The development of the story can be roughly divided into five levels:
(1) Fan Jin came home after being a scholar, and his father-in-law Hu Tuhu came to congratulate him. This is actually the end of the previous plot, but it is somewhat similar to the background in some novels in this section, because Fan Jin won the scholar, which made him qualified as a juror. In addition, it can be seen from what Hu Butcher taught Fan Jin that winning a scholar did not fundamentally change Fan Jin's social status and could not satisfy his desire to pursue fame.
(2) Fan Jin borrowed travelling expenses from Hu Butcher in order to go to the provincial capital to take the township test, but he was insulted. He was unwilling to take the exam without telling his father-in-law. Fan Jin's move was certainly encouraged by his master, but if he hadn't been eager to admire fame and wealth, he wouldn't have had such great courage-this can also be seen from his disregard for his mother and wife. This is the beginning of the plot.
(3) On the day when the list was published, Fan Jin was ordered by his mother to go to the market to sell chickens when cooking was interrupted. After going for nearly two hours, the happy news of Zhongju suddenly arrived, and the neighbors hurried to the collection to pull him back. This is the development of the plot, because Fan Jin's fate will change dramatically from a despised "worldly treasure" to a respected "master". However, Fan Jin himself has not seen the good news at the moment. He dare not believe it, and he has to sell chickens to "save his life", which reflects the heavy humiliation left in his heart by a series of failures since he began to take the exam at the age of 2.
(4) When Fan Jin saw the good news, he was so overjoyed that he fainted to the ground. After waking up, he went crazy again, patting and laughing, and desperately went to the gathering. Thanks to a newspaper reporter's good idea, he found a butcher and gave him a hard blow on the mouth, so he woke up and was not crazy. This is a comedy, the climax of this story. Fan Jin always said only one thing during his madness: "Hey! Ok! I won! " It reflects that his pursuit of fame and wealth for decades has reached the point of ecstasy. In this comedy, the butcher Hu respectfully praised Fan Jin and praised him to the sky, which fully exposed his snobbery.
(5) Fan Jingang came home from Jiji, and Zhang Jingzhai, who was born as a juren and once served as a magistrate of a county, came to visit, giving money and a house. This is the end of the story, indicating that Fan Jin's social status has suddenly risen, which is really "not what it used to be".
from this story, it is not difficult to see that the imperial examination system in feudal times was a spiritual shackle put on scholars.
second, research on problems
1. What is the typicality of Fan Jin's image?
In Preface to the Scholars, the old man at leisure Zhai once pointed out: "His book is based on fame and wealth: those who are interested in fame and wealth flatter others; There are people who rely on fame and wealth to be proud and proud; Those who have no intention of fame, wealth and self-esteem, and are laughed at by others; In the end, the resignation is fame and wealth, and the top level of the product is the mainstay. " The first three types of people mentioned here are all the objects criticized by the novel author.
Fan Jin can probably be classified as a "servant" mentioned by the old man in Xian Zhai. The "servant" is called condescending to others. More precisely, he silently accepts insults, contempt and ridicule from people around him, and does not dare to resist at all. Fan Jin's "servant" is indeed surprisingly "down" For example, after he won the scholar's prize, Hu Butcher still said that he was a "worldly treasure", but he actually "only talked about it" without making excuses; He borrowed travelling expenses to attend the provincial examination, but was "spat on his face and scolded a dog" by the butcher Hu. He listened to those ugly words and stopped at "scratching the door"-such a "servant" was simply numb! It's really cowardly and humiliating. This is true for Hu Butcher, and it is also true for others.
Fan Jin's character was formed in his career of more than 3 years. For more than 3 years, he kept taking exams and failing with eager expectation of fame, and he got nothing but contempt and ridicule from people around him. He was finally admitted to a scholar, but people think that the master pitied him and gave him up. He almost fell into a desperate situation. When his neighbors went to the collection to find him and told him that he had won the bid, he couldn't believe it was this psychological reflection that was almost desperate.
2. What's the significance of the image of the butcher Hu?
Hu Butcher is a philistine who hates the poor and loves the rich. Before he was promoted, Fan Jin was regarded as a "worldly treasure" and a "rotten, honest and useless person", and he even "whipped" the scholar. Fan Jin's attempt to take a picture in the middle of the picture is extremely ironic and mocking. What "the frog wants to eat swan meat" and what "the sharp-tongued monkey should also take a look at himself" are vulgar words, which are unbearable. When Fan Jin really won the lottery, he suddenly made a 18-degree turn, called Fan Jin a "good husband", praised Fan Jin in public for his "high intelligence and good appearance" and really praised Fan Jin to the sky-saying that he was a "star in the sky". Hu Butcher's attitude towards Fan Jin is completely different. To put it bluntly, it is because "my uncle is not what he used to be, and many people send money to his door." From this point of view, every cell in this person is full of money desire.
3. How does the author use irony?
The Scholars is a social satire novel, which reflects, like a mirror, the ugly faces of all kinds of scholars under the imperial examination system and the declining world style in the last days of feudalism. It is very helpful for us to read this novel to explore the irony of the text carefully. The irony of the text is as follows:
(1) exaggeration
Fan Jin was crazy because he was so happy that he woke up after being slapped. This is the basic plot of the story and is made up by exaggeration. This seems bizarre, but as Lu Xun said, it is also "the truth" and therefore credible. The reason is that at that time, scholars were keen on the imperial examination, and once they got fame, they were ecstatic. What's more, it has been 35 years since Fan Jin began to take the exam at the age of 2. After such a long wait, his wish finally came true. How can he be mad with joy? It is naturally a great honor for Fan to come in, but being slapped is humiliating, and it is the author's intention to whip his ugly soul, which is of great irony.
(2) Contrastive techniques
Hu Tu-hu is written in a contrastive way, and his bourgeois character, which is greedy for money, disrespecting the poor and loving the rich, and vulgar and selfish, is revealed through his two completely different attitudes towards Fan Jin.
(3) Use typical details to reveal the contradictions of the characters
For example, write about Fan Jin's madness:
... He got up and clapped his hands and laughed. Ok! I won! " Laughing, he threw himself away and flew out of the door, which startled the reporter and neighbors. I walked out of the gate a short way, but I kicked in the pond. When I earned it, my hair fell loose, and my hands were yellow and dripping with water. They couldn't stop pulling him, patting and laughing until they went to the collection.
These details vividly reveal the contradiction between Fan Jin's heart and appearance: internally, he is a winner, and he feels proud, so he clapped his hands and laughed; He wanted to announce to the people around him that his old dream had come true, so he flew out of the door and ran to the collection. But in appearance, he is a loser, with loose hair, yellow hands and water all over him, like a drowned rat. This is a strong irony.
Another example is to write about the greed of the butcher Hu:
...... Even if I packed two tablets, I asked the butcher Hu to come in and handed it to him, saying, "I just took the trouble of my father to get five thousand dollars. This is more than six taels of silver, and Dad took it. " The butcher held the silver tightly in his hand, stretched out his fist and said, "Take this. I used to congratulate you, but how can I take it back? " Fan Jin said, "I can see that I still have a few taels of silver here. If I run out, I'll ask my father to use it again." The butcher quickly drew back his fist and put it in his waist ...
What is revealed here is the contradiction between Hu Butcher's words and actions: the money has been tightly held in his hand, but his mouth is partial to saying no, exposing the bourgeois's love for money.
exercise instructions
1. Fan Jin was overjoyed. Was it a comedy or a tragedy? Combine the specific description of the text and talk about your opinion.
This is an open question, which is intended to activate students' thinking. It should be noted that "comedy" and "tragedy" mentioned here are only figurative, and they should not be regarded as the category of drama. However, it is not completely unrelated to these two kinds of dramas. For example, comedies often expose and laugh at ugly things or backward phenomena in reality by exaggeration, while tragedies often show the destruction of valuable things. A little common sense in this aspect can broaden students' thinking during the discussion. The answer is not eclectic, but it must be reasonable and justified.
it has been pointed out in the "text discussion" that Fan Jin's madness is a comedy, for the following reasons: (1) Fan Jin's madness and Hu Tuhu's slapping on the mouth are all exaggerated; (2) Exposed the ugly soul of the scholars who were keen on fame and fortune and the snobbish face of the philistines; (3) Fan Jin finally woke up and had a happy ending. However, if students say that this is a tragedy from the perspective of the fate of the characters, it is Fan Jin's life tragedy to waste his life in the imperial examination room; It is a national tragedy to bind intellectuals within the framework of the imperial examination system and stifle their independent personality and free soul. Encourage students to speak out their own experience and understanding, and give more reasons. Don't force unification.
Second, before and after Fan Jin's campaign, what changes did Hu Tu-hu, his neighbors and Xiangshen Zhang have in their attitudes towards him? What did this change reflect at that time?
The purpose of this question is to make students understand the apathy of the world under the imperial examination system, which is exactly the environment in which Fan Jin lived and the objective reason why he was keen on fame. It should be noted that there is no direct reference to the attitude of the neighbors and Xiangshen Zhang towards Fan Jin before his introduction, which can be inferred from some details in the text.
First question: The change of Hu Butcher's attitude can be summarized in four words: "Change from arrogance to respect" (for details, please refer to the relevant part of "Text Discussion"). All the neighbors were indifferent to Fan Jin before he was promoted (Fan went to the provincial capital to take the exam and was hungry for two or three days at home; On the morning of the release of the list, the Fan family ran out of food and had to go to the market to sell chickens. At such a difficult time for the Fan family, none of the neighbors came to ask questions); After the middle school entrance examination, he enthusiastically helped him (brought eggs, wine, rice, etc. to entertain the applicants, and went to the collection to find Fan Jin and take good care of him). Xiangshen Zhang disdained him before Fan Jinzhong's promotion (as can be seen from the sentence "Mr. Shi is always in the mulberry, and he has always lost his closeness"); I tried my best to win him over (taking the initiative to congratulate him, saying "the world is good", giving money and giving a house).
second question: try to curry favor with the rich and powerful; Indifferent to people who have no money or power.
third, satire is the outstanding artistic feature of this article. Mark what you think is funny in reading and think about what is hidden behind the smile.
This question is intended to make students appreciate the art of satire in this article.
this is also an open question. Say one or two funny things in class and make a little analysis, which is nothing more than an example. You can continue to do it after class, and write it in the book by commenting.
For the answer, please refer to "Text Discussion".
Teaching suggestions
First, the introduction of The Scholars and its author is just a little more detailed. To introduce the author, we should highlight his position against the imperial examination system; When introducing The Scholars, we can focus on the art of satire. Only in this way can students understand the text and stimulate their interest in reading the whole book, but don't take up too much time. In higher-level classes, relevant materials can be sent to students for introduction.
second, this story is very long, and it takes time and is unnecessary to repeat it in detail, but talking about the outline is of great benefit to cultivate students' comprehensive content ability and improve their oral expression skills. Before you say the outline, you should grasp the main points of each paragraph. For example, the first paragraph mainly writes three paragraphs that Hu Tuhu said when he came to congratulate him. Teach Fan Jin how to "be a man"; Greet the mother and daughter to dinner), and the rest of the bedding can be omitted. The purpose of outlining is to understand the development process of the story and prepare for the next discussion and analysis.
Third, reading novels should focus on character analysis. Fan Jin should be analyzed first, followed by the butcher Hu. Xiangshen Zhang is only making his debut in the article (his "play" is next time), so there is no need to make a single item. Analyzing Fan Jin, besides discussing "tragedy" and "comedy" in combination with Exercise 1, we can also talk about everyone's views on whether Fan Jin is an honest man in the literati, in order to understand the typical significance of Fan Jin's image.
Fourth, after completing Exercise 2, it is best to further improve the typical environment to do some analysis, so that students can understand the relationship between the formation of Fan Jin's typical personality and the social environment.
5. The author's satirical art is also the focus of study. It's best to finish Exercise 3 first, so that students can fully tell the absurdity and meaning of the article, and then guide students to gradually understand several satirical techniques used by the author.
VI. The imperial examination system has been implemented in China for more than 1,4 years. Reading ancient books will often encounter this problem, and students should have common knowledge in this field. If you have spare time, you may as well make some introductions.
Relevant information
1. The author and The Scholars
Wu Jingzi (171-1754), whose name is Min Xuan, was named Grain Min (the existing handwritten Lantingxu by Wu Jingzi is stamped with the seal: "Quanjiao Wu Jingzi Grain Min Seal"), and in his later years, he was named Wenmu old man, who was born in Quanjiao, Anhui.
Wu Jingzi wrote twelve volumes of Wenmushanfang Poetry Collection, of which four volumes exist today.
During Wu Jingzi's life, his life and thoughts have changed greatly. In life, he fell from wealth to poverty; Ideologically, he expressed diametrically opposite views on fame and wealth. He grew up in a family of generations of Kejia, and spent most of his life in Nanjing and Yangzhou, where he was familiar with bureaucratic gentry, wealthy children, celebrities and hanger-on. In the life of these "upper-class people", he indignantly saw the bureaucratic favoritism, the arbitrary rural songs of the gentry, the mediocrity of the fertile children, the greed of the people in the industry, the artiness of celebrities and the fraud of hanger-on. Coupled with his personal life from rich to poor, it is easy to detect the face of the "upper class". In The Scholars, he thoroughly exposed the decay of the spiritual life of all kinds of intellectuals, which is really "like the casting of Dayu's Jiuding, mysterious and unorthodox" (Volume 4 of Bo Shan Zhi, a travel cloud). Moreover, because of the vivid artistic image, his works are particularly attractive and touching.
He lived through three generations in the Qing Dynasty: Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. At that time, capitalist relations of production sprouted, and the society showed a certain degree of prosperity. However, this was just a blip of the China feudal society that was about to collapse, and the apparent prosperity could not conceal the fact that the building was about to collapse. During the reign of Yongzheng and Qianlong, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty gradually suppressed the armed uprising, and at the same time, they adopted Daxing Wenzi Prison and set up erudite macro-words department as bait. Examining stereotyped writing and opening imperial examinations to imprison scholars, and advocating Neo-Confucianism to deal with intellectuals by ruling ideas. Among them, the imperial examination system is the most harmful and influential, which makes many intellectuals fall into the trap of pursuing wealth and become ignorant and despicable.