Border Town is the representative work of Shen Congwen's novels, and it is an excellent novella that expresses local feelings in the history of China literature. Based on the tea cave in the border town of Sichuan and Hunan in the 1930s, it depicts the unique customs of the Xiangxi border region with beautiful strokes of lyric poetry and prose. The love tragedy of Cui Cui, a boatman girl, highlights the goodness and beauty of human nature and the clarity and purity of the soul. It attracted many readers at home and abroad with its unique artistic charm and vivid local customs, and also established the special position of Border Town in the history of modern literature in China. This book is one of the series of "World Literary Masterpieces" edited by the famous writer Liu. With the help of Chinese teaching, this book analyzes the ideological content and artistic characteristics of the famous book Border Town, and with the reading guidance and comments of famous writers, it is helpful to improve students' Chinese achievements. Status and influence Mr. Shen Congwen has written many novels and essays in his life, but Border Town occupies the most important position among his many works. It is no exaggeration to say that Border Town laid the historical position of Mr. Shen Congwen in the history of literature. 1In June, 1999, Asia Weekly published "Top 100 China Novels in the 20th Century", ranked the novels written in Chinese all over the world in the 20th century, and selected the first 100 works. All the participants are famous scholars and writers at home and abroad, such as Yu, Wang Meng,. In this ranking, Lu Xun's collection of novels "Scream" ranks first, and Shen Congwen's novel "Border Town" ranks second. But if a single novel counts, Border Town is the first. Border Town has been translated and published in more than 40 countries, such as Japan, the United States, Britain and the former Soviet Union, and has been selected into university textbooks by more than 40 countries or regions, such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Britain. The essence of the content is that there is a family living near the tea cave at the junction of Sichuan and Hunan, next to the white pagoda of Xiaoxi. There are only two people in a single house, grandfather, old boatman and granddaughter Cui Cui, and a yellow dog with human feelings. The old man urinated leisurely on the ferry. There is a ship called Shunshun in Chadong City. He is a free and easy person, who likes to make friends and help others. He has two sons, the eldest of whom is called Tianbao. He is as generous, open-minded and unconventional as he is. The temperament of the second child is a bit like his mother. He doesn't like to talk, but likes to show off in the crowd, so he is called Northon. Everyone in the town didn't give a thumbs-up when they mentioned their three names. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Cui Cui went to watch the dragon boat race and met a handsome young sailor to see him off. He left a deep impression in Cui Cui's mind. Coincidentally, Tianbao, the brother sent by Nuo, also fell in love, and asked him to ask the matchmaker for a kiss first. Both brothers decided to have a showdown, so the boss told his younger brother all his worries, saying that this love was planted two years ago. The younger brother listened with a smile and told his brother that he fell in love with Cui Cui two years ago. My brother was really taken aback ... But at this time, the local group always took the new mill as a dowry and wanted to betroth his daughter to Nuo. I would rather inherit a broken ship than marry Cui Cui. Grandpa naturally knows his granddaughter's worries, but he is willing to let her make her own decisions. The two brothers did not decide the outcome by dueling according to local customs, but agreed to express their feelings fairly and romantically by singing folk songs, so that Cui Cui could choose from them. Nuosong is a good singer. Tianbao knows that he can't sing as well as his younger brother, and he is disheartened. He resolutely set sail for business. I only heard the song sent by Nogo all night. Later, that song never sounded again. The old boatman couldn't help asking, but when he arrived in the city, people told him: It turned out that the boss got on the water boat and drowned ... The boat at the dock was always smooth sailing, and he couldn't forget his son's death, so he became indifferent to the old boatman. The old boatman was worried about his granddaughter's heart, but finally he couldn't bear to ask. But he blamed the old boatman for Tianbao's death and went to Taoyuan himself. The boat is always going well, and I don't want Cui Cui to be Nuo's daughter-in-law. After all, Tianbao died because of her. The old boatman had to go home depressed. Cui Cui asked him, but he didn't say anything. It rained heavily at night, mixed with frightening thunder. Grandpa said Cui Cui was not afraid, but Cui Cui said she was not. They lay quietly in bed, listening to the rain and thunder. The next day, Cui Cui got up and found that the boat had been washed away and the white tower behind the house had collapsed. Cui Cui was so scared that she went to find her grandfather, only to find that the old man had died when Lei was dying ... Veteran Yang enthusiastically came to accompany him and made a living by ferrying, waiting for Nuo's return. Maybe Songsong will never come back, maybe he will come back tomorrow. The ideological content Border Town entrusts Shen Congwen's aesthetic ideals of "beauty" and "love", which is one of his works that can best express the beauty of human nature. By describing the love tragedy of Xiangxi's daughter and lover Nuo, this novel reflects the painful fact that Xiangxi people can't grasp their own destiny in the face of "nature" and "personnel". So is Cui Cui, and so is Cui Cui's mother. They repeated their sad and desolate lives from generation to generation, but they couldn't find a way to get rid of this fate. Through the love tragedy Border Town, Shen Congwen reveals the mystery of the fate of the characters and praises the innocent hearts of the border people. As for the theme of Border Town, in Shen Congwen's own words, "I want to show a' life form', a' beautiful, healthy and natural' life form that does not contradict human nature". "Border Town" takes the love between the granddaughter of the old man who supports him and Tianbao and Nuo, the two sons of the boatman, as a clue, and expresses the yearning and pursuit of rural life. If this quiet life is compared with the turbulent society at that time, it is simply a "paradise" out of the dust. People living in this paradise are full of primitive, inner and essential "love". It is precisely because of this kind of "love" that "when several fools and ordinary people are implicated in a place by an ordinary person, everyone deserves a piece of sadness and joy, which once properly interpreted the word" love "for mankind". Border Town expresses the beauty of human nature by describing the pure love between young men and women, the sincere love between grandparents and grandchildren, and the kindness and mutual love between neighbors. The author wants to dilute the darkness and pain of reality and eulogize an ancient human nature and lifestyle symbolizing "love" and "beauty" through the love tragedy of Nuo. He Nuo bid farewell to the young people he deeply loved, neither pledging eternal love, being very much in love, nor doing anything out of line, nor trading power and money covered in copper, only the natural feelings between men and women bred in the primitive countryside, as fresh and healthy as flowers in the sun. The author not only warmly praised the way the two young people treated "love", but also enthusiastically eulogized the nobleness of Xiangxi people's behavior and the beauty of their souls.
The Tragedy of a Lonely Struggler —— An Analysis of the Tragedy Causes of Camel Xiangzi Chen Hui Abstract: Xiangzi, a self-employed man in the old city of China, eventually degenerated into an "individualistic ghost". Although he is deeply oppressed by the bottom of the city, he is not in the new production relationship. Therefore, it is a tragedy that he struggled in the city with the moral concept of feudal personality consciousness and went to extinction. Xiangzi's tragedy is the tragedy of the downfall of the strong, the tragedy of character and fate, which reflects the darkness of society and the cruelty of class exploitation at that time. The most touching thing about the work is who can save Xiangzi's voice after reading it. Keywords: Xiangzi; Tragedy; Fall; The life will "Camel Xiangzi" tells the story that Xiangzi, an individual worker in the old city of China, tried to realize his ideal through personal struggle, but ended in failure. He also tried to climb and work hard at the bottom of the pyramid, but his unfortunate fate and decadent system made his efforts go to waste again and again. There is no way and no hope. His heart is slowly dying and his body is rotting in decadent morality. The tragedy of Xiangzi's personal struggle mainly comes from the destruction of Xiangzi's will to life by social dark forces represented by mutinous soldiers, Detective Sun and Tigress's father and daughter. According to the progress of time and the evolution of objective events, the novel depicts Xiangzi's mental journey. The "crisis" of objective life affects the change of Xiangzi's inner life, and this change always revolves around an axis, that is, the object (car) that Xiangzi pursues, and the object goes from strong to weak and then disappears, "resulting in the whole tragic psychological course of disappointment, pursuit, struggle, failure and degeneration in his psychological life. Observing what hell is like depends on the driver's inner state "[1] 1. The tragedy of Xiangzi's character is closely related to his own depravity. Xiangzi's fall is a gradual spiritual process. He gradually changed from "human" to "animal". Xiangzi's innate small-scale peasant consciousness, narrow vision, and especially his personal struggle thought are the most fundamental subjective factors that caused his tragedy. Xiangzi came from the countryside, and the declining countryside made him unable to survive. He came to this city, eager to create a new life with his honest work. He has tried all kinds of jobs, but he still has rural habits and peasant consciousness. The backward individual mode of production finally chose the rickshaw. This career choice shows that although Xiangzi left the land, his way of thinking is still the way of thinking of farmers. He is used to individual labor, and he is also eager to have a car as reliable as land. Buying a car and being an independent laborer "is his wish, hope and even" religion "[2]. The city seems to have given Xiangzi a chance to realize his wish. Struggled for three years, bought a car, and was robbed in less than half a year; But Xiangzi still refused to give up his car dream. Although he doubted his pursuit and wavered several times, he kept pulling himself together and struggling again. Xiangzi also had times when he was "just bored day after day", but after all, he quickly pulled himself together and wanted to find joy and happiness. But after Joy died, "he had no hope and fell into a bottomless pit." [3] Xiangzi only knows how to save money to buy a car. He ignored everything that had nothing to do with cars. He went to war and tried to pull the car out of the city, but he lost it. He doesn't associate with the drivers around him, and there isn't much * * * language between them. Sometimes I quarrel with others because I pull my seat. He once knew himself from the old horse and pony, and he was vaguely disillusioned, but this only further prompted him to make money hard and realize his dream one day earlier. For Xiangzi, even if he has his own car, he always maintains ownership, and he can't get rid of all kinds of repression and become a laborer who can really live independently and happily. As the old horse in the novel reveals, "it is harder to get along with yourself than to ascend to heaven." What can a person do? "Have you ever seen a grasshopper? I jumped too far alone, but if a child catches me and ties me up with a thread, I can't even fly. " [4] Therefore, Xiangzi's wishes and pursuits are unrealistic, and what awaits him can only be a failure and a tragic ending. Obviously, Xiangzi's tragedy is a complete denial of his personal struggle. But the author's description of Xiangzi's personal struggle track did not stop there. He also dug the details to a deeper level, not only writing Xiangzi's reflection on his own efforts, but also writing his own doubts about such efforts. For example, after he lost his car for the first time, he tried to save money by pulling it, but he kept doing it. He still remembers it. As soon as he remembered it, he felt that his heart was blocked, and he couldn't help thinking, what should I do if I get stronger? Even if we get another car right away, how do we know it won't happen again? It can be seen that he had a premonition of the bleak future and put forward a severe rhetorical question to himself. In addition, Xiangzi's psychological weakness in his personal character, such as giving up on himself in the face of repeated blows, lacks sufficient self-control ability in grasping himself; Some changes in his attitude towards life under the influence of Tigress are also one of the reasons for the tragedy. It should be said that Xiangzi's tenacious character and stubborn attitude struggle with life, which constitutes the main plot content of the novel. The end of the struggle ended in Xiangzi's failure, and he finally failed to realize his dream of owning his own car. The realistic profundity of this novel lies in that it not only describes Xiangzi's material life deprived by the harsh living environment, but also describes Xiangzi's spiritual degeneration after his life ideal is destroyed. "He has no heart. His heart has been taken away." [5] A hardworking and kind-hearted rural youth was thus transformed into a walking dead unemployed. Before Xiangzi's complete depravity, although his individualism thought also contained selfish elements, its main core was personal struggle, which was related to the beautiful qualities such as abiding by professional ethics, keeping promises, diligence and thrift. Xiangzi's personal struggle is of course narrow and conservative with small producers, but his love for labor and strict self-discipline for life are full of moving glory of vigorous life. Before the car was robbed by soldiers, "Xiangzi knew something was going to happen, but after hanging around in the street for several years, it didn't count, and he couldn't beat the old lady's temper!" [6] Here, Xiangzi put professional credit above his own safety. Late at night, Xiangzi pulled Mr. Cao down and hurt himself. He was filled with remorse and decided to quit his job to make money to make up for the mistake caused by this objective reason. Taking the initiative to accept self-responsibility, Xiangzi's personal struggle is different from the bourgeois unscrupulous and extremely selfish outlook on life, with the simplicity and loyalty of workers. In order to buy a car, Xiangzi pulled a cart in the dark from morning till night, reluctant to spend money on medicine and sugar tea. "There is no bad habit that ordinary foreign drivers can forgive, so it is not convenient to imitate" [7], which also shows that people are strict with their ideals. The process of Xiangzi's depravity is also a process in which both fate and spirit agree with the driver group. At first, he was lonely. Apart from personal selfishness, the most important reason is that he is competitive and unwilling to fall, but also wants to struggle and is unwilling to agree with the decline of the life of ordinary foreign drivers. Here, the non-integration of individuals and groups mainly reflects the positive personality beauty, which is the transcendence of divine brilliance in human nature over biological instinct. When Xiangzi recognized the driver's sense of community, it was when his spirit went downhill. When his personal struggle was frustrated, he thought, "What I looked down upon before now makes some sense-since my own road is impassable, I have to admit that others are doing the right thing." [8] Although these things have human feelings in weddings, funerals, weddings and happy events, there are also people who really cry and laugh, but more are boring things like inviting cigarettes, catering and gambling, which annihilates spirituality and anesthetizes people's hearts. Xiangzi recognized the drivers' consciousness and attitude towards life, not because he wanted to take advantage of others' strengths to improve himself, but because he was mentally helpless after losing confidence in himself. In the process of aligning with the group, he not only failed to overcome the original personal selfishness and move towards a higher moral level collectivism, but soon fell into a state of mental numbness that he lost his pursuit of life. "Xiangzi found the right place completely. He is no better or worse than other drivers. He is just such a driver. Then, he felt more comfortable than before, and others saw him pleasing to the eye; The old crow is black and doesn't want to be white-haired. " [9] Groups, even if they are composed solely of lower-class workers, have also become the vats of human depravity. In Camel Xiangzi, the rickshaw pullers first set out around Xiangzi with a tragic group image, and dominated Xiangzi's hopeless fate from point to point, effectively completing the theme of social control and demolition in the novel. Secondly, as the most basic social relationship of Xiangzi, the coachman shows two sides of Xiangzi's character: selfishness and compassion. More importantly, there are two important topics about the recognition of drivers' group consciousness, one is the yearning for group strength, and the other is the exposure and flogging of the common people's mental numbness. Second, the tragedy of fate Xiangzi's fate is the fate recognized by the driver group. Although he paid a personal struggle, he still could not escape the tragedy of fate. All kinds of rickshaw drivers lead miserable lives, which proves that Xiangzi's fate is the same as that of the poor who can't escape in an unfair society. It is social oppression and class exploitation that create evil, not the personality defects of the characters themselves. Obviously, Xiangzi was not persecuted by social evil forces because he pursued personal interests, nor was he unlucky because he harmed the interests of others. The car was pulled, the money was robbed, people were tempted, Tigress was born, and Joy was forced to die, all of which had no direct causal relationship with Xiangzi's individualism. If Xiangzi had married Joy when she said "No way", she might not have died so early, but the fate of society drove Joy to the wall. If Xiangzi is willing to lend a helping hand, he will only change the form and time, change the tragedy and change his destiny. Later facts showed that Xiangzi's good moral character was swallowed up by the cruel old society, and "three ups and downs" was the whole process of his spiritual degradation. The first time he lost his car, Xiangzi was taken to the barracks. His heart is full of hatred and protest. He hates soldiers and "everything in the world". "Why do you bully people to this extent?" But there is still hope in disappointment, and I am determined to "re-drum and start a new business" and work harder and earn money from then on. After getting the nickname "camel", Xiangzi's reputation was much worse than when he only had Xiangzi, and his personality gradually changed to the negative side. He began to envy alcohol, tobacco and visiting the kiln, but his strong desire to buy a car made him stubborn. He tried his best to grab business with others, "like a hungry beast". A detective robbed Cao Zhai of money while he was guarding the door. All hopes and protests were gone, only grievances and sighs were left, but the integrity of "being poor and not stealing" was not lost. In desperation, I went back to the garage and gave myself to Si Liu's father and daughter. From then on, I died, accepted my life and became a "dead man who seems to be able to work." The marriage with Tigress, an old girl, was an even more unbearable disaster for Xiangzi. Tigress wants to get back her lost youth from Xiangzi. At first, she wouldn't let him pull the cart. She doesn't want to be a coachman's wife all her life. She couldn't help fighting again and again. This allowed Xiangzi to pull carts to make money, but the money was in his own hands. Xiangzi refused to be pushed around by Tigress to do small business, and he didn't want to be a car owner and enslave others. He doesn't want to be a caged bird, eat other people's food and rice, sing it to others and sell it to them. He only wants to be a self-reliant coachman, and is unwilling to beg under his wife's few dollars, which reflects the simple desire of workers to change their living conditions. However, he finally failed to break away from Tigress's "homeless net". Under the control of Tigress, he only felt that "life is his own and others should take care of it". This unnatural marriage with the nature of class opposition seriously corroded and destroyed Xiangzi's will to survive and spirit of struggle. After selling the car to pay off the debt, he no longer wanted to get glory and praise from pulling the car, and since then he has embarked on the road of giving up on himself. He not only smoked and drank, but also lost the capital that workers depended on: health and purity. From the last chapter of the novel, we regret to see that Xiangzi, who was decent, strong, strong, imaginative and tall at first, eventually became a "degenerate, selfish, unfortunate and socially ill child, the last ghost of individualism" [10]. The tragedy of Xiangzi's fate was mainly caused by the darkness of the society and the exploitation of the class at that time, which was manifested in the following two aspects: First, the persecution of turning people into ghosts in the old society. Xiangzi wants to buy a rickshaw himself, just like farmers dream of owning land, which is just the minimum wish of an independent worker. However, this legitimate wish seems to be an extravagant hope in that society. Xiangzi went through hardships, setbacks and frustrations, and wanted to be independent, but in the end he failed, because he was faced with a powerful, sinful and morbid society. Xiangzi, the driver, can only be a victim of this morbid society. He can't compete with this dark society on his own, but this society has turned him from a "person" into a "ghost". Second, Tigress, the daughter of the car factory owner, cheated. In the process of causing Xiangzi's tragic fate, Tigress's intervention is undoubtedly an important factor that cannot be ignored. Their marriage is a "twisted melon" without love, but only Tigress's sexual desire for Xiangzi. For Xiangzi, Tigress's obsession was a disaster. This is a tragedy in which the poor proletarians are seduced and corroded (mentally and physically) by an ugly bourgeoisie. Although evil comes from the society, Xiangzi also showed a psychological defect that his will to life was not strong enough in the process of being hit. Xiangzi's camel-like tenacious life is only manifested in physical hardship and positive life efforts, but not in tolerance and resistance to disasters. The simple and honest Xiangzi actually has a fragile heart. Obviously, he didn't give up his pursuit of life until he was completely cornered, but he predicted that the future would be dark from his own life experience and he stopped struggling. When external forces oppress life, Xiangzi never analyzes the root of oppression, which leads to the desire to fight; Nor did he introspect his own character and strengthen his resistance. Every blow only made Xiangzi deny the value of his life more deeply. He always asks himself to be stronger, so what? Smoke, wine and color all added more temptations to him. It is true that Tigress and Mrs. Xia set a trap for Xiangzi to get in, but it is also because Xiangzi lacks enough willpower to overcome his instinctive impulse. Xiangzi himself did not reflect on this at all, but simply thought that "to be honest, he did nothing wrong." She arranged everything, just waiting for him to arrange it. The problem seems to be that he is too honest, and honesty will inevitably suffer. There is no reason to talk about it! "[1 1] Xiangzi is not good at communicating with people in his relationship with drivers, but once he is frustrated, he is easy to figure it out secretly and arouse the worthless sadness of struggle from other people's lives according to his own ideas. Grandpa Pony said, "It's more difficult to get along with each other hard than to ascend to heaven". The bread here contains a deep complaint about the tragic life in the past and a deep call for the group to fight together. But Xiangzi obviously ignored the latter meaning, and just asked himself, "What's the use of being strong? "... why not be happy? The defect of Xiangzi's life will makes the typical meaning of Xiangzi's image objectively transcend the category of urban poor and lower-class workers and point to the thinking of universal human nature. The tragedy of Xiangzi's fate is the product of the social living environment in old China. In the dark society at that time, the power of the lower class like Xiangzi was too small. Xiangzi tried many times to overcome his fate by himself, but in the end, he was hurt both physically and mentally again. Xiangzi just got deeper and deeper in the painful struggle and was gradually swallowed up by the dark social distortion. Xiangzi, who once had ambition, ideals and backbone, is now only greedy for money. Lured by social darkness and money, Xiangzi lost his backbone and could do anything. As long as he has money, no matter what others think of him, he will do whatever it takes to get it. "Money will lead people into a bad society, abandon noble ideals and willingly go to hell." That's true. Xiangzi was desperate for money. If he has to choose between "life" and "ideal", he must choose "life" because only "life" is the only choice for the poor. At that time, the life of the poor may be like a jujube pit with two sharp ends-it is lucky not to starve to death when you are young; It's hard not to starve to death when you're old. Only the middle part, young and strong, not afraid of hunger and hard work. At this time, I really realized that one's fate is really beyond one's control. Xiangzi fought against life with his tenacious character and stubborn attitude, but in the end, fate has been playing with Xiangzi. Inspiration: Reflections on Life Brought by Xiangzi's Tragedy. Mr. Lu Xun once said: "Tragedy is to destroy the valuable things in life for people to see." It can be said that Xiangzi is valuable, so he is interpreting tragedy with his life. Xiangzi's tragic fate not only reflected the social outlook of China under the rule of Beiyang warlords in the mid-1920s, but also exposed and accused the evil nature of the old society, and objectively put forward an important topic of how urban workers strive for liberation. It also regards honest Xiangzi as a homeless and unemployed tramp, degenerating into a social hooligan, profoundly revealing how the beautiful humanity of workers was destroyed and destroyed by the evil society, exposing and accusing the cannibalism in the old society, and once again making people think about how the urban poor can get rid of their tragic fate. Camel Xiangzi not only praised the excellent quality of the driver, but also showed the tragic and impermanent life of the driver in the old society, but "observed what it was like from the inner state of the driver" [13]. In Lao She's view, it is only a "trivial matter" to express the driver's appearance with clothes, words or gestures. He aims to reveal the "root" of rickshaw puller's tragedy and "write a hardworking society" [14]. At the time of general conception, Lao She had a clear design: "My eyes never leave Xiangzi;" Writing about others will excite him. "[15] Camel Xiangzi's artistic achievements are quite outstanding. Its performance is that the author always exposes the darkness of the old China society from the perspective of a bloody common people. He used a combination of serious tragedy and deep lyricism to describe the characters. Contrary to the farce description commonly used in the past, although there is humor, the author is also full of sympathy and tears in humor.
According to the usual division of literary history, crescent school and modernist school are separated.
The "modernist" poetry school refers to a group of poets around Modern magazine after 1932, including Dai Wangshu, He Qifang, Bian, Fei Ming, etc. He Qifang's "Prophecy" and other poems are gorgeous and exquisite. Bian's works in Line Collection and Fish Collection are good at daily life.
1926, around the Beijing Morning Post, a group of poets, including Wen Yiduo, Xu Zhimo, Zhu Xiang and others, were gathered who were determined to create metrical patterns for new poetry. They also founded the "Crescent School" and "Poetry" magazines, hence the name "Crescent School". Among the crescent poets, Wen Yiduo's theory is the most complete and clear, and he advocates poetry. The beauty of architecture (mainly refers to the symmetrical arrangement order of poems) requires "rational control of emotions" and dancing with "shackles", which is a higher aesthetic requirement for poets.
Besides Xu Zhimo, the "important town" of the "Crescent School" is Wen Yiduo. There are poems "Red Candle" and "Dead Water". "Dead Water" carries out the pursuit of "three beauties" and is famous for its fantastic imagination, harmonious rhythm, orderly format and bright colors. Among them, the poem "Dead Water" takes "Dead Water" as a symbol of the decadent society in old China.