In the spring of 1924, when February was still warm and cold, Mr. Lu Xun wrote a short story of more than 9,000 words, "Blessings".
This novel has left a strong mark on the history of Modern and Contemporary Chinese literature. The article takes the intellectual "I" as the narrator, the low-level character "Xiang Lin Sister-in-law" as the protagonist, and with a profound and sharp writing, within 10,000 words, she has completed a woman's extremely tragic life.
In 1956, 32 years after the novel's birth, Mr. Sang Arc brought the story of Xiang Lin's sister-in-law to the big screen. The film, titled "Blessings," also became the first color feature film in New China.
Lu Xun wrote this novel at a time when the New Culture Movement was developing. Driven by his personal sense of social responsibility, he used words as a weapon to criticize the old world and customs to the point, sentence by sentence, in an attempt to awaken the minds of everyone.
The film version of "Blessings" is led by Shangying and written by Xia Yan, and released on the 20th anniversary of Mr. Lu Xun's death. Therefore, it has become the first feature film in the history of Chinese cinema to put Lu Xun's typical characters on the screen and the first feature film to make literary works filmed and television, which is of great pioneering significance.
The story takes place before the Xinhai Revolution, in a remote mountain village in eastern Zhejiang, lived a widow who had been widowed for many years, and she was called "Xianglin Sister-in-law" by the local villagers.
In the original novel, Xianglin's sister-in-law has no name and no surname, only because her husband's name is Xianglin, so she got her name. This shows how severe the oppression of poor women by feudal ritualism was.
After the death of her husband, the "coffin account" in the family rolled larger and larger like a snowball. Forced to make a living, the cruel mother-in-law decided to sell Xianglin's sister-in-law in order to pay off the debt and earn money for the second son of the family.
After several years of bitter widowhood, I did not expect to end up being sold. In desperation, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law had to run away from home and fled to Luzhen, dozens of miles away, overnight.
How should a penniless woman survive in a foreign land with no relatives? Under that harsh environment, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was tantamount to taking risks with herself, but what could she do?
At the moment of no availability, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law actually met her fellow villagers here. After her introduction, she stayed in the home of the local rich man, Lu Si, and became a maid. Although the work is hard and tired, it is good to be able to barely eat mixed food. In this regard, Xiang Lin was very content.
No matter how Xiang Lin's sister-in-law could handle it, it was still difficult to resist the suspicion and contempt of Lu Fourth Master and Lu Fourth Lady. With low remuneration, they made xianglin sister-in-law, such a labor force who worked tirelessly, everywhere difficult and squeezed everywhere.
It is inevitable that the people under the fence will not bow their heads, and Xiang Lin's sister-in-law endures cold eyes and is humble everywhere. I thought that the second half of my life would be like this, but who knew that the mother-in-law and her party still found her and tied her back.
After two fists are difficult to defeat four hands - after refusing in every way, and even forcing her to die without success, poor Xiang lin sister-in-law was still sold by her mother-in-law. Sold to a mountain pass, she became a daughter-in-law.
Xiang Lin's second husband was named He Laoliu, an honest man. Buying relatives was his eldest brother's idea, so he also owed a debt.
He Laoliu took good care of Xiang Lin's sister-in-law, and he was a person who had a responsibility and could live a life. Gradually, Xianglin's sister-in-law accepted He Laoliu and bore him a son named Ah Mao.
However, the good times did not last long - He Laoliu was injured during a work, fell ill due to lack of timely treatment, and his health deteriorated until he became ill and fell down.
The husband is bedridden, the creditor comes to collect the debt - how should such a day be good? Xiang Lin's sister-in-law's life was once again plunged into the quagmire of despair.
Life is like a script, full of joy and sorrow. And xianglin sister-in-law's life script is a complete tragedy.
He Laoliu died of illness shortly after because he had no money to seek medical treatment. His son Ah Mao was taken away by a wild wolf outside the mountain pass and hollowed out his stomach... Almost overnight, all the misfortunes of the world befell this poor woman, without mercy, hysterically!
Losing her husband and son, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law's life once again fell to the bottom of despair. She couldn't find a second choice in life, and she couldn't find a second place to stay. In desperation, he had to cheekily go to lu zhen lu fourth old master's house again.
Even if Lu Si was disgusted, he still couldn't stand Mrs. Lu Si's obsession with cheap labor. In this way, Xiang Lin once again stayed in this place of right and wrong.
In that closed old society, women lost their husbands and children, and they were always inevitably accused by outsiders of a series of groundless accusations such as "mourning stars" and "obscurity".
Obviously, he is the victim of the poison of feudal etiquette, but he still has to be poked in the spine, and he inexplicably bears these false accusations, which is simply absurd!
The victim guilt theory is the sin of innocence, or the disaster of innocence, borne by women in that era.
It was this absurd idea that made Xiang Lin listen to the rumors without thinking, donate the full amount of the remuneration from hard work, and change the new threshold for the temple.
She believes that the threshold of her donation can only be achieved by a hundred people and a thousand people, so as to achieve the purpose of "atonement" and not be tortured by ghosts after death. How absurd is this idea.
However, Xiang Lin's efforts were not rewarded. At first, she told others about the tragic fact that her son was eaten by wolves, which always aroused some sympathy from the listeners.
But the more times she said it, the people who listened to it began to feel annoyed, and even suspected that this was nonsense, a trick of her sympathy, and it was extremely obscure.
Over time, Xiang Lin's sister-in-law was isolated, and no one took care of her. She was swept out of the house by Fourth Master Lu and gradually turned into a beggar. In a large Chinese New Year's Eve where people were saying blessings to each other, Xiang lin died alone in the street...
If you have not read Lu Xun's "Blessings", just look at the title, you may feel that it is a "warm" article. After reading it, I know that it is "sharp", and the words are full of sharp edges.
Like the novel, the film sharply exposes the persecution of Chinese women by the "four powers", profoundly, fiercely and soberly! It sounds like it is silent, but it is actually deafening.
65 years have passed, and watching this "Blessing" today, it is still not fading, but it is full of mixed feelings. Perhaps, this is the vitality of a classic movie, it is worth watching again, and it is often new.