When tasting tea in Lucui'an, Jia's mother gave Grandma Liu a taste of the old gentleman's eyebrows in the kiln cup in her hand, and Miaoyu thought that Grandma Liu, a country woman, was dirty, so she didn't even want this cup. Baoyu knew the reason, so she sent the little maid to deal with the follow-up problems for Miaoyu, who was obsessed with cleanliness, and gave the cup that Miaoyu didn't want to Grandma Liu, and the matter passed like this.
All readers have a rare unanimity in their understanding of this plot, that is, they think that this incident has almost become a stain on Miaoyu's personality. Of course, the ruling class all looks down on the poor, because the poor themselves have no use value, but they will also show charity to the poor, in order to better stabilize the social class and exploit the poor in order to maintain their own status.
The masters of the big family will also distribute money to the poor when they go out, like Jia's mother explained to her family, Baoyu has to bring more money to the poor every time she goes out, in order to pray for Baoyu, not really sympathize with the poor, but also the need to rule. But Miaoyu didn't even want to do this disguise, not even a basic cover-up.
To oppose the poor is to intensify the class contradictions, and the fall of every dynasty begins with the intensification of contradictions, and it is clear that Miaoyu has not received a basic education in this area.
Miaoyu's judgment said that she "wants to be clean, He Zeng Jie", saying that her cleanliness is a cleanliness habit that divides people into three, six, nine and so on, for a poor person like Grandma Liu, not to mention using her tea cup, just because Grandma Liu entered the Lucui Nunnery, she has to use water to purify the land, and the dirt she dislikes is the so-called poor acid caused by the limitations of the poor people's life and work.
But Miaoyu's result was "finally stuck in the mud", saying that she fell into the hands of gangsters, was sold to a dirty place, committed to dry bones, and was ruined by an old man, such dirt is the dirtiness that erodes the soul, and Miaoyu's fate is really pitiful. She and Sister Qiao's fates are similar, they are both trapped in the willow land, but Sister Qiao was rescued from the fire pit by Grandma Liu because of Sister Feng's favor to Grandma Liu, but Miaoyu went to the other extreme, it can be seen that the fate of people, in the dark, can be regarded as their own karmic reincarnation.
Among the twelve hairpins of Jinling, there is Lin Daiyu who uses "clean" to describe personality, and "Funeral Flower Words" says that "the essence is clean and clean", but Lin Daiyu's "clean" and Miaoyu's "clean" are fundamentally different.
Lin Daiyu's cleanliness is the nobility of character, such as the cuizhu of Xiaoxiang Pavilion, the quality is high "knot", the heart is empty, and the character is noble, except for Jia Baoyu, readers almost do not see Lin Daiyu asking for anyone, she is demanding herself and self-discipline, which is the basic "self-cultivation" of Chinese scholars and doctors, that is, self-moral requirements.
Because self-cultivation is the premise of Qi family, governing the country, and leveling the world. Obviously, this is the gene in the bones of the Lin family, which is the heirloom of Shili.
The novel does have a scene where the mother-in-law in the low-level slave is in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion: in the fifty-seventh episode of "A Dream of Red Mansions", Aunt Xue Xue Baochai's mother and daughter are in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and they jokingly talked about Baochai Daiyu's future marriage, and Aunt Xue began to be a good person, saying:
"I thought, your brother Bao and the old lady love him like that, and he is like that, if you want to talk about it outside, the old lady will not like it, why don't you actually set your sister Lin with him, wouldn't it be all four?"
The smart Zijuan seized the loophole in Aunt Xue's speech and asked her rhetorically, why didn't Mrs. Xue tell her if she had such an idea?
Yes, you two sisters are together every day, since you are really kind, you should have talked to your sister a long time ago.
At this time, the mothers-in-law in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion came to assist, and said to Aunt Xue with a smile:
"Although Mrs. Aunt is stubborn, she is not bad. When I was free, I discussed with the old lady, and it was all right for my aunt to be a matchmaker and become a family business. ”
First of all, these mothers-in-law's words are very level, seemingly soft-spoken, but difficult to refute, and also Aunt Xue is going to die here, first of all, you are stubborn, do you dare to admit that you are stubborn? You definitely don't dare to admit it, otherwise wouldn't you be hypocritical? There are so many people present, you still have to go and talk to your wife and old lady, but if you say it, isn't it just digging a pit and jumping by yourself? The mother-in-law all think that this family business is very proper, although it is a slave, but it also represents public opinion, can you say that it is inappropriate? This made Aunt Xue really unable to go on, but fortunately Shi Xiangyun came to divert the topic, otherwise, it would really not end well. Aunt Xue probably regretted her death.
Pay more attention to a detail, here is the masters gossiping, it is likely to be in Daiyu's living room, the maids are there, they are waiting on the side, the mothers-in-law are also there, and they can also speak, which shows a problem:
The mother-in-law, the lowest-ranking servant in Jiafu, could easily stay in the young lady's living room or bedroom, and even interject at the right time.
You can compare the rules of Yihong Courtyard, Baoyu's living room and bedroom, not to mention the mother-in-law, even low-level maids like Xiaohong and Shen'er are not qualified to enter, once the big maids were not there, Xiaohong went into the room and poured tea for Baoyu, and was scolded by Musk Yueqiuwen, saying that she was not worthy of standing here at all, let alone serving tea and pouring water. You must know that Xiaohong is the daughter of the second housekeeper Lin Zhixiao's family, and she is not qualified to enter Baoyu's house, but in Lin Daiyu's Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Daiyu's house should have no taboos against her own minions, for example, the mother-in-law can listen in the master's living room, compared with Yihongyuan, these low-level minions are even more servile, in fact, they are more protective of the interests of their master Daiyu.
Baoyu is a good master of the slave, but compared with Lin Daiyu, there is obviously a considerable gap between the charm reflected in her own cultivation and Daiyu, it should be said that this is determined by Daiyu's personality, morality, and quality.
Grandma Liu is not a slave, she is a commoner, although she is poor, she is also a relative of Jiafu, and the mother-in-law in Xiaoxiang Pavilion is a slave in Jiafu, there is a difference in the identities of the two, but when Miaoyu and Daiyu compare, it is obvious to see the gap.
Who's the highest level? Who is the better representative of the real human being? I'm afraid the reader has already distinguished the superior.
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".