Chapter 57 Section 3 Depiction and Reflection of Market Culture: "Smoke Bottle"

The artistic style of Deng Youmei's novels is mainly reflected in the "Beijing style novels" he consciously pursues. He declared that his works of this type "are all a little experiment in the novels that explore the 'folklore flavor'. similar to Lao She's "Under the Red Flag" and other works,10 also adopted a narrative strategy to express historical changes from the perspective of depicting daily life and daily customs.It uses the "smoke pot" as an intermediary to depict the genre paintings of Beijing in the late 19th century. It connects various characters in series, and sees the multitudes of people in the market world and the conflicts of the times in a square inch. Noble and despicable, cunning and kind, but also faintly reveal a spirit of reflection.

The story of this novel took place in the 1890s. Wu Shibao, a boy of the Eight Banners, was born in a military family. Although he was idle, he was kind and patriotic.He was murdered by the evil slave Xu Huanzhang, and he was imprisoned. He met Nie Xiaoxuan who possessed unique skills. By chance, he learned the inner painting technique of snuff pots and the firing technique of "Gu Yuexuan" porcelain.After he was released from prison, he was taken in by Nie Xiaoxuan's father and daughter due to his family's ruin.However, Jiu Ye, a powerful "Westernization Movement" aristocrat, in order to please the Japanese, forced Nie Xiaoxuan to burn a snuff bottle with pictures of the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacking Beijing.At the end of the novel, Wu Shibao escaped from Beijing together with his father and daughter Nie.

It can be seen from the brief introduction that this is a novel with a strong plot.The author seems to have absorbed a lot of nutrition from traditional Beijing folk arts such as storytelling, cross talk, and Zhanghui novels, and tells the story with special ups and downs from an omniscient perspective.The "storyteller" (narrator) in the novel is always in a very active position, which is somewhat similar to the narrator in Wang Zengqi's novels, but Deng Youmei's taste and cultivation are obviously different from Wang Zengqi's: although he is also He chatted freely, but he never forgot to weave complex and tortuous storylines. Unlike Wang Zengqi, he did not place his ideals in folk customs. What he cared about was folk life and folk customs themselves.Therefore, compared with Wang Zengqi, Deng Youmei lacks some of the charm of scattershot nature, but has more of the taste of ordinary people.But vulgarity also has its advantages. The nagging and free storyteller is a good storyteller.He has acquired some narrative skills from classical chapter novels. Although he is an omniscient narrator, he does not rely on ideas to make too many comments, but is good at starting from the characters' language, behavior and psychological sketches, and describing those nobles. Princes, children of the Eight Banners, street entertainers, traitors and servants are all depicted vividly.He also has a proficient ability to tell stories. In the novel, Wu Shibao used his own story as the main narrative clue before he met Nie Xiaoxuan in prison. The habitual technique of "two flowers blooming, each showing a branch", tells the story of Wu Shibao and Nie Xiaoxuan separately, and after the reunion, the two clues are combined together to conclude the whole story; he is also good at using the method of interludes, often first Tell the ending of the incident, and then explain it with interludes at appropriate places, such as explaining Xu Huanzhang's past, Wu Shibao's family changes after he was imprisoned, and what happened to Wu Grandma's grandmother, etc. "Style suspense creation.Narratively moving and dodging, unwinding freely, it seems very sophisticated.

The interjection of the storyteller in the novel is very active in two situations. One is out of the need for storytelling as mentioned above, and the other shows that the narrator does have a kind of interest in "A Picture of Shanghe During the Qingming Festival". His interjection Not only did it tell us about some urban folk arts and customs of old Beijing, but it also showed us the extremely familiar market culture in the late feudal society.First of all, it shows the upright and creative side of this market culture, and endows this kind of character to folk artists who are far away from the center of power and in an oppressed position.This is mainly represented in the novel by the manufacturing technology of "smoke pots". Although the pot is small, it permeates a nation's cultural traditions, psychological characteristics, aesthetic habits, skill level and the style of the times." , so that a pile of dead materials has a soul and a spirit.... You have to admit that the exquisite snuff bottle is also the crystallization of our Chinese industriousness and wisdom, and it is our contribution to human civilization..." Then he was amazed He introduced the "inner painting" technique of snuff pots and the difficulty and delicacy of "Gu Yuexuan" porcelain manufacturing technology in a very calm tone. There are many more", the technical requirements for drawing, glazing, and firing are very strict, so that it is almost unprofitable for Nie and his daughter to burn Gu Yuexuan, just like what Liu Niang said to Shouming, "Fire a few pieces every now and then. In order to maintain this skill, I am afraid that it will not be abandoned for a long time. I am sorry for my ancestors. Second, my father and I also regard it as a hobby, just like you and my senior brother have become addicted to singing single strings for a long time. Money can do it too! No matter how tiring and frightening you are, if you burn it all at once, it will be crystal clear and radiant, and that happiness cannot be bought with money!" This typically reflects the loyalty of folk artists to art. The spirit of dedication also reflects the attractiveness of a folk culture and the vitality of ordinary people.The novel also introduces the etiquette and customs (such as the relationship between master and slave), folk customs (such as ghost markets), festivals (such as ghost festivals) at that time, and shows the unique lifestyle and cultural mentality of the old Beijingers.

The narrator also describes the integrity and fraternity of ordinary people with admiration.For example, after Wu Shibao was imprisoned, he met Nie Xiaoxuan. Nie Xiaoxuan not only taught him how to paint inside the snuff bottle, but also faithfully taught him the unique skills passed down from his family; Shibao lived up to the entrustment of others, and went to see Nie Xiaoxuan's daughter Liuniang when the situation improved a little; Nie Xiaoxuan committed suicide by breaking his hand because he didn't want to make a snuff bottle that insulted the country...Here, we see the beauty of the hearts of ordinary middle- and lower-class citizens And kindness, but also saw their noble national integrity and human conscience.At the same time, although the narrator appreciates the honesty and creativity of the people, he puts them in a "powerless" situation in the narration.These "good people" are people with no social status. They are in a situation where they are deprived and unable to protect themselves. Those with power treat their art and even life with a playful mentality. The tricks of the wrist, or even a prank on a whim, can cause great disaster to them.

The market world in China is based on the hierarchical order under the autocratic imperial power system of the Qing Dynasty. This autocratic system focuses on the identification of the title and relationship between "master" and "slave", so that the relationship between people in the hierarchy The relationship between people is in a deformed state of being both a master and a slave. The person who is a small master will be the slave of the big master. Once a slave has the opportunity to be a master, he will show off his power even more than the "master". "Slavery" and "arrogance" ” becomes a common state of mind.In this kind of relationship, the "ambition" and vitality of the master is consumed by daily life, while the slave is often domineering and vicious once he makes a fortune.People who live in it, if they develop in a good way, they just keep their own way, indulge in some small life interests, and waste their lives in it. If they develop in a bad way, the bad side of human nature will be fully exposed.For example, the treacherous and cruel villain Xu Huanzhang in the novel is the inevitable product of this social and cultural system: he can also obey his status in front of his ruined master Wu Shibao, and bear the latter's insults, but always If there is a chance, he will immediately use his tricks to throw him in prison, making him bankrupt.He is domineering in front of ordinary people, but he is a dog-like slave to foreigners and big bureaucrats-and the reason why he can gain some power is from this active slavery behavior.This character typically embodies the corrosive effect of the inferior side of market culture on human nature.Secondly, it also shows the living habits of declining feudal culture and semi-colonial culture, which are majestic but worship foreign things.For example, Jiu Ye in the novel has the characteristics of a typical Eight Banners boy who loves to play and play tricks. The novel reveals the "love" in him by the plots of him making troubles in teahouses, playing with cigarette pots to tease dogs, and teasing monks. It is the habit of the Eight Banners children to make troubles and watch the fun.This kind of habit is not considered a big evil, but the reason why he can play these pranks so happily is inseparable from his power.Moreover, in order to please foreigners, he accepted Xu Huanzhang's idea to ask Nie Xiaoxuan to burn a snuff bottle with the picture of "Eight-Power Allied Forces for Fun". To him, it was just a whim, but for ordinary artists, it was tantamount to a disaster, reflecting The unequal state between those in power and the people.

However, this spirit of reflection and criticism is not the main theme of the film after all. Compared with "Under the Red Flag", his reflection and criticism are not profound.On the whole, it is indeed a novel with "folklore flavor" as the author claims.Although it has a patriotic theme, it actually takes the social life and customs of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty as the center of attention.The narrator's skillful narrative skills enable him to successfully complete a work like "Surfing the River During the Qingming Festival", which takes the abnormal culture highly developed in the late feudal society and the "special citizen class" under the influence of this culture as the object of expression. Draw a unique folk painting and all living beings.To a certain extent, this is the inheritance and development of the literary tradition of Lao She and others with Beijing local flavor, and it also provides a precedent for future literature to break away from the interference of political consciousness and freely express the world of folk customs.