明代文人身處在皇權集中的政治環境下，有時因為違抗皇權、政治對抗、黨爭等因素，常遭受到政治性案件的牽連而遭到監禁。作為知識群體的明代文人，在面對監獄的長期監禁過程之中，可能面臨即將死亡的恐懼陰影，勢必要思考如何渡過人生的低潮與困境。因此，獄中所遭受到的各種經驗與思緒，容易成為文人詩文書寫的主要內容，無論是自我惕勵、相互鼓舞，甚至是家書慰問，都使明代文人在監獄之中，留下了不少的詩文紀錄，而這些詩文即成為一種獨特場域下的特殊創作。本文嘗試以政治案件牽連入獄的明代文人作為考察主軸，探討在獄中詩文的內容呈現與社會現象，由於政治案件不同於一般犯罪的刑事案件，入獄的情形與審判也有所差異，因此在如此特殊環境之下，明代文人在入獄後面對監獄環境的惡劣條件時，如何將生活窘境變成生命的經驗書寫，以及從外部環境的描寫、隱喻，到內在寄託的孤寂心境，再轉化為具體的詩文表現，進而藉由獄中的詩文交流、唱和，建立起文人社會之間可能的關係網絡。
Prison invariably is a place for punishment and incarceration of people who violate the social order and national laws. Under an overwhelming imperial power, scholar-officials and intellectuals in the Ming Dynasty sometimes would become prisoners if implicated in political resistance against imperial authority or involvement in factional conflict in the bureaucratic system. Encountering long-term imprisonment and under the shadow of death these political dissenters might ponder seriously their low ebbs in life and dark future. As a result, their experiences and thoughts in prison easily became the subjects of various types of poetry or unique narratives with diverse themes, ranging from self-encouragement and mutual encouragement to letters of comfort for their families. This research deals with this imprisonment-related literature, which collectively reflects a special social phenomenon. It investigates how Ming Dynasty intellectuals, tormented by poor conditions behind bars , transformed their lonely and disgruntled thoughts into a host of narrative or metaphorical creations, as well as how they utilized these narrations to build a social network of intellectuals by exchanging and reading poetry.
