Meng Xianghai: Lu Xun and the Lantern Festival

For traditional festivals, Lu Xun has always attached great importance to them, and some festivals have also written special articles, but the Lantern Festival seems to be a little lighter...

It is said that when Lu Xun was twelve or thirteen years old, the Lantern Festival went to visit his aunt's house, and his uncle Ruan Shisheng was a former Qing Xiucai, in order to test Lu Xun's literary talent, he once had a pair of sons to examine Lu Xun, Lu Xun learned from Mr. Shou Jingwu in the Sanwei Bookstore, and what he was best at was pairs.

The uncle produced "red stew", and Lu Xun casually said "white chopped chicken". Gongyuan Ruan Yanfan, who was sitting with him, saw that there was a "Mandarin Duck Splashing Water Map" on the right wall, and casually came out with the upper link: "Playing Mandarin Ducks under the Qinghe", Lu Xun saw that there was a "Spring Swallow Diagram" on the left wall, and the mouth came out "Weeping Willow Branches Disturbing Spring Swallows" in the right. The guests present all admired the young Lu Xun's quick thinking.

It was night, uncle Ruan Shisheng went to the courtyard for a walk, saw the children were playing, looked up at the bright moon, and suddenly gave birth to a couplet, "Looking at the full sun and moon, fifteen and a half months, the full moon and the full moon are called the moon and a half;" At this time, Lu Xun suddenly found that the trees and potted flowers in the courtyard were pasted with a strip of red paper that "send Chinese New Year's Eve, greet the first year", and he raised his head and cheerfully said to the lower link: "Chinese New Year's Eve year, the beginning of the first year, the end of the year. To the neat and natural battle, Ruan Shisheng happily patted Lu Xun's shoulder and encouraged: "Your grandfather and father are people who have read a lot of books. It seems that you read well in the city, and as long as you continue to work hard, the progress will be greater. ”

This joint chant related to the Lantern Festival shows Lu Xun's outstanding literary style from one side.

On February 21, 1926, Lu Xun wrote an article entitled "Dog, Cat, Mouse", in which he wrote: "In front of my bed, there are two pieces of flower paper, one is the 'Eight Commandments', with a long mouth and big ears, which I think is not very elegant; the other one is 'rats and relatives' but cute, from the groom, the bride to the minister, the guest, the deacon, there is not a single one who is not a sharp cheek and thin legs, like a reader, but wearing red shirts and green pants." The "flower paper" mentioned in the article is the New Year painting, and the painting of "rat parenting" is taken from the folk Lantern Festival night is the day when the rats become parents. To this end, Lu Xun consulted with his younger brother Zhou Zuoren and kept his eyes open all night, but he did not see the scene of "rats marrying relatives"! The New Year painting of "Rat Marrying Relatives" written by Lu Xun is now in the Lu Xun Museum. When Lu Xun purchased this New Year painting is still unknown. From one side, the details related to Lu Xun and the Lantern Festival were witnessed.

Lu Xun likes to eat the assorted lanterns made in Daoxiang Village. Daoxiangcun is the first company in Beijing to produce and operate nanwei food, and the lantern it produces is as white as snow, and the size is relatively consistent, which is convenient for cooking. It tastes very delicate, with a moderate filling and a sticky and smooth texture. When Lu Xun lived in Beijing, he often went shopping, and there are more than a dozen records in Lu Xun's Diary.

From these anecdotes, it can be seen that Lu Xun still spends the Lantern Festival like ordinary people!

Source: Minbei Daily