Is the author of "Water Margin" Shi Naian or Luo Guanzhong?

Researchers have always had different opinions on who the author of "Water Margin" was.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China and before the "Cultural Revolution", the most popular version of "Water Margin" was the compiled version by People's Literature Publishing House. The author of the signature is Shi Naian. At the same time, in middle school Chinese textbooks and many literary history books, the copyright of "Water Margin" is also attributed to Shi Naian. However, the TV series "Water Margin" is marked as the original authors Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong.

In fact, as early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, regarding the signatures on the editions of "Water Margin", there were the following three types of signatures in the literati's notes and bibliographies

Statement:

1. Written by Luo Guanzhong, see Lang Ying's "Seven Revised Drafts", Tian Rucheng's "Xihu Tour Notes", Wang Qi's "Extended Documents

Kao", "History of Barnyard" "Compilation", Xu Zichang's "Qizhai Manlu", Ruan Kuisheng's "Tea Yuke Hua" and other books, as well as Qian Zeng's "Yeyuan Bibliography".

For example, Lang Ying, who lived during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, said in "Seven Revised Drafts": "The two books "Three Kingdoms" and "Song Jiang" were compiled by Luo Guanzhong from Hangzhou.

There must be an original version, so it is called "Song Jiang". It is also said to be the original version of Shi Naian in Qiantang. "

However, this statement is not found in any of the early inscriptions.

2. Written by Shi Naian, as shown in the Xiongfeiguan and Guanhuatang editions of "Water Margin", as well as Hu Yinglin's "Shaoshi

Shanfang Bicong", Xu Fuzuo's "Talks of the Veterans of Sanjia Village", Xu Shupi's "History of Knowledge", Zhou Hui's "Trivial Events in Jinling", Qian Xi

yan's "Playing Flaws", Liu Shiyi's "New Knowledge of Wan Yixuan", Cao Yuke's "Guo" "Liangshan Ji", Wang Shizhen's "Juyi Lu", Jin's "Jinxiang Shuo", Liang Yusheng's "Glimpse", Jiao Xun's "Ju Shuo", Li Chaoqiong's "Guixuan Notes" and other books. But

the earliest two versions of this statement appeared in the Chongzhen period of the late Ming Dynasty, later than other early versions.

3. Co-authored by Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong, see the records in Gao Ru's "Books of Baichuan" and the "Jiajing Edition" of "Water Margin" (

The remaining eight chapters of the book are collected by the Beijing Library (this edition), the preface of Tiandu Foreign Minister, the title of Yuan Wuya edition, and the preface of Li Zhuo in Rong Yutang edition, the preface of Wuhu Old Man in Yingxue Caotang edition, and the large volume of Mustard Seed Garden edition The narration of the preface of the rest of the people.

For example, Gao Ru's "Hundred Rivers Chronicles" says: "One hundred volumes of "Water Margin of Loyalty and Justice", compiled by Shi Naian of Qiantang, Luo Ben

Guanzhong compiled it. " ("Deben" is a common term in the publishing and reading circles in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, meaning "authentic version"; "editing" means "editing". In other words, Shi Nai'an is the author and writer; Luo Guanzhong is the editor or organizer or processor.) The author is mentioned in Li Zhi's "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness" and is said to be "Er Duke Shi Luo". The date of Gao Ru's birth and death is unknown, but there is a preface written by Gao Ru in the 19th year of Jiajing (1540) at the beginning of "Baichuan Shuzhi", which shows that he was about the same time as Lang Ying

, was also from the Jiajing period.

The version with this kind of inscription first appeared in the Jiajing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty.

Regardless of whether Shi, Luo or Shi Luo collaborated, they believe that this novel is not the sole creation of one person, but

based on the scattered single manuscripts of predecessors. Unified compilation and further expansion are consistent. Because before the earliest "Water Margin" was published, stories about Song Jiang had been circulated and books published.

Therefore, "Water Margin" has only a "compiler", which is what Lang Ying said "there must be a source for the original meaning, so it is called a compiler"

. The editor's name is currently generally believed to be Shi Naian. A few people think that Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong co-edited it, and think that Luo Guanzhong was Shi Naian's student; an even smaller number of people think that Shi Naian was the editor. An is just a fake name.

For example, Lu Xun said in "A Brief History of Chinese Novel": "Suspicion is a pretext for those who reproduce the novel." His basis is the earliest published "Water Margin" p>》The simplified version of the book was not signed by the author. Decades later, a complex version was published. Not only did the content increase, but the author was also signed.

Therefore, this author was probably the reviser of the traditional version during the Wanli period, and he created a name from the Yuan Dynasty and randomly added it.

Some people even think that "Shi Naian" in "Shi Naian's edition, edited by Luo Guanzhong" is a homophony of "It's me", which means "it's me", that is, the editor Luo Guanzhong.

From the perspective of today’s readers, a literary work has copyright, so why is the author unwilling to sign it

? In the meantime, there is a process of evolution of the understanding of "novel".

Today’s readers think that “novel” is a literary work, and the title of “writer” is glorious. But in ancient China, "novelists" were low-ranking figures. The earliest "storytellers", the more advanced ones could tell in teahouses or "goulan", that is, brothels, while the inferior ones could only tell it on the side of the road, just like beggars. The people who wrote the "scripts" for storytellers were mostly poor and down-and-out literati, and some were even smokers, drunkards, prostitutes, and prodigal sons. They

had read books when they were young and knew a little about history. When they grew up, they traveled around the world and had a lot of social knowledge and materials. When they fell into poverty and could not

make a living, they made up some historical stories. Come out and either tell it yourself, or sell the manuscript to a "storyteller" and let others tell it

Therefore, the social status of novelists is extremely low. Not only do they not dare to fight for "copyright", some are also afraid that others will know about it and their "reputation" will be ruined. Because in the eyes of scholars, those who write poems and songs are "literati" and those who write novels are "boring literati". For example, Li Changqi, a native of Luling (now Ji'an, Jiangxi Province) in the Ming Dynasty, was very knowledgeable and accomplished as an official. He wrote a five-volume and twenty-two-part legendary novel "Cut the Deng Yu" "Words", although his thoughts were somewhat outdated and he showed off his talents a little, he was not only ridiculed during his lifetime, but also disqualified from entering the Xiangxian Temple after his death. This is proof of this. In the eyes of "gentlemen", novelists are sinners who "mislead others" and should be scolded, punished by God, and retributioned. For example, Tian Rucheng, a man from the Ming Dynasty, said in "History of West Lake Tour": Because Luo Guanzhong compiled "Water Margin", "his descendants were mute for three generations", which proves that this is "retribution from heaven". Tieshan of the Qing Dynasty said it in the "Illustrated Notes on the Supplement to the Taishang Induction Chapter": "Shi Naian wrote "Water Margin", and his descendants were mute for three generations. Yuan Yuling ① wrote "Xi Hu" "A Dream of Red Mansions", suffered from tongue itch

, chewed his tongue, refused to eat or speak, and died of tongue exhaustion.

West Chamber", at the sentence "Northern wild geese fly south", he suddenly fell to the ground, chewed his tongue and died; Jin Sheng sighed and carved it, he was trapped in Dapi and lost his heir

" Tieshan was filled with hatred. Novelists have reached the point where they are willing to spread rumors to slander novelists.

① Yuan Yuling - 1592-1674, novelist and dramatist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. A native of Wu County, he served as the magistrate of Jingzhou

in the early Qing Dynasty. There are eight kinds of legends and one kind of drama. "The Story of the West Tower" is his masterpiece.

② Gao Lanshu - Gao E (1738? - 1815?), also known as Lanshu, is the sequel to the last forty chapters of "A Dream of Red Mansions"

The writer or editor. He became a Jinshi in the 60th year of Qianlong's reign and served as a bachelor's student at the "Qingshui Yamen" Hanlin Academy, so he was said to be "in trouble all his life".

Under this social atmosphere, most ancient Chinese novelists did not sign their names or signed them with aliases. For example, Shu Liu Shan Fang, Hua Ye Lian Nong, Lan Ling Xiao Xiao Sheng and so on.

"Water Margin" is China's earliest vernacular novel. The characters in it are all bandits. It preaches that "those who are good at killing are heroes" and encourages rebellion. The author dare not sign his name. Is there anything surprising? What?

?

Here we will follow the general theory and identify the author of "Water Margin" as Shi Naian or Luo Guanzhong. So

Let’s first take a look at the life history of these two people.

Unfortunately, there is very little historical information about these two people. Many experts have researched it, and even archaeologists have participated in the excavation. The information obtained , some are ambiguous, and some are denied by critics (so Lu Xun does not believe that Shi Naian exists). The current general theory is:

Shi Naian, named Zian, nicknamed Naian, was originally from Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) or Suzhou, and later moved to Xinghua or Huai'an, Jiangsu.

In the second year of Zhishun in the Yuan Dynasty, he and Liu Ji won the Zhongxin Weibang Jinshi (1331), and got acquainted with Liu Ji. He once served as an official in Qiantang (different versions of what official he was) , but not less than the county magistrate) for two years. Later, he stayed out of office for the rest of his life and determined to write a book.

The dates of birth and death were approximately 1296-1370 (from the second year of Yuanzhen in the Yuan Dynasty to the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty). That is to say: the age of passing the Jinshi examination is about thirty-five years old, the age of becoming an official is from thirty-six to thirty-eight nine years old, and the book was written three years ago More than ten years

. He is seventy-five years old. The place where the book was written is said to be Baijuchang in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province (in the winter of the 26th year of Yuan Zhizheng [1366

], Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng were at war, and Shi Naian moved here to avoid the war. Settled in the west of Baijuchang, now named Shijiaqiao).

Zhang Shicheng was a native of Baiju, Taizhou in the late Yuan Dynasty. The small town of Baiju belonged to Taizhou at that time and now belongs to Yancheng. History books say that Zhang Shicheng was from Taizhou, but now it is said that he was from Yancheng, which is of course acceptable.

In 1353, when heroes were rising in troubled times, the 32-year-old salt dealer Zhang Shicheng and his two younger brothers rose up and proclaimed themselves emperor and king, ruling the southeast for fourteen years. . Zhang Shicheng was a complex figure. He repeatedly rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty, then downgraded the Yuan Dynasty, then rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty, and was finally defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang. He belongs to the category of reckless heroes who "lose to become bandits".

Shi Naian later settled in Baiju, and he and Zhang Shicheng can be said to be fellow villagers. Many works about Shi Naian say that both Zhang Shicheng and Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to invite Shi Naian to serve as an official, which should not be groundless.

There is Shi Naian Cemetery in Baijuchang now, but it is not the original tomb. The original archway and tombstone have long been destroyed. The archway standing in front of the tomb

is the anti-Japanese democratic government in 1943. rebuilt. The study where Shi Naian wrote "Water Margin" in Baiju Town was built in the fifth year of Qingxian Dynasty by Shi Naian's fourteenth generation grandson Shi Chun and turned into the "Shi Family Ancestral Hall". There is a tablet dedicated to the fifteenth generation ancestor Shi

Naian. According to the "News" on November 8, 1928: At the end of the local genealogy volume of the Shi family, there are fragments of Shi Naian's biography. It was written by Wang Daosheng, a Huai'an native, and it only briefly outlines his life. The remaining text is as follows:

Gongtao Zi'an, named Nai'an. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he was given a Jinshi background. After serving as an official in Qiantang for two years, he abandoned his official position and returned home because he was not in line with the powerful people in power.

He wrote behind closed doors, looking back on old news, feeling depressed and frustrated, and ended up hating him. I can't tell you what happened in detail, but I can describe it in detail. I can't see his face in person, I can only see his color. When Gai Gong died, he was seventy-five years old, and I was still young. When he grew up, he got to know his disciple Luo Guanzhong in Fujian. Living together on a journey against each other, we had a great conversation at night by candlelight. Mr. Sir's anecdotes are so touching that some people can't help but express their admiration for them. His works include "Zhiyu", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "The Chronicles of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "The Legend of Sansui Pingyao", and "The Story of the Heroes of the Rivers and Lakes" (note: "Water Margin"

). Every time a draft is completed, it must be proofread with the disciples to make sure it is right.

He gained especially much from his disciple Luo Guanzhong. Alas.

When a hero is born in troubled times, it may be time to use martial arts; when a man of lofty ideals is born in troubled times, even if he has the knowledge of Qinghe, he has to live up to his ambition.

This is the kind of person who has been a secluded person for thousands of years, gathering in a room and crying bitterly. Mr. Huai'an lives in the same room as Yu Qiang. It's too late to cherish the rest of my life

If I haven't taught you personally, it will be a hateful thing every time. Last year, Mr. Shu Yuan, his descendant, moved his coffin to the south and stayed with me for four days. When asked about his family background, he refused to tell. When asked about his ambition, he sighed and lamented again. Asking about his ancestors is similar to what Luo Guanzhong said. Woohoo, the country is in trouble.

People with lofty ideals cannot fulfill their responsibilities and treat them like eagles, dogs and slaves. They will escape from the world and have a high reputation, not to mention when the Yuan Dynasty is in chaos and villains are in charge. Mr.

's life experience can be described as unfortunate. Although the gentleman encountered difficulties, he refused to be humble and humble. He opened his mouth to ask for a recommendation; he closed his door and wrote books to prolong the years. My husband’s determination can be described as pure. ......

① Haiyu - the abbreviation of the idiom "海豕鱼鲁" or "鲁鱼海豕" or "鱼鲁海豕", which refers to similar characters

Misread. "Yizhenghaiyu" means "correcting errors".

The lower part of the epitaph is eroded and cannot be read. Judging from the text, the author is about seventy years younger than Shi Naian and more than thirty years younger than Luo Guanzhong. He also met Luo Guanzhong in Fujian, so the deeds he tells should be credible.

However, according to research by "Water Margin" researchers and archaeologists, this article was found in the Shi family genealogy of the Qing Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty version

and is suspected of forgery. I will record it here.

Local folklore: Shi Naian had contacts with Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the uprising army in the late Ming Dynasty, and his generals. The prototypes of many characters

evolved from the uprising army. of. He saw that the leaders of the anti-Yuan rebels at that time often repeatedly surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty

, so he deliberately made up a sad ending after Song Jiang's surrender to warn those rebel leaders who loved to surrender. It is said that Liu Jizeng

according to Zhu Yuanzhang's order, he went to Xinghua to invite Shi Naian to serve as an official, but Shi Naian politely declined. There is also a legend that Liu Ji brought Shi Naian's works to Zhu Yuanzhang. After reading them, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was illiterate, thought they were "works promoting rebellion" and ordered them to be destroyed.

Public printing was not allowed, so it was not until the Jiajing period 1780 years later that a Jinshi named Zongchen in Xinghua was sent by Chaoyan to Fujian to serve as the "deputy envoy for learning" and responsible for training. Strong men, resist Japanese pirates. The descendants of Luo Guanzhong, who was in Fujian at that time, went to see Zong Chen as a "hometown friend" and asked him to publish the novel (i.e. "Water Margin") in his family collection so that the soldiers and civilians could read it in their spare time to inspire

Inspiring. With the permission of Zongchen, it was printed and published by Fujian publishers under the name "Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness". --This edition

has now been lost, with only fragments of five or eight chapters remaining.

Luo Guanzhong, whose name is originally said to be Mingguan, whose courtesy name is Guanzhong, is also known as Huhaisanren, a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi, and sometimes said to be from Qiantang or Luling

(today's Ji'an, Jiangxi) , his birth and death dates were approximately 1330-1400, and he was seventy-one years old. In other words, Luo Guanzhong was thirty-five years younger than Shi Naian. In the year when Shi Naian became a Jinshi, Luo Guanzhong was just born; in the year when Shi Naian died, Luo Guanzhong

Forty-one years old. Luo Guanzhong has written more works than Shi Naian: "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "The Story of Sansui Pingyao", "The Chronicles of the Sui and Tang Dynasties

", "The Romance of the Remaining Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties", "Fengzhuanglou", There are dozens of titles such as "The Legend of Dragon and Tiger". However, judging from the writing level, it is far different from "Three Kingdoms". It is unlikely to be written by the same person. It may be an early work or a fake one.

Hu Yinglin's "Shaoshi Shanfang Bi Cong" said that Luo Ben (Luo Guanzhong) was a disciple of Shi Naian. Gao Ru's "Baichuan Shuzhi"

said: "One hundred volumes of "Water Margin" of Loyalty and Righteousness were compiled by Shi Naian of Qiantang and compiled by Luo Ben Guanzhong." It means: "Water Margin"

Biography" was written by Shi Naian and edited by Luo Guanzhong. It can also be understood as a collaboration between the two.

After a rough thought, this situation seems unlikely

Shi Naian resigned from office and started writing when he was about forty-two years old. His ideological and writing skills are both high

Has matured; Luo Guanzhong was still a three-year-old child at this time. By the time Luo Guanzhong reaches adulthood, Shi Naian's novel has been written for nearly twenty years and should be finalized. Generally speaking, the level of teachers should always be higher or slightly higher than that of students (of course there are many young people who are more advanced than others), but in fact Luo Guanzhong's level is much higher than Shi Naian: Shi Naian has been writing for more than 30 years

He only compiled one "Water Margin" in his lifetime (there may be other works that have been lost), while Luo Guanzhong wrote ten in his lifetime

Several books; Luo Guanzhong wrote "Three Kingdoms", the war scenes were very vivid, and the geographical locations were mostly consistent with reality, while most of the war scenes in "Water Margin" were based on imagination, and the geographical locations were more realistic It is full of errors and is a veritable "paper talk

; if "Water Margin" had been edited by Luo Guanzhong, the war scenes should have been written better than the current version

These: As a student and participating in "editing", you will never watch the teacher's works full of errors and remain indifferent

right?

There are quite a lot of geographical errors in "Water Margin". There are dozens of common-sense errors alone. I will not list them here.

I will only mention a few of the most common ones. Outstanding:

First, the transportation of birthday packages from Damingfu to Kaifeng is almost a straight line southward. According to Yang Zhi

's words in the book, it is necessary to pass through Huangnigang, Erlong Mountain, Taohua Mountain and other places where strongmen haunted, that is to say, in the south of Daming Mansion. , directly north of Kaifeng Mansion. The last birthday card was robbed in Huangnigang. This Huangnigang, according to today's introduction to Liangshan Tourist Scenic Area

, is located on a loess hill thirty miles south of Liangshan (it is a man-made tourist attraction); according to "Water Margin"

Secondly, Wu Song said goodbye to Chai Jin and Song Jiang in Cangzhou and returned to Qinghe County to visit his brother. However, he passed by Jingyanggang in Yanggu County and killed a tiger. Qinghe County is six to seven hundred miles south of Cangzhou, and Yanggu County is two to three hundred miles south of Qinghe County. The three places are basically in a straight line. It is very possible to pass through Qinghe County from Cangzhou to Yanggu County; but passing through Yanggu County

is like going from Beijing to Jinan but passing through Nanjing. It is a big joke!

Third, Dai Zong set out from Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to deliver a message to Kaifeng. He did not go straight north through Hankou and Xinyang

, but made a big circle to the east. Run to Shandong and pass by Liangshanbo!

Fourth, in order to save Song Jiang, two hundred heroes from Liangshan traveled six thousand miles back and forth from Liangshan to Jiangzhou to rob the execution ground.

When they came back, they also collected He gathered four heroes and nearly a thousand troops, rushed all the way to the state, and returned to Liangshan safely. Such a military deployment may be dared by Wu Yong, a fake military advisor who does not know how to fight. Would Luo Guanzhong, who understands the disputes of the Three Kingdoms, dare to write like this? Don't want to die?

Fifth, in order to save Shi Jin and Lu Zhishen, Liang Shanbo dispatched 7,000 troops up the Yellow River, passing through the capital city of Kaifeng and

Tongguan, a natural barrier that "can be sealed by Niwan", directly to Tongguan. In Huazhou, they also hijacked the "Golden Bell Hanging" of the imperial envoy on the way, rescued Shi Jin and Lu Zhishen, and returned to Liangshan safely, a round trip of three to four thousand miles! --This is simply a unique myth in the history of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign wars! The military power of the Song Dynasty was indeed relatively weak. It was called "Song Nose". It had the smallest territory and was surrounded by powerful enemies. There were many "independent hills" in the country, but it was impossible to let Song Jiang and others "Rampage" to this extent.

Song

If Jiang only brought one, two thousand or seven thousand men and horses, he would be able to "control the world", and the power of the "Great Song" would not be given to Song

It would have been too early It has been annexed by "foreign races".

Would Luo Guanzhong, who was familiar with the hardships of the Three Kingdoms war, write a joke like this?

Although fiction can be used in writing novels, "Water Margin" even fictionalized plots such as controlling the wind and rain, demons and ghosts

and the Nine Heavens Xuannv giving away the Book of Heaven, but the geography is wrong. But it cannot be allowed. It can only be said that the author's geographical knowledge is poor, which is a "flaw" in the novel.

Here, we must also point out that the geographical errors in "Water Margin" are only in the northern region. Later,

Song Jiang's army arrived in Zhejiang to "conquer Fangla" ”, according to the research of Professor Ma Chengsheng, my high school classmate, president of the Zhejiang Water Margin Society, and director of the Chinese Department of Hangzhou Normal University, the author’s geographical description of Zhejiang’s geographical environment, especially the Hangzhou area, Xiao

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Whenever I go to a village, a bridge, a mountain, or a temple, everything is specific, detailed, and accurate. I am really familiar with it, and there is no mistake at all

What does this mean? This shows that the author or compiler of "Water Margin" has never been to the north and is a southerner

And he is from Hangzhou! ——This identity is completely consistent with Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong. When they write stories about the north, they just copy them from the script, and there is nothing they can do about it by misrepresenting them. Only by writing about Zhejiang can they take advantage of the "local people"

and use all the place names as "local people". "Implement" to specific places.

In addition to errors in geography, there are also many errors in climate. Here are two random examples:

After the "Fengxue Mountain Temple", the snow was still falling heavily on the ground, but Lin Chong walked for more than ten days at the end of the severe winter

When he arrived at Liangshan, what he saw was that "mountains are rowing with huge waves, and water is touching the distant sky." He was also able to ride up to Liangshan in a boat rowed by a gangster. Not only did the water in Liangshanbo Lake not freeze this year, but throughout the entire "Water Margin", Liangshanbo Lake never froze! For North China, which is covered with thousands of miles of ice and snow, this is simply an eternal miracle!

Another example is that when Hu Yanzhuo attacked Liangshanbo with a chain of armored horses, it was also winter. Let alone this kind of chain of horses

It was impossible to go to the battlefield (as long as he shot down One horse has to be dragged), on the frozen lake, no horse can

run and will slip. Where is the need for Xu Ning's hook and sickle?

Some people analyze the language and believe that "Water Margin" uses a large number of Shandong and Henan dialects, and based on this they deny that "Water Margin" was written by Schneider who lived in Qiantang. An explanation compiled by An or Luo Guanzhong. In fact, the story of "Water Margin" comes from

the scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the main popular areas of the scripts are Henan, Hebei, and Shandong. The literary language used in the scripts was from that time

's "mandarin", that is, the "capital language" Kaifeng dialect, this is not surprising. There are many dialect words, and it is possible that Shi Naian directly copied the script.

A brief conclusion: Based on the analysis of many materials, "Water Margin" was not written at one time, nor was it written by one person

; from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, there were many Popular literature writers have enriched and modified this novel, among which Shi Naian may be the one who "summed up the success" and made the greatest contribution.

The TV series "Water Margin" indicated that the original authors were Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong, which aroused doubts among many viewers: The author of "Water Margin" was not clearly Shi Naian One person, how did he become Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong?

It’s a long story.

During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the most popular version of "Water Margin" was the Guanhuatang version, namely Jin Shengtan's Commentary Version (seven

ten chapters), which was titled The author of the signature is Shi Naian.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China and before the "Cultural Revolution"

, the most popular version of "Water Margin" was the compiled version by People's Literature Publishing House, and the author still named it was It's

Shi Naian. At the same time, in the discussions of many literary history works, the copyright of "Water Margin" is also attributed to Shi Naian. Therefore, for a long time, the view that "the author of "Water Margin" is Shi Naian" has left a deep impression on people. In fact, there have always been many opinions about the author of "Water Margin", and "written by Shi Naian" is just one of them. Putting aside those absurd statements (for example, the title of the Liguangtang publication of "Water Margin" is "Compiled by Yao Zong

Zhenguo Fanfu"), in the Ming and Qing dynasties, in "Water Margin" In terms of version, according to the literati's notes and bibliographic records

, there are three main versions: (1) Luo Guanzhong wrote in Lang Ying's "Seven Revised Drafts" and Tian Rucheng's "West Lake"

Traveling Records", Wang Qi's "Tongkao of Xuwen", "Collection of the History of Barnyard", Xu Zichang's "Manlu of Chongzhai", Ruan Kuisheng's "Tea

Yu Kehua" and other books , as well as the records in Qian Zeng's "Yeguo Bibliography".

(2) Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong were co-authored by Gao Ru, and found in the records of Baichuan Shuzhi, "Water Margin" "Jiajing

Edition" (eight chapters of the remaining eight chapters collected by the Beijing Library) This edition), the preface of Tiandu Foreign Minister, the title of Yuan Wuya edition, as well as the preface of Li Zhuowu in Rong Yutang edition, the preface of Wuhu Old Man in Yingxue Caotang edition, and the Da Di Yu Ren in Mustard Seed Garden edition sequence narrative.

(3) Shi Naian's writing appears in the Xiongfeiguan and Guanhuatang editions of "Water Margin" as title numbers, as well as Hu Yinglin's "Shaoshi Shanfang Bi Cong" and Xu Fzuo's "Talks of the Elders of Sanjia Village", Xu Shupi's "History of Knowledge", Zhou Hui's "Jinling Trivia"

, Qian Xiyan's "The Play", Liu Shiyi's "Wanyixuan New Knowledge", Cao Yuke's "Guo Liangshan" "Records of Juyi" by Wang Shizhen, "Records of Juyi" by Wang Shizhen, "Records of the Scarf Box" by Jin Wei, "Records of a Glimpse" by Liang Yusheng, "Records of Drama" by Jiao Xun, "Notes of Cabinet Xuan" by Li Chaoqiong and other books

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Contained.

Which statement is the most reliable or relatively reliable?

Let’s first look at the records of literati.

The first theory was first seen in "Seven Revised Drafts" by Lang Ying (1487-1566). Lang Ying was from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty.

The second theory was first seen in Gao Ru's "Books of Baichuan". The year of birth and death of Gao Ru is unknown, but there is a preface by Gao Ru in the 19th year of Jiajing (1540) in the first volume of Baichuan Shuzhi. It can be seen that he was born at the same time as Lang Ying and was also from the Jiajing period. The third theory was first seen in "Shaoshi Shanfang Bi Cong" written by Hu Yinglin (1551-1602). Hu Yinglin was from the Wanli period. Therefore, judging from the time when they appeared respectively, the first statement and the second statement are undoubtedly earlier than the third statement.

Let’s look at the title of the version of "Water Margin".

The first version is not found in any existing version of the inscription. Most versions with the second version as the inscription appear in the Jiajing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty. Two versions of this theory appeared in the Chongzhen period of the late Ming Dynasty; therefore, in terms of time, the third version is also later than the first and second versions.

Does this mean that the first and second statements are more reliable, and the third statement is the least reliable?

Not necessarily.

As far as the first statement is concerned, it is probably the least reliable. We know that Luo Guanzhong is the author of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". At this point, there is no dispute. The two novels "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" do not use language

at all in terms of form. The former uses simple classical Chinese. The latter comes out in popular vernacular. It is really difficult to win people's approval by saying that they are written by the same author.

Although there is a difference between the second statement and the third statement in that they appeared earlier and later, they have the same thing:

Shi Naian is the author or author For one, they actually support each other. Therefore, from this perspective, they are all relatively reliable.

The second theory, that Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong are the same authors, has certain truth. But the shortcoming is that it does not explain clearly what kind of cooperative relationship they have: among the two, who is the leader and who is the second? Judging by common sense,

it can't be exactly 50 to 50. It's not that coincidental.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were also people (for example, Xu Weiren, the author of the inscription and postscript of "Water Margin One Hundred and Eight Generals") who implemented the division of labor between Shi and Luo

The first seventy chapters are given to Shi Naian, and the last fifty chapters are given to Luo Guanzhong. This is just a kind of unfounded guess

and it appeared too late: only after the 120-chapter and 70-chapter editions of "Water Margin" became popular.

Maybe it sprouts in people's minds.

To understand their cooperative relationship more accurately, the only way at present is to examine the Ming Dynasty's "Water Margin"

The author's inscription in Gao Ru's "Hundred Rivers Chronicles": " "Shi Naian's edition, edited by Luo Guanzhong"; "Jiajing edition", Tiandu Foreign Minister

preface edition, Yuan Wuya's edition: "Shi Naian's collection, compiled by Luo Guanzhong".

The so-called "Deben" is a common expression in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. That is, the "authentic copy". "Collection" means "writing"

. This shows that Shi Naian is the author and the person who wrote it. The so-called "editing" can be interpreted as "editing", which has the same meaning as "editing". This is equivalent to saying that Luo Guanzhong is the editor, or organizer, or processor.

Therefore, firstly, Shi Naian’s copyright should be unequivocally confirmed; secondly, Luo Guanzhong participated in the creation process

and he is Shi Naian’s collaborator , should be treated fairly.

Based on the above understanding, I believe that, in a narrow sense, Shi Naian is the author of "Water Margin"; in a broad sense,

"Water Margin" is the author of Shi Naian , Luo Guanzhong's collaboration product.

In short, the TV series "Water Margin" indicates that the original authors are Shi and Luo, which is well-founded and there are no mistakes that can be pointed out.

Excerpted from "Literary and Historical Knowledge" Issue 4, 1998