"The World of the Dream of the Red Chamber" is the fourth chapter of Li Chendong's book "Research on the Dream of the Red Chamber". "The Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber" is a monograph on red studies by Li Chendong and his doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris in France, written between 1931 and 1934. Originally in French, it was published in 1934 by the Paris-Company Rodsdalen Books, later rewritten as Chinese, and published by Zhengzhong Book Company in 1942.
Li Chendong's "Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber" in French
Combined with relevant materials, this should be the world's earliest doctoral dissertation with the topic of "Dream of the Red Chamber", at least one of the earliest.
According to the author, "the intention of this paper is only to explain its position in world literature", "the research method is to compare it with the results of the first-rate critics studying their first-rate works, that is, to compare them with "Dream of the Red Chamber", that is, to consider them to be the conditions necessary for first-rate works to see whether it has such a nature."
Using Western literary and art theory to explore "Dream of the Red Chamber", comparing it horizontally with foreign literature, especially European and American literature, Wang Guowei's "Commentary on the Dream of the Red Chamber" began to end, and since then there have been continuous works in this regard, such as Wu Mi's "New Talk on the Dream of the Red Chamber", Li Changzhi's "Critique of the Dream of the Red Chamber", etc., these are all single articles, limited by space, can only be discussed on some of these topics, in contrast, Li Chendong's "Dream of the Red Chamber Research" as a monograph, the content is more comprehensive and systematic, involving "Dream of the Red Chamber" Aspects of the art of thought.
Although this kind of research is not as popular as the new red science of Hu Shi and others, it represents the progress and achievements of red science in ideological art, and therefore cannot be ignored. After all, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a novel, whether it is the author's exploration or the version of The Kauso, it is only a means, and its purpose is to better understand and appreciate the work.
Li Chendong
The book is divided into five chapters, namely the introduction, Cao Xueqin's era, personality and his outlook on life, the analysis of important figures in the Dream of the Red Chamber, the world of the Dream of the Red Chamber, and the artistic value of the Dream of the Red Chamber.
The article "The World of the Dream of the Red Chamber" mainly explores the cognitive value of "Dream of the Red Chamber" from the perspective of social culture, and is intended to analyze the "society composed of four hundred and forty-eight characters" written in "Dream of the Red Chamber". In the author's view, "to read the most valuable cultural history, you know about the educational, family, social, political and other issues, only their systems and evolution; the spirit of these systems must be found in art."
As we all know, in addition to telling stories, "Dream of the Red Chamber" also used a considerable amount of pen and ink to depict in detail the material and spiritual lives of people at that time, vividly showing a colorful picture of social life. Its purpose is to explain the background of the characters and stories, and to create a realistic atmosphere, which is also a feature of novel works that use realistic techniques, especially world love novels.
Li Chendong's Research On Classical Novels
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is a novel with autobiographical overtones, and the depiction in this regard is even more prominent. Therefore, in addition to aesthetic characteristics, the works also have historical value. Although the characters and plots in the book are fictional, the descriptions of food, clothing, shelter, customs, and festivals and folklore are often true, and these historical materials can be described as unconscious historical materials, and their vivid and meticulous characteristics are precisely what is missing from historical writings, and their value is irreplaceable. In the study of "Dream of the Red Chamber", there is not enough attention to such issues, which need to be paid attention to when reading and appreciating works.
The full text is divided into seven aspects, such as family, education, politics and law, marriage, society, religion, and economy, which opens up the world of "Dream of the Red Chamber", which can be said to be from "Dream of the Red Chamber" to chinese society, and it can also be said to be from Chinese society to see "Dream of the Red Chamber".
The author believes that "the society represented by "Dream of the Red Chamber" is exactly the opposite of "Water Margin", one is a gentleman's society, the other is a civilian society", that is to say, "Dream of the Red Chamber" focuses on the world of "gentry society", which is also its characteristic. After all, a literary work is limited in space, has its own specific themes, cannot write about all aspects of society, and certainly has its limited observation angle, reflecting only life in certain fields.
"Li Changzhi Li Chendong Comments on dream of the Red Chamber"
Specifically, in terms of the family, "the head of Jia Fu is Jia Mu, so the whole family of three hundred and dozens of people, from top to bottom, there is no will not to take Jia Mu's will as the will, Jia Mu's joy as joy", "the only law for maintaining family law and order is obedience", this is the general principle, but at the same time, "Jia Mu is indeed a typical figure of a big housewife, just because of her preference for Baoyu and Fengjie, it has aroused the jealousy of Lady Xing and Aunt Zhao", "It is difficult to govern the big family, and it is especially difficult to deal with slaves", for the latter's display, The work takes more space.
In terms of education, Jia Fu's "male family education is a bit feminine" and "not only has a feminine attitude, but also decoration and appearance, and also takes women as the standard", which is only one side of the phenomenon, and the other side is "the father's strictness towards his son", which is particularly prominent in Jia Zheng.
On the whole, "the educational spirit of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' is conservative and obedient", and the work also writes about schools, but here can only "create ordinary mediocre people, only for the purpose of studying as officials". It is worth noting that "the important women in "Dream of the Red Chamber", except for Sister Feng, are not literate and talented."
Li Chendong's "Interpretation of the Book of Poetry"
In terms of politics and law, "in terms of appearance, it mentions the tea leaves of tribute from the Siamese state and the sweat towel paid by the queen of the Western Kingdom, which shows the far reach of political power", "When it comes to internal affairs, the most important thing to pay attention to is the ode to the family", "Dream of the Red Chamber" does not have much ink in this regard, "The organization of Chinese politics is actually the expansion of the extended family system".
As for the law, "Dream of the Red Chamber" writes more about the violations of the law and discipline of the main members of the Jia Family, such as Wang Xifeng, Jia Huan, Jia Zhen and others, "these families, because they are rich and expensive, not only do not count human lives, but also use the law as a child's play."
In terms of marriage, "Dream of the Red Chamber" writes that "marriage under the familial system, there is no freedom, it is all arranged by parents." The choice of marriage and the marriage are decided by the parents. The union of marriage is not about love, but about the joy of parents." The work also writes about the image of concubines such as Ping'er and Aunt Zhao, "As for concubines, most of them are poor women or servants who are bought, and their status and treatment are the same as slaves." Marriage is used only for wives, not for concubines."
In terms of society, "the society of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is composed of three classes of family, commoners and slaves", and among these three classes, "the depiction of civilians is very rare", focusing on the depiction of families and slaves, which is related to the theme of "Dream of the Red Chamber".
"Three Kingdoms Water Margin and Journey to the West"
In terms of religion, "Dream of the Red Chamber mentions Western goods several times without mentioning the word Christ", "As for Buddhism and Taoism, this is the religion that has the greatest influence on Cao Xueqin, but it seems to be opposed to superstition", which shows the two-sided nature of Cao Xueqin's attitude toward religion.
In terms of economy, "Dream of the Red Chamber" mainly talks about consumption, "what is said is not about production and exchange, but only about the situation of decline", which is different from "Golden Plum Bottle". In addition, "the society described by Cao Xueqin is mostly in terms of social decay."
Through the combing and induction of the above seven aspects, it can be seen that the content of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is rich and involves a wide range, and the book is called an encyclopedia with its own reason, which is not accidental.
Reading "Dream of the Red Chamber" can not only get aesthetic pleasure, but also gain rich knowledge, expand your horizons, understand the scenes and states of people's lives more than two hundred years ago, and enhance your understanding of ancient Chinese society and culture. After all, there is a time distance of more than two hundred years from the "Dream of the Red Chamber", and there are huge differences between modern and ancient people in terms of family, education, marriage and other issues.
Reading "Dream of the Red Chamber" must understand the social and cultural context at that time in order to have a more in-depth grasp of the work, otherwise it is easy to scratch the itch of the boots, and even use the concept of modern people to be harsh on the ancients.
Li Chendong presented Shen Congwen with "Research on the Dream of the Red Chamber"
Through this kind of combing, we can also see Cao Xueqin's cognition of these social and cultural issues, accurately understand the ideas of "Dream of the Red Chamber", in the work, many of the author's views are different and vulgar, unique personality, quite inspiring. Understanding these aspects contributes to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the work.