Author | Fan Deng Reading · Zhang Woman
Anchor | Fan Deng Reading · Anthony
Interpret the trailer
Meet · Meet your unknown self in the book.
Good evening to all book lovers, welcome to the reading column "Encounter" produced by Fan Deng Reading.
Someone said, "Everyone has a white deer in their heart." ”
Today, I will interpret the work of Mao Dun Literature Award winner Chen Zhongzhong's "cushion coffin as a pillow" - "White Deer Plain".
His writings are full of portrayals of the times and also reveal reflections on human nature.
One morning around the Qingming Festival in 1988, Chen Zhongzhong sat on a sofa, spread a hard leather book on his lap, wrote a line, and the creation of the long-form masterpiece "White Deer Plain" began...
At that moment, the world around him was left with only one White Deer Plain, and it was embodied as a person named Bai Jiaxuan.
This person is this person, and this origin is this person.
On the White Deer Plain, Bai Jiaxuan went from green silk to Huafa, from poor boy to the head of a family;
For more than 50 years, he has watched his seven wives, parents and even daughters and other relatives and friends pass away one after another, witnessing the rise and fall of his hometown, the enmity and hatred between people...
In this way, a piece of yellow land and generations of original people have written down the desires and pursuits of human nature.
Lao Tzu once said, "There is no greater misfortune than dissatisfaction, and no greater blame than desire." Therefore, contentment is always sufficient. ”
Blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, between gains and losses, and human nature is revealed above the balance of desire and conscience, and we spend our whole lives paying for desires.
This is especially true of the people on the White Deer Plain.
Long greed gives birth to disasters, and more greed gives birth to misfortune
On the White Deer Plain, there is an ancient saying that has been passed down from generation to generation:
"White is not separated from the deer, and the deer is not separated from white."
As the two major families in the village, on the surface, the two families of Bailu respect each other and have a deal of contention, but in fact, between them, it is more of a contest in each other's pattern.
Although he and Bai Jiaxuan are among the most respected and popular figures, Lu Zilin is obsessed with comparison and power.
At first, seeing that Bai Jiaxuan was in charge of the Bai family and his strength was increasing, Lu Zilin held a grudge, and when he learned that Bai Jiaxuan had bought the widow of the Li family six points of water, he decided to give the other party some color to see:
Early in the morning, Lu Zilin rushed to this field to insert horses.
Bai Jiaxuan was angry, but Lu Zilin pretended to be surprised and said, "This is my land!" ”
Originally, the widow of the Li family had first given the land to Lu Zilin, exchanged it for five buckets of wheat and eight silver dollars, but at that time, she only said that she borrowed it, and did not really want to sell the land to Lu Zilin.
When the widow of the Li family signed a land sale agreement with Bai Jiaxuan, Lu Zilin pretended not to know.
He always felt that Bai Jiaxuan had bought the ground and punched him in the face, and he must compete with the other party on this six-point water ground.
As everyone knows, even if he wins this lawsuit, no one will really look up to him.
Therefore, from the beginning of the "six points of water", Lu Zilin lost.
Later, Lu Zilin got what he wanted and became the township covenant of the security center.
He was very interested in this position, thinking that in this way, he could get rid of Bai Jiaxuan and have jurisdiction over ten villages, including Bailu Village, and he felt that he could finally raise his eyebrows.
But as George Bernard Shaw once said, "There are two tragedies in life, one is that your desires are not satisfied, and the other is that your desires are satisfied." ”
Human nature is like this, once the valve of desire is opened, it is difficult to close again.
Just like Lu Zilin, if the desire is not satisfied, it will be restless; once it is satisfied, it will be addicted to it, and even want more.
He not only possessed the junior Tian Xiao'e, but also used her to fight dissidents.
First, he set a trap and let the dog egg carry the adultery pot for himself, and then instructed Tian Xiao'e to seduce Bai Jiaxuan's son Bai Xiaowen and make him discredited.
This kind of hypocrisy and robbery made Lu Zilin bad to the bone, but he didn't want to be reincarnated in the heavens.
In the end, he was also eaten by desire, and ended up being crazy and stupid, and he was frozen to death.
As Liu Xiang said: "Those who are lustful, the horses that chase misfortune." ”
All his life, people are paying for their own desires.
Lu Zilin's life just proves that if people can't control their desires, they have to pay a painful price for their desires.
If there is a request, there is suffering, and if there is no desire, it is rigid
The Thai writer Tsa Gojidi once said:
"Once man becomes a slave to desire, he can never be freed."
Just like the black baby in the book, she was controlled and driven by desire, and once became its slave.
In the end, he was freed from the shackles of desire, but instead gained an unprecedented sense of ease and sobriety.
As the son of Bai's father Gong Lu San, he has been inferior since he was a child.
When he first went to school, Lu Zhaopeng and Heiwa shared delicious crystal cakes and rock candy, which were delicious foods that Heiwa had never eaten before.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and threw the crystal cake into the grass by the side of the road.
Lu Zhaopeng was stunned, and he grabbed Heiwa's shirt: "Heiwa, you picked it up for me on dog day." ”
Heiwa reached out and grabbed Zhaopeng's neckline:
"Cai Dongwa, if you can bring a piece of crystal cake and a piece of rock candy every day to honor me, I will pick it up for you to eat."
Since there is no hope, why should you let yourself see the light, it is better to be in the dark all the time.
This is a true portrayal of Heiwa's personality.
Although she was sponsored by Bai Jiaxuan to get the opportunity to go to school, Heiwa was not willing to work for his family for a long time.
At the age of 17, he went to Weibei to work.
Because of Tian Xiao'e's relationship, although he later returned to Bailuyuan, it was difficult for him to gain a foothold in the village.
So he obeyed Lu Zhaopeng, and from the beginning of the grain burning station, he embarked on the so-called revolutionary road.
After becoming the director of the preparatory office of the Bailu District Farmers' Association, he smashed the stone tablets and township covenants and established the Farmers' Association in rebellion... Pile by pile, completely broke the calm of White Deer Village.
After the defeat, he fled everywhere, became a bandit, ransacked the village, injured Bai Jiaxuan's waist, and avenged Tian Xiao'e.
The desire in his heart constantly drove him, making him hold his breath and try to turn over, but it also brought him infinite suffering and pain.
Until later, he entered the security regiment and married Gao Yufeng, a well-read and hyphenated lady.
On the wedding night, Heiwa recalled the past events of these years and found that nothing he had done in the past made him proud, but made him full of regret and chagrin.
He suddenly woke up and decided to start reading again, and eventually became Mr. Zhu's last closed disciple.
In order to satisfy her desires, Heiwa has been running around, not knowing that the deeper the desire in her heart, the more people's weaknesses will be.
As he himself later said: I have been wandering for half my life, half a life of, half a life of confusion, and now I want to study and seek knowledge to live clearly and be a good person. ”
Life has a ruler, and desire has a degree.
The world is chaotic and red dust, and it is inevitable that all kinds of unwillingness and desires will arise.
Only by reducing desire at the right time can we reduce our restlessness; with no desire to see the original mind, we can finally live the life we yearn for.
Cherish what you already have, no need to possess
"I've never done anything unseemly in my life. Anything that is afraid of being known should not be done, and what should be done should not be feared to be known... You two remember this measure! ”
Bai Jiaxuan had taught his two sons this way, and he said this and did the same.
As the head of a clan, he will not only think about safeguarding his own interests in everything, but can consider problems from the perspective of the whole village.
He renovated ancestral halls, built schools, and promoted the "Township Covenant" and rectified the people's style.
In that era of frequent disasters and wars, in the face of various natural and man-made disasters, Bai Jiaxuan would always lead the villagers to survive a period of difficult years.
During the great drought, he led the people to beat gongs and drums, pray for blessings and rain, and inspire people with the power of faith;
After the plague, he cultivated genealogies, cultivated land, and comforted the dead and the living with tenacity.
Bai Jiaxuan has done a lot of practical things for Bailu Village, but he has not been proud of his achievements, but has put forward higher requirements for himself to do things.
He has always treated Lu San like a brother, even if he encounters drought, the family has little surplus food, and he has not dismissed Lu San.
Not only that, he also taught his children to honor Lu San as an elder.
But when Lu San's son Heiwa broke his waist and made him always lean on, he always regarded him as an ignorant junior, running around and begging for someone for the arrested Heiwa.
Bai Jiaxuan's heart was not without desire, but the pursuit of the word "benevolence" overwhelmed everything.
In order to become a good patriarch, he always remembered the teachings of his brother-in-law, Mr. Zhu:
"Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, continue to learn from the saints, and open up peace for all the worlds."
This sentence also explains very well why Bai Jiaxuan can reach such a lofty realm.
When a person can self-deny and have a big pattern in mind, he will naturally see himself as small.
When a person can restrain a little desire, he can be more awake.
As the book says, "Whenever good things happen, when they are crazy and overzealous, there will be bad things behind them." ”
Bai Jiaxuan always understood that life is a blessing and a curse, and gains and losses are accompanied.
Only by lowering the posture and lowering the desire can we maintain our inner calmness in the ups and downs of the world.
Half-penned, not hindered by happiness
In the novel, Mr. Zhu is a saint-like being on the original.
He has been intelligent since childhood, 16 years old in the middle of the talent, 22 years old in the middle of the people, a life of compassion, for the White Deer Plains made a lot of contributions.
He refused the high-ranking official Houlu and devoted himself to teaching and educating people at The White Deer Academy and writing county chronicles.
In the spring when the poppies open, the men, women and children of the White Deer Plains ploughed them all.
When Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin went to Mr. Zhu to propose to run the school for the village, Mr. Zhu burst into tears and fell to his knees.
He worshipped for those who had the opportunity to study and become talented, and for the future of The White Deer Plain.
He insisted on "teaching without class" in education, and almost all the new generation on the White Deer Plains were taught by Mr. Zhu.
The most touching thing is that with his help, Heiwa began to be reborn like a slim body.
When Heiwa knelt down to pray for forgiveness from her ancestors, Mr. Zhu couldn't help but burst into tears.
A person who has been wronged has finally returned to the original "goodness", and Mr. Zhu is pleased and moved that his education can have some effect.
"Confident that there is nothing to be ashamed of in life, only after death will you dare to face Qingtian." Heiwa's evaluation of Mr. Zhu is appropriate.
Therefore, people remember that when he released grain for disaster relief, Mr. Zhu carried the jacket of dry food for himself, remembered his adventure of going to Qianzhou alone to persuade the governor of Qingbing to retire, and remembered his strange temperament of wearing only soil cloth and no foreign lines...
And the people found:
"In his lifetime, he left countless strange things and anecdotes, all of which were good things for others, and he could not find a single thing that harmed others and benefited himself."
When he died, he did not wear a mask, did not use a coffin, did not play a drummer, did not report the funeral to relatives and friends, did not receive any filial piety, did not use brick hoops to the tomb, in short, do not be extravagant, do not clamor, and enter the ground as soon as possible.
Mr. Zhu was lying on his back like that, his still white and transparent face facing the sky.
Someone once summed up Mr. Zhu's life like this: Entering the world naturally, reading everything, and the small family is happy; the death is quiet, unwilling to make noise, and worthy of the world.
Only those who do not take themselves seriously can have the world in mind and achieve some real skills.
Zhuangzi said, "Is there any happiness in the world?" ”
There is happiness in the world, but it is not the joy of fame and fortune, the joy of desire.
True happiness, like Mr. Zhu, is oneness with nature, oneness with heaven and earth.
This kind of happiness, which cannot be given materially or status, depends on one's wisdom and realm.
On the title page of White Deer Plain is Balzac's famous quote: The novel is considered the secret history of a people.
Therefore, a living person, a wonderful story, was truly interpreted on the White Deer Plain.
And by reading "White Deer Plain", we can understand human nature.
Just like Bai Jiaxuan and Mr. Zhu, they no longer draw on fame and fame, and they can enjoy life calmly and fully.
Socrates once said, "Contentment is a natural wealth, and desire is man-made poverty." ”
In the second half of life, the most advanced way of life is to add to thoughts and subtract from desires.
Only by living a simple and restrained life can you enjoy soothing and calm.
Don't seek fame, just be ashamed.
Click "Watching" and encourage your friends.
Author | Zhang Woman, master of communication, former emotional storytelling reporter of The City Daily, is now a middle-aged girl who writes under the name of her daughter.
Column Director | Come slowly
Typography | Zheng to the north
Image | The pictures in this article come from the official stills of "White Deer Plain", which was invaded and deleted
Music | silent night