Chapter 35 Lack of Mid-Autumn Poetry

What happened to Qingwen and Siqi?I remember that when I was a teenager, after reading the seventy-third and seventy-fourth chapters, I couldn't help turning back in a hurry. It was difficult to become interested in the seventy-fifth and seventy-sixth chapters.Later, after experiencing a lot in my life, I realized that whether it is a person, a family, or even a race, its destiny is a process.Focusing only on the final outcome and not being able to endure the process leading to the terminal is a lack of respect for life. After copying the Grand View Garden like a storm, Cao Xueqin deliberately embedded the two slow-paced texts with the long sigh of the ghost and the miserable sound of the flute to create a tragic atmosphere of "a bigger storm is yet to come", which is the essence of the text. Another ups and downs, and more volts laid.

The seventy-fifth chapter is the same as the twenty-second chapter, Zhi Yanzhai clearly pointed out that Cao Xueqin failed to complete it.The last part of the twenty-second chapter is incomplete, with a few lantern riddle poems missing; the seventy-fifth chapter is "Missing Mid-Autumn Poems by Xueqin" - the missing content needs to be filled by Cao Xueqin - this is not a commentary The tone, but the tone of the editor documenting the progress of the work.In fact, Zhiyanzhai was first edited by Cao Xueqin, and she had a more convincing editorial note before the sentence "Qi Xueqin" before Chapter 75: "On the seventh day of the fifth month of the twenty-first year of Qianlong's reign to the Qing Dynasty. "

The twenty-first year of Qianlong was the year of Bingzi, which was 1756 in the Gregorian calendar. Cao Xueqin was about thirty-two or three-year-old that year.After he finished writing the seventy-fifth chapter, Zhi Yanzhai copied it according to the original manuscript——Cao Xueqin’s original manuscript may have been messy, and it was written in cursive, which is generally difficult for people who are not familiar with his handwriting—after copying After checking with the original manuscript, she finished checking the text of this round on the seventh day of May of that year. The narrative part is very complete, and only three Mid-Autumn Festival poems by Baoyu, Jia Lan, and Jia Huan are missing.Zhi Yanzhai is used to copying and writing comments at the same time. In most cases, because she has edited the later chapters, she will link the current plot with the later story and make comments. "The mentality of revealing something and teasing something is just to say something when she thinks of it; but sometimes, because she has not edited the text written by Cao Xueqin, she will misunderstand the performance of the characters and the development of the plot in front of her. , wrote some erroneous comments that did not meet Cao Xueqin's intentions.However, she has been editing Cao Xueqin's new manuscripts for several years, and she has also kept updating her comments. She has the courage to keep the original inappropriate comments, and then correct them with new comments, such as Lin Hongyu (Xiaohong) This is the case with a few comments, which have been passed down to this day and entered our eyes.

The earliest manuscript that Zhiyanzhai copied and criticized that we can see now is the "Jiaxu Version" in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754 in the Gregorian calendar).Of course, Zhiyanzhai preferred the title of the book, and Cao Xueqin also respected her opinion, and recorded this fact in the text form of the book. The title of the "Jiaxu Version" is "Reassessment by Zhiyanzhai", which shows that there should be a "Preliminary Review" before that, but unfortunately we have not found that copy until now. The "Ji Maoben" and "Gengchenben" that we can still see now are the 24th and 25th year of Qianlong (1759 and 1760 in the Gregorian calendar) respectively (note that it is the same as the "Jiaxuben") Same, it is "Guo Luben"), "Gengchenben" has the words "Four Comments on Qiuyue Final Version" written by Zhi Yanzhai, which shows that she edited and commented for the fourth time from Jimaodong to Gengchenqiu.

Then, obviously, during the Bingzi period between Jiaxu, Jimao and Gengchen, Zhiyanzhai had a Three Commentary, but it was not handed down, only what we see now, before the seventy-fifth chapter Such a trace of. Although it is only a trace, it is very good for us to understand Cao Xueqin's writing habits.It is not difficult for us to find that when Cao Xueqin writes, he often writes out the narrative text first. If a character writes a poem, the poem will be empty first-of course, what kind of poem the character should write, what kind of poem will the poem have? He knows the meaning of the poem well - when he gets interested, he will come back and fill in the poem.Presumably Zhi Yanzhai often reminded him: You should write this poem!After he wrote it, Zhi Yanzhai copied it, and then erased the editing records such as "Qi Xueqin".

Cao Xueqin often writes the later chapters first, but writes later to make up for the earlier chapters.Then, the seventy-fifth chapter, I personally think, should have been written in advance when many previous chapters were not written at all, but he still had no time to fill in the missing poems. This time, it was written at the beginning that something happened to the Zhen family, and they even sent people to Rongguo Mansion to send their belongings.In fact, the Zhen family not only found the Rongguo Mansion, but also the Ningguo Mansion, but they wrote it more implicitly - when they had breakfast the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Youshi asked Jia Zhen's concubine Peifeng: "Who is there today?" Peifeng Said: "I heard that there are two people from Nanjing outside, but I don't know who they are." ——The two houses of Rong and Ning accepted criminals and hid the criminal property on their behalf, which also accelerated the process of being punished by the emperor, but Zhen and Jia are inseparable, they can only do things according to that rule.

Mrs. Wang had to bite the bullet and report to Jia's mother that Zhen's family was ransacked and punished. Jia's mother refused to listen, saying that she should not care about other people's affairs, and that it was serious to discuss her Mid-Autumn Festival viewing of the moon.Jia Mu is not faint, she is a character with profound thoughts.This time, there was a description of more than 140 characters, which was deleted by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E.That passage is about Jiamu staying with Youshi for dinner, and Youshi told him to sit down, and then "Tanchun and Baoqin also got up, and said with a smile, "Excuse me, excuse me!" Youshi laughed and said, "Leave me alone." I'm not used to a large row of tables." Jia's mother laughed and said, "Mandarin ducks and amber come here, and I also eat some while taking advantage of the situation, and I accompany them again." Youshi laughed and said, "Okay, okay, okay, I'm just about to say it." Jia The mother laughed and said, "It's the most interesting to have a lot of people eating." She pointed to Yindie and said, "It's good for this child, too, come and eat with your master. When you leave me, we will make rules." Youshi Said: "Come here quickly, you don't have to fake it." Jia Mu looked at it with her hands behind her back for fun. Because she saw that the waiter was holding a bowl of rice for the servants in her hand." Cheng Gao then said: "You still eat white food. Rice", Jia Mu asked why you didn't serve Youshi the red rice porridge mentioned earlier, the servant replied that it was because Tanchun was left for dinner, and the red rice porridge was gone, and Yuanyang further explained: "Now it's time to start eating. I’m making hats, and I can’t afford a little extra.” Mrs. Wang also reported: “The drought has been uncertain for the past two years, and the rice on the field can’t be handed in according to the number. It’s even more difficult for these kinds of fine rice.” Jiamu had no choice but to take "That's why Qiao's daughter-in-law can't make rice-free porridge," explained the ridicule.In the text that Cheng Gaoben deleted, the core sentence is that Jia’s mother said, “It’s the funniest thing to eat when many people eat”——there are two ancient versions of this sentence: “It’s the most interesting to watch a lot of people eat.” I think it is more expressive to add "watching" - this is the most subtle emotion in Jia Mu's heart after hearing that Zhen's family was ransacked and convicted.For the ancestors of a feudal aristocratic family like her, the prosperity of the family members and food for everyone is the most auspicious sight.In fact, in the previous description, there are so many gorgeous scenes of Jia's banquet, hasn't Jia's mother seen enough?But when the story develops to this point, the Zhen family in Jiangnan has been overthrown, and it is difficult to be happy in Rongguo Mansion, just like a drowning man trying to grab a straw. An urgent psychological need is to immediately organize a scene of "a lot of people eating" to appreciate and comfort yourself.Normally, Tanchun and Youshi would not eat with Jia Mu, and Jia Mu not only kept them, but also let the maids who were not allowed to eat at the same table with the master as an exception, to sit down at the big row of tables to accompany them. Eat, in order to achieve a lot of eye-catching effect.This is a very neat stroke.When Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E prepared 120 chapters of the book, they deleted it. Perhaps they were sensitive, because such a description seemed to irony that the world at that time could not make "many people eat".

Red rice porridge is porridge made from rouge rice.Chapter 53 writes that the head of the village in Heishan came to send the annual rent to Ningguo Mansion, which included "Yutian rouge, rice and two stones".In the first edition of Mr. Zhou Ruchang's "A Dream of Red Mansions" in 1953, there is a textual research on Yutian rouge rice.When Mao Zedong was alive, he liked to read "A New Evidence of a Dream of Red Mansions". In his later years, he even asked Zhuan to print a large-character copy for him to read.It is said that when he met with US President Nixon in 1972, he also mentioned rouge rice, and later Premier Zhou Enlai arranged a state banquet for Nixon and his wife, and he found rouge rice and cooked it into porridge for them. (Another theory is that Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was served with rouge rice.) This kind of rouge rice was only produced in Yutian, Hebei. The current Fengrun County, Hebei Province belonged to the same county as Yutian in ancient times. Mention and write Yutian.For example, in the thirty-seventh chapter of Shi Xiangyun's poem chanting Bai Haitang, there is a sentence "the gods descended to the gate of the capital yesterday and planted a pot of jade in Lantian", which used the story of Yang Boyong in ancient times who planted stones given by the gods in the ground and harvested jade. , It is said that the place name Yutian is related to this legend.Mr. Zhou Ruchang studied Cao Xueqin's ancestral home and believed that it was in today's Fengrun.Cao Xueqin wrote about Yutian in this way, perhaps because of his psychological motive of cherishing his ancestors.This idea is for readers' reference.In the seventy-fifth chapter, there are several places worth noting.

When writing about Jia Zhen, in this book, several aspects of him are written, which further makes this artistic image three-dimensional instead of cartoonish.Jia Zhen set up a swan under the arrow path of Tianxiang Tower in Ningguo Mansion, and organized a group of young masters to practice archery. "Xiang Chen", that is where his beloved Qin Keqing "had to die". There is some kind of connection in this episode.Jia Zhen gradually developed this archery practice into a game of drinking and drinking. Of course it is absurd, but later it is written that his concubine Peifeng came forward to express his sincere request to invite Youshi to have a banquet and enjoy the moon. And that is not necessarily a kind of perfunctory (who else needs to be perfunctory in the mansion? He just turned the Ningguo Mansion over, who can stop him?), it shows that he still has some feelings for You Shi, watching the moon At that time, Peifeng played Xiao and Wenwen sang songs, but it also showed a harmonious scene in the mansion.However, there was a strange long sigh from under the wall, and Jia Zhen sternly screamed, and asked, "Who is there?" Then a gust of wind passed, and the sound of fans opening and closing came from the ancestral hall next door, and all the women felt their hair stand on end, Jia Zhen sobered up Half of it, but I can still hold on--of course, the strange sighs and noises are all warnings to his unworthy descendants who are bound to lose their ancestors' family business, but these few pens also show that Jia Zhen is in the Jia family. He is still a somewhat masculine man.

The place where Jia Zhen led his wife Ji concubine to admire the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival was on Conglvtang in Huifang Garden.But in the sixteenth chapter, it was explained that Huifang Garden had been demolished for the construction of Grand View Garden.There is a slight contradiction between these two times.This time, it also wrote that Mrs. You returned to Ningguo Mansion to eavesdrop and watch Jia Zhen and a group of cronies gathering for gambling and fooling around. In it, Mrs. Xing's younger brother, Uncle Xing's ugly words were written, which You heard very clearly. , Nai quietly smiled at Yindie: "Did you hear that? This is the brother of the eldest wife in the North Court complaining about him." North Court?All ancient books write like this here.However, according to the third episode and many later chapters, Jia She and Mrs. Xing lived in a courtyard with a black oil gate separated by a boundary wall to the east of Rongguo Mansion, and Ningguo Mansion was further east of it. As for Mrs. Xing, it is correct to say "Madam in the West Courtyard". Why do you say "Madam in the North Courtyard"?Maybe, in real life, the residences of Jia Amnesty and Mrs. Xing are in the north of the prototype of Ningguo Mansion?Or even though Ningguo Mansion is to the east of Rongguo Mansion and Heiyou Gate, its gate and the entire mansion are located to the southeast?

The most intriguing thing is that this time Jia Amnesty and Jia Zheng heard that Jia Zhen took the lead in practicing archery, and thought that "this is the truth. Since the text is wrong, martial arts should also be practiced. The situation belongs to Wu Yin." He also ordered Jia Huan, Jia Cong, Baoyu, and Jia Lan to come over after dinner, and practice archery with Jia Zhen before returning."There is basically no difference in the writing style of the ancient books.According to the literal logic of the order issued by the "two places", Jia Huan and Jia Cong should belong to the Jia Amnesty Department, while Baoyu and Jia Lan should belong to the Jia Zheng Department.Does Jia Huan belong to Jia Amnesty?Was it a typo?Looking down, it seems that it is not a clerical error.Because it is written that Jia Mu led the tribe to reunite in Tubitang for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Jia Huan also wrote a poem after Baoyu and Jia Lan. He patted Jia Huan on the head and said with a smile: "It's our tone to do this in the future. In the future, the hereditary future will definitely not be able to run away from you." After his death, the title should be taken by his eldest son (after Jia Daishan's death, Jia She as the eldest son attacked the first-class general, Jia Zheng had no title, but was only given an official), even if the eldest son died or was at fault, he could not take over the title. , and nephews cannot be allowed to strike, the only reasonable explanation is that in this episode, Jia Huan was set as Jia Amnesty's son.What's even more strange is that this time it is written that the family is reunited around a big round table, with Jia Mu sitting in the middle, with Jia She, Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, and Jia Rong hanging down on the left, and Jia Zheng, Baoyu, Jia Huan, Jia Huan, Jia Rong on the right. Jia Lan, sitting around.Only half the wall of the table was sitting, and there was still half of the wall below.Jia Mu lamented that there were few people, so she called Ying, Tan and Xi to sit together.Isn't there another Jia Cong?Xi She has his share, so how can he not have his share when eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion?Jia Cong officially appeared on the stage in the twenty-fourth chapter, and was reprimanded by Mrs. Xing: "Look for a live monkey over there, your nanny will die! I won't clean up you, and you will have black eyebrows and black mouth. You are like everyone there." The child who is studying!" Jia Cong is clearly one of Jia She's biological sons, and of course one of Jia's mother's biological grandsons, how could he be excluded from the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion? Judging from the above indications, the seventy-fifth chapter should be written relatively early, but as far as the whole story is concerned, it is at a relatively late position, so Cao Xueqin has never freed up his hand to let it write. The narrative text of the poem is matched with the previous chapters one by one, and there is no time to fill in the three poems.Looking back, it is ironic to say that "new words are good prophecy", and "good prophecy" is a good prophecy.The Zhen family mansion has collapsed, and the Jia family has been in turmoil. These people sitting around the big round table, no matter they are good or evil, will inevitably fall into the category of "forgetting their surnames like a mountain of bones". Cao Xueqin did not fill in the three poems in the seventy-fifth chapter, which is a great loss for us in reading, but we should thank him for writing the seventy-sixth chapter completely.The seventy-sixth chapter is a poem as a whole.Regarding this time, I have made a detailed analysis before, so I won't repeat it here.I just want to emphasize that what Lin Daiyu wrote, which echoes Shi Xiangyun's "Crossing the Crane in the Cold Pond", should be "the soul of burying flowers in the cold moon", not the "spirit of burying poems in the cold moon" advocated by the revised version of Hongxue Institute. ". "Flower Soul" is a vocabulary that appears many times in the text. The sentence "crane shadow" indicates that after eighty chapters, Shi Xiangyun finally reunites with the wandering Baoyu after going through all kinds of hardships, and the sentence "flower soul" indicates that it will not be long before Daiyu sinks in the moon's shadow in the center of the lake.