Jia Yuanchun in A Dream of Red Mansions was unknown in the palace for many years, and was suddenly made a virtuous princess, which made her extremely rich. However, I finally got a chance to return home with a full load, but it was arranged at night. Isn't this just a night trip? At that time, there were no street lamps. Although lanterns were used, they could not be seen clearly, and the prosperity was greatly reduced.
Then the question is, why should such a glorious thing be arranged at night, which is suitable for wide publicity?
In fact, this arrangement has two deep meanings. It is through these two deep meanings that the author can let us know the cultural background at that time and see the reasons for the decline of Jia family.
Yuan Fei's provincial relatives are arranged on the night of Lantern Festival, and its core idea is "filial piety and reunion". Lantern Festival is arranged in the evening, but it is not an ordinary night, but the night of Lantern Festival. This arrangement is not Jia Fu or Yuan Chun, but today's Holy Father: "Jia chose a date inscription. On this day, with the approval of Zhu, I played: On the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year, Jia Fei was allowed to see her mother. "
On the day of mothering, Yuan Chun "didn't eat dinner at first, and went to Ling Bao Palace to worship Buddha. At the first moment, he went to the Daming Palace for a banquet to watch the lights, and I was afraid that I would be at first. " It's nine o'clock at night. At this time, if it weren't for enjoying the moon, people would generally fall asleep, but Yuan Chun just started from the palace.
According to this analysis, some people say that this is deliberately embarrassing Yuan Chun, and it is too harsh for her to reunite with her family in a hurry in a few hours at night.
This is really a villain's heart, and it has failed the kindness of the saints.
To understand the kindness of the holy family, we must start with Yuan Chun's maternal career.
The book mentions the relatives of concubines in the province, "listening to books and watching plays all the time, which was not available in ancient times", which belongs to the new creation of today's family. Why did your majesty set this precedent? 16 back to say very clearly:
Nowadays, the word "filial piety" is the most important word in the world. It seems that the essence of parents and children is the same, not the distinction between nobility and inferiority. Nowadays, you can't be a little filial when you serve the emperor's father and empress dowager day and night, because you see that the concubines and talented people in the palace have been in the palace for many years, so you have left your parents' voices and smiles. Is there any reason not to think about it? Thinking about parents in children is a branch. I miss my parents at home, but if I just miss my children, I won't see them. If I get sick or even die, I will bow down and imprison them, which will not enable them to fulfill their family's wishes, and will also harm the heavens and the earth. Therefore, the emperor's father and the empress dowager will be played, and their families will be allowed to enter the palace in February and June every year. Please wait and see. So the emperor's father and the empress dowager were overjoyed and praised today's filial piety and pure benevolence. So, two old sages ordered Jiao Fang's family to enter the palace, which was not enough to satisfy the mother and daughter. Unexpectedly, I opened the door for convenience and sent a special message to the dignitaries of the pepper family. In addition to entering the palace on February 26, if the other party's courtyard is heavy, they can stay in the customs. You might as well invite the palace into its private place, so that you can make full use of your kinship and family relations.
In the background of the Red Mansion, there are the Emperor Taizong and the Empress Dowager. The saint is a very filial person, because he is filial to the emperor's father and queen, pushing himself and others, thinking that the concubines in the harem have not seen their families for many years. Therefore, not only are concubines' families allowed to visit in the palace on Tuesdays and Saturdays every month, but also concubines whose parents have a big garden are allowed to go home to visit their relatives. Moreover, the purpose of visiting relatives is to "do their best", that is, to be filial to their parents by reuniting with their families.
It can be seen that the core idea of mothering is "filial piety and reunion". Choosing the Lantern Festival night, which symbolizes reunion, is the most appropriate time to enjoy the moon with your family, which is also the intention and consideration of the holy family.
Choosing to visit relatives at night, deliberately avoiding showing off and being seen, reflects the cultural background of advocating thrift. Reading A Dream of Red Mansions is easy to be confused by Jia's extravagance, thinking that this is the ethos of the whole society. In fact, Jia's extravagance and waste is the lead. The real head of the household, Mrs. Wang, is actually extremely frugal and opposes extravagance and waste. This was the mainstream atmosphere of society at that time. For example, Jia Zheng once opposed Baoyu's wearing exquisite shoes, saying that it was "a waste of manpower and a practice."
Also advocating frugality is Yuan Chun, who has become an imperial concubine.
In The Eighteenth Back, Yuan Chun repeatedly reflected her opposition to extravagance and waste in the process of mothering.
When she first entered the park, "Jia Fei sat in a sedan chair and looked at the luxury inside and outside the park, because she silently sighed that luxury was too expensive."
While enjoying the scenery of the Grand View Garden, I emphasize: "Don't be too extravagant in the future, it's too much."
When I was leaving, my eyes were full of tears, and I couldn't leave. Don't forget to say, "If you are allowed to go back to the province next year, don't be so extravagant!" "
From silent sigh to repeated explanation, it reflects Yuan Chun's sincere opposition to extravagance and waste.
This is also the second meaning of arranging the time for visiting relatives in the evening: keeping a low profile and deliberately avoiding publicity and being seen, which shows that today's holy family, like Yuan Chun, advocates frugality and simplicity and opposes extravagance and waste.
Filial piety and frugality embodied by relatives in the Yuan and Spring period were advocated by the mainstream at that time, but they were absent in Jia's house, which led to the rapid decline of Jia's house. On the surface, the descendants of the Jia family hold and coax their ancestor Jia Mu, but behind their backs they are doing all kinds of shady things, and there is no filial piety at all. Jia's extravagance hollowed out his family wealth, so he had to make a living by pawning.
Therefore, the decline of the Jia family is not due to external reasons, but their own loss of filial piety and frugality, which is self-inflicted.