Chapter 9 Two Interpretations of Allusive Meaning in "The Song of Liang Fu"

In "The Song of Liang Fu", Bai Xianyong once again adopted the omnipotent third-person objective narrative method, and once again borrowed the dialogue of the characters to explain most of the plot of the novel.However, the most noticeable feature of this novel is the adoption and application of Chinese literary allusions, and the special allusive meaning these allusions endow the novel. The plot action takes place in just a few hours on a deep winter afternoon.The location is Tianmu's apartment in the suburbs of Taipei. At the beginning of the novel, we see Weng Puyuan (Pu Gong), who is in his seventies, accompanied by Commissioner Lei, who is about fifty years old, returning to his home from Wang Mengyang's public sacrifice ceremony.Park Gong and Wang Mengyang were both veterans who participated in the Revolution of 1911; Commissioner Lei was Wang Yuyang's student and aide for many years.Pu Gong invited Commissioner Lei into the house, went to the study to have tea, and chatted about the old things in the Xinhai period, as well as a relationship between himself and Wang Yuyang in the past.Then Park Gong said a few words about the public sacrifice that day, and he especially expressed regret that Wang Jiaji, the son of Wang Yuyang, was estranged from Chinese customs and customs.Commissioner Lei played chess with Park Gong, and when he saw that he was sleepy and dozed off, he insisted on leaving.Park Gong sent it to the door, and repeatedly asked Commissioner Lei to spend more time and help take care of his teacher's funeral.After Commissioner Lei left, Mr. Park lingered in the yard for a while, recalling some happy events half a century ago during the Xinhai Year, and finally supported his little grandson's shoulders, and the two of them went in to have dinner together.

There are four characters in this novel: Park Gong in his seventies, Commissioner Lei in his fifties, Lieutenant Lai in his sixties, and an eighty-nine-year-old who temporarily left his parents in the United States and returned Xiao Xian, a little boy living with his grandfather in Taiwan.However, in addition to these four people, there is also a very important character in "Liang Fu Yin" who did not appear (and cannot appear), that is, the deceased Wang Mengyang.And the attention-grabbing use of Chinese literary allusions in this novel is absolutely inseparable from the character Wang Mengyang.

Undoubtedly, Bai Xianyong took some of the stories in it and incorporated them into the plot of the novel, and at the same time used the heroes of the Shu Han to allude to the characters in this novel.But there is one point that is very intriguing, that is, Wang Mengyang, a silent character, is Zhang Fei on the one hand, and Zhuge Liang on the other. Starting from this different starting point, the novel "The Song of the Father of Liang" can lead to two quite different characters. different interpretations.Not only the meaning of the novel is different, but also the atmosphere and even the protagonist of the novel are different.What is even more surprising is that these two seemingly incompatible meanings finally miraculously return to one place and merge into one.Let us now analyze and discuss two interpretations of this novel.

Pu Gong invited Commissioner Lei to the study to drink tea and talk, and talked about the relationship between him, Zhong Mo and Meng Yang when they first met.They were classmates of the Sichuan Armed Forces Academy. They didn't know each other at first, but they all participated in the Manchu movement. They met by chance when they were grouped together during the Wuchang Revolution.Just hours before the uprising. After drinking a few cups of soju and talking about the rise and fall of the country, everyone couldn't help becoming very generous. Your teacher was the most passionate. I still remember that he blushed from drinking, slapped the saber on the table, and pulled me and Zhong Mo together. Personally, I will follow the example of Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan's three-way sworn alliance. In the courtyard, the enemy's blood is an alliance, and I swear to the sky: "If you don't kill the slaves, you will not come back alive."At that time, they were really determined to die, and the three of them even left their names and birthdays.Counting, I am the boss, Zhong Mo is the second, and your teacher is the youngest, the youngest.He was only twenty then—

In the movie, Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan are sworn brothers, the youngest is Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei also came up with the idea of ​​sworn brothers.Bai Xianyong used Zhang Fei as a metaphor for Wang Mengyang, and this is evidence.Pu Gong repeatedly lamented that Wang Mengyang's temper was too strong and too fierce, so that he suffered a lifetime of disadvantages; he smiled and asked Commissioner Lei: "You all compare him to the sun in July behind your back—it's too fierce, isn't it?" Among the Taoyuan Three Heroes, Zhang Fei also had the strongest temper. He was later murdered by Fan Jiang and Zhang Da because of his "sexual violence".This is proof two.Park Gong recounted the day of the Wuchang Uprising, when the general situation was established, Wang Mengyang stood on the railing of the Yellow Crane Tower, brandished a saber, and shouted boldly: "The revolutionary hero——Wang Mengyang is here." At the head of the Changban bridge, holding a snake spear in his hand, he stood on the bridge and shouted at Cao Cao's army: "Zhang Yide, the Yan man, is here!" This certificate three.

Since we can say with considerable confidence that Bai Xianyong intentionally compared Wang Mengyang to Zhang Fei, then Pu Gong, who ranks first, should be Liu Bei, the emperor of Shu Han.Both Zhong Mo and Meng Yang died successively, which is also in line with the fact that Guan Zhang died successively before Liu Bei.In fact, when Bai Xianyong described Pu Gong, he really gave him the demeanor and bearing of an ideal political leader in ancient China, as well as the orthodox classical spirit of the pure Han nationality.From the beginning of the novel, we can feel his imperial demeanor, noble temperament and heroic demeanor:

The old man was dressed in a black satin robe with dark flowers, a pair of velvet soap shoes, and a sable square hat on his head. A few strands of white hair protruded from the brim of the hat and fell on the back of his ears. His two palates have a rich silver beard.The old man was huge, walking around, with a silver beard on his chest, facing the wind, but his expression was very solemn. He noted that in the courtyard, "no other trees were planted, but a clump of purple bamboos was densely planted along the fence".What he drank was "Tie Guanyin", and what he sat on was "a purple altar wooden Taishi chair". The furnishings in his study were "very quaint". Hidden pictures. The couplets on both sides are the original works of Zheng Banqiao, which are very vigorous and vigorous"; "There is also a couplet hanging on the other wall, but it is the stele body of the Han and Wei Dynasties, and it is the left ink of Mr. Zhantang" (press : Mr. Zhantang is the name of the revolutionary veteran Hu Hanmin).On the large ebony desk, "the four treasures of the study are all complete. A Hanyu carp pen holder, an ancient inkstone collected by Da Lai Pavilion, and an openwork bamboo pen holder with various brushes inserted."There is only a thread-bound Zizhi Tongjian on the table, which has already "turned over".From this we can infer that Mr. Park has been studying the way of the rise and fall of the country for many years, and the matter of life and death for the people.In addition, the author's use of the words "dragon" and "phoenix" in the article is also a hint.

Pu Gong's character and temper are as loyal and generous as Liu Bei's, and he rarely offends others.He himself said: "I have been cautious all my life, and there are few places where I suffer." He used the word "kuangjuan" to describe Wang Mengyang's character: "The word 'kuangjuan' is the benefit of your teacher, but he has suffered all his life, and it is just This is the top." In the Analects of Confucius Zilu, Confucius said: "If you can't do it in the middle, if you give it to him, you will be crazy! The crazy will make progress, and the stupid will not do something." Said: "Confucius can't be in the middle way, so he must be crazy! The crazy ones make progress, and the humble ones don't do anything. Don't Confucius want to be in the middle way? You can't necessarily get it, so think about it second." Mencius divides people into three There are two levels: the middle way is the upper level, the madness is the second, and the hometown wish of "fawning on the world" is the lower level.Both Zhang Fei and Wang Mengyang can be said to be what Mencius called a maniac who "has a low ambition and disdains uncleanness".And Liu Bei and Park Gong are probably what Kong Yu called "the Bank of China" and "the Middle Way"!

Park Gong is a person who stubbornly adheres to traditional Chinese culture.He carefully closed the real world of today outside his house.We noticed that the stooped old attendant in Park's mansion "wearing a faded blue tunic suit" "went over to close the gate" twice at the beginning and end of the novel.Mr. Pu kept his eyes closed and kept burning ambergris in his bronze censer, but the rich ambergris fragrance could only permeate the study room, completely irreconcilable with the real dirty air outside.Mr. Pu devoted all his energy to clinging to the Chinese tradition and rejecting the western trend. No wonder the stiffness and pain in his waist had not been cured by electrotherapy several times.

Because Mr. Park is such a person who respects traditions, and because he has a deep friendship with his sworn brother, he felt very sorry for Wang Mengyang's son's attitude and style of violating Chinese customs and customs, and said angrily: "Seeing these The actions of the younger generations can’t help but make people feel chilling.” Wang Jiaji, who lived in the United States for a long time, has been westernized, and his thoughts and actions only pay attention to rationality and reality, and he is impatient with Chinese etiquette.He also bent himself to adapt to the present world, without the indomitable spirit of his father who founded the country.Park Gong saw that he could not continue the Chinese tradition and refused to inherit his father's spiritual heritage. On the one hand, he felt perplexed about the future of China as a whole, and on the other hand, he felt 120,000 regrets to replace Wang Mengyang.

Pu Gong feels sorry for Wang Mengyang, which is good, but what about himself?Will he himself have descendants in the future to continue his lofty ideals and spirit of founding the Republic of China?To inherit the traditional Chinese cultural heritage preserved by him?Pu Gong himself may have high hopes for this, because his little grandson Xiaoxian came back from the United States and lived with him for a while. Not only has he learned how to respect his elders, serve his grandfather's soup and medicine, but he can also recite a few Tang poems!When Xiaoxian recited "Liangzhou Ci", Commissioner Lei applauded, "Don't blame me for being abrupt, I am afraid that 'the young phoenix is ​​as good as the old phoenix' in the future." But "can't help but be full of smug smiles".Park Gong's strict training and love for his grandson are shown everywhere.For example, when the decoction is served first. Pu Gong raised his head and saw him, a smile appeared on his face immediately, but he shouted sharply: "Why don't you call Uncle Lei soon?" However, if Park Gong really thinks that he can rely on this eight or nine-year-old grandson to inherit the tradition, it is probably just a self-deceiving fantasy.Park Gong is already in his seventies, no matter how indomitable he is, his physical life will not last long.Even if Xiaoxian's parents are willing to let Xiaoxian stay in Taiwan to accompany his lonely grandfather, once Park Gong passes away, they will still take him back to the United States, so that he will quickly turn back into a "little foreigner".Therefore, the fate of Park Gong and Wang Mengyang is similar.This is the fate of our country's traditional culture! (Pu Gong kept lighting incense in the bronze censer, of course, the author hinted at the problem of incense succession.) Park Gong's self-deception and divorce from reality are the main irony of this novel.But the author's basic attitude is respect and sympathy, not ridicule.In our current world where only "hometown wishes" can lead to prosperity, Mr. Park refuses to join forces with others and please the secular world. Instead, he insists on sticking to traditional ideals, rejects real forces, and is a Confucian scholar who acts in the right way.Thus, in the inevitable practical defeat, he has won a solemn and glorious spiritual victory. In the novel, Park Gong's speech performance shows his admirable but incompatible character everywhere.His thinking and behavior are too far away from the present world, and too unsuitable for today's scientific prosperity and emphasis on rationality.For example, he presided over the funeral meeting and insisted on traditional etiquette, because any mistake would be "disrespectful to the dead".And because he was worried that Wang Mengyang "had fought all his life and killed a lot of evil", he made a wish for him, copied a volume of the Diamond Sutra on his behalf, and fulfilled his wish when he worshiped the Great Compassionate Repentance on the day of the "Da Qi".When Commissioner Lei left, Park Gong gave special instructions: "There is another sentence. It was left by your teacher when he was dying. When he returns to the mainland in the future, he must move his coffin back to his hometown no matter what. Go and tell his descendants that they must keep a set of clothes that Meng Yang often wears. The military uniform and his medals should also be saved, and his clothes and quilts are very important to wear in the future." All of these fully demonstrate Park's respect for the "spirit" and his friendship with Wang Yuyang.But if we judge with today's scientific perspective and realistic and rational attitude, people are dead when they die, so what are you busy with?Park Gong is so superstitious!What trouble!It's no wonder that Wang Jiaji "actually looked a little impatient" when he heard Pu Gong's words. Park Gong is indeed getting old.But he has always retained the upright and unyielding spirit of the founding of the Republic of China, and this spirit has added a strange look to his aging body.We noticed that Commissioner Lei, who was in his fifties, "looked a little yellow and tired."Lieutenant Lai, who was over sixty and wearing a Chinese tunic suit, had all his hair down and his back was bent, and he couldn't straighten his back every time he tried to stand at attention.Only Mr. Pu, although he was "in his seventies", "has a very dignified expression", "a silver beard on his chest is floating in the wind", and "walks slowly and steadily".And his attitude in doing things is to stick to principles, start and finish, and refuse to give up halfway.He played chess with Commissioner Lei, and when he reached twenty hands, he was tired and fell asleep.Commissioner Lei immediately stood up and said goodbye.Pu Gong knew that his body was exhausted, but he refused to give up mentally. "After thinking for a while in a daze," he finally said: "Okay, then you memorize today's score. You come another day, and we will clean up this mess." Pu Gong's situation of having more than enough heart but not enough strength, his body is old but his spirit is unyielding, can be compared to Lai Mingsheng in "Sui Chu".In fact, Park Gong is Lai Mingsheng of the aristocratic class, Lai Mingsheng of the literary and elegant.The novel "Yin of Liang Fu" is also very similar to "Sui Chu". The author uses the words and actions of the characters to reveal their own personalities.So we can say that this novel is Park Gong's character tragedy. According to the above discussion, if we interpret Wang Mengyang as Zhang Fei, then the protagonist of "Liang Fu Yin" is Weng Puyuan who alludes to Liu Bei (the orthodox descendant of the Han Dynasty).In this way, "Liang Fu Yin" is the story of Park Gong, just as "Sui Chu" is the story of Lai Mingsheng.But we found that Bai Xianyong, on the other hand, alluded to the late king Mengyang with Zhuge Liang.From this starting point, the meaning of "Liang Fu Yin" is greatly changed: the invisible Wang Mengyang becomes the protagonist of the novel, just as the declining Li family is the real protagonist of "Reminiscing the Old Fu".And Pu Gong, like the second maid in "Reminiscing the Old Fu", relegated to a secondary role and became a person who mourns and pays tribute to the protagonist.We can also put it another way, according to the first interpretation of the novel, Park Gong remembers Wang Mengyang, and Park Gong remembers the Revolution of 1911.According to the second interpretation of the novel, Wang Mengyang is commemorated, and the Revolution of 1911 is commemorated.The focus is different between the two, and the protagonists are also different. Bai Xianyong used Zhuge Liang to insinuate Wang Mengyang's intentions, and we can find evidence in the novel.From the narration of Park Gong’s conversation, we know that the three sworn brothers, in the decades after the founding of the Republic of China, when they were conquering from east to west, Wang Yuyang was the most "powerful", and his official position was also promoted to the highest. Commander-in-Chief".Pu Gong said: "In all fairness, when it comes to talent and wit, I would first recommend your teacher." Commissioner Lei also said: "My mentor has always ordered you to do things like a mountain, and you must do what you say." In Wang Mengyang's mourning hall, there are two elegiac couplets embedded , "Death before leaving the teacher. The elders in the Central Plains look at the banner." These obviously all imply that Wang Yu was raised as Zhuge Liang.But the most powerful evidence is the title of the novel "Liang Fu Yin". Liang Fu Yin, also known as Liang Fu Yin, was originally the name of the Han Yuefu.It is said that Zhuge Liang devoted himself to farming Long Mu in order to sing for Liang's father.Zhuge Liang devoted himself to rejuvenating the Han Dynasty, but his success failed. Later generations commemorated his unfulfilled tragedy and wrote poems to mourn him. In the poem, Liang Fuyin was mentioned.For example, Li Shangyin's "Cuibi Station": Apes and birds are hesitant and afraid of Jianshu, and Fengyun often protects Chu Xu. Just order the general to wave his magic pen, and finally see the descendant king go to pass the chariot. It's really embarrassing to have talent in wind music, but Guan Zhang has no life. In his year of Jinli Jing Temple, Liang's father chanted that he hated it. There is also Du Fu's "Climbing the Tower": Flowers close to high-rise buildings hurt the hearts of customers, and it is difficult for thousands of people to come here. The spring scenery of the Jinjiang River comes to the world, and the floating clouds on the jade base change from ancient to modern. The North Pole court will never change, and the Xishan bandits will not invade each other. The poor Empress returned to the ancestral temple, and chatted for Liang's father at dusk. This poem "Climbing the Tower" by Du Fu is particularly noteworthy, because the pair written by Zheng Banqiao hanging on the wall of Park Gong's study is exactly the two lines in this poem "The spring scenery of the Jinjiang River comes to the world, and Wang Lei's floating clouds change the past and the present".It can be seen from this that Bai Xianyong deliberately accommodated the purpose and artistic conception of this poem into this novel.In addition, the elegiac couplet in Wang Mengyang's mourning hall, "Death before leaving the teacher", is also taken from Du Fu's poem "Shu Xiang": Where can I find the ancestral hall of the prime minister?Outside Jinguan City, Bai Sensen. The green grass on the steps reflects the spring scenery, and the yellow peng has a good voice in the sky every other leaf. Three visits frequently plan the world, and the two dynasties help the old ministers. He died before leaving the teacher, which made the hero burst into tears. Du Fu respected Zhuge Liang very much, and especially respected Marquis Wu's determination to revive the Han Dynasty and his dedication to himself. "Climbing the Tower" was written by Du Fu during the Tianbao Rebellion when he was avoiding Shu.His mourning for Zhuge Liang and worrying about the country at that time was exactly the mood Park Gong mourned for Wang Mengyang and the Revolution of 1911 in the novel "The Song of the Father of Liang".Especially in the last paragraph of the novel, Park Gong stays alone in the yard, standing in the "winter evening wind", facing the three or five orchid buds that have bloomed, mourning Wang Mengyang, who was once all-powerful, and recalling the past during the 1911 year, his state of mind And the artistic conception coincides with Du Fu's "talking at sunset is the song of Liang's father". In this way, if we interpret Wang Mengyang as Zhuge Liang, the novel "The Song of Liang Fu" becomes the story of Wang Yuyang, the tragedy of Wang Mengyang.And Park Gong takes a step back and becomes the mourner of the protagonist, the narrator of the story.From his conversation with Commissioner Lei, we see a hero's rise, ascension, decline and death. At the time of the Revolution of 1911, Wang Mengyangcai was only twenty years old.Among the three sworn brothers, he is "the most impassioned" and has the most "majestic energy".As soon as gunshots rang out in Wuchang City, others were still hesitating, but he had already "grabbed a few bombs, dragged his saber and rushed outside."After fighting all night, the general situation has been decided, he suddenly became very excited, and ran to the Yellow Crane Tower, "Take off a blood-stained white cloth jacket, pick it up with a bamboo pole, and insert it on the eaves of the building, and then he stood on the Yellow Crane Tower. On the railing of the building, he waved a saber and shouted at us: 'The revolutionary hero—Wang Mengyang is here.'" After the founding of the Republic of China, in the past few decades, he went to the east and west, made meritorious deeds, and was promoted to the general secretary. Commander, all-powerful.No one can compare his wit and wit, but because of his strong personality, he has offended everyone, only two sworn sworn brothers can restrain him a bit. As for how Wang Mengyang fell from the peak of "commander-in-chief" to the downhill, the novel does not explain.We can only learn from Commissioner Lei's conversation that his superhuman intelligence "has not yet been exhausted."And Park Gong blamed Wang Mengyang's "unsuitable" strong character.In any case, it is the current personnel and situation that force this ambitious general to be useless as a hero. During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang helped Liu Bei to fight the world. After Liu Bei died, he inherited his will, loyally assisted the master, and wholeheartedly wanted to fight back to the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty.But unfortunately, his ambition was unpaid, and he died of old age in a foreign land.So Du Fu mourned him: "Death before leaving the teacher, the hero will burst into tears." Wang Mengyang's fate is also similar: first, he followed the revolution of the father of the country and founded the Republic of China; The revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still have to work hard), and for decades, they fought everywhere, wholeheartedly trying to establish a unified and peaceful Republic of China.Unfortunately, his ambitions were not rewarded, and he died of old age in a foreign land. We don't ask how Wang Mengyang's staunch character frustrated his ambition, and no matter how the current reality forces him to "not show his talents", his decline is also inseparable from his personal age. relation.No matter how powerful a strong man is, one day he will grow old and die.The indomitable revolutionary hero during the 1911 period, the vigorous commander-in-chief during the Northern Expedition against Japan, was old and sick in bed, and had to be "supported up and down" by his wife.Then he died silently. What's more sad is that although Wang Yuyang had a son, what the son inherited was only his physical life; no one continued the indomitable and staunch spirit he had when he founded the country, and it was cut off from then on.No wonder Park Gong muttered to himself: "He was also very lonely in his later years." Wang Jiaji, who fully accepted the rational present and abandoned the traditional "baggage", didn't understand at all and didn't bother to accept his father's spiritual heritage.Perhaps denying the existence of "spirit" at all.So of course he would find it unnecessary and frivolous to pay homage to the dead.As for going to the monastery to recite sutras and do "big seven" and other things, there is no need to mention it. Viewed in this way, "Liang Fu Yin" is the story of Wang Mengyang's life.On the one hand, Park Gong is the narrator of the story, providing the plot of the novel. On the other hand, the author creates and fixes the mourning atmosphere in the novel through his remembrance of Wang Yuyang.Therefore, if we interpret Wang Mengyang as Zhuge Liang, this novel will no longer be a tragedy of Park Gong’s character, but will become a mourning article similar to "Reminiscing the Old Fu", mourning the death of a hero and the loss of his great achievements. To sum up, we know that Bai Xianyong on the one hand metaphors Wang Mengyang to Zhang Fei, and on the other hand he metaphors him to Zhuge Liang. Starting from these different starting points, this novel can be deduced into two different stories, but the novel These two completely different meanings, when we do the final step of research and analysis, return to one place miraculously and merge into one. First of all, Pu Gong, Zhong Mo, and Meng Yang were allied by blood and sworn brothers as early as the 1911 year, and they will really achieve the point of "sharing the blessings and sharing the difficulties" in the future.They are inseparable siblings, there is no boundary between you and me, so the story of Wang Mengyang is the story of Park Gong, and the sorrow of Park Gong is the sorrow of Wang Yuyang. In this way, no matter who the protagonist of the novel is, the ultimate meaning is different. is the same. Secondly, they jointly founded the Republic of China, and inherited the behest of the father of the country, conquered the east and the west together, and wholeheartedly wanted to complete the national revolution and achieve the ideal of world harmony.Just as Liu Guanzhang and Zhuge Liang tied their destiny to the fate of the Shu Han and worked together to revive the Han Dynasty, Park Gong and Wang Mengyang also dedicated themselves to a common ideal, integrating the "small self" into the "big self", so their destiny It is closely related to the fate of the Republic of China and cannot be separated.In this way, the sorrow of Park Gong and Wang Mengyang is also the sorrow of the Republic of China; and "Liang Fu Yin" is not only the story of the two revolutionary veterans, but also the story of the Republic of China. Furthermore, we carefully read the author's description of Park Gong in "The Song of the Father of the Liang Dynasty", and found that Park Park not only has an indomitable and consistent spirit of founding a country, but also upholds the spirit of traditional Chinese culture that has been accumulated for five thousand years.No wonder the revolutionaries of 1911, on the day after the success of the Wuchang Uprising, immediately "wired the whole country and called the Chinese era title 'Yellow Emperor Era 4609'." Viewed in this way, in the novel "The Song of the Father of Liang", whether the protagonist is Park Gong or Wang Mengyang, they all return to the same meaning in the end, becoming a story of the Republic of China; and expanding it to become a story of the nation. That's right - the indomitable and staunch spirit of the revolutionaries of 1911 who founded the Republic of China has indeed left an eternal luster on the title page of history.Just like the leaves of the orchids in Mr. Pu's yard, "they grow very green."However, the blooming period of orchids has passed after all, "on some withered and brown stems, there are only three or five buds left, faintly exuding a cold fragrance."And when Park Gong and Commissioner Lei walked into the house in the mid-winter afternoon and stepped on the fallen leaves of the purple bamboo in the yard, we seemed to hear that the Chinese culture, which had withered due to being out of date with the seasons, was under the oppression of the new forces of the world. It is also like those crisp bamboo leaves, "there is always the sound of breaking and peeling". In this way, the two different interpretations and insinuations of this novel finally merged together to form an inseparable whole. "Liang Fu Yin" has both the characterization of the characters in "Sui Chu" and the mourning atmosphere of "Thinking of the Old Fu"; and the author's proper use and ingenious manipulation of Chinese literary allusions add depth and breadth to this novel .