Lin Daiyu
Mr. Cao has created for us Lin Daiyu, who has "one more mind than her husband, and three points as sick as Xizi": the worldly, smooth, gentle and virtuous Xue Baochai; The gentle and elegant Jia Baoyu; the cold-tempered Jia Xichun; the otherworldly and worldly people's witty remarks, etc. all make people linger in it. However, the character Lin Daiyu is the one that the author writes more about in "Dream of Red Mansions". Because many authors believe that she is the author's prototype, and some authors believe that she is the author's cherished woman. Therefore, the study of this character is still a part of the study of "red science" so far. Liu Zaifu said in his "A Dream of Red Mansions? Enlightenment" "To say that Lin Daiyu is sentimental is too plain. His sorrow is not an ordinary sorrow, it is a sorrow that is deep in the bones; his feelings are not ordinary feelings, but a feeling that is deep in the bones." Zhang Manling said in her "Comments on "Dream of Red Mansions": "Lin Daiyu is the cold soul of poetry soaked in autumn air." Her crimson grass jelly plant came to repay the kindness of the nectar of Shenying's waiter beside Sansheng Stone. . The author writes at the beginning of the novel, "He is a blessing from nectar, and I have no such water to repay. He will be a human in the next life, and I will be a human in the next life, but I can repay him more than I can with the tears of my life." ""It vividly depicts an important manifestation of her character: a sentimental person who sheds her last tear for love. At the same time, as we continue to read the work, we will find that this sentimental person not only has tears, but also talent, and his love for Baoyu leaves a deep impression on readers. Savor carefully and touch the artistic image of Lin Daiyu in Red Mansions, the following points stand out.
1 The Image of a Talented Poet
Throughout the entire "A Dream of Red Mansions", the one that impressed me the most was Lin Daiyu's "The Burial of Flowers". A poem called "The Burial of Flowers" describes her own life, and it also writes the life of the woman in the Red Mansion. It can also be said that "one poem makes a fiber". In this poem, she gave the most appropriate description of her situation and her state of mind: "Three hundred and sixty years a year, the wind, the frost, the sword force each other!" It expresses her deep understanding of the coldness of the world; "May I have wings under my wings and fly with the wind to the end of the sky" expresses her pursuit and yearning for all the beautiful things in the world; "I will be buried with you when I die, but I don't know where I will be buried with you" is a touching confusion. , is a helpless cry in the face of a difficult situation; and "The old spring flowers are gradually falling, and it is the time when the beauty dies. Once the spring is gone, the beauty is old, and the flowers fall and the people are dead" is another example of Daiyu's understanding of her miserable situation. The sad prophecy of "beautiful women grow old, flowers fall and people die". What we can see from Lin Daiyu's poems is her noble quality of "being alone and proud of the world, and having no dust before her eyes".
Because Lin Daiyu has lived in a scholarly family since she was a child, and Lin Ruhai has no son, her daughter has become his only sustenance. Treating her like a boy, hiring a husband for her, and letting her learn the Four Books and Five Classics laid a certain foundation for her talent. However, in her society where "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue", her talent also laid a foundation for her talent. The tragedy of her love affair with Baoyu laid the foundation for this. Even under such a background, she still did not put away her talents. Because she was dependent on others, because she was lonely and helpless, and because of the constraints of feudal ideas, she could not get a chance to breathe. So writing poetry became her only way to vent, because she knew that her background was not as good as others, but her self-esteem did not allow her to bow her head, so poetry became her only way to improve herself. Zhang Manling said: "Daiyu completely lives in the poem. It can be said that 'it makes people haggard'. Her illnesses: coughing, waking up at night, and weakness are all related to the bitter chanting. The bitter chanting makes her love harder, and the bitter love makes her moan harder. She still persists in "fried for years and months". She is getting better, but she can't let go of the scroll and keeps chanting. Even Xiren said that if our second master Bao should study like a girl, he would have less to worry about. She was born with tears and died with tears. In fact, she was born for poetry and learned from poetry. Those tears are the soul of poetry in "A Dream of Red Mansions". It is the highest in Dream of Red Mansions.
Taking a closer look at the whole work, you will find that there are many types of Lin Daiyu's poems: quatrains, five rhymes, seven rhymes, song lines, responses, rhymes, couplets, Sao style, long and short sentences, formats, and writing styles. Get up easily. The "Poet of the Red Chamber" is unrivaled. "Poet of Red Mansions" *** composed 127 poems, including 21 poems about Daiyu and 1 poem about Daiyu, ranking first in the list. It should be said that she is the most accomplished poet in Grand View Garden. Her talents were also appreciated by others in the Red Mansion. In the thirty-eighth chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions", Lin Xiaoxiang wins the chrysanthemum poem, Xue Hengwu satirizes and the crab chant, Li Wan laughed and said, "When I start from the perspective of justice, from the whole story, everyone has his own aphorisms, Today's public review: 'Yong Ju' ranks first, 'Asking about Ju' ranks second, and 'Dream of Chrysanthemums' ranks third - the title is new, the poem is new, and the concept is updated. It is indispensable to recommend Li Kui, the concubine of Xiaoxiang." Reply: "Lin Daiyu accidentally cut the sachet bag, Jia Yuanchun returned to the province to celebrate the Lantern Festival" After reading the poem on the plaque, Concubine Jia praised it and said: After all, the work of the second sister Xue Lin is different, and sisters who are not stupid can be the same as the former. It turns out that Daiyu Anxin showed off her talents tonight and overwhelmed the crowd. She didn't want Concubine Jia to dictate a plaque and chant one by one, so it would be better to disobey the instructions and compose a five-character rhyme at random to suit the occasion. Just a random five-character rhyme to suit the occasion. "Just a wordless poem can equal Xue's fate and overwhelm everyone. So, the implication is that if she starts to write poems seriously, her skills must be superior to those of others.
This is a high evaluation given to Lin Daiyu by Concubine Jia, and a high evaluation given to her by Cao Xueqin.
It can be said that Lin Daiyu is a poetic image in Cao Xueqin's works. The author also seems to intend to combine the strengths of talented women of all ages into her. Some characteristics of Xue Tao, Li Qingzhao, Li Shuangqing, etc. are all reflected in her. But at the same time, it has its own unique personality. Throughout the work, she and Xue Baochai are evenly matched. Her ability to handle interpersonal relationships is not as good as Xue Baochai's, so the author gives her another shining point - talent. Even ordinary things such as grass, mountains and stones, as soon as she touches them, she will immediately have rich imagination, novel ideas and unique feelings and insights. What is particularly valuable is that she can touch her soul into objective scenery and trigger her painful soul and tragic fate through chanting objects. Her poem "White Begonia" fully describes the charm of Begonia and also expresses her girlish feelings. In particular, the sentence "To whom should I complain in silence and shyness" is the most expressive. This is not only a description of Haitang's demeanor, but also a monologue of her own soul. She has unforgettable words. However, due to the constraints of the environment and her own feudal consciousness, even Zicuckoo, who shares her fate, and Baoyu, who has been in love for three lifetimes, are too shy to speak out, and just keep it in their hearts, feeling sad alone. It can be said that her poetry has exhausted her suffering.
2. The "Tear Man" whose tears will accompany him throughout his life.
Cao Xueqin gave Lin Daiyu a special mission at the beginning of the work. In the first chapter of the work, Zhen Shiyin's vision is revealed in a dream, and there is a description in Jiayu Village's romantic and pregnant lady: "Later, after being nourished by the essence of heaven and earth, and nourished by nectar, he shed the womb of vegetation, transformed into a human form, and only cultivated a female body. , wandering outside the "Lihen Heaven" all day long, eating honey and green fruits when hungry, and drinking water when thirsty. Because the virtue of irrigation has not yet been rewarded, there is a lingering feeling in my heart, and I often say: I have accepted him. I don’t have the benefit of the rain and dew. If he were to be a human being, I would also suffer the same fate and return the tears of my life to him.” So returning tears has become a part of her life. It is a purpose of suffering, so we have feelings for Baoyu, and for this reason, Daiyu is Baoyu, shedding tears throughout her life, and she will not change until death. Her tears will pass away without any complaints. This is repaying kindness with tears.
"A Dream of Red Mansions" not only uses the concept of 'tearman' to describe someone who cries very sadly and violently, it also creates an image of a tearful person that is unique in China in human literature. This is Lin Daiyu" Liu Zaifu gave her such a characteristic in his "Thirty Kinds of People's Interpretations of the Dream of Red Mansions". This characteristic may not be all of her character, but it is also a main part of her character. Lin Daiyu's tears run through the entire work from beginning to end. Since meeting Baoyu, her tears have not stopped. From the third chapter, when the brother Ruhai recommended Xibin to pick up the orphan Jia Muxi, Baoyu threw his own jade because Daiyu didn't have a psychic jade, which made everyone worried. He attacked himself at night. She came in quietly after taking off her makeup and asked with a smile, "Why don't you rest, girl?" Daiyu hurriedly smiled and said, "Sister, please have a seat." Xiren sat on the edge of the bed. Yingge laughed and said, "Miss Lin is sad here. She said with tears in her eyes, 'I just came here today and made your brother sick. If the jade is broken, wouldn't it be my fault?" Sad, it was difficult for me to persuade him. "Look at the ninety-seventh chapter again. Lin Daiyu burns the manuscript to end her infatuation and Xue Baochai's wedding night. On one side is Baoyu's wedding night, and on the other side is Daiyu's burning of the manuscript to end her love. It is better to call it "a tearful person". The terms "lover" and "idiot" are more accurate. Liu Zaifu analyzed the characteristics of this "lover" in her book: First, she came to the world to return tears. To return tears is to repay love. Second, she was in the world. The life process is officially the process of returning tears. Life has not yet ended, and the tears are always dry. Third, the life of this tearful person is not measured by age (how many years) like ordinary people, that is, not by youth. , age is measured by the number of tears. 4. She is not only a tearful person, but also a poet. There are poems in her tears, and her tears are tears in her eyes, and they flow into the words. Poetry. These characteristics mentioned by Mr. Liu accurately explain the loneliness and pain behind Lin Daiyu's tears. Because of love, life background, being dependent on others, and having nowhere to express her feelings, tears became her only companion. For a young girl, after the word "tears", what kind of pain does she bear? Feng Hongci once explained Lin Daiyu's tears like this: "Daiyu's doubts and pain are increasing day by day, and her love for Baoyu is getting deeper and deeper. The more she realized how intolerant and illusory this feeling was, she had no parents to talk to, so she could only vent it with tears. "Yes! A child without a father and mother has no one to pamper or love her. What kind of attitude should we ask her to adopt to survive in this society? Fortunately, she still has tears to shed, otherwise, Who knows how many times she has committed suicide?
"One is Langyuan Immortal, and the other is Beautiful Jade. If there is no fate, I will meet him again in this life. If there is a romance, what will happen to me?" Living in vain? One is complaining in vain! A vain concern. One is the moon in the water, and the other is the flower in the mirror. Thinking about how many pearls there are in your eyes, how can you prevent autumn from flowing into winter, and spring into summer! "This passage almost covers the essence of Daiyu's tears. She lived for love, died for love, and cried for love her whole life. What kind of changes did she go through at the age of seventeen or eighteen? Now we It is impossible to understand, but this once-in-a-lifetime tearful man has monumental significance and value in the history of Chinese literature.
Three Sentimental "Patients"
The work explains Lin Daiyu's illness through the concern of everyone when she first arrived at Jia's house. The old lady and others saw that she was weak and I, He asked, "What medicine do you usually take, and how can you not rush for treatment?" When Wang Xifeng met Daiyu for the first time, she asked, "What medicines have you been taking recently..." etc. It is not difficult to imagine that Lin Daiyu's first impression was Daiyu's illness was caused by her mother's womb. She herself made a clear explanation of this: "I've always been like this. I've been taking medicine since I could eat. Now, after going through many famous doctors, I always... It didn't work." It can be seen that Lin Daiyu's illness is an aspect of her personality, because she is sick and has a delicate mind. This further developed her sentimental character. Every plant and tree has become the object of her melancholy, and the song "Yan of Burying Flowers" pushes this character of hers to the extreme. "When the flowers fade and the flowers fly all over the sky, who will pity her?" "Once the spring is gone, the beauty grows old, and the flowers fall and people die without knowing it!" Just the natural phenomenon of flowers blooming and falling, Lin Daiyu combined her with her own life experience. Related and sad. yes! Her sorrow is not ordinary sorrow, and her emotions are not ordinary emotions. She is worried about her own loneliness, her own love, and her sorrow that has nowhere to express. Because of her low self-esteem and sensitivity, she often shed tears and chanted poems to express her sorrow, which was an outlet for her lonely state of mind. She was not satisfied with this fate, but could not escape it. This contradiction often distorted her emotions and psychology, so her state of mind could never be calm, and it caused a lot of seemingly unnecessary troubles and pain. She suffered from melancholia that could not be relieved. The bustling and bustling Grand View Garden, the laughter and warmth of other people's homes, even the falling flowers and flying catkins in nature, the autumn wind and autumn rain, etc., all aroused endless sorrow in her heart. Everything in the world seemed to be the raw material for tears and sorrow in front of her. Because of this, there are poems such as "Looking at the flowers with tearful eyes, the flowers are easy to dry, and the tears are dry and the flowers are haggard in spring" ("Peach Blossom Journey") and "The immortals in the Moon Cave sew their sleeves, and the resentful women in autumn wipe away the traces of crying" ("Ode to Begonia"). .
A large part of the reason for Lin Daiyu's sentimentality comes from her love for Jia Baoyu and her jealousy of Xue Baochai. For a young girl who has just begun to have an affair, it is human nature to yearn for love. When she sees the person she loves having an affair with another girl, she will naturally feel unhappy. No matter how you make her not worry, she will not feel emotional. Although there is all kinds of love from Jia's mother in Jia's family, how can Lin Daiyu's sadness be understood by an aging person. Therefore, we should understand her sentimentality. Because this was not something she was born with, but was slowly cultivated by the Jia family. Just imagine, if her parents are still alive and her love with Baoyu has come true, will she still be sentimental? Probably not. Who doesn’t want to spend his youth in laughter and laughter, and who doesn’t want to be loved by all kinds of people. Then, the status of such Daiyu in the history of Chinese literature may plummet!
Four. A frank and innocent "bitter person"
When Lin Daiyu is said to be "bitter person", she refers specifically to her acrimonious and narrow-minded personality. Looking through "Dream of Red Mansions", her personality can be seen everywhere. But her "sourness" mostly appears in the following two situations: first, when she talks about the crisis between her and Baoyu, such as the golden match, and secondly, when she talks about life experience, nobleness and lowliness, which causes her to lament her own situation. Only then will she be sensitive to the situation and express her emotions. Once, when Baoyu put down the wine glass after listening to Baochai saying that drinking cold wine was harmful to the body, Xueyan happened to bring a hand stove, and Daiyu said with a pun: "Who asked you to bring it? It's hard to worry about him." Xueyan Said: "Zicuckoo sent it." She immediately said: "Thank you for secretly trying to find out what he said! I usually talk to you and turn a deaf ear. Why do you just obey what he says, faster than the imperial edict? !" (Saying Baoyu) Only a sensitive Qian'er can express her jealousy so sharply and implicitly, with a double tone without revealing any trace.
However, the straightforward Lin Daiyu, while she revealed her shortcomings almost without any concealment, also opened her innocent heart to people. There is no room for dust in her eyes, and she will not remember the slightest suspicion. For example, her relationship with Xue Baochai was just a matter of jealousy at the beginning because of the close relationship between Baochai and Baoyu. However, as the story develops, it is not until Chapter 42 that Hengwu Junlan explains his doubts, and Xiaoxiangzi fills in the remaining notes with his elegant banter. It can be seen that they have become good friends who laugh and scold, and Daiyu has a certain appreciation for Baochai. It is precisely because of this kind of frankness that although everyone can't stand this "acidity", everyone also feels uncomfortable without her in everything. Daiyu is a spiritual person who lets her feelings go undisguised. Whether she loves or hates her, everything is there for others to comment on. She respects herself and respects others. Baochai's girl Xiangling learned poetry from Daiyu. Daiyu didn't think he was of low status, nor did she have any grudge against him because he was Baochai's girl. She patiently explained to Xiangling the key points of poetry interpretation, taught her how to appreciate poetry, and lent her cherished collection of poems to Xiangling, all of which reflected her frankness and straightforwardness.
These two completely different personalities present us with a three-dimensional and more realistic character image. There is no perfect person in the world, and the same is true for Lin Daiyu. We cannot subjectively say whether this kind of character is good or bad. We can only objectively evaluate the literary value and research value of the character's characteristics.
Five "Idiots" who live and die for love
He came to the world to repay the kindness of the messenger of Shenying. This little Crimson Pearl Immortal Grass will repay this love with a lifetime of love, a lifetime of reincarnation, a lifetime of life and death, and a lifetime of tears. What kind of love is this that is so shocking that ghosts and gods are weeping. Now we have no way of knowing. But as far as Lin Daiyu is concerned, her "love-obsessed" image has been praised by scholars studying red studies at home and abroad, both at home and abroad. Baoyu gave her the word "frowning". To be precise, it should be "idiot". To repay her kindness, she came to Jia's house. They ate, lived, and grew up together with Baoyu. The marriage on the three birthstones and the alliance between the wood and the stone gave them an invisible feeling of knowing each other and having a close friend. She lives and dies for love. Baoyu is the only one in her life, and no man in the world cares about her. Even the noble King Beijing is just a stinky man. Baoyu's wedding night was the night when she ran out of tears and died. This is the mission given to her by Cao Xueqin, and it is also the only one she has ever experienced in this world.
We can clearly see Daiyu’s infatuation with Baoyu. But in that feudal society where there was no father or mother, no identity background, and no economic protection. Her love for Baoyu transcends thousands of mountains and rivers. But she just has such a temperament and will never give up on love until death. Because of this, she suffered pain that is difficult for ordinary people to understand. In that feudal society where there was almost no "equality between men and women and free love", such "love obsession" brought people a kind of "spiritual pain". And there is almost no cure. This also laid the foundation for her love tragedy. Their love relationship goes against the wishes of the feudal aristocratic parents. Therefore, she was often suppressed by feudal forces, and was eventually pushed into the abyss of death by her feudal parents. Liu Zaifu said: "Lin Daiyu is a complete idiot. She is so infatuated with Baoyu: love, meaning, spirit, and every poem she writes is also crazy. When she went to bury the flower, she was already extremely crazy, and her The poem about "burying flowers" is even more ridiculous. "If you bury flowers today, you will laugh at me. I will not know who I will bury them next year." This is really the voice of an idiot and the tears of an idiot. yes! This kind of obsession has reached the point of being almost pathological and abnormal. In fact, it is an abyss of infatuation that ordinary people cannot understand. This is the grace of dripping water, and she has devoted her whole life. Under the influence of Lin Daiyu's love, Jia Baoyu not only praised Daiyu in front of Shi Xiangyun for not talking nonsense about official career and economics, but also bravely dedicated his heart to Daiyu.
Six "Confucians" trapped in the world of mortals
Some readers disagree that she is a "Confucian". How can the name of this woman who regards her situation as her fate be related to Confucianism? What about relationships? In fact, as long as you carefully taste the work "A Dream of Red Mansions", you will find that her behavior, hobbies, language, etc. are inseparable from Confucian thought. For example, when she first entered Jia's house, she learned the rules of Jia's house, and her food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all closely related to Confucian thought. When people asked her what books she read, she said she only read some Four Books and Five Classics. I believe everyone knows that the "Four Books" here refer to: "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects", "Mencius", and the "Five Classics" are "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yi" and "Spring and Autumn". These works are obviously representative works of Confucianism. Confucian thought has already penetrated into her daily life. In this way, can't we say that she is a person who advocates Confucianism? Although Baoyu is the one she loves, for Baoyu, who is extremely Zen-minded, the deep-rooted Confucianism also makes her interpret Baoyu's behavior as a "madman". Because Confucianism and Zen are not integrated, she has a feeling of suspicion and contempt for them. This fully shows that Lin Daiyu is a "Confucian" who is trapped in the world of mortals. Although she failed to escape the shackles of love, this had nothing to do with her unique Confucian thoughts. She does not have the lofty thoughts of Zen practitioners, but the shining points she embodies are really impressive. She is a good comparison with Miaoyu, who is enlightened by Zen. Miaoyu looked down upon low-class people like Grandma Liu, but Daiyu seriously taught poetry to people like Xiangling without any sign of disgust. Moreover, Miaoyu is also a Zen practitioner. Wouldn't this kind of behavior be said to be that the six roots are impure and the worldly connection is unfinished. Lin Daiyu has no Zen mentality. She uses Confucianism to explain the cuteness of her character, which is indeed commendable.
Looking at Lin Daiyu through the entire "A Dream of Red Mansions", her character left a deep impression on people. Talented people, tearful people, sick people, sour people, Confucian people, etc. No matter what kind of person you are, the research value of Lin Daiyu's image has been fully verified and is unquestionable in the history of "redology" research. This rebellious woman who was bound by feudal ethics was not recognized by the society at that time, so her life could only end in tragedy. This also fully verifies Baoyu's sentence: "The Taoist tradition is like a good marriage between gold and jade. I only remember the alliance between wood and stone, facing the crystal snow in the mountains in the sky, and never forget the lonely forest of fairy trees in the world. Sighing on the world, there is a fly in the ointment, and now I can't believe it. , even if the case is raised to raise eyebrows, it is difficult to settle the matter.
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