Why does Cao Xueqin prefer "wind and current"?

Author: Liu Shangsheng, Professor, College of Literature, Hunan Normal University

Cao Xueqin loves to flow. Friend Zhang Yiquan gave Shiyun: "Love will be pen and ink to the wind." The main thing discussed in this article is that Cao Xueqin preferred to use the word "wind flow" when writing "Dream of the Red Chamber".

"Wind flow" is a high-frequency word in Cao Xueqin's pen. According to preliminary statistics, in the first eighty times of "Dream of the Red Chamber" (according to the annotated edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber" by the Red Research Institute, the People's Literature Publishing House, 1982 edition, quoted below), the words "wind flow" and the word "wind flow" appear more than forty times, an average of one point seven times, and then only two times in the last forty times, an average of one time in twenty times. The frequency is more than ten times different, and the meaning of the words is completely different, the 93rd time called Jia Qin, who was a prostitute, "the prince of the wind", and Cao Xueqin never had this use. The 65th time he wrote about the ugly attitude of Jia Zhen Jia Lian's brothers in front of You Sanjie, only saying that the two were "used to playing in the wind and moon field", and it was not until Cheng Yiben changed it to "Jia Zhen Jia Lian such a mercurial prince". He seemed reluctant to tarnish the word "windflow." In the first eighty times, the word "wind" was used in a positive sense, in the tone of the author's narrative. That is, this example of comparison shows the difference between the last forty times and Cheng Yiben and Cao Xueqin.

Why does Cao Xueqin prefer the word "wind flow" so much? In the author's opinion, there are three reasons.

First of all, it embodies the intention of Cao Xueqin's "Great Purpose of Talking about Love".

The first monastic dialogue cloud:

The monk laughed and said, "... Now there is a legal case that has been properly concluded. This miscreant, who has not yet been reincarnated into the world, takes this opportunity to take this stupid thing with him and make it experience. The Daoist said, "It turns out that the wrongs of the past few days will be robbed again?" But where does it end up? (The following monk tells the story of Daizhu returning tears, this slightly)

In this dialogue, the phrase "wind flow" appears repeatedly (a total of 5 times), and the 5th time the police fairy goddess also has the words "the recent misdeeds have been entangled here", which shows that this is a concept that the author deliberately emphasizes. Cao Xueqin's use of the concept of words is very strict, he uses the "wind flow" metaphor for the sexual love (or homosexual love) that exceeds etiquette, but firmly refuses to call the adulterous matter also "wind flow" (he uses the word "wind moon"). "Gong Case" was originally a Zen quotation, and the Song Dynasty was a title for novels, which was derived from the judgment of officials as a complex and tangled event. As for the phrase "misdeeds", Cao Xueqin was rare before, he borrowed the Buddhist concept of "iniquity" and the popular folk phrase of calling the lover "wronged family", expressing the characteristics of the entangled and bittersweet of the two sexes, and the story of the love affair between the divine attendant and the former life of the Daizhu Immortal Grass to the reality of Bao Dai's bitter love is the best interpretation of words such as "misdeeds". The so-called "flow" of the first and fifth summary words is actually a synonym for "love", which shows the author's clear affirmation of "love" in this novel of "great purpose".

On the contrary, although the author of the last forty times is more successful in describing the tragedy of Bao Dai's love, he generally holds a negative attitude towards "love" in Buddhism. "Laughter and sorrow are all false, and covetous thinking is always due to delusion." (116 times) "All women of all ages, the word 'fornication' must not be violated, and only this word of 'love' cannot be disturbed." (120 times) This makes him revisit the Tai Void Realm (116 times) and Zhen Shi's hidden dream of the Red Chamber (120 times) corresponding to the first and fifth times, although he recreates the image of the police fairy and the monk, he will never repeat the word "wind flow" that reflects the connotation of "love" repeatedly in advance.

Second, return to the positive meaning of words, and exert their coverage and expressiveness in terms of emotional content.

"Wind flow" is a word with a cumulative layer and a wide range of applications.

The extension and evolution from figurative word symbols to abstract figurative meanings is closely related to the changes in social thought and culture. Scholars pointed out that the term "wind flow" that appeared in the Han Dynasty refers to social customs (winds) and their circulation, and has been given the connotation of "indoctrination" of Confucianism. After the Fall of Wei and Jin, the wind and currents became the characteristics of celebrities, and its main connotation included manners and demeanor and even the spirit of personality, which Feng Youlan called "personality beauty". From the folk songs of the Southern Dynasty, the palace poetry and even the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, the connotation of the wind and current has pointed to the beauty of the sound and color of the "beautiful" costumes, and to the romantic love between the two sexes. (Mou Fasong, "Talking about Wind Flow: The Evolution of Its Meaning and Social and Historical Changes", in Issues in History Teaching, No. 2, 2010) Since the Northern Song Dynasty to the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and even modern times, the meaning of the word "wind flow" has developed from the original positive or neutral meaning to "improper male-female relationship", debauchery and other derogatory meanings, and has been widely used. From the upper echelons of scholars to the hedonistic and obscene atmosphere of the city society and the popularity of popular literature, the stigma of "wind flow" has been promoted. From celebrity style, beautiful style, love flow to lust flow, elegant literature and folk literature are used together, and the neutral and derogatory meaning of positive meaning is extended in many directions, which is the complex writing context faced by Cao Xueqin, and his high-frequency positive application obviously has the positive intention of curbing the stigma and pornography of "wind flow" and returning it to the aesthetic spiritual level.

Cao Xueqin's use of the word "wind flow" is handy. That is, in terms of character descriptions and comments, it is also used for female beauty, writing Daiyu, there are different combinations of "wind and current attitude" in the eyes of everyone (the 3rd time), "wind and flow" in Baoyu's dream (and beautiful like Daiyu, the 5th time), "wind and grace" in Xue Pan's eyes (Daiyu, the 25th time), "feminine style" (28th time) compared with Xue Baochao, Jia Zhen Jia Lian's "grace and affection" in the eyes of You Sanjie, and the third sister's self-proclaimed "Wind Flow Peugeot" (65 times), all of which give people a visible and perceptible but indescribable taste space. Men, on the other hand, have the "feminine style" of Xiang Pity Jade Love, the "charming and handsome style" of the young and handsome Jia Rong (the 9th time), Feng Yuan's "absolute style of character" (the 4th time), Qin Zhong's "demeanor and style" (the 7th time), and the "flow of style" of the King of Beijing (the 14th time), etc. Obviously, in addition to their appearance, they also show a certain temperament cultivation. Jia Baoyu's "Love Affair" (the 9th time) seems to contain the ambiguity of a young same-sex partner, but the "strange flow" (the 78th time) he pursued when he wrote "Furong Recitation" is a very high level of innovation. In terms of the voice of the characters, Shi Xiangyun's "is the real celebrity from the wind" is dashing and open-minded, Liu Grandma's "old style" is to amuse and amuse, Jia Rong's "who does not have an affair in the family" is shameless defense, Jia Zheng is called Daolin Siniang with the eight characters of "style and elegance, loyalty and generosity", showing that in addition to adhering to orthodoxy, he also has a graceful side, while the doorman called Heng wang "the first person of the wind and current in the ages" is a flattering attitude. Contextual meanings, each with its own subtlety.

Finally, Cao Xueqin advocated Wei Jin's personality and aesthetic ideals.

The poem "Titled Qinxi Resident" by Zhang Yiquan is quoted above:

"Love will be pen and ink to the wind, Lu Jie's western suburbs are different." The mountains and rivers outside the door are for painting, and the flowers and birds in front of the hall are chanted. The soup is not envied by the green lotus pet, and the garden summons unforgettable li ben shame. How does it look like to ask the ancients? Ambitions should be left behind by white clouds. (Yi Su, ed., "Dream of the Red Chamber of Classical Literature Research Materials", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1963 edition, quoted below)

Zhang Shi explicitly regards "wind flow" as Cao Xueqin's personality trait, and through the small note "(Layshi) surname Cao Ming Xia zi meng ruan", reveals that his "wind flow" is not only artistic talent, but also contains the rebellious independent personality pursuit of worshipping the Famous Scholar Ruan of Wei and Jin. Cao Gongyou Duncheng's poem "Sending Cao Xueqin" (曹雪芹霑) poem "Shaoling used to give General Cao, who was once known as the son of Wei Wu..." Du Fu's "Danqing Introduces Cao General Ba" "The descendant of General Wei Wu is now the Qingmen of Shu. Although the division of heroes has been completed, the literary style still exists today" Poetry emphasizes the inheritance of the "literary style" from generation to generation. In other poems, the Dun brothers further describe Cao Xueqin's "proud bones", "white eyes", "crazy Ruan infantry" and other "wind flow" characteristics that advocate Wei and Jin demeanor. This kind of "wind flow" personality is by no means retro, but is actually an anti-slave personality that rebels against the enslavement system, an independent personality that questions and rebels against traditional ideas and concepts, and a modern personality that calls for individual awakening, equal demands, and fraternity.

Cao Xueqin's "wind flow" personality has found the most suitable carrier of aesthetic ideals in the novel, which is the image of Dai Yu Qingwen that he prefers in line with his personality. From the perspective of personality, Qingdai is not perfect and has its own flaws. The author makes a realistic description without concealment. However, he dedicated the laurel of "Wind Flow" to Lin Daiyu and Qingwen. The author not only describes daiyu's "wind flow" beauty many times, but also directly takes "wind flow" as a symbol of Daiyu's beauty. Daiyu's "Funeral Flower Yin" "did not collect the bones as a bag, and a pure land covered the wind" (27 times), using flowers as a metaphor, "Tang Duoling" lamented that "floating is like a thin human life." Empty, say the wind flow" (70 times), using willow as a metaphor. These poems, as Li Yi commented, are "chic and chic"? Its "wind flow" has become an exclusive symbol of clean sentiment and proud wind and soul. Qingwen's judgment praises its beauty with "wind flow", which is not only a reinforcement of the anti-slave independent personality whose heart is higher than the sky and a lowly person", but also summarizes the tragic fate of the destruction of the beautiful quality with "the dexterity of the wind and the flow of the wind to attract resentment". Qingwen's death is solemnly marked with the title of "Pretty Girl Hugging the Wind Flow", revealing the profound social philosophical proposition that the tragedy of Qingwen is the tragedy of the beauty of "Wind Flow". The 77th Gengchen Ben Batch said: "It can be known that Qingwen is also harmed by the clever wind." One wrote a biography for Qingwen, it is crying Qingwen also. Not crying Qingwen, but crying wind and currents. "Qing is a shadow, Qing Dai is one," Qing Wen is to say Daiyu," "Crying wind flow", not only for Qing Dai, but also for the self-rebellious "wind flow" personality "not in time, abandoned by the world" fate, venting Cao Xueqin's inner incomparable grief. (Liu Shangsheng)

Source: Guangming Network - Literary And Art Review Channel