剪灯新话

《剪灯新话》是一本由元末明初的瞿佑所撰的传奇小说集，全书分为四卷及附录一卷，共有二十一篇传奇小说，该书多叙艳情及灵怪故事，对当时的社会百态亦颇有着墨，于艺术描写上婉曲多致，文辞典雅华美，为明代小说的杰出作品，对后世文言小说引响深远，如李昌祺的《剪灯余话》、朝鲜小说开山之作《金鳌新话》，以及越南首部传奇小说《传奇漫录》等，皆为受该书所启发的仿作。

历史

《剪灯新话》继承了六朝志怪和唐人传奇的传统，于洪武十一年已有抄本，永乐十五年，瞿佑在保安重校《剪灯新话》，在当时甚受欢迎，甚至成为禁书失佚。李时勉上书要求禁毁《剪灯新话》，以免“邪说异端日新月盛，惑乱人心”。《剪灯新话》遂于明英宗正统七年遭朝廷禁毁，是明代第一部遭禁的小说。然而朝廷禁而不绝，《剪灯新话》以不同的方式在民间流传。1917年董康据日本藏本翻刻。

影响

永乐十七年，李昌祺仿拟《剪灯新话》创作了《剪灯余话》。邵景詹写《觅灯因话》，此三书合称“三话”。周礼亦撰《剪灯余话》，与李昌祺所撰小说同名。《剪灯新话》中的〈金凤钗记〉被凌蒙初改作《初刻拍案惊奇》卷23的《大姐游魂完宿愿，小妹病起续前缘》，又如《李将军错认舅，刘氏女诡从夫》则改自〈翠翠传〉。

《剪灯新话》亦对汉字文化圈大有影响，如日本上田秋成的《雨月物语》，朝鲜国金时习的《金鳌新话》，安南国阮屿的《传奇漫录》等。

Jiandeng Xinhua (剪燈新話, lit. New Stories Told While Trimming the Wick or New Stories After Snuffing the Lamp; 1378) is an early Ming dynasty collection of Chinese stories by Qu You (瞿佑). The book consist of 21 stories in 4 volumes. It was succeeded by a second book Jiandeng Xinhua wai er zhong.

Background and precursors

Jiandeng Xinhua came from a long line of Chinese story collections that goes back to the end of the Han dynasty. Notable Chinese story collections that date from at least the 3rd century include: Bowuzhi, Soushen Ji, Xijing Zaji, Lieyi Zhuan, A New Account of the Tales of the World, You Ming Lu, Shi Yi Ji, Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, Taiping Guangji, Yijian Zhi, etc.

Some of the most famous Chinese and East Asian folk or fairy tales, such as Li Ji slays the Giant Serpent, Renshi zhuan, The World Inside a Pillow, The Governor of Nanke, The Tale of Li Wa, and Hongxian can be found in these collections.

Influence

Jiandeng Xinhua, a major success at the time, proved to be highly influential later on, as it directly inspired some of the most popular fictional literature in other places. It became the model for the first fiction in Korean literature, Kŭmo sinhwa, also written in the Chinese language, and it was also the model for the Vietnamese collection Truyền kỳ mạn lục, and the Japanese Otogi Bōko and Ugetsu Monogatari, etc.