《單刀會》為元代關漢卿所作歷史劇,是一部經典名著。而且七百年來其中第四折一直盛演不衰。在元代雜劇之中,這是唯一的例證。其第四折最著名的唱段為【雙調•新水令】,但有一處異文,「大丈夫心烈」、「大丈夫心別」、「大夫心別」均各有依據,引起了爭論。應何去何從,始終未進行認真的探討。本人就此問題,提出了具體處理的意見。相信對於研究關漢卿,對於舞臺演出,都有其學術價值,也解決了藝術實踐方面的疑慮和困惑。鑑於近百年來直接、間接捲進這一論爭的戲曲專家頗多,如王季思、吳曉鈴、羅錦堂、隋樹森、王學奇、寧宗一、吳國欽等是,所以我認為比較徹底地談一下,還是必要的。
Dandao hui (The Feast of the Single Sword) is a historical drama written by Guan Hanqing (c. 1240-c.1320) of the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368), and a noted classic. For the past seven hundred years, the fourth act of this play has especially been widely performed unceasingly. This is the only case in the genre of Yuan dynasty zaju (northern music drama). The most famous singing section in the fourth act is the ”shuangdiao, xinshuiling” where variation of lyric characters appear, namely ”dazhangfu xinlie” (a real man with heart fiery), ”dazhangfu xinbie” (a real man with heart different), and ”dafu xinbie” (high official with heart different). All three versions have their own respective bases and hence the controversy. To date there still lacks a careful and thorough examination as to how we should deal with this discrepancy.This article focuses on this issue and proposes concrete resolution. It is hoped that this discussion here with required scholarly value will enrich the study on Guan Hanqing and the stage performance of this play, further resolving puzzles in artistic practice.Over the past one hundred years, many experts on the traditional Chinese theater got involved in this very controversy of different characters, directly or indirectly. To name a few, Wang Jisi, Wu Xiaoling, Luo Jintang, Sui Shusen, Wang Xueqi, Ning Zongyi, Wu guoqin, etc. For this reason I consider it necessary to discuss this very issue in great detail.