The phlegm in Yan Jiansheng's throat sounded in and out, and he could not stop breathing without a sound, and he also took his hand out of the sheet and held out two fingers. The eldest nephew stepped forward and asked, "Second uncle, don't you still have two relatives who have not met?" He shook his head two or three times. The second nephew stepped forward... Zhao Shi hurriedly wiped out tears, approached and said, "Grandpa, others say it irrelevant, only I can know what you mean!" You are for the lamp to light two stalks of lampweed, not at ease, afraid of spending oil. I'm going to pick out a stem now. "Say it, and hurry to pick out a stem." When everyone looked at Yan Jiansheng, they nodded their heads, lowered their hands, and when they boarded, they lost their breath.
"Two-stemmed Lantern Grass" in the textbook
The above text, I think everyone will not feel strange. It comes from the classic text "Two Stems of Lantern Grass" of the Renjiao edition of the Chinese textbook, which tells the story of Yan Jiansheng's death that he saw that the lamp in the room lit two stalks of lamp grass, stretched out two fingers and refused to stop breathing, and the eldest nephew, the second nephew and the nursing mother could not guess the meaning, until Mrs. Zhao picked out a stem of lamp grass.
When many Chinese teachers talk about this text, they often use the word "miserly" to summarize the character image of Yan Jiansheng, believing that the author Wu Jingzi wrote this fragment to satirize Yan Jiansheng's ridiculous behavior of loving money more than life. Not only that, many people also like to combine Yan Jiansheng with Shakespeare's Sherlock, Molière's Abagun, Balzac's Grande, and Gogol's Peruschkin, so that Yan Jiansheng ranks among the world's miserly ghosts.
Sherlock image
But is Yan Jiansheng really a miser? Miserliness is a pejorative term, which refers to people's excessive emphasis on their own property, goods, etc., do not spend what should be spent, do not use what should be used, are unwilling to dedicate money, emotions, and materials to others, collectively and socially, and lack the spirit of self-sacrifice.
The Yan Jiansheng in the text refuses to swallow his breath because his family wasted lamp oil, and indeed he attaches great importance to money, but we cannot say that he is stingy in this regard, because we do not know whether he is willing to give money to others, and whether he has a spirit of self-sacrifice. In other words, Yan Jiansheng's act of making such a move before his death may be miserly or economical. It's like a man who lives a very frugal life and treats himself extremely harshly, but he donates the money he saves to someone in need, would we say that person is stingy?
Strict supervision of the image of students
Therefore, as far as this fragment of the text is concerned, we cannot judge what kind of person Yan Jiansheng really is. To judge the image of Yan Jiansheng, it is necessary to link the description of Yan Jiansheng elsewhere in the "History of Ru Lin". Unfortunately, many Language teachers refer not to the original work when preparing lessons, but to the teaching reference book; the author of the teaching reference book often uses some old version of the literary history, which although "classic", is not necessarily completely correct. Otherwise, a literary history of the sixties and seventies is enough, and there is no need to produce new ones later.
In the last century, there were two most authoritative literary history textbooks, one was the "History of Chinese Literature" edited by the Institute of Language and Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the other was the "History of Chinese Literature" compiled by You Guoen, Wang Qi, Xiao Difei and others, a first-class professor at Peking University. The "History of Chinese Literature" of the Institute of Literature and Research describes Yan Jiansheng as follows: When Yan Jiansheng was dying, because he had lit an extra lamp grass, he stretched out his finger and refused to look at it, which was not only a special personality of Yan Jiansheng, but also reflected the extremely miserly nature of the landlord class, which was universal.
You Guoen Edition of History of Chinese Literature
You Guo'en's version of the literary history textbook also considers Yan Jiansheng to be a completely negative character, and compares him with his brother Yan Gongsheng, believing that Wu Jingzi exposed and severely lashed out at Wang Hui, Tang Zhixian, and Yan Jiansheng's brothers in the "History of Ru Linwai".
However, in the new century, with the in-depth development of literary studies, many new versions of literary history textbooks no longer regard Yan Jiansheng as a pure miser. For example, in Yuan Xingpei's edition of the History of Chinese Literature, which currently has the greatest influence in China, the description of Yan Jiansheng is as follows: Yan Jiansheng refused to stop breathing because of the two lanterns lit in the lamp before his death, but he was not the embodiment of the concept of miserliness, but a living person. He is courteous and courteous, not only to protect his own interests everywhere, but also to maintain his face at all times.
Yuan Xingpei's Edition of The History of Chinese Literature
The most notable of these passages is that "yet he is not the embodiment of the concept of miserliness, but a living man". Many people like to summarize the so-called "typical characters" when it comes to literary figures, but Yuan Xingpei's version of the literary history textbook clearly tells us that Yan Jiansheng is not such a typical character, but a complex and multi-faceted character, just like a living person in life.
Of course, we cannot subconsciously think that the most affirmed literary history textbooks in academia are completely correct. To truly understand what kind of person Yan Jiansheng really is, the best way is to read the "History of Ru Lin Wai" in its entirety, and on the basis of forming an overall perception of the work, focus on grasping the fragments about Yan Jiansheng and analyzing it. Wu Jingzi explained the main theme of the book in the first part of the book:
Fame and fortune have no credentials. Exhausted mood, always the streamer mistaken. Three glasses of turbid wine were drunk, and the water flowed and the flowers knew where. This song is also a cliché, but it is said that the rich and famous name of life is an external thing. But as soon as the world saw the name of merit, they sacrificed their lives to beg him, and when they reached it, they tasted the same as chewing wax. From ancient times to the present, which one can be seen?
Portrait of Wu Jingzi
However, it is worth noting that the reason why "The History of Ru LinWai" can become the pinnacle of ancient Chinese satirical novels is not only because it depicts the different manifestations of various people for "fame and fortune" in a realistic way, and profoundly criticizes and ridicules the corruption of the officialdom, the shortcomings of the imperial examination, and the hypocrisy of etiquette. In addition, "The History of Ru Lin Wai" also earnestly praises the independent personality who insists on self-preservation, and deeply sympathizes with some contradictory characters who are struggling and cannot find a way out.
What kind of person is Yan Jiansheng? Is it a pungent taunt, or a warm praise, or a deep sympathy? In order to answer this question, we must grasp the description of strict supervision and make a detailed analysis. The description of Yan Jiansheng in the "History of Ru LinWaishi" is mainly concentrated in the fifth "Wang Xiucai Discussion On the Side of Yan Jiansheng's Death", and the characters related to him mainly include his brother Yan Gongsheng, his wife Wang Shi and his wife's uncle, the stepmother Zhao clan, and his son. The life story of Yan Jiansheng also revolves around these characters.
Old version of the History of Rulin
Yan Gongsheng is Yan Jiansheng's brother and is a negative character portrayed by the author Wu Jingzi. Although Yan Gongsheng was dressed in a crown, he was overbearing in his daily life, doing all kinds of shady and mean bad things, and even the local Zhixian could not look down on him and wanted to arrest him for interrogation. Yan Gongsheng heard the wind and fled to the provincial capital, and the people in the government could not find Yan Gongsheng, so they had to find his brother Yan Jiansheng.
Although Yan Jiansheng and Yan Gongsheng are brothers, they have long been separated. When the family was divided, the two people each had half of the family property, Yan Gongsheng spent money like flowing water, delicious and lazy, and did not accumulate any family property; Yan Jiansheng had saved more than 100,000 taels of silver because of his frugality and financial management, and he was a rich man. Yan Jiansheng was a rich and timid man, and as soon as the people from the government came, he took on his brother's affairs.
Strict supervision of the brothers
Yan Jiansheng first spent two thousand dollars to dispatch the messenger, and then spent some silver to compensate the Wang family whose legs were broken by Yan Gongsheng, and spent more than a dozen taels of silver to dredge up relations at Yamen. Yan Jiansheng is willing to take out so much money to deal with his brother's affairs, although it is mainly because he is timid and afraid of things, but he can decisively take out money to eliminate disasters for his brother, and it is difficult for us to say that he is a miserly ghost who does not pull out.
After talking about Yan Gongsheng, let's see how Yan Jiansheng treats his wife Wang Shi. Like Yan Jiansheng, Wang Shi was very frugal, with a yellow face and thin muscles, so sick that he could not walk steadily, and he was still there to load melon seeds and peel chestnuts, which should have been done by the next person. After Wang's serious illness, Yan Jiansheng invited four or five doctors to see his wife every day, using expensive medicinal materials such as ginseng, and the silver spent was at least hundreds of thousands of taels. However, when Yan Jiansheng himself was seriously ill, he was reluctant to take good medicine and ask a famous doctor. In contrast, Yan Jiansheng undoubtedly showed a touching spirit of self-sacrifice, how can we be harsh on him for being stingy?
Illustration of the Outer History of Rulin
It is particularly noteworthy that after wang's death, Yan Jiansheng spent four or five thousand taels of silver to take care of the aftermath. Repairing the fast, rationalizing the seventh, opening the funeral, and going out of the funeral, there was a disturbance before and after for half a year, so that the Wang family could be buried in a beautiful scenery. If Yan Jiansheng was a complete miser, how could he spend so much money to deal with the aftermath of his deceased wife?
Look at Zhao again. The Zhao clan was raised to the main chamber with the consent of the Wang clan when the Wang clan was seriously ill. Although Zhao Shi was young and gave birth to a big fat boy for Yan Jiansheng, she spent a lot of money and was far inferior to Wang Shi in Yan Jiansheng's view. Once, When Yan Jiansheng accidentally discovered the private money saved by the Wang family before his death, he couldn't help but be grief-stricken, and he missed the goodness of his deceased wife more and more, and gradually became seriously ill. From this, we once again see the affectionate side of Yan Jiansheng.
Of course, Yan Jiansheng is not exactly a positive image. Although he had more than 100,000 taels of silver in the family property, he was too frugal, frugal to the point of being very harsh. In this regard, Yan Jiansheng himself once said: The four families live at home, and the pork is reluctant to buy a pound. When the younger son wants to eat, he buys four dollars in the delicate cutter and coaxes him. In addition, through the description of other details of Yan Jiansheng's life and the details of Wang's life, it is not difficult to find that Wu Jingzi did not portray Yan Jiansheng as a person who is fully worthy of recognition.
Therefore, Yan Jiansheng is not a simple typical image, but a complex character with deep connotations. If we forcibly call him a miser, and place him in the forest of miserly ghosts in the world alongside Sherlock, Pryushkin, Abagon, and Grantai, not only will we not add luster to the History of Rurin, but we will greatly damage the value of this great classical masterpiece.
Sherlock, Pryushkin, Abagun, Grantaire, the misers of European literature can be said to be dehumanized, especially in the moment of loss of money. Sherlock cursed after her own daughter escaped with the money: I want my daughter to die at my feet, and the jewels are hanging on her ears; I want her to be buried under my feet, and the silver money is placed in her coffin.
Not only did Pryushkin frantically amass wealth, but he also had no tenderness toward his daughter and son, only endless cursing, and even the gift to the little grandson was just a button. When Grande learned that her daughter Eugenie had given thousands of francs to her cousin Charlie, she was so angry that she deprived her of her personal freedom and locked her up. After losing 10,000 gold coins, Abagun not only claimed to hang himself if he could not get them back, but also demanded that all people be hanged.
Compared with the four miserly ghosts in the world literary world, Yan Jiansheng is undoubtedly more humane and brilliant, not an out-and-out miser who has completely lost his humanity. If we combine the life of Wu Jingzi, we will be able to better appreciate the misfortune of Yan Jiansheng and the author's sympathy for him.
Wu Jingzi was born into a bureaucratic family, and because his uncle Wu Lin was childless and inherited his family. Wu Jingzi's succession to his uncle's family meant that he could inherit more inheritance, thus attracting the resentment and attack of his clan, and he was involved in the whirlpool of family disputes from an early age. When Wu Jingzi was thirteen years old, his biological father died of illness, and various contradictions in the family once again struck him, and Wu Jingzi became depressed and lonely. After the death of his adoptive father Wu Linqi, the clan members demanded to separate their families by relying on the multitude of people, and Wu Jingzi called it "brothers participating in business, clan slander". The isolated Wu Jingzi failed in the process of fighting for the inheritance, and his sick wife Tao Shi ended up with hatred because she was unwilling to endure bullying. The damage caused by this kind of property dispute within the family is a pain in the skin for Wu Jingzi.
In the "History of Ru Lin", yan jian complained that he was "angry with the big house all day long" when he was seriously ill, and it is not difficult to see that the relationship between the brothers was very poor. The main reason for the brothers' discord is money - the elder brother Yan Gongsheng has always coveted his brother's wealth. After Yan Jiansheng's death, Yan Gongsheng indeed embezzled most of his brother's property. However, Yan Jiansheng's son unfortunately died prematurely. The tragic nature of the character of Yan Jiansheng could not help but rise to the extreme.
Why is it said that the death of Yan Jiansheng's son has raised the tragedy to the extreme? Because for Yan Jiansheng, the most important thing is not money, but sons. Before the people planted trees and then the people cooled off, this is a very typical traditional cultural psychology. Yan Jiansheng had so much wealth but was reluctant to spend it, for his own descendants. From this point of view, Yan Jiansheng is actually a very traditional Chinese, and his frugality and extravagance are completely based on the traditional virtues of Chinese - self-denial. Frugality is self-denial, and extravagant funerals are retribution.
But suddenly, one day, Yan Jiansheng's descendants completely disappeared from this world, and everything he had worked so hard to save suddenly became meaningless. The novel "The History of Rulin" thus rises to the height of philosophy, and it begins to ask eternal philosophical questions -- how should people live, what kind of life is meaningful, and how should people establish their independent values?
Statue of Wu Jingzi
As we pointed out earlier, the tragedy of Yan Jiansheng is not that he treats himself so harshly that he is misunderstood as "miserly", but that everything he does eventually loses its meaning. In fact, the same is true of Zhou Jin, Fan Jin, and others who are obsessed with the imperial examination in the "History of Ru Linwai", and the tragedy lies not in their own behavior, but in the loss of meaning in their behavior.
It is precisely because the "History of Rulin" has reached such a height in terms of thinking that today's readers can still get infinite inspiration from it. Because today we will still encounter the same spiritual dilemma as Yan Jiansheng, Fan Jin, and Zhou Jin, that is, what kind of person should we become and what kind of life path should we choose?
In addition, in addition to raising profound questions of the value of individual liberation, the History of Rulinwai also points out a path for us at the end through four worldly strangers. Although novelists are not obliged to give answers to their questions in their works, they also have to admit that "The History of Ru Lin Wai Shi" is more of a life guide than "Dream of the Red Chamber".
At the end of "The History of Ru Lin", Wu Jingzi shows us four strange people who have independent personalities in the secular world. These four strange people are Ji Xiannian, who can write, Wang Tai, who sells coal, Gai Kuan, who opens a tea house, and Jing Yuan, who is a tailor. They all have a skill that can make a living, but on this basis they have their own poetry and distance.
For example, although Jingyuan is a tailor and does very rough work on weekdays, he plays the piano, writes, and writes poetry as soon as he is idle. Someone asked Jing Yuan: If you want to be a graceful person, why do you have to do such indecent work as a tailor? Jingyuan replied:
Our unworthy deeds were left over from my grandfather. Is it possible that reading and being a tailor is not tarnished? Every day I find six or seven cents of silver, I have enough to eat, I have to play the piano, I have to write, and everything is up to me. Is there not coveting the riches of men, and not serving the colors of men; the heavens do not receive, the earth does not care, but is not happy?
New Edition of the History of Rulin
Jing Yuan's freedom is not because he is completely out of the world and away from the noise, but because he has the ability to live a well-founded life and has a certain economic foundation. As an ancient intellectual, Wu Jingzi was able to realize and point out this hundreds of years ago, which is very admirable. For us today, this is still very instructive.
Of course, the connotation of this classical masterpiece is extremely rich, and it is completely out of the four famous works of "Journey to the West", "Water Margin", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Dream of the Red Chamber", and what this article points out is only the tip of the iceberg. If you want to deeply understand the "History of Rulin", broaden your horizons, enrich your knowledge, absorb wisdom, and inspire your thinking, welcome to read the original work. Just poke the link below to get the genuine "History of Rulin", the annotation is barrier-free to read in detail, primary and secondary school students can read, the price is also very affordable.
The annotated version of the "Outer History of Rulin" is accessible ¥29.8 Purchase