兆示與應驗：論夢兆類故事的敘事模式與應驗心理－以《太平廣記》「夢」類故事為主

夢的信仰由來已久，在傳統文化中，夢被視為具有溝通鬼神，傳達預示的功能。本文稱這類型具有預示功能的故事為夢兆類故事。仔細觀察夢兆類故事可以發現，故事中的人物大都「信夢為真」、「依夢而行」且結局幾乎都是如夢所示，故往往呈現出「前有兆示，後必應驗」的敘事模式。何以「前有兆示，後必應驗」？歷來的研究鮮少討論到夢的靈驗性是如何被體察與構築出來的？本文嘗試從原始思維及敘事語言的角度，以《太平廣記》「夢」類故事為主要討論對象，分別從以下四個部份做討論：一、從夢兆與現實間的神秘互滲，討論古人「視夢為真」的原始思維；二、從夢做為一種「後向預言」敘事說明前兆後驗的必然性。三、從夢兆語言的歧義性與模糊性說明夢兆何以總是獲得應驗；四、從解夢者洞悉人性，占解出符合未來情境或是貼近夢者心理的例證，說明應驗的心理是憑主體見效的，信者恆信。經由以上的討論可以揭示出：夢兆之所以靈驗與相信者的原始思維、夢的後向預言敘事及夢兆的語言修辭運用皆有所關係。

關鍵字

《太平廣記》；後向預言；夢兆；模糊性修辭

並列摘要

Dreams have long been regarded as a means of communicating with ghosts and spirits or conveying omens. These predictive stories are here referred to as stories of dream divination. It can be seen that most of the characters in these stories believe dreams are true and follow their dreams, with endings almost as shown in the dreams. Therefore, the narrative mode of ＂once there is a previous sign, it will come true afterward＂ is often presented. Since historical research rarely discusses how the spirituality of dreams is understood and constructed, this article discusses the following four parts from the perspective of original thinking and narrative language, using dream stories from the Tai Ping Guang Ji. 1. Discuss the early understanding of ＂regarding dreams as true＂ from the mysterious connections between dreams and reality. 2. Explain the narrative inevitability of ＂once there is a previous sign, it will come true afterwards,＂ working as a retrodiction. 3. Explain the ambiguity and vagueness of dream sign language as the reason why dreams are often seem to come true. 4. Use examples where the dream interpreter's insight into human nature causes the interpretations of dream fit the future situation or approach the dreamer's mentality to explain how the effectiveness of fulfillment psychology is based, and why believers always believe. This discussion reveals that the effectiveness of dream signs is related to the believer' s original thinking, the retrodictive narrative of the dream, and the rhetoric language of dream signs.