The most eye-catching building in Dream of Red Mansions is the Grand View Garden. Referring to the clip of Jia Zheng and his party visiting the Grand View Garden in Dream of Red Mansions, you can start with the residences of the sisters in the garden.
"A Dream of Red Mansions" is a world-renowned masterpiece of Chinese classical literature. The book tells the story of the rise and fall of the four feudal families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue and the love tragedy of the protagonist Jia Baoyu. The description is a profound and multi-angle historical picture of China's feudal society in the mid-18th century. As the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels, "A Dream of Red Mansions" is all-encompassing, broad and profound, and can be said to involve all aspects of the feudal society at that time. The book It provides in-depth and accurate descriptions of the literature, history, philosophy, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, arts and crafts, romantic games, clothing and banquets, health care and medicine, garden architecture and other aspects at that time. No wonder "A Dream of Red Mansions" is considered a holographic image of China's feudal society at that time.
The Jia Mansion in the book is a concentrated expression of the planning and layout of Chinese classical architecture. It embodies the planning and layout principles of Chinese classical architectural mansions and the superb techniques of garden design. In particular, the breathtaking and intriguing "Grand View Garden", a wonderland on earth, has aroused great interest in people's exploration. Therefore, since the publication of "Dream of Red Mansions", the number of researchers and researchers has continued to increase for more than two hundred years. Speculators have continued to investigate, and those who trace the origins, write articles and drawings are endlessly interested in it. In particular, the Grand View Garden described in the book is uncanny, lifelike and picturesque. Although it is not a specific classical garden, the "garden" in the "dream" is more elegant, more beautiful, and more ideal than any garden in reality. The author tries to start from the architectural level of "A Dream of Red Mansions" and express the architectural image reflected in the book in the form of images, so that the rich feudal mansion and the gorgeous and elegant garden that exist in the book can be accurately and vividly represented. displayed in front of readers.
Readers who have read "A Dream of Red Mansions" know that the stories in "A Dream of Red Mansions" mainly take place in the Grand View Garden in Jia's mansion. The Grand View Garden is an integral part of Jia Mansion. Not only is its architecture closely related to the entire Jia Mansion, but also the daily life and many events of the people in the garden are closely related to the entire Jia Mansion. Therefore, while expressing the layout of the Grand View Garden, the overall layout of the entire Jia Mansion must be considered at the same time. Accurately reflects the overall view of the Grand View Garden. Therefore, we will start by introducing the layout of Jia's mansion. Because the description of Jia's courtyard in the book is detailed, vivid and accurate, there are many places that everyone has become familiar with. Due to the space limit of this article, we will not discuss them further in the following text, but only give a general introduction. As for the controversial and difficult areas, the author puts forward his own opinions based on his own understanding and analysis:
The Grand View Garden is a typical image of Chinese classical gardens created by "A Dream of Red Mansions" with its magnificent literary language. , it is an artistic stage for the activities of the characters in the Red Mansion, and it is also a paradise created by the great realist writer Cao Xueqin summarizing the Jiangnan gardens and imperial gardens at that time. The garden design techniques of the Grand View Garden had a profound impact on the garden construction of later generations. For such a fictional "literary garden" in the novel, it should be said that it is meaningful to do some research, find out the relationship between the buildings, courtyards, and scenic spots in the Grand View Garden, draw it into pictures, and express it into images. matter. Below, the author will use illustrations to show the architectural image of this "paradise" - the Grand View Garden. I believe it will be helpful to help readers understand and understand the essence of the creation of "Dream of Red Mansions".
1. The purpose of building the Grand View Garden: The Grand View Garden is different from ordinary private gardens. It is a palace villa built for the imperial concubine to visit the bride. It is written in the book, "If there is a house in the Chongyu Courtyard that can stay outside the gates, you may wish to invite the imperial court to enter its private residence, so that the common people can indulge in the personal relationship between flesh and blood, which is the best in family relations." (Sixteenth Chapter) (return), this sentence clearly points out the purpose of the construction of the Grand View Garden - it is a palace built for Concubine Jia to visit her relatives.
2. The process of building the Grand View Garden: The construction of the Grand View Garden began in the sixteenth chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions" and was completed in the seventeenth chapter. The book describes it in detail like this: "The gentlemen have already agreed that starting from the east area, passing through the Dongfuli Garden, and turning to the north, the measurement is accurate, and it is three and a half miles wide, and the provincial residence can be built. ... Seriously, this idea saves trouble and is easy to build. If it is placed elsewhere, it will be more troublesome and unethical... The next morning, Jia Lian got up, saw Jia Pardon and Jia Zheng, and went to Ning Mansion to sign the contract. The old stewards, as well as several family friends, inspected the places of the two mansions, renovated the palaces of provincial relatives, and inspected the people in charge. From then on, craftsmen from all walks of life gathered together to collect gold, silver, copper, tin, earth, wood, bricks and tiles. Things were moved and moved without stopping. He ordered the craftsmen to demolish the walls and pavilions of Huifang Garden of Ning Mansion and moved them directly into the east courtyard of Rong Mansion. All the servants' houses in the east of Rong Mansion had been demolished. On that day, Ning Rong's second residence, Although there is an alley that is closed off, this alley is private land and is not an official road, so it can be connected. Huifang Garden originally drew a stream of running water from under the north corner wall, and now there is no need to draw it again. Although the rocks and trees are not enough, Jia She lives in the old garden of Rongfu. The bamboos, trees, rocks, pavilions and railings can all be moved here. The two places are so close that they can be combined into one, saving a lot of money. Even if the financial resources are not enough, what can be added is limited. It is all thanks to an old Ming Gong, a man named Shanzi Ye, who planned and built everything one by one." (Chapter 16) "All the projects in the park have been completed" (Chapter 17) ).
These paragraphs introduce in detail the size of the Grand View Garden site, its location in Jia's mansion and the construction process. As for the size of the Grand View Garden site, many articles have discussed it in detail in the past, so we will not go into details here. Among the many views on the garden site, the author agrees that the description of the area of ??the Grand View Garden as "three and a half miles" refers to the total length of the surrounding area of ??the Grand View Garden. However, according to the description of the Grand View Garden in the book, the Grand View Garden is not super large or vast. Yes, all the scenes and courtyards in the garden are "only one corner after all. However, it is handled ingeniously, so that people can see the thousands of hills and valleys, and suddenly they don't know where they are. The so-called understanding place does not matter how far away. It is probably a mountain, a water, a tree, a stone, It all depends on how people intersperse and arrange their ears” (Zhi Pi).
The location of the Grand View Garden should be in the second half of Ning and Rongguo Mansion. It is made up of the east courtyard of Rongguo Mansion and the western half of Huifang Garden of Ningguo Mansion. Ji Cheng wrote in "Yuan Ye" that "the old garden is better than the reconstruction, and the natural ancient trees and flowers are blooming." The construction of the Grand View Garden is a renovation project using the existing garden courtyard. The beauty of this is that it saves time and effort, and it can make full use of the current conditions, adapt measures to local conditions, and create clever ideas. Therefore, it can be said that the location and construction of the Grand View Garden were very clever and successful. Note: Difficulty analysis: Aunt Xue moved to "a quiet house in the northeast". After the Xue family stayed in Jia Mansion, they settled in Lixiangyuan in the northeast corner of Rongguo Mansion. Lixiangyuan is located in the northeast corner of Rongguo Mansion. There is a door at the back that leads to the back street. You can enter and exit freely without going through Rongguo Mansion. This much is certain. When the Grand View Garden was built, Aunt Xue "moved to a quiet house in the northeast. The Lixiang Garden had already been vacated and renovated separately, and she ordered the teacher to teach female opera here." Where exactly this "quiet house in the northeast" is located in Rongguo Mansion has always been controversial, especially when making a layout map of Jia Mansion's courtyard. The word "Shang" in "Northeast Shang" cannot be understood here as the "Shang" in "Above", but because it is understood as "direction", that is, "northeast direction". For example, in the 13th chapter, "When Sister Feng still wanted to ask, she only listened to the second door announcing the matter. The cloud board knocked four times in succession." In the 78th chapter, Baochai said, "The third one is in the garden, and the small corner door in the southeast is always open." "He was walking for me" etc. It can be seen that "up" here is a function word indicating the direction. Therefore, the sentence "up to the northeast" should be understood as "somewhere in the northeast direction of Rongguo Mansion".
So where is this mysterious residence? There is no direct statement in the book, but we can still get a hint of information from the description in the book. In Chapter 59, Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang went to see the deceased. The book wrote, "The front and rear doors in the east and west corners of the garden are also locked, leaving only the door behind Mrs. Wang's big room that is often used by his sisters, and the east side leads to Aunt Xue's door. "Corner gate, these two gates do not need to be locked because they are in the inner courtyard." It is clearly pointed out that there is a corner gate on the east side of the Grand View Garden that leads directly to Aunt Xue's house. Judging from the text, it is impossible to understand this as the east corner door of "a quiet house in the northeast" where the Xue family lived, but there is something strange. If the east corner door of the Grand View Garden leads to the Xue family, then the Xue house should be on the immediate east side of the Grand View Garden. Undoubtedly, as we all know, the Grand View Garden was built jointly between the east courtyard of Rongguo Mansion and the western part of Huifang Garden of Ningguo Mansion. If Xue's residence was located on the immediate east side of the Grand View Garden, wouldn't he have gone to Ningguo Mansion? It really doesn't make sense. In order to avoid this phenomenon, some pictures of the Jia Mansion's courtyard place Xue's residence in the northwest corner of Rongguo Mansion, and explain that the "east corner gate" is the east corner gate of Xue's residence, not the east corner gate of the Grand View Garden. However, if the description in the book is carefully revised according to this layout, there is indeed a contradiction. Chapter 34: After Xue Baochai was angry with his brother at Aunt Xue, he returned to Hengwu Garden and cried all night. The next day, he went from Hengwu Garden to Xue's house to pick up Aunt Xue and went to the garden to explore the treasures and jade. Early this morning, Lin Daiyu stood in the shade of flowers near Yihongyuan and peered into it. Yihongyuan is in the southeast of the Grand View Garden. At this time, Xue Baochai was walking from Hengwu Garden on the north side of the Grand View Garden and met Daiyu standing in the shade of flowers. It can be seen that Baochai was walking from north to southeast. Chapter 78 of the book also has "Three stories about me. I am in the garden. The small corner gate on the southeast is always open. It was meant for me to walk in. People who can't guarantee access will try to save the way and go through there, but there is no one." "After checking, if something happens from there, wouldn't it be embarrassing?" It can be clearly confirmed that the Xue family is in the southeast direction of the Grand View Garden. So where is this mysterious Xue house located in the northeast of Rongguo Mansion and the southeast of Grand View Garden? The following general plan after the Jia Mansion built the Grand View Garden gives an explanation. It is located northeast of Mrs. Wang's Courtyard and Jiashe's Courtyard in Rongguo Mansion, southeast of Grand View Garden, and east of the main gate of Grand View Garden. This location is just close to the private alley between Ningrong Mansion, and the Xue family can enter and exit freely every day. , there is no need to pass through Rongfu, so this arrangement makes sense in terms of the location and the daily activities of Xue's house in the future.
Then someone may ask, when the Grand View Garden was built, wasn't part of the old garden where Jia She of Rongguo Mansion used to live? If Xue's house is built at this location, right between the Grand View Garden and the Rongfu Old Garden, then how does the Grand View Garden make use of the Rongfu Old Garden?
Regarding this question, we have to read about the construction process of the Grand View Garden in the book. "Since then, craftsmen from all walks of life have gathered together to move gold, silver, copper, tin, earth, wood, bricks and tiles without stopping. Shillings The craftsmen demolished the walls and pavilions of Huifang Garden of Ning Mansion, and directly entered the east courtyard of Rong Mansion. All the servants' houses in the east of Rong Mansion have been demolished. At that time, Ning Rong's second residence, although there was a small alley that was not connected, but This alley is also private land, not an official road, so it can be connected. Huifang Garden originally drew a stream of running water from the north corner wall, but now there is no need to draw it again. Although the rocks and trees are not enough, Jia She We live in the old garden of Rongfu, where bamboo trees, rocks, pavilions and railings can all be moved in. The two places are so close to each other, so by combining them into one, we can save a lot of money, even if it is not enough, we can add more. It is also limited." From this description, we can see that the construction of the Grand View Garden was formed by demolishing the west boundary wall of Huifang Garden of Ningguo Mansion and merging it with the east courtyard of Rongguo Mansion, but did not demolish the Jia She Palace. It can be seen from the following text that after the completion of the Grand View Garden, Jia She still lived in the old garden of Rong Mansion and did not move. It can be seen that when the Grand View Garden was built, it was only possible that some bamboos from Jia She's courtyard were appropriated. The trees, rocks, pavilions and railings did not merge Jiasheyuan into the Grand View Garden. Therefore, there is no need for Jiasheyuan to be connected with the Grand View Garden. Therefore, it is reasonable to include Xue House in the middle.