「不笑不足以為道」— 中國近世的笑文化研究

「笑」作為一種情緒的表現，不僅充斥於生活之中，在文學和藝術方面亦常可見其獨特的身影。中國文學歷來將這類展現詼諧滑稽面貌的創作，區隔於主流之外，視其為難登大雅之堂的小道末流。因此，即便「笑」的身影無所不在，中國的文士卻多半視其為閒暇之餘的消遣，而鮮少給予其足夠的重視。然而，隨著世人對於笑聲的喜愛日益增長，有識者警覺到若是不對其有所規範，則原本基於善意所產生的笑聲恐會走向歧途，甚至導致惡果的產生。於是便為「笑」設下了「合乎大雅」的規範，建立起名為「雅謔」的觀點。相較於嚴肅正經的正統文學，詼諧滑稽的小道文學雖被視為異端，但因為笑聲始終都在，反而凸顯了其與眾不同的魅力與易入人心的價值。其後隨著歷史的更迭，笑聲在一次次與時代的對話和與正統的反抗中，積累形成了中國近世的笑文化。不同於西方文化關於「笑」的多重聲音，中國文士因為一貫的儒式教育，對於「笑」的觀點相對集中，匯聚於謔而不虐的寬厚人心和不肆意謾罵的道德修養。如此表現也反應在文學作品的創作之中，像是歷代不衰的笑話書編撰、以滑稽聞名的章回小說《西遊記》，或是由近世跨入近代的新作家於報紙刊物上發表的遊戲筆墨等，類似種種諧趣作品的創作堆疊形成了中國近世豐富的笑文化。西方文化已有相對應的幽默理論，中國文學應該也有屬於自己的笑文化傳承。因此，筆者欲借用老子曾說的「不笑不足以為道」一句，取其字面含意，以此說明在中國近世的笑文化中，若是不發出笑聲，便無法知曉其中關於「笑」的表現與哲思。

關鍵字

《西遊記》；笑話書序跋；雅謔；笑的文化

並列摘要

As an expression of emotions, "laughing" is not only full of life, but also unique in literature and art. Chinese literature has always marked off the humorous writing outside the mainstream literature, and regarded it as the extremity of elegance. Therefore, even "laughing" is omnipresent, Chinese writer mostly regard it as the amusement, but rarely give it enough attention. However, as the everyone's love of laughter is growing, some people are aware that if they don't regulate the laughter, it will go astray and even lead to the production of bad results. So they has set up the standard of elegance, which be named "Ya Niue". Compared to serious orthodox literature, the humorous writing is regarded as heresy. But because laughter is always there, its value of distinctive charm and easy-to-reach heart is being highlight. With the growth of history, laughter accumulate constantly in dialogue with the times and in the orthodox rebellion. Then laughter finally formed a laughing culture in early China. Because of consistent Confucian education, Chinese writers have concentrated opinions for the "laughing". It's not only different from the multiple voices of Western culture about "laughing", but also converge on the generous heart and the gentle morality. This performance also reflects in the creation of literary works. Like the joke book compilation, 《The Journey to The West》, or the game written by the new writer who has entered the modern era in the publication. The creation of these interesting works accumulate become a rich laughing culture in early China. Western culture has a corresponding humor theory. Chinese literature should also have its own cultural traditional of laughter. I would like to refer to the Laozi's statement：" No laugh cannot be known as Tao ". Then take its literal meaning to explain：if you don’t laugh, you can’t know the expression and philosophical about "laughing".