It goes without saying that promotion and wealth is almost everyone's dream, including women. The dead wife is a man's exclusive patent. Of course, men didn't have that kind of lethargy from the beginning, but they began to breed after middle age, especially after the goal of promoting to a higher position and making a fortune was achieved, and gradually became urgent and intense. In Fortress Besieged, Qian Zhongshu, with the help of Wang Chuhou, a professor at San Lv University, expressed the benefits of his dead wife: "Dead wife is the most economical thing. Although funerals cost money, don't divorce require alimony? Isn't bigamy a price to pay in two ways? Many people have damn wives, but Rainbow Chu Hou has the luck to mourn in time. At least someone will give gifts in mourning. Divorce and bigamy, even this gift has no income, but also pay legal fees. What's more, he (Wang Chuhou) is just a scholar at heart. Scholars like people to die best, and they can write articles with topics to mourn. Coffin shops and funeral homes only do the business of new dead people, and literati will have long hair on dead people who have died for one year, several years, decades or even hundreds of years. " The anniversary of death "and" 300-year sacrifice "are equally good topics. The topic of dead wife-or dead husband, because there are female writers-is particularly good; Although others have literary talent, the wife or husband is only yours. This is the subject of registered patent. "
Haha, pause for a moment. Guo Moruo's Three Centennial Festival of Shen Jia was first published in March 1944. In addition to this book, the words "Three Centennial Festival" are no longer embedded in other books and articles. Then, I don't know if Qian Zhongshu satirized Guo with Fortress Besieged (published by Shanghai Publishing Company), which was first published as 1947. Please give me your advice.
In this way, the subject of chanting "promoting to a higher position and killing his wife" changed from a man to a scholar.
Let's get back to the point.
Why not get a divorce? After all, you've slept together for decades. Not bad, but it's better to die simply and neatly without many sequelae. According to Zi Jian (No.55, Volume 47 of Han Ji), people in the Eastern Han Dynasty were famous for their intelligence. At that time, Prime Minister Wei Yuan happened to find a husband for his niece. When he met Huang Yun, he said admiringly, "It is enough to have a son-in-law like Huang Yun." Hearing the news, Huang Yun was heartbroken and decided to seize this good opportunity of promoting to a higher position. But I'm married. What should I do? Divorce. I made a special trip back and made a very firm request. After many attempts to accommodate, his wife, Xiahou Shi, pleaded: "Since you have to leave regardless of the feelings of husband and wife, please allow me to invite all the relatives of this clan to gather here and say goodbye to everyone to show that I am not wrong." Huang Yun was possessed by a ghost, or he was smarter than him and even agreed, so he invited his clan relatives to the party. At the tribal meeting, Xiahou's family exposed Huang Yun's 15 evil secrets, and then rode away. Huang Yun was despised by the world from now on. A divorce, Gao Zhier didn't climb up, it was ruined. I'm really sorry to lose my wife.
See clearly the failure of divorce.
Let's go back to the topic of "although others can read, the wife or husband is only yours and the subject of the registered patent". Indeed, literati, especially those with status, can also write some commemorative articles on the anniversary of their wives' death, which can not only earn contributions, but also show deep affection and be worthy of fame and fortune. Although anyone can write commemorative articles, the fear of writing an authoritative memorial to his deceased wife is that only he has this privilege and no one else can get their hands on it.
Therefore, there is a special theme in China ancient literature, which is also the saddest death aesthetics: mourning.
By the way, not all words that mourn the dead can be called mourning. In feudal times, a couple, if the man died first, the remaining one was a widow (remarriage was certainly possible, but it was difficult at that time). Literati nicknamed themselves "widows" originally meant to be buried with their husbands. Or, if my husband died first, the one who is still alive has no right to "mourn".
Famous mourning works include: The Book of Songs? Pan Yue's three mourning poems, Yuan Zhen's eight mourning poems in the spring of the sixth year, Su Shi's Diary of Jiangchengzi in the first month, He Zhu's Everything is not right after a Partridge, Lu You's Two Poems of Shen Yuan, Na Lan and so on. A fleeting life, and so on, too numerous to mention. Even the best-selling Six Chapters of a Floating Life is actually a mourning work.
Listen, if my wife is not dead, where are these works?