以「靖難」為主題的《女仙外史》變妖為仙，在歷史敘事外精心建構一結合仙女、俠女、魔女的「她」界，人間與天界兩條論述脈絡時而平行，時而交叉對話，為「靖難」文學中獨特的文本現象。本文的關懷，則正在此天（仙）／人、虛／實、想像／歷史的交界處。所欲探索的問題包括：《女仙外史》中的歷史敘事和仙界書寫如何交互作用？仙界想像是否、又如何填補、擴展歷史紀實的局限性？其在何種意義上成為呂熊及其文人讀者群悼亡、傷逝、抒發歷史興亡之感的有效媒介？ 本文行文理路，第一節從作者呂熊其人其時開始，將《女仙外史》置於明中葉至清初「靖難論述」成形的脈絡下，歸納呂熊及其作評者們對於「靖難」的記憶大致為何。第二節檢視呂熊在小說中，如何透過建構仙界，改寫歷史，以「修正」不公的天道，抒發人心的不平。第三節則討論《女仙外史》中這仙魔合作，亦正亦邪的她界想像，其中的可能意涵。 本文結論《女仙外史》中的「她」界書寫有以下幾點特質值得注意。首先，就明清神魔類型小說而言，這部作品展現了一種藉神魔抒情的可能。其次，《女仙外史》開闢了重塑魔女寄寓國殤的敘寫空間。這裏魔女從佛教中修行的障礙轉化為才略、氣力、血性的表徵；小說中魔女形象愈是瑰麗鮮明，似愈反照出作者的某種心靈困境。也於是，節婦貞女、悍妻潑婦、名妓才女和俠女之外，仙女魔女當是明清文學中另一值得注意的女性形象。就明清小說發展史而言，《金瓶梅》到《紅樓夢》之間，《女仙外史》的定位仍值得我們再深思。

This paper examines how the historical and fantastic modes of writing interact in the late seventeenth century novel, The Unofficial History of Female Immortals, written by Lü Xiong, regarding the 40 usurpation. I first provide a brief overview of the author’s background, his possibly ambivalent feelings towards the fallen Ming dynasty and the consolidating Qing rule, and the Ming-Qing historians’ diverse opinions on the 40 usurpation. I then demonstrate that by re-presenting Tang Saier as the reincarnation of the Goddess of Moon banished to the human world for her excessive emotions (qing), the author establishes a celestial agent who shares and responds to the human desire for justice. To counter historical reality, in which the principally virtuous Jianwen emperor and his male officials lost power to the militant and valiant Yongle, the author draws from the Chinese religious tradition to construct a sect of female Māras, characterized by their extraordinary competence, fervent passion and lack of conventional female virtues. I argue that writing in the fantastic mode enables Lü to create an imagined alternative to heal the wounds in history. At the same time, he is only too aware that the power he has projected onto the female immortals and Māras is but a constructed fantasy.

My reading of this novel is especially important in three aspects. First, the extent to which the author embeds his mixed sentiments in his historical-fantastic narrative gives it an almost self-expressive, lyrical quality, which invites us to reevaluate the capacity of the so-called novels of gods and demons (shenmo xiaoshuo) of the Ming-Qing period. Secondly, it reminds us that in our discussion of the flexibility of female characters as metaphors of national trauma, Māra and Rākṣasī constitute another noteworthy category. Finally, in terms of the development of Ming-Qing novels, the connection between the Dream of the Red Chamber and Unofficial History of Female Immortals, distinguished for its depiction of a realm of impassioned female immortals, may be deeper than it appears.