The Image of Fox in Japanese and Chinese Literature -focusing on folk tales in Muromachi period and “Tai Pin Guan Chi”.-

室町時代至江戶初期正是民智初開之際，平民們對於知識獲取的渴望促成了諸多新文藝興起，其中一項便是室町時代物語。室町時代物語的故事架構簡單，並多配上插圖，使其成了當時不分男女老幼皆樂在其中的讀物。而室町時代物語的眾多故事中，「木幡狐」、「玉藻前」、「玉水物語」等狐狸故事更是膾炙人口，至今仍耳熟能詳。 另一方面，於北宋成書的《太平廣記》集結了漢代至宋代之野史、小說，向來有小說家淵海之美譽。其所收錄五百卷故事中，狐竟能以動物之軀名列單一分類項目，並占了將近九卷之分量，獨占所有動物故事數量之鰲頭，狐狸故事受青睞之程度不在話下。 然而，不論是室町時代物語或是《太平廣記》，故事中的狐狸既是化人又是作怪，牠們和人們之間有著多采多姿的交流，又有著許多恩怨情仇，在時代的遞嬗中展現了各種迥異面貌。因此本研究冀以室町時代物語與《太平廣記》中的狐狸故事為中心，透過檢討故事中的情節設定及表現手法，以深入推衍中日文學中狐狸形象之差異及造成之原因。 室町時代物語由於成立時正值戰亂頻傳之際，故事中的狐狸或是賢德多情或是妖冶惑人，最終必牽涉到佛教警世勸善的意味，明確顯現出當時以狐狸作為工具宣揚佛教的意圖。而《太平廣記》中的狐狸則正如所謂「妖由人興」，文人將其自身的理想與意念寄託在筆端上，並透過創造出極趨近人性的狐狸以映射當時的社會與人心，狐的多情多性反倒襯映出時人的無情，而其形象更對後代文學創作及現今世人的價值觀造成了極大影響。During the Muromachi period in Japan, stories different from Heian period were created due to the power transition from the nobility to samurai. As the main audience shifted to the common people, the tales become easier to understand, and were usually published with illustrations. There are many types of tales, including religious stories, wars and supernatural fantasies of animals, etc. As opposed to the tales in Muromachi period, in China a collection of stories called “Tai Pin Guan Chi” was published in Song Dynasty. It contains about 7000 stories and most of them are about ghosts, immortals, and animals. To compare and contrast the stories in Japanese and Chinese literature, I would like to focus on tales of animals, especially on the fox to figure out why the fox makes their appearances in such a great variety of images. Through the research, the fox is found to be Inari’s messengers on one hand; it becomes a tool used to preach Buddhism in tales of Muromachi period on the other. However, in “Tai Pin Guan Chi” the fox reflects author’s ideals, how the society worked and the religious belief, all of which have a great influence on the present-day Chinese people