中國歷代偶戲考述（上）

對於偶戲之研究，前輩時賢雖有所論，然尚未有對其相關文獻作全面考述者。本文擷取諸家之長，參以己見，以歷代文獻資料爲主要憑藉，對中國偶戲作整體性的探討，鳥瞰其發展之脈絡，並就諸家爭議之處嘗試作較合理之判定。中國偶戲三種類型，依時代排序爲傀儡戲、影戲、布袋戲。論其起源與形成，最早係先秦之木偶喪葬俑。兩漢傀儡不僅承前代用於喪家樂，還用於嘉會歌舞，粗具「戲」的意義。北齊以後，以滑稽詼諧導引傀儡演出歌舞雜技，是爲傀儡百戲時期。至隋煬帝「水飾」而達顛峰，並進入演出故事的傀儡戲劇時期。歷來傳說傀儡之起源，無論唐人所信之西漢初陳平以傀儡扮飾女樂之「秘計」說，或西晉人偽託之《列子》所載周穆王偃師說，就其傀儡製作技術而言，皆有其可能。至唐代，傀儡進一步用爲說唱之憑藉，乃至已能演出「超諸百戲」的戲劇或戲曲。至兩宋，偶戲登峰造極。就偶戲而言，傀儡戲於前代水傀儡、懸絲傀儡外，又增加杖頭傀儡、肉傀儡、藥發傀儡。除藥發傀儡外，餘四種都能調弄百戲，搬演戲劇、戲曲。兩宋又有「影戲」，影戲的淵源形成也尚未有定論，可能直接模擬唐代俗講的畫軸和唐代用來說唱的傀儡戲。元代傀儡世家朱明藝術修養已達到人偶合一的程度。明代懸絲傀儡有腳色之別，宮中水傀儡百戲之外，另有一人執鑼在旁宣白題目，替傀儡登答贊導喝采。清代「大台宮戲」由水傀儡改爲杖頭傀儡。元代影戲有紙影。明代稱影戲爲燈戲。清代影戲由於諸王將軍之喜好，甚爲發達，流布區域廣遠。至於布袋戲的源生，比較合理的情況當是：乾隆間，安徽鳳陽人的「肩擔戲」傳入江蘇揚州，流播頗廣，其流入福建泉州者，以其「掌中弄巧」稱掌中戲，俗稱「布袋戲」。

關鍵字

偶戲；傀儡戲；影戲；布袋戲

並列摘要

Researches on ouxi (puppet play) by scholars of former and present time are many, however there still lacks a thorough examination of related literature and documents. This article does a complete investigation of the Chinese puppet play, drawing merits from existing scholarships and adding my own views with documents and materials through the ages as major basis. It views the route of historical developments of puppet play and attempts to reasonably resolve certain controversial issues.The three types of Chinese puppet play in time sequence are kuilei xi (puppet show), yingxi (shadow show) and budai xi (sack figure show), respectively. Judging its origin and forming, the earliest appearance was the wooden figures buried with the dead in funerals during early Qin dynasty (221-207 B.C.). During the Han dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.) puppets were used not only in funeral music continuing the previous practice, but also in singing and dancing on auspicious occasions with a rough shape of ”plays.” After the Northern Qi (557-581), puppets were lead into performing singing, dancing and vaudeville with a comical tone, thus the era of puppet variety show. This phase reached a peak at the ”Shuishi” (water ornament) during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty (r. 605-617), entering the era of puppet play with stories performed. Concerning legends about the origin of puppets, either the ”Secret Scheme” theory that Chen Ping (?-178 B.C.) in early Western Han used puppets to disguise as female musicians, believed by the Tang (618-907) people, or the King Mu of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1027-256 B.C.) ”Cease Army” theory recorded in Liezi forged by the people of Western Jin (265-317), judging from the making techniques of the puppets both theories are plausible.During the Tang dynasty, puppets further became the basis of speaking and singing, performing plays and operas ”exceeding variety show.” The Song dynasty (960-1279) saw the summit of puppet play. Other than water puppets (shui kuilei) and hanging silk puppets (xuansi kuilei) from the preceding dynasties, there added cane top puppets (zhangtou kuilei), flesh puppets gunpowder (roukuilei huoyao), and medicinal initiated puppets (yaofa kuilei). Except the last item all could toy with variety show and performing plays and opera. In Song there was also ”shadow show” with its origin not yet settled in argument, possibly directly imitating the painting scrolls in the Tang dynasty Buddhist temple ”story telling” and the puppet show used in prosimetric performances during the Tang. The Yuan dynasty (1260-1368) puppet master Zhu Ming with such artistic cultivation reached the stage of unification of himself and the puppet. During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) the hanging silk puppets were divided into different roles and the palace water puppets, besides performing variety show, featuring one person holding a gong by the side announcing dialogue and theme, applauding puppets' staging performances. The ”Grand Stage Palace Play” (datai gongxi) of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) replaced water puppets with cane top puppets. Shadow show of the Yuan contained paper shadow and it was called lantern show during the Ming. In the Qing dynasty, due to the various princes and generals' liking of shadow show it was very prosperous and spread to a wide area.As for the origin of sack figure show, reasonable situation should be that during the Qianlong reign (1736-1796) the ”Shoulder Load Show” (jiandan xi) of Fengyang in Anhui was introduced into Yangzhou in Jiangsu. With its wide spreading, those who moved to Quanzhou in Fujian, for the sake of its ”toying cleverly in a palm,” called it ”show in a palm” commonly called ”sack figure show.”