Chapter 11 "Dream of Red Mansions" textual research (revised version) -2

Congratulations to Cao Xueqin and Sincerity In the past, Shaoling presented it to General Cao, who was once said to be the descendant of Wei Wu.After Mr. Qi, or also General, now surrounds Penghaotun.The old dream of Yangzhou has long been extinct, and it is Linqiong Dubi.Aijun's poems have a strange spirit, and he goes straight to Changgu Phi Fan.At that time, Humen was counting the morning and evening, and the west window cut candles and the wind and rain were dim.Then it was Rong Junao, talking eloquently and eloquently.When I feel like I don’t meet you when I miss you, the Song Pavilion respects the setting sun in Jimen.Advise the king not to play the diner's clapper, and advise the king not to knock on the door of the rich.It is better to write a book on Huangye Village if you have a cold cup and have a virtuous look.

When we look at these four poems, we can imagine that the friendship between their brothers and Cao Xueqin is very deep, and their testimony is really what historians call "the testimony of people at the same time". With this kind of evidence, we have to admit that Yuan Mei was wrong Forget it. In these four poems, there are many noteworthy sentences. First, such as "Qinhuai's remnant dream recalls the prosperity", such as "Penghaotun is blocked today, and the old dream of Yangzhou has long been extinct, and Linqiong Dubigao", such as "Admonish the king not to play the diner's clapper, and advise the king not to knock the rich It is not as good as writing a book on Huangye Village", which can prove that Cao Xueqin was already very poor at that time, and it was very poor.

Therefore, Duncheng has the admonition that "the broken cup is cold and virtuous". Second, such as "Looking for poets to stay at the monk wall, selling paintings to pay the restaurant", such as "Knowing the emperor's poems are as brave as iron", such as "Aijun's poems have a strange spirit, and they go straight to Changgu and drape the fence", All can let us know that Cao Xueqin is a person who can compose poetry and paint.The most regrettable thing is that Cao Xueqin's poem now only has two lines left: "Bai Fu Shiling should be very happy, and he will teach the barbarians to show off".But just looking at these two sentences, one can imagine that Cao Xueqin's poems are probably very clever and profound.Brother Duncheng compared him to Li He, probably a little bit alike.

Thirdly, we can see that Cao Xueqin felt very complaining and depressed in that impoverished situation, so he couldn't help drinking and singing, seeking to distract himself.The above quotes are like "Xueqin wine is thirsty like crazy", like "The situation of meeting is like a generation, and a stone difference can warm the heart", like "New sorrows and old hatreds know how much, all of them are drunk and squinted", like "Deer Che Hekai buried Liu Ling", all of which can be proved. Now that we know Cao Xueqin's family background and his own situation, we should study his age.

This layer is a bit difficult because there are so few materials.Duncheng has poems lamenting Xueqin, which shows that Xueqin died before Duncheng.The age of Duncheng cannot be examined in detail.However, there are a few of his writings in the "Eight Banners Wenjing", and the dates can be tested: for example, "The Story of the Clumsy Que Pavilion" was written in the early winter of Xin Chou, such as "The Story of Songting Re-Zheng" was written in the first month of Wuyin, such as "Sacrifice "Zhou Liya Wen" said: "Mr. , Mister cried out of time and mourned....Sincerely recounting his life,...recalling the side of Jingbutang's sticks, it has been more than 20 years." Here is a table, as follows: Qianlong Ersan, Wu Yin (1758)

The second and fourth year of Qianlong, Jimao (1759) Three Five Years of Qianlong, Geng Yin (1770) Qianlong 46th, Xin Chou (1781) It has been twenty-three years since Wuyin till now.Yongzhong (Xianxian), the royal family of the Qing Dynasty, wrote Gejinju's poem for Duncheng, and it was also in Xinchou, Qianlong.Duncheng's father died in Geng Yin, and he himself died about 20 years later, about 50 years after Qianlong.Ji Yun wrote a preface to his collection of poems. Although there is no date to test, but Ji Yun died in the tenth year of Jiaqing (1805), and the semantic meaning in the preface shows that Duncheng has been dead for a long time.Therefore, we can guess that Duncheng was born in the early years of Yongzheng (about 1725) and died in the 50th year of Qianlong (about 1785-1790).

The Duncheng brothers communicated with Cao Xueqin. Judging from the poems they gave back, it seems that they were probably before their brothers' middle age, not after their middle age.What's more, in the fifty-six-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, it had been circulating in society for more than 20 years. (Details below) From this point of view, we can conclude that Cao Xueqin died around 30 years of Qianlong (about 1765).As for his age, it is even more difficult to determine.But the tone of Brother Duncheng's poems is very unlike the tone of an old senior.We can guess that Xueqin was at most ten years older than them, and was born around the end of Kangxi (about 1715-1720); when he died, he was about fifty years old.

The above are materials about the author Cao Xueqin and his family background.After reading these materials, we can probably understand that this book is Cao Xueqin's autobiography.There is nothing new about this view, it is very natural.However, because it has been said more and more subtle by more than one hundred years of Hongxue masters, we now feel that it is necessary to prove this very common view.Let me cite a few important pieces of evidence as follows: First, we should always remember that at the beginning, it was clearly stated that the author Ziyun had experienced a dream, so he concealed the truth and used "psychic" to say This book also. ...

I also said: Today the world is full of dust, and nothing can be accomplished. I suddenly think of all the women of that day, and carefully examine and compare them one by one.I am a dignified man, and my sincerity is not as good as that skirt hairpin. ... On this day, when I want to put away what I have relied on in the past, when I wear brocade clothes and trousers, when I am full of fat, I owe the education of my father and brother, and the virtue of the discipline of my teachers and friends, so that today I have no skills and half my life. crime, compose an episode to tell the world. How clear are these words!It is obviously a self-narrative book that "hides the truth".

If the author is Cao Xueqin, then Cao Xueqin is the self-repentant "I" at the beginning! It is the origin of the two treasures of Zhen Jia (true and false) in the book!If you understand this truth, you will know that Jia's Mansion and Zhen's Mansion in the book are just shadows of Cao Xueqin's family. Second, in the first chapter, the stone said: I think the dynasties in the history of unofficial history are nothing more than borrowing the fame and beauty of the Han and Tang Dynasties; He also said: "It's even more disgusting, "whatever it is" is unreasonable, unreasonable, and self-contradictory: it is not as good as these women I have seen and heard in half a lifetime, although I dare not say that it is worse than all the previous books. People, but looking at the whole story of their deeds can also relieve their worries and boredom.

He said so plainly that "this book is my own experience" and "I have seen and heard it for half a lifetime"; but we insist that this book is about Emperor Shunzhi and Nalan Chengde!Isn't this cocooning yourself? Thirdly, in the sixteenth chapter, there is a long section about the pick-up by the Southern Tour. The original text is as follows: Sister Feng said: "... I hate how young I am. If I had been born 20 or 30 years earlier, these old people are not mean. I haven't seen them. The world has come. Speaking of the story of Emperor Taizu's imitation of Shun Xun, it is more lively than a book, but I just missed it." Nanny Zhao (Jia Lian's nurse) said: "Oh, that was a once-in-a-lifetime event! I didn't remember it until then. Our Jia's family was in the Yangzhou area of ​​Gusu, supervising the building of ships and repairing seawalls. We only plan to pick them up once. The silver flower is like flowing sea water. Speaking of it—” Sister Feng hurriedly said: "We also prepared once in the palace. At that time, my grandfather was in charge of the tribute and congratulations from various countries. Whenever foreigners came, our family would support them. All the foreign ships from Guangdong, Fujian, Dianzhe, It belongs to our family." Mother Zhao said: "Who doesn't know about that?...Now there is still the Zhen family in Jiangnan,--oh, good-looking faction!--only their family has picked up four times. It’s not that we saw it with our own eyes, and we wouldn’t believe it when we told it to anyone. Don’t say that the silver has turned into dung; there is nothing in the world that isn’t piled up in mountains and seas.” Sister Feng said: "I often hear our uncle say that it's the same. Who doesn't believe it? Just wonder why his family is so rich?" Zhao Nanny said: "Tell grandma a word: It's just using the money from the emperor's family to use on the emperor. Who has the money to buy this false excitement?" The Zhen family and the Jia family mentioned here are both the Cao family.The Cao family has been an official in the south of the Yangtze River for several generations. Although the Jia family in their hometown is in "Chang'an", the Zhen family has always been in the south of the Yangtze River.It was tested above that Emperor Kangxi made six tours to the south, and Cao Yin served as a pick-up driver four times, and the emperor lived in his yamen.Almost no historical facts are mentioned, but here it is solemnly mentioned "the story of Emperor Taizu's imitation of Shun Xun", probably because it is a very uncommon event for the Cao family to pick him up four times, so Cao Xueqin didn't know it. It was—or on purpose—that he spoke out about the grandest ceremony in his family.This is also what Dun Min said in the poem "Qinhuai's old dreams recall the prosperity".But here we get a very important piece of evidence, because it is not an opportunity for everyone to pick up and drive four or five times.A high official is like a governor, and if he cannot stay in one place for a long time, he cannot have such a good opportunity.Only Cao Yin has been weaving in Jiangning for 20 years, and happened to be a driver four times.Isn't that pretty solid evidence? Fourth, the second chapter of Rongguo Mansion is as follows: After the death of Rong Guogong, the eldest son Jia Daishan took over the official position, married the daughter of Shihou from the Jinling family, and gave birth to two sons: the long name Jia She, The second name is Jia Zheng.Now Daishan has passed away long ago, but Mrs. Tai is still alive.The eldest son, Jia She, attacked the official. He was calm and peaceful, and did not manage housework.The second son, Jia Zheng, loved reading since he was a child, and he was upright and upright;Unexpectedly, when Daishan was dying, the posthumous copy was published, and the emperor, out of sympathy for his predecessors, immediately ordered the eldest son to attack the official, and asked how many sons were left, and introduced him immediately; then he also gave the political master an additional post of master, and ordered him to study in the ministry ; Now he has been promoted to Yuanwailang. We can use the lineage of the Cao family for comparison: Cao Xiyuan, the man who was coating the white flag.Living in Shenyang for generations, there is no test for the date of his return. His son, Zeng Zhenyan, was originally in charge of Yanfa Road in Zhejiang. Sun: Cao Xi, former Minister of the Ministry of Industry; Cao Erzheng, former Zuo Ling. Great-grandchildren: Cao Yin, formerly served as Tongzheng Shitongzhengshi; Cao Yi, formerly served as the guard and assistant leader; Cao Quan, formerly served as treasurer. Yuan Sun: Cao Yong, formerly a doctor; Cao Fu, former Yuanwai Lang; Cao Qi, former second-class guard and assistant leader; Cao Tianhu, former Zhoutong. (Volume 74 of "The Genealogy of the Eight Banners Clans") The lineage is rather unclear.We can try to make a hypothetical lineage table as follows: Cao Xiyuan──Zhenyan── Xi Yin 颙 bow down Yi──Qi Erzheng──Tsuen─God Bless ii. i i . . . ii... . ... In Cao Yin's "Nianting Poems and Notes Collection", there are three poems "Zhener's death in Xinmao and March, this book endures grief, and also shows his four nephews to send to Dongxuan friends", the second of which says: "It is difficult to live in the world. He is the eldest, and he is only at Sisan. The Cheng family depends on Youzi, and strives to be a strange man." The fourth nephew is Qi, and the third one should be the one whose nickname is Zhen'er.From this point of view, Yong and Fu should be the first and second of actions.After Cao Yin's death, Cao Yong took over the weaving position.In the fifty-fourth year of Kangxi, Cao Yong either died or was replaced due to some incidents, so the second son Cao Fu took over to do it.Weaving is a mission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so it is not considered an official. Therefore, in the "Clan Tongpu", only Cao Yin is called the Tongzheng Envoy, and Cao Fu is called Yuanwailang. Jia Zheng in Danli is also the second son.These three layers are all consistent with Cao Fu.Therefore, we can recognize that Jia Zheng is Cao Fu; therefore, Jia Baoyu is Cao Xueqin, the son of Cao Fu, which is easier to understand. Fifth, the most important evidence is naturally Cao Xueqin's own history and the history of his family.Although it has not been finished, (details below) but we have read the first 80 chapters, and we can conclude that: (1) the Jia family will inevitably decline, and (2) Baoyu will inevitably fall.At the beginning, he said, "The wind and dust are busy, and nothing can be accomplished"; it also said, "If you fail to achieve any skill, you will be down and out for half your life";This clearly shows that the author of the book—that is, the protagonist in the book—was already in that poor and unfortunate situation when the book was written.What's more, the thirteenth chapter writes what Qin Keqing said to Sister Feng in her dream when she died, saying clearly that the Jia family will come to the point where "the tree falls and the monkeys disperse" in the future.So even if we don’t believe it, the next forty chapters (details below) If the family is copied and Baoyu becomes a monk, it can also be inferred that the decline of Jia's family and Baoyu's exile.Let’s look back at the poem quoted above by Brother Duncheng as a gift to Cao Xueqin. We can list the history of Xueqin’s life as follows: (1) He was a man who dreamed of prosperity. (2) He has a talent for art and literature, and can compose poetry and paint. (3.) His circumstances in his later years were very poor. Isn't this the history of Jia Baoyu?In addition, we can point out three important points.The first is that Cao Xueqin’s family has accumulated a very rich literary and artistic environment since Cao Xi and Cao Yin.His family's collection of books was regarded as a great bibliophile at that time, and the books engraved by his family are still regarded as exquisitely engraved rare books.Wealthy families are not rare; but the combination of a wealthy environment and an environment of literature and art was not found among the Han Chinese at that time, and it was not easy to find it even in the families of the Eight Banners.Second, Cao Yin was the one who engraved "Ju Chang Drinking Food Record", the books included in "Ju Chang Drinking Food Record", such as "Sugar Frosting Spectrum", "Preparation of Preserved Fish", "Flour Noodles" and so on. They all pay attention to the practice of eating sugar cakes.The snowflake cake made by Cao Yin's family can be seen in Zhu Yizun's "Expo Shuting Collection" (21, page 12), and it is praised as "the amount of mica is fine, and the grits and ice cream are even".Those of us who read, see Jia's mother's attention to food, and the Jia's family's attention to food, and we know that the legacy of "Life and Drinks" is still alive, and the reputation of snowflake cakes is well-deserved!Third, although we don't have any information about the decline of the Cao family, we know that Li Xu, Cao Yin's in-law, was dismissed from his post in the 61st year of Kangxi for being short-lived.In the forty-eighth volume of Yongzheng's "Zhu Zhuzhizhi", there is a memorial to Hu Feng, who weaves in Suzhou in the first year of Yongzheng, which says: Today, it is found that Li Xu was short of money during his tenure, and the remaining silver taels for each year has been found. Now it is ordered to hand it over to the governor, Cha Bina, for investigation. There are still 61 years and 60 years left to save 63,552 taels of silver, and If there is no inventory, Li Xu is also short-lived. ...All the amount of silver taels used over the years will be separately opened and presented to the imperial court. ... And in the thirteenth volume, there is a memorial to Xie Cilu, the censor who patrolled salt in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, which said: Stealing photos of Lianghuai should be released to weave silver taels, which has been followed for a long time over the years.On March 16th, the first year of Yongzheng, I was consulted by the Ministry of Household Affairs and stopped the payment of Jiangsu Weaving Bank; …… Wei Tingzhen, the former salt official, had paid 50,000 taels of Suzhou weaving silver twice before the termination of the Ministry of Culture in the sixty-one years of Kangxi. ... and in June of this year, there will be an article to stop Jiangning weaving.Wei Tingzhen, the former salt official, had 40,000 taels of weaving silver in Jiangning, and during his tenure...he had 45,120 taels of weaving silver in Jiangning. ... I would like to ask you to release the Suzhou weaving bank in the trial of Li Xu's deficit case and pursue it; to release the Jiangning weaving bank and order Cao Fu to return to the household department. ... Li Xu worked in Suzhou weaving for 30 years, and in charge of Lianghuai salt administration for another eight years, but in the end he was tracked down because of deficits.Hu Feng’s report only cited the deficit in the 61st year of Kangxi’s reign, which was as much as 60,000 liang; Ten thousand taels!It is conceivable that his total deficit over the years is so large.At this time, although Cao Fu (Cao Xueqin's father) hadn't offended him yet, two things were mentioned in the Xie Cilu: one is to stop the weaving of silver taels that should be released in the Lianghuai River, and the other is to ask Cao Fu to pay for the eight yuan that has been solved this year. In case of more than a thousand and two.This Jiangning weaving is not easy to do.After looking at Li Xu's precedent, we can infer that Cao Fu's end must also be traced due to a deficit, and his property was confiscated due to the search.We also have a good piece of evidence for this layer.Yuan Mei said in Suiyuan Shihua that the Grand View Garden is his Suiyuan.We examine the history of Suiyuan, and we can believe that this statement is not false.Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Ji" ("Xiaocangshanfang Anthology" XII) said that the original name of Suiyuan was Suiyuan, and the owner was Sui Gong who weaved during the Kangxi period. This Sui Gong is Sui Hede, the person who took over Cao Fu's post. (Yuan Mei mistakenly recorded it as Kangxi, but it was actually the sixth year of Yongzheng.) Yuan Mei wrote it in Jisi (1749), the 14th year of Qianlong, and it was very close to the time when he went to Cao Fuxie Weaving. He should know the history of this garden.We can infer from this that when Cao Fu resigned in the sixth year of Yongzheng, he must have been compensated due to a deficit, so the garden was in the hands of his successor.From then on, the Cao family's property in Jiangnan was gone, so they had to move back to Beijing to live.This is probably why Cao Xueqin was living in Beijing. After we have seen the general situation of the decline of Li Xu and Cao Fu, and then look back at the financial difficulties of the Jia family written in the book, it will be easier to understand.For example, in the seventy-second chapter, Sister Feng dreamed that someone came to him at night, saying that the mother wanted a hundred pieces of brocade, but Sister Feng refused to give it, so he came to take it.Laiwang's family said with a smile: "This is something that grandma worries about and waits for in the palace during the day." Before he could say a word, he returned to Eunuch Xia and sent a small eunuch to speak. After hearing this, Jia Lian frowned and said, "What are you talking about! They can move in a year." Sister Feng said, "Hide it and wait for me to see him." Finally, Sister Feng got two hundred taels of silver to put the little house The supervisor sent him away, Jia Lian came out, and said with a smile, "When will this incident happen?" Sister Feng said with a smile, "Just as I was talking, a lot came." Jia Lian said, "Yesterday, the eunuch Zhou came and opened his mouth. It’s one thousand taels. I was a little slow to respond, because he was uncomfortable. He will offend a lot of people in the future. Now I’ll make another three or two million yuan, and I’ll be fine!” It is also worth noting a passage between Jia Zhen and Wu Jinxiao, the head of the village, who came to Jia’s mansion to accept the year: Jia Zhen frowned and said, "I guess you have at least 5,000 silver. This is enough for what you can do!... It's really good to say goodbye to the New Year!" Wu Jin said filially: "My master's place is not bad. My brother is only more than a hundred miles away from me, and there is a big difference. He is now in charge of eight farms in that mansion (Rongguo mansion), which is more than that on my master's side. Several times, this year is also these things, but two or three thousand taels of silver, there is also a famine." Jia Zhen said: "How about it? I'm here. I don't have any other major matters, but it's just a year's expenses....It's not like that mansion (Rongguo Mansion) has added a lot of money in the past few years. It must not be done. It costs money, but it doesn’t add money to the property. I have lost a lot in the past two years. If I don’t want it from you, who can I turn to?” Wu Jinxiao said with a smile: "Although there are more things in the mansion now, there are going and coming. Don't the empress and the long live Lord reward you?" After hearing this, Jia Zhen smiled and said to Jia Rong, "Listen, is what he said ridiculous?" Jia Rong waited hurriedly with a smile and said: "You people on the coast of the mountains and seas, how do you know this truth? Could it be possible for the empress to give us the emperor's treasury?... Even the reward is only one hundred taels of gold, and it is only worth more than one thousand taels Silver, what is enough? In the past two years, which year did you not pay thousands of taels of silver? In the first year, visiting relatives, even building a garden, you can figure out how much you spent on that bet. Save yourself a kiss, I'm afraid you will be poor!"... Jia Rong talked and laughed, and said to Jia Zhen: "Sure enough, the mansion is poor. I heard the second aunt (Sister Feng) and Yuanyang secretly discussing to steal the old lady's things for money." The matter of borrowing is also seen in the seventy-second chapter: Yuanyang said as she got up to leave.Jia Lian got up quickly and said, "Good sister, sit down for a while, brother has something to ask." Then he scolded the little girl: "Why don't you make good tea! Take the clean tureen quickly and put yesterday's tea Make a bowl of new tea from the table!" As he spoke, he said to Yuanyang, "Due to the old lady's fortune, all the thousands of taels have been used up in the past two days. The rent for several houses and grounds will only be paid in September. This meeting will be accepted No. Tomorrow I have to send gifts from the Nan'an Mansion, and I have to prepare for the Double Ninth Festival. There are also several red and white gifts, at least two or three thousand taels of silver, which is difficult to pay for a while. As the saying goes, It’s better to ask for yourself than to ask for others. I can’t say, my sister is not responsible, for the time being, I secretly transported out a box of gold and silver guys that the old lady can’t find out, temporarily deposit thousands of taels of silver, and send them over.” Because it is Cao Xueqin's self-narration of "hiding the real story", he is not afraid of trivialities, and repeatedly describes the situation of his family's transformation from wealth to poverty.Looking at the history of Cao Yin's life, he definitely does not look like a corrupt official; the reason why his family declined and the reason why his son went bankrupt and bankrupt is probably because his family likes to spend money and put on airs; Books in fine editions, books in fine editions; making friends with literati and celebrities, making friends with nobles and high officials, and entertaining the emperor four or five times; they don't know how to manage money, and they don't want to save; As a result, they were short-lived, so that they went bankrupt and ransacked their homes.It's just an honest description of the natural tendency of "sit and eat the mountains and empty mountains" and "scatter the monkeys when the trees fall".Because of this, it is a masterpiece of naturalism.The true value of those riddle-guessers who don't know it lies on top of this bland naturalism, so they try their best to guess the stupid riddles that are imaginative, so they try their best to add a layer of Very unnatural explanation. Summarizing the above materials about the "author", Fan has six conclusions: (1) The author of the book is Cao Xueqin. (2) Cao Xueqin was a member of the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army, the grandson of Cao Yin, and the son of Cao Fu. He was born in a very wealthy family, experienced a very prosperous and beautiful life, and also carried the inheritance and environment of literature and art.He can compose poems and paint, and communicate with a group of celebrities of the Eight Banners.But his life was very poor. Because of his unwillingness, he became a life of drinking and debauchery. (3) Cao Yin died in the fifty-first year of Kangxi.Cao Xueqin was probably born at this time, or later. (4) When the Cao family was in its heyday, it had done more than four errands to pick up the driver; but later the family gradually declined, probably because it was offended by the deficit and was confiscated. (5) The book was written by Cao Xueqin in poverty after bankruptcy.The period of writing the book was roughly from the early years of Qianlong to the 30th year of Qianlong. Cao Xueqin died before the book was finished. (6) It is a self-narrative that hides the truth: the Zhenjia Liangbaoyu in it is the incarnation of Cao Xueqin himself; the Zhenjia Liangfu is the shadow of the Cao family back then. (So ​​Jia's Mansion is in the capital of "Chang'an", while Zhen's Mansion is always in Jiangnan) Now we can study the "book" problem.Although there are countless editions in circulation in the market today, after careful examination of the schools, except for the one in the official bookstore, they all come from one original copy.This kind of copy is the complete version of Cheng Weiyuan's one hundred and twenty chapters in the last years of Qianlong, and we call it "Cheng Ben". There are two types of this Chengben: one is the first typesetting edition of Renzi (1792) in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, which can be called "Chengjiaben".One is also the edition of Renzi Cheng's family in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, which was revised and revised with "Cheng Jia's edition". This edition can be called "Cheng Yi's edition". My friend Professor Ma Youyu has a copy of the "Cheng Jia version", and I have a copy of the "Cheng Yi version".Version B is far better than Version A, but after careful examination, I have to admit that "Cheng Jia Version" is the original version of the outside world.The errors and contradictions in each edition are all based on the "Cheng Jia edition".This is one of the most unfortunate events in the history of the version. In addition, there is an 80-chapter edition published by the Zhengshu Bureau in Shanghai, with a preface written by Qi Liaosheng of the Deqing Dynasty at the front. We can call it "Qi's edition".The owner of Youzheng Publishing Co., Ltd. inscribed the cover of this book "Current Banknotes of the Beginning of the Country" and "Original" on the front page.The words "National Chu Banknote" are of course a big mistake.The word "originally" is also inappropriate.This book already has a general commentary, a side commentary, a rhyme commentary, and often has "title" poems, and sometimes the commentary is included in the main text (such as the second chapter), which shows that it is a very late manuscript, and it is by no means " Originally".However, since the publication of Cheng's two hundred and twenty chapters, the eighty chapters have been rare.The Qi copy is probably one of the countless banknotes handed down during the Qianlong period, which was fortunately preserved. It can be used to join the school, so it has its own considerable value, and there is no need to pretend to be the "National Beginning Banknote". At first there were only eighty chapters, and it was not until the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong that there were one hundred and twenty chapters.There is no doubt about it.There is a preface by Cheng Weiyuan in the Chengben, which says: This is the original name of this book.... Every time a good person passes on a banknote and puts it in the temple market, it is worth tens of gold, and it can be said that it has spread like wildfire.However, the original catalog has 120 volumes, but now only 80 volumes are collected, which is not the complete version.Even though there are those who claim all of them, and only 80 volumes have been reviewed, readers feel quite sorry.Don't you think that since the book has a hundred and twenty volumes, isn't it complete?Love searches hard, from book collectors and even piles of old papers, paying attention to everything.Over the past few years, there are only more than 20 volumes accumulated.One day, I got more than ten volumes on a drum, so I bought them at a high price. I read them happily, and saw that the ups and downs were still jointed. (Tonise sound bamboo shoots, cut wood into the orifice is called tenon, also known as tenon head) However, it is out of control.It is the same friends who carefully add the finer points, cut off the long and make up for the short, and make all the banknotes, and then turn them into engraved boards.The whole book has just begun. ... Koizumi and Cheng Wei Yuanknowledge. My own version of Cheng Yi also has a preface by Gao E, which says: I have heard that it has been popular for more than twenty years, but it is not as good as the jade, and there is no final version. ... In the spring of this year, my friend Cheng Zi Koizumi passed on to Yu, and showed him the whole book he had purchased, saying: "This servant has accumulated painstaking efforts for several years, and I will pay for it. The public is good. I am idle and tired, and I will divide it." Let it go?" Although the book is a barbarian official and unofficial history, it is still not absurd to the famous teaching, and I am glad to accept the promise, and I am lucky to see the treasure for the Persian slaves, so I assist him in his service.The work is completed, and the end is known, so as to inform the readers.At the time of Qianlong Xinhai (1791) five days after the winter solstice, Tieling Gao'e narrated and wrote. The so-called "construction has been completed" in this preface refers to the tidying up effort of "scrutinizing with friends and making up for shortcomings" as mentioned in the procedure, and does not refer to rigid projects.There are seven "Introductions" in this second edition of my program, which are more important than the two prefaces. Here are a few of them: (1) The first eighty chapters of the book were copied and circulated by bibliophiles for dozens of years.Today, after forty chapters, the synthesis is complete.Friends of Yuan used copying to fight for the audience, so it was difficult to copy, and it took time for the boards to be printed with movable type.Because I was eager to make it public to all my colleagues, the first printing was not in time for careful proofreading, and there were some mistakes.Today, the originals are gathered together, reviewed in detail, and corrected without error.But the reader forgives it. (1) For the first 80 chapters in the book, the manuscripts are different from each other.This is a wide collection of various books for verification and survey, which are based on the circumstances, and the supplements are corrected.There may be gains or losses in the period, which are intended to be easy to read, not to dare to compete with the predecessors. (1) The book has been handed down for a long time, and the manuscripts in the market and the secret manuscripts of various families are complicated and simplified, and the front and back are wrong.That is to say, in the sixty-seven chapters, there is this and that is not, the title is the same and the text is different, and it is impossible to distinguish between swallows and stones.Hereby choose the one whose reason is more consistent, and take it as the final version. (1) The last forty chapters of the book are collected over the years, and there is no other book to test, but they are slightly edited and edited according to their care before and after, so that they can be connected without contradictions.As far as the original text is concerned, I dare not make any changes.Once the rare copy is obtained again, it will be more definite, and I don't want to completely cover up its true colors. At the end of the introduction, there is a line "One day after Renzihua's court, Koizumi and Lanshu knew each other again".Lanshu is Gao'e.Let’s look at the two prefaces and the introduction quoted above, and there are a few points that should be noted: (1) The high preface says, “Those who have heard the most popular words have lived for more than twenty years.” Year." Counting thirty years from Qianlong Renzi, it is Renwu (1762), the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong.Knowing that this book has been popular in the thirty years of Qianlong's reign, it can be proved that there is probably no big mistake in my speculation that Cao Xueqin died around thirty years in Qianlong's reign. (2) Each of the first eighty chapters has similarities and differences.For example, the third article of the introduction says "Sixty-seven chapters have the same title and different texts".We tried Qi Ben's sixty-seven chapters and Cheng Ben's and the sixty-seven chapters of other books in the market to cross-check. As there are many similarities and differences, Cheng Ben's revision seems to be better than Qi Ben's.Probably Cheng Ben did go through a lot of work on the day of "collecting various books for verification, making decisions according to the circumstances, and correcting the addenda". Therefore, the Cheng Ben became the final version as soon as it came out, and most of the other banknotes were eliminated. (3) Cheng Weiyuan's preface stated that although there were only 80 chapters that day, there were originally 120 volumes of content.Unfortunately, there is no way to verify this. (Qi’s catalog does not have the last forty chapters) I used to think that some of the banknotes at that time probably had a catalog of the last forty chapters, but now I am a little skeptical about this layer. (details below) (4) The 40 chapters after the 80th chapter, according to Gao and Cheng, were compiled by Cheng Weiyuan over the years. First, more than 20 volumes were obtained, and then more than ten volumes were obtained on drums, and Gao E It took several months of sorting out and editing, and I just got this one hundred and twenty chapters.They themselves said that these forty chapters "have no other books to test"; but they also said: "As far as the original text is concerned, they have not dared to change it." (5) Until the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (1791), the complete version of 120 chapters was published. (6) The complete version of the hundred and twenty chapters was originally printed with movable type, and it was the Cheng version of Renzi (1792) in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong.There are two different printed versions of this book: (1) the first printed version (i.e. the Cheng Jia version) "It's not as good as the fine-tuning, there are mistakes." I have read this book recently, and there are indeed many mistakes and contradictions. (2) The corrected printed version, which is the Cheng Yi version I mentioned above. (7) Cheng Weiyuan's 120-back edition is the ancestor of all printed editions in the past 130 years.The later translations were mostly annotated by southerners, and the special colloquial sayings in Beijing dialect were often slightly changed in the book; but none of the translations (except Qi's version) did not come from Cheng's version. This is the history of our existing 120 chapters.In this period of history, there is a question that can be studied, that is, "Who is the author of the last forty chapters?" A textual research in Yu Yue's "Xiaofumei Gossip" says: "Chuanshan Poetry and Grass" has a poem "Gift to Gaolanshu Osprey in the Same Year" which says: "The lover said "Red Mansion" by himself." The note says: "After eighty chapters, Julanshu supplemented it." But this book is not written by itself. .According to the township examination, five-character and eight-rhyme poems were added, starting from the Qianlong Dynasty.However, there are already poems in the book describing the affairs of the department, so it can be proved that it was supplemented by Gao Jun. Yu's words are extremely important.He not only proved that Gao E who wrote the preface of Cheng Pai's book was a real person, but also let us know that the last forty chapters were written by Gao E.Chuanshan is Zhang Chuanshan, named Wentao, a great poet in the Qianlong and Jiaqing eras.In the fifty-third year of Qianlong's Wushen (1788) Zhongshuntian Township, he took an examination for candidates;He called Gao E the same year, and they were either the same year of Gengxu or the same year of Wushen.But if Gao E was a new Jinshi in Gengxu, he would not have said "leisure and tired" in his "Preface to a Dream of Red Mansions" the following year in Xinhai; so I speculate that they were in the same year as the Wushen Township Examination.Later, I found a fact about Gao E in Volume 1 of "Lang Qian Jiwen Erbi": In Jiaqing Xinyou, the capital flooded, and the examination room was changed to September. The title of the poem is "a hundred rivers go to the giant sea", which is rarely understood in Weizhong.The first ten books will be presented, and Mr. Wenduan, the king of Hancheng, regrets that he is ignorant of the source.Fangkao Gao Shi read the relics of Osou, and got the Dingyuan Chen Fu scroll, which was urgently recommended, and then Nanyuan. Xinyou (1801) was the sixth year of Jiaqing.According to this, we can know that Gao E later became a Jinshi, served as a student, and was a fellow examiner in the Shuntian Township Examination in the sixth year of Jiaqing.I think that since Gao E was awarded Jinshi, there is a way to check his birthplace and the year when he was awarded Jinshi.Sure enough, my friend Mr. Gu Jiegang found out for me on the "Jinshi Inscription Monument" that Gao E was a Han soldier inlaid with yellow banners.This one thing caught my attention, and I searched for books of this kind angrily. Sure enough, I found another item in the "Censor Title List" in the Qing Dynasty, in the 14th year of Jiaqing (1809): Gao E, a Han soldier with a yellow banner, a Jinshi in Yimao, Qianlong, who was selected by the cabinet to study and examine Jiangnan Dao Yushi , The criminal department gave the matter. In addition, on the 23rd of "Eight Banners Wenjing", there is Gao E's "Caomantang Poetry Manuscript Postscript", which was signed at the end of Xiaoyangyue in Renyin (1782) in the forty-seventh year of Qianlong.We can summarize the above-mentioned materials about Gao E and make a simple "Gao E Chronicle" as follows: On the 47th day of Qianlong (1782), Gao E wrote the Postscript to Caomantang Poems. Qianlong Wusan (1788), Zhongjuren. Qianlong 56th - 57th (1791-1792), 40 chapters after supplementary work, and a preface.The full version of the hundred and twenty chapters is typesetting and printed. Sixty years of Qianlong (1795), a Jinshi in the middle school, and one of the top three in the palace examination. In the sixth period of Jiaqing (1801), Gao E was the same examiner of the Shuntian Township Examination as a minister of the cabinet. He met Zhang Wentao in Weizhong, and Zhang wrote a poem to send him. Let future generations know that he made up after eighty chapters. In the 14th year of Jiaqing (1809), he was selected as the censor of Jiangnan Dao, and he was assigned to the criminal department. ——From the 47th day of Qianlong to this point, it has been 27 years.He was probably in his late sixties at this time. The last forty chapters were made up by Gao E, so there is no doubt about it.We can cite several layers of evidence as follows: First, Zhang Wentao's poems and annotations are the clearest evidence. Second, Yu Yueju's "Five-character and eight-rhyme poems were added in the Xianghui Examination, starting from the Qianlong Dynasty. In the book, there are already poems describing the events of the department".This item is not very reliable, because the township association's trial of regulated poems began in the 212th year of Qianlong, and perhaps the first 80 chapters had not been completed at that time. Third, according to the program, more than 20 volumes were obtained first, and then more than ten volumes were obtained on the drum.This statement is ironclad evidence of falsehood, because there is no such ingenious thing in the world! Fourth, Gao E's own preface is very vague, and the words between the lines make people suspicious.Probably he didn't want to completely bury his painstaking efforts in making it up, so he quoted the sixth article: "It is a book with a few words when it is opened. Let’s talk about the luck of writing a book.” Because Gao E didn't shy away from what he made up, Zhang Chuanshan donated a poem directly about the forty chapters after he made up. But these evidences are important, but it is not as good as the research on the content to prove that the last forty chapters and the first eighty chapters were not written by the same person.My friend Mr. Yu Pingbo once cited three reasons to prove that the last forty chapters of the recollection were also supplemented by Gao E.His three reasons were: (1) It didn't match the first self-narration, (2) Shi Xiangyun's disregard, (3) He didn't cooperate with the writing procedure.Among these three layers, the third layer is ignored.The first layer is very obvious: at the beginning of the book, it clearly stated that "one skill is useless, and half of life is down and out";The second layer is also very noteworthy.The thirty-first chapter "Because of Qilin Fubai's first double star" is really strange!依此句看来，史湘云后来似乎应该与宝玉做夫妇，不应该此话全无照应。以此看来，我们可以推想后四十回不是曹雪芹作的了。 其实何止史湘云一个人？即如小红，曹雪芹在前八十回里极力描写这个攀高好胜的丫头；好容易他得着了凤姐的赏识，把他提拔上去了；但这样一个重要人才，岂可没有下场？况且小红同贾芸的感情，前面既经曹雪芹那样郑重描写，岂有完全没有结果之理？又如香菱的结果也决不是曹雪芹的本意。第五回的“十二钗副册”上写香菱结局道：根并荷花一茎香，平生遭际实堪伤。自从两地生孤木，致使芳魂返故乡。 两地生孤木，合成“桂”字。此明说香菱死于夏金桂之手，故第八十回说香菱“血分中有病，加以气怨伤肝，内外挫折不堪，竟酿成干血之症，日渐羸瘦，饮食懒进，请医服药无效”。可见八十回的作者明明的要香菱被金桂磨折死。后四十回里却是金桂死了，香菱扶正：这岂是作者的本意吗？此外，又如第五回“十二钗”册上说凤姐的结局道：“一从二令三人木，哭向金陵事更哀。”这个谜竟无人猜得出，许多批的人也都不敢下注解。 所以后四十回里写凤姐的下场竟完全与这“二令三人木”无关。这个谜只好等上海灵学会把曹雪芹先生请来降坛时再来解决了！此外，又如写和尚送玉一段，文字的笨拙，令人读了作呕。又如写贾宝玉忽然肯作八股文，忽然肯去考举人，也没有道理。高鹗补时，正当他中举人之后，还没有中进士。如果他补在乾隆六十年之后，贾宝玉大概非中进士不可了！ 以上所说，只是要证明的后四十回确然不是曹雪芹作的。但我们平心而论，高鹗补的四十回，虽然比不上前八十回，也确然有不可埋没的好处。他写司棋之死，写鸳鸯之死，写妙玉的遭劫，写凤姐的死，写袭人的嫁，都是很有精彩的小品文字。最可注意的是这些人都写作悲剧的下场。 还有那最重要的“木石前盟”一件公案，高鹗居然忍心害理的教黛玉病死，教宝玉出家，作一个大悲剧的结束，打破中国小说的团圆迷信。这一点悲剧的眼光，不能不令人佩服。我们试看高鹗以后，那许多续和补的人，哪一人不是想把黛玉、晴雯都从棺材里扶出来，重新配给宝玉？ 哪一个不是想作一部“团圆”的的？我们这样退一步想，就不能不佩服高鹗的补本了。我们不但佩服，还应该感谢他，因为他这部悲剧的补本，靠着那个“鼓担”的神话，居然打倒了后来无数的团圆，居然替中国文学保存了一部有悲剧下场的小说！ 以上是我对于的“著者”和“本子”两个问题的答案。我觉得我们做的考证，只能在这两个问题上着手；只能运用我们力所能搜集的材料，参考互证，然后抽出一些比较的最近情理的结论。这是考证学的方法。我在这篇文章里，处处想撇开一切先入的成见；处处存一个搜求证据的目的；处处尊重证据，让证据做向导，引我到相当的结论上去。我的许多结论也许有错误的，——自从我第一次发表这篇《考证》以来，我已经改正了无数大错误了，——也许有将来发见新证据后即须改正的。但我自信：这种考证的方法，除了《董小宛考》之外，是向来研究的人不曾用过的。我希望我这一点小贡献，能引起大家研究的兴趣，能把将来的研究引上正当的轨道去：打破从前种种穿凿附会的“红学”，创造科学方法的研究！ 十，三，二七，初稿。 十，十一，十二，改定稿。 [附记]初稿曾附录《寄蜗残赘》一则： 一书，始于乾隆年间。……相传其书出汉军曹雪芹之手。嘉庆年间，逆犯曹纶即其孙也。灭族之祸，实基于此。 这话如果确实，自然是一段很重要的材料。因此我就去查这一桩案子的事实。 嘉庆十八年癸酉（1813），天理教的信徒林清等勾通宫里的小太监，约定于九月十五日起事，乘嘉庆帝不在京城的时候，攻入禁城，占据皇宫。但他们的区区两百个乌合之众，如何能干这种大事？所以他们全失败了，林清被捕，后来被磔死。 林清的同党之中，有一个独石口都司曹纶和他的儿子曹幅昌都是很重要的同谋犯。那年十月己未的上谕说：前因正黄旗汉军兵丁曹幅昌从习邪教，与知逆谋。 ……兹据讯明，曹幅昌之父曹纶听从林清入教，经刘四等告知逆谋，允为收众接应。曹纶身为都司，以四品职官习教从逆，实属猪狗不如，罪大恶极！ ... 那年十一月中，曹纶等都被磔死。 清礼亲王昭梿是当日在紫禁城里的一个人，他的《啸亭杂录》卷六记此事有一段说： 有汉军独石口都司曹纶者，侍郎曹瑛（瑛字一本或作寅）后也，家素贫，尝得林清佽助，遂入贼党。适之任所，乃命其子曹福昌（福字或作幅）勾结不轨之徒，许为城中内应。……曹福昌临刑时，告刽子手曰：“我是可交之人，至死不卖友以求生也！……” 《寄蜗残赘》说曹纶是曹雪芹之孙，不知是否根据《啸亭杂录》说的。 我当初已疑心此曹瑛不是曹寅，况且官书明说曹瑛是正黄旗汉军，与曹寅不同旗。前天承陈筱庄先生（宝泉）借我一部《靖逆记》（兰簃外史纂，嘉庆庚辰刻），此书记林清之变很详细。其第六卷有《曹纶传》，记他家世系如下： 曹纶，汉军正黄旗人。曾祖金铎，官骁骑校；伯祖瑛，历官工部侍郎；祖瑛，云南顺宁府知府；父廷奎，贵州安顺府同知。……廷奎三子，长绅，早卒；次维，武备院工匠；次纶，充整仪卫，擢治仪正，兼公中佐领，升独石口都司。 此可证《寄蜗残赘》之说完全是无稽之谈。 十，十一，十二。 《胡适文存》卷三