As a huge work, "Dream of the Red Chamber" describes many events. These events, if taken out separately and interpreted, can be interpreted in a number of connotations. However, such an interpretation is nothing more than an out-of-context interpretation. To read a long novel like "Dream of the Red Chamber", you must "open your eyes" (Fat Yan Zhai), that is, to enlarge the perspective as much as possible and associate multiple events before and after in order to find the true meaning that the author wants to express.
For example, the most interpreted Palace Flower Incident, combined with the context, we will find that this is the horizontal and vertical contrast of Cao Gong, to reflect that Lin Daiyu has completely missed the education given to her by the Lin family after entering the Jia House.
Compare the different attitudes of Sanchun and Daiyu towards the palace flowers.
The palace flower incident arose because of Aunt Xue, only because the Xue family got twelve "piles of yarn flowers", which is "a fresh sample of the palace". The Xue family has always been frugal and does not re-embellish, these palace flowers placed in the Xue family, will become idle items, "white is a pity for the old", so Aunt Xue thought of giving them to the girls in Jia Province to wear. It just so happened that Zhou Rui's family appeared in the Xue family, and Aunt Xue asked Zhou Rui's family to send a trip by the way.
Zhou Rui's family was Lady Wang's companion house, and she belonged to some status servants in Jia Province. According to the principle of superiority and inferiority, a servant is a servant, and he is always inferior before his master. If it is in a family that does not pay attention to upbringing, the servant sends something to the master, and the master lukewarmly takes it over, which is already a face for the servant.
However, Jia Fu paid special attention to upbringing with "poetry and etiquette", especially "leniency to the next person", and made a rule to respect the people in the elder's house, "that is, the old lady and the cats and dogs in the house, it is easy to hurt it." Therefore, the juniors will call the Zhou Rui family "Sister Zhou".
Whether it pays attention to education or not is to treat the next person kindly, this is not something that can be calculated by talking. Therefore, through the Palace Flower Incident, the author reflects Sanchun's respect for the Zhou Rui family.
Let's take a look at how Sanchun embodies upbringing.
The first is Yingchun and Tanchun, when Zhou Rui's family came in, "the two were playing Go under the window." Playing chess requires concentration, at this time to be disturbed, you can completely eyelids do not lift, casually ask the beard to accept it. Doing so will not make people feel that they are neglecting the Zhou Rui family.
This is a common practice in ordinary people.
But Yingchun and Tanchun were "busy with chess, and they all owed thanks to each other, and they ordered the servants to receive it." "Staying chess" means stopping the chess that is being played and turning your attention to the Zhou Rui family, which is the importance attached to the Zhou Rui family. Then "thank you", play chess is sitting, "underbody" to stand up, indicating that there is no perfunctory. After thanking him, he "ordered the servants to receive it." This order is very important, first to people, then to things, people are more important than things. Zhou Rui's family is the wife's room, no matter what she is here to do, she should be treated with courtesy.
Looking at Xi Chun again, when she was "playing with Shui Yue'an's sister-in-law, Zhi'er, two by one." Xi Chun is the youngest, and it is also the age of playing and making trouble. Usually, when children are playing, they don't pay attention to others, and their attention is in their own play. However, when she saw Zhou Rui's family come in, she took the initiative to "ask her what was going on."
This is the upbringing embodied in the details of life, the elders come in, immediately stop their own business, take the initiative to say hello, because the elders must have something serious to do.
In this process, Zhou Ruijia and Xi Chun had a few conversations that had nothing to do with Gong Hua, and these conversations seemed to be harmonious. Zhou Rui's family is a middle-aged woman, that is, the "mother-in-law" in Baoyu's eyes, and Xi Chun is a flexible and lively little girl. The little girls were having fun, and the sudden insertion of Zhou Rui's family was not contrary to the harmony at all, and it was not as barrier-like as Yihong Courtyard.
This shows that the relationship between Xi Chun and the Zhou Rui family is very good, and it is really a family that treats the Zhou Rui family as a family without any barriers. We know that the later Xi Chun showed a "cold face and cold heart" side, and was very ruthless to his own close-fitting beard. Comparing her relationship with the Zhou Rui family at this time, it shows that in the eyes of this child, the Zhou Rui family is a close person.
Comparing Sanchun's performance, and looking at Daiyu's attitude towards zhou Ruijia, the difference in his upbringing is quite obvious.
When Zhou Rui's family came in, Dai Yu was also playing, "In the Baoyu Room, everyone is fighting in a row of nine." "Solving the Nine Links" is similar to playing chess, and it also requires concentration. However, Baoyu is a person who likes novelty and loves to be lively, especially loves flowers. Hearing Zhou Rui's family say "send flowers to wear with girls", conditioned reflexively said "what flowers?" Bring it to me! ”
Note that the Zhou Rui family is Lady Wang's companion room, and the relationship between Baoyu and Zhou Rui's family is very close, so Baoyu does not need any courtesy between them. Dai Yu is different, not to say that Dai Yu is a guest, that is, her own girl, and the wife's room should also be courtesy first, just like Sanchun. However, Daiyu's attitude did not put the Zhou Rui family in his eyes at all, neither greeting the Zhou Rui family nor looking at the Zhou Rui family, but just "taking a look at Bao Yu's hand", he began to question, so that the Zhou Rui family, who was originally full of spring breeze, was caught off guard and fell into an embarrassing situation.
We can imagine this picture, Dai Yu is simply holding up the master's shelf, facing the elderly subordinates, not getting up, not greeting, but hurting people with knife-like words. Jia Fu's rules, "is the old lady, the cat and dog in the wife's house, easily hurt it can not be hurt", Zhou Rui's family is the wife's room, the status is very high, but Dai Yu wants to hurt.
This is the horizontal comparison between Cao Gongsanchun and Daiyu, reflecting Daiyu's lack of upbringing.
A vertical comparison is made between Daiyu's prudence when she first entered Jia Province and her arrogance after entering Jia Province.
The Gonghua Incident is the author's first event after he described Dai Yu's entry into Jia Province. Prior to this, Daiyu's positive event was the scene of the first entry into Jia Province. Looking at these two events together, we can find that the same Daiyu has performed very differently in the two events before and after.
When she first entered Jia Province, Daiyu's performance was "step by step, always caring, refusing to easily say more than one word, taking one more step, for fear of being ridiculed by others." Subsequently, when she dealt with Jia Mu, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing, she all behaved very culturedly, not only was she measured in her answers, but also had a degree of retreat, which made people have to admire the Lin family's upbringing, which is really worthy of the Shuxiang family.
In the blink of an eye, a few years passed, and the very cultured little girl had grown into a big girl, and her upbringing was gone.
Why has so much changed? Just because "Lin Daiyu has been in rongfu since she was in Rong Province, Jia Mu has loved everything, sleeping and living, just like Baoyu, Yingchun, Tanchun, and Xichun, the three granddaughters fell and fell behind", Dai Yu was pampered and arrogant, and became "lonely and self-assured, with no dust in sight", that is, I am the only one who respects, and no one pays attention to it.
Therefore, the kindness of the Zhou Rui family came to send her flowers, but she did not even lift her eyelids, just because she did not fulfill her own wishes, she asked the teacher, where is there any education to speak of?
This is the vertical contrast deliberately arranged by Cao Gong: the same Daiyu, the performance of different periods, fully reflects that she has completely abandoned the education given to her by the Lin family.
From here until the forty-fifth "Jinlanqi Mutual Dissection of Jinlan Language", Lin Daiyu has always existed in this state in Jia Province, so everyone respects her and stays away, and can only hide if she can't afford it. During this period, she had intimidated Grandma Li, hurt Shi Xiangyun, stabbed Li Feng and Tan Chun, and Yingchun and Xi Chun had always been "not very compatible" with her, quite like Wang Xifeng and Xia Jingui.
During this period, Dai Yu completely lost herself and did not have self-discipline in parenting, just like a bear child who let go of herself.
So, forty-fifth time, when BaoChao reminded her of "misconduct", she began to reflect on herself: "Carefully calculated, my mother died early, and there are no sisters and brothers, I am fifteen years older this year, and no one has taught me like you said the day before." ”
The time that Dai Yu "calculated carefully" was exactly the time after she entered the Jia Mansion. During this time, she lacked education, no one reminded and restrained her to pay attention to her upbringing, and finally Baochao woke her up in time.
At this point, we can conclude that the Gonghua incident was the starting point event for Daiyu's lack of upbringing, and it was Jia Mu's lack of upbringing that caused her lack of upbringing. From the beginning of receiving Dai Yu into the house, Dai Yu was not taught, coupled with Jia Mu's pampering, which led to Dai Yu's pampering and lack of education.
One is a horizontal contrast, the other is a vertical contrast, and the author's criticism is very obvious: Jia Fu is a magnate who started with martial arts, the Lin family is a family of scholars, and the lin family's upbringing should be far superior to that of Jia Fu. However, after living in Jia Fu for a period of time, Daiyu's upbringing was far from being comparable to that of Jia Fu Sanchun. This is not only Daiyu's problem, but also Jia Mu's problem. Dai Yu covets to enjoy giving up self-discipline, and Jia Mu destroys Dai Yu with unprincipled favors.