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About author:Yang Guitang, graduated from the Department of Chinese of Nanjing Normal University, is currently an employee of a subsidiary of Sinopec. This article is the author's post-reading after-reading remarks on "The Gain of Not Confused - 40 Years of Selected Essays".
author
Yang Guitang
"Unquestioned Gains: A Selected Anthology of 40 Years" (edited by the editorial board of the Journal of The Dream of the Red Chamber, Culture and Art Publishing House, June 2020, 1st edition. Hereinafter referred to as "Selected Essays"), it is a major gain for me in 2021.
In the past year, I have read a lot of books, read several articles intensively, and always want to write something, but I don't know where to start. It seems that at the end of the year, it cannot be delayed any longer.
(i)
The compilation of anthologies, as far as the editors are concerned, is undoubtedly self-pleading; for the reader, how much effort can be saved, which can be said to be a pie that fell from the sky. It is really difficult for the editorial board to select and publish from the many articles published in 40 years. And among the readers, I am grateful.
After getting the book, I looked through the table of contents and saw a familiar name, He Yongkang.
Teacher He is not my classroom teacher, but has given lectures at school about "Dream of the Red Chamber". Many years ago, Mr. He was full of style, elegant and funny, and his lectures were meticulous and flexible.
In the "Selected Anthology", his "Human Love Description of Natural Reason, Natural Interest". Read it carefully and be thrilled.
Mr. Lu Xun classified "Dream of the Red Chamber" into a love novel, and Teacher He looked through the taste of human feelings and the humor of human nature in the book.
Unforgettable for a long time, literature enlightens life, inadvertently, has passed through youth, into middle age. In reading over and over again, I no longer focus on the plot story, but I prefer the triviality and delicacy of the World of the Red Chamber.
The greater touch comes from Lu Qixiang's understanding of "Dream of the Red Chamber".
"The Mystery of Life and the Beauty of Transcendence - Realization", if you are a candidate, if you get such a question, you will have the confusion of a tiger eating the sky and not being able to eat it. However, everyone is everyone. Mr. Lu started from the mystery of nature and life, combined with the text of "Dream of the Red Chamber", divided the "shore of the Great View" and the "other shore of the Great Desolation", and let the two dialogue, so that I had a new understanding of the passage in which the monk recited "Baoyu" in the twenty-fifth time. In Mr. Lui's view:
Although the world on this shore is troubled and troubled, there is true love; the world on the other shore, although it is free and unrestrained, cannot help but be lonely and lonely.
The metaphor of the stone is only the author's search for spiritual destination and the interrogation of the spiritual homeland, which does not mean bowing to fate and converting to religion. Then, "fatalism" and "color and emptiness" will not be self-defeating. What Cao Xueqin wants to convey is life experience and ultimate care.
Then to the "today's me" to "yesterday's me" examination, in the world of the Red Chamber, casually every word and deed, carefully experienced, but has a new taste of life - Mr. Lu specially cited a joke of You's on Fengjie's birthday:
"I tell you, it's so easy to suffer this time today, and after that, I know that I have to be as bad as today?" Let's try our best to mourn for two bells. ”
Looking at the present and looking at the past now, people can't help but feel it. Experience a new flavor from a seemingly bland narrative, when cherished? Or should I sigh?
Such an examination, from Tao Yuanming's "Return to Xi Ci", Wang Xi's work "Lanting Collection Sequence", to Li Bai's "Spring Night Feast Peach li garden preface", Li Shangyin's "Untitled" poem, and then Su Shi's "Chibi Fu", all the way to Cao Xueqin's "Dream of the Red Chamber", can be described as consistent and consistent.
"This can be a memory, but it was already confused at the time."
The third part of Mr. Lu's article, although it can not be reached, the heart yearns for it, the author distinguishes: the empirical world in "Dream of the Red Chamber" is not distorted by its transcendental nature, but on the contrary, it improves the authenticity of the work, so that the characters have spirituality and have a higher spiritual and cultural content. To this end, Mr. Lu also solemnly introduced the category of "imagery", which is juxtaposed with typical and artistic conception. Mr. Lui proposed:
Imagery is different from typical and artistic conception in its thinking line is not from figurative to figurative, but from abstract to figurative, that is, under the guidance of abstract thinking, capture the corresponding objective objects and create ideographic images.
Here, philosophical speculation and aesthetic categories are involved, which should be said to be pioneering. Ordinary readers of my generation are only enlightened.
Understanding the article, more offenses are superficial, and those who wait for the next are not lacking in vulgarity. For example, Lu Qixiang realized "Dream of the Red Chamber", there is a foundation of life, there is a foundation of knowledge, there is a background of wisdom, there is a foundation of these three, and there is such a blessing of kung fu, in order to get such clear wisdom.
(ii)
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is a native Chinese novel, which is very different from the modern Chinese novels that have emerged since the west and the east, especially the modern novels after the May Fourth Movement. Exploring the artistic level and aesthetic height of "Dream of the Red Chamber", it naturally has far-reaching historical significance and extensive comparative value. In this regard, scholars have also conducted in-depth discussions.
It is worth noting that Mr. Shi Changyu analyzed the Spring and Autumn Brushwork of "Dream of the Red Chamber" to continue Chinese historical literature, and explored the narrative strategy of "Dream of the Red Chamber".
In addition, Mr. Xu Fuming wrote "The Influence of Classical Opera on Plot Processing", which discussed the reference and innovation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" to classical opera in plot construction from four aspects: character appearance, scene scheduling, background dyeing, and character language.
As far as the character appearance is concerned, the third time, Feng Jie appears, using "inner white on"; Baoyu appears, using "point"; the eighteenth time, the Yuan Concubine appears, "on the oblique door swing".
Speaking of scene scheduling, there is the same scene and two spaces in the book, such as the twenty-first time, Jia Lian asks Ping'er for pleasure, indoor and outdoor, a wall is separated, the two have dialogue, there is action, there is direct communication; the thirty-sixth time, Inside Daiyunxuan, Baoyu Nap, Baochao Needle embroidery; outside Daiyunxuan, Daiyu greets Xiangyun to peep through the window, and there is no direct communication indoors and outdoors.
There is also the saying of "keeping buttons", the same scene, one person in the middle of the field, leaving two people to reveal the secret, after the front of the next characters to play again, in the dark. For example, the sixteenth time, Jia Lian, Feng Jie, and Ping'er were on the same scene, Jia Lian was in the middle, and Ping'er confessed to Feng Jie that she had come to Wang's daughter-in-law to send money and silver, and Jia Lian would play again, and it was unknown.
Next, the background dot dyeing, the sixth time, Feng Jie received Liu Grandma, a white drawing, silent, at this time silence is better than sound, everything is intended to be unspoken. Forty-third time, Bao Yu went to the Daffodil Hernia, gave a half-gift, and Ming Yan took the initiative to wish, secretly penetrating the golden judpol, and the little red substitute blessing in the "West Chamber" revealed the mind of the warbler.
Finally speaking the language of the characters, the sixteenth time, Feng Jie borrowed the "water word" in the play to ridicule Jia Lian:
Just when Sister Feng was busy in recent days, there was no moment of leisure work, seeing Jia Lian's return from a long way, she had to take the time to receive, and there was no outsider in the room, so she smiled: "Uncle Guo is very happy!" Uncle Guo has worked hard all the way. The little one heard yesterday's head report from the Malay newspaper, saying that today the big driver returned to the house, slightly prepared a glass of water and wine to dust the dust, I don't know if the light is false? Jia Lian smiled and said, "How dare you, take more responsibility!" ”
The twenty-first time there is a lipid batch cloud:
These rules are obtained in the theater.
Really, the layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway. Without the guidance of the master, the average reader will understand this. Although the novel is the art of "gradual change" and the opera is the art of "radical change", the connection between the two, Cao Gong's erudition and good use, must not fail to deeply examine and taste.
The "Selected Essays" includes Mr. Li Qingxin's article, "The Transformation from Storyteller Narrative to Narrator Narrative: On a Breakthrough in Traditional Narrative Methods". From the perspective of narratology, it talks about the transformation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" from the narrator's narrative to the narrator's narrative, talks about the emergence of the invisible author and the alienation of the real author, and talks about the change of perspective, which is quite close to the contemporary Western narrative research.
In a long article entitled "Reading the Red Chamber Overseas", Mr. Tang Degang carefully analyzed the background of the creation of "Dream of the Red Chamber", analyzed the social changes in Chinese society from the peasant class to the citizen class, and analyzed the transformation from "listening novels" to "reading novels".
Mr. Tang said that more than a hundred years after Jin Shengsi's death, through the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, in the eighteenth century of the Western Calendar, it was also the heyday of the Great Qing Dynasty, bureaucrats and literati indulged in the Siku classics, Jinshi calligraphy and paintings, folk indulged in romance novels, sad and happy opera, Jiangnan publishing industry flourished, small citizens love to read idle books, reading novels has become a temporary trend.
After ten years of painstaking writing of "Dream of the Red Chamber", the previous times there was still the traditional habit of "listening to the novel", and then (including Gao Osprey's addition) it completely became a "novel to see", and a new attitude of modernization has since emerged.
Therefore, we dare to say that "Dream of the Red Chamber" is actually the first great work of China's novel to modernize literature. It is not influenced by any outside world, especially "Western" works; its "style" is not under the same Western, or even modern Western novels.
At the same time, Mr. Tang criticized Hu Shi, Xia Zhiqing and others for their untrue evaluations of traditional Chinese novels, especially the artistic achievements of "Dream of the Red Chamber", which can be described as whiplash.
In fact, Mr. Song Qi also noticed Cao Xueqin's innovation and improvement of the art of novels, pointing out:
According to the commentary, we know that he is very conceited about composing "songs", and at the same time has a unique view of poetry and words. However, he did not take the time to specialize in the creation of poetry, words, and songs, and his attempts in this regard were only an appendage of "Dream of the Red Chamber", because he knew in his heart that it would be difficult for him to overwhelm the previous masters in this regard. At best, he may become another Naranjande, but how can this satisfy his artistic requirements? Therefore, he took another way, taking the novel, which was still very primitive and crude in terms of technique, and carrying it forward, making it rich and perfect, and becoming an independent and impressive literary form.
Mr. Song Qi solemnly stated:
Looking around the world literary scene and relying on an unfinished novel to win the status of a great writer, Cao Xueqin can really be said to be second to none.
The Development Direction of New Red Science
The analysis and evaluation of Song Qi and Tang Degang are similar.
In terms of his aesthetic pursuits, Mr. Liang Guizhi's judgment is credible. Mr. Liang believes that the aesthetic of "Dream of the Red Chamber" with "truth" as the core is in opposition to the traditional aesthetic with "goodness" as the core. Mr. Leung said:
The Book of Stones does proclaim the defeat of the old aesthetic principle and the victory of the new aesthetic principle with its brilliant practice, truth, goodness, and beauty are really the first, and the highest state of literary and artistic pursuit is truth rather than goodness, and when truth is achieved, goodness is also in it, untrue goodness is hypocritical, and therefore it is also unbeautiful, and truth, goodness, and beauty should be harmoniously unified on the basis of truth rather than on the basis of goodness.
Traditional Chinese Aesthetics: A Tragedy in the History of Aesthetics
In fact, Mr. Lu Qixiang also noticed the opposition between the continued book and the first eighty times in terms of aesthetic quality, saying:
116 times, the sequel asked Jia Baoyu to revisit the illusory realm once again, turning an ethereal and beautiful mythological world into a religious temple of persuasion and preaching. The lack of artistic imagination and aesthetic quality in the last forty times is probably the most prominent here.
"Unattainable Cao Xueqin - The Last Forty Times from the Perspective of Aesthetic Quality"
Of course, liang guizhi and Lu Qixiang may not have the same understanding of Cao Xueqin's aesthetic concept. In the articles included in the "Selected Essays", the discussion of Cao Xueqin's aesthetic concepts and even ideological concepts is still insufficient. Crude rebellious theory and general anti-feudal theory hinder or delay the discussion of the ideological, aesthetic and artistic values of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Personally, I think it is more reliable to borrow Mr. Lu Xun's argument:
As for the value of "Dream of the Red Chamber", it is really rare in Chinese novels. The main point is that it dares to describe truthfully, and there is no concealment, which is completely good and bad people in previous novels, and bad people are completely bad, which is very different, so the characters described in it are real characters. In short, since the "Dream of the Red Chamber" came out, the traditional ideas and writing methods have been broken.
The Complete Works of Lu Xun, vol. 9, p. 338
(iii)
The "Selected Anthologies" contains representative papers in the 40 years since the founding of the "Dream of the Red Chamber Journal", which is divided into three volumes and about one million words. The first volume, 25 of the author's family history, and 18 editions, a total of 43. Volume II, 18 Articles on the Art of Thought; Character Reviews, 15 articles, for a total of 33 articles. Volume III, History of Red Studies, 30 articles. A total of 106 articles, plus "Ordinary Cases" and "Afterword", a total of 108 articles.
From the distribution of articles, it can be seen that scholars have worked hard in the author's life and version examination. This is naturally related to the formation and development of the new red science.
Scholars regard Hu Shi as the founder and founder of the new red science. Hu Shi's contribution is being examined, examining the author and the version, respectively, the two systems of the Cheng Ben and the Fat Ben, and distinguishing the two major components of the first eighty times and the sequel.
Over the past few decades, the academic circles have made great efforts in proofreading, annotating, publishing, distributing, disseminating and popularizing the edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Thanks to this, readers have reliable and diverse choices.
Personally, I have two editions of the People's Literature Publishing House, Yu Pingbo's "Dream of the Red Chamber" eighty times and forty times later, the Qigong annotated version of "Dream of the Red Chamber", Zhou Ruchang's proofreading of the batch point book "Stone Record", "Cai Yijiang's New Comment on the Dream of the Red Chamber", Zhang Jun and Shen Zhijun's "New Annotation of the Dream of the Red Chamber", and the Guangling Book Club's Xuan Paper Thread "Embroidery Like the Dream of the Red Chamber", and recently received Chen Qinghao's "New Compilation of Stone Notes Fat Yan Zhai Comment Series (Revised Edition)".
Scholars have accumulated decades of hard work, the road is blue, the head is poor, and strive to lay the foundation for readers to read, paving the way forward for future learning, their contributions are commendable, and their spirit is worthy of praise.
However, looking back at the centennial course of red studies, it seems that there are still some deficiencies and even doubts.
In 1904, Wang Guowei published the "Commentary on the Dream of the Red Chamber", and was the first to propose that "The Dream of the Red Chamber" be regarded as a literary and artistic work in the modern sense, and resolutely opposed "reading it with the eyes of examination".
At the beginning of the last century, Wu Mi began to use Western literary criticism theory to analyze and study "Dream of the Red Chamber", trying to change from Serious purpose, Large scope, Firm plot, Plenty of action, Reality of scenes, and Liveliness of characters. Six aspects of analysis and argumentation, that "Dream of the Red Chamber" "actual and this six long", can be called the "masterpiece of the novel" under western standards.
Lu Xun was the first to highly praise the ideological and artistic value of "Dream of the Red Chamber", saying:
Since the "Dream of the Red Chamber" came out, the traditional thinking and writing methods have been broken.
Hu Shi read "Dream of the Red Chamber" with the "eye of examination", and tried his best to belittle the ideological and artistic value of "Dream of the Red Chamber", and even called it worthless.
The old self-legend is not far away, and the new self-legend is coming one after another. Suo Yin and Tan Yu appeared one after another, innuendo theories and secret history theories appeared one after another, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the study of red studies is full of chaos. So, how should we view "Dream of the Red Chamber" and how should the study of red studies go?
In fact, some experts and scholars have already noticed it. Mr. Tang Degang said:
The "examination school" of "New Red Studies" is only the beginning of researchers, and it is the ultimate goal of "auxiliary science" rather than research scholarship.
Mr. Song Qi also expressed concern, saying that at present, the focus of the new red science is still on the examination evidence, and a small number of people of insight have deeply examined its danger. Mr. Song Qi's "The Development Direction of New Red Studies" was published in 2001. In the previous year, Mr. Mei Xinlin published a long article entitled "The Integration and Innovation of Literature, Text, and Cultural Studies: The Transformation and Prospect of Red Studies at the Turn of the Century" in the Journal of The Dream of the Red Chamber, which was included in the third volume of the Selected Anthology.
Mr. Mei proposed that the axis of red studies should be text research, and literature research is an important foundation for text research and cultural research, but text research has not been able to enter the center from the edge and has not received due attention. Mr. May emphasized:
The purpose of the integration and innovation of the literature, text and cultural research of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is to seek the organic integration with literature and cultural research through return to text research, truly eliminate the distinction between Cao Xue and Hongxue, break the barrier between external and internal studies, so as to expand the new path of red science research and construct a new pattern of red science research.
Sincerely foresight.
By reading selected anthologies, we can make clear the general situation, discern the direction, know where our predecessors are lost, and avoid detours; we can go to ignorance, to exaggeration, to mania, to anger, and to avoid falling on the evil road of nonsense and criticism.
Hu Wenbin, a researcher of red studies, has "On the Historical Formation and Research of Red Studies", and Zhang Qingshan has "The Enlightenment of a Hundred Years of Red Studies", which has a clear understanding of the reading history of "Dream of the Red Chamber" for more than two hundred years since its birth, the history of the hundred years since the foundation of the new red science, and also has a good outline of the direction and path of red science research. Among them, Mr. Hu once said in a serious tone:
Natural scientists allow thousands of experiments, there are failures and successes, and those who paint also allow paintings to be bad and then draw, why should researchers' articles be so cynical when they have errors? On these issues, I believe that it is best to have opinions that are calm and convincing. An equal exchange of views does not degrade the personality and learning of either side.
His mind and insight are impressive, and he is sincerely called "a gentleman is frank and frank, and the villain is often related."
Knowing everything, saying this, although it is not "ignorant of the clouds", there will certainly be words that do not know the height of the sky.
Here is a deep bow and an apology in advance.
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