Chapter 17 road to maturity

The protagonists in Jin Yong's novels often meet readers since childhood. This seems to be Jin Yong's patent. Among the Three Swordsmen, neither Liang Yusheng nor Gu Long has this habit. Liang Yusheng's protagonists are mostly heroic teenagers, who look down on their friends no matter their martial arts or style when they appear on the stage, such as Zhang Danfeng, Duan Kexie, Ling Weifeng, Jin Shiyi... The protagonist of Gu Long is "a pine tree on the top of Mount Tai". We only know that they are high above, but we don't know their age, where they live, and who their teachers are.Anyway, as soon as they appeared, they were already famous all over the world, attracting everyone's attention, only Xiao Yu'er was an exception.

But reading Jin Yong's novels, we can participate in the growth process of the protagonists in the book, and we often get to know them when they are just babies.From the age of ten or eight to seventeen or eighteen, Jin Yong spent the most pen and ink on them. This group of darlings in Jin Yong's works, when counted in detail, should include Guo Jing, Yang Guo, Zhang Wuji, Hu Fei, Wei Xiaobao, Guo Xiang, Zhang Junbao, Zhou Zhiruo, Yin Li and so on. Guo Jing has met us since he was born.His mother, Li Ping, gave birth to him on the battlefield, escaped from death, and finally survived in the desert.He built a thatched hut with branches next to the water plants, raised livestock, and spun wool into felt to exchange food with the shepherds.

After a few years, he was already six years old.According to her husband's last words, his mother named him Guo Jing.He was slow to learn words, and he was a bit dumb. He could not speak until he was four years old. Fortunately, his muscles and bones were strong, and he was able to graze cattle and sheep on the grassland.The mother and the son depended on each other for life, worked diligently, the number of livestock increased, their livelihood became better, and they both learned Mongolian.It's just that Li Ping often feels sad when she sees her son's dull appearance. But this Guo Jing is a simple person with a simple blessing. His various encounters can be said to be blessed because of his clumsiness, and blessed because of his simplicity. It is simply the Chinese version of "Forrest Gump".

Needless to say, the fate of the Seven Monsters of the South of the Yangtze River went to the desert to look for him, and devoted all their efforts to teaching him martial arts. His greatest blessing was getting to know Huang Rong.Even though Huang Rong was only a young girl when she appeared on the stage, her importance in the book is unmatched by anyone.In addition to her wit and wit, what is more important is that some "big characters" in the novel have a deep relationship with her. It is because of her presence that this novel is colorful and lively. Dongxie Huang Yaoshi is her father, Nandi Yideng Master Duan Zhixing is his savior, Beibei Hong Qigong is her master, and Xidu Ouyang Feng prefers her to be his daughter-in-law.Except for the supernatural power Wang Chongyang who passed away many years at the beginning of the work, she had no chance to get to know her, other important characters in the book have more or less friendship with her.

Such a little girl would be of great help to Guo Jing.Guo Jing followed Hong Qigong to learn the masculine and mighty Eighteen Palms of Subduing the Dragon. On the one hand, although his talent is precisely that he can only practice this kind of simple and fierce martial arts, it can be said that he was born to complement each other, but without Huang Rong's help, Where did Guo Jing get this kind of fate? In the twelfth chapter, the ghostly Huang Rong played a good show for Guo Jing. Hong Qigong is delicious, and Huang Rong is a master of this way. When the old and the young met in Jiangmiao Town, Huang Rong made a dish of roasted beef strips called "Jade Flute Whose House Listens to Falling Flowers" and a bowl of green clear soup. There are more than a dozen bright red cherries floating, and seven or eight pink petals floating. Underneath are the tender bamboo shoots, and the "Haoyu soup" with the fragrance of lotus leaves lured Hong Qigong to teach Guo Jing "Ten Subduing the Dragon". Eight palms".From then on, the three became friends and eventually became masters and apprentices.

Jin Yong pays great attention to describing the enlightenment of childhood, that period of innocence and innocence, both in terms of thought and physical ability, is the most plastic time, like rough jade, pure and formless, and can be carved into an ideal model by others.It can be said that it is a critical moment, and the good and the bad are often tied to this. Similar to Guo Jing's tendency toward goodness, Yang Kang's tendency toward evil also started at an early age. The external environment affects a person's life, and Yang Kang's example can be used as an illustration.

In addition to childlike innocence, Jin Yong is also good at writing the heart of a child.Zhou Botong became an "old urchin", with white hair and a childlike face, he didn't know what to do, but his martial arts reached the pinnacle, all thanks to his innocence. The stories inspired by the innocence and innocence of Jin Yong are really colorful and dizzying. Is Jin Yong using his infinite longing for childish simplicity to resist and deny the falsehood, hypocrisy and dullness in the world of adult human rights? Looking at the world in Jin Yong's works, there are more and more scrambles, intrigues, bloodbaths, and extreme tragedy. How can we not think so?

A child's world is much cleaner after all. Feng Zikai once said: The most sound eyes in the world are only children's possessions, and only children can see the truth of things in the world most clearly and completely. Look at the children around us, they are so keen on all kinds of games that adults think are ridiculous and insignificant.They put all their energies into these games, seemingly in vain, but they never tire of it.When the interest is strong, they don't feel the pain under the cold wind and hot sun, and forget the hunger and thirst in a daze - this is insignificant in their eyes.

Just think about it, why are they so keen on games?Compared with the enthusiasm of the farmer to plow for the harvest, the enthusiasm of the carpenter to use the ax for wages, the enthusiasm of the merchant to buy and sell for property, and the enthusiasm of politicians to run for power, their enthusiasm is without purpose and purpose. , nothing to do.They play games for the sake of games, the means are the ends, regardless of interests, regardless of you and me.Unlike those adults, no matter what activities they carry out, they all have a purpose, and they are all for profit. Jin Yong's writing of the despicableness and filth of the people in the martial arts is really penetrating, no doubt it is also to bring out the cuteness of the childlike world.

At that time, he was only six years old, and Guo Jing saved the Mongol warrior Jebe with his childlike nature.He didn't know Jebe at all, but he just saw him being so brave in battle, which aroused a kindness in his young heart, so he tried to protect him, even if he was bruised and bruised by Jochi's horsewhip. Heart and lung, would rather die than reveal where Zhebe is hiding. Only a child with a pure heart is so easy to protect others regardless of the consequences?He doesn't even ask if that person is a "good guy" or a "bad guy". Later, when Sangkun's two cheetahs were about to bite Temujin's youngest daughter, Huazheng, he "rolled to the ground and picked up Huazheng" regardless of the danger.Afterwards Temujin asked him why he was so brave, and he only said one sentence: "The jackal wants to eat people."

What a pure and noble heart of a child. Every child has no prejudice against the world when he first falls to the ground, and when he grows up, all things in the universe are equal to them.They will make friends with dogs and tell stories to cats; they will think about chasing stars and moons, calling back flying birds, and waking up dead chickens.They don't know day and night, life and death, class, and boundaries, but they have the aura of heaven and earth. Guo Jing is a good example. When he was in the desert, he was so unrestrained. Although he was uneducated, lacking in inspiration, and ignorant of speculation, he had a sound and transparent heart.The vast environment without distinction between heaven and earth, the vast, bold and unshaded atmosphere undoubtedly strengthened the pure nature.His later great wisdom, great courage, great sage, and great sage are not unrelated to his experience of shooting eagles in the desert.It was his birthplace that taught him to be upright, brave, kind and simple.To a large extent, his innate resolute, honest, honest and loyal heroic character is really derived from nature. Although Guo Jing's legendary life experience really started from the sixth chapter of the book, in comparison, his experience in the desert and his feat of "shooting the eagles" are just a long introduction, because immediately The current Guo Jing has not really entered the rivers and lakes independently, and has not really started his heroic life experience. ——But if he hadn’t been born and raised in the desert, there would be a teacher like Jebe in the desert, and after Temujin and his sons shot an eagle together, he drew his bowstring and shot two eagles with one arrow. , this novel may not be called "The Legend of the Desert Heroes". It is worth pondering that Guo Jing's honesty and simplicity are consistent in Jin Yong's works, which is an exception in Jin Yong's works, because Jin Yong is a writer with a strong desire for change.But to write about Guo Jing is to write about what kind of character he was at the beginning, and what kind of character he is in the end. It is purely about approaching him from the outside world, not letting him bow to the objective world, and he can turn danger into luck. Everything went smoothly, and in the end he became the number one hero in the world.Why is Jin Yong so obsessed with Guo Jing? Mencius said: "A grown-up should not lose the heart of a child." The so-called heart of a child is the "heart of the original self" of a child.This mind is brought from outside the world, not a mind that has been fabricated by the world.This is to remind us that we must cultivate children's pure and innocent sincerity, so that after they grow up, they will use this original heart to observe the world and correct the world, so that they will not blindly follow the conventions of the world and be fettered by the snares of the world. .Therefore, Zhu Xi's commentary on this is: "The heart of an adult is open to all changes; the heart of a child is pure and innocent. However, the reason why an adult is an adult is because he is not tempted by things, but because he is pure and one." The original nature without falsehood. If it is expanded and supplemented, it will be omniscient and omnipotent, and it will be extremely great.” We do not deny that Jin Yong used Guo Jing as a model to fulfill his wish and establish his personality ideal.How much he hopes that this world is full of such innocent people. His "Xiangfo" is actually his last persistence after Guo Jing. Therefore, Guo Jing is the only one. Just as Jin Yong is also the only one. However, in any case, this is an important reason why Jin Yong likes to write about children, children's innocence, and innocence, but it should not be the whole reason. We can't help but think of an essay written by Jin Yong in the 1950s.He once said this: "If you have been to Jiangnan, you will think of those swallows, those willows and apricot blossoms, and those boats in the light rain." In the 1950s, Jin Yong had just reached his thirties, right?He has so fondly thought of his hometown, his childhood. Review the path you came from. Jiangnan is not only the birthplace of Jin Yong and the source of his creation—his first martial arts novel was written based on the story of Emperor Qianlong’s visit to Henan that he heard when he was a child, but also his spiritual home and spiritual sustenance.This sentiment of nostalgia for my hometown, this unforgettable memory of my childhood, is internalized into a kind of emotional tension for creation, and externalized into a driving force for literary and artistic creation. Such cases are not uncommon in the history of Chinese and foreign literature: In Oaksford, Mississippi, USA, Faulkner opened up a mythical world belonging to all mankind - "Yoknapata Law Lineage". In the small town of Wessex in his hometown, England, Hardy excavated the "Wessex theme" with the rural culture of the eighteenth century. Even if Xiao Hong cannot return to her hometown, her heart will always go to her hometown.Before she died of illness in Hong Kong, she completed a film full of sadness and warm memories. Many, many writers have turned their aesthetic vision to their birthplace, where they dug a deep well and excavated their own unique art world.Jin Yong is no exception. He has written so many stories about children, and even more so, he uses childhood as a symbol of his hometown, and embodies his nostalgia and homesickness, which makes people sigh. Indeed, there are many things in this world that you think you can continue to do tomorrow; there are many people that you think you can meet again tomorrow.Therefore, when you temporarily let go or parted temporarily, all you have in your heart is the hope that tomorrow will continue and reunion, and sometimes you will not even feel a trace of melancholy. However, there will be one time, the moment you let go and turn around, something will change completely.The sun goes down, and before it rises again, some things will never come back, such as our childhood; some places, it will be difficult to return for a long time, such as our hometown. If we understand that so many adults love to listen to this song, maybe we will understand why Jin Yong likes to write about children and Jiangnan so much. Of course Guo Jing would not ask, "Why does the sun always set on the other side of the mountain?" No one would tell him, "Are there any gods living in the mountain?" A lonely childhood." But what Jin Yong lived in Jiangnan was a happy childhood - the majestic tide, the vast sky; After waving his sleeves, it became a memory that will never fade. He can only express his childhood complex, family and country feelings in novels.