancient Water Margin published by Hebei people.

The Ancient Water Margin is now available to readers. This is the only 120 times the Water Margin written by Shi Naian that we have seen so far.

The first 70 chapters of the book are basically consistent with the Tang version of Water Margin commented by Jin Shengtan. The last 50 chapters are completely different from the popular chapter 120 of Water Margin. The Liangshan heroes here are not hugged. Until 120, they were still fighting bloody battles with loyalists. The last 50 times were printed by Shanghai Chinese and Western Bookstore 1933, and the preface of Mr. Mei Jihe recorded the details of the publication at that time.

The last 50 chapters of "Ancient Water Margin" are full of twists and turns, and the characters are distinct. After careful study, I think the author of the first 70 chapters is the same person. Comparing the last 50 episodes with the first 70 episodes, we can find that the plot structure before and after is consistent, and the layout echoes before and after, forming a close unity; Without the former, the latter cannot be established; Without the latter, many plots in the first 70 episodes are difficult to understand and arrange accurately. The image characteristics of the characters before and after are consistent. The main characters in the last 50 chapters can judge who he is just by words and deeds, but other sequels that can be seen now can't reach this level. The world outlook reflected before and after is consistent; Consistent artistic style; In particular, the characteristics of the times and regions of language are also consistent. More interestingly, in terms of artistic description and language expression, the last 50 chapters not only reproduce the advantages of the first 70 chapters, but also reproduce some weaknesses of the first 70 chapters.

"Water Margin" is a great work produced in a specific environment and a highly concentrated social phenomenon. At the same time, it also shows that the author has a very high political, ideological, military and artistic level and a rich and unique life experience. It is also China's first long vernacular novel, which has obvious characteristics of connecting the past with the future. It is hard to imagine that future generations can imitate such a masterpiece without leaving a trace. Rong and Tang's last 30 chapters of The Water Margin and the first series of subsequent works of The Water Margin are not only very different from the first 70 chapters in language features, but also many of their characters are deformed.

People may ask, since this book was written by Shi Naian and published in 1933, why is it so little known so far?

It seems strange, but the truth is simple. 1933, Chinese and Western Bookstore only printed the last 50 times of this book, which is incomplete; In addition, at that time, there were a large number of water margin published in the name of "ancient edition", which were mixed and difficult to sell. At that time, Chinese and Western Bookstores only printed 65,438+0,500 copies, which failed to sell out and have an impact on the masses. At the same time, the bookstore had no contact with the academic circles and did not publicize it in the newspaper, which led to the book being buried again. Check the famous water margin researchers at that time, such as Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Zheng Zhenduo and so on. Although they studied the version in great detail, they never mentioned this ancient version of Water Margin.

The academic community first knew of such a book, probably in 1975. At that time, the preface of A Water Margin compiled by Fudan University in Shanghai included Mr. Mei Jihe's Ancient Water Margin. However, few people have read this book, because there are not many "Water Margin" preserved in ancient books.

Who is the author of this book? This is obviously not conclusive in a short time. Now it will be sorted out, proofread, rearranged and published, providing a brand-new version for scholars and experts to study. At the same time, for readers, it is undoubtedly an artistic treasure worthy of appreciation.

Thanks to the comrades in Shanghai Library for agreeing to organize and publish, and giving them strong support.

The collation of this book is based on the book Ancient Water Margin published by Shanghai Chinese and Western Bookstore 1933. Refer to his book, divide chapters and punctuation, and correct obvious typos. In addition to deleting all Jin Shengtan's comments, he also made some technical treatments and wrote them down. All are rearranged according to the simplified Chinese characters in the specification, and all others retain the appearance of the original book.

Jiang zugang

65438+February 0985