Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Xi was a weaver in Jiangning. Great-grandmother Sun Shi was the nanny of Emperor Kangxi Michelle Ye. Grandfather Cao Yin worked as a squad leader and bodyguard in Michelle Ye, and later as a weaver in Jiangning, who also served as an inspector of salt affairs in two Huai provinces, winning the favor of Michelle Ye. Michelle Ye visited the south of the Yangtze River six times, was taken back four times, and lived in Cao's home. After his death, his sons Cao and Cao successively succeeded Jiangning Weaving. Their three generations and four grandchildren have held this position for 60 years. Cao Xueqin grew up in the "prosperous" life of this "romantic land of Qinhuai".
In the early years of Yongzheng, the Cao family suffered a series of blows because of the political struggle within the feudal ruling class. Cao □ was dismissed from his post and his property was confiscated on charges of "dereliction of duty", "assaulting a police officer" and "deficit". Cao was jailed and punished, and spent more than a year in a "cangue". At this time, Cao Xueqin's family moved back to Beijing. Since then, the Cao family has been devastated and declining.
After a major turning point in his life, Cao Xueqin felt that the world was cold and had a clearer and deeper understanding of feudal society. He despised powerful people, stayed away from officialdom and lived a poor and hard life.
In his later years, Cao Xueqin moved to the western suburbs of Beijing. Life is even poorer, "chrysanthemum" and "family porridge". He devoted himself to the writing and revision of A Dream of Red Mansions. In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762), his youngest son died prematurely, and he fell into excessive sadness and grief and was bedridden. On the New Year's Eve of this year (1763 February 12), he finally died of poverty due to illness (there are two versions about the year of Cao Xueqin's death: 28 years and 29 years of Qianlong).
Cao Xueqin is "fat, with a wide head and black color". He is arrogant, cynical and unrestrained. Alcoholic, talented and talkative.
Cao Xueqin is a poet. His poems are novel in conception and close in style to Li He, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. His friend Duncheng once praised him: "Love your poem has a strange spirit, catching up with the broken fence fan in Changgu." He added, "I know your poems are as bold as iron, and you can create cold light with a knife shadow." However, there are only two lines in his sincere poem Pipa Xing: "The White Fuji Mausoleum should be very happy and will teach barbarians to put on airs."
Cao Xueqin is also a painter and likes to paint abrupt and steep stones. Dunmin's "Painting Stone in Qinyuan" said: "Proud as a strange monarch, more jagged. Drunk as a pen swept away. Write "Time" on your chest. "It can be seen that when he painted stones, he put his chest on the injustice.
Cao Xueqin's greatest contribution lies in his novel creation. His novel A Dream of Red Mansions is rich in content, profound in thought and exquisite in art, which pushes China's classical novel creation to a peak and occupies a very important position in the history of literary development.
A Dream of Red Mansions is the product of his "reading for ten years, adding and deleting five times" and "every word is like blood, and ten years of hard work is extraordinary". Unfortunately, before his death, the whole book was not finished. Today, most of the 20 copies of A Dream of Red Mansions/KLOC-0 were written by him, and the last 40 copies were continued by others. Eighty years later, he has written a part of the first draft, but it has not been handed down for various reasons. (Liu Shide)
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On Cao Xueqin's Style
There are two famous schools in the modern world, namely "Shakespeare Studies" and "Dream of Red Mansions". The East and the West set each other off as an interest, and the discussion upsurge is getting higher and higher.
A Dream of Red Mansions has been translated into English, French and Japanese. Shakespeare's masterpiece "Four Tragedy" will be translated by Bian in the form of poetic drama, which is really encouraging. This project will be finished soon.
In order to be symmetrical with Shakespeare and worthy of the name, redology and Cao Xue can be said to be neck and neck. "Cao Xue" should be deepened. "Cao Xueqin" and his Dream of Red Mansions, as well as the discussion of the history of Yong and Gan dynasties, will achieve greater results, which can be asserted.
Interestingly, in the history of world literature, the life experiences of these two writers who shocked the world have not been fully understood until today. Although Shakespeare's birth registration has been ascertained; His sister's house has also become a place for tourists to visit; But people don't take these as hard evidence. Although Shakespeare has a special chapter in the history of world literature, some people think that there are no men in human history. Not long ago, some people in China demonstrated that the author of A Dream of Red Mansions was Shi Xiong, not Cao Xueqin. As for who Shi Xiong is, it is still a question mark. Some people use deciphering and computer to judge that the author of the last forty chapters belongs to the same person as the first eighty chapters, but it is not convincing enough.
First of all, it must be clear that there really was such a person as Cao Xueqin 200 years ago. His real name is Cao Zhan. This can be confirmed by his good friend Duncheng's poem "Collection of Si Songtang in Memory of Cao Xueqin (Zhan)". Cao Xueqin, also known as "Dream Ruan", learned it from Zhang Yiquan's Poems of Spring Willow Hall. Cao Xueqin was born in A.D. 17 15, and Cao died early. His wife is the daughter of Massingue, a senior official in the official department, and gave birth to a posthumous child (as evidenced by the Kangxi archives). This posthumous child may be Cao Zhan. In order to take care of the Cao family, Kangxi wanted Cao Fu to inherit Zongzong (because Mrs. Cao's grandson was once one of Kangxi's wet nurses). In this way, Cao Fu became Cao Zhan's father from his uncle.
In the newly discovered genealogy of Wuqingtang, there is no Cao Zhan's name, but there is the name of Pianzi Cao Tianyou. Cao Fu is the fourth son of Cao Quan (Xuan) adopted in the spectrum, and Cao Tianyou and Cao Zhan are probably the same Cao Xueqin. Cao Xueqin was born in 17 15. It was put forward by Li Xuanbo in the Supplement to the Forbidden City before liberation, and was played by Wang Qili after liberation. At present, it is more common to agree with this statement. Of course, it can't be said that it has been finalized.
Duncheng said in the poem "In Memory of Cao Xueqin": "Cao Xueqin once worked as a weaver with his ancestor Yin", so Cao Xueqin spent his youth in Nanjing Weaving Workshop. It can be seen that Cao Xueqin is not Mr. Wu, and A Dream of Red Mansions is undoubtedly his creation, especially the first eighty chapters.
Unfortunately, there is really little information about Cao Xueqin's life. There was no biography of him when he was alive. After his death, it seems that no one has written a "narrative" for him. Fortunately, it can be seen from the poems of his good friends Duncheng, Dunmin, Zhang Yiquan and others, as well as later comments on writing by Zhi Yanzhai and some notes and poems.
Since we think that Cao Xueqin really exists, what kind of person is he? His face and style are rarely provided to us by our predecessors. Wang Gang's portrait, Lv Houxin's portrait and the figurine of Tianxiangyuan all prove that it is not him. We have to complain that history is too mean to us!
I think "Qin Xue", "Meng Ruan" and "Qin Pu" are all self-proclaimed nicknames of Cao Zhan. The word "Qin" can also be interpreted as a symbol of "entering Pan" (senior high school entrance examination). There is a bottom line in A Dream of Red Mansions: "Ruiyunxiang protects the Qin Dynasty". But it's not good to put snow on Qin, so it won't be protected by Ruiyun!
Cao Xueqin's friends happen to coincide and all compare him to Ruan Ji. Ruan Ji is a cynical person. At dusk, he drove to the end of the road and came back crying. He often drinks in his neighbor's restaurant and stays there after getting drunk. People think this is the reason why Ruan Ji stayed in the restaurant, but it turns out that this is not the case. When a rich family was drying books, he also took out his underwear to dry. People asked him with a smile, and he replied, "I can't avoid it!" " "... and so on, and so on. Such a person is naturally unable to see the world. However, Cao Xueqin named himself "Dream Ruan" and cited Ruan Ji as a homonym. Hate is not born at the same time, it can only be sought in dreams. It can be seen that he is also a cynical person who is not tolerated by the world. Not only literally, but also in content, it can only be explained in this way.
Gengzi and Duncheng's couplet: "When you order wine at the thatched cottage, you will get the title of Wendy's Book on the table. This episode was written in memory of an old friend who recorded his legacy. " See Notes on Tang Poems in the Four Song Dynasties. Song and Tang Lian said: "Crazy love Ruan infantry (also known as Qin Pu)" At this time Cao Xueqin was dead. "Songtang" also has two sentences: "Playing chess stops the night, and the autumn wind wakes up a big dream." Although it is a general term, it definitely includes Cao Xueqin. Zhou Tingwei got the "Yipin Stone" painted by Min Nangong in Fan Zhongzhong's public house, and all the people were listening to Lou Yu's appreciation, and everyone wrote an inscription on it, which shows that these people are also stone addicts! Cao Xueqin is definitely the most prominent one.
Duncheng gave Cao Xueqin a poem saying, "Our company keeps guests drunk, and the infantry squints at people." The infantry is Ruan Ji. In a poem praising Cao Xueqin, he said, "Ghosts and monsters are left as Li He 'ai, and deer and chariots are buried with him. I have to live my life. Where can I call my soul to give it to Chu Heng?" It can be seen that Cao Xueqin likes drinking, and his poems catch up with Li He's innovation and have Qu Yuan's emotional expression. Duncheng failed to get the title because his ancestors were implicated by Dourgen and he was also a man with a sense of justice. Never? When he prefaced his collection of poems, he said, "Is there anything unfair?" He lives in "Meng Tao Xuan" and is associated with the word "Meng Ruan", which shows that he and Cao Xueqin are not ordinary friendships, but have deep internal ties.
To sum up, we can still see some personalities of Cao Xueqin! Now, let's say a few more words about his aesthetic concept. Confucius said, "Painting is afterwards." This sentence expresses Confucius' aesthetic view. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was not easy to reach such a high level. Cao Xueqin not only inherited it, but also carried it forward. Cao Xueqin has his own unique aesthetic thought, so I won't say much here. But one thing must be mentioned. Cao Xueqin knows the value of feelings best. This is inseparable from the rise of the civil class at that time, and people began to realize the trend of personal value. Mr. Lu Xun listed a dream of red mansions as a human novel, which can be said to be unique. Cao Xueqin's writing of human feelings is incisive, profound and meaningful. The reality, romance and ideal in Cao Xueqin's works are all integrated under the net of Element. Cao Xueqin's artistic attainments of writing poems and painting hearts are not only inferior to those of his contemporaries, but no one can catch up with him until today!
Cao Xueqin's aesthetic is from the heart and a positive expression of his own heart. So Cao Xueqin and A Dream of Red Mansions can become a unity. This is why people always regard A Dream of Red Mansions as Cao Xueqin's autobiography.
There is no denying that A Dream of Red Mansions contains the autobiographical elements of Cao Xueqin. We should not focus on the details of this autobiographical element, but should study the breadth and depth of his spirit. In the face of A Dream of Red Mansions, we can't just judge him according to the viewpoint that only details constitute a novel. Cao Xueqin not only wrote the history of human feelings and customs for us, but also wrote the most secret contradictions for us. Goethe married Faust and Helen, and Cao Xueqin made Baoyu and Daiyu fall in love, all of which were manifestations of the pursuit of ideals, because they both wanted to break through the shackles of the times, which was the most shocking. People have mixed feelings about fate. China's first tragedy is A Dream of Red Mansions.
This is also in line with Cao Xueqin's character. We can see from Duncheng's "Sabre Tasting Song" that Cao Xueqin is "thirsty for wine" and does not hesitate to buy wine at the price of sabre. He likes to draw stones and use them to kill the depression in his chest. However, he disdains to be a court painter. Show an unruly character.
In this way, in only a few materials, we can not only see Cao Xueqin's style, but also grasp the essence of his thought. Through extensive and long-term research, the future results will be fruitful.