爲自己能夠完成臨川王劉義慶（403-444）的志怪名著《幽明錄》的首次英文全譯、並由哥倫比亞大學出版社著名的“亞洲經典譯叢” 出版，我感到非常榮幸。
劉義慶是南朝劉宋王朝（420-479）的創始人劉裕的侄子，也是中國中世紀早期歷史和文化中最有影響力的人物之一。他的重要性不僅在於他的王侯身份，更在於他的兩部故事集——《世說新語》和《幽明錄》。前者是“志人”小說的代表作，後者則是“志怪” 小說中的翹楚。這兩種體裁都被認爲是中國小說的最早形式，劉的這兩部作品提供了關於中國從 3 世紀末到 5 世紀初歷史的珍貴信息。
四十多年前，馬瑞志（Richard Mather）教授將《世說新語》翻譯成英文（明尼蘇達大學出版社，1976版），爲他在歐美漢學界贏得盛譽。 斯坦福丁愛博（Albert Dien） 教授在《哈佛亞洲研究雜誌》中說，“所有對中國歷史的這一關鍵時期感興趣的人都非常感謝馬瑞志，感謝他的奉獻精神和精湛的翻譯”（Vol. 37 [1997]: 423-27）。雖然我的翻譯在很多方面都無法與馬教授的相比，但我還是爲自己能第一個將《幽明録》提供給西方讀者而感到欣慰。
在所有早期的志怪系列中，《幽明錄》以其豐富的內容、優雅的文風和引人入勝的故事而著稱。在讀了第一卷“愛的奇蹟”開頭的幾個故事之後，我希望你會同意這個說法。在這些故事中，《劉晨阮肇》是在中國文學史上影響最大的故事，《賣胡粉兒》是一個感人至深的愛情故事，《龐阿》和《柏枕夢幻》則極具創造性和吸引力。
更爲重要的是，《幽明錄》是最早受佛教影響的故事集之一。除了其他志怪系列中經常出現的傳統主題外，本書中首次出現了包含佛教信仰、價值觀的新主題。例如，第122篇展示了一種新的業報形式，“現世報”；故事215提供了一個生動的輪迴圖景：一個人必須償還他前世的債務；故事170“沙門舒禮”和故事175“趙泰遊地獄”詳細描繪了佛教地獄；第98篇不但有佛陀作爲新的救世主出現，並在中國文學作品中首次描述佛教鬼怪----羅剎。
最後，我想借用 哈佛大学伊維德（Wilt L. Idema）教授對本書的評語來強調它的價值：
“劉義慶纂集的近三百個神奇故事提供了對3世紀末至5世紀初中國社會和想象驚人的深刻見解。這部完整的譯本，將受到所有研修中國文學、宗教和思想的學生和學者的熱烈歡迎，因爲正是在這個時期，佛教才成爲中國人生活的一部分。”
（譯自哥倫比亞大出版社官網博客）
I feel very fortunate and honored to be the one to finish the first complete English translation of Prince Liu Yiqing’s (403-444) monumental collection of zhiguai (“accounts of anomalies”), Hidden and Visible Realms, and publish it in the distinguished series of “Translations from Asian Classics” by Columbia University Press.
Liu Yiqing, the nephew of Liu Yu (r. 420-422), the founder of the [Liu] Song dynasty (420-479), is beyond a doubt one of the most influential figures in early medieval Chinese history and culture. His importance lies not only in his princely social status, but also in the two tale collections attributed to him–the Shishuo xinyu (New Account of Tales of the World) and the Youming lu (Hidden and Visible Realms). The former is the quintessential work of zhiren (accounts of men) and the latter a representative work of the zhiguai. Both genres are considered the earliest forms of Chinese fiction and both collections by Liu provide invaluable information on the history of China from the late third to early fifth centuries.
Liu’s New Account of Tales of the World was translated into English by Professor Richard B. Mather over four decades ago (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1976), giving him great fame and recognition. Professor Albert Dien states in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 37 (1997): 423-27, “All who are interested in this pivotal period of Chinese history owe a heavy debt to Mather for his dedication and skill in producing this fine translation.” Though my translation cannot compare with Mather’s in many ways, I am still very pleased that Prince Liu’s Hidden and Visible Realms is finally available to western readers.
Of all the early zhiguai collections, Hidden and Visible Realms is distinguished by its varied contents, elegant writing style, and fascinating tales. After reading a few stories from the beginning of volume one, “The Wonder of Love,” I hope you will agree with that statement. Of these tales, “Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao” is the most influential one in the history of Chinese literature, “The Girl who Sold Face Powder” is a deeply touching love story, and both “Pang E and His Infatuated Lover” and “Dream Adventure inside a Cypress Pillow” are innovative and fascinating.
Most importantly, Hidden and Visible Realms is among the earliest tale collections heavily influenced by Buddhism. Alongside traditional themes that appear in other zhiguai collections, new themes bearing Buddhist beliefs, values, and concerns appear in this collection for the first time. Tale 122, “Disaster from Stealing Coffin Boards,” shows a new form of karmic retribution, “retribution in this life”; tale 215 provides a vivid picture of transmigration: a man must repay a debt from his previous life; tale 170, “The Shaman Shu Li,” and tale 175, “Zhao Tai Travels in Hells,” portray Buddhist hells in detail; tale 98 has Buddha appearing as a new savior and contains the first appearance of Buddhist ghosts, raksasas, in Chinese literary works.
In closing, I would like to emphasize the value of Hidden and Visible Realms with Professor Wilt L. Idema’s remark: “The nearly three hundred miracle tales that survive of Liu Yiqing’s compilation offer fascinating insights into China’s society and imagination of the late third to early fifth centuries. This complete translation will be eagerly welcomed by all students and scholars of Chinese literature, religion, and thought, as it was precisely in this period that Buddhism had become part of Chinese life.”
(From: https://www.cupblog.org/2018/09/28/zhenjun-zhang-on-liu-yiqings-hidden-and-visible-realms/)
