Why is Liu Xianglian's small house called "apricot slave"?
Text: Zi Fan shine
Liu Xianglian is a family man, "unable to study, parents died early, plain and cool, informal, cool to play guns and swords, gambling and eating wine, so that sleeping flowers lie in willows, play flute and kite, do everything." Because he was young and beautiful, people who did not know his identity were mistaken for the category of youling. ”
Xue Pan was like this, thinking that he was a fengyue disciple, he had a light heart, but instead he was educated by Liu Xianglian. In this short story, there is a mention of Liu Xianglian's small squatter named Xingnu.
Some readers associate it with the harmonic pronunciation of "apricot slave" "sex slave", which is a metaphor for the special relationship between Liu Xianglian and Baoyu and Qin Zhong, which is undoubtedly a prejudice. In the traditional interpretation of our country, "sex" refers to human nature, and the "sex" that specifically refers to the relationship between men and women is derived from the Concept of the West, so "apricot slave" and "sex" are incompatible.
Naming a character a certain slave is particularly common since the Wei and Jin dynasties, such as the Western Jin Dynasty Shi Chong's nickname "Qi Nu", Tao Kan's son Tao Fan nicknamed "Hu Nu" and so on. Xin Shuyi's words read, "Xieyang grass tree, ordinary alley strange, humane slave once lived", the slave is the southern Dynasty Song Wu Emperor Liu Yu's nickname.
The name so-and-so slave itself is not necessarily the identity of the slave, but only a naming custom in the society at that time. Of course, there are also some concubines and pets named so-and-so slaves. For example, the famous word plate "Nian Nu Jiao", of which "Nian Nu" is a famous singer during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. In the Literature of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, many people can still see records called so-and-so slaves, and it is rare after that.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" was written in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the author in order to blur the dynastic era, its various famous objects are often called from ancient times, Liu Xianglian's small house name Xingnu is probably also out of this writing technique.
Of course, there is probably another factor, Liu Xianglian is a gentleman, extraordinary character, and heroic and righteous, quite a Wei and Jin celebrity style, according to the Wei and Jin customs for the small town name, probably also to set off Liu Xianglian's celebrity style, or Liu Xianglian herself for the Wei and Jin Dynasty celebrities a tribute mentality.
The imagery of "apricot" in ancient poetry is very rich, and there are many expressions in "Dream of the Red Chamber", such as:
Apricot is known as the spring wind and the first flower, representing the spring wind triumphant, Zhen Shiyin's family's name is Jiaoxing, her life is very dramatic, from a slave to the great change of the official wife, according to the eyes of ordinary people is very lucky;
Another example is Jia Tanchun, "the red apricot on the edge of the sun leans on the clouds to plant", implying that Tanchun got the fate of your son-in-law;
Jia Baoyu faced the apricot tree that had just borne apricots, sighed that "green leaves are full of shades and branches", and used "apricots" to compare the youth of girls;
The hundreds of fire-steaming apricot blossoms outside Li Yi Daoxiang Village hint at Li Feng's innermost feelings, which are far less calm than they see, which is similar to the restlessness expressed by "a red apricot out of the wall"; and so on.
So, what does the name of Liu Xianglian's small village "Apricot Slave" mean?
The names of the masters and servants in "Dream of the Red Chamber" often echo each other, are related to each other in terms of literal meaning, and also echo each other in foreshadowing the fate of the characters. For example, Wang Xifeng and Qiu Tong. It will be connected to the Fengqi Wutong; Xia Jingui and Bao Toad, and will think of the Toad Palace Folding Gui; Lin Daiyu and the Purple Crane, the Cuckoo Crying Blood; and so on. We often notice the relationship between the names of the rings and their masters, while ignoring the relationship between some of them and the names of their male masters.
Willow Xianglian and apricot slaves, willow and apricot are representative plants belonging to spring, and are often mentioned in ancient poems, such as "deep willow apricot in the suburbs of The painting is nearly Qingming", "The first garden is shallow with willow apricots, and some people have wandered together", and so on. Willow green apricot red, pleasant spring color, and then linked to Liu Xianglian's personable demeanor, it can really be described as a pair of Bi people!
In addition, apricots are closely associated with the culture of seclusion. Ge Hong's "Biography of the Immortals" records the story of Dong Feng and Xinglin, and since then people have known that Xinglin is a synonym for doctors, but in fact Dong Feng is a Taoist doctor who hides in the mountains, so the apricot tree is also called the immortal tree, and the apricot field and the apricot altar are also synonymous with Taoist temples. In Tang Dynasty literature, Taoist and hermit dwellings were often planted with peach and apricot trees. We contacted the ending of Liu Xianglian and followed the Taoist priest to become a monk, which is probably one of the reasons why Liu Xianglian's small town is called an apricot slave.