preface
Dream of the Red Chamber, the pinnacle of classical Chinese literature, has attracted countless readers and researchers with its profound content, vivid characters and profound social insights.
Among them, the role of Jia Yun, although not the protagonist, has become a unique landscape in the world of Red Mansions with its unique character and fate.
He is both a clever gardener and a "contractor leader" who values love and righteousness, and faces two different choices when the family declines.
Today we will analyze Jia Yun, the little character of "Dream of Red Mansions".
1. Jia Yunqi people
Jia Yun, a native of Jiafu, is the son of the fifth sister-in-law under the West Corridor. He is handsome, smart and clever, but fate caused him to lose his father early, and he can only live with his mother on a few thin fields.
In such a large family, his status is neither noble nor humble, but an ordinary person in the middle ground.
Although he is four or five years older than Jia Baoyu, he is the younger generation of the latter. This special identity makes his situation in Jia's mansion both awkward and delicate, and even Jia Baoyu said that Jia Yun is like his son.
Jia Yun's intelligence is one of his most prominent characteristics.
He can speak well and is good at observing words and feelings, which is reflected many times in "Dream of Red Mansions".
He is also good at using his connections to make money, which will be more on later.
In addition to being smart and clever, Jia Yun is also a person who values love and righteousness. He is righteous to his friends, filial to his mother, and dedicated to love, and this quality is also reflected in "Dream of Red Mansions".
Second, Jia Yun's way of making money
Although Jia Yun is a member of the Jia family, he is a sidebranch, and compared with the illustrious affairs of Ning Rong and the two mansions, his family background is very shabby.
In order to make a living, he knew that Jiafu was building a grand view garden, so he went to pick up work, but it was not good to go empty-handed, I heard that Wang Xifeng wanted some medicinal materials, he went to his relatives' pharmacy on credit, but was refused, it happened that he had a friend who was very righteous, borrowed him a few taels of silver, he went to buy medicinal materials to give to Wang Xifeng, got a gardening project job, and received the project money in advance, and returned the friend's money, after the project, he also made a sum of money from it.
Jia Yun as a contractor, in Jiafu contracted many projects, he is well versed in business, good at management, through careful organization and scheduling, so that each project can be completed on time and quality, won the praise of Jiafu.
Many contemporary contractors have a similar way of making money as Jia Yun, but in some cases, they can't get the project money first, and they need to pay in advance, and if the big boss runs away, they have to bear the losses themselves.
Jia Yun's way of making money lies not only in the successful completion of the project, but also in his skillful handling of interpersonal relationships.
He knows very well that in the big family of Jiafu, connections are the source of wealth. Therefore, he always paid attention to maintaining a good relationship with the people of Jiafu, not only with respect to his masters, but also with his subordinates.
For example, Jia Baoyu said that he was like his son, and he was not annoyed, and he called Jia Baoyu his father. In the process of entering and exiting Jiafu, he also had a love affair with Baoyu's maidservant Xiaohong, which also added a touch of color to his character, their love affair was innocent and beautiful, and it was a rare clear stream in the world of Red Mansions.
In this way, Jia Yun not only won the trust of Jiafu, but also gained many additional business opportunities and made a lot of money from them.
3. Jia Yun's two endings
Since Cao Xueqin's original work has only been preserved eighty times, Jia Yun's ending has not been clearly explained. However, from some annotations and notes at that time, it can be roughly understood that in the setting of the original work, after the Jia family was raided, Jia Yun was not implicated because he did not belong to the people of Ningrong and Rongfu and had no official position. He spent money to ransom Xiaohong and marry her, and also visited Jia Baoyu in prison and rescued him.
This kind of behavior not only reflects his righteousness to his friends, but also shows his personality charm, which was also filmed in the 87 version of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions".
However, in Gao E's sequel, Jia Yun's ending is very different from the original setting.
In the original setting, after Jiafu was copied, the clansmen who were attached to Jiafu were also down, Jia Yun and the unsuccessful Jia Huan and Wang Xifeng's brother Wang Ren and others mixed together, and participated in the abduction and trafficking of Wang Xifeng's daughter Sister Qiao.
Such an ending is very different from the image of Jia Yun in the original setting, and it also raises readers' questions about the authenticity of the sequel.
epilogue
Jia Yun is a small character in "Dream of Red Mansions", and her way of making money and the two endings of the original book setting and Gao E's sequel provide us with rich space for thinking. With his own efforts and wisdom, he broke out of the world in the big family of Jiafu, showing the indomitable spirit of the little people.
The different endings of the original book and Gao E's sequel let us see the different understandings and shaping of the same character by different authors, and also reflect people's different views on fate and life in different eras.
In "Dream of Red Mansions", a masterpiece that has been passed down through the ages, although Jia Yun, a small character, is not the protagonist, his story is also full of profound life philosophy and rich cultural connotations.
Through the discussion of his way of making money and the two endings, we can not only better understand the essence of Dream of the Red Chamber, but also draw wisdom from it to provide useful inspiration for our own life and career.