Undergraduate students of the College of Letters of Nanda University wrote a prequel to the characters of the Red Chamber, and Liu Grandma in her girlhood actually became a "female heroine"

Miao Huaiming, a professor at the College of Literature of Nanda University, who is the most "whole work", has a new work! This time, he is about to work with the students to publish a new book called "Dream before the Red Chamber", which contains all the "prequels" written by students for the "Dream of the Red Chamber", which has not been seen in more than two hundred sequels to "Dream of the Red Chamber" in ancient times. On March 25, Miao Huaiming launched the first article of "Dream before the Red Chamber" on his WeChat public account, "Liu Grandma's Girlhood", and the straightforward and open-minded Liu Grandma turned out to be a "heroine"? The students' brains are open!

Stills of Liu Grandma entering the Grand View Garden in the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber"

God Brain Hole! Grandma Liu's girlhood is full of "chivalrous" painting style

In "Dream of the Red Chamber", although Liu Grandma does not play much, she is a very key character. It was she who was ridiculed by everyone in daguanyuan, and eventually became a seller, and it was she who redeemed Qiaojie. However, when she was young, What did Grandma Liu look like? It is not written in the book, and it is all up to the students of NTU to "make up for it".

This work, titled "Sorrowful Jinhua Swears to Be a Negative Heart Lang, a Knife to Comfort the Infatuated Grandmother", added a "prequel" to Liu Grandma. Zhi En Tu Bao, who is willing to become a seller for Qiao'er, was a "heroine" when she was young. Zhang Wenjing, a 19th-grade undergraduate student at the College of Letters of Nanda University, wrote down Liu Grandma's "Girlhood": Liu Grandma's name was "Golden Flower", and she waited for her sweetheart for ten years, but unexpectedly waited for a negative person. After all the ups and downs, she finally joined forces with the "jianghu hegemon" and became a famous heroine.

Such a "human design" is very different from the image of the poor "old widow" in "Dream of the Red Chamber" who holds a chicken leg and a pig's trotter and nibbles. But it is also like this, "Liu Grandma's Girlhood" has added a lot of imagination space to the audience. For example, the text describes the "war" between Liu Grandma and the "jianghu hegemon" as follows:

At that time, Jin Hua rushed in with a knife, and when he got up, he saw that he was about to throw a knife into his chest. Seeing the situation, Liu Yi's knife suddenly and again, because there was no defense, the right hand raised in front of him to protect the heart door was slashed by the knife, and the same sharp knife back bounced back and scratched Jinhua's left arm.

Unexpectedly, when Grandma Liu was young, she could actually dance the knife and get the gun!

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, Liu Grandma was drunk and lying in the Red Courtyard print

The "heroine" persona can "trace back to the roots", which is not whimsical

How did the "heroine" persona come about? Zhang Wenjing told reporters that when she conceived of "Grandma Liu's girlhood", she was not completely "whimsical". "The description of Grandma Liu in "Dream of the Red Chamber" is actually very general, such as 'the old widow who has accumulated years', 'no (other) children under her knees', 'living on two acres of thin fields', etc., but it does not explain, why is Grandma Liu widowed? Has she ever had a sweet and harmonious married life? What did she go through to the point of falling to her daughter? Synthesizing what Grandma Liu said to her son-in-law dog in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Zhang Wenjing judged that although Grandma Liu was a village woman, she was well versed in human feelings, "so I think that her experience in the first half of her life should be complex and profound." ”

There are many characters in "Dream of the Red Chamber", why did you choose Liu Grandma as your "brain hole" object? The answer given by Zhang Wenjing surprised the reporter: "The reason why I chose Grandma Liu is because there are thousands of characters in the four major families of "Dream of the Red Chamber", but only Grandma Liu makes me feel the simplicity and sincerity of the working people in the countryside, and I am very kind to her in my private heart. ”

Before writing, Zhang Wenjing collected a large amount of information, "Teacher Miao requires a logical connection within the text, so it is the most basic to be fully familiar with the text of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Secondly, Teacher Miao hopes that we will imitate Cao Xueqin's style, although I have not done enough of this, but it is true that there is a conscious learning reference in the creation, and some of the grafted fragments have been marked with the text. "Since I didn't have much experience in creating novels of similar styles before, in order to rarely create novels of similar styles before, in order to get started as soon as possible, Zhang Wenjing also borrowed from the semi-vernacular scene descriptions and character action descriptions in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", changed their drafts twice, and finally wrote them.

"Red Studies Class of Nanjing University", edited by Miao Huaiming, Nanjing University Press, May 2020.

【The teacher has something to say】

More than two hundred sequels to the Red Chamber, no one has "written forward" so far

"In the process of Zhang Wenjing's creation, we had many exchanges, at first she wrote a little restrained, I encouraged her to let go of writing, write Liu Grandma's straightforward and open-minded side, even if it is written as a heroine. After several careful revisions, I slowly wrote out the feelings. "With 'Dream Before the Red Chamber' back in the public eye, Professor Miao Huaiming made sufficient preparations." This is an upgraded version of our Fancy Homework for the Dream of the Red Chamber Study Course, which has been carefully built for more than two years. Miao Huaiming told reporters that the reason why students were assigned to write a prequel to "Dream of the Red Chamber" was mainly based on two considerations: "Dream of the Red Chamber" set many preconditions at the beginning: Xiangling was three years old, Zhen Shiyin was more than half a hundred years old, Jia Yucun was a poor student, Jia Mu was white-haired, and Lin Daiyu lost her mother... These are the conditions and premises for the development of the storyline of the following article, but they are not the result of the previous story. But the previous story is a narrative black hole, the author did not write it, but the reader can not help but think, how did Jia Mu become a housekeeper and daughter-in-law? Why did Jia Min marry in Suzhou? How did Yuan Chun enter the palace? How was Jia Baoyu born into the human world? All of this is of great interest to the reader. ”

According to reports, from the Jiaqing period to the present, the sequels of "Dream of the Red Chamber" have reached more than two hundred kinds. "But they are all follow-up, not written forward, so why not organize students to write a "Dream Before the Red Chamber" together, which is not only over the addiction of creation, but also satisfies the curiosity of other readers." Miao Huaiming said.

Homework seems to be "gossip", but it is actually full of ingenuity

This assignment looks like "gossip", in fact, Miao Huaiming has strict requirements for students, the personality characteristics of the characters in the prequel should be consistent with the first eighty times, the clues revealed in the previous eighty times should be the basis for writing, and the work is best able to explain the character and situation of the characters in the first eighty times, and form a seamless connection with it. The narrative means and style are also best consistent with the original work. In addition, students should also write a creative note, analyze the clues and character characteristics left in the first eighty times, and introduce their own creative experience.

It's a fun-looking but not easy assignment that takes a semester or more to complete, and the result is that although the course is over and credits are earned, the students' creation and revision continue. "It wasn't until the book "Dream Before the Red Chamber" was officially published that it was considered to be a paragraph. The whole book is composed of the works of 35 students, each writing one to two or three characters, which together is a complete prequel to "Dream of the Red Chamber". All film and television companies are welcome to discuss the filming of film and television dramas, and the copyright of the works belongs to all students. ”

"I hope to innovate the teaching model and improve students' aesthetic perception." Miao Huaiming believes that the students cultivated by the College of Literature should not only be "critics", but should also practice and create their own works. "People who can't write articles themselves and don't have creative practice can't become a good critic." The writing of the prequel to "Dream of the Red Chamber" can not only cultivate students' ability to analyze problems and solve problems, but also improve their writing level. ”

Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Yang Tianzi

Proofread by Li Haihui