( 1)
There have always been two views on the evaluation of the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions: basic affirmation and total negation. In the early 1970s, the former viewpoint once became an "authoritative" opinion, so different viewpoints were rarely mentioned. 1973, Comrade Li Xifan wrote A Dream of Red Mansions. Why didn't he write it in the last forty chapters? In his masterpiece "Postscript of Postscript", he published a relatively new viewpoint, which is now transcribed as follows:
There is a long-term serious and sharp struggle around the sequel of A Dream of Red Mansions in the history of China's novels. After A Dream of Red Mansions became popular in the middle of Qing Dynasty, sequels emerged one after another. What we can see today, such as the sequel to A Dream of Red Mansions. Most of them are sequels of Gao E ... In short, they are so eager to get rid of the criticism of the theme and plot of Cao Xueqin's Dream of Red Mansions, but they are still firmly opposed to Gao E's sequel. ……
In this sharp struggle in the history of China's novels, Gao E's The Last Forty Stories has always stood on the opposite side of the progress that contains certain anti-feudal contents (although it lags behind in distorting the theme and plot of the first eighty chapters), and together with Cao Xueqin's The Dream of Red Mansions, it has been besieged by feudal system defenders and feudal reactionary literati. ……
Therefore, how to evaluate Gao E and his last forty sequels should not be limited to the textual research of authenticity and the comparison of advantages and disadvantages before and after, but should analyze whether it has made progress from the perspective of Marxism and the struggle of China's novel history, so as to draw a correct conclusion.
I don't have enough study on Marxist literary theory, and I don't have a specific study on the sharp struggle in the history of China's novels. However, I think this new argument put forward by Comrade Li Xifan is not negotiable. First, a large number of sequels "are sequels after Gao E's sequels" does not mean that the authors of these sequels "still oppose the outcome of Gao E's sequels". And because the plots of these sequels are written after 120 chapters, the last 40 chapters of Gao E's sequels are "besieged by defenders of feudal system and feudal reactionary literati together with the first 80 chapters of Cao Xueqin's Dream of Red Mansions". It can only be said that the authors of dog-tailed mink outside Gao E don't have enough historical data to distinguish the first eighty chapters and the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions. However, the lack of sufficient recognition ability (this is the main thing) has made this 120-story Dream of Red Mansions as the product of an author, which is generally distorted and opposed. We can't conclude that Gao E is standing with Cao Xueqin just because the ideological level of sequel writers outside Gao E is worse and more reactionary than that of Gao E (so of course they can't see the sharp opposition between Gao E and Cao Xueqin in the world view). Secondly, if the first 80 chapters and the last 40 chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions are not scientifically researched and compared to distinguish their advantages and disadvantages, "it is not empty talk to analyze the progress of China's novel history from the perspective of Marxism"! Can the specific work of textual research and identification of pros and cons be separated and opposed from the analysis of whether this work has played a progressive role in the sharp struggle in the history of novels? Therefore, this viewpoint of Comrade Li Xifan, if I may venture to say, objectively puts a beautiful coat on the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions, but it creates many obstacles for analyzing Gao E's sequel from the perspective of Marxism.
1978 10, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House published the fifth series of Literary Essays on the Political Tendency of A Dream of Red Mansions in the Past 40 Years published by Comrade Hu Wenbin. He thinks: "The last 40 chapters of 120 A Dream of Red Mansions edited and published twice by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E have tampered with Cao Xueqin's original ideological theme by the most subtle and insidious means in dozens of sequels to A Dream of Red Mansions." Fundamentally speaking, the dominant political tendency of the sequel completely revised the theme of the original work, and the sequel actually stood on the position of the feudal landlord class and served to safeguard and consolidate the interests of feudal rule. I basically agree with this view. But what needs to be added is that Gao E's method of renewing books is "the most hidden and insidious" because it seems to be faithful to Cao Xueqin's original works in the first eighty chapters, and at the end of some storylines, it continues paradoxically according to the contents implied by Cao Xueqin in the first eighty chapters; But in fact, the author of the sequel is selling goods that are completely different or even completely opposite to the ideological content reflected by Cao Xueqin, so as to achieve the purpose of diverting columns and make readers fall into it inadvertently. Therefore, I also agree with Comrade Hu Wenbin at the end of that great book that we should re-evaluate the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions, and "It is precisely because of this that we should sum up the laws and lessons of the reactionary classes in using classical novels to carry out counter-revolutionary activities (Author Press: the last five words seem to have been changed to' sharp struggle' as Comrade Li Xifan said). Only in this way can we find the complexity of sharp struggle and its tortuous and hidden manifestations in the history of China's novels.
(2)
In the first eighty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions, the author's ruthless exposure of the evils of the feudal ruling class and his solemn criticism of the hypocrisy and reactionary feudal ethics can be seen everywhere. In order to consolidate its ruling position and strengthen its ruling power, the feudal ruling class must, like other classes, attach importance to the important link of educating the second generation and cultivating successors (incidentally, Jia Baoyu's rebellious character is manifested in his unwillingness to be a docile successor of the feudal ruling class). In order to expose the decay and reaction of feudal education and point out that the feudal ruling class tried to use Confucius and Mencius to cultivate the complete bankruptcy of the second generation, Cao Xueqin used a few strokes to outline the evil scene of a feudal family school, that is, the ninth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions. In this home school, everything from the relationship between people to everyone's words and deeds is almost ugly, obscene and unsightly. Through this incisive description, it is not difficult for readers to realize that in feudal society, the enlightenment education for children is not the great truth preached by the sages of the Bible, but this rotten and disgusting naked yellow garbage. Then, it is self-evident what kind of person the children trained by this kind of home school will become. Imagine that when a person is studying, if he is not Xue Pan or Jia Rui, he may be Jin Rong or Jia Qiang, otherwise he is a person who loves others. Then, after he finishes his studies, he will climb into the upper ruling class society through the imperial examination and naturally become a first-class figure in Jia Yucun. However, it is clear to what extent feudal education and the bankruptcy of Confucius and Mencius have reached! It is precisely because of the author's opposition to such education that Jia Baoyu's rebellious character is shaped. Jia Baoyu never went to school again after "disturbing the school", which is in line with his series of words and deeds that he hates reading dead books, walking stereotyped writing and opposing using Confucian ethics to bind his thoughts. This is the concrete reflection of Cao Xueqin's advanced thoughts and democratic factors in his world outlook.
However, in the first book of the last forty chapters, that is, the eighty-first chapter, the author of the sequel wrote the plot of Jia Baoyu's "strict words for entering the school twice", which was out of place with the first eighty chapters! Since then, Jia Baoyu has not only become an annoying Taoist priest, but also talked about what is natural and desirable, and even further instilled typical feudal thoughts such as the biography of Sister Xiang Fei. And finally embarked on the "right path" of filial piety in the imperial examination. In the continuation of the author Gao E's world outlook, he believes that only by pursuing fame and fortune, and "expanding the world" and getting the ending of "Gui Lan Qi Fang" is a serious life path. This is not only a far cry from Cao Xueqin's thought, but also a complete counterattack against the essence of advanced democratic thought embodied in Cao Xueqin's first eighty chapters! Comrade Li Xifan said that Gao E's last 40 chapters "distorted the theme and plot of the first 80 chapters" and criticized it only by "falling behind", which was a bit of a slap in the face.
(3)
The sequel to A Dream of Red Mansions beautified the feudal state machine in the last forty chapters. I want to say a prominent example, which is a concrete description of Xue Pan's murder.
Xue Pan killed someone once in the first 80 times and once in the last 40 times. Because Cao Xueqin and Gao E, two authors, have completely different world outlook and ideological level, the specific descriptions of these two killings are in sharp contrast.
Xue Pan killed Feng Yuan for the first time in order to buy Zhen's daughter (Chen Geng's original work was Yingju, later Xiangling), which can be found in the fourth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions. This time is very famous in the research field of A Dream of Red Mansions in recent years: the appearance of official protection symbols, the proposal of Jia Xue's four families, the bending law and the fact that the murderer Xue Pan was specially sheltered are the central plots of this book. Through Cao Xueqin's description, readers can deeply understand the corruption of feudal bureaucrats at that time, a set of so-called "king laws" formulated by the ruling class has become a dead letter, and the feudal state machine has actually failed. Even Feng Yuan, who belongs to the exploiting class, can't save his life when he meets a rich and powerful aristocrat. Even so, people like Fu Fengyuan, ordinary people living in dire straits, exploited and oppressed workers, including lonely and weak girls who have been cheated into prostitution, are of course in jeopardy. Cao Xueqin described the murderer Xue Pan as follows:
Xue Pan saw that he was born in a famous family and decided to buy him, but when Feng Jia came to take people away, he killed Feng Yuan because he bullied the slaves. ..... He took his mother and sister and embarked on a long journey. It is inevitable that he took the lawsuit of human life as a joke and spent a few stinking money himself. ……
In Cao Xueqin's works, Xue Pan, as a murderer, didn't even bear the mental burden of human life, which was really a masterpiece for the children of the giants at that time. Even better, when the author was writing Jia Yucun's verdict on this case, he took the initiative to end the case-solving without waiting for Xue Jia's two families to send someone to intercede, and then wrote a book to Jia Zhenghe, saying that "the matter of making nephews is over, so don't worry about it". It can be seen that the so-called court officials at that time were actually a group of profiteers. Imagine, under the rule of these corrupt officials, can the feudal ruling class's regime not falter! With these few lines, it is not difficult for us to understand Cao Xueqin's painstaking efforts to write this immortal masterpiece.
Another murder case of Xue Pan was written by Gao E, the sequel author. The plot is extremely simple, but it is deliberately complicated by the sequel author. Chapters eighty-five and eighty-six to ninety-nine and one hundred were mentioned again, and it didn't end until chapter one hundred and twenty. The story is: Xue Pan is drinking in the hotel and is dissatisfied with the waiter Zhang San. He broke Zhang San's head with glass, and Zhang San died of serious injuries, so he arrested Xue Pan and sent him to the general. Xue jiaxian bribed the magistrate who tried the case and handed over the confession; Don't want to appeal, from the county to the yamen, and then by the Beijing camp our declaration to the punishments, no matter how Xue family pleaded for accepting bribes, Xue Pan has not been commuted, pending conviction and execution. Until the end of the work, Jia Baoyu won the lottery, and the emperor pardoned him. The Xue family paid the ransom and saved Xue Pan's life. In the past, some critical articles thought that The Murder was a successful work written by Gao E, which belongs to the part that should be affirmed in the last forty chapters. And I think this incident happens to be a proof that Gao E tried his best to beautify the feudal state machine and flatter the feudal ruling class.
In my opinion, Gao E's description of this murder fully shows that he stood in the position of safeguarding the interests of the feudal ruling class, praised the dying feudal regime, and regarded the feudal bureaucracy as a powerful tool that was still enough to control society at that time. This is completely contrary to what Cao Xueqin described in the first eighty chapters, especially in the fourth chapter. Let's see, at the beginning of the crime, Xue Pan didn't die of illness and Jia Fu didn't lose power and influence, but as a murderer, he was punished by feudal king law. Later, the Xue family lost the case, of course, because of the influence of the Jia family's potential defeat, but the sequel emphasized the strict law enforcement and power consolidation of the feudal judiciary at that time, which could not only punish corrupt officials who bent the law, but also break the prison fairly and punish the murderer fairly. Until Jia Baoyu, a rebel of the feudal ruling class, bowed down and won a prize. Then the emperor, the supreme ruler, was very happy. He felt that he had punished Jia's aristocratic family with a "big stick", so he might as well buy a small carrot as a sweetener. Xue Pan's life had to be lenient and saved. Immediately after Xue Pan was released, he swore that he would repent. This description just shows that in the eyes of the sequel, the emperor holds the power of life and death, and he can completely control the whole feudal bureaucratic system. Even the magnates like Jia and Xue will eventually scoff at the supreme ruler. Doesn't this mean that the feudal state machine has not failed, the establishment of the feudal ruling class can still be banned, and the feudal regime is still firmly in control? Where is there any sign of the end of the world, indicating that Wang Gang has solved the problem, the tide is gone and the feudal landlord class is about to collapse?
(4)
I also think that not only the reactionary worldview in the last forty chapters of the sequel to A Dream of Red Mansions and some absurd and reactionary ideological contents written under the guidance of this reactionary worldview should be criticized, but also the artistic conception and artistry of the sequel in the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions. I just want to say one thing here, that is, the continuation of Jia Baoyu's positive image by the author is extremely distorted and destroyed.
In the first eighty chapters, Cao Xueqin vividly created a vivid image of Jia Baoyu, and put this typical figure with rebellious character in the epitome of the last days of feudalism-Jia Fu, a typical environment of an aristocratic family on the verge of decline and collapse. Several important events in the first eighty chapters, such as Yuan Chun's return to the province, Jia Zheng's death, the attack on the Grand View Garden and Qingwen's death, all run through Jia Baoyu's words and deeds and ideological activities. In other words, Jia Baoyu's feelings, attitudes and love-hate tendencies towards these events also reflect the author's feelings, attitudes and love-hate tendencies towards various social contradictions at that time. Therefore, we can imagine that if Cao Xueqin himself continues to write from the eighty-first time, with the in-depth development of the story and the intensification of various contradictions, the typical image of Jia Baoyu in the author's pen will inevitably become more and more distinct, and his personality characteristics will inevitably become more and more prominent. Of course, when the author writes this typical character, it is bound to be more and more difficult, and the more he writes, the more he needs to strictly control his discretion. Now, Cao Xueqin's manuscript has only been written for the eightieth time. If the author wants to finish this book, the first thing he must encounter is how to further shape the typical image of Jia Baoyu, and how to organically connect this protagonist with several major events that are bound to happen in the book. This is a major test that the sequel author must go through. It can be said with certainty that Gao E, the author of the sequel, can't compare with Cao Xueqin in talent, experience and ideal. In other words, it is impossible for Gao E to follow in the footsteps of Cao Xueqin and continue this creative path. However, because Gao E wants to continue writing the whole book, he can't avoid this first contradiction. So in the last forty chapters, we found that Gao E, the author of the sequel, was whimsical and cleverly fabricated a plot (actually self-defeating) (even this plot was moved out alive in the first eighty chapters), that is, Jia Baoyu lost his penis-psychic Baoyu for no reason. In this way, Gao E is completely "active" to Jia Baoyu, and he will do whatever he wants, and everything will be at the mercy of the author, regardless of Jia Baoyu's gradually developed personality characteristics and obvious love-hate tendency in the first eighty chapters. He asked Baoyu confused, Baoyu was stupefied and infatuated; He wants Baoyu to understand that Baoyu will wake up like a dream and live a normal life for a few days. Please see, Baoyu can be at the mercy of others like a puppet in this important event of his love and marriage; After Jia Mu's funeral, the author said nothing about Baoyu. Jia Fu was looted by the imperial court and robbed by "robbers". At the critical moment of this disaster, Baoyu was actually divorced from worldly desires, just as the Qin people regarded the fatter people as not having children, which was irrelevant at all. Such a poor artistic technique is neither worthy of realism nor romanticism. Not only can it not be compared with the first eighty chapters, but even the ordinary boring novels ridiculed by Cao Xueqin are not as good as the ordinary boring novels. In Gao E, Lin Yutang believes that the characters described in the last forty chapters of the sequel are "not only coherent with the first eighty chapters, but also seamless, and can make unexpected play and depth in the character". This is really disregarding the facts! As long as we read the last forty chapters of the original work, we will feel that Lin Yutang sang a hymn for Gao E's sequel in this way, which obviously has ulterior motives. However, practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and this kind of strange talk can also be divorced!
(5)
Some people may think that Gao E's sequel can turn Cao Xueqin's unfinished masterpiece into a complete story, which meets the needs of readers after all; Moreover, the continuation of the author's handling of the marriage relationship between Bao, Dai and Chai is basically a tragic ending, which finally conforms to the plot stipulated by the author in the first eighty chapters. Isn't that what Gao E did? In my opinion, if we really evaluate the last forty episodes from this aspect, then this so-called "merit" is just an unforgivable "sin" committed by the sequel author. Because the great significance of A Dream of Red Mansions, an immortal literary masterpiece that comprehensively reflects the inevitable collapse and extinction of feudalism in the last forty years, has been distorted and narrowed, and it has only become a love novel that advocates "one dies with affection, and the other realizes with affection" (in Lin Yutang's language, see "To be fair to Gao E"). It should be admitted that in the past 200 years, many people only regarded A Dream of Red Mansions as a story about love between men and women, and this view was obviously caused by the influence of the last forty chapters. In order to make Cao Xueqin's immortal masterpiece get a truly lofty evaluation, it is absolutely necessary to make a serious and realistic liquidation of the last forty chapters.
Supplementary explanation
1in the spring of 974, I wrote a paper of tens of thousands of words, which was about the evaluation of the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions. Because the arguments I held were not in line with the opinions of the "authoritative people" at that time, and I was unwilling to modify my article to conform to the trend at that time, this article was shelved on the day it was written. Over time, it's gone. If we want to start a new stove, collect materials again and make a comprehensive evaluation of Gao E's sequel, time and energy are not allowed; So, as far as I can remember, I can only sum up a few slightly innovative arguments in that paper, and write this short article, even if the reader feels a little extreme, it will be ignored.