Readers in Ming and Qing Dynasties only need to mention "Chun Qing without chaos" in Capricorn to know the ending. It is difficult for us to do this in the post-modern era. Ignoring this absolute obstacle is a sign of a person or culture's complacency. However, lovers of classical literature can't avoid this common sense, and they must go through this insurmountable obstacle and difficult entanglement. Then, there is only one feasible move-well-founded, opportunistic deduction, through reasoning and speculation, to reproduce those lost worlds.
For example, in the 26th episode of A Dream of Red Mansions, at noon that day, Baoyu was worried that there was no place to send him after dinner, and xiren advised him to go out for a walk to avoid being upset and bored. Baoyu walked out of the garden and unconsciously came to Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Before entering the house, I heard the sound of "homesickness and drowsiness every day" floating from the screen window. At this time, Lin Daiyu was reclining on the couch, looking like a lazy cat in heat.
Hearing this, Baoyu felt itchy and asked Daiyu, "Why do you fall asleep every day?" Lin Daiyu was forgetful and blushed, covering her face with her sleeves.
The Story of the West Chamber, Homesick Every Day, tells that Yingying hates "Jade Hall Map (Zhang Sheng) is difficult to get close to" after seeing "gentle and beautiful" Zhang Sheng, and it is just as prosperous in Chun Qing.
Bao and Dai both know what kind of attitude is after this sentence. So Baoyu will itch and Daiyu will blush, and both of them know it. It's just that the owner of our red chamber always writes "love" implicitly. The couple's Chun Qing, in his pen, just touched it. This requires his readers to have enough insight to smell string songs and know elegance. Imagine that the heartstrings of contemporary readers will be more delicate. At this time, I'm afraid I have noticed the burning spring scenery on Daiyu's face. This may be one of the reasons why A Dream of Red Mansions was once banned from the boudoir.
Now, nearly 300 years have passed since the author wrote this book, and the context supporting its culture has long passed; There is no other way for later readers to accurately understand the subtle psychological changes of the characters in the novel than to reconstruct the context at that time.
Baoyu came in and saw Daiyu sitting on the bed, gently pulling her hair wet by the hot summer fog with her jade arm and smiling at Baoyu, "Everyone is asleep. What are you doing here? " Baoyu didn't feel lost in the morning when he saw that his eyes were slightly dark and his cheeks were slightly red. "What did you say?" He said with a smile. Give you a clown to eat! I heard everything. "
Not to mention how many people Daiyu knows, Baoyu's out-and-out reaction shows that he is no longer that ignorant boy.
Baoyu stepped back and asked Zijuan to pour him a bowl of good tea. Daiyu said, "Never mind him. Go and get me some water first. " Zi Juan said with a smile, "He is a guest, so he naturally pours tea first and then scoops water." Then he went to pour tea. Baoyu said with a smile, "Good girl,' how can you make the bed for an affectionate lady? ""Lin Daiyu cried a full face of sufferings. ...
Here, Zijuan pours tea for Baoyu first, and then scoops water for Daiyu to wash her face, which is said to be the way to entertain guests. Therefore, since Baoyu is a guest, Daiyu, who just got up, was a little rude when she saw the guest's sleepy appearance.
Baodai lived together in a blue gauze cabinet since childhood, and she never left her shape. They have never been so particular and taboo, and whoever comes first will be willing. Speaking of whether Baoyu is a guest or not, the relationship is not very close. However, novelists have their reasons for this arrangement. Otherwise, Baoyu's sentence "If you are a sentimental lady, how can you be willing to make the bed?" Where should I put it? And this, it is precisely when dealing with fine figures, the most can not be ignored.
The antecedent of these two sentences in The West Chamber is that Cui Furen sent a matchmaker to the abbot to ask the old monk when he could do something for Cui, and he happened to meet him. Zhang Sheng couldn't help but look at this smart and beautiful girl dressed in white and mourning. The matchmaker sometimes "stole a glance, but wiped Zhang Lang's eyes". Later, Zhang Sheng's psychology sang white: "If * * * his affectionate lady spends her honeymoon. //settle accounts with him, how does he make the bed? " . I will miss Yang, madam. He won't let Xu Fang. I will write in person and be a good person. )"
Girls of that era were sold to rich families as slaves and handmaids, and they got a full meal, which not only solved their own food and clothing, but also reduced the burden on their families. The best way to make a matchmaker a good person is to be accepted as a concubine by Zhang Sheng. "You can't meet ying ying. Let's meet the matchmaker. " This may be the most real psychological change of Zhang Sheng at this moment.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was a common experience for many wealthy families to keep and raise performers. In their home, going to the opera is as common as having three meals a day. As a well-known classic opera like The West Chamber, almost everyone came at once. The audience touches it day after day, and even if they can't make the whole set incisively and vividly, they can still hear the lingering sound of the classic singing. So Baoyu said, "If his amorous lady spends her honeymoon with him, how can he make the bed?" When he said this, was Baoyu immersed in flirting with Daiyu? Can Zijuan understand the true meaning of these two words? You can't judge by simple "yes" or "no".
Before A Dream of Red Mansions, the author Jin Pingmei described the relationship between Ximen Qing and his wives and concubines by "folding quilts to make the bed".
After Chun Mei was admitted to Ximen Qing, Pan Jinlian helped her get up, told her not to clean the stove in the pot, and told her to make the bed and fold the quilt in the room. From that day on, Chun Mei was no longer a rude girl who cooked soup, but was upgraded to a maid of the Golden Lotus and a little sister of the Ximen Qing family.
Li Pinger, a rich woman who is used to the market, wants to marry Ximen Qing since she married Ximen Qing. "She begged Ximen Qing more than once ... I'd rather make the bed and be a sister to all the ladies, and I'll be the slave you want. "
Li Pinger "would like to share a bed with an official", of course, Ximen Qing knows.
Such a sentence is arranged by the author on the character Zijuan. Even if Zijuan doesn't know, the author's attitude is clear and even premeditated. As we will see in the later chapters, all the words and deeds of Zijuan are related to the author's presupposition.
From the day when Daiyu entered Jia's house and Jia gave Zijuan to Daiyu, Zijuan knew that her destiny was linked with this sick girl. Moreover, the grandmother loves Daiyu so much that even if Daiyu becomes a monk in the future, she must follow him no matter how far away she is. She knows this better than anyone. Even when she was young, she didn't know that her fate had been tied to Daiyu. At the age of 57, she knew.
Seeing that Miss Jia's son is a sophomore and still a young girl, it's time to talk about marriage in a blink of an eye. Daiyu may still be naive, but she hasn't realized that she has grown into a graceful girl waiting for words. Zijuan is several years older than Daiyu and knows something about personnel. However, as a slave, her fate rests entirely on Daiyu. Even if she really knows the meaning of "how to make your bed", she is not independent of Daiyu and has become the capital of Baoyu's concubine.
In Yee Hong Courtyard, there is a older girl who is more senior and favored than her, and there is a Qingwen who is smarter and more beautiful than her. Even if it is better than Sheyue Qiuwen, it must be first come, first served.
Zijuan knew that besides going back to the south with Daiyu, the only way to make the Jia family last long was to confirm Baoyu's sincerity to Daiyu. So, at 57,
Baoyu knows that Zijuan belongs to Daiyu. As long as nightingale doesn't leave, Daiyu can't leave. Later, I learned that because she heard that the old lady had ordered a piano for Baoyu, she would get married in two or three years, and she was destined to go their separate ways in the future. She was anxious, so she came to try Baoyu. Fine said:
Although Zijuan tried jade because she heard that Baoyu was engaged to Baoqin. Literally, she is worried about Daiyu, but just a few lines apart, a "partial student" shows us that Zijuan, a girl who is Daiyu, is actually not very happy.
I have seen many readers regard the relationship between Zijuan and Daiyu as good sisters. From beginning to end, I doubted this assertion. I have never felt their affection beyond the master and servant from the novel except that Zi Juan said to Baoyu here that "he is very kind to me, ten times better than what he brought from Suzhou, and we can't live without each other for a moment".
Thirty-five times after Baoyu was severely scolded by his father, the next morning, Daiyu stood in the shade of flowers at a distance, watching everyone walk into Hongyi Garden and disappear together. Just then, Zijuan came to ask her to go back and take medicine. Daiyu said, "What do you want? Just urging, I don't care if I eat or not! " Obviously, Daiyu's answer has an obvious turning point.
Fine said, "Your cough is better, and you don't take medicine. Although it is May and the weather is very hot, we should be careful. I got up early in the morning and stood in this tidal place for a long time. It's time to go back to rest. " Daiyu listened to Zijuan's words and felt unwell, so she came back with Zijuan.
I don't deny that Zijuan took good care of Daiyu, being conscientious, but caring. Why else can Daiyu see when she comes in? Bamboo shadows and moss will make her feel something in her heart, and she will think of the poem "Someone walks in the secluded place, and the moss is white" in The West Chamber, and then think of her loneliness and sadness. At this time, the company of Zijuan is useless, far better than Yingying's loneliness and sadness, and Daiyu tasted it alone. I am thinking that a rich and full heart, no matter what form it is filled with, even if it is noisy and secular, Daiyu should have no leisure to pay attention to everything around her. Daiyu was deeply touched when she saw it.
Daiyu took the medicine, and at dawn, she passed through the bamboo bushes and slanted into the window screen. In the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, one is bright and the other is dark, and the room is full of shade. The soft light and shadow are stacked on Daiyu's couch, which is slightly cold. Clearly sunny in front of her, she still felt bored, preferring to tease Ying Ge only through the screen window.
Seeing these words, I can't accept that Daiyu and Zijuan are good friends of the same sister. At least in many Ming and Qing novels, there are few precedents in the relationship between master and servant that are too affectionate to sisters. For example, Pan Jinlian and Chun Mei in Jin Ping Mei, and Wang Xifeng and Pinger in A Dream of Red Mansions.
However, can we blame the nightingale without scruple?
As the saying goes, there is no dutiful son before a long bed. It is normal for Daiyu to sigh. At first, everyone comforted her and advised her to take it easy. But then, day after day, every day, gradually, everyone got used to her like this and didn't persuade her, so no one paid any attention to her. Only she sat alone and the girls slept. Let her cry on her knees alone, like wood carving and clay sculpture, and often sit for more than 20 days before going to bed.
-This is the 27th "Looking Back". The owner of the Red Chamber faithfully describes the pattern of Dai Yu and the maids getting along for many years.
Such a relationship should not be intimate! And as long as she is in the same box, there is no picture, which is very harmonious. Either Daiyu swore and choked; Either Zijuan disobeyed Daiyu's orders and acted privately (for example, Zijuan opened the door for Baoyu 30 times and tried Baoyu 57 times). Although Daiyu may be willful in many cases, she is the owner of Zijuan after all. Sometimes, what should I do if I indulge her willfulness and let her feel the support and warmth of some relatives?
Actually, I'm not sure, because I heard Baoyu's sentence, "How can I make the bed without you?" After that, he paid special attention to Baoyu and coveted Baoyu's concubine status. But for Zijuan, Jia Fu is a good family, and Baoyu has a good temperament. We grew up together. They would rather help Daiyu stay in Jia's home and marry Baoyu than blindly explore an unknown happiness with Daiyu. This should be the best place to go. So she tried Baoyu. Zi Juan is too clever. Knowing that the old lady intended to give Baoyu the Baoqin, she took the opportunity to sound it out. Baoyu agreed and said:
"... don't worry anymore. I only tell you one thing: live, and we will live together; Even if you die, what if you turn to ashes? "
Hearing this, the fine secretly calculated. (57 times)
Later, Aunt Xue and Baochai came to visit Daiyu in Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and said that they planned to order Baoyu, which was exactly four corners. Hearing this, Zijuan rushed over and said, "Since you have this idea, why don't you tell your wife?"
Aunt Xue smiled and said, "You child, what's the hurry? You must have urged your girl to come out, and you should have found a little son-in-law earlier. "
Aunt Xue was joking, of course. Zijuan blushed and smiled, "Aunt Xue is really old." Said, and turned to leave.
Isn't Zijuan's action only for Daiyu, but not for her future?
It's hard to say.
Later, when they raided the Grand View Garden, Wang Shanbao and his family found some old things of Baoyu in Zijuan's cupboard and showed them to Xi 'an. Xi 'an said with a smile, "Baoyu has been hanging out with them for several years since he was a child, which is naturally an old story of Baoyu. This is not a rare thing. It is serious to leave for other places. "
After Xifeng died, Zijuan said with a smile, "The things in our hands are still countless. If you ask this, even I forget when. "
What puzzles me is that Wang Shanbao's family didn't find anything of Baoyu in the three boxes of xiren, Qingwen and Sheyue in Hongyi Courtyard. But I found it at the nightingale restaurant! Besides, Daiyu was nearby that night and didn't say anything for Zijuan: I asked Zijuan to get it for me.
She is the only one who collects Baoyu's old things and has no feelings for Baoyu. It's hard for me to find other more reasonable ways to explain it.
After the night attack on the Grand View Garden, Baochai moved back home on the grounds that her mother was unaccompanied at night. Girls who found problems in the raid were thrown out one by one. Qingwen didn't make any mistakes, but she was kicked out of the Grand View Garden. Soon, the fragrance was gone.
Later, Baoyu would use Chinese sentences, "In the red account, the son is affectionate; In Huangtuling, my daughter is unlucky. " , changed to "under the screen window, miss affectionate; I was unlucky in Huangtuling. " Later, Daiyu said, "He's not my maid, so why use this language? Besides, maids are not elegant. It's not too late for me to say so when my nightingale dies. " Hearing this, Baoyu quickly smiled and said, "Why curse her?"
If the nightingale is really sweet, it will be too late for Daiyu to cherish it. What Baoyu said was, why did Daiyu curse her?
The nightingale seen in this article may be fundamentally different from the nightingale described by previous researchers. I didn't expect this article to be obligated to draw conclusions for Zijuan. Perhaps some readers will question how such a girl who can plan her future can bear the word "wisdom" given to her by the novelist.
The original meaning of "wisdom" is "smart, smart".
Zijuan knows her own destiny, which is linked with Daiyu's future. Only Daiyu stays in Jia's house, and marrying Baoyu is her best destination. So, she went to test Baoyu with emotion, and she begged Aunt Xue to act as a matchmaker for the two jade. Zi Juan's behavior, although the starting point is that she doesn't want to leave Jia's house, is not a bad thing for Dai Yu. Strictly speaking, what she did should be considered selfish. In the next 57 chapters, the author evaluates it as "benefit". Can you use the word "Hui" to interpret it?
I often think that the significance of the existence of famous works may lie in the reading and misunderstanding of you and me from generation to generation. That's why they will wait a hundred or even a thousand years. Maybe it will have to wait more patiently for the next century or Millennium. Therefore, our reading method, no matter how imaginative our imagination is and how absurd our textual research is, as a masterpiece itself, is not affected at all.
Then, when we construct the reasoning of those literary works that have been preserved for a long time, shouldn't we ask: "Is this true?" Instead, or ask, "What if I take this as true when I read it?" Some structures may disgust you; Some may be of interest to you. Personally, I hope that through careful, objective and rational analysis, I can discover, unfold and try to skim over the seemingly fragmented details.
References:
Cao Xueqin and Anonymous wrote A Dream of Red Mansions.
By master Wang? Romance of the West Chamber
Yuwen Suoan's traditional poetry and China's poetics.