Chapter 12 Part One Discussion on the Annotation of "A Dream of Red Mansions" in Section 12 of Selected Posthumous Works (1)

The forty-first chapter of the 120 chapters, "Jia Baoyu tastes tea at Quicui Temple, Grandma Liu lies drunk in Yihong Courtyard" is a famous article written vividly and profoundly in this book. implicit.Although the description and narration are completely realistic, there are falsehoods in the truth.Just like a landscape scroll, it has the grandeur and magnificence of big green coloring, and the delicate and clear coloring of plain and simple coloring. More importantly, the ingenious combination of the two parts forms a sense of rhythm, which makes the impression unforgettable.However, there are many things in it that were popular in the middle and upper classes in the 18th century. It is difficult for modern people to understand when they read it, so they must look up the annotations.The new annotations are therefore also of some importance in this book.A thorough understanding and correct annotation can help readers deeply understand the benefits of the original work; sloppy annotation, or contrary to the original intention, will give readers a wrong impression and ruin the original text.

Regarding the problem of interpretation, I mentioned it in my article in the 368th issue of "Literary Heritage".As for making notes, there is another layer of trouble, because the time is short, there are still no books to check for many things, there are many questions, and there is no way to learn even if you want to learn!So when talking about the annotations of this book, I think that as an ordinary reader, I should pay tribute to the several annotators who worked on the reprinted edition of the People's Literature Publishing House in 1957, because they can work on this annotation work with enthusiasm and patience, and improve to the new level. level of academic requirements.However, there are undoubtedly many specific problems in the annotation of this book, which have not been well resolved, and further efforts are needed.Some things are absolutely impossible to figure out with the current method, try to put forward some personal opinions as preliminary suggestions.

Here I will first introduce the plot of Chapter 41: This article writes that Mother Jia and Grandma Liu waited until Miaoyu lived in Changcui Nunnery. In order to please Mother Jia, Miaoyu personally held a small tea tray with begonia and carved lacquer filled with golden clouds and dragons for his birthday (which is not allowed according to the law). He bought a small bell with five colors from a kiln (according to the facts, there will be no such real kiln, if it appears, it is also an imitation in Kangxi), and held it with Jiamu.After Jia's mother drank it, she asked Grandma Liu to taste it too.Later, when the Taoist woman came back from collecting the tea cups, Miaoyu felt that it was dirty and told her to put the cups outside and not to use them any more.In addition, two cups were taken out, one with an ear next to it, and the three official characters "" were engraved on the cup, followed by a line of small real characters, which said "Wang Kaizhen Wan".There is also a small line of "Su Shi in Meishan in April of the fifth year of Song Yuanfeng met in the secret mansion".Miaoyu poured out a hand to Baochai.That one looks like a bowl but is small, and it also has three pendulum seal characters, engraved with "point rhinoceros", Miaoyu poured it out and gave it to Daiyu.But he poured out the green jade bucket that he used to drink tea with Baoyu.Baoyu saw everything in his eyes, clearly understood the meaning of this kind of separate treatment, but pretended to be joking, thinking that what was given to Chai and Dai were "rare antiques", but what was given to him was "vulgar utensils".Then, Miaoyu and Baoyu have a conversation, which seems to be general on the surface, but contains some feelings that only each other can understand.

This time it is a famous article, and this section is a wonderful article written by the author with a sense of proportion and subtlety.There are metaphors everywhere, and every word has an organic edge. I personally think that we must appreciate it from two aspects of reality and fiction, so as to understand thoroughly and properly explain.Because not only there are many puns in the words, but also the author's praise has praise and criticism, that is, the names of utensils are not casual.If you have little understanding of this subtext, and only make notes on the words, it is naturally rare to get the original meaning.It was originally a living article, so it was inevitable that it would be detained to death.Now I would like to raise three points for discussion, so as to be more familiar to domestic experts.

1. The original note (9), - is a kind of ancient wine cup. , are the names of melons.In the past, some special utensils were engraved with famous names.This kind of cup is similar to the shape of a melon, so I gave him this name. 2. Note (10) in the original note, Wang Kai’s precious play—Wang Kai was the richest figure among the bureaucrats of the Jin Dynasty. Here it is said that the cup was made by Wang Kai and appreciated by Su Shi. It is an extremely precious antique. 3. Original Note (11), Dianxi——is an ancient bowl-like vessel.There is a white spot in the center of the cross-section of the rhino horn.Here the name of this type of bowl is based on the allusion of Tang Li Shangyin's poem "the heart has a clear understanding".

From the perspective of appreciation, the focus of this section of the text is mainly to describe Miaoyu as a person. Through some incidents, it can be seen that she is smart, clean, and elegant, but in fact she is somewhat artificial, snobbish, and false.The author's writing is pun-like, and his words are about and meaningful.Even the naming of the two utensils does not depart from this theme. The former is harmonic, while the latter is understanding.It can also be said that there is no real thing, but it is not random.To make an annotation is just right, to take into account both the truth and the truth, it is necessary to be pragmatic first, and then to be pragmatic, to understand the problem, to make a more correct and pertinent annotation based on extensive knowledge and reference, concise and to the point!

How to be pragmatic?We must first understand the relationship between two things and the times.Since the Ming Dynasty, the middle-class gentry class has risen in the south. The officials may not be so big, the real estate may not be so rich, and some people may be close to poverty, making a living by selling literature and paintings.But as time goes by, he seems to be the master of elegance for a while.Not only often invites friends and gathers friends, recites poems and paints, writes about fights, but also acts as a celebrity.On a good day in spring and autumn, it is inevitable to call friends and couples, travel mountains and rivers, eat, drink and have fun.It is easy to carry when traveling, so according to "Mengxi Bi Tan", it is popular to use gourds or woven bamboo silk and lacquer as tea and wine vessels.Like many other handicrafts in the south, this kind of utensils, like many other handicrafts in the south, became a favorite of the Beijing court nobles in the early Qing Dynasty. There are quite a lot of collections, and a few years ago there was a special room for display on West Road).What the original note (9) mentioned is undoubtedly this kind of tea set that uses a similar pattern.Both Jue and Jue are Shang Dynasty wine vessels, but they are not cups, just like goblets are not cups, each has a different image and a different name.Generally speaking, it mostly refers to a Yin Shang bronze wine vessel with three legs, two pillars, and a wrench (the so-called ear), which has a larger capacity. Merchant bronzes.If you understand this point, it can be said that it is a "tea cup" in this article, but you have to say "it is a wine vessel borrowed" in the note.At that time, there would really be such a tool, but it was not "similar to the shape of a melon" as mentioned in the original note, but on the contrary, it was a utensil that "imitated the shape of a melon".

How to retreat?This instrument is not called anything else, why is it called such a tricky and weird name?It seems weird but not weird.There is a common saying: "Fake or not? The class is fake. True or not? Flesh to the heart." It means "Fake must be fake, and true must be true".Did the author intentionally take the homonym suitable for the common saying "class pack fake", which refers to both things and people?I think it's worth looking into. Because the punters are not pragmatic enough, they take everything for granted and make a mistake. The second is the issue of note (10). According to the literal note, only Wang Kai's identity is correct, and the rest are irrelevant.Because if you are pragmatic and thorough, and understand that gourd vessels were popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, then the article mentioned in the article that Wang Kaizhen played them and Dongpo appreciated them would naturally come to nothing.It is obviously a sarcastic joke, which is tantamount to saying "Song Edition "Kangxi Dictionary", and it will never be true.Now in the note, it is added seriously: "This is an extremely precious antique", so it turns gold into iron.

The third is note (11). Regarding Dianxi, the original note quoted Li Shangyin's poem, but in fact, I still don't understand the original meaning of the matter used in the poem and the purpose of naming it here.This is something that can only be understood from a pragmatic perspective. How to be pragmatic?Since the Song and Ming dynasties, due to the expansion of trade in the South China Sea, more and more precious and rare materials such as agarwood and rhino horn have been imported. Therefore, high-level bureaucrats and nobles are happy to use them to carve various works of art to show their extravagance.Agarwood is often carved into mountains, or Ganoderma lucidum, which is passed down from the "Three Mountains on the Sea" to the "Shoushan Fuhai", which is inseparable from the wish for longevity and happiness.Rhino horns are used as wine vessels, which is also inseparable from longevity, because according to legend, rhino horns can cure all poisons.There are mainly two types of cups using rhinoceros horns: the horizontal one is mostly carved in the shape of Zhang Qian's "Bowangcha" which was spread to the sea, which is similar to the silver cup made by Zhu Bishan in the Yuan Dynasty. The tail is upright, and there are still some forks left as usual. It might have been made of agarwood, and rhinoceros and silver were imitated later.Tong belongs to the "wine boat" category.It is a romantic handicraft developed from the round waist lacquer jade wine glass in the Warring States period, to the Liuqu and Baqu gold and silver wine boats in the Tang Dynasty, and then to the Song and Ming Dynasties.The vertical inscriptions are erected downwards, and the top is in the shape of a trumpet mouth. It is derived from the ancient goblet and rhinoceros cup. Although the real rhinoceros cup does not exist, there is a very specific painting in the newly published Western Han murals.It evolved into jade carvings in the Han and Song dynasties, and the rhinoceros horn cups in the Song and Ming dynasties were imitation jade.The rim and handle of the cup are either carved into high-relief carvings of mother and child to ward off evil spirits, or engraved with a child ascending to heaven and a big and small dragon, or carved with Ganoderma lucidum and fairy grass, and then carved with brocade lychees, magnolias and other images of raw flowers and fruits, and other scenes of landscapes and pavilions.In short, the quantity is large, and the style changes greatly.Generally only four or five inches high, but also as high as eight or nine inches.If the name "" is named, logically speaking, it must also refer to the high-end utensils in the real thing.There is an old saying (or quoted as "Baopuzi") that there is a white line in the center of the rhinoceros that goes straight to the end, and it is named Tongtian rhinoceros. Li Shangyin's poems use this metaphor to communicate with each other in secret.People in the Song Dynasty used it as a belt plate, named "Tongxi Belt", and there are also names such as "Zhengtou" and "Daotou". slightly later."Tianshui Bingshanlu" of the Ming Dynasty records that among the important properties of Yan Song's confiscated home, there are still many rhinoceros belts. Fortunately, where and the specific images are unknown.As for wine vessels made by people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the center must be hollowed out. Due to different application requirements, there is no need to ask whether there are white touts. (There are no less than 200 kinds of real objects in my hand, and none of them meet the condition of Tongxi. It can be seen that the wine vessel is actually not there!)