Author | Fan Deng Reading · Ask the heart and smile
Anchor | Fan Deng Reading · Desert Fox
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Dear book lovers, good evening
Welcome to Fan Deng's reading character column - "Stars".
Reading the Stars Shine · Experience extraordinary life.
One issue per day, welcome your continuous attention~
The protagonist who appears today is admired but ostracized by the world, and his life is bumpy and incomparably brilliant.
He has eight talents and is proud of his bones, but he has no chance to make a career and his life is difficult.
He wrote a book that created the pinnacle of the classical novel, but he did not finish the ending, leaving regrets empty.
Let's walk into the wonderful life of Cao Xueqin, the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber" of the "Ancient Book".
"I have also been a golden jade horse, I have also been a tile stove rope bed, you laugh at my famous door, a sense of pity, how do you know that I have seen through the heat and coldness of the world in heaven and on earth!"
A passage of words, the end of Cao Xueqin's life.
God favored Cao Xueqin, so that he was born into a rich family, providing him with a good environment for receiving a good education and broadening his horizons;
God was extremely harsh on him, hating that he could not write all the misery in his life.
Cao Xueqin is in such a big ups and downs of life, facing one parting after another.
Finally, I learned to put it down, knew how to be relieved, and wrote "Dream of the Red Chamber" that "every word is blood and tears", and stood on the peak of the literary world.
The poet Emily Dickinson once wrote this sentence:
"I could have endured the darkness if I hadn't seen the sun.
Yet the sun has made my desolation a renewed desolation. ”
When one has had the experience of happiness, one has a particularly strong sense of suffering.
If you don't know how to say goodbye to the past, a little difficulty can knock people down.
Not to mention falling to the bottom from the clouds?
Cao Xueqin's great-grandmother Sun Shi served as the Kangxi Emperor's grandmother, and her grandfather Cao Yin served as the Kangxi Emperor's companion and imperial bodyguard.
Such intimate affection made the Cao family once have extraordinary honors.
The cao family of three generations and four people served in the position of Jiangning Weaving for 57 years; Kangxi lived in the Cao family four times in Jiangnan.
What's more, when the elderly Sun Shi saw that Kangxi was going to kneel and pray, Kangxi not only picked it up, but also said, "This old man of my family is also."
In Kangxi's eyes, the Cao family had "loving mothers" and "brothers". He gave the Cao family the ultimate prosperity, but he also brought the sadness of waking up from the dream.
Jiangning weaving is a fat difference, but every time Kangxi goes to the Cao family, the Cao family will do a big job to show the importance of Kangxi.
However, spending money for a while, settling accounts for the crematorium, the emperor's "travel expenses" are not so easy to do.
The frequent reception of Kangxi overwhelmed the Cao family and showed signs of embezzlement.
In "Dream of the Red Chamber", there is a borrowing of Jia Lian's nursing mother, Grandma Zhao, alluding to this matter:
"Oh yo, good power faction, alone his family to take over four times, don't say that silver has become mud, by virtue of all the world, there is no mountain and sea, 'sin pity' four words can not be taken care of." 」
After the Yongzheng Emperor succeeded to the throne, he began to inventory money and grain and make up for deficits.
Compared with the Kangxi Emperor, his methods were more tough, and all officials who had deficits were immediately investigated and dealt with once they were exposed, and the Cao family did not avoid the fate of raiding the family and punishing crimes.
At this time, Cao Xueqin was only 13 years old.
"Floating life is very hard and busy, and the feast will finally end.
Sorrow and joy are as illusory as ever, and dreams of ancient and modern times are absurd. ”
Although Cao Xueqin is a widow, she has always enjoyed the favor of her grandmother, and even if she runs into trouble, her grandmother will protect her when her uncle Cao Fu wants to discipline her.
Under such protection, Cao Xueqin let go of herself, spending all day with her sister Ya Gui, chanting poems and paintings, reading "idle books", and throwing the eight strands of literature advocated by the world behind.
But such days have become a thing of the past on the day of raiding the house.
From the rich days of fine clothes and food, to being forced to move back to an old house in Beijing, living by selling calligraphy and paintings and friends for relief.
Although Yongzheng allowed the Cao family to "keep less houses to support themselves", the Cao family's life was still not good.
Such a gap made Cao Xueqin miserable, but he had to learn to say goodbye to the past.
Because his uncle Cao Fu, who is the pillar of the pillar, is getting older, he needs to take over the burden on his uncle's shoulders and live up to his grandmother's expectations of him.
He began to deal with the big and small things in the clan, and came into contact with the old people in Beijing.
In the middle of the family road, the noble past is like a shackle, making the way forward difficult.
Feeling the warmth and coldness of human feelings, Cao Xueqin finally let go of the past, calmly faced the vicissitudes of life, and walked the path she should take.
Life is like a reverse journey, and there are ups and downs everywhere.
A person's greatest misfortune is not suffering, but his inability to bear suffering.
Only when you are at a low point, you can learn to let go of the past, in order to better focus on the present and live the present.
Qing Ren Huaiyin's "Shichahai and Jingye Lake" said:
"Xueqin Guan's Internal Affairs Office wrote a test, was very knowledgeable, and was once a Ming Xiang guo mansion In the middle and west, because of his lack of literature, he issued an eviction order. He later died of poverty. ”
At the age of 22, the Qianlong Emperor dropped the charges against the Cao family, and Cao Xueqin found a humble position and became a "member of the staff".
At this time, he was full of energy, although he did not care about fame and fortune, but he also longed for success and fame, and one day he could revitalize the family business and restore the Cao family to its former prosperity.
However, Cao Xueqin's personality is not good at doing things in the court, and he mentions many times in "Dream of the Red Chamber" that "stupid and stubborn to read articles" and "the original grass in the abdomen" is mangy.
Coupled with the past, everything is in the hearts of the people, which means that even if Cao Xueqin embarks on the road of career, the ceiling is extremely low.
Cao Xueqin's friend Dun Cheng wrote in "Remembering Cao Xueqin":
"Advise jun mo to play diners, persuade jun mo to buckle the door of fuer."
With a heart of birth, I blindly want to do things that enter the world.
Cao Xueqin, torn by herself and obsession, often falls into confusion: what kind of life is a good life?
After ten years of ups and downs, he finally thought of letting go again, instead of struggling in the wrong place, it was better to do what he was good at and happy about.
At the age of 33, Cao Xueqin announced her resignation and began to live a hermit-like life.
"Behaving in a perverse manner, that is slandered by the world."
Cao Xueqin, like Jia Baoyu in his pen, seems to have chosen a path that is not "progressive", but in fact, he chose a path that suits himself.
Without Feng Lu, then make a living from somewhere else.
Cao Xueqin is not a nerd, he has turned many hobbies into a means of making a living, and kite tying is one of them.
He will not only tie a vivid kite such as swallows and butterflies, but also add strange painting techniques to make the kite more dazzling.
He also taught this craft to his disabled friend Uncle YuDu, so that he could support his family and avoid the embarrassment of hunger and cold for his wife and children.
Obviously, I don't have a good life, and I can't see that other people's lives are not easy.
Cao Xueqin saw that the kite craft benefited from Uncle Du, and she wanted to help more people;
Therefore, he collected the relevant information of the kite, plus his own practice and understanding, and wrote it into the "Southern Harrier and Northern Iris Examination WorkZhi", explaining the production methods of various types of kites in order to teach.
Not only that, but he also summarized the crafts of engraving stamps, printing and dyeing, weaving and repairing, cooking, etc., which were collected in the "Collection of Waste Art" to help the disabled to make a living.
Mencius:
"The poor are good for themselves, and the poor are good for the world."
The living Cao Xueqin did not wait for the day of "Da", but he still had the world in mind.
"No material to make up for the heavens" is Cao Xueqin's regret for many years, but he finally chose to let go of his obsession, look at life, live with his heart, and help others with his heart.
Life is like this, don't live a thought that is not suitable for yourself, leave the environment that is not suitable for yourself, return to life, and eventually find your own life path.
"The path is full of basil, and the family often eats porridge and wine on credit."
The blow that life brings to Cao Xueqin is far more than the poverty of life and the shallowness of her career.
Living in the suburbs, Cao Xueqin's eyes are all the suffering of the people, and the sharp contrast makes his dreamlike memories flash from time to time.
At this time, he has long been separated from the past, and he is not sad because of this.
Like a bystander, he was freed from his own joys and sorrows, looking at the impermanence of the world and looking at the dark reality.
He decided to write about his experience, not only to commemorate the lost years, but also as a critique of the social phenomena of the time.
At that time, the novel was not a "serious article", after all, the exam was not used, it was just a story of people pastime after tea and dinner.
Therefore, Cao Xueqin, who wrote "Dream of the Red Chamber", in the eyes of everyone, is no different from "madness".
But he did not care, he had learned to say goodbye to the impermanence of life, and he was relieved of all things in life.
He put all his mind into writing, and without the money to buy paper, he took apart the calendar of previous years and wrote it in a blank space on the back;
Some readers feedback which part is unreasonable, they turn it out and review it repeatedly and make changes.
"Ten years of reading, five additions and deletions."
In this way, "Dream of the Red Chamber" has a true and false, false and real plot, and also has a deeper and more thorough ideological understanding, which has also been recognized by everyone and is regarded as a treasure:
"If you don't talk about 'Dream of the Red Chamber', even if you read poetry books, it's in vain!"
Because of everyone's love, "Dream of the Red Chamber" was circulated in the form of a manuscript for thirty years, so that it did not fall into the dust in the rolling years.
When she first wrote the book, Cao Xueqin probably did not think that she did not add glory to the family on the way to the shi, but because of a work, the Cao family bloomed into a flower that never withered in the long river of history.
Letting go of the shackles and being relieved of the sorrow and joy given by fate is probably the best farewell for a person's life!
In the book, he bids a careful farewell to Lin Daiyu's original wife Mei Shi, and the two go through twists and turns before they get together.
The other party is like Lin Daiyu, leaving the world early, and this love is also hidden in the only words about Lin Daiyu.
In the book, he bids farewell to the second lady, Liu Huilan, a woman like Xue Baochao, who is diligent and thrifty and supports Cao Xueqin's act of writing books.
But she hoped that Cao Xueqin could create a piece of the sky on the way, and this entanglement was placed in the contemplation of Xue Baochao.
The talented woman Li Qingzhao once meditated in the poem:
"I'm afraid of leaving my arms and not suffering, how many things, I want to say and rest."
Since it is unavoidable, let this separation be placed in the deepest depths and face it safely.
The last time Cao Xueqin said goodbye in her life was when she was 48 years old, when her youngest son fell ill and died of no medicine.
This parting made Cao Xueqin look down on the years even more and bid farewell to her life.
Life is long, regrets everywhere, learn to let go, be relieved, reconcile with fate, and then be calm.
Tashi RamDodo said in "When You Pass Through My Bloom": "Letting go is not giving up, and following fate is not casual." ”
Because there is letting go, there is acceptance.
The end of life is never the end of life, know how to let go of the past, let go of obsession, even if life is bumpy, you can be at ease and tranquility, unique style.
Life is like a small separation, in the continuous letting go and farewell, we will eventually tolerate the world, calmly and self-consistent.
Click "Looking", may we all be able to find our own unique life path in letting go, and for the rest of our lives, we will be at ease in our hearts.
Author | Ask the heart to smile, the young writer network signed a writer, write other people's stories, live their own lives.
Column Director | Cheng zi
Typography | Zheng to the north
Image | The pictures in this article come from the Internet, and are invaded and deleted