Crab Chant - (Xue Baochai)
Sitting in the shade of Gui Ai and Tong Yang, raising a cup, Chang'an salivates in anticipation of the Double Ninth Festival.
The road in front of you has no longitude and latitude, and the sky in the spring and autumn is black and yellow.
Chrysanthemum is also used when the wine has not washed away the fishy smell, and ginger is used to prevent cold accumulation.
What’s the point of leaving the cauldron today? The fragrance of grain and millet remains in the sky on the moon.
[Note]
1. Mist - cloud. This refers to the scent of osmanthus.
2. Chang'an saliva - the glutton in Kyoto. Eating crabs during festivals is a habit of wealthy people, so Chang'an is cited as the example. It also seems to be related to the "Taotie King and Grandson". Looking forward to the Double Ninth Festival - Many of the poems in "A Dream of Red Mansions" have hidden meanings. There are fifteen chrysanthemum poems and crab poems. The three poems that clearly mention "Double Ninth Festival" are the three poems written by Baochai. This is worth noting. Just as poems such as "Watching the Riverside with Tears during the Qingming Festival" and "The Most Appropriate Decorations during the Qingming Festival" seem to be related to the season of marrying away from home after exploring spring (see his poems "Picture Album Judgment" and "Spring Lantern Riddles"), Baochai It begins with "The Double Ninth Festival will come soon" and continues with "Talk to comfort the Double Ninth Festival". Here it also says "We are looking forward to the Double Ninth Festival". It can be seen that "Double Ninth Festival" must be related to a certain plot about Baochai in the second half of the lost manuscript.
3. "In front of you" sentence - Crabs are running rampant, so they don't care whether the road in front of them is straight or horizontal. Warp and weft were originally the straight and horizontal lines on the loom.
4. "Pili" sentence - Crabs have shells but no skin, and "Pili" means the inside of the belly. The paste of live crabs has different colors from yellow to black, so "Spring and Autumn" is used to say that the flowers and colors are different. "Pili Chunqiu" is an idiom, which comes from "Book of Jin·Chu Zhuan": Chu was a man who did not show his likes and dislikes on the outside, and refused to express approval or disapproval casually, but in his heart he had praise and criticism, so some people say that he "has Pili Chunqiu" ". Because the name of Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty was Chun, Jin people avoided taboos and replaced "spring" with "yang", so this idiom is also called "Pi Li Yang Qiu". Later, it was often used to say that people have deep scheming and remain silent
sense. Empty, black and yellow means that many tricks are in vain, because crabs are inevitably cooked by others.
5. Cleanse the fishy smell - remove the fishy smell. Yongju - refers to the unusual wine being drunk, but chrysanthemum wine. Legend has it that drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival can ward off bad odors.
6. Prevent cold accumulation in nature - meaning that crabs are cold in nature and must be eaten to prevent cold accumulation.
7. Drop the cauldron - put it in a pot and cook it. What's the use of success - meaning what's the use of rampage and trickery.
8. Yuepu - the waterside with moonlight, refers to the place where crabs originally grew. The word "moon" is often used to point to autumn in poems. The scent of grains and millet remains—as far as crabs are concerned, since they are eaten by people, the scent of grains and millet has nothing to do with it. "Crab Records" written by Lu Guimeng in the Tang Dynasty: "Crabs begin to burrow in Juhu (pronounced "low-humidity place"). When autumn and winter come, they will definitely come out in large numbers, and people from Jiangdong will come to visit them." Also in Fu Gong's "Crab Book" of the Song Dynasty ": "At the turn of autumn and winter, the rice grains are enough... Jiang folk call it 'crab music.'
Although "A Dream of Red Mansions" more fully embodies the creative principles of realism than other classical novels, because The author does not dare to directly say what he wants to say that "hurts the times and curses the world", so he often makes use of the topic or speaks through the mouth and pen of the characters in the novel. And this is not limited to positive characters either. The big discussion about "good" and "evil" in Jia Yucun's chat in the second chapter is an example of this. Baochai's poem about crabs is also a way for the author to express his thoughts. There is a noteworthy passage in the novel, which is the comment from everyone: "This is the swan song of crab-eating crabs! These small topics are supposed to contain big meanings before they are considered great talents. - It's just that they are too vicious to satirize the world!" This is clearly stated here. Tell us two points: 1. Use the small to accommodate the big - "A Dream of Red Mansions" uses the "false language" of children's love to tell the "real story" of political issues, that is, "using the small to accommodate the big". Second, it aims to scold the world, and for this purpose it is much safer to use Baochai's works than to use Baoyu or Daiyu, who are obviously rebellious characters. Because Baochai was an "orthodox" member of ancient society and always upheld the existing order. Using her poems to cleverly scold the world was very much like just "creating love for literature" for a while, and it could also serve as a cover. . In fact, it is a satirical poem disguised as a leisurely chant about scenery
.
The sharp edge of the whole poem that satirizes the ugly characters in real social politics is concentrated in the second couplet: "The road in front of you has no latitude and longitude, and the sky in the spring and autumn is black and yellow." It not only serves as a political broker like Jia Yucun in the novel , The portrait of an official gambler is very vivid, and it is very suitable to give it to all the villains in history who are accustomed to conspiracy. They always have ulterior motives, go on a rampage, deviate from the right path, and go down a slanted road. In the end, they are exhausted, but they cannot escape the end of destruction. Therefore, the novel specifically emphasizes: "Everyone couldn't help but marvel when they saw this. Baoyu said: 'Swear Tongkuai! My poem should be burned.'"
In the novel, this poem is Written by Baochai, how does this reflect the praise and criticism of this character? It is written that Baochai is well-versed in world affairs, which is not necessarily a compliment. "I am sighing that others will not live long, but I know that I will be mourned when I return?" It is really derogatory to ridicule the world and forget to take a mirror to look at oneself: I am laughing at others for not choosing the right path and "living their spring and autumn", in order to win the favor of Second Grandma Bao Position, didn’t we also use all our efforts and methods? If you say that crabs have a fishy stench, doesn’t it mean that you don’t have the stench of Confucianism if you are passionate about official career and economics? People are told to "prevent coldness" when eating crabs. Are crabs the only ones with "coldness"? Ask the crab, "What's the point of leaving the cauldron now?" Shouldn't we also ask ourselves: What's the benefit of finally marrying the golden lock with the precious jade? And so on. The poem seems to be unintentional, but it actually becomes Baochai's self-mockery.