In "A Brief History of Chinese Novels", Mr. Lu Xun talked about the "romance novels" of the Ming Dynasty, and pointed out that "among all the 'love letters of the world', the golden plum is the most famous". However, since the Ming Dynasty Wanli Ding Si was published publicly, it was denounced by the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties as a book of obscenity
"This book has been banned for a long time, and Rulin is ashamed to say it. The voice of discredit has not faded for several generations, and the slander has not ceased for hundreds of years; those who write this book are dumb for three generations; those who read this book are adulterous people; those who engrave this book will be ruined and killed, and the heavenly fire will burn down the shop, that is, the order will return to the Yellow Spring, and Yama will be investigated, and the hell will be punished by plowing the tongue. 」
Although Yuan Hongdao, a prominent person in the public security faction, praised "The Golden Vase Plum" as "full of clouds and paper, which is better than the "Seven Hairs", he only "took a cursory view" and did not dare to list it as a few things, so as not to be criticized.
However, during the Kangxi period, Zhang Zhupo not only read "The Golden Plum Bottle", but also commented on it, not only commented on it, but also highly affirmed it, crowning it as the "first strange book" in the world, not only affirming it, but also using the courage of "the knife and cone to make the mud plow" engrave "The Golden Plum Bottle", making it publicly popular in the world.
Zhang Zhupo wrote nearly 200,000 words of criticism in the general commentary, review review, and interline criticism, "In the complexity of the appendix of the novel criticism, there is no one more than this."
There are two theories about Zhang Zhupo's criticism: Dai Bufan's "Novel Experience" believes: "Zhang Zhupo's comments have their sour and rotten, piercing and chiseling, such as bitter filial piety, but they are not insightful in art. 」【1】
Zhu Xing's "Golden Bottle Plum Research" believes: "There are a total of one hundred and six articles of 'reading' (author's note: in fact, one hundred and eight), saying that ''The Golden Bottle of Plum' is a historical record', this sentence is still desirable, and the rest are Mr. Dong Yan's eight-strand tune, which is not good at all. 」【2】
Anyone who has read the Zhang commentary of "The Golden Vase of Plums" will be inclined to the former assertion, and will never agree with the latter statement.
Zhang Zhupo believes that "The Golden Plum Bottle" is a historical record, and this high affirmation of "The Golden Plum Bottle" is undoubtedly worthy of approval. However, Zhang Zhupo's criticism still contains many insightful theories of fiction, which makes the conclusion that "it is not insightful in art" seem too low, and the view that "it is not at all advisable" is extremely unobjective.
In the following, I will only give an overview of the theory of novel creation reflected in Zhang Zhupo's comments to express my own opinions.
The <金瓶梅>cover of the "Commentary".
1. "The Typical of the West Gate is still there"
Zhang Zhupo started from the characteristics of character fiction from childhood, and first put forward the typical theory of romance novels.
In the eighty-sixth episode of "Golden Vase Plum", after Pan Jinlian and Chen Jingji's adultery was exposed, she was handed over to Wang Po by Yueniang for sale, Chen Jingji secretly came to Wang Po's house and said to Pan Jinlian, "...... On the one hand, I secretly assumed my surname, a sedan chair, and married to your family, and the two of us will be reunited forever, why not be a husband and wife?"
In the interline criticism following this paragraph, Zhang Zhupo criticized: "Another one wants to marry secretly, and Simon is still typical." Here, Zhang Zhupo put forward the concept of typical, which is very valuable.
As we know, an important symbol of the realist literary theory in the ancient literary theory of the mainland in the Ming and Qing dynasties was that with the increasing prosperity of novels and operas, novels and operas gradually received social attention, and the novel critics put forward a novel theory centered on shaping typical characters.
However, Li Zhen and Ye Day, Jin Shengsi, Mao Zonggang and his son, Zhi Yanzhai, Xianzhai Old Man and other novel critics, although they put forward some artistic insights in the portrayal of typical characters, they did not explicitly put forward the concept of typical.
Zhang Zhupo put forward the concept of typicality for the first time in his commentary, and accurately and directly applied it to the main characters in "The Golden Bottle", Ximenqing and Chen Jingji, affirming that Ximenqing is a typical character in "The Golden Bottle", and Chen Jingji is "another" typical character.
Whether it is from the proposition of the typical theory or the criticism and practice of the typical theory, Zhang Zhupo's contribution is undoubtedly of original significance in the ancient literary theory of the mainland and in the history of the development of the theory of the novel, which is beyond the reach of the above-mentioned critics of the novel.
How does Zhang Zhupo understand the connotation of typical concepts?
First of all, Zhang Zhupo saw that typical images should be representative to a certain extent, and should be able to reflect certain commonalities of certain people in social life.
"Lustful and not familiar with nephew etiquette, stealing incense but having a good style." To steal Pan Jinlian, Ximen Qing was in the front, and Chen Jingji was in the back.
In order to occupy her forever, at the instigation of Wang Po, he poisoned Wu Da with arsenic; when he heard that Wu Song was coming back, he hurriedly burned Wu Da's spiritual position and secretly married Pan Jinlian to his home.
Chen Jingji is Ximenqing's son-in-law, since he took refuge in Ximenqing's house, he has been haunted by Pan Jinlian every day, but he is afraid of Ximenqing's obscenity and does not dare to be presumptuous.
Ximen Qing had just died, his body was still hot, and his bones had not yet been buried in the ground, so Chen Jingji and Pan Jinlian acted boldly, so that they were caught by Wu Yueniang for adultery, drove Chen Jingji away, and sold Pan Jinlian.
In order to avoid the notorious reputation of his son-in-law marrying his mother-in-law, Chen Jingji tried to fake his surname and secretly marry Pan Jinlian to his family.
It is through all the filthy and foul words of Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji that they secretly married Pan Jinlian, Zhang Zhupo grasped the common points of the two people's greed for lust, incorruptibility, and despicable means, and came to the conclusion that "another stealing marriage, Ximen's typical is still there", and expressed his artistic opinion that typical characters should have a certain universality.
Zhang Zhupo not only saw the representativeness of typical characters from the comparison between the characters in "The Golden Vase of Plums", but also discussed the universality of typical characters in the real life crowd.
Zhang Zhupo believes that Ximenqing's shameless behavior of sparing no expense to give Cai Jing a birthday gift in exchange for a five-grade black gauze hat was a common promotion technique of the campers in real life at that time, "and among the hundreds of villains in the market, there is a villain in the market Ximenqing" (34 reviews).
As for the snobbish vision that even the leading Qiao family in the county looks down on after Ximen Qingping has risen to prominence, it is also "the villain does not know the weight, nine times out of ten" (43 reviews). It is self-evident that it is widely representative.
Similarly, Wu Yueniang, a typical character, is "100 according to 100 obedience" in front of Ximen Qing, Zhang Zhupo also thinks that "it is four characters, and Yueniang is finalized, and the steproom is finalized", which is "writing all the fake of the steproom" (53 reviews), which is the common fake appearance of the relay room in feudal society in front of her husband as a good gentleman.
Zhang Zhupo also believes that Pan Jinlian's murder of Ximen Qing with double aphrodisiacs, putting all the blame on Wang Liu'er, and blaming others for her treacherous behavior is not only the commonality of adulterers like Pan Jinlian, but also the commonality of unfilial children who deceive their parents, and also the commonality of those unfaithful courtiers who bully the king.
In short, in Zhang Zhupo's view, typical characters should have a certain degree of representativeness and a certain degree of sociality.
This kind of representativeness and sociality can not only be the thoughts, feelings, psychology, words, and behaviors of a certain type of people under the same historical conditions, but also the qualities, means, and habits common to different types of people in the same era.
Gaohetang's book "Golden Vase Plum" book shadow
Secondly, Zhang Zhupo's understanding of typicality does not only stop at the universality, commonality, and generality of characters, but also sees the individuality, particularity, and difference of typical characters.
Zhang Zhupo thinks that Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji, although they are both erotic maniacs who are in Wushan and Yunluopu when they meet water, are playing with the wind and the moon outside, sleeping in flowers and willows, raising women and prostitutes, and beating women and wives at home. However, "Ximen Qing is a bastard villain" and "Jing Ji is a floating villain" (Reading, 32).
He pointed out that Ximenqing has the character traits of being scheming, ruthless, and proficient in the world, while Chen Jingji is "an ignorant boy", (86 reviews).
It shows that he does not regard the typical as a mold cast "with the same world, forcibly understanding people", but as "this one" character who has its own personality and cannot be replaced by each other.
In Western literary theory, the earliest and incisive typical theory is Aristotle's "Poetics":
"The so-called universal thing refers to what a certain person, according to the law of possibility or necessity, can say and do, and the poem must first pursue this purpose, and then give names to the characters. 」【3】
Aristotle's argument is just as Mr. Zhu Guangqian affirmed, "Poetry is still written about individual characters, but it is necessary to see the universal, which is the unity of the general and the particular as understood by Aristotle, which is a great contribution to his philosophy, and also the basic dialectical principle on which his typology is based." 」【4】
Comparing this famous argument of Aristotle with Zhang Zhupo's comment that "another one wants to marry secretly, Simon's typical is still there", it is not difficult for us to find that the meaning of Zhang Zhupo's typical character includes two aspects: the representativeness and universality of typical characters and the unique personality of typical characters.
Although Zhang Zhupo did not discuss the basic principle that typicality is the unity of commonality and individuality, he put forward this concept and applied it to literary criticism, pointing out that the generality and individuality of typical characters are pioneering in the history of mainland novel theory and should be highly valued by researchers.
Book cover of "Selected Western Literary Essays".
2. "Imitate God for the Footsteps of the Crowd"
Literature reflects the general through the individual, and reveals the essence of life through the phenomena of life. For a typical character, its first meaning is the personality traits of the character.
Any typical character, only when he has a distinct and vivid personality characteristics, can he stand up in the work and live in front of the reader, so as to obtain a long-term artistic vitality and become a commendable typical image.
In all his criticisms of "The Golden Plum Bottle", Zhang Zhupo fully paid attention to the individualization of typical characters and put forward good theoretical insights.
(1) "Because of the use of the pen" said
Ximen is a bastard villain, Wu Yueniang is a treacherous and good person, Yulou is a good person, Jin Lian is not a person, Bottle is an idiot, Chunmei is a madman, and Jingji is a floating villain...... And the Earl Xi seniors are all people with no conscience...... (Readings, 32)
Jin Shui Mei in Ximen Qing, do not make a pen, Yu Yueniang, do not make a pen, in Yulou, then use a pure pen, in Jinlian, do not make a blunt pen, in the bottle, do not make a deep pen, Yu Chunmei, purely use a proud pen, Yu Jingji, do not make a rhyme pen, Yu eldest sister, do not make a show pen, Yu Earl, do not make a stupid pen, Yu An'er, do not make a stupid pen, so each has its own place. (Readings, 46)
In Zhang Zhupo's view, the reason why the typical characters in "Golden Vase Plum" are different is because the author uses a vicious pen to write Ximenqing's bastard, a hidden pen to write about Yueniang's treacherous and treacherous, a sleek pen to write Meng Yulou's well-behaved, a clever pen to write Pan Jinlian's treacherous jealousy, mean and sharp, a simple pen to write Li Bei'er's enthusiasm, a proud pen to write Chunmei's heart and ambition, a vulgar pen to write Chen Jingji's frivolous and wild, and a well-behaved pen to write Earl Ying's good at tending to inflammation, thus putting forward his typical character portrayal" Because people use pens," he said.
What is the meaning of "because people use a pen" to say mud?
Zhang Zhupo's criticism of typical characters gives us enlightenment. Zhang Zhupo believes that "Ze Yueniang is a person, and she is the first person in the golden bottle of plums, and she is a treacherous person, but the author writes it with a faint pen" (14 reviews).
"The author specially uses the pen of Yang Qiu, and writes a hidden evil Moon Niang and Jin Lian" (75 reviews).
Obviously, Zhang Zhupo believes that the reason why Wu Yueniang, a treacherous character, is portrayed so well is because the author has always grasped the leading aspect of Wu Yueniang's insidious hypocrisy in the whole "Golden Vase Plum", and has been meticulously carved at all times, in everything, and everywhere.
In terms of the character portrayal of other typical characters, Zhang Zhupo also has the same comment: "Everywhere the jade building is lined with the jealousy of the golden lotus, everywhere the jade tower is depicted slowly coming, walking like a flower, or bowing his head without speaking, bowing his head to make nepotism, it is really a writing of the jade building" (72 reviews);
In Zhang Zhupo's view, Meng Yulou's main character traits of being well-behaved and sleek and pleasing everywhere, and Pan Jinlian's main character traits of jealousy, insidiousness, and cleverness are the result of the author's description everywhere and his ability to follow through to the end.
Obviously, Zhang Zhupo's theory of "using the pen according to the person" is to advocate that when writers create typical characters, they should grasp the personality characteristics of typical characters, and use different brushstrokes to consistently describe and display them in different plots, so that the dominant personality characteristics of typical characters are extremely obvious in all the personalities of the characters.
"Golden Vase Plum" comic book
(2) "Resistance" said
Zhang Zhupo believes that Pan Jinlian is a typical character portrayed in "The Golden Bottle", a female figure with an extremely vivid personality and an extremely rich and complex personality: "Jealous and treacherous, enveloping Ximen, Zhang Ben for the moon mother in the later text" (16 times);
So, how is Pan Jinlian, a prostitute, jealous, poisonous, and shrew, jealous, vicious, sinister, suspicious, cunning, clever, and pungent typical characters presented in a concentrated and distinct manner?
Zhang Zhupo thinks: If you play a lion, you must throw a ball, and if you want to write about the golden lotus, but not about the person who competes for favor, how will you write the golden lotus? (65th Review)
Write Ruyi, so write the dead bottle, the bottle is dead, that is, Simon is the person, and the tits are like it, so it is Ruyier.
In short, against Jin Lian, in order to write its jealousy and pet, so Hui Lian first, Ruyi Er last, always with the bottle to compete with it, in order to write Jin Lian's jealousy. (65th Review)
In Zhang Zhupo's view, to play a lion, there must be a ball, archery must be one, and to create a typical character, it is necessary to describe its opposing characters.
He not only saw that typical characters should have opposites, but also saw that the relationship between typical characters and opposites is contradictory and opposite, they are always in the "confrontation", only by grasping the "confrontation" between typical characters and opposites, and writing about the "confrontation" between them, can they reveal all their character traits in the "confrontation" of the characters, especially the character traits of typical characters.
Zhang Zhupo wrote in the seventy-two interline criticisms: "It can be known that Huilian is the predecessor of the bottle, and Ruyier is the back of the bottle.
Zhang Zhupo pointed out the author of "The Golden Plum Bottle" here, and through the description of Pan Jinlian's competition for favor and competition between Pan Jinlian and Song Huilian, Li Bei'er, Ruyi'er and others, like a spotlight, it concentrated on Pan Jinlian's jealousy, viciousness, lewdness and insidiousness, flattery and deference, cunning, suspicious and sneaky, clever and pungent and other character traits, so that the reader can grasp the dominant side of the character and the many aspects of the character of this typical character in a concentrated and distinct way as if through the eyes of the bird.
At this point, we can see that Zhang Zhupo's theory of "resistance" advocates putting typical characters in complex entanglements with other characters, and through the description of the opposite sides of typical characters and the narration of contradictions and conflicts between characters, the stability and richness of typical characters are vividly and vividly portrayed in a concentrated and distinct way.
It can be seen that Zhang Zhupo's theory of "resistance", that is, the theory of "struggle", has a certain dialectical element.
Illustration of "Plum in the Golden Vase".
(3) "Guilty of writing but not guilty" said
In the 45 articles of "Reading", Zhang Zhupo put forward the typical personalized technique of "making a pen without committing a crime".
His so-called "sin" means to write about the same thing, to write about the same type of person, and to "not to sin" means to be in the same (Reading) 45).
One thing, through what the characters do, so that the characters are "but each has its own one, and it is never the same" Among the ten brothers of Ximenqing, Earl Ying and Xie Xida are the two most compatible people in Ximenqing.
But "the count is the earl, and the great is the great, and each one is in a meticulous manner, and every man speaks" (Reading, 45). And Earl Ying showed everywhere that he was "really a living earl" (forty-six times).
In Zhang Zhupo's view, the successful example of Earl Ying's accomplice is the result of the author's "genius in being good at using the pen without committing crimes";
It was the author who wrote in Earl Ying and Xie Xida's "blind and always flattering" to Ximenqing that Earl Ying "can adapt to the time" (35 times) and is good at sucking carbuncles and licking hemorrhoids.
Zhang Zhupo also pointed out that when portraying Pan Jinlian and Li Bei'er, two typical adulteres, the author used the artistic technique of "committing a pen without committing a crime": "The depiction of the hook of the bottle is purely simple, especially the opposite of Jinlian, so as to create another trick and not make a mistake."
If Wang Liu'er commits a special crime against Jin Lian, and he who does not commit a trick is also a trick" (13 reviews). As a result, the two adulteresses "do not have any disorder in their words and actions" (45), showing that one is extremely hot, fierce and cruel, and the other is a jealous, vicious, insidious and cunning adulteress.
It can be seen that Zhang Zhupo's theory of "using the pen but not committing it" requires the romance novels not to use typological techniques, so that the same type of characters are similar in form and have nothing to do with the bones, but to use personalized techniques to let the character traits of typical characters overflow between the ink and ink, leap above the scale, and each of them becomes "this one" that cannot be replaced by each other among the characters of the same type.
"Golden Vase Plum" comic book
(4) "This one person speaks, and this one person is reasonable," he said
The language of the characters in "The Golden Vase of Plums" has reached the level of perfection, "Whoever writes about a person, always speaks in a cool tone to the end, covers the volume and reads it, but with a few words, he can tacitly understand who it is." (Liu Tingji, "In the Garden Magazine")
Starting from the central issue of shaping character, Zhang Zhupo put forward the artistic proposition that the language of characters should be personalized:
"Making an article is just the word reasonable, and making this 100-time long article today is just the word reasonable. In a person's heart, if a person's reason is found, a person's spread will be successful. Although the words of the people are mixed up before and after, and this one person speaks, it is the reason of this person, and if he does not open his mouth, he will be reasonable, because he asks for this person's reason. That's why writing 100,000 people is like writing one person, and then there are 100 big books. (Reading 43)
"Reason" here refers to moral concepts, "feelings" refers to thoughts and feelings, and "reason" refers to people's spiritual characteristics and inner world.
In Zhang Zhupo's view, "reasonableness" is made in the chest, out of the mouth, and present in words. Zhang Zhupo proposed that "this one person speaks, it is this person's reason", which refers to the individualization of the language of typical characters, and requires the author to describe the language of the characters according to the needs of imitating the gods of typical characters, so that the words of the characters can "get God in one word", "God in another word", and "the most divine reason in idle words".
He believes that this kind of personalized language should first of all be unique to typical characters, and that other characters "must not make it: a string of bells all the way is the words of Jin Lian, not the bottle, and the Yulou, Yueniang, and Chunmei are also not allowed to do it, so it is wonderful"; Suddenly, Jin Lian spoke, but it was Jin Lian's words, not Yue Niang's words."
Secondly, he believes that personalized language should reflect the complex thoughts and feelings of the characters.
In the second criticism: "Suddenly change your word, replace the word uncle, wonderful", "Suddenly exchange the outsider for uncle, wonderful", "Suddenly change that guy for an outsider, wonderful".
Because of the gradual transformation of these pronouns, the layers clearly portray the changes in Pan Jinlian's inner feelings towards Wu Song from awe to misunderstanding, from misunderstanding to resentment, from resentment to annoyance, and vividly discover Pan Jinlian's lewd and wild personality characteristics.
Therefore, Zhang Zhupo even claimed that it was "wonderful"! Thirdly, he believed that personalized language should be able to express the complex personality of the characters.
After the eleventh Xue'e was beaten, he quarreled with Pan Jinlian in front of Yueniang, and the comments in the last few paragraphs of Pan Jinlian's words pointed out that the work showed Pan Jinlian's cleverness, vulgarity, shamelessness, and flattery
Shun, pampered and arrogant and other complex personalities. Personality determines language, and language shows personality. This is one of the most basic, universal, and important techniques for shaping a typical character.
Zhang Zhupo linked the language of the characters with the "reasonableness" of the characters, pointing out that the language of the characters is based on the needs of the characters, and the writer should use the language that fits the character to imitate the people's feet, which further enriches the theory of the novel of language personalization.
For the above four typical individualized techniques, Zhang Zhupo himself used a very precise sentence, which can be summed up as "imitating the gods for the feet of the people" ("Reading" 59).
This is also what he mentioned many times in his comments on "The Golden Vase Plum" that he should use the pen of "chasing souls and souls" to "depict gods", "sketches", "shadow and souls" for typical characters, and portray the "a group of divine principles" of the characters, so that each typical character "looks bright", "eyebrows and eyes move", "hair moves", not only "force" the world, but also "Bi Xiao" The respective identities of the characters, just like Ximenqing are "vulgar and cute", Pan Jinlian is "lewd and cute", and Ying Count is like "jumping out".
He believes that only in this way can readers feel that each typical character is "alive and compelling", "really alive and vigorous, not a puppeteer" (59 times), "but not a cow, a ghost, a snake and a god" (62 times).
In terms of typical individuality, many critics of classical novels have put forward their own theoretical opinions. However, because "Water Margin" is written in the form of a single biography or a group biography of several people, the characters described in the work are constantly changed, and "The Outer History of Confucianism" does not have a central character that runs through the beginning and end of the book, nor does it lack a central event that connects the whole book, which objectively limits the integrity and systematization of typical theories about individualization, such as Jin Shengxian and the old man who is idle and fast.
This is not the case in "The Golden Plum Bottle", which has the main depiction of "this person is born and the book begins, and this person dies and the book ends, such as Ximen, Yueniang, Pan Jinlian, Li Bei'er, Chunmei, Jingji and others" (26 reviews).
These typical characters have always been in the main position in "The Golden Vase Plum", and the dominance, richness, and complexity of their character traits are clearer, and the trajectory of character formation, development, and transformation is clearer, which objectively causes Zhang Zhupo's typical theory of individuality to be more concentrated, systematic, and comprehensive than that of Jin Shengxi and the old man who is idle and fast, and even has aspects that surpass other novel critics, such as the theory of "resistance".
In addition, in the history of European typical theory, although Aristotle initially revealed the basic characteristics of the typical and believed that the typical character should be a person with the unity of universality and individuality, the ancient Roman poet Horace's theory of type and stereotype has always been dominant, so that the European typical theory has long lingered in the framework of type theory and stereotype.
Many theorists, such as Boileau and others, expounded the theory of typology in terms of universality, until Hegel at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, inherited the theory of individuation from his predecessor Kant, completely broke the stereotype theory and stereotype, and made a unique contribution, emphasizing that the typology must be "this one", so that the European typical theory has a qualitative leap.
Similarly, Zhang Zhupo, a novel critic in the 17th century, although he also saw the commonality of typical characters in the theory of ancient novels in the mainland, he did not stick to this point, but strongly emphasized the "imitation of God" for typical characters and wrote the individual personality characteristics of each typical character, which is much more scientific than the typical theories such as the European theory of type and stereotype, and has certain reference significance for us to overcome the conceptualization, formula, typology, and stereotype in literary creation today.
As for Zhang Zhupo's valuable theoretical legacy of classical novels, we should not completely deny it because it is drowned in pedantic ideas such as feudal ethics and teaching, "female sex and trouble", and karma.
Instead, we should pan for gold in the sand, dump sewage, leave babies behind, and do a little meticulous work to establish a literary and artistic theory rich in national characteristics on the mainland.
"The Words of the Golden Vase Plum" Republic of China Edition
Exegesis:
1 Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 1980.
2 Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House, 1980.
3 Wu Lifu, Selected Essays on Western Literature (Shanghai: Translation Publishing House, 1979), p. 65.
4 Zhu Guangqian, A History of Western Aesthetics (Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 1964), vol. II, p. 696.
Author's Affiliation: Central China Normal University Press
This article is published with permission and was originally published in Selected Research by Changheng Chen, <金瓶梅>2015, published by Taiwan Student Publishing Co., Ltd. Please indicate the source for forwarding.