Chapter 17 "Jin Ping Mei" Xiao Zha and gossip about the Red Chamber Chapter 16 Popular beauties

(2) Yan The so-called "yan" means glamorous, that is, the most popular type of beauties. 1. Fresh and charming Xue Baochai Baochai is undoubtedly No. 1 in the list of "yan". Baochai is a standard beauty. She has a round face, big eyes, white skin, and a slightly plump figure (the indicators in the Qing Dynasty are different from ours, just look at the pictures of beautiful women. Baochai’s figure was thought to be slightly plump at that time, but it is very standard today. On the contrary, what was considered standard in the Tang Dynasty should be relatively plump today). Therefore, Baochai should conform to that standard in every way, just as her thinking is not moral in any way.

The fourth time Baochai appeared on the stage, he used the tone of a storyteller to comment on her as "smooth and smooth, and her manners are elegant". Introduce Keqing, and then promise her "bright and charming". In the twenty-first chapter, Baoyu was caught between Xiangyun and Daiyu, and thought he was enlightened for a while, so he wrote a "continuation of the coffin", in which there was "the immortal posture of Baochai, and the spiritual orifice of gray Daiyu". words.Baochai's "fairy posture" is not attractive to Baoyu. Another sixty-three times, Shouyi Hongqunfang held a night banquet, and the Baochai flower was drawn to sign a poem that was a peony flower that "even if it is ruthless, it is touching". "Note: Let's congratulate each other at the table. This is the crown of beauty..." Everyone laughed and said, "Coincidentally, you are also originally married with peony flowers." But Baoyu's reaction was "just hold that Signed, and recited "even if it is ruthless, it is touching" upside down in the mouth.These descriptions are intriguing.

This sentence is originally from the poem "Peony" written by Luo Yin in the Tang Dynasty: It seems that there is another reason for the total east wind, and Jiang Luo's high rolls are beyond spring. If you teach and explain language, you should pour down the country, even if it is ruthless, it will also move people. The peony and the king are close attendants, where can the hibiscus avoid the dust? Poor Han Ling failed Hua Guo after he succeeded. Coincidentally, what Daiyu drew was Furong.The gorgeous and complicated flower shape of peony is not comparable to that of hibiscus.

In short, whenever Baochai is mentioned in the article, it seems that she is everywhere trying to show that she is recognized as the crown of beauty and the most beautiful girl in the Grand View Garden. Baochai is not only "fresh and beautiful" in appearance, but also "fabulous" in figure, as evidenced by Baoyu's "Poem of White Begonia": "It's too real to be a shadow on the ice when you come out of the bath, and hold Xiziyu in your heart as your soul." One finger Daiyu.Baoyu knocked again, and Baoyu said, "No wonder they compare their sister to Concubine Yang, because they are fat and timid." Baochai was furious.The "they" in Baoyu's mouth are naturally not friends or servants. Firstly, these people dare not discuss the boudoir in front of Baoyu, and secondly, Baoyu dare not speak in front of Baochai. "They" could only be the sisters in the garden, or Baoyu's girl.It can be seen that Baochai's likeness to Concubine Yang is a private evaluation by everyone.

The book also gives detailed descriptions of Baochai's costumes.In the seventh round of presenting palace flowers, Zhou Rui's family saw Baochai "wearing homely clothes, with only hairpins loose on her head".In the eighth chapter, Baoyu went to find Baochai and saw Baochai doing needlework, "with a jet-black hairpin on her head, a honey-colored padded jacket, a rose-purple two-color gold and silver mouse shoulder-to-shoulder jacket, and a light yellow satin cotton skirt. , one color is half new and not old, and it doesn’t look luxurious.” Wang Xifeng and others are gorgeously dressed, while Baochai is much more simple, one is to stay in the boudoir, and the identity is different from the young lady, and the other is to highlight her "virtue".

It's strange that such a beautiful woman with good morals, speech and appearance is writing about her appearance for the first time, that is, the eighth chapter, which uses "the lips are not smudged but red, the eyebrows are not drawn but green; the face is like a silver basin, and the eyes are like water." apricot".After reading these four sentences, it will make people feel a sense of loss.Pretty?beautiful.However vulgar.Such a description has the effect of downgrading Baochai's beauty. The second effort to portray Baochai's appearance is in the twenty-eighth chapter "Xue Baochai's Red Musk Skewers in Shame".In this special way, Yuanchun chose Baochai as Baoyu's future wife.Baoyu is still oblivious, only thinking of looking at her red musk strings. "Coincidentally, Baochai wore a string around his left wrist. When Baoyu asked him, he had to take it off. Baochai's skin is rich and lustrous, and it is easy to lose it. Baoyu looked at the snow-white crisp arm, and felt envious. My heart...suddenly remembered the matter of 'gold and jade', and looked at Baochai's description, her face is like a silver basin, her eyes are like water apricots, her lips are red without spots, her eyebrows are green without draw, and she has a different kind of charm than Daiyu." .

This paragraph of text is light and agile, but it contains deep irony.Its dialogue is "Jiang Yu's letter to Qian Xiangluo", which is deeply heartfelt and left to the reader's own guess.How could Baochai, who has always kept a foolish and clumsy life, not understand the meaning of gifts from Yuanchun?She should avoid suspicion and not wear it.Even out of respect for the royal family, it should never be shown in front of Baoyu.What's outrageous is that Baochai, who has always been the most reserved and most in line with lady etiquette, seems to have completely forgotten the ancient etiquette that "a man and a woman can't get along with each other". She took it off and handed it to Baoyu with her own hands. , let his imagination run wild.Even if it is not deliberately seduced, it can be seen that he is carried away for a while.It's just that Xueqin wrote this meaning very euphemistically, saying that it was a "coincidence" that Baochai was caged, and because Baoyu asked questions, it was "unavoidable" to fade away. (Every time there is such a pen and ink in the Red Chamber, what exactly does he want you to believe? Hehe)

Oddly, oddly, I have used the descriptive words from the eighth chapter here as usual.Is Xueqin a person with poor language?Judging from the magnificence of the words of Dream of Red Mansions, definitely not.Why can't he use some more beautiful words to write Baochai?It is very possible that he just wanted to deepen our impression of Baochai.Unlike when he wrote about Daiyu, he loved to use imaginary pens, but he put a lot of real pens on Baochai, and everyone has seen the effect. In the book, Daiyu and Baochai are always described in pairs, maintaining a delicate balance.Therefore, there is "Daiyu burying flowers", and there is "Baochai fluttering butterflies":

... Baochai wanted to jump to play, so she took out her fan from her sleeve and jumped down on the grass.I saw that pair of butterflies rising and falling suddenly, coming and going, passing through the flowers and willows, and about to cross the river.The inverted Baochai tiptoed along to the Dicui Pavilion in the pool, sweating profusely, panting softly... However, the passage of burial flowers is extremely spiritual and beautiful, and Daiyu's romantic attitude is exhausted. How can Pu Die resist it?What's more, he also satirized Baochai's deep scheming by the way.I can't say it again and again, Xueqin is very crafty :)

2 The peerless Xue Baoqin Xue Baoqin is on the list together. The beauty of Baoqin is written purely in profile, and the style is exaggerated.When Baoqin came, the whole family was shocked.First, Baoyu made a fuss when he saw it.Baoyu said: "You always say that Sister Bao is a beautiful person. Now look at her..." It can be seen that first, Baochai's "excellent beauty" is recognized, and second, the beauty of Baochai lies in Baochai. above.However, once he speaks like this, he may not be accurate.When Tanchun also said: "In my opinion, even his sister and these people are not as good as him." However, Tanchun's words are authoritative.The beauty of Baoqin is ready to come out.

The fifty-fifty Luxuean couplet: Suddenly I saw Baoqin, dressed in fur, standing on the hillside waiting, with a maid behind her holding a bottle of red plums.Everyone laughed and said, "There are two less strange ways, but he is waiting here, and he has also gone to make plum blossoms!" This dress again, and the plum blossom behind it, what does it look like?" Everyone laughed and said, "It's like the painting "The Picture of Yan Xue" by Qiu Shizhou hanging in the old lady's room." Jia Mu shook her head and laughed, "That painting Where is this dress? People can't be so good." It turned out that the "gold and emerald splendor" cloak that Jia's mother gave Baoqin last time was for use here.Dream of Red Mansions always has the dreamlike color and artistic conception of poetry and painting, this is an example.The beauty of Baoqin is already a kind of fairy. However, I don't take Bao Qin as the top of the list, because she came abruptly and her image is not complete.Judging from the few times she appeared, it seems that her appearance was arranged more for the excitement of Lianshi, the reconciliation between Bao and Dai, and the words of love to comfort the idiot.It is also to bring out that group of "Nostalgic Poems" that has a prophecy meaning.Her personality, on the contrary, is blurred.Maybe there will be brilliant scenes in the next forty episodes, I can only regret it.