The complexity and simplicity of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Water Margin"

Auerbach's magnum opus, Mimesis, famously begins with a deal on stylistic differences between Homer's epics and Old Testament stories. Homer's narrative, he says, is complete and thoughtful, with events occurring in the foreground, closely connected, expressed calmly, and nothing to hide; the Old Testament story develops toward a goal, highlighting only the parts that are useful for the actions of the characters, while the rest are left vague, sometimes headless and brainless, giving people a sense of mystery. This has to do with the identities of the characters depicted in both: Homer writes about life in the upper class, while the subjects of the Old Testament are classless and members of nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes.

Isn't this exactly the difference between "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Water Margin" in terms of writing? "Dream of the Red Chamber" is like Homer's epic, everything is depicted in great detail, the pen is meticulously drawn, and the pen and pen are hooked; "Water Margin" is like the story of the "Old Testament", deleting the complicated and simplifying, in one go, marching towards a goal, only highlighting the action in the spotlight, and the rest are blurred into the background, "hurting people, don't ask the horse". This is highly consistent with Gu Sui's statement: "'The Red Chamber' is sometimes too thin, but there is something in the middle, and everything is available; "Water Margin" uses a stick figure, which is out of nothing, and the aftertaste is inexhaustible." "This is because the social life forms reflected in the two are significantly different. The Grand View Garden is a quiet time, the present world is stable, the author is obsessed with the sound and color of the text, pay attention to the richness of details and the beauty of the senses. Liangshan Po, on the other hand, is full of dangers, killing opportunities, and the lines of the speaker are relatively extensive, and there is often a strong sense of movement of "speaking late, then fast".

Two examples may be given to illustrate this. The second time in "Water Margin" writes that Duan Wang Zhao Yao went to the palace of Wang Yi to feast and drink, and the twenty-eighth time in "Dream of the Red Chamber" wrote that Jia Baoyu went to Feng Ziying's home to drink and feast, all involved the imperial relatives and state relatives, all of them were in the bathroom at the banquet, and there were also gifts to give people, just right to participate. In "Dream of the Red Chamber", Bao Yu attended the dissolution, and Jiang Yuhan followed him. The two stood under the eaves of the porch, and Bao Yu saw that Jiang Yuhan was feminine and gentle, and his heart was very nostalgic, and asked him where one of the drama classes was called Qi Guan, but unfortunately he did not have the opportunity to see it. Jiang Yuhan smiled and said, "That's my little name." Bao Yulian said that he would be lucky——

After thinking about it for a while, he took out a fan from his sleeve, untied a jade fan pendant, handed it to Qi Guan, and said, "The slight things are unbearable, and I slightly express the friendship of today." Qi Guan took over and smiled, "If you have no merit, why should you be kedang!" Anyway, I got a strange thing here, and this morning I got up to tie it up, or it was new, and I could show my little affection. Saying that, bi picked up the clothes, untied a big red sweat towel tied to the small coat, handed it to Baoyu, and said: "This sweat towel is a tribute from the female king of the Xixiang country, and it is tied in the summer, and the skin is fragrant, and there is no sweat stain." What the King of Beijing gave me yesterday, I only got up today. If it were someone else, I wouldn't give it to me. Second Master, please untie yourself and tie it for me. When Bao Yu heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, so he quickly took it, untied one of his pine flower sweat towels, and handed it to Qi Guan.

The gifts in "Dream of the Red Chamber" have never been simply sent out and received, such as these two sweat towels. The pine flower sweat towel that Bao Yu sent to Qi Guan was originally given to him by the raider. And the big red sweat scarf that Qi Guan gave to Baoyu, originally tied his own small clothes, that is, pants, untied and gave it to Baoyu, and that night he was secretly tied by Baoyu in the waist of the attacker. Baoyu inadvertently became an intermediary and a matchmaker, and these two sweat towels also invisibly turned into letters, laying the groundwork for Qi Guan to finally marry the attacker. This is the afterword, the author also has a guide in front, and there is a mapping on the side. Just at the banquet, Qi Guan read a poem, which happened to be "flowers attack people to know the warmth of the day." Xue Pan shouted that the raider was a treasure. And this treasure, two times ago, had been "sneaking" through the eyes of Jia Yun who entered the Yihong Courtyard for half a day, knowing that "the attackers were different from others in the Baoyu Room." However, the raider hurriedly untied the big red sweat towel that Bao Yu had secretly tied around his waist at night, and said, "I don't want to do this line of work, I took it early!" It shows her regret for the fateful ending of "Youling is blessed, and the prince has no luck". But this is the same as another scene. This big red sweat towel, Qi Guan said that it was sent by the King of Northern Jing, and the King of Northern Jing also sent Baoyu a string of wagtail incense (a piece of scented incense) rosary beads, and it was given by the saint. Baoyu later forwarded it to Daiyu, who was equally unsympathetic: "What stinky man took it!" I don't want him. "Isn't this a bend in the corner scolding the emperor?" But the King of Beijing always sends things to good-looking teenagers, and it may not be ironic.

In "Water Margin", everything is simple, it is a simple meal and drink, a straightforward gift:

Moreover, it is said that when this duan king came to the palace of wang du wei for a banquet, the du wei set up a seat, and asked the duan king to sit in the middle, and the du wei accompanied him at the table. The wine into a few cups, two sets of food, the end of the king got up to clean his hands, occasionally came to the academy for a short rest, and saw a pair of paperweight lions made of sheep fat jade on the book case, which was very well done, delicate and exquisite. Duan Wang picked up the lion and looked at it without leaving his hand behind: "Good! When Wang Duwei saw that Duan Wang was beloved, he said, "There is another jade dragon pen holder, which was also made by this craftsman, but it is not in hand, and it will be taken tomorrow and sent to each other." Duan Wang daxi said, "Thank you very much, thinking about that pen holder, it will be even better." Wang Duwei said, "Tomorrow I will take it out and send it to the palace to see you." The Duan King thanked again. The two were still seated, drinking until dusk, and dispersing drunk. King Duan bid farewell and went back to the palace.

This pair of jade lion paperweights, a jade dragon pen holder, Wang Qima sent his relatives with Gao Li to the DuanWang Mansion the next day, just met duan wang kicking balloons, Gao Li accidentally exposed a foot, and has since made a mark. It can be seen that in Shi Nai'an's pen, these two things are only used as props and play a role in gluing the plot, unlike Cao Xueqin's pen, every thing always hooks up the development of the story and weaves the fate of the characters. Therefore, Cao Xueqin will explain the origin and characteristics of the sweat towel one by one, which is the tribute of the female king of the Xixiang kingdom sent by the King of Beijing, "tied in the summer, the skin is fragrant, and there is no sweat stain." Shi Nai'an brushed it down, "Extremely well done, exquisite and exquisite" "Also made by this craftsman.". What kind of exquisite, which craftsman to ask? Not mentioned.

In "Dream of the Red Chamber", "so he sat back and drank again, and dispersed until the evening"; in "Water Margin", "the two still sat down, drank and feasted until dusk, and dispersed drunk". However, everything that happens in the two paragraphs, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is still looping back and forth, and the afterglow is endless, while "Water Margin" is confiscated and ends here. Shi Nai'an is a linear narrative, everything is suspended in the present, only a beam of light hits it. Cao Xueqin's narrative is mesh-like, in Auerbach's words, uniform illumination like Homer, so that everything can be revealed. Song Qi is the only one who has ever compared Cao Xueqin to Homer, because Little Huxley pointed out that Homer's greatness lies in being able to give out the whole truth of things, which in Song Qi's view, is like Cao Xueqin's mirror hanging high and looking at the circle.

In this way, is the taste of "Dream of the Red Chamber" in terms of senses and language much higher than that of "Water Margin"? You can't say that. Auerbach argues that the two genres of Homeric epics and Old Testament stories are in fact indistinguishable, they are just basic types of different styles. The complexity and simplicity of the text serve the overall needs. The Old Testament writes that Abraham took a servant and a donkey and his beloved son Isaac on a three-day journey to burn God, with no scenery along the way. "Water Margin" is also a poem in action, and the good men walk like an empty road. Not from the author's point of view, but from the perspective of the characters, there is nothing to see on the way, and it is not easy to get there safely. The author does not arrogantly go to the front of the character to speak, such as the paragraph quoted above -

Duan Wang picked up the lion and looked at it without leaving his hand behind: "Good! ”

Not to drop is to not let go. However, in the eyes of others, it is pure objectivity; the character's unwillingness to let go is subjective intervention. This measure should be grasped well. "It is also done by this craftsman", the same is the immediate tone, the context of the presence. No wonder Mou Zongsan praised the text of "Water Margin", saying that one has the wind, the two poles are transparent, the touch is at the machine, and the steps are now.

Gu Sui also praised the magic of Shi Nai'an's writing: "If the "Red Chamber" is counted as a 'noh product', then the "Water Margin" can be called a 'divine product'. However, if you change the perspective, Cao Xueqin's realm seems to be higher, because as Ma Ming's Mahayana Belief theory says, the thick is the fine, the bodhisattva realm. The finest of the fine is the buddha's realm. Therefore, as a reproduction and retelling of human reality, the world of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is closer to the one that most people know today: the characters are involved in various relationships, and they have to pay attention to the feelings of others in speech and action, and cannot be controlled by their own nature. In short, the Grand View Garden is full of disciplined social people, unlike the people in the cottage and the water, driven only by nature.

(Author: Jiang Weishui, Professor, College of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University)

Source: Guangming Daily