A Study on Su shi’s Record about Ghost Zigu(子姑神)
在〈子姑神記〉裡與蘇軾溝通的魂靈‘子姑’是擁有具體身世的故人,並且是具有一 定才學與素養的婦女。她是作為冥界的一個冤魂,擁有通古曉今、預測未來的能力。子姑 是朝代的延續過程中流傳非常廣泛的廁神,這位廁神的地位是其他廁神無法比擬的,她出 現之後,其他廁神的地位就被取代,在相當長的一段時間信仰都十分活躍。在記錄並描寫 子姑的眾多作家中,蘇軾就是很特別的一位,在北宋時期他的詩文記錄上子姑神是名實相 符的幽魂;她的名字叫何媚,是從冥界下來跟生者溝通的冤魂。通過“扶乩”上出現的子 姑神也許到處都有,但是蘇軾當時遇見的魂靈是有真實身份的一個幽魂。
There are six volumes of Sushi蘇軾 that has records related to Zigushen子姑神. Among them, 〈Zigushenji〉 is the record about Sushi’s observation of a shamanic ritual at a house in Huangzhou. Here, Sushi had a conversation with a spirit named Zigushen, and recorded the details of the conversation. This paper discusses three main points focusing on Sushi’s records. The first point is the discussion of the credibility of his story by comparing with five other works of his. The second point is the credibility analysis of the contents of the conversation with the spirit. The spirit claimed that she was a woman name Hemei during the Tang dynasty. And she described events during and after her life to Sushi in detail. She also wrote several poems after the conversation with Sushi. The third point is about how to explain this phenomenon if her words were truthful, and why Sushi slightly doubted the phenomenon. Considering these points, this work concludes as follows. Not all Zigushens in ancient Chinese literatures are Hemei, but the one in Sushi’s work is. The concreteness of the conversation and the phrases from the poems support the idea that it is not fictional. Modern Chinese scholars treat these ancient records as literary works. They argue that these fictions are of intellectuals expressing their concerns through ghost stories.However, this view is based on materialistic thinking. We can understand the mental world of ancient Chinese people, if these stories are treated, not just as literary works, but as records. There are thousands of similar stories in 《Taipingguangji太平廣記》, an ancient Chinese literature. Jiyun紀昀 of the Qing dynasty has also written many stories about shamanic rituals. His writings are relatively objective and detailed. This paper analyzes contents of Sushi’s work with Jiyun’s writings. Of course, not all phenomena of shamanic rituals are believable. Spirits can be deceitful, even when the conversation coincides with the reality. It is for this reason that Sushi was doubtful toward the Zigushen phenomenon.