摘要
有「第一奇書」美譽的《金瓶梅》，自十六世紀末問世以來，如驚雷乍起，其文學與文化內涵是歷代大家關注與研究的重點。然而，透過宗教的角度切入，藉以探討金瓶梅之文學性質的研究稍嫌不足。也因此，本論文以宗教關照文學，以《金瓶梅詞話》中的宗教為焦點，希望藉由承載形而上宗教的形而下宗教人物之敘事功能，深刻了解宗教人物在《金瓶梅詞話》中所深化的全書意旨與建構的美學樣態。 本論文從《金瓶梅詞話》中的宗教人物分類開始，將宗教人物依照其在書中的情節特點與作用，分為顯見欲望和揭示命運二類，以映照全書欲望與命運交織的省思。再分別以宗教人物對人物塑造的影響、對世情百態的展示、在結構布局的作用三大面向深入探討宗教人物的敘述功能：人物塑造以協助身份轉換、描寫外貌儀態、顯見內心世界、映照人物個性、展示命運走向，說明宗教人物對主要人物形象立體化的幫助；世情百態則是以宗教人物為橋梁，從宗教的財色腐敗、婦女的精神世界、男性的政治網絡，帶領讀者照見既廣且深的世態，並顯現其中的炎涼、罪惡與聚散；結構布局以建立架構、創造推力、完成收束分別說明建立情節的層層架構，提供構築事件場景、創造事件條件、干預改變命運的推力，幫助人物離場、事件落幕以收束。最後，透過重複、悖謬、諷刺、點睛四個寫作特色，探討宗教人物所營造的敘事美學。
並列摘要
The Plum in the Golden Vase, or Jin Ping Mei, has been praised as the first of the four-classic masterpiece since its publication in 16th century and has been the focus of the critics in their times. However, probing into the work from the viewpoint of religious, a popular and intriguing perspective though, is not clear enough to explore the cultural meaning of the work. The study attempts to shed the light of narrative analysis on the religious context, by understanding the narrative function of the religious characters, which embodies the concept of religion and function as the narrative motivation, of the work. The study defines the religious characters in the Plum in the Golden Vase into two major kinds, one mirroring the desire and one revealing the destiny; that is the design of the author of the Plum in the Golden Vase to point out the theme of the work, a reflection on desire and destiny. The narrative motivation of the religious characters function in three ways: to create character, to represent the secular world, and to push the structural development. The character creation follows the steps of identity shifting, appearance description, inner world revealing, establish the character, and the final path to their own destiny, showing the way the author managed to create characters by borrowing the religious element. The religious characters also are windows to observe the secular world, showing the readers the sin and corruption of the world via the fall of faith, the inner world of female, and the political network of males. The structure of the work further provides spaces and environment for the characters to create the event and to cumulate the motivation to expand the plot, change their destinies, and fulfil their narrative function. In the end, the study concludes the style of repetition, paradox, irony, and highlight are tools utilized by the author to build the aesthetic atmosphere of the work.