中国古代小说探源论略

中国古代小说的起源问题，是中国古代小说研究的关键性论题之一。该论题在学术界长期争论不休，主要论说有：黄帝说、稗官说、史传说、唐宋说、诸子说、神话说、休息说、方士说。20世纪末学术界又提出“多源说”。此说突破了传统的思维定式，对中国古代小说的起源和萌芽提出新的见解，在当今学术界中，引起较大反响。本文用对比论证的方法进一步阐述“多源说”的合理性和科学性。

A Brief Discussion on the Hunting of the Origin of Chinese Ancient Novels

As one of the essential topics on the research of Chinese ancient novels, the origin of them has been a vexed problem in academic circle for a long time. The main theories include the Yellow Emperor Theory, the Baiguan?Theory, the History Biography Theory, the Tang and Song Dynasty Theory, the Zhuzi Theory, the Myth Theory, the Rest Theory, and the Alchemist Theory. At the end of 20th century, the Multi- source Theory was advanced in academic circle, which has broke through the traditional thinking formulary with a new sight on the origin and seed of Chinese ancient novels, and aroused much attention in current academic circle. This article will take a further discussion about the rational and scientific features of the Multi - source Theory by using the method of contrast reasoning.