《夷坚志》报应类故事研究 = Research on the Retributive Stories in Yijian Zhi

Abstract

This study explores stories with respect to Song dynasty belief about retribution in the Yijian Zhi, which is a zhiguai collection compiled by Hong Mai (1123-1202). Based on the analysis of Hong Mai?s principles of compilation, the social and religious backgrounds of the story-providers and the literary styles of texts, the study focuses on the prevailing idea about retribution among the populace and the elite in the Song Dynasty as reflected in the Yijian Zhi. With the spread of various religions and the social changes in Song Dynasty, the doctrine of karmic retribution demonstrated in the Yijian zhi has its own characteristics. Not only the moral and social principles, but also the relationship between the living and deities from Buddhism, Daoism and popular religion is displayed in these stories. Because the idea of retribution is closely related to people?s imagination of the afterlife, it is also necessary to reconstruct Song people?s worldview of underworld, which is characteristic of trial, judge and punishment, by analyzing the stories about the underworld in the Yijian Zhi. The ways of atonement and religious rituals are also considered as a key to understanding their beliefs about retribution. Ultimately, this research aims to analyze the retributive stories in Yijian zhi from the three main aspects, as well as to examine the religious and social environment in which these stories were born.