異界への道 : 中国小説の場合

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It is well-known that the idea of different worlds in China (especially theworld of the dead) is very secular. The underworld is a world of governmentoffices operated through officials and documents, but it is located underground.Can we go there by the use of some tunnel?In novels written by the old intellectuals, we find that a man who was totravel to the underworld was visited by messengers from that world. Theyguided him to the world of the dead, but at that time, they did not use atunnel, even though that world is located underground. The underworld iscontiguous to the world above ground. Since it is an alien world, however,it should be separated from the human world. How can the messengersguide a human being to the underground world?According to the novels, when the messengers appear to take someoneto their home, it is a time when the man is dying, or during illness, or in adream. What do these have in common? It is a time when his eyes areclosed. By closing the eyes, the man enters into a different world. Closingthe eyes is the tunnel to the alien world.The Chinese word for the underground world is ‘meikai’ which means adark world. In Chinese novels, the alien world is a place that a man canreach by going through a dark tunnel, or by closing the eyes.
2011-02-25