Poetry is a very important part of Chinese culture. Beginning with the Book of Poetry in the Western Zhou Dynasty, poetry has evolved over more than two thousand years and developed into many forms. Because the poem has a beautiful melody and a highly condensed language, it has become the embodiment of a literati's creative level.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the literary genre of novels became more and more popular, but even in the literary genre of Ming and Qing novels, many poems were often interspersed to express the author's evaluation or feelings about the direction of the characters or storylines in the book. This way of writing, in "Dream of the Red Chamber", is even more exerted by the author to the extreme.
When Cao Xueqin created "Dream of the Red Chamber", she liked to use the expression of "grass snake gray line, thousands of miles of veins" to hint at the lives of readers of the "Jinling Twelve". These "grass snake gray lines" may be hidden in a sentence by the author, or they may be hidden in a poem. And a chrysanthemum poem in "Dream of the Red Chamber", a willow poem, hides the story of Jia Baoyu and his sister Tanchun, which is unknown after eighty times.
In order to be able to intersperse some poems with profound meaning at any time in "Dream of the Red Chamber", but also express her love for poetry and show her poetry level, Cao Xueqin specially let Tanchun set up the "Begonia Poetry Society" in the Grand View Garden. Jia Baoyu and Tanchun are not very masters in the poetry club, and every time they write poems, They are far behind Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochao, but their poems inevitably reveal some of their future stories.
Let's first look at the willow words of Tanchun and Jia Baoyu's cooperation-
Empty hanging fibrous wisps, hanging in vain. It is also difficult to tie the line and it is difficult to bond, and the east, west, south and north are separated.
Falling to Junxiu, flying to me knows. When the warbler is tired of the evening, even if it is next year, see you again in the next year.
The first half of this "Nan Kezi" was written by Tanchun, and the second half was written by Jia Baoyu. TanChun's sentence "One term separates the east, west, south, and north" corresponds to her judgment song "Three thousand sails and storms, throwing away the flesh and bones of the homeland together... From now on, they will be divided into two places, and each shall keep peace." The visit to the spring of distant marriage and relatives is like the willow of spring, and the relatives are "separated from the east, west, south and north".
Most of the women who were close to each other in ancient times did not have the opportunity to return to their homeland. However, in Jia Baoyu's sequel, there is a sentence "Even if you see you next year in the next year", what does this mean?
Let's take another look at the chrysanthemum poem of exploring spring. At the poetry meeting after the crab feast, Tanchun wrote a total of two poems, one of which was "Hairpin Chrysanthemum"——
The bottle is busy for hedge planting day by day, folding to take a break to recognize the makeup in the mirror. The Prince of Chang'an is a flower fetish, and Mr. Peng Ze is a drunkard...
The other is "Residual Chrysanthemum", and the last sentence is "Tomorrow year autumn wind knows goodbye, temporarily break up Mo Xiangsi". These two poems are vaguely opposite to the "even if it is next year to see you in the next year".
Therefore, after visiting Chun and kissing, she still met a relative in the family, and the relative who met her was Jia Baoyu. Therefore, Tanchun's "Willow Words" were continued by Jia Baoyu in the second half. Moreover, in the "Hairpin Chrysanthemum", it is also specifically mentioned that "the Prince of Chang'an is because of his flower fetish".
Mr. Peng Ze, referring to Tao Yuanming, Tao Yuanming Aiju, is well known. And the "Prince of Chang'an" cannot find ready-made allusions in the history of literature. But we all know that Kyoto in "Dream of the Red Chamber" is in Chang'an. Therefore, this "Prince of Chang'an" is actually an allusion to Jia Baoyu.
After the fall of Jaya Province, hundreds of people dispersed and separated. Tanchun has long been married and kissed, and it is impossible to come back. And Jia Baoyu and Tanchun had a "gap period" meeting, which can only prove that after Jia Baoyu left home, he went to the country where Tanchun was married and met his sister for the last time.
Two chrysanthemum poems, one willow poem, hiding the unknown story of Jia Baoyu and Tanchun, is that the brothers and sisters still have a chance to meet when Jia Fu has "fallen into a white expanse of land and is really clean".
At that time, what kind of mood would the brothers and sisters feel when they met?