Dream
The stone in "Dream of the Red Chamber", the author based on the mythical story of Nüwa patching the heavens, added the remaining plot of the Nüwa patching the heavenly stone, and because the Tang and Song Dynasties prevailed to use the "patching the heaven stone" as a metaphor for the pursuit of economic career learning, the author wrote this metaphor into the text, giving the stone a new origin and meaning.
First, the origin of the "stone" imagery in "Dream of the Red Chamber"
The literary masterpiece "Dream of the Red Chamber" was originally called Shi Ji, and this statement originated from the commentary of The Fat Yan Zhai of the Jia Shu Ben. When the First Book of Stones was mentioned in the Kojikubun, Li Yanzhai commented: "The real name is also." Regarding the origin of the stone, the beginning of the Jia Shu Ben tells the cause of the story: Nuwa refined 36,500 stubborn stones in order to repair the heavens, and after the repair of the heavens, only one piece was left unused and abandoned under the Qinggeng Peak. This stone saw that it was self-pitying and self-pitying, and mourning day and night. Suddenly, one day, when he saw a monk sitting on the ground and talking about the prosperity of the world, the stone moved the hearts of mortals. Yang told the two teachers that they wanted to go along with them to see it, and the monk said, "Although the prosperity of the world is good, it is not long-lasting, and it will pass in a flash." If you want to go, let me go. The sleeves of the robe were stretched out, and the stone was rolled up and disappeared.
A monk carried this stone to the land of Changming and Longsheng, the clan of Shili Miao, the prosperous land of flowers and willows, and the gentle and rich township, and experienced a period of human life. And this stubborn stone also became a crystal clear jade that Jia Baoyu held in his mouth when he was born, and Jia Baoyu hung it in the necklace day by day, always without leaving. That is to say, this stone and Jia Baoyu merged into one. The experience of the stone is also the experience of Jia Baoyu.
Second, the mythological source of "stone"
The origin of the "Dream of the Red Chamber" stone comes from the story of Nüwa Patching Heaven, which was first recorded in "Liezi TangWen", which was widely circulated in ancient China, but the story recorded in "Liezi Tangwen" does not say that there are still colorful stones left after Nüwa patches the heavens, let alone that the heavenly stones also have the magic of speaking and changing size. The stones written in Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber are not the same as the mythical story of Nüwa Supplementing Heaven. This is because in the process of this story being circulated, it gradually gave it a new social meaning, that is, the political meaning of the Heavenly Stone has a lofty sense of relief.
Nuwa makes up the heavens
The idea that the Heavenly Stone refined by Nuwa had a surplus and did not exert its ability also did not originate from Cao Xueqin. This originated with Su Shi. In the first year of Shao Sheng, Emperor Zhezong personally marched, and there was a new political force in the imperial court. Su Shi was degraded several times, and in the fourth year of Shao Sheng, Su Shi was once again demoted from the Ningyuan Army in Huizhou, and this time, he was demoted to Hainan Island to serve as Qiongzhou's other driver. Changhua is located in the middle of nowhere, even medicine and food are scarce, in this context, Su Shi wrote in "Dan'er Mountain": Suddenly the pass is empty, and his mountain is always inferior. When you look at the stones on the side of the road, you are all replenishing the heavens.
The meaning of Su Shi's poem is probably: the dan'er mountain that rises suddenly is incomparable to other peaks, and if you look at the stones next to the road, they are all left by Nuwa to make up for the heavens. The poem expresses Su Shi's indignation that he was not reused. Su Shi described himself as a forgotten Heavenly Stone that was not reused by the imperial court, and was expelled from this small city and could not exert his ambitions. Here in the Southern Song Dynasty anti-Jin hero Xin Abandoned Disease, Su Shi's "HeavenLy Stone" has a further meaning and imagery, with "I laugh and work together to be angry." Break the pillar of E'e Heaven. Make up the heavens and laugh at the verse that nuwa is busy, but throws this stone into idle places."
Third, the meaning of the "stone" imagery of "Dream of the Red Chamber"
1. Explain the mythological background of the story
The use of the allusion of the first time nuwa to make up the heavens in the dream of the Red Chamber is a high-level summary of the ideological content of the whole book, and it is euphemistic in the inconvenience. It shows the tragic scene of "white bones like mountains and forgetting surnames", and he is indeed the abandoned stone of Nuwa Patching Heaven, even if he is extraordinarily talented, there is no way to change all this, and his good wishes eventually come to naught.
Of course, the legend of Nüwa refining stones to repair the heavens is nonsense, but the information contained in it is true and credible, and there is no doubt about it. The information it reveals is as follows: First, this stubborn stone belongs to heaven and is very talented, as is the metaphor for Jia Baoyu, who was born with extraordinary talents; second, although it has a unique talent, he often sighs that its shame comes from the regrets and troubles hidden in the deep mountains, because it is based on the "Great Desolate Mountain", and has to be associated with "nonsense", and is regarded as an ordinary stone, and he wants to feel the mortal world of rich and gentle countryside.
Jia Baoyu
To illustrate its origin with the myth of Nüwa alchemy, the author wants to express the ideological realm of "falsehood when it is true", that is, there is truth and fiction in the story, he writes virtual things and virtual things, so as to achieve the purpose of covering up the truth with falsehood and faxing with false fax. Although the author Cao Xueqin repeatedly stated at the beginning of the volume that "this book does not dare to interfere with the imperial court", "although some of them refer to the words of treachery and condemnation, they are not the purpose of cursing the world when hurting", claiming that "the great purpose of romance" is to write a few strange women" of "small talents and micro-kindness" and "love or delusion". In fact, the author uses the mythology as the background, saying that he is writing about the boudoir in order to escape the prison of words.
Philosophically, the author's use of mythology as a backdrop can be seen as a premise that none of these beings can arise on their own, and then it will certainly face an end. For example, glory and wealth, glory and wealth are all hard earned by people, and then whether people want to or not, there will always be a day of dissipation in the end. It is the so-called "in the end, it is all for others to make wedding clothes", so that we can use the result to negate the process of human efforts, to achieve a dream-like realm.
2. The character image is pointed out
The fundamental meaning of the imagery given to the stone by Cao Xueqin: this heaven-replenishing stone refined by Nüwa fell under the "Qinggan Peak", so it had no connection with the cause of supplementing the heavens; Jia Baoyu, who entered the world as a "stone" phantom, had no use in "repairing the heavens" because of his "depraved love roots," nor did he engage in the cause of "repairing the heavens." What this sentence points out is the fundamental feature of Jia Baoyu's image.
From the moment Baoyu was born, the salvation of the soul began, that is, the most perfect love, that is, the perfection of approaching God, and it was hoped that everyone would yearn for love, not the suppression and extinction of the Buddhist family, the process of redemption had no commitment, just like Jia Zheng told Baoyu that the utilitarian road, reality, taking and utilitarianism are always in the opposite direction of the soul, so there is Baoyu's resistance, he alone guards the short life of love, this is the path of the soul' divine desire, some people say that this is the direction to heaven.
Jia Zheng and Baoyu
Jia Baoyu in the mortal world, like this stone, is useless in the eyes of Jia Zheng, can not bring glory and wealth to the family, can not add officials to the knighthood, Jia Baoyu is such a tragedy, from ancient times to the present we have been following the principle of "learning to apply", but there are always some people outside the standard, they think that useful is useless, useless is useful. Jia Baoyu was such a tragedy, in that era the thirty-second time of "Dream of the Red Chamber", because Jia Yucun came to visit Baoyu in the afternoon of the hot summer, Baoyu was uncomfortable in his heart, Shi Xiangyun said to Baoyu: "I should also often meet these eunuchs for officials, talk about those who are career economy, and also have future social affairs." Bao Yu changed his face at that time and wanted to shake Xiang Yun away.
The author hates the "Career Economy", so his Jia Baoyu has more potential for uselessness in the eyes of the world, and can be described as "useless" in terms of "Career" and "Economy" and "Career Economy".
3. Reveals the theme of the whole book
The so-called abandoned stone is still the kind of abandoned stone that is useless in shape and appearance. Fortunately, he was transformed into a world and witnessed a legend. However, in the end, what we must see clearly is the disillusionment of the world's glitz, the evolution of all kinds of worlds from color to emptiness, and the evolution of the personal spiritual world from emptiness to color.
The setting of Baoyu in the book is a combination of the remaining stones of Nuwa PatchIng Heaven and the attendants of Shen Ying. First of all, let's talk about the Heavenly Stone, which not only points out Baoyu's qualifications, but also explains his fate. He can be used to replenish the heavens, so he is highly qualified and his innate ability endowment is first-class. There is a sensitive mind, a clever mind, and a good skin bag. However, in the end, he was unable to repair the heavens, indicating that he could only be a discarded material of heaven and earth for the rest of his life, and his talents could not be used on the right path. And the book says that when Baoyu entered the mortal world, he wanted to go to the first-class rich and gentle countryside to enjoy it for a few years. Therefore, he is to be blessed in the beginning, not to take responsibility. All his actions in the world are for the sake of happiness, for himself to experience beauty, to experience that tender interest, so he refuses to do things that he does not enjoy.
Then there was Jia Yucun and Leng Zixing who talked about the qi of good and evil, and compared Baoyu with various ancients, which was actually very clear. He was indeed a low-grade version of Emperor Huizong of Song, Lord Li Hou. It can be said that Baoyu's qualifications, fate, temperament, and endowments have been exhausted in the first two times. And then he did go on like this, at least the first eighty times there was no change.
The above is from the conceptual level to say Baoyu. In this regard, there is no point in accusing him of being irresponsible or anything like that. Because he did not come to take responsibility, and the last thing he had to do was to break out of the shackles of this world. Shackles refer not only to the career economy, but also to persistence and beauty. From the setting, Baoyu has no worldly responsibility.
Baoyu fell into distress
In his life, there is another important issue in Baoyu's life, that is, enlightenment. This is a very important purpose of the Divine Attendant Netherworld, the Path of Enlightenment. He finally wanted to realize that the red pink skeleton, the golden dung, and the white expanse of the earth were really clean. All goodness will collapse, and all things in the world will be impermanent. On this point, Zhen Shi's performance of being a monk and a monk is also very clear. His ten years of dedication to beautiful things, his emotional investment in the world's sentient and heartless people, and finally all for the sake of breaking. Break the attachment, break the seven passions and six desires. There is no fear without hindrance, and there is no upside down dream. This is the final return of Baoyu, and it is also the theme of the whole book. If you want to be good, you want it, and this is also the true meaning of the song in the good song.
3. Summary
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is a realistic style of "world love novel", written in the human story, the so-called "follow the trail, do not dare to wear a little chisel". Cao Xueqin takes the stone myth of "making up for the heavens without talent" as the central image of this novel, and its mythological color and strange special connotation not only make readers feel the magic of this novel's thinking, the freshness of the style, and the eternity of the sentiment, but more importantly, the theme of denying the life path of the career economy has a deep and broad historical and philosophical implications and dazzling romantic colors, which has a huge significance in the history of Classical Chinese novels and even the entire history of literature.
【Source: Phoenix News Client】
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