Chapter 17 Third Sister You's childish and ignorant views on marriage and love

The two sisters in "A Dream of Red Mansions" have always attracted readers' attention.The two sisters appeared briefly but were extremely eye-catching, like a firework in the dark night sky, beautiful and fleeting.The appearance of these two girls is to portray two tragic marriage and love stories. Others can live for love, but they can only die for love.These two sisters can trigger more reflections in future generations on the choice of marriage partners. Judging from their backgrounds, Second Sister You and Third Sister You are unorthodox relatives in Ningguo Mansion.The two sisters and elder sister, Jia Zhen's wife Youshi, not only have different mothers, but also different fathers.They were born to Mrs. You and her ex-husband, and they were brought here when they remarried.And the later husband (that is, You Shi's father) also died.In the words of Mrs. You, since then "the family has been really struggling, thanks to the help of my son-in-law (Jia Zhen) here".Therefore, even if Jia Zhen, Jia Rong and his son occupy You's sisters, because of the pressure of life, they have nothing to do and cannot resist.The You sisters were born beautiful. In the eyes of Jia Lian's servant, Xing'er, Third Sister You's face and figure were no different from Lin Daiyu, the concubine of Xiaoxiang, while Second Sister You was even more handsome than Sister Feng, who was like a fairy concubine.How could such a pair of peerless beauties escape the clutches of Zhenrong and his son?When writing about Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, they must be surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women. Although the two fathers and sons are vulgar, they are very discerning, and the book makes no secret of it. The so-called "jumo" comes from "The Book of Rites" "A husband is rude to animals, so father and son gather together to grind", which refers to the beastly behavior of father and son sharing a woman.

Regarding the adulterous relationship between Second Sister You and Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, the author clearly writes about it, but the adulterous relationship between Sister You and Third Sister is relatively more subtle.This is because the later editors deliberately portrayed Third Sister You as a chaste and strong woman, but after such a modification, many flaws appeared in the text: Jia Rong couldn't wait to make a sound, so she flew to the house on horseback first, and hurriedly ordered the front hall to put away the tables and chairs, lower the wooden fan, hang the filial curtain, and set up a drummer's shed (building) in front of the door.I was busy coming in to see my grandmother and two aunts.It turns out that Mr. You Lao'an likes to sleep when he is young, and he is often on his side. His second and third aunts all work with the maids, and they are troubled when they see him coming.Jia Rong looked at his second aunt with a smile, (said with a smile:) "Second aunt, you are here again, my father is missing you." Second sister You blushed and scolded: "Boy Rong, I will If you don't scold you a few words for two days, you will have a hard time. The more you lose your integrity. Thanks to you being the son of a big family, you study etiquette every day. No way." As he said that, he picked up an iron and hit it on the head, Jia Rong was so frightened that he rolled his head into his arms and begged for mercy.The third sister You came up and said, "When sister comes home, let's tell him." Jia Rong laughed and knelt down on the kang begging for mercy.The two of them laughed again.Jia Rong and Second Aunt again robbed Amomum to eat, but Second Sister You chewed the dregs and spat him in the face.Jia Rong licked and ate with her tongue.

All the girls couldn't see it, so they all laughed and said: "My mother just fell asleep when I was filial piety. Although the two of them are small, they are from my aunt's family. You don't have a grandma in your eyes. Come back and tell the master, you can't eat and walk around " Jia Rong left his aunt, hugged the girls and kissed: "My darling, what you said is, let's slander him both." There are wives and maids who only quarrel with us, and those who know are stubborn; those who don’t know, and when they meet that dirty, (love) nosy, gossip person, who in the noisy house doesn’t know , who doesn’t chew their tongues behind their backs and say that we are in chaos here.” Jia Rong said with a smile: “Every family is separate, and whoever manages whose business is enough. From ancient times to the present, even the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty In the court, people still say dirty Tang and stinky man, let alone our family. Whoever has no affair, don't ask me to tell it. Even the old man over there is so powerful, Uncle Lian is still unclean with that little aunt. Miss Feng That's so strong, Uncle Rui still thinks about him. I didn't hide that from me!"

This paragraph vividly describes Jia Rong's ugly face.At that time, Jia Rong should be a young man of twenty-three or twenty-four years old, while the second and third sisters You were only about 20 years old. It's decent, not to mention these two girls are still his elders.Researchers have always been puzzled by the actions of the second sister You and the third sister You in this passage.It is written in the article that after Second Sister You scolded Jia Rong, she "took up an iron and hit her right on the head, and Jia Rong was so scared that she rolled her head into her arms and begged for mercy. Third Sister You came up and tore her mouth away", these words Thinking carefully, Jia Rong rolled into her arms begging for mercy, but whose arms did she roll into?It definitely can't be Second Sister You, how could anyone want to hit you, but you jumped up instead?Obviously looking for a fight!But if it rolled into Third Sister You's arms, then everything would make sense, and Third Sister You immediately came up to tear her mouth, which shows that Jia Rong must be belittling her.It is certain that this text has been artificially modified, in order to highlight the perfection of Third Sister You, so that her suicide will become pure in the future.As for whether it was modified by the author Cao Xueqin, it is still a mystery.

Of course, such a change weakens the complexity and fullness of You Sanjie, which is a loss from the perspective of artistic creation and increases the distance between her and real life.Third Sister You was born in such a family environment, and it was impossible not to compromise with her brother-in-law. People always have to live, and there is hope for everything if they have a full stomach. And the third sister You herself said in the book: "My sister is confused. We gold and jade people are incompetent for making these two real treasures defiled for nothing." Defilement is definitely not just a casual joke. As far as being defiled, the customs of the Manchus are relatively open. Among relatives, even if they are different, they often laugh and curse, which is not considered a breach of morality.Defilement means to taint a person or thing. As a second-year-old, one must have actual improper behavior before it can be called defilement.Third Sister You, like Second Sister You, was also forced to be raped by Zhenrong and his son, but unlike Second Sister You, she had a more active consciousness and wanted to get rid of this abused life.Third Sister You is not only beautiful, but also very knowledgeable. She has a good vision for life, but it is difficult for her to give her a satisfactory answer in real life.She is able to recognize her current situation clearly, and she has the determination and courage to change the situation, which is quite extraordinary.

Most of the readers in the past have loved the image of You Sanjie. She has the shadow of the chivalrous culture believed by the Chinese people. She is very similar to the heroine Hong Fu in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although she is a prostitute, she has eyes for heroes and fell in love with Li Jing. , and then bravely eloped with him, making a long story.Although Third Sister You has made mistakes, she is not a prostitute after all. From this point of view, she has an advantage over Hong Fu. She fell in love with Liu Xianglian, and swore that she would only love him in this life, and that he would not come for a year. Wait for a year, if you don't come in ten years, wait for ten years, and you will never marry a second man in this life.This infatuation is very moving, but very unrealistic.Even if she loves Liu Xianglian, whether Liu Xianglian loves Third Sister You is another matter.And judging from the situation of Third Sister You, she is also a woman who had an improper relationship with her brother-in-law and nephew. The society’s tolerance for her is very low. The tolerance of the young girl who stumbled also overestimated Liu Xianglian.She regards Liu Xianglian as a good man and a confidant, but in fact, she lacks understanding of Liu Xianglian and the whole society.She fantasizes that she can have a good life like Hong Fu, knock on Li Jing's door in the middle of the night, and she will make a good story through the ages, but it is a pity that Liu Xianglian is not Li Jing, and does not have this courage and spirit. Fu was able to achieve a positive result and became a first-rank wife, while the third sister You, who occasionally stumbled, could only die tragically under the sword. In the final analysis, she misjudged the man and bet the wrong bet.Third Sister You's views on marriage and love are quite immature!

Even so, the third sister You is still quite free in ancient times. As a woman, she dares to boldly choose her own marriage, which is unique among the women in the Red Chamber.In fact, during the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, in many families, men and women had some autonomy over their own marriages, and as early as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, there were even "runners can't help" during festivals. Customs, for marriage, both men and women have a certain degree of freedom. The most famous one is the story of Zhuo Wenjun, a rich girl, and Sima Xiangru, a poor literati, elope and get married.Beginning in the Qin and Han Dynasties, marriage gradually tended to be the order of parents. After several dynasties and generations, the strict marriage rules of the feudal era were finally formed.And Third Sister You hopes to be able to marry independently, which is actually not in line with social reality.

There are also praises and criticisms for the author of Third Sister You.Jia Baoyu in the book is a natural flower protector, no matter what kind of girl she is, as long as she is a little bit pretty, she can win his love.No matter the poor peasant girl or the lowly brothel prostitute, he can still show his love, worthy of the name "Loveless".However, even the "Love Saint" Jia Baoyu has a clear definition of his love for girls.She respects and loves aristocratic lady like Daiyu Baochai, treats a servant girl like Qingwen Xiren with tender affection and love, and treats a romantic beauty like Eryou with contempt and love.Obviously, although Jia Baoyu felt pity and sympathy for girls like Second Sister You and Third Sister You, in his heart, he still had contempt for these two sisters.In the original text, after Liu Xianglian hired Third Sister You as his wife, she had this conversation with Jia Baoyu:

Xianglian told Baoyu everything on the road, and Baoyu smiled and said, "Great joy, (great joy!) It's rare that this beautiful man is indeed a stunning beauty in ancient and modern times, and he is worthy of you." , why only think about me. Besides, I am not very close to him, and I don’t care about it. I am so busy on the road that I want to make a ceremony again and again. Could it be that the woman’s family is driving the man’s family? I wondered and regretted You shouldn't have kept that sword as a ceremony. So, when you think of you later, you can ask about it carefully." Baoyu said, "You are a delicate person. How can you be confused after making the ceremony? You said As long as there is a stunning one, now that you have a stunning one, that's all. Why doubt it?"

Xianglian said: "You don't know that he is married, how do you know that he is stunning?" Baoyu said: "He is the two aunts brought by sister-in-law Zhen's stepmother. I spent a month with them in the mansion, why don't I know? He is (again) surnamed You." Hearing this, Xiang Lian stumbled and said, "This is not a good thing, and I absolutely can't do it. In your East Mansion, except for the two head lions, the lions are clean, only I'm afraid even cats and dogs are not clean. If I don't do this, I will forget about it." Baoyu heard that his face was flushed.

Baoyu is a real person, and he has one thing to say about everything. Here, he only affirmed the appearance of Youshi's two daughters, and covered up their conduct a lot. It can be seen that his true evaluation of these two daughters is actually not very high.After all, whether it is Daiyu or Baochai, or even Qingwen and Yuanyang, these beauties in Baoyu's eyes are all girls respected by Baoyu. In Baoyu's mind, their character is far more attractive than their appearance .But Baoyu saw that Eryou only saw a face, which shows that Eryou's character in the Red Chamber is terrible.When Baoyu introduced Liu Xianglian, his words were also frivolous, "He is the two aunts brought by sister-in-law Zhen's stepmother. I spent a month with them there, why don't I know? They are really a pair of people [especially] things." , his (again) surname is You." The word "mixed" set the tone of Baoyu's evaluation of the two girls, if they were noble ladies from a famous family, how could Baoyu dare to use the word "mixed" to make fun of them?Not to mention famous daughters like Chai, Dai, and Xiang, even a poor girl like Xing Xiuyan is still sacred and noble in Baoyu's eyes.It's no wonder that Liu Xianglian immediately regretted her marriage with Baoyu's frivolous ridicule. She said "I won't do this and forget about it" and Baoyu blushed. clean.There was a comment here in Zhiping's commentary: "Can people think of using Xianglian to mention Dongfu's affairs and scolding Baoyu?"The so-called "one person is never let go". It can be seen that since Baoyu said "not necessarily clean", it must have been unclean. Of course, it must not be the Youshi sisters.In any case, Baoyu still has a lot of contempt for the true attitude of the two Youshi sisters. From the third sister You, we see an eternal proposition for women: whether it takes a lifetime to make up for the mistakes made when I was young.The story of Third Sister You gives an affirmative answer to this proposition, which is very unfortunate and very sad.But in any case, Third Sister You is still a highlight in "A Dream of Red Mansions". Among all the women in the Red Mansion, she is the only one who can marry the chivalrous son Liu Xianglian, which is her "chivalrous" side.All the women in the Red Chamber either wrote books or twirled with needles, and died of poverty or disease in the future, but the third sister You was a ghost under the sword, which shows her stamina and chivalry.Writing about the third sister You longing for happiness but not being able to be happy adds to the color of sadness! Eryou in the Red Chamber is a passage in the complete book "Dream of Red Mansions". The appearance of the second sister You and the third sister You is to serve the development of the story. It is to use the characters to write the story, not to write the characters with the story.The appearance of the second sister You not only served the author to further portray the character of Wang Xifeng, but also provided an opportunity for the deterioration of the relationship between Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng.The appearance of You Sanjie made Liu Xianglian's fate take a 180-degree turn.Eryou in the Red Chamber, who only appeared in six short chapters, was portrayed wonderfully by the author.Over the past two hundred years, countless readers have had mixed opinions on the two daughters, and it is precisely this controversial existence that makes the two sisters extremely mysterious.