Tenderness is like water, good times are like dreams, bear with Queqiao to return to the road. If the two loves are long, they are in the twilight of the dynasty. The love story of Niu Lang and Weaver Girl has a long history, which has attracted countless literati and inkers to write poems for thousands of years, touching the hearts of generations of listeners, and is called "Four Folk Stories of China" together with "The Legend of the White Snake", "Meng Jiang Girl Crying on the Great Wall", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", and is an important representative of traditional Chinese culture.
To this day, the story of the cowherd weaver girl is still alive in our lives. For example, the Tanabata Festival has become a traditional "Valentine's Day"; for example, the image of the cowherd weaver girl often appears during the wedding; and the "cowherd weaver girl" appears as a text in the human-taught version of the language textbook.
Language courses have an irreplaceable advantage in passing on traditional culture, and it is commendable to compile the stories of cowherds and weavers into textbooks. However, there are also some pictures of "Cowherd Weaver Girl" in the ministry's edition of primary school Chinese textbooks that cannot bear to look directly. This text appeared in the third unit of the fifth grade book, and was selected from the version that was rectified by the famous writer Ye Shengtao.
There are many different versions of the story of the cowherd weaver girl, but the story synopsis is basically similar: niulang has died in his parents since childhood, is not welcomed by his brother and sister-in-law, and is dependent on an old cow; with the help of the old cow, niulang steals the weaver girl's clothes; the weaver girl who has lost her clothes cannot return to heaven; the cowherd appears with a yarn at the right time, and after a conversation, the two happily decide to be together; after the two have a son and a daughter, the weaver girl is captured back to heaven by the people sent by the queen mother, and the cowherd is chased by the cowskin, but is blocked by the galaxy; after that, Cowherd Weaver Girls can only meet at the queqiao bridge on the seventh day of july every year.
Ye Shengtao's rectification of "Cowherd Weaver Girl" is a very beautiful article with vivid language, smooth narrative and complete structure. However, there are some places in the text that are not suitable for inclusion in primary school Chinese textbooks. For example, in the 12th natural paragraph, the old cow said to the cowherd:
Tomorrow at dusk... There will be some fairies playing in the lake. Their gowns were on the grass, and you had to pick up the pink gown and run into the woods to wait, and the fairy who asked you for the clothes was your wife. Don't miss this great opportunity.
From a cultural point of view, the weaver girl's "yarn" has a very rich connotation. According to folklore experts, the prototype of the weaver girl is likely to be a silkworm, and the story of the cowherd weaver girl is born from the "silkworm horse myth". The Weaver Girl's "gauze" symbolizes the "old skin", like a cocoon. On the one hand, the "yarn" maintains the weaver girl's life in heaven, and on the other hand, it binds her at all times. Niu Lang stole the yarn, in fact, to help the weaver girl break through the cocoon into a butterfly and live a free and happy life.
Therefore, the "good opportunity" that the old cow said refers to the opportunity to help the weaver girl complete her transformation. But how can fifth-graders understand this? This layer of connotation, at least, must be digested by college students. When elementary school students study this text, they will only think that the old cow is instigating the cowboy to steal things, and stealing things will not only not be punished, but also get a wife.
The characters who appear in primary school textbooks have a strong exemplary effect and have a great influence on the formation of students' correct values and moral cultivation. Sometimes students can't properly understand the characters in the textbook, such as a story in which a person sacrifices himself for the sake of the group, and some students' first reaction may be "that person is stupid." In this case, it is time for the teacher to play a role in guiding the students to realize that the spirit of selfless dedication is worthy of respect.
However, when the student thinks that the old cow is teaching the cowherd to do bad things, and the cowherd is a robber or a thief, how should the teacher guide the student? Is it true that this was the case in ancient times when students were deceived? Or is it only possible in stories? Or do you just reprimand students not to ask questions that are not related to the classroom? I believe that many teachers will encounter similar troubles when they talk about this text.
The trouble doesn't stop there, followed by the depiction of the cowherd taking action. The next day, Niu Lang crossed the mountains and came to the small lake, and there was such a description in the text:
He heard the laughter of a woman, and looking at the sound, sure enough, there were several women playing in the lake. He walked along the lake. Within a few steps, I saw a lot of gauze clothes on the grass, flowers and greenery, and every piece was so beautiful. Sure enough, there was a pink tunic inside, so he picked it up, turned and walked into the woods.
This passage only mentions "a number of women playing in the lake", showing a long-term vision. However, after Niu Lang saw this scene, he did not avoid it, but secretly walked forward, and finally reached the lake. The picture can't bear to look directly at ah, incivility do not look at where to go, niu lang this live escape is peeping Ah, the opposite is still a group of people. Well, if the cowherd could walk with his eyes closed without alarming the people in the lake, that would make sense.
Some people may say, don't think too dirty, how can elementary school students think about this? It is really not that the author is dirty in thought, but that the after-school exercises of the textbook are guiding students to use their imagination and make the plot in the text more specific. Although only two examples are given in the textbook, this will undoubtedly inspire students to imagine other places.
In addition, the picture of the cowherd holding the gauze in his hands and handing it to the weaver girl is also very bad. What a scene it was, it was unimaginable. Elementary school students are lively and curious, when they ask the teacher these questions, how should the teacher explain? Is there a better way than to drink and make students not think about these questions?
Even if the students no longer think about these questions, the image of the cowherd in the minds of the children is still very poor. Stealing clothes and peeking into the mu is not civilized and polite at all, and such an image is undoubtedly incompatible with diligence and simplicity. Under such circumstances, how can students imagine the simple scene of male and female weaving, and how can they appreciate the working people's yearning for a better life?
In fact, in the seventh volume of the human-taught language textbook "Cowherd Weaver Girl", which was approved in 2001, the editors deleted the above-mentioned issues. Among them, "the fairy plays in the lake" is changed to "playing by the lake", and the cowherd steals clothes so that the weaver girl cannot return to the sky, then the weaver girl "leaves the partner and walks into the woods".
While avoiding embarrassment, such a rewrite does cause the problem of unreasonable plot. Students inevitably wonder, why did the Weaver Girl go to the cowherd for no reason? But such problems are better than those that have been caused before, and the teacher is easier to explain. For example, Niu Lang was actually a god in the sky and met the Weaver Girl. For example, this is fate and so on.
Of course, the best thing to do is for the people who write the textbook to try to make the plot as complete and reasonable as possible when adapting. This is actually not difficult at all, such as changing: the weaver girl lost a treasure can not go back, the old cow predicted in advance where the baby will fall, the cowherd picked it up and returned the treasure to the weaver girl; but the weaver girl missed the time to go back, so she stayed in the human world, and lived happily with the cowherd ever since.
Love is not a flood beast, and it is normal and necessary to have love stories in elementary school textbooks. Because even if elementary school students are not exposed to love in textbooks, they will be exposed to more messy dog blood plots in novels and film and television dramas. In this case, the love in the textbook must have qualities such as purity and sincerity, so that students can shape the correct values.
As an excellent representative of traditional folk tales, "Cowherd Weaver Girl" appears in textbooks as a text. However, the plot of Niu Lang stealing clothes and voyeurism needs to be deleted, because this not only destroys Niu Lang's positive image, but also guides students to think wrong. Moreover, Ye Shengtao's version is not the only version, and not all versions have this plot.
In short, the author strongly recommends that the compilers of the fifth grade Chinese textbook edited by the ministry delete and revise "Cowherd Weaver Girl". I also hope that all readers will forward, comment, and like it, so that more people will pay attention to this issue. If you have any other insights, please feel free to exchange them.