"I'm so stupid, really... I only know that when it snows, the beasts will come to the village without food in the mountain pass, and I don't know that there will be spring..."
This character language description, I think many people will feel very familiar, yes, this passage is excerpted from Lu Xun's short story - "Blessings".
The owner of this character image is a person who is still mentioned to this day, and has gradually become synonymous with "complaining woman", "nagging maniac" and "negative energy propagator" - Xiang Lin Sister-in-law.
Even if you search for the three words "Xianglin Concubine" as a keyword, you will jump out a lot, and use her to satirize and ridicule others' remarks on various occasions.
Then we can't help but ask, what did Xiang Lin sister-in-law do wrong, why after so many years, there are still so many people laughing at her?
Yang Jiaofeng on the Late Qing Dynasty Republic of China Figures No. 116: Xianglin Sister-in-law: I don't know when I actually became a complaining woman and nagging maniac that everyone was annoyed with!
One
When I sat in front of the computer and revisited Lu Xun's short story "Blessings" again, I didn't understand the meaning of the title before, but now I understand!
On such a day that should have been full of peace and blessings, Xiang Lin walked away silently. Not only was he not blessed by people before he was born, but even after he left, he also endured the sarcasm of Lu Fourth Master, Lu Fourth Aunt, and even short-term workers:
"Not sooner or later, but at this time - this is obviously a fallacy!"
What is even more sad is that even if we are not in the novel, we are still like those who treat Xiang Lin's sister-in-law coldly, and we continue to hurt her...
So, is the tragedy of Xiang Lin really caused by her own problems?
Sister-in-law Xianglin is a very unfortunate woman, and there is no mention of who her parents are in the whole text, nor does it mention what kind of mother's house she has returned to. As soon as she appeared, she was the daughter-in-law of a family in Weijiashan, and according to the book, she was ten years older than her husband, and most likely a child bridesmaid.
In that social environment at that time, women had no status, especially a Xianglin sister-in-law who had no father and no mother. Even her employer, Aunt Lu, her status is not high, and in this place of LuZhen, it is a year-end ceremony involving the blessing of the gods, and women are not qualified to worship their ancestors with incense.
In this family, Fourth Uncle Lu is an absolute authority, not only has a lot of criticism of Xianglin Sister-in-law, blaming her for being a person who is bad manners and customs, and letting her stay away from the sacrificial utensils. For the fourth aunt, his words are also beyond doubt, and later Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was driven away, most likely the words sent by the fourth uncle.
It is reasonable to say that Xiang Lin did not have the courage to resist, and should have gone against the grain and obeyed the arrangements of fate.
Two
But in fact, Xiang Lin sister-in-law is really not like many people think, resigned to the situation, complaining every day, in fact, she has also fought for fate.
When she was a child adoptive wife, it was estimated that her age was not large, there was no father, no mother, no dependence, whether she had ever fought, this author did not mention, the probability is not.
But after the death of her first husband, she changed and began to fight for her fate, and even against her mother-in-law's wish to sell her again, she secretly ran to Luzhen to work. In order to gain a firm foothold in Luzhen, in order to make the employer satisfied with herself, she is desperately working, and her work efficiency is higher than that of men:
"People say that There are female workers employed in The fourth master's house, which is really more diligent than the diligent men." By the end of the year, sweeping the dust, washing the floor, killing chickens, slaughtering geese, and cooking blessings all night were all undertaken by one person, and there was no short-term work. ”
If in the present, Xiang Lin sister-in-law is definitely a strong woman in the workplace, if Lu Siye's family is opening a hotel, according to Xiang Lin sister-in-law to do so, in three years, the lobby manager is none other than her.
But at that time, when she could only listen to men or mothers-in-law, Xiang lin could not escape the destruction of fate no matter how hard she tried, even if she was stronger than any female worker:
"Later, the female workers hired were mostly either lazy or lazy, and they were not satisfied, so they also mentioned Xianglin's sister-in-law."
But in the eyes of others, she is just an object, a wealth that the mother-in-law can dispose of at will, and even after Uncle Lu learned of the situation, he said that she had no right to control her own destiny:
"It's not good, I'm afraid she escaped."
Three
Xiang Lin tried to exchange her hard work for a happy life in the future, but unfortunately, she did not succeed, so did she admit her fate?
Xiang Lin's sister-in-law could have escaped this catastrophe, but Fourth Uncle Fan Lu came out to say a few words for her, and even did not give her mother-in-law to settle the wages, he could help her. Unfortunately, Fourth Uncle Lu did not do this, and even after Xianglin's sister-in-law came, he did not even ask in detail, and he actually paid the salary, and it was not to Xianglin herself:
"'Since her mother-in-law wants her to go back, what is there to say?'" Uncle Four said. So she calculated the wages, a total of seventeen hundred and fifty yuan, all of which were stored in the master's house, and none of them were used, so they were all handed over to her mother-in-law. ”
Even so, Xiang Lin still did not admit her fate, but how could a woman resist the shackles of several big men, and she was tied up and remarried into the mountains:
"Sister-in-law Xianglin is unusual, they say that she just howled, scolded, and carried her all the way to He Jia'ao, and her throat was completely dumb."
Even, when she was in the chapel, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law also took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, and she bumped into the corner of the incense case, and a large hole was hit on her head, and the blood flowed non-stop...
This is how Xiang Lin's sister-in-law has fought for her fate several times, even if she does not hesitate to bump her head and break the blood, and also wants to try to change the future. Unfortunately, under the coercion of the fourth uncle Lu, the wei mother-in-law, the little uncle, and the second husband, she gave in.
Later, Mama Liu also made fun of her, how did you get away with it?
Sister-in-law Xianglin replied:
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Can we say that Xianglin sister-in-law has not fought, and can we say that Xianglin sister-in-law is self-inflicted?
Four
After being beaten for a few months, Xianglin's sister-in-law took it, fortunately, her second husband had no mother, and she was still good to her, and she gave birth to a son, and her life was better.
Unfortunately, the weather was unpredictable, and the second husband died of wind and cold, fortunately, there is still a son, Xianglin sister-in-law, who works hard and can still support the family.
Even if such a child is finally gone, just because of a moment's effort, the child was actually taken away by the wolf, and no one can accept it. The leak of the house happened to rain overnight, and Xiang Lin's sister-in-law could not even keep the house left to her by her husband:
"Now she has only one naked body left. The uncle came to collect the house and chased her again. She was really desperate, so she had to come to the old master. ”
So far, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law has changed, and she has become a resentful woman in many people's population, a "poor person must have something to hate" in many people's population, and a negative energy propagator who "mourns his misfortune and angers him" in many people.
But what did Xiang Lin do wrong?
She was a child bridesmaid, and her first husband died of illness, blame her?
She didn't want to be sold, secretly ran to Luzhen, made money with hard work, blame her?
She worked hard in Lu Siye's house, cleaned up and made money, and the final salary was still paid to her mother-in-law, blaming her?
She was kidnapped by the evil mother-in-law's hired people, and in order to exchange the bride price for the little uncle, she was sold to He Jia'ao. Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was desperately resisting all the way, her voice was hoarse, and she finally committed suicide when she finally went to the church. In the end, she was still forcibly possessed by her newlywed husband, which was also blamed on her?
Finally, the second husband died of illness, and the son was taken away by the wolf, and she was blamed?
Five
The death of her son Ah Mao really "blames" her, and she herself thinks so, which is the reason for her "magic fear":
"I'm so stupid, really... I only know that the snow day is that the beast has no food in the deep mountains and will come to the village, I don't know that there will be spring... Sure enough, he was lying in the grass, and all the internal organs in his stomach had been eaten, and poor him was still holding the small basket tightly in his hand..."
When encountering this kind of thing, it will be crazy to change others, not to mention that this is still Xianglin sister-in-law who has been hit by fate.
The reason why she recounted this suffering over and over again, in the end, was because she felt guilty, and she felt deeply guilty about the death of her son Amao. There is nothing wrong with spring, there is nothing wrong with the wolf, there is nothing wrong with Ah Mao, and the only thing that is really wrong is himself, because his own faults have ruined his life.
And all she is looking forward to is that someone can stand up and tell her clearly, you are not wrong, the wrong is spring, the wrong is the wolf, the wrong is this man-eating world.
In fact, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law is surviving, hoping that someone will stand up and help her, at this time she does not want to bow to fate, unfortunately, how do people do it?
At first, people sympathized with her, but no one told her that it wasn't her fault, and not only that, but after a long time, they liked to expose her scars, such as deliberately provoking her when she had children:
"Sister-in-law Xianglin, if your Ah Mao is still here, isn't it so big?"
At this time, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was already dead-hearted, and she didn't really nag like a complaining woman, she didn't say it anymore, and she could see that these people were just looking at their own jokes!
Six
And what really pushed Xiang Lin's sister-in-law into the abyss was not someone else, but a female worker who worked with the same fate as her - Liu Ma!
Mama Liu did not dwell on Xianglin's sister-in-law's pain in losing Ah Mao, but questioned her, how did you get rid of it in the first place?
After getting Xiang Lin's sister-in-law to clearly reply that she was fighting, but the strength of the other party was too great to stop her, she laughed at her:
"I don't believe it. I don't believe that you have such a great strength, you will really screw him. You must have agreed to it yourself later, and pushed him backwards to say that he was strong. ”
Even, Mother Liu felt that Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was deeply sinful and should die, and because she refused to die, she left a crime, which led to going to hell after death:
"One more strong, or simply hit a dead, just fine... A major crime was dropped. You think, you will come to the Yin Division, the two dead ghost men still have to fight, who do you give good? The Great King of Yan Luo had no choice but to saw you apart and distribute it to them. ”
This sentence wanted Xiang Lin's sister-in-law's life, so that she was not dead, not dead, chaotic life, Liu Mama saw this, and deliberately coaxed her, saying that she could only donate the threshold to atone for her sins.
After Xianglin listened, she didn't say a word, stripped out the bottom of the family, spent 12,000 yuan to buy a threshold, and donated. You know, at that time, her monthly salary was only 500 yuan, but this threshold was that she could afford to buy it for two years without eating or drinking.
But after donating the threshold, is Xiang Lin's sister-in-law not guilty?
No, it turned out that this sin did not lie in what Xianglin sister-in-law did, but in what other people thought, especially Uncle Lu, who still felt that Xianglin's sister-in-law was obscure and would dirty the ancestor worship utensils.
This led to Xiang Lin's sister-in-law's complete madness, it turned out that her sins would never be washed away, and she was determined to go to hell after death.
Seven
Then, as the author, Lu Xun knew what Xiang Lin was struggling with, so why did she give an ambiguous answer when she asked herself if there was a soul in the world?
The "I" in the text, that is, Lu Xun, appeared as a cultural person, otherwise, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law would not have specifically asked about his soul on the day before his death.
The novel "Blessing" is collected in Lu Xun's novel collection "Wandering", the reason why it is named "Wandering" is because the readers at that time were in the impact of new and old cultures, and they did not know where to go.
Fourth Master Lu is actually a cultural person, but he represents an old cultural person, and the new party is scolded by "I" for getting fat in the text, which is actually attacking the "I" that appears as a new cultural identity.
When Xiang Lin's sister-in-law stopped "me" as a cultural person, she secretly asked:
"After a person dies, does he have a soul?"
As a cultural person, "I" can certainly tell her that this is superstition, and there is no such thing as a soul in this world. But "I" did not dare to say this, why?
Because Xiang Lin was a person who was oppressed, she had practiced so hard in this life, and her only sustenance was to cultivate the next life. If you use your knowledge to tell her that there is no afterlife at all, are you saving her, or are you pushing her to death?
In any case, "I" belong to the same class as Fourth Master Lu, although "I" am not accustomed to what Fourth Master Lu does. However, when facing Xiang Lin's sister-in-law who was opposed to Fourth Master Lu, he did not dare to tell her the truth, even if he told her the truth, it would only make her more embarrassed. Even if Xiang Lin's sister-in-law rose up to resist, it would not help, and the object of resistance was "I".
This is the reason why "I" fled into the wilderness!
Sister-in-law Xianglin is destined to be a tragic person, but it is not that she does not work hard, nor that she does not fight, but that this world has not given her a chance at all, even if she once sold her best, in the end, because of her obscurity, her uselessness, and swept her out of the door.
Therefore, today, when we use the three words "Xianglin Sister-in-law" to describe others as resentful women, nagging maniacs, and negative energy transmitters, we should not forget the suffering that Xianglin Sister-in-law has endured.
Forget that in that festival full of blessings, there was another woman, who died alone in the snow and wind...
If we also treat her as a resentful woman, as a broom star, as a negative energy transmitter, then what is the difference between us and the cold-eyed people in Lu Town?
I am really afraid that one day, when we ourselves encounter ups and downs, we will repeat it many times:
"I'm so stupid, really..."
My name is Yang Jiaofeng, another perspective to see the late Qing Republic of China characters, Yang Jiaofeng on the late Qing Republic of China character series articles continue to update, like please pay attention to it!