After the sixty-fourth time in the "Zhou Ruchang Revised the Stone Record of the Approval Point Book", Mr. Zhou Ruchang added a long comment, which is related to the content of this article, so it is copied:
Red scholars have long said that the sixty-fourth and sixty-seventh times are not the original works of Xueqin, but from the hand of another supplementary author, which can be described as concrete. I agree. Revisiting the play today, Fang Jue is not the work of a certain person, and its beginning is written bao Dai suddenly and gratuitously crying, ruthless and boring, and strongly filled with space, which is a kind of text.
Later, he wrote a passage of jia mu, lady Wang, etc., which was slightly better than the beginning, but it was also a mediocrity.
Until Jia Rong and his uncle Jia Lian plotted to secretly marry the second sister on the road, his writing was suddenly and very light and free, his spirit was complete, and the details were also extremely flexible and thoughtful, but he had the style of Xueqin, and he did not know who was a master. In short, this time is not the original part of the whole text, and its beginning part seems to have been damaged, and then it is hastily supplemented by another hand.
("Zhou Ruchang's Revised Approval Point Book of Stones")
In short, the Red Scholars have long argued that the sixty-fourth and sixty-seventh times are not Cao Xueqin's original works, and Mr. Zhou Ruchang initially agreed with this, and later found that the sixty-fourth time was actually written by at least three people: Bao Dai's sudden unprovoked crying was made by one person, and he thought that this paragraph was "ruthless and boring, and it was forced to fill the length"; a passage returned by Jia Mu and Madame Wang, which was also written by one person, and he thought that this paragraph was "slightly better than the beginning, but it is also a mediocre pen". Later, Jia Rong and Jia Lian plotted to secretly marry the second sister on the road, and it was done by one person, and they were full of energy, "with the style of snow parsley."
(Prodigal Son's Love Relic Kowloon Pei)
The focus of the debate is on the first two paragraphs, so let's talk about the first two paragraphs:
1. The paragraph "Bao Dai's gratuitous crying". First of all, Bao Dai's crying is not unprovoked, but is connected with the previous context.
Through the analysis of "Wumei Yin" in the previous article, we already know that Bao Dai is not crying for no reason, it is a carefully arranged "Dai Yu self-sacrifice", and the "Wu Mei Yin" written by Dai Yu is by no means "an epic poem often written by a scholar, and it is by no means similar to Dai Yu's tone", as Mr. Zhou Ruchang concluded, but it is another point, it is Dai Yu's self-injury, self-pity, self-pity, self-lament, self-mourning, etc. From plot to text, it may not be as good as Cao Xueqin's other hui texts, but it is by no means a "ruthless and boring" text.
(Jinyi Daiyu)
Although some of these poems are jumpy, some are different from other texts, because these poems have another "task", they have to carry, transmit and express Daiyu's related emotions. Even the author borrowed Bao Yu's mouth and said: "Today, sister Lin's five poems can also be described as novel in fate and unique." Yes, they are unique enough, so "not like Daiyu's tone" (Zhou Ruchang).
In connection with the previous text, Shouyi Hongqunfang opened a night feast, everyone gathered, followed by the death of Jia Jing, the funeral of the mansion, which is a sudden transformation of great joy and great compassion, great joy and great compassion at present, sensitive Daiyu feels pregnant with the world, so she self-injuries and self-mourning, and carries out self-sacrifice, these contents are connected, emotionally connected, interlocked, and tightly sewn together.
(Baoyu and Daiyu)
2. The paragraph "Jia Mu and Madame Wang return to the house". Mr. Zhou Ruchang thinks that it is better than the opening paragraph, but it is only a "fanyong" text.
But in fact, this paragraph is not "ordinary" at all. The ritual of Jia Mu and Lady Wang's return to the palace, unless people with personal experience cannot write such rules: for example, the process of Jia Lian returning first, Bao Yu inviting Ann; the performance of a group of female relatives in the palace to welcome back; Jia Amnesty and Jia Zheng crying when they see Jia Mu, and Jia Zhen and Jia Rong seeIng Jia Mu's "kneeling into Jia Mu's arms" action, etc., all need to be personally experienced to write in place. And a passage of Jia Mu's disease also requires profound knowledge and enough familiarity with Chinese medicine to write:
Sure enough, the elderly people could not help but feel sad about the wind and frost, and at night they felt that their heads were sour and their noses were congested. I quickly invited a doctor to diagnose the pulse and take the medicine, and I was busy in the middle of the night for a day. Fortunately, it spread out quickly, and it was not transmitted, and by the third day, some of the whiskers were a little sweaty, the pulse was calm and cold, and everyone was relieved. The next day, the drug is still taken for conditioning.
These details are consistent with Cao Xueqin's knowledge and life experience, and also with the pulse of the whole book.
In the follow-up text this time, there is some evidence. Like what:
1. The paragraph where Yu Lu (the ancestor's remaining Feng Lu) asks Jia Zhen for silver, regardless of the plot and expression, is in line with Cao Xueqin's preset plot: Ning Fu cannot make ends meet, and the entire Jia family has also begun to fall from Ning Province- you see, the six hundred and ten taels of silver ning fu public accounts can not be taken out, and the financial situation of Ning Fu is already showing - this is exactly consistent with Cao Xueqin's preset writing.
(Red Chamber 2 You)
2. The lineage of You Erjie and You Sanjie is arranged to be non-same as you and cao Xueqin's writing habits, these two people are brought by you's old wife from her former husband's family, not You's father' own birth:
Jia Rong said, "It doesn't matter." My second aunt and third aunt were not raised by my grandfather, but were originally brought by my old wife.
This is Cao Xueqin's writing habit, and he is accustomed to using "curved pen".
(Cover of the new edition of the Red Chamber)
In fact, regarding the quality of many manuscripts of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and the original authors, we agree with Zhang Ailing's statement:
For more than twenty years, in order to save copyers, it is not necessary to re-copy a copy from scratch several times every time it is majorly changed. Of course, it is necessary to make the best use of the existing manuscripts, and the early copies of different periods have been passed out, and the owner of the book has changed them, and it is not necessary to copy a copy from the beginning every time. (Zhang Ailing, "Nightmare of the Red Chamber: Self-Introduction")
"Codex" is of course not like the current electronic version, it can not be reproduced and copied at will, the long rewriting process will inevitably lead to a variety of circulating manuscript atmosphere discrepancies and detail differences, there will be differences in fine and rough text quality, and Cao Xueqin before and after the twenty years of rewriting, in the process of rewriting, Cao Xueqin himself is also growing, in the process of rewriting, but also inevitably left the author due to the difference in insight did not have time to unify the traces.
(Bronze statue of Cao Xueqin)
The current popular "Dream of the Red Chamber" is an unfinished version, and "unfinished" is her characteristic, which is why she is worth studying and comparing, and it is also her charm. However, before studying, we should first recognize the imperfections caused by this kind of transcription and rewriting, rather than seeing her imperfections, denying her and questioning her, as a primary reader, the first thing to do is to follow the existing text for in-depth reading and taste, and it is for this reason that I am more and more convinced that the sixty-fourth time is Cao Xueqin's original pen.
([Follow the pudding to read "The Red Chamber"] No. 138, part of the picture from the Internet)