# Is Jia Huan in "Dream of Red Mansions" bad? #
The twenty-third episode of "Dream of Red Mansions" makes a comparison between Baoyu and Jia Huan through the eyes of Jia Zheng:
Jia Zheng raised his eyes and saw Baoyu standing in front of him, his expression was elegant, and his beauty was dazzling;
My father saw that Jia Huan was still like this, and the image of the third young master of Rongguo Mansion could not stand up at all. When Jia Huan appears, he is often ridiculed, disliked, excluded, and ignored. Like a third-class citizen in Jiafu, the psychological damage to a seven or eight-year-old child can be imagined.
The prototype of Jia Huan's biological mother should have deeply hurt Cao Xueqin and made him a shadow, otherwise, Aunt Zhao Jia Huan's mother and son would not have been described as unbearable in the novel.
In fact, whether it is a young lady or a young master in Jia Fuli, there is no difference in the treatment of being raised.
Jiafu Siyan is Yuanchun, Yingchun, Tanchun, and cherishing Spring, except for Yuanchun, all of them are the daughters of the concubine. Wang Xifeng once said to Ping'er: It's a pity that Tanchun is both talented and beautiful, but there is no blessing to be born in his wife's belly. Ping'er said that Sister Feng is really confused, even if the third lady is a concubine, is there still someone who underestimates her? Sister Feng said that girls are not as good as boys, and when it comes to climbing relatives, some families will pick Miss's concubine, and there are daughters who don't want concubines.
That is to say, the young master of a large family, regardless of the concubine, except for the eldest son who inherits the family business, the status of the other families is not different, and when talking about family affairs, the son of the concubine is not affected by the concubine, but the young lady may be affected because of the concubine.
Jiafu is like this, the girls in Jiafu, there is no distinction between concubines, Tanchun and Yingchun novels clearly write that they are all born to aunts, and in front of all family members, no one will have any criticism of them because of this. Their marriage is also carried out in accordance with the principle of being the right person, Tanchun also became a princess, and presumably no one will talk about the concubine.
The same is true of the sons of Jiafu, whether it is food, clothing, housing, transportation, educational resources, or the equipment of the slave team, there is no difference between the sons in Jiafu and the widows, because Baoyu is the first male protagonist, so all aspects of him are described in detail, giving people the feeling that Jia Huan's treatment is far inferior to Baoyu, in fact, at this time the reader's illusion, because when Mrs. Wang attacked her as her aunt, Wang Xifeng had something to say (Chapter 36):
"The attacker was originally the old lady's person, but it was given to Brother Bao. He still received the old lady's girl for the two pieces of silver. Now it is said that because the attacker is Baoyu's person, he cut this tael of silver, and he can't do it. If you add another person to the old lady, you can cut him. If he is not laid off, he must be added to the house of the Huan'er brothers to be fair......"
What does that mean? That is, the establishment of the raider is not in the Baoyu House, and her salary is still the old lady's share, and the old lady gives Baoyu an attack, and the old lady is missing a girl of one or two silver, which is purely a private gift. No one else has anything to say. The girls of the juniors in Jiafu don't have one or two silver, if the raider is given to Baoyu, it means that Baoyu has a girl of one or two silver, so it is necessary to add a girl of one or two silver to Jia Huan, so that it can be considered fair.
Look, the level of the maids, the sons can't take care of one or the other, so correspondingly, the number of maids, nurses, grandmothers, little maids, and big servants should all be the same specifications. In other words, readers often marvel at the luxury of Baoyu's treatment, in fact, his younger brother, the third young master, Jia Huan, has the same standards as him.
Sister Feng is the niece and nephew of Mrs. Wang's in-law, Sister Feng in front of her aunt, for her aunt's most hated Jia Huan to fight for fairness, with Sister Feng's shrewdness, she will not offend Mrs. Wang, she will say this kind of fairness so clearly and clearly, it shows that this kind of fairness is the practice of Jiafu, and there will be no possible unfair treatment.
Baoyu's character is a noble son, this is something that everyone has no doubt, similarly, Jia Huan is not lower than Baoyu, whether it is in the family or outside the family, Jia Huan is also a noble son, but Cao Xueqin deliberately dwarfed him because he hated him.
Sister Feng and Baoyu have a very good relationship, the two say that they are cousins and brothers, in fact, there is no difference between them and their own sisters and brothers, when Baoyu asked Sister Feng to decorate the study for him, he actually made a monkey on Sister Feng's body, which shows intimacy.
Sister Feng and Jia Huan also maintain a close relationship, she once passed by Aunt Zhao's house in the first month after Concubine Yuan's marriage, and heard Aunt Zhao scolding Jia Huan, Sister Feng said:
"What's wrong with the Great New Year? Brother Huan's little child's house, half a little wrong, you only teach him, what to do with these indifferent words! Depending on how he goes, and the wife and old man take care of him, just spit on him! He is now the master, it's not good, there are people who teach him, what does it have to do with you! Brother Huan, come out, play with me. ”
Knowing that Jia Huan lost money playing cards, Sister Feng was so angry that she couldn't beat him, and when she turned around, she asked her girl Feng'er to fetch a bunch of money, handed it to Jia Huan, and asked the girl to send him to the back to play with Sister Yingchun.
In Sister Feng's eyes, Jia Huan is at fault, he has his own old lady to teach, and the big deal is to educate his grandmother, as a slave, Aunt Zhao is not qualified to educate him, many readers think that Sister Feng is too ruthless here, and she is too harsh to Aunt Zhao, this is the understanding of today's people, but in the era of "Dream of Red Mansions", it is not the mainstream value.
Throughout the ages, different classes have received very different education, the ruling class is learning how to rule, and it is impossible to accept the infection of the hierarchical idea of slaves, this is Sister Feng maintaining the order of the ruling class, there is a difference between respect and inferiority, Jia Huan is the bloodline successor of Jiafu, and one of the heirs of the big family, and Aunt Zhao is at best the fertility tool of the ruling class. It can't be said who is right and who is wrong here, from the position of Jiafu, Sister Feng is right.
Sister Feng reprimanded Jia Huan to warn him not to be influenced by slaves; Sister Feng asked him to give him money, which was to show up and say that the master must have the grandeur and mind of the master, and not be as knowledgeable as a few slaves; Sister Feng asked people to protect him to integrate into the sisters, which was to give him backing and support, so that he could be confident and self-loving. Sister Feng's treatment of Jia Huan here is really no different from that of Baoyu, full of responsibility and love for Jia Huan.
Sister Feng is a person who looks at problems from a global perspective, she cares, loves, and loves Jia Huan, and like other younger brothers and sisters, she hopes that Jia Huan is a real son, who behaves and acts in line with the rules of high society, and takes on the family responsibilities that he should bear as a man in a big family.
If Jia Huan is a bad boy, or even a recognized unpopular person, Sister Feng's attitude towards him will not be like this, in the final analysis, Jia Huan is just a child, affected by a decently biological mother, plus the contrast of an older brother with his own halo, his image has been affected, and he is only chewed on the root of his tongue occasionally.
In fact, as far as the sons in Jia's mansion are concerned, Jia Huan has a good relationship with Jia Cong and Jia Lan, this is what the normal growth of the family male should be, unlike Baoyu, who is mixed in the inner curtain all day long, and is naturally regarded as an outlier by the universal values of that society.
The author of this article: Pingshan Magenta Mansion
Reference to the original work: "Jiazhu Ben Fat Yan Zhai Re-evaluation of the Stone Record" "Gengchen Ben Fat Yan Zhai Re-evaluation of the Stone Record"
Image source: Stills from the 87 CCTV version of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions".