Miao Huaiming: Rereading Mou Zongsan's "The Evolution of the Tragedy of the Dream of the Red Chamber" (Red Classics Reread NO. 8)

The article "The Evolution of the Tragedy of the Dream of the Red Chamber" is devoted to the tragedy of the Dream of the Red Chamber. "Dream of the Red Chamber" wrote a great tragedy, which can be a consensus of most readers. What is the nature and nature of this tragedy? How exactly did it happen? Due to the different understandings of each person, there are many opinions on this, and there is still no conclusion.

Mou Zongsan

The author believes that "in Dream of the Red Chamber," what can be said but not said is the evolution of the tragedy. This question is also the problem of the insight of life, that is, the main problem of the ideology that supports that masterpiece", so in conjunction with the text, this problem is deeply analyzed, and some of the insights put forward are of great reference value.

Compared to similar writings, the article has several notable points:

The first is the evaluation of Gao Osprey and the last forty times.

He believes that "The high osprey's insight is high, and the technology is not low", and clearly says that he likes the last forty times more than the first eighty times. As we all know, with the advent of Hu Shi's "Examination of the Dream of the Red Chamber", Gao Hu and the last forty times have gradually become a hot topic in the study of red studies. Hu Shi believes that Gao Hu is the author of the last forty times, and many of the places he writes are inconsistent with the first eighty times, and he is criticized for many of them. People basically accept this view, so the evaluation of Gao Osprey is also more consistent, that is, basically criticism is the mainstay, demeaning more and less praise, thinking that the last forty times is a dog-tailed sable.

The author, on the other hand, believes that the last forty times have a finishing touch on the first eighty times, completing the great tragedy of the whole book, "If there is no high osprey's eye-catching, where will the bitter tears come from?" Therefore, the meaning of the whole book is all in the high osprey point."

In fact, whether it is Hu Shi or Lu Xun, while pointing out that the plot of the characters in the last forty times is inconsistent with the first eighty times, they also affirm the significance of their completion of the tragedy of the whole book. Unfortunately, people often ignore this point consciously or unconsciously, artificially amplifying the shortcomings of the high osprey and the last forty times.

Zhou Yi Philosophical Lectures

Mou Zongsan emphasized it, affirming the merits of Gao Yan and his next forty times from the front, which was difficult to do at the time when Gao Hu was full of insults. This view of his was later discussed in detail by Lin Yutang in his long essay "On the High Osprey of Peace of Mind".

The second is the recognition of the tragedy of "Dream of the Red Chamber". The author proposes that there are two factors that lead to the tragedy of "Dream of the Red Chamber": one is "the conflict of life's insights", and the other is "the impermanence of rise and fall".

Regarding the former, he believes that "in the old Chinese works, the complexity and conflict of life's insights are no more than "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the tragedy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is different from other novels such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", and "Journey to the West", it is not a "tragedy of the confrontation between good and evil", in the work, "there is no role of great evil, there is no gray person who speculates on the wall", and the book is written in the book "In terms of people, they are all good people, all are cute, and they all have forgiveness and sympathy".

However, because each person has "different personalities, different thoughts, and different views on life", "and each person's personality and thoughts do not understand each other, each person speaks from the standpoint of the individual, can not regurgitate, can not put himself in the position, so that the feelings are not understood, and the desire is also unsuccessful", the tragedy arises, which is "the most tragic ending" and "the real tragedy".

Mouzong Sanxiong Ten Forces exchanged letters

It should be said that this view is extremely insightful and more in line with the reality of the work itself. For a long time, people have often been accustomed to ideologizing or politicizing the interpretation of the tragedy of "Dream of the Red Chamber", interpreting it with a dualistic and opposing thinking mode, deliberately emphasizing the antagonism and conflict between the characters, either becoming an indictment of the sins of the feudal family, or becoming a condemnation and criticism of the feudal etiquette, and deliberately elevating the conflict between the ideological and personality levels between the characters in the work and labeling it with political labels.

Whether it is the end of the Qing Dynasty or the beginning of the People's Republic of China, or in the decades after the founding of the People's Republic, this practice is very popular. This understanding certainly makes the work's thinking appear high, but it does not conform to the reality of the work.

Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy

Judging from the actual description of the work, although Jia Baoyu is unique, out of date, and his words and deeds are not understood by everyone, he faces his relatives every day, either grandmothers, parents, or brothers and sisters. Everyone has different personalities and thoughts, and it is inevitable and understandable that some contradictions will occur in daily life.

Is it that a little conflict becomes an irreconcilable struggle of principles and a class struggle? Every reader has a similar life experience, all live in their own families, may wish to imagine that the parents criticize themselves a few words, they resist a few words, is not the relationship between the two people suddenly becomes the enemy of the principle of opposition, I am afraid not.

"Dream of the Red Chamber" is a novel based on the description of family life, but the family trivia is not written, there is no need to be too exalted, and the characters and plots should be understood based on ordinary life rather than a grand political background. This is as the author says: "This tragedy has no hatred, only the conflict and incomprehension of ideas and insights." Everyone is moving forward with their eyes closed, planning for themselves, delusional, and if there is nothing to do, there will be a sacrifice, which is a tragic situation created by heaven and earth! ”

Problems and Developments of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty

The third is the understanding of Jia Baoyu's monasticism.

Jia Baoyu's renunciation is the end of the whole book, and the general understanding of the reason for it is that Lin Daiyu's death hit him too hard, so he went to the empty door. The author disagrees on this, arguing that "it is really a coincidence that Dai Yu became a monk, but in fact there are many other elements that contribute to his purpose and preface", and the main reason why Jia Baoyu became a monk is "not yet in love with Dai Yu, but in the obedience of thought and the impermanence of life." The combination of these two main forces makes Baoyu feel the boredom of life."

It should be said that the author's understanding is more comprehensive and deeper. There is no doubt that Lin Daiyu's death has indeed hit Jia Baoyu very hard, which has made his understanding of life more thorough. But he also has many reasons why he cannot become a monk, the love of his parents, the love of his wife and concubine, the friendship of brothers and sisters, and the righteousness of the master and servant, which cannot be given up casually, but after experiencing a series of changes such as raiding the family and the death of his relatives, he deeply realized the impermanence of the human world, thus looking down on various love affairs and fleeing the world for liberation.

In the author's view, Baoyu renunciation is not the climax of contradictions and conflicts, it is precisely the resolution of contradictions, there is no right or wrong, there is no one who needs forgiveness, Jia Baoyu has his own ideas, Jia Zheng, Madame Wang, Xue Baochao and other people's reluctance also has its own reasons, everyone parted ways because they can't understand, this is the real tragedy.

The Collected Writings of Mou Zong

This tragedy does not only belong to Jia Baoyu, nor does it belong to "Dream of the Red Chamber", which is an inevitable tragedy of mankind, transcending time and space and having universality. Reading "Dream of the Red Chamber" can also gain a profound understanding of life.