Is it a broken soul? Is it a gun? ——Pin Lao She "Broken Soul Gun"

Echoes

As a person who learned martial arts since childhood and later embarked on a career in martial arts, all articles and books related to martial arts are my favorite to read and study. Mr. Lao She has a short story published in 1935, "The Broken Soul Gun", which is one of them. The novel begins with the "Sharp Gun Sand Dragon" that opened the dart game and changed into an inn, telling the story of the transformation of Wang Sansheng and others who were created when following the sand dragon to open the dart board to sell art at the temple fair and sell fruits and vegetables in the streets and alleys to make a living. Wang Sansheng met Sun Laoren, who was obsessed with martial arts, during the temple fair's martial arts training, and after the two of them passed, Wang was defeated by Sun Laoren, and took Sun Laoren to Sha Zilong's house to meet, and finally Sha Zilong politely received but did not pass on his stunt "Five Tigers Broken Soul Gun".

The background of the novel is the end of the Qing Dynasty, when all strata of society were generally impetuous and blind. Wushu is also undergoing a sharp transformation in such a turbulent era, first, the emergence of modern banks has led to the decline of the traditional dart board industry that relies on escorting money, and the dart master is forced to change careers. "Sha Zilong's dart game has been changed to an inn", which is pointed out at the beginning of the novel. Secondly, the imperial examination was abolished, and the first thing that was abolished was the martial arts that still used the cold weapons of long guns and hard bows as the content of the examination. This has made all those who practice martial arts, in addition to being dart masters to support their families, the path to advancement has been closed. In the novel, it is said, "Even Sha Zilong, his martial arts, and career have dreamed of last night." "At this time, there was no food to eat", and the martial arts lost the practical significance of existence, and were in an extremely embarrassing situation and at a loss, because "the art of the state had not yet been promoted by the revolutionary party and educators".

Guns developed from cold weapons to hot weapons, and ancient China was opened by western cannons and woke up the sleeping people. And many people still cling to the cold, slippery, and hard guns that have caused the enemy to feel frightened and frustrated as a weapon of war, which is a self-destruction against the tide of history. Others were broken by Western muskets, frightened and lost their souls, and were blown by this European wind and rain to recognize their ancestors. But there are still many people who are ignorant and fearless of the guns of science and technology, and no longer crumbling at the useless trembling guns. And these people should be the "soul breakers" in the novel who have something to do with guns. Lu Xun said: Only the "soul of the nation" is worthy of preciousness, and only by carrying it forward can China make real progress.

The finishing touch of this novel is, "Sha Zilong is reading this "List of Gods" in bed", why? The "List of Fengshen Gods" has a huge cultural influence on Chinese folk thought, and most of the previous Boxer congregations believed in the gods in the novel "Fengshen List" and borrowed these gods to subdue the gods, but the gods were completely ineffective. However, the main line of the "List of Conferred Gods" revolves around Jiang Ziya assisting King Wu of Zhou in his crusade against king Shang. "Although the Zhou Dynasty is an old state, its destiny is only new." Mr. Lao She arranged for Sha Zilong to watch the "List of Conferred Gods", and there are still some people who are in the midst of great turmoil, but still have some yearning and expectation for the future!

The novel's magic stroke is the phrase "Don't pass it on!" Don't pass! ”。 Why not pass it on? "That gun and that set of guns are all in the coffin with me, into the coffin together", because Sha Zilong saw that the times were progressing, and the era of that gun and that set of guns had ended, and it was inevitable that the rebel would die. Of course not! In the quiet and sparsely populated night, under the witness of the stars, he stabbed down the sixty-four guns in one breath, remembering the majesty of the wild shop and the desolate forest. Sha Zilong's warmth and respect for his past artistic career has nothing to do with whether the pie is useful or not, and has nothing to do with the confiscation of apprentices. We may be able to guess the attitude and position of Mr. Lao She when he published this novel, which he implicitly expressed towards the reformists of the New Culture Movement at that time and the conservative faction of the country.

In the novel, the three martial arts of Sha Zilong, Wang Sansheng, and Sun Laoren are vividly described, and what emerges in front of us is the reclusive hero Sha Zilong, who has put meat on his body but practices his gun alone in the middle of the night, Wang Sansheng, who walks everywhere to show his face and sell his art and flesh, and the martial artist Sun Sansheng who is highly skilled in martial arts and visits friends everywhere. From the three of them we read the three-tiered pursuit of martial arts technology.

At the technical level, martial arts first pursue the truth of the upper body, the truth is the identity of martial arts, and the upper body is the advanced pursuit of martial arts cultivation. "Folks, Wang Sansheng is not an artist; he will play with a few sets, walk through darts on the northwest road, and pass through friends in the green forest." Now idle, it's okay to pull a field to play with you. There are love to practice although down, Wang Sansheng to martial arts friends, there are appreciation of the face, I accompany. Sharpshooter Sand Dragon is my master; playing authentically! Through Wang Sansheng's mouth, the novel tells this layer of pursuit of seeking truth and seeking the upper body. Elder Sun said to the defeated Wang Sansheng, "You still have to practice, man! And "Really, your hands are not bad", said another layer of martial arts pursuits, which is practical and able to fight. And being able to fight is the core essence of martial arts, which is the inevitable pursuit of martial arts skills. In the novel, Sha Zilong only treats the grandson of the martial arts friend with courtesy and does not mention the matter of martial arts, reflecting the third level of martial arts pursuit - not fighting. Not fighting is the transcendence of the realm of fighting, and it is the ultimate pursuit of martial arts skills. Those masters who have truly reached the advanced realm of martial arts are all ideal pursuits and understandings of the infinite perfection of martial arts techniques, and are by no means rude and reckless men who are good at talking about swords and guns and making easy shots.

When exploring Mr. Lao She's intention to write the Soul Breaking Gun, we also tasted the three-level realm of martial arts. The first is the persistence of "going up to the poor and falling to the Yellow Spring, using his hands and feet to find information" who is obsessed with pursuing martial arts like The Elder Sun, and the persistence of Sha Zilong's "ancient sages are lonely" like practicing a big gun alone in a small courtyard in the middle of the night. This is "last night the west wind withered the green trees, went up to the west building alone, and looked at the end of the world", the first realm of martial arts. Wang Sansheng began to worship the sharpshooter Shazilong and had a bright face when he could become his apprentice, and bragged everywhere about the master's god, but Sha Zilong did not meet with the old man sun in martial arts, so he failed to avenge Wang Sansheng, so he no longer mentioned that there was a so-called sharpshooter shazilong. From this we come to the second realm of martial arts: "Look at the sunset and tilt to the west, and the forest gap shines greener." This is a heavy realm that ordinary people do not want to enter, because the spirit of ordinary people is exposed to the outside, neither can withstand loneliness and loneliness, nor refuses to let the brilliance be covered, but only pays attention to the external scenery, not pays attention to the inner cultivation, they cannot see the "green" between the gaps. In fact, the more you want to expose the brilliance, the more there is no brilliance. The novel writes "Sha Zilong is reading this "List of Fengshen Gods" in bed" and "The night is quiet and sparsely populated, Sha Zilong closed the small door, stabbed sixty-four guns down in one go, and then, with a gun, looked at the stars in the sky, remembering the majesty of the wild shop in the wilderness forest." Sighing, he slowly touched the cool gun body with his fingers, and smiled slightly: 'No! Don't pass! ", showing us the third realm of martial arts of "red and still beautiful, with vast light and wind". Rao Zongyi said that "the eternal age is not sharp, the middle flow is free", the ultimate realm of martial arts, in fact, no matter what kind of wind and rain, we must be "unbroken" full of confidence in the future, and be at ease in our hearts.

Input Editor: Wang Jianliang

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