【What the Reader Says】
Relive the charm of classical Chinese novels
——Reading impressions of "Lessons in Classical Chinese Novels"
Author:Qiao Fujin (Professor, Xingtai University)
Mr. Zhou Ruchang taught well in class, and he had a reputation as early as his teaching period in Sichuan. At that time, a student of West China University said in his recollection: "When Teacher Zhou was in class, he spoke a Beijing film, and his speech was depressed and beautiful. Once Teacher Zhou said that the Chinese Chinese this treasure house, which has endless sources and fascinating treasures. "Teacher Zhou taught in English, a fluent and pleasant English, we listened to it like a mesmerized..." Before the northward transfer in 1954, Sichuan University gave an appraisal letter, emphasizing that Mr. Zhou Ruchang was the most popular teacher who could give lectures and was therefore the most popular among students.
Mr. Zhou's demeanor in his later years of lecturing left precious images through television. Peking University Press's newly published "Lessons in Classical Chinese Novels" is a courseware text based on the audio-visual transformation of Mr. CCTV's "Hundred Tribunes" lectures. Although the sounds, gestures, gestures, and expressions during lectures are difficult to reproduce in the text, the improvised rambling style, the calm tone and even the charm in the speech are still there. After the complete record of Ms. Lun Ling, the daughter of Mr. Lun Ling, and the careful collation of the publisher and editor, plus the tips, expansions and summaries of the preface to the book, the after-class note, and the testimonials written later, the audio-visual program was transformed into a professional work with independent value, which is indeed gratifying.
Lessons in Classical Chinese Fiction by Zhou Ruchang
Peking University Publishing House
The "text" of seeking faith and combining faith with beauty
Mr. Zhou's CCTV lecture was titled "Four Masterpieces" in classical Chinese novels, namely "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West" and "Dream of the Red Chamber". The finished text consists of six lectures. Among them, the weight of the three books "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West" is only one-third, and the book "Dream of the Red Chamber", the object of His main business, the object of red studies, accounts for two-thirds. However, there is no sense of unevenness in the weight of the person. In the opening "Small Introduction", Mr. Zhou stated that the focus of the lecture was not on "conveying knowledge", not on general common sense, but only on "mobilizing the initiative and enthusiasm of the audience, using their brains together, thinking about problems, and triggering new meanings and experiences that the audience had never thought of before". The experience, enlightenment, and impressions generated after reading through the text of the courseware are indeed beyond the limits of the topic.
Mr. Zhou has always been regarded as a member of the examination school, but Mr. Zhou attaches great importance to the combing of concepts. The Chinese novel in the context of shiguan culture is different from the Western novel that pursues the truth of philosophy. In the first lecture of the opening chapter, he proposed the distinction between literary quality and the difference between faith and beauty as a theoretical preparation. He has repeatedly stressed that history, as a novel of foreign history, wild history, and barnyard history, can only be made into a literary work based on the pursuit of faith and the artistic processing on the basis of historical truth. He believes that in the popular form of the novel, the rise and fall of the syrian kingdom, the enmity between the world and the whims of the kingdom of heaven are also the reasons for the "four strange books" to call "strange". From the source, even in the Chinese novel tradition, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a special existence. The reason why "Dream of the Red Chamber" has become a "strange book that has never been seen in ancient times" and has become one of the most peculiar "texts" in the history of Chinese culture is also due to the combination of letter and beauty.
Qing Dynasty Shen Qian's "Dream of the Red Chamber Endowment Album : Begonia Association Endowment"
Methods, perspectives and spiritual contexts
Attaching importance to methodology is another major feature of Mr. Zhou's lectures. Regarding the "Four Masterpieces", Mr. Zhou talked about creative methods, research methods, and the angles and doorways of reading appreciation. Among the many methods, He attaches the greatest importance to the correlation of the creative process, the comparison of reading, and the synthesis of research. Of course, Mr. Zhou understands that the "four masterpieces" are not on the same level, but it gives people the feeling that the connection between the four is constantly emphasized. In the process of talking about "Dream of the Red Chamber", Mr. Li pointed out from time to time the connection and similarities between this book and the three novels of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West". He believes that the "Stone Monkey" of "Journey to the West" is related to the story of "Brother Shi" in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the historical, social and cultural connection under the background of the "Three Talents" of The Heaven and Earth People is also the link that connects the "Four Masterpieces". In the comparison with the other three novels, Mr. Li paid special attention to the structural characteristics of the "wave-style" promotion of "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the difference between the positive description of the first three novels and the special brushwork of "Dream of the Red Chamber". He pointed out that the three novels can be read positively, and the interpretation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" written with "one hand and two mules" is mainly based on the examination and concealment behind the text. The comparison between the first eighty true texts of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and the last forty false continuations is the main point of Mr. Wang's explanation. The language comparison during the translation process of the text of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and the comparison of Chinese and Western "tragedies" are also concerned by Mr. Wang. Integrating the traditional evidence, righteousness, and lexicography into one, comprehensively examining, analyzing, and interpreting the text, and integrating historical evidence, spiritual understanding, and art appreciation, it is not only mr. Li's method of learning, but also the method of lecturing.
In addition to the concept sorting and method tips, Mr. Zhou also has his own explanations for some key issues. "Water Margin" is the work of patriotic relics, written in the Song Dynasty, not later than the Yuan Dynasty, is mr. combination of text language, content of the examination. Unlike the other three novels, which form a big difference on the basis of the accumulation of the Song and Yuan dynasties, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the result of personal self-conscious creation, and Cao Xueqin's book and his people naturally become the focus of Mr. Wang's lectures. Mr. Li talked about the creative process of "Dream of the Red Chamber", and paid special attention to the combination of internal and external evidence. While explaining the background of the author Cao Xueqin's family, the process of writing the book and the connotation of the text, the critic Li Yanzhai is also the main point of the lecture. In the article "Commentary on the True Book of Stones" published in December 1949, Mr. Zhou Ruchang first proposed that the role of the Li Yan Zhai text was Shi Xiangyun. Mr. Believes that as the object of Cao Xueqin's cooperation, Li Yanzhai is different from Jin Shengsi; Lipogram is not a general novel review, but an important part of the work. Although "one parsley and one fat" is a match made in heaven, the main evidence for the conclusion that lipo Yan is Xiangyun is in the lost "authentic copy of the old times", which is difficult to verify without exploring the hook. This point, sir's speech also did not ignore.
Analyzing the different social attributes of the reader class of the "Four Masterpieces" is an existing idea of Mr. Zhou's novel research. As a collection of works that include life, family, society, system, ethics, morality, faith and other aspects, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is an all-encompassing "encyclopedia". Compared with the general and general common sense content list, Mr. Li attaches great importance to the spiritual value of the "four masterpieces". Using the "popular" form of the novel to "say" for all sentient beings in the world is Mr. Zhou's basic understanding of "Dream of the Red Chamber", and this understanding can also be regarded as a commentary on the "Four Famous Works". Mr. Zhou believes that the "righteousness" of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the "loyalty" of the "Water Margin", and the "truth" of the Journey to the West boil down to the "love" of the Dream of the Red Chamber, and this conclusion is also the spiritual essence of understanding the "Four Masterpieces". Mr. Li used the "Tang Dynasty Three Tibetan Sacred Orders" to "truncate the false and continue the truth, and learn after the opening" to argue the "truth" of the "Journey to the West", and then run through it with the "repudiation of the false and the existence of the truth" of the "Dream of the Red Chamber", which is equally amazing. In Mr. Zhou's view, there is an obvious inheritance relationship between the "Qunying" in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the 108 good men in the green forest in "Water Margin", and the many gold noodles in the "Love List" of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Summarizing the "fate" of "talented people" is also the result of Mr. Zhou's grasp of the main spiritual vein of the "four famous works".
Qing Dynasty Anon. "Painted Complete Book of Journey to the West"
A model for the reconstruction of the local discourse system
Mr. Zhou Ruchang's research on ancient literature, classical fiction and red studies is already a complete system, but Mr. Zhou Ruchang has other pursuits. In the summer of 1995, Mr. Zhou published "Also "Red Learning" to "Learning"--A Review of the History of Red Studies in the Past 100 Years" in the 4th issue of the Journal of Peking University, which attracted widespread attention from the academic community. This article, which has been criticized, is actually a declaration of reconstruction of the red science discipline issued by Mr. Wang based on academic reflection. The difference between the "Red Studies" born in the mainland and the "Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber" under the guidance of Western literary and art theory was pointed out by Mr. Li at the beginning of the new period. In the explanation of "Lessons in Classical Chinese Novels", Mr. Li once again raised the issue of "red learning" becoming a separate "study" in the study of classical novels. At the end of the courseware, on the basis of the summary of "cultural novels", Mr. Li links the three historical periods of antiquity, medieval and modern times with the "three major xianxue" of oracle bone science, Dunhuang science and red science, and the deep meaning behind it is more intriguing.
In modern times, with the impact of foreign cultures, the traditional Chinese academic system has rapidly disintegrated. Humanistic academic research, including "red studies", from concepts, categories, concepts, methods, problem awareness, specific models to arguments, is almost all the result of imitating the West. The transformation of traditional Chinese scholarship with the "four parts" as the basic framework is to achieve transformation on the basis of absorbing outstanding academic and cultural achievements from outside, which is a major issue of the times. This major topic has been introduced in the counter-trend struggle of the Xueheng school in the "May Fourth" period, and has shown a general pattern in Mr. Chen Yinke's idea of the construction of the "New Song Studies" system. In fact, the construction of local discourse systems, academic systems, and discipline systems has become hot spots in recent years, and there are also historical causes and internal reasons to find. Compared with the natural sciences and social sciences, although the humanities also have a general universal existence, the national characteristics of the materials based on language and writing are the most obvious. The construction of academic systems and even discipline systems is based on the construction of local discourse systems. Compared with the construction of academic systems and discipline systems, the construction of discourse systems is particularly critical.
It is generally believed that the discourse system is a system of expression and acceptance, interpretation and understanding, evaluation and identification established through language symbols, of which concepts, categories, expressions, theories, logic and other elements are the most basic. In fact, the difference between impromptu rambling and existing speeches in the first place, Mr. Zhou has a clear understanding from the beginning. Seemingly casual rambling, not only clear thinking, but also the control of contextual presets, word choices, and speech methods. From this point of view, the discourse system is built in Mr. Zhou's place, which is indeed a conscious behavior.
After the impact of the "vernacular" movement and the baptism of the Europeanization trend since the "May Fourth", the Chinese "Yayan", which has been formed in the era of the Book of Poetry, should have formed a popular and scientific new Chinese language system, but after experiencing various interferences, the trend of coarseness and rigidity of the Chinese language has become increasingly obvious. From the perspective of intergenerational scholars, Mr. Zhou Ruchang undoubtedly belongs to the scholars who grew up in the era of the intersection of ancient and modern China and the West. His life has been turbulent, and the language expression habits formed in the early years have not changed. Mr. Zhou Ruchang, who combines the talent of poets, the learning of historians, and the heart of Confucians, not only constructed his own traditional novel studies and the red science discipline system with "Cao Xue, Version Studies, Lipid Studies, and Tan You Studies" as the main body, but also used academic language to the point of pure fire. As an elderly scholar, Mr. Li uses elegant vernacular and popular yayan to give lectures. The ancient language that was used at any time has become a living modern language, and pure Chinese is the common language of the academic circles that can be translated into English in the mouth of mr. Wang. Such a flexible and personalized classroom language is the medium of academic explanation, cultural dissemination and spiritual enlightenment; The text of "Lessons in Classical Chinese Novels", which is compiled from the lecture records, is a model for the reconstruction of the local discourse system that implies the concept of the academic system and the discipline system.
The pictures in this article are selected from the "Lesson in Classical Chinese Novels"
Guangming Daily (2022.08.29. 15th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily