Wu Zhu has twelve volumes of Wenmu Poems, and four volumes exist today.
Great changes have taken place in Wu's life and thoughts. In life, he went from rich to poor; Ideologically, he expressed diametrically opposite views on fame and wealth. He grew up in a Kejia family for generations and spent most of his life in Nanjing and Yangzhou, where he was familiar with the bureaucrats, gentry, rich children and celebrity diners. In the life of these "upper class people", he indignantly saw the bureaucratic favoritism, the arbitrary local accent of the gentry, the mediocrity of the rich children, the greed of the insiders, the art of celebrities and the fraud of diners. Coupled with his personal life from rich to poor, it is easy to detect the face of "upper class". In The Scholars, he thoroughly exposed the decay of all kinds of intellectuals' spiritual life, which is really "mysterious but not orthodox, such as casting the dominant position of Dayu" (Travel Notes of Shan Bozhi, Volume 4). And because of the vivid artistic image, his works are particularly attractive and touching.
His life has experienced three generations: Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the capitalist relations of production sprouted and the society showed a certain degree of prosperity. However, this is only a blip of the China feudal society that is about to collapse, and the apparent prosperity cannot hide the fact that the building will 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 Literary Prison and set up the learned and outspoken department as bait. Examining stereotyped writing and opening imperial examinations imprisoned scholars and advocated neo-Confucianism to deal with intellectuals with ruling thoughts. 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 shameless philistines. Wu saw through the dark politics and decadent social atmosphere, so he opposed stereotyped writing and the imperial examination system, was unwilling to learn from others, and hated the literati who were obsessed with art and were keen on seeking fame and wealth. He reflected these views in his Scholars. He profoundly exposed and criticized these ugly things in an ironic way, showing his democratic ideology.
The Scholars was originally published only 55 times. According to Cheng Jinfang's Poems of Love for the People, it can be proved that Wu had cancelled his manuscript when he was forty-nine years old (Spring Sail Collection collected more than ten poems of Love for the People, among which there was a note: "Wu Zi of Quanjiao." The last four sentences of the whole poem say: "A scholar is a scholar, so what is the description?"! I feel sad for the people of Sri Lanka, and I have actually passed it on. " ), but it was not until more than ten years after the author's death that Jin carved it for him. This print has been lost today. At present, there are 56 engravings, and the last one was forged by later generations.
The Scholars is an outstanding realistic satirical novel in the history of China literature. Mr. Lu Xun evaluated it as "breaking the brocade collection and merging it into one post." Although it is not huge, it varies from time to time. " Feng and Lu Kanru's Outline of the History of China Literature hold that "there is a great alcohol flaw". Although the story of the book has no backbone, there is one center that runs through it, that is, opposing the poison of the imperial examination system and feudal ethics, and satirizing the extremely hypocritical and bad social habits caused by greed for fame and fortune. Such ideological content was undoubtedly of great practical and educational significance at that time. Coupled with its accurate, vivid and refined vernacular language, vivid characterization, beautiful and delicate scenery description and wonderful satire, it has also achieved great success in art. Of course, due to the limitations of the times, although the author criticized the dark reality in the book, pinned his ideals on the scholar-officials who were "excellent in character and learning" and preached ancient rituals and music, he did not see any way to really change Confucian scholars and society, which should be criticized.
Second, Lu Xun on' Scholars'
The publication of Wu's The Scholars is to uphold the public interest above all else and point out the disadvantages of the times, which is forward-looking, especially in The Scholars. His writing is both emotional and harmonious, gentle and ironic: therefore, there is a book in the Ministry that can be called irony.
..... Less than one hundred years from the Ming Dynasty, Shi Liugai still has the legacy of the Ming Dynasty, but he is a pretentious saint because of carelessness. The description is this Cao, who has heard and witnessed a lot from himself, and it is enough to achieve it with a pen. Therefore, he can live in seclusion and have nothing to hide. All the officials, teachers, Confucian scholars, celebrities, villagers and ordinary people appeared on the paper, and their voices were combined to show him the world. For example, at present, there is no backbone in the book, only various characters and ranks are promoted, and everything comes from this. But if all the pieces of brocade are collected and combined into posts, it is not huge, but sometimes it is rare, because it is also very entertaining and impressive.
(A Brief History of Chinese Novels, satirical novels in Qing Dynasty, Complete Works of Lu Xun, Volume 8, People's Literature Publishing House, 1963 edition)
Third, about the imperial examination system.
China's imperial examination system has existed since ancient times. As a system for selecting talents, it is recorded that it began in the Han Dynasty. Later dynasties, on this basis, either inherited or changed, but generally had a relatively complete imperial examination system for selecting talents.
The imperial examination system in Ming and Qing dynasties is roughly the same. Let's briefly introduce the imperial examination system in Qing Dynasty.
In order to qualify for the official imperial examination, the Qing people had to take the children's examination first. Those who take the children's exam are called Confucian scholars or children's students, and they are called students after entering school (there are official schools, state schools and county schools in Qing Dynasty, collectively referred to as Confucianism). Confucianism and Confucius Temple are called Gong Xue together. Students are disciplined by instructors (professors, scholars, teachers and instructors) as soon as they enter the school. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, students were still studying in Gong Xue (there were monthly classes and quarterly exams, which later became a name), also known as earning a living, commonly known as scholars. This is the starting point of "fame".
There are three kinds of students: the best student is Lin Sheng, who has a certain quota and is fed by the government; Secondly, there is diffusion, but there are also some places; The new "students" are called affiliated students. Every year, students will take political exams, and they will rise and fall in turn according to their grades.
The official imperial examination is divided into three levels: (1) after the provincial examination, (2) after the provincial examination, and (3) after the palace examination.
After getting the exam, it is usually held every three years in the provincial capital, also known as Dabi. Because it is held in autumn, it is also called Qiu Wei. It is the scholar (student) who takes the provincial examination, but before taking the provincial examination, the scholar must pass the scientific examination held by the provincial government, and only those with excellent grades can be selected to take the provincial examination. After having obtained the provincial examination, it was called Juren, and its first name was Xie Yuan.
In the spring of the second year after having obtained the provincial examination, the examination was held in the department of rites, so it was also called Li Wei and Chunwei. The person who took the exam was Juren. After he won the exam, he was called Gong, and his first name was Huiyuan. After the exam, there is usually a second interview.
The above exams are mainly about eight-part essay and poetry. The title of the eight-part essay comes from the four books and five classics, which is slightly similar to the Confucian classics in the Song Dynasty, but the wording should be the tone of the ancients, the so-called generation of sages. The structure has certain procedures, the number of words is limited, and the syntax requires parallelism, also known as Babiwen, Shi Wen, Shi Yi and Zhi Yi.
Gong Kao is the emperor's examiner, and Kao Ce asked. Gong Shi participated in the palace test, and after winning the prize, they were collectively referred to as Jinshi. The palace exam is divided into three levels of admission. The first one is for Jinshi and, the second one is for Jinshi origin, and the third one is for Jinshi origin. The first one admitted three students, the first one is commonly known as the number one scholar, the second one is commonly known as the second one, and the third one is commonly known as Tan Hua, which is collectively called Sandingjia. Second place, first place, commonly known as biography.
The champion was awarded editing by the Hanlin Academy, and the second prize and flower exploration were awarded editing by the Confucian Academy. The rest of the Jinshi took part in the imperial examination and studied the poems and fu written by the imperial edict. Jishi Shu, who is good at literature and calligraphy, was chosen, and the rest were awarded to the headmaster (staff of various ministries) and magistrate of a county (in fact, to get the position of headmaster and magistrate of a county, you need candidates and alternates, and you can't be an official for life). Jishi Shu held a "three-year-old" exam at the end of his three-year study in the special church (also known as the ordinary church) in imperial academy. Those with outstanding achievements were awarded the editor by imperial academy (originally the second-class editor in imperial academy and the third-class editor in imperial academy), and the rest were assigned to the ministries as principals or provincial magistrates. ……
(Wang Li's Ancient Chinese, Volume II, Volume I Zhonghua Book Company 1963 Edition)
4. Seriously Distorted Personality —— Comment on Fan Jinzhong's Drama (Guo Yingde)
The fragment of "Fan Jinzhong Residence" is selected from the third episode of "The Scholars", "Zhou Xuedao School's scholar pulls out the real talent, and Hu's murder stops the good news". This time, I wrote a story about Jin Fan's success. This novel describes Zhou Jin who studied Taoism in Guangdong. When he took office in Guangzhou, he first took two exams for students. After two exams, students from Nanhai and Panyu counties took the exam for the third time. There was Jin Fan in childhood. Jin Fan took part in the exam and won the first place. People call him "xianggong" After entering the school, Jin Fan wants to further test people. After being admitted to Juren, people will call him a "master". Zhongju is a process of imperial examination. Before commenting on this story, let's briefly introduce the imperial examination system in Qing Dynasty.
The imperial examination system in Qing dynasty was divided into two stages, one was the preliminary examination of the imperial examination, and the other was the formal examination of the imperial examination. There are three kinds of initial examinations of imperial examinations, one is called children's examination, the other is called age examination, and the other is called science examination. Children's test, also known as "intelligence test". When a boy begins to take the first test, he is called a "boy". After a certain examination and selection, you can be called a "scholar" if you go to the county to take the exam. Jin Fan worked as a male student for many years, and finally he was admitted to a scholar. Scholars take the exam once a year, which is also a process of merit-based admission. This is the so-called "annual exam". I have to take a big exam every three years, which is called "Science Exam". Take the exam once every three years, mainly to recommend candidates for the exam. If you pass the nomination of this exam, you are eligible to take the juren exam. Jin Fan just caught up with the children's exam, which was also the year of the first exam. He was admitted to the Children's Day Champion, so he was naturally qualified to take the Juren Examination. This is the first test of the imperial examination.
Then there is the official imperial examination, which also has three types: after the provincial examination, after the provincial examination, and the court examination. After having obtained the provincial examinations, it is held once every three years, that is, in August of the fourth year of Zi, Mao, Wu and You. Passing the provincial examination is called juren, and juren is actually an alternate official who is qualified to be an official. According to the imperial examination system in Qing dynasty, juren can register with the official department, obtain a certain official position, and become a county official or a county grandfather. Of course, this position is very few, and the number of people is about 40 to 130 every year. There are few places on the jury, so there are even fewer people waiting to be officials on the jury, so there are often alternate officers. This is the first one-after passing the provincial examination. The next step is to try. Following the provincial examination, the examination was held in February of the following year. After the township entrance examination, it will be spring in August of the first year and February of the second year. When I went to Beijing to take the exam, it was called the "spring exam", which was the exam. Once admitted, they are called Jinshi, and there are about 300 places for Jinshi every year. After the final exam, there will be a third exam-the palace exam, which will be in the second month after the final exam, probably around April. Palace examination was personally tested by the emperor in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. After he passed the exam, he was appointed as a scholar in the imperial examination, and he can directly enter the official position. This is the imperial examination system in the Qing Dynasty, and a strict imperial examination system has been formed since the Ming Dynasty.
The content of the imperial examination is mainly eight-part essay. Eight-part essay mainly examines the contents of Confucian classics, poems, books, rites, changes and the Spring and Autumn Period, and chooses certain topics to write in the Five Classics. The title and writing style have certain formats. Stereotyped writing has four paragraphs, and each paragraph must have a parallelism sentence. A paragraph with parallelism is called four strokes, and later it is called eight shares. Eight-part essay was very important at that time, which was related to whether a person could be promoted or not, and whether he could be promoted in the imperial examination. Therefore, it is said in the novel: "Today, the article is heavy, and it is not necessary to talk about Han and Tang Dynasties." "Han" refers to the articles of the Han Dynasty, while "Tang" refers to the Tang poems, articles of the Han Dynasty and poems and songs of the Tang Dynasty, which are not as important as the eight-part essay valued by emperors today. Eight-part essay was very important at that time. So people at that time were preoccupied with eight-part essay, and only eight-part essay could knock on the door of imperial examination.
The above is a brief introduction to the imperial examination system in Qing Dynasty. Knowing the basic situation of the imperial examination system in Qing Dynasty, we can know how difficult it was for Jin Fan to trudge on the imperial examination career, and what books he studied and what kind of training he received in knowledge. This is a basic background for understanding novels, that is, imperial examinations are all over the world and eight-part essays are all over the world. In this social and cultural background, Jin Fan, a very special but very ordinary figure, appeared.
Jin Fan is from Nanhai County, Guangdong Province. The description of Jin Fan in the novel is divided into three paragraphs. The first paragraph was written before he won the bid, the second paragraph was written when he won the bid and the third paragraph was written after he won the bid. Through these three paragraphs, we can see what the mentality of ordinary scholars and literati was under the imperial examination system at that time and under such a social atmosphere that people's knowledge and articles were measured by eight-part essays. The novel vividly reveals the mentality of the literati at that time through Jin Fan.
Let's look at the first paragraph first, before Jin Fan introduces it. Jin Fan was divided into two sections before his promotion: one was before he entered the school, that is, before he was admitted to the scholar; One is after entering school, that is, after taking an examination of a scholar. Jin Fan went through a long period before entering the school. Jin Fan, a novelist, began to take the exam at the age of 20. In more than 30 years, he passed more than a dozen imperial examinations. He was 54 years old when he appeared in the novel. From the age of 20 to 54, Jin Fan took the exam for 35 years. In these 35 years, he has passed 12 and 13 exams, but he is still a boy. Boys have just started, participated in the preliminary examination, and have not really won the title of imperial examination. To have a certain birthright, you have to be a scholar to be a student. You can't go to school without learning, and you are still a old boys. At that time, there were many old boys like Jin Fan. Zhou Jin described in the novel is also a old boys. Both of them have the word "Jin" in their names, but they have never passed the imperial examination and entered the school through such a long journey. This description in the novel is very meaningful. Although it is an ordinary name, there is a meaning in the name.
The novel describes Fan Jinyi's appearance. He is sallow and emaciated, with a gray beard, dressed in straight linen and a worn felt hat. At this time, it was already 65438+early February, but he was wearing a thin light coat and begging like this, shivering with cold. It was a very wretched and miserable picture. Wearing tattered clothes, after entering the examination room, I was too old to walk carefully and stumbled, tearing several pieces of tattered clothes. This is a very sad image. As soon as this sad image appeared, it left a very deep impression on people, and people could not help asking: Why did Jin Fan take such imperial examinations from the age of 20 to 54, and did it again and again? It depends on the actual situation at that time. At that time, scholars wanted to change their life situation. Unlike now, there are so many ways to go and the way to go is very narrow, so they should take such a way to study. There are many scholars in the world, and so many people are crowded in an alley. Why not find another way? For example, going into business and studying medicine. Why do you have to take the imperial examination? Because the imperial examination has a great temptation to scholars, this temptation is that the imperial examination is like a dragon gate, "carp yue longmen". If you cross it, your life, social status and family status will change, and everything will change. But you can't skip it. So what? Jin Fan, a novelist, has failed in the imperial examination for so many years, but still hopes to completely change his life state through the most difficult road to admission. It can be seen from here that the scholars at that time were really sad and of course poor. But in the end, they all have a spirit of "being masters only after suffering". After many hardships and hardships in life, they finally turned over and became masters. This is why they can endure the suffering of food and clothing from the outside world for a long time, and they can also endure mental suffering for a long time. All kinds of internal and external oppression and torture must be endured, and the final result of patience is to be able to leap over this dragon gate and become a "master on earth."
So, why can't people like Jin Fan get scholarships for a long time? What's the problem? At that time, people thought that there were two problems: one was external, so why did my article be good, but the examiner didn't like it? Therefore, as long as the article can get the examiner's intention, it is necessary to ponder the examiner's intention, which is also one of the reasons. On the other hand, the reason is the examinee's own writing ability, which is also very important. Although stereotyped writing is a very rigid and dogmatic writing, this stereotyped writing can also reflect a certain literary talent or literary talent, so many people in their teens and twenties can also be admitted to Jinshi. So how capable is Jin Fan? Let's take a look at the description in the novel: there is a wonderful description in the novel: Zhou Jin came in to take an examination of Tong Sheng, and he already had a detached view, because Jin Zhou didn't even get into the imperial examination for a long time. Later, his business friends donated money for him to buy a scholar's qualification, which enabled him to be admitted to Juren and admitted to Jinshi after being admitted to Juren. So he sympathized with old boys and paid special attention to old boys in the exam. As soon as he saw Jin Fan, he felt pity. He felt that Jin Fan was very similar to his own experience, so he paid special attention to Jin Fan during the exam. This novel has a vivid description: Zhou Jin looked at Jin Fan's paper and read it carefully, but he thought it was all about something! I don't understand at all. I don't know what he is talking about. So he thought, no wonder he didn't go to school three times. But he wanted to have a look again, so he read it again from beginning to end. This time he saw some doorways and some meanings, so he crustily skin of head and watched it for the third time. After reading it for the third time, he suddenly realized that he had said something like this: "Even if I read it once or twice, I can't understand it. It was not until three times later that I realized that this was the ultimate text between heaven and earth. " "The best article between heaven and earth" is the best article in the world. So how good is it? He said, "What a word!" Why didn't he see the flash of real money in that word-for-word article for the first time? This is very strange. He is also satirizing himself. Actually, how good is the writing? After reading it once, twice and three times, I'm afraid it will take three times to understand it, and it may not be a good text. After reading it, he sighed: "It can be seen that there are so many talents in the world!" Therefore, before reading other volumes, he gave the first place to Jin Fan, who won the top prize.
Jin Fan's personal life is very poor. What about his family life? There is also a description in the novel: he lives in a thatched cottage, shabby, unfurnished and luxuriously furnished. His father-in-law is a butcher. Originally, the social status of selling meat was not high, but he had a special wealth in front of Jin Fan, because he had money and Jin Fan had no money, and he often relied on him to support him. At this time, Jin Fan said to him: I won the top prize and want to go to the provincial capital to test people. Butcher Hu scolded him and said, "You are lucky to be admitted as a scholar. This is your life. If you want to take the exam again, it means that the toad wants to eat swan meat, let alone swan meat, and even swan fart can't be eaten. " He looked down on Jin Fan. So Jin Fan quietly borrowed money from others to take the exam. This is before Jin Fan's introduction, he mainly wrote his own tragic situation and also wrote the social reasons that caused this tragic situation.
Let's take a look at Jin Fan's introduction. The novel is written after suppression. First of all, it is really difficult to write Jin Fan. There has been no food at home for several days, and my mother is too hungry to see. Helpless, he had to take the only old hen at home to the market to sell. At this time, some people said that he won the prize, but he didn't believe it at all and was dragged home by others. As soon as he came back, he saw his poster stuck high at home. At this time, Jin Fan had to believe that between this letter and the hesitation of disbelief, he suddenly became fascinated, clapped his hands and said loudly, "Hey! All right! I won! " Say that finish, he staggered back, unconscious. After he was awakened, he ran out with a blank face and a smile. The following describes his "madness" in great detail. How crazy is it? I was crazy. I fell in the market several times, covered in blood, patting and laughing. I was still standing at the door of a temple, covered in mud, and a shoe ran away, patting and shouting, "I won!" " Why is Jin Fan crazy? A good man, such a good thing, he is so happy! So this is ecstatic. He has been looking forward to the day of winning the bid for a long time. It was 35 years later, and it was not until the 36th year that he looked forward to the great event of bidding for the Olympic Games. It's incredible for him. He's totally unprepared. He was only psychologically prepared to fail the exam again and again, and never thought about what would happen once he passed the exam. Once admitted, the fragile and numb nerves can't bear great joy, and they are ecstatic and ecstatic. Others said, "He was just so happy that his phlegm rushed up and he lost his mind." Excessive joy, one mouthful phlegm rushed up and lost his mind. It can be seen from here that the imperial examination is indeed a great temptation for scholars, but it is also a great destruction of their hearts. This kind of destruction is subtle, to what extent? Destroyed to the point where people are not like people, lost their personality, loose hair, mud all over their faces, and a shoe ran away. They also ran to the busiest place in the market, where they announced in public: I won the lottery! Afraid others don't know. He doesn't even believe that he won. This description that destroys human nature makes us laugh, and at the same time, a kind of sadness also gushes from our hearts. Jin Fan is ridiculous, but even more tragic. Besides, Jin Fan is not the only one who feels sad. At that time, he was an absolute scholar in Qian Qian. Described in the novel, there used to be a Zhou Jin, and here is a Jin Fan. It is written here when Jin Fan won the lottery, but before Zhou Jin won the lottery, he was already going crazy. When he went to Nanjing to see the examination room for juren examination, he felt that he was not qualified to step into that examination room at all. He hit the partition of the examination room and his head was broken. He was sad because he had no hope of stepping through this door. It is conceivable that many scholars at that time had to go through this kind of imperial examination and failed for a long time, but this was the only narrow way to go, and he had to go through great pain and suffering.
Jin Fan is not an ordinary person, here is a moral description. Fan Jin's status is low, but after all, he is a juren. What did Zhongju bring him? It is a change in the social status of the whole person. After Jin Fan went crazy, there was no other way but to slap him twice and let him spit out the phlegm in his mouth, so that he could wake up. So who will call? No one dared to fight, so he asked his father-in-law to fight: it is common for his father-in-law to beat and scold at ordinary times. As I said just now, he often scolded Jin Fan before he was promoted. But at this time, butcher Hu didn't dare to strike. He said he won the lottery, but he is a master. He is a satellite falling from the sky, so you can't hit him casually. But now, in order to save him, there is no other way but to slap him bravely. This dozen, Fan Jin woke up. But butcher Hu's arm seems to be out of control, he can't lift it, and it hurts faintly. When he looked at it himself, he slapped his back and couldn't bend any more. So he understood that Wen Quxing really couldn't beat him. Fan Jin is still Fan Jin, but Fan Jin has brought him the change of the whole status. Just like being possessed by a god, the whole state presents a brand-new change. This is of course an exaggerated and moral way of writing, but we can see a general mentality of people at that time. This universal mentality has created social public opinion and social atmosphere. In such an atmosphere, Jin Fan will bury his head and devote himself wholeheartedly to the imperial examination. Because once this road is completed, he will be worth a hundred times. Jin Fan, who wrote this novel, was in a daze like a dream when he was crazy, and forgot everything. But when he woke up, he could still remember one thing, "I also remember that I won the seventh place", and he couldn't remember anything else, but he was always in his heart about the matter of lifting people, which drove him crazy. I believe it, but I dare not. Under great mental pressure, his spirit can't bear it. This is the situation when Jin Fan was introduced, and it is also the most wonderful description in the novel.
Then the next step is after the middle lift. Naturally, Jin Fan's position changed after the senior high school entrance examination. There is such a passage in the novel: "Since then, more people have flattered him: some have given farmland, some have given shops and houses, and some have settled down and joined the shelter of servants. In two or three months, Jin Fan's servants and maids will be available, not to mention money and rice. " Moved to a new home. One more question: Fan Jin Cai just won the election. Why do so many people send him houses, money and food, and even come to his house as servants? As I said just now, if you win the jury, you are an official and you are in charge. In the Qing dynasty, being an official and being a master meant getting rich. There is a proverb in the Qing Dynasty, and it is also written in The Scholars: "Three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver." Fan Jin's reunion means being an official, being an official means having power, and having power means making a fortune. So many people give him money, give him a house, all want something in return, that is, after he becomes an official, give them some benefits, which is beneficial to everyone. Of course, this benefit is much more than the money they originally sent. It can also be seen that failure in the middle is very different. Wu wrote in a poem: "You are afraid of your fellow villagers, but you are pitied by them." Expensive is cheap, which is a change of status and a real change of power. Therefore, after the promotion, his relationship with butcher Hu is completely different. He had to rely on butcher Hu's relief to make a living before winning the lottery, but after winning the lottery, he could send money to butcher Hu. He has the right, he is the "reserve" of officials. Of course, this also shows his position and shows that his life has changed a lot.
The change of Jin Fan's own position also caused the change of his personality. When he finally became an official after such arduous imperial examinations, did he care more about the people and cherish his position more? No, on the contrary, after such a long period of imperial examinations, once he became an official, he had to make up for the loss of interests for more than 30 years, so his whole personality changed greatly. Before the recruitment activities in China, Jin Fan was a passive and honest person of Nuo Nuo style. In the novel, he is described as "a degenerate, honest and useless person". He doesn't have enough to eat and clothes to keep warm. He wants to help his neighbors with some money. When he meets ordinary people, he bows to them and is equal to them, because he is an ordinary person. What about after the middle lift? He is completely different. Even the name has changed since the middle school. Before Zhongju, he called the butcher Hu "",which was a kind of honorific title, but after Zhongju, he called his father-in-law "Dad". Although he is an elder, his position is higher than others, so he is not called that. The fourth novel was followed by a series of ugly performances by Jin Fan. At the instigation of Zhang Jingzhai, he ignored Dai Xiao and went to Tang Zhi County, Gaoyao County for a windfall. At the banquet, he still wriggled and refused to use silver-inlaid cups and chopsticks to show filial piety. Instead of using wooden chopsticks, he picked up prawns and sent them to his mouth. This is a very vivid description, from which we can see that Jin Fan's personality has been distorted, which means what he will do in his official career after becoming an official, and I am afraid he will lose more. So what contribution can he make to the people and the country? It's hard to say. From this, we can also see how the imperial examination selected talents and what the talents were really selected. From the experience before and after the introduction of Fan Jinzhong, and from the phenomenon of his personality change, we can see the mental outlook of thousands of scholars in Qian Qian, Qian Qian at that time.
Lu Xun commented on this novel: "Its prose is harmonious, beautiful and ironic." This can be seen from the description of butcher Hu in the novel. Hu's performance in the novel can be summed up in four words, which is called "change from arrogance to respect". The front is arrogant and the back is respectful. When Jin Fan was down and out, he scolded him for nothing, and even felt that it was unlucky to marry his daughter to such a poor person for a lifetime. For so many years, I don't know how much money has been posted to support this family, because this is his daughter's home, and there is no way. He said, "I don't know what virtue I have accumulated to make you a scholar." When Jin Fan presented him with the award, he cursed Jin Fan and spat in his face, saying, "Don't waste time! ..... These China masters are all "satellites" in the sky ... Like you, you should look at yourself. No three no four, just want to eat swan fart. " The tone is very arrogant. However, when he brought Jin Fan home, he saw his clothes were torn and wrinkled. I don't know how many times I pulled them all the way, trying to make them even. After writing the novel, Fan Jinzhong gave him money. He boasted at the time: "My son-in-law is a good scholar and looks good ... I feel that my daughter is a little lucky. After all, she is going to marry an old man. Today is really good. " His suspicion of being poor and loving the rich is extremely real. It is in this social atmosphere that Jin Fan's unremitting trudge on the road of imperial examination is reflected. Of course, this special person, Butcher Hu, is also written here, which is a very vivid description.
There is also a vivid irony in the novel, which is also a particularly wonderful description, that is, the description of Jin Fan himself. There are different levels of satire, the low level is humorous laughter, and the high level is very spicy satire like fire. Before introducing Jin Fan, the author mainly wrote that he was sad and pitiful. After Jin Fan's introduction, the author used more "gentle and ironic" writing style, instead of writing about him directly, but revealing his ugly heart through his words and actions. At this time, he mercilessly exposed his inner ugliness with a cynical style. Especially for the fourth time, I didn't know my last name after I finished writing Jin Fanzhong's Juren. Later, when I won the Jinshi, I was even more complacent. Originally, he had little knowledge, but he showed off his knowledge everywhere, which made people admire him and even shamelessly said, "Su Shi is an ordinary person in our dynasty. Why does everyone praise him? " He didn't even know that Su Shi was a famous writer in the Song Dynasty. It is this faint description that exposes his ignorant and shameless face through his words and deeds. This reflects the author's view that the imperial examination system distorts people's personality and mind.