莺莺传

《莺莺传》，又称《崔莺莺传》、《会真记》，唐朝诗人元稹著，是《唐人传奇》中的一个篇章。本文因女主人公崔氏小名莺莺而得名。“会真”是指“遇到仙女”，意指崔莺莺有天仙美貌。此篇章为古典杂剧《西厢记》前身。

本事

剧情在于张生对崔莺莺一见钟情，莺莺碍于礼教，拒绝了张生的求爱，而侍女红娘在其身边劝解，两人成功相恋后，如胶似漆，后来张生赴京赶考，张生说自己不能压住她的妖，怕像周幽王一般引致祸端，便与其断绝联系。莺莺只能自怨自艾。各自婚配后，张生回京，对崔莺莺情愫又起，以兄长的身份让崔莺莺丈夫催她相见，而莺莺却久唤不出。几天过去了，张生要走了，崔莺莺作诗送别“还将旧时意，怜取眼前人。”

莺莺传是唐人传奇中最著名的一篇，故事广泛流传，北宋以降，士大夫“无不举此以为美谈，至于倡优女子，皆能调说大略”。元代王实甫据此改编成杂剧《西厢记》。

禁书

王实甫根据《会真记》所写的《西厢记》曾被明清朝廷列为禁书。小说《红楼梦》中有贾宝玉与林黛玉在大观园偷看禁书《会真》，即是《西厢记》。

故事主角的原型考证

宋代苏轼认为张生是元稹的好友张籍。王铚在《〈传奇〉辩证》考证张生为元稹本人，并认为莺莺为元稹姨母郑氏与永年县尉崔鹏之女崔氏，即元稹的表妹。

鲁迅在《中国小说史略》中说：“《莺莺传》者，……元稹以张生自寓，述其亲历之境。”

陈寅恪从元稹诗集一首《曹十九舞绿钿》，假定“曹十九”是“曹九九”的讹误，又说“九九”二字古音与莺鸟鸣声相近，认为崔莺莺应是名叫“曹九九”的“酒家胡”，“此女姓曹名九九，殆亦出于中亚种族”，因“中亚胡人善于酿酒”，得出曹九九是“酒家胡”的结论。但亦有持不同观点，卞孝萱在《元稹年谱》中指出，“‘工于投机取巧之才人’元稹，怎么忽然蠢起来，把一个社会地位低下的‘酒家胡’，说成自己的姨妹？”

The Biography of Ying-ying (traditional Chinese: 鶯鶯傳; simplified Chinese: 莺莺传; pinyin: Yīngyīng zhuàn), also translated as The Tale of Yingying or The Story of Yingying, by Yuan Zhen, is a Tang dynasty chuanqi tale. It tells the story of a relationship conflicted between love and duty between a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old student. It is considered to be one of the most well-known works of fiction in Chinese literature.

Role in history of Chinese literature

Yuan Zhen pioneered psychological exploration and possibilities of plot development. His tale mixed narration, poetry and letters from one character to another to demonstrate emotion rather than describe it, making it in one sense an epistolary novel. The work was also innovative because its characters, in the terms suggested by E.M. Forster, are "round" rather than "flat", that is, unlike the characters in the earlier zhiguai or zhiren tales, are not built around a single idea or quality, but have the power to surprise readers. Recent critic Gu Mingdong suggests that with this tale, Chinese fiction "came of age", and the story provided themes for later plays, stories, and novels.

Yingying's Biography was one of three Tang dynasty works particularly influential in the development of the caizi-jiaren (scholar and beauty novels).

Among other works which it inspired was the Romance of the Western Chamber.

Plot

During the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty there lived a young man called Zhang, who was handsome and gentle in nature with a remarkable sense of restraint. Whilst his peers behaved improperly with women, Zhang remained steadfast in his principles, claiming he had encountered no one so beautiful that they would tempt his resolve. By the time he reached his early 20's, Zhang was still a virgin.

When Zhang is living in a rented dwelling in a Buddhist compound, he becomes acquainted with Mrs. Cui, a widow who briefly stops at the compound on her way to the nearby city, Pu-zhou. Zhang and Mrs. Cui determine that Mrs. Cui, as well as her son and daughter, are distantly related to Zhang. Mrs. Cui and her entourage make their way to Pu-zhou, but find themselves in danger when the troops stage a mutiny, plunging the city into chaos. Zhang, having friendly connections with some influential men in the city, arranges a guard be posted at Mrs. Cui's lodgings. Because Zhang's actions ensured the safety of Mrs. Cui and her group, she holds a banquet to express her gratitude.

Mrs. Cui invites her children to thank Zhang for the kindness he has done for the family. The daughter, Cui Yingying, initially refuses, and only joins the family when her mother demands she pay her respects to the man who saved her life. Yingying appears deliberately unkempt and behaves in a most petulant and churlish manner, ignoring Zhang's attempts to engage her in conversation and taking leave as soon as the banquet concludes. Nevertheless, she appears gloriously beautiful to Zhang and he is infatuated, desperate to confess his love to Yingying. There is no indication whatsoever that he has loving parents, siblings, or anyone in his life who is more to him than a mere acquaintance. He is immediately infatuated with this young woman who is so different from the young women who entertained his companions in the capital.