Chapter 47 Who walks through the smoke forest

——Read "The New Biography of Cao Xueqin" I can be counted as someone who has come into contact with some famous Western sinologists. If you count Western students who study Sinology and Westerners who do not understand Sinology but love Chinese culture, the number of people I have talked with is not a small number. From my personal experience , they generally show three attitudes toward what we ourselves highly admire, which can be called the highest peak and the essence of Chinese classical culture: 1. Of course, they all know its importance in Chinese culture; representative and will tell

You, since their predecessors, not only valued but also translated this Chinese classic, and they themselves have read through or at least read the translation; they are always respectful and willing to listen to you talking to them.2. They usually tell you frankly that they personally don’t particularly like this work. As far as Chinese classical novels are concerned, they may prefer 、、; For example, Ma Yueran, an academician of the Swedish Academy, has translated 、 into Swedish, but he has no intention of translating. He said that the intellectuals in Sweden can read English, French, and German, but the Swedes who can only read books in Swedish may not be able to appreciate them even if you translate them. , after all he was personally motivated by the lack of adequate appreciation for the translation into Swedish.Another example is an Italian female reporter who told me not long ago that when she read it, she found the narrative to be cumbersome and unbearable. She did it piously as a matter of strengthening the cultivation of Eastern culture, but she only realized that it was "necessary" and did not. How much aesthetic pleasure, so she would rather bring a "quick" understanding of the right through watching the video of the TV series; this reminds me of my attitude towards the Spanish classic "Don Quixote", although Ms. Yang Jiang's translation is excellent, I still can't read the full translation of this masterpiece page by page, but I am more happy to watch the film or even the ballet based on it.3. When you ask about the influence of China in their Western folk, the answer will make you even more embarrassed. They will often say that, as a general Westerner reads Chinese classical novels, it may be at the top. Yes, "Meat Futuan" and "Legend of Tang and Song Dynasties", and then it may be; for ancient Chinese novelists, they may not be able to name a single one. If you ask, think about it, maybe someone will say Shi Nai Um, to name Pu Songling, even to name Li Yu (his novel "The Twelfth Floor" has long been translated in the West), and those who can name Cao Xueqin must be rare.

The art world, which is difficult for Westerners to enter, just shows how magnificent it has reached in displaying the precision, depth and height of our Chinese classical culture.Indeed, if a Westerner can act like an ordinary Chinese reader (not necessarily a "Hongxue" scholar or a great intellectual), for example, when Jia Mu talked about "Soft Smoke" and "Xiaying" in Chapter 40, He will feel relish when he reads "gauze", then he has really stepped into the inner layer of the Chinese cultural palace.It is a pity that due to the huge differences between Chinese and Western cultures, what has the most Chinese cultural heritage has so far failed to arouse the great and persistent enthusiasm of the West, first of all sinologists.We all know that the Western Sinology circles are very meticulous about learning. For example, Laozi and He are studied in so many and trivial ways that you will be dazzled and frightened just by looking at them.There are quite a few monographs on Li Yu; but are there any monographs on Cao Xueqin?Chinese who teach or do research in Western universities write in Chinese, but they write directly in Western languages. There are very few monographs written about Cao Xueqin. There is a book about Cao Yin.

Under such circumstances, it is really necessary for the Chinese themselves to write at least one book introducing Cao Xueqin, a great Chinese classical writer, for foreigners who care about and love Chinese culture. Now Foreign Languages ​​Publishing House has published such a book The book was written by them, Mr. Zhou Ruchang, a "red study" expert who devoted himself completely to the difficult career of Cao Xueqin's research since adolescence, and has been studying tirelessly to this day-"Cao Xueqin's New Biography". Inviting Mr. Zhou to write this book, I don't think the editors of the publishing house are biased towards Mr. Zhou's academic views in the debate on "Hongxue" (here mainly its branch "Caoxue").In fact, no matter which "red studies" expert is invited to operate the gu, they are unlikely to give up their academic opinions and hold a "public opinion".Because there are so many disputes about Cao Xueqin's life experience, whether Cao's ancestral home is Fengrun or Liaoyang, whether he is Cao Yin's grandson or nephew, whether he is Cao Yong's posthumous son or Cao's son, and when he was born , I have never lived in Nanjing, how long has he lived, whether he has the fame of the imperial examination, what kind of fame, after his family was confiscated in Nanjing and moved to Beijing, why did he become a nest egg after a slight recovery? How did he make a living after the more tragic changes in his family, whether he later traveled to the south of the Yangtze River, whether he served as Yin Jishan's staff... until whether he died in 1763 or 1764, the Zhizhi who criticized the book Who is Yanzhai? Is it a lady who is equivalent to Shi Xiangyun in the book, who later became dependent on him, or the author's uncle, or there is no such person at all, etc., etc., whoever writes the pen He cannot stew out a pot of "public opinion", but must present his own dish, at least he must always choose among several major opinions that he can agree with.Mr. Zhou is a person with an extremely academic personality, and it is impossible for him to jump out of his usual academic standpoint and list relevant materials and opinions equally.But it is very appropriate for the publishing house to invite him to write such a book, because as far as he specializes in "Cao Chuan", Mr. Zhou's academic views may not be "agreeable" to some people, but his in-depth, serious, and constantly adjusted The academic spirit that is different from what the revision realizes is recognized by most people.Of course, other "Hongxue" scholars can also write other "Cao Biography" from this perspective.

According to the views of Roland Barthes and others in the West, once the work is written, the writer is "dead", and what critics have to do is to study the "text", regardless of whether it is written by Zhang San or Li Si. The author's biography is simply superfluous.But for Western sinologists, not only can they not bypass the understanding of the author when they want to interpret the text, but also have to step through several thresholds before they can enter the room and realize the mystery for the first time.For ordinary readers in the West, it is hard to imagine that when they get the Western translation, they will completely ignore the introduction written by the translator, and completely ignore the notes provided by the translator, so that they can fly freely in this text.In fact, our contemporary Chinese readers completely put aside all understanding of things other than this article.

Knowing the necessary information, I am afraid it is also difficult to enter that unique art world and cultural space. However, when writing a biography of Cao Xueqin, the lack of and conflicting information about him is not the only difficulty. The problem is that if he is the center of the circle, the radius must first extend to his family, and the prosperity and disaster of the Cao family , and is closely related to the power struggles of the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties in the Qing Dynasty, so the radius of the narrative has to extend to the relevant history. Of course, the culture of this period of history is still the continuation of the Han and Tang cultures of Greater China, but it has its own stages The characteristic is the agitation and integration of Manchu culture and Han culture, so the radius has to be extended again, involving the overall way of life, group quality, psychological set and customs, self-cultivation, tastes and their diversion of Chinese literati of that generation .This is not the top of the radius, because the philosophical connotation, the intensity of its ultimate pursuit, and the enthusiasm for approaching the other side (this is what many Westerners are most interested in do not have), and the development of the history of Chinese philosophy and thought. At this stage, there are trees with roots and fruits with flowers, so the biographers extended their radius to Li Zhi, Tang Xianzu and other sages and their thoughts.And because it is a masterpiece of Chinese classical culture and has the characteristics of an encyclopedia, the predecessors have long pointed out: "In a book, calligraphy and ink are poetry, poetry, poetry, poetry, opera, couplets, lantern riddles, and storytelling jokes. , all are excellent; skills include piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, medical divination, astrology, crafting structures, planting flowers and plants, raising poultry and fish, and cooking with needles, all in detail;... Immortals, Buddhas, ghosts, nuns, nuns, and prostitutes... There are all kinds of colors. ; the deeds are the bustling feasts... the rituals of the palace, the prosperity and decline of the celebration... everything is all there;... it can be said to be all-encompassing and exhaustive, and no other novel can match it." Therefore, the radius has to fluctuate randomly, involving relevant topic of.However, it is another fragmentary book that has not been fully completed and has only been handed down for eighty chapters. It does not have an absolutely indisputable text. In the book, I have to mention the reason why it was made public after forty chapters about its version, fat approval and process, and Gao Bu added. Starting from Cao Xueqin's "circle center", it continuously extends the radius, radiates and rotates, and retracts the "circle center" from the far point from time to time, concentrating on Cao Xueqin's thought, personality and artistic pursuit, and guiding readers to step forward layer by layer. With the great feelings of "Thousands of Reds and One Cave (crying)" and "Wanyan Same Cup (sorrow)", with the pen of "Qinfang", the works created are far from ordinary "love tragedy" or "big family shady" works The art space can be regarded as the back of the neck, but it is easy to explain in simple terms, with subtle details, dancing clouds and dragons, and a sense of rich juice and mellow taste.

The "Cao Xueqin" published by Mr. Zhou Ruchang in 1964 and "The Biography of Cao Xueqin" published in 1980 are basically a vertical narrative method. "Circle center" draws many concentric circles. Although this is likely to be a special feature for foreign Sinology circles or foreigners, especially Westerners who are interested in Chinese culture, the tricks forced out by quick wits constitute a major feature—— ——It is no longer just a description of a Chinese cultural giant, it has become a horseshoe that sucks you into the magnetic field of the great Chinese culture through this giant, and, this way of writing, for Chinese readers who are not prepared for "academic premise", Also quite attractive and instructive.

But the risk of drawing a circle is that the longer the radius is extended, the greater the unknown or chaotic surface that its circumference contacts, and the more doubts and lawsuits may be derived.However, when Mr. Zhou mastered the brushwork, he "used a little speculation and literary techniques" in order to "make the content more vivid". With good intentions, he violated the taboo of Western sinologists in learning.These things that were meant to be outstanding, may have turned out to be flaws in their eyes.The thirty-fifth chapter of the long song written on behalf of Cao Xueqin is by no means an impromptu work. There is no biography outside. In order to show his true qualities as a great poet, I understand and appreciate it when writing a biography. However, it seems appropriate to put it in the expanded version of "Xiao Biography", which is a reference for readers It is an attempt to deepen the understanding of the protagonist. In this "Xin Zhuan", which is mainly for the outside world, I think it may not be understood by Western readers (those who can read Chinese may not be able to taste it, and it is even more "isolated" when translated into Western languages. ”), or even hurt their full evaluation of the book’s academic value, so it’s better not to let it go.

For some reason, when I cover "Cao Xueqin's New Biography", my heart is always stuck with the closing sentence of Cao Xueqin's good friend Zhang Yiquan's "Walking with Cao Xueqin in the Western Suburbs to Rest and Abandon the Original Rhyme of the Temple": "There are few lonely people in the western suburbs. Yanlin?" She couldn't help having a sour nose.Who is Cao Xueqin?Dream like smoke!Like Shakespeare, he should have become a writer familiar to every intellectual in the world and able to enter his art world, but due to the huge cultural differences, the strong gap in cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and especially the extreme lack of information on his life experience, So far, the situation is still very unsatisfactory.Yes, there are more than 20 translations in foreign languages, and there are several English versions. International seminars on it have also been held. There are many "red studies" among Southeast Asian and foreign Chinese. In the Western Sinology circle, "red studies" is far from being a prominent school.As mentioned at the beginning of this article, neither Cao Xueqin nor Cao Xueqin has yet entered the series of common sense symbols in Western education. A Western college student who does not know this book and this person will not be considered "ignorant", but if you ask a Chinese college student who Shakespeare is He said he didn't know, and he couldn't name a Shakespeare play. We Chinese would ridicule him for "having no common sense", and he would blush.This imbalance is regrettable and even melancholy.Therefore, excavate and sort out new historical materials, deepen research in this area, and write more and better "Cao Biography" facing different levels of internal and external, so that Cao Xueqin's greatness and Shakespeare's greatness can be distinguished by all known in the East and West. In the minds of readers, it should be the unremitting mission of China's "red studies" circle to become indisputable common sense!