The first incense: the "dirty" of the prodigal son and the good family maiden, lost to the carnival of the widow of Kuota
"Although it is dirty here, it does have a bit of carnival energy, and the streets are full of chaotic fireworks."
This is a calm and desolate monologue written from the perspective of the heroine Ge Weilong when Zhang Ailing's "First Burning Incense" is nearing the end.
This novella masterpiece written by Zhang Ailing at the age of 23 reveals 8 words of "helpless" and "no other choice".
Zhang Ailing's tone is very frank, very objective, very calm, all show that Ge Weilong is a middle-class family, but encountered some difficulties, in his hometown Shanghai can live, in the colonial period of Ge Weilong when he went to school in Hong Kong, want to survive, but have to rely on his aunt Mrs. Liang, the story is extended from Ge Weilong to Mrs. Liang.
There is a strong smell of the dream of the red chamber at the beginning, the perspective is like Liu Grandma entering the Grand View Garden, such as Mrs. Liang's maid's words and deeds and dress, which are coming out of the dream of the Red Chamber, but it is not a violation, because Mrs. Liang's personality is the aunt of a rich and noble person at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and after the death of the old master, she gets a large amount of property, so she can be "Lafayette" in her own villa in the era of new and old ideas and the intersection of forces.
The names of Both Wei And Wei'er are both meaning "squinting eyes", and they are also a bit intriguing, and these two maids are as bold and spicy as the four fierce concubines in the Red Chamber, Jin Jun, Qingwen, Mandarin Duck, and Siqi, who dare to rob men with their masters, and because of this, They are thrown out by Mrs. Liang, and Wei'er later also robbed Ge Weilong's qiao qiao, so that the two people with a better relationship opened a tearing fight.
Wei Long's father is a traditional reader, since he is not used to it and looks down on his sister Mrs. Liang to make people small, there is an insult to the door style, then presumably in the future will not look down on the choice and practice of his daughter Ge Weilong, Wei Long chose to be a social flower in the small world of aunt Mrs. Liang, married to the prodigal son, which is commonly known today as the scumbag Qiao Qiao, and is rushed to paste the adopter's family.
In the environment at that time, she could not be an independent woman who completely relied on herself, and could only rely on the aunt who had originally relied on the success of men, and it was impossible to live in the original family for a lifetime, although it was not written that her father and her contradictions and discord were written, but this would inevitably break out.
In fact, Ge Weilong's inner monologue is very similar to Zhang Ailing's situation, and even said that it was Zhang Ailing's own inner monologue at that time, especially about the contradictions and struggles of studying and graduating and employment.
In order to read, Ge Weilong often stayed up all night until dawn, busy socializing during the day, listening to his aunt's arrangement, and Wei'er did not understand, Wei Long explained:
"I studied, it took a lot of effort to get such an opportunity, I can't help but read out some results."
Zhang Ailing is also the same, she can get the opportunity to study, but also with the support of her mother as a new type of woman, she has also talked about her essay collection, about the topic of genius, she is very "enterprising" when she reads, is a good student who works hard.
But whether it is Wei Long or Ai Ling, in the case of the outbreak of war at that time, the situation and the unstable environment, they are confused and anxious about whether they can graduate, find employment, and even survive, when Wei Er said that it is difficult to find a job after graduation, Wei Long replied:
"Why didn't I think of this layer?" Live where you go. ”
Isn't this Zhang Ailing's monologue when she was a young woman? Because her path to study was equally bumpy.
A few years before the creation of "The First Incense", she originally relied on her own efforts to be admitted to the University of London, but because of the war, she could not go, and in the following years, although she entered the Chinese Department of the University of Hong Kong, she could not graduate because of the war, and after the failure of the application for St. John's University in Shanghai, her "First Incense" was released and became popular in the Shanghai literary circle.
This year she was only 23 years old, Wei Long and she, are helpless and have little choice, independent women, only in the peacetime industrialization process will have more and better existence, Zhang Ailing at that time on her own can be independent, but Wei Long has her situation, but not completely her.
This question may be called the problem of "love is humble".
Although Zhang Ailing is a prominent family, her grandfather Zhang Peilun was a famous courtier at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and her grandmother Li Juling was the eldest daughter of Li Hongzhang, but she was a fallen nobleman, and it was basically difficult to get family support when she grew up.
The women she writes about are often very humble when choosing love, whether it is Gu Manzhen in "Half Life", or the white tassel in "Love in the City", or Ge Weilong in "The First Incense", which is more or less similar.
At first, with his classmate Lu Zhaolin, who admired each other, when he saw him looking at Zhou Jijie, Wei Long would truly "feel like soda with lemon juice, grunting and bubbling with sour bubbles", but when the veteran Ge Qiqi Qiao's prodding, Ge Weilong's empathy and farewell came quickly.
She was impulsive, even reckless, for the sake of Georgie Joe, she did not hesitate to make a big fuss and tear up, making a big fuss, making a big fuss, for him, and even willing to make money to support him.
The prodigal son of Chinese and Portuguese mixed race, Georgie Joe, although handsome, but not much gold, his father has several room aunts and wives, he is not favored, and he will not be able to share the furniture in the future, only hoping that with a small white face, he will find a white rich beauty, Wei Long is beautiful, but he is not rich, so Georgie Joe can change her like a change of clothes, the front foot is tender and sweet to her, so that she will never forget it all night, and the back foot will be like a blind eye", "over the wall to peep at each other, drill holes and gaps", "the willow head on the moon, people about after dusk".
Wei Long knew that she wanted to marry a young lady with rich makeup, and then she said that she could make money, and Georgie Joe did not want much, or Mrs. Liang persuaded that in the future, Wei Long could not make money, and then found evidence of her adultery, divorced her, and remarried one, Georgie Joe reluctantly agreed.
It can be seen that she loves too much and is too humble, and her heart is probably because Georgie Joe's words are good, she will say that she will be flattered, the key is very handsome, she does not want to come out when she falls, she is willing to degenerate, in fact, it is also related to the unstable environment around her, so she completely chose to live in the present, unable to consider in the long run:
"Can't think, think of only boundless terror. She had no long-lasting plan, only in this trivial little thing in front of her, her cowering heart, able to get a temporary rest. ”
This psychological explanation can be described as very real, and Mrs. Liang's evaluation of her character can also be described as to the point:
"You are a person with a tender face, a soft heart, a big temper, and no decision, and you have real feelings as soon as you come, and you are not this first-class talent at all."
Although Wei Long is the daughter of the middle class family, but the shaping of this personality is a representative of a kind of girl who has no heart and is reasonable, she is not stupid, but what she does looks silly, at the end, she and Ge Qiqi Qiao went out after marriage, and saw those women standing on the street, Ge Wei Long said:
"Well, what's the difference between me and them?" They were a last resort, I was voluntary. ”
Here it should be said that Wei Long's way of making money is not very glorious, mostly under the conditions provided by Mrs. Liang, and it is grabbed from the men in the upper class of the small world.
The biggest winner was Mrs. Leung, because she didn't have any real feelings.
For Qiao Qiqiao, Mrs. Liang and she are playing with each other, for Situ Xie, it is to take what they need, for those men who are staggered by the high society, it is a scene of drama, she can put down the lower child to do small, get wealth to success, the means are not ordinary, and will not give these assets, because of feelings, plain and simple.
For Ge Weilong, she is only investing, fortunately, Weilong looks like she has lost everything, but at least, Mrs. Liang's investment is not lost, and Weilong has also made money for her.
Wei Long should not think that she is losing, because everything is her choice, not as persecuted as Man Zhen.
What about the follow-up?
But it leaves the reader with unlimited room for reverie, perhaps, Wei Long's father will break off the father-daughter relationship with her, this probability is very high, perhaps, Qiao Qi Qiao will abandon Wei Long after many years, see others old and decay, perhaps, the ability to make money is gone, Mrs. Liang is not waiting to see her.
In fact, this probability is not only very large, but also in line with Zhang Ailing's usual narrative trend.
Of course, perhaps, Georgie Qiao changed her mind, her father fell to rely on her to help, And Wei Long relied on struggle to become another Mrs. Liang and succeeded...
Inside, out of the outside, jump out of the story itself, to talk about the work, to be honest, "The First Burning Incense" is more flavorful than Zhang Ailing's most famous "Love of the Fallen City", although there is a shadow of the Dream of the Red Chamber, but more is her unique things, such as the color description of the jagged contrast at the beginning, there is a very solid foundation of art and aesthetics.
For the use of words, it can also be called a master level, the character modeling is not biased, there are few private goods, completely follow the human setting and background, and can do the environmental plot to serve the characters.
Zhang Ailing's literary level is not worse than Lu Xun's, the difference is that under the situation of internal and external difficulties at that time, Lu Xun extended his brushstrokes to a broader bottom society, chose all sentient beings, and thus won the word great, Zhang Ailing chose a narrower face, she only chose urban women, and she could not achieve broader resonance and broader feelings.
But the criticism of women's human nature and the contribution to modern literature are also not small.