馮夢龍（1574－1646 年）於天啟年間出版《古今小說（喻世明言）》、《警世通 言》、《醒世恆言》，後世統稱為「《三言》」。《三言》的出版有「商業利益」的考量， 作者與讀者要達成最大的經濟共識。所以筆者將《三言》當作民間集體意識的反映， 並將話本作為史料，觀察話本中道教的宗教理想，並藉此瞭解明代的道教文化。 雖然佛教承繼道家思想頗多，然而在話本中還是可以看出道教一再地和佛教較 勁，顯現自己比佛教厲害。《三言》中的道教故事都是宣揚個人羽化成仙、降妖伏魔 的奇異事蹟，它以「神通異變」、「降妖伏魔」、「神仙信仰」來表現「揚善懲惡」、「扶 正壓邪」的道教教義。整體而言道教混雜過多，無法在話本中顯現它真實的教義。 《三言》反映出庶民階層不懂得道教的真諦，因此小說中呈現出三教混雜的宗教 現象，即便是士人階層也有這樣的現象。整體而言，在小說中反映出的道教理論不 如儒家及佛教的宗教理論精細。話本中還反映出明代的民眾對道教的仙人神通特別 有興趣，卻無法從話本中得到真正的宗教實踐方法，因為真正的道教修行方法已在 話本中被「簡化」。

Yushi Mingyan (喻世明言，Clear Words to Inform the World), Jingshi Tongyan (警世 通言，Common Words to Warn the World), and Xingshi Hengian (醒世恆言，Constant Words to Awaken the World) were written by Feng Menglong (馮夢龍，1574-1646) and published during the Tianqi period in the Ming Dynasty (明朝天啟年間). The succeeding generations collectively referred to them as San-yan (三言). The publishers of San-yan had “commercial interests” in mind and aimed to reach a maximum “economic consensus.” Therefore the author of this paper regards San-yan as the reflection of collective consciousness of the civil society and treats the vernacular novel collection as historical data to observe the ideals Daoism represent. The author also intends to comprehend the Daoist culture during the Ming Dynasty. Although Buddhism inherited many thoughts from Daoism, the competition between them is visible in San-yan which attempts to manifest that Daoism overpowers Buddhism. The Daoist stories in San-yan propagates miraculous events of becoming immortal and the triumphs over monsters and demons. It manifests the teachings of reward and punishment and the crackdown on evils with “miraculous feats,” “overpowering demons,” and “the immortal belief.” On the whole, the complex and mixed nature of Daoism reduces its essential teachings. San-yan depicts common people’s ignorance about the essence of Daoism. As a result, even the intellectuals are confused about Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Generally speaking, the Theories of Daoism presented in San-yan are not as sophisticated as Confucian and Buddhist doctrines. This novel reflects the people’s keen interest in Daoist deities’ magical power; however, the practice of Daoism is rendered impossible as the vernaculars on the methods have been “simplified.”