Chapter 20 Chapter Three: The Mystery of Miaoyu's Life Experience

In the Jinling Twelve Beauties, Miaoyu has the most special status. Although she has no blood or marriage relationship with the four major families, she can still be included in it, and her ranking is higher than the makeup hero Wang Xifeng, which puzzles many people.What is even more surprising is that, through the exploration of my previous lectures, Miaoyu is still one of the most important women in Jia Baoyu's life.So what is Miaoyu's life experience?What important role did she play in Jia Baoyu's life journey?What is Cao Xueqin's intention in setting up such a character?This is what I want to discuss with you in depth.

First explore Miaoyu's life experience. About Miaoyu's life experience, the book mainly introduces it through two people.It is a common writing method of Cao Xueqin to introduce and evaluate characters by others to impress readers, and it is also the same for Miaoyu. The first time was in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters. As you know, the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of Guben have not been completely separated, and have always been in a state of being separated, so I say that the seventeenth and tenth Chapter 8 is about Gu Ben's state.In the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters, Miaoyu came out secretly for the first time.At this time, the Grand View Garden had already been built, Yuanchun was going to visit her relatives, and the mansion had to make various preparations to welcome her, including preparations for some religious ceremonies.At that time, the mansion had already bought some young girls to be trained as nuns and Taoist nuns, and they were ready to use them when visiting relatives.When the preparatory work was about to be completed, a servant came to report to Madam Wang, saying that besides these little nuns and Taoist nuns, there is another person, do you think about it? People from Suzhou—Suzhou certainly belongs to Jinling, and Jinling is a big concept—the ancestors were also the home of scholars and officials, and so on.There is a large paragraph in it about why she became a monk. The general idea is that she was sick and troubled when she was a child. Often, in such a situation, rich people would spend money to hire some people as substitutes to become a monk for her. It turned out that it was useless. , She was so sick that she was so sick that she finally let her become a monk by herself, and then her illness was cured, and she has been leading the cultivation practice ever since.Moreover, when the story develops to the time Concubine Yuan wants to visit her relatives, she is already eighteen years old.What is her real last name?Does she have a real name?There is no explanation, at least in the first eighty chapters, we have never seen any clues in this regard.The book only says that she has a dharma name—after she becomes a monk, she will take a name that everyone calls each other within the scope of Buddhism. This is called a dharma name—her dharma name is Miaoyu.In addition, it is very clear that Miaoyu's parents have both passed away. How does Miaoyu live now?There are only two nuns and a little girl to serve her, that is to say, she is lonely.But Miaoyu also has great advantages. The servant reported that she is also very proficient in writing and ink, she doesn't need to learn scriptures, and she looks very good, not ordinary.So why come to the capital now?The book repeatedly mentions Chang'an and the capital city, but they all refer to Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty at that time.Why did Miaoyu come to the capital of Chang'an?Because there are Guanyin relics and Bayeux inscriptions in the capital, which are some of the most cherished cultural relics in the Buddhist circle.In the past, there was a tree in India called the Bedo tree. Its leaves were very long and thick. They were called bay leaves. You could directly write scriptures on it without making paper. With the leaves of this tree, you could directly use it as paper. .When the story developed to this point, the servant continued to report that Miaoyu had gone to Beijing with her master the year before and lived in the Muni Courtyard outside the West Gate.Miaoyu was in such a situation, and the author introduced her in the form of reporting to Mrs. Wang through the servants of Jia's mansion.

Well, after this servant told Mrs. Wang, he wanted to make suggestions, but the writing in the book was very interesting.Everyone knows what kind of character Mrs. Wang is. Mrs. Wang is often very opinionated in her heart, but this person has a relatively calm personality.Even when she expelled Jin Chuan, she listened to the teasing words of Jia Baoyu and Jin Chuan, and when she felt that Jin Chuan was guilty, she suddenly got up, slapped Jin Chuan, and became angry.People with different personalities might jump up when they hear the first sentence, but Mrs. Wang is not like that.Including the treatment of Qingwen, she also forbeared it for a long time. Later, she said frankly that she had been displeased with her for a long time, and when she saw a big girl who looked like Sister Lin scolding the little girl, It feels wrong, but she can bear it, so she is a very calm person.But at this point in the book, please pay attention to Cao Xueqin's writing. He said that Mrs. Wang did not wait to finish speaking, did not wait for the servant to finish speaking, and did not finish listening to the report.Very happy, she made a decision before he finished speaking.what does this mean?I'll come back to explain this in a moment.But this servant also said earlier, saying that this Miaoyu is not very easy to invite. She said that the Duke Houmen's mansion will overwhelm people with its power, so I will not go there again.On the one hand, this sentence reflects Miaoyu's character. We all know that she is a weird person who is arrogant and self-admired, and everyone is not in her eyes; Like, her family should be from a scholarly family, and she became a family of officials after passing the imperial examination step by step-it should be that kind of family, otherwise she wouldn't say that, because if she herself is also a woman from an aristocratic family Well, she said this is equivalent to scolding her own family.But Mrs. Wang felt very strange at this time. When Mrs. Wang heard what the servant said, she didn't hesitate at all, and said, since she is a lady official, she is naturally proud, so why not invite her in the next post.Mrs. Wang proposed to invite her by posting a post. This is a black and white thing, isn't it?Later, the servant did as expected, and it was explained in the book that he ordered Qi Xianggong to write a post to invite Miaoyu, and the next day he sent someone to prepare a car and sedan chair to take Miaoyu into the Grand View Garden and live in Changcui Nunnery.The props in this post don't just appear randomly. I estimate that after eighty chapters of this post, there will be relevant plots involving it.Since the previous explanation was requested by writing a post, and the Grand View Garden was copied, first it was copied internally to fool around, and then the outside copied it in, and the emperor punished it, causing a devastating blow. This post will be copied sooner or later. What will be the consequences after copying it out? ?It is estimated that there will be related plots after eighty chapters.This is another example of Cao Xueqin's artistic technique, the grass snake gray line, and the long stretch, which is very interesting.

This is a servant reporting Miaoyu's situation to Mrs. Wang, and this is the first time Miaoyu has made a side appearance. What about the second time?It's another person talking about her.She has officially appeared on the stage, but she is still Yunlong who can't see her body, so the novel arranges another character to introduce her from the side, and this person is Xing Xiuyan.Relevant plots appear in Chapter 63. In the sixty-third chapter, when Jia Baoyu found out that it was his birthday, Miaoyu left him a greeting card, a birthday card, which read "Miao Yu, an outsider, bows respectfully and respectfully to Fang Chen".Jia Baoyu was very happy after reading it, cherished it very much, and felt that there should be a response. When someone sends you a post, you should have a reply to them. There is so-called communication, but how to write it?He just wants to find someone to solve this problem, whom?Naturally, I'm looking for Sister Lin. Can I find Sister Bao?You can't go to sister Bao for this kind of thing, you have to go to sister Lin for this kind of thing.But before he found Sister Lin, he saw a beautiful woman walking tremblingly from the opposite side. Who was it?It is Xing Xiuyan.He just asked Xing Xiuyan, and he didn't want to ask her for advice, because before this episode in the book, Xing Xiuyan was an inconspicuous character, relatively shabby, without outstanding talent and insight, just treat her with courtesy, who would? Go ask Xing Xiuyan what, so he just asked casually, where are you going?Xing Xiuyan said that I would go to Changcui nunnery.When Baoyu heard it, good guy, this Miaoyu is not welcomed by thousands of people, is it?Why did you go to Changcuian?So Xing Xiuyan talked to him, and through Xing Xiuyan, he explained some things about Miaoyu, and supplemented some other things that the previous servant had introduced to Mrs. Wang.Xing Xiuyan told Baoyu this, which surprised Baoyu. It turned out that Xing Xiuyan and Miaoyu had known each other for a long time and had a very good relationship.Xing Xiuyan told Jia Baoyu about the relationship between the two of them, and said that she might not be so serious about me, why others ignored me and only received me because I had been neighbors with her for ten years—the house that the Xing family rented at the time It is the house in the temple——in ten years, when she was probably a little girl, Xing Xiuyan often went to the temple to keep company with Miaoyu, and all the characters she could read were taught by Miaoyu, so Xing Xiuyan summarized her The relationship with Miaoyu is not only a poor friend, but also a half-teacher, it is such an unusual relationship.The situation that Xing Xiuyan talked about below, even if I heard about it, is also a vague information, because their family left later.She said that because Miaoyu was out of date and powerful, she had voted here.This Miaoyu is out of date, and such a judgment about her has appeared many times.What is untimely?This untimely term is not a very political term, it is a non-political derogatory term in secular society, which means that what this person does may not break the law, but it is different from what other people do. It is very weird and ordinary people see it. After reading it, I hate it.Some of Miaoyu's actions are inappropriate, but what did her inappropriate behavior lead to?It also led to the intolerance of the powerful.Ordinarily, it's okay for ordinary people to hate her, and ordinary people can't do anything to her if they hate her. In the end, they obviously angered the rich and powerful, and they were not tolerated by the powerful, so they came here for refuge.This is one of Xing Xiuyan's explanations, but it's just what she heard, Cao Xueqin's writing is confusing and confusing.

Jia Baoyu thought about it, and there was a person who knew Miaoyu best in front of him, so instead of looking for Sister Lin, he showed this post to Xing Xiuyan.How did Xing Xiuyan evaluate Miaoyu?When she looked at the greeting card, she said that her temper could not be changed, she was born so eccentric, and she had never seen a nickname in the greeting card.When you write a birthday greeting post for someone, you should write your own name. Let’s say Miaoyu, you are a monk. You don’t have a real name. You can also write Miaoyu. Another name, wrote "outsider", so Xing Xiuyan blurted out, saying something that was actually very mean to Miaoyu.Xing Xiuyan should be a very gentle woman, but when she saw that the greeting post was too weird and inappropriate, she uttered a sharp criticism: This is the saying that monks are not monks, vulgar are not vulgar, women are not women, men are not Man, what's the point!This is a very sharp and severe criticism in that society, isn't it?Monks are not monks, vulgar is not vulgar, women are not women, men are not men, it doesn't make sense, right?But Xing Xiuyan calmed down and thought about it later, and discussed this issue with Baoyu, saying, I can explain to you why she claims to be an outsider.Because Miaoyu once told Xing Xiuyan, and often said, more than once, she said that among the ancients, since the Han, Jin, Five Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties, there are no good poems, only two lines are good.These two lines of poems are very strange. Up to now, I personally don’t think these two lines of poems are good, but Miaoyu thinks that these two lines of poems are the only ones left by the ancients who have gone through so many dynasties.These two poems may not be understood by young people nowadays. They are called "Even if there is a thousand-year-old iron threshold, there must be a bun in the end." It was written by a poet named Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty.These are two things that only exist in that society, "iron threshold" and "soil steamed buns".In the past, feudal aristocratic families or wealthy families would be called high threshold. This high threshold is not just an adjective, it is really high, reflecting the style of the house.Moreover, for the richest and most powerful people, their thresholds must be covered with iron sheets, and some families hope that their iron thresholds can last for a thousand years.But the poet Fan Chengda pointed it out, even if your iron gate can exist for a thousand years, can you live a thousand years?What do you need in the end?Need a bun!The young people nowadays don’t understand. I told a primary school student, he said that when people die, they just put the ashes in the urn. Why do you want earthen buns?Is it delicious?He didn't understand this, because in the past it was a burial, and in the burial, a grave was piled up with earth, and in ancient times, special attention was paid to pile it up into a bun. "Tumantou" in this poem constitutes a sign, a sign of the end of life, that is to say, in the end, you are nothing more than going to die, leaving a grave in vain.In the past, the higher the status of the person, the bigger the grave after death, and the emperor's "earth mantou" would even become a hill, but no matter how big the "earth mantou" is, if you no longer exist, there will be nothing in the end. fun, isn't it?

Miaoyu thinks these two poems are good, what does this mean?It means that she has her own special view on life, which happens to echo the two lines of ancient Fan Chengda's poem.This is a very pessimistic view. This is a tragic outlook on life. It sees through the world of mortals and believes that all the glory and wealth are meaningless, and the pursuit of longevity in life is not very meaningful. In the end, no one can escape death. What is expressed is Such implication. Xing Xiuyan introduced Miaoyu's appreciation of these two poems, and then said that Miaoyu loved to read Zhuangzi's articles the most, and thought that only Zhuangzi could write well.Well, some articles by Zhuangzi talked about abnormal people, abnormal people-a sentence of Confucius was forged in it, and the words of Confucius quoted in it were not credible. They were all for the convenience of writing articles, deliberately saying what Confucius said, in fact Representing Zhuangzi’s own point of view——in this Zhuangzi’s article, he used Confucius’s mouth to talk about abnormal people, saying that this kind of person is a very special and weird person. He is absolutely different from other people and cannot get along with him, but who is he compared with? What about harmony?He is in harmony with the sky and the eternal natural universe. Such a life is called a freak.Confucius probably never said such a thing, but in Zhuangzi's article, he said that Confucius explained this kind of people when he heard people ask him.Miaoyu likes Zhuangzi's articles and considers herself a freak, which means she has no interest in politics or power; Lonely.But because she can achieve harmony with the sky, the universe, and nature, she also feels that she is very dignified and valuable, not to be despised, and not to be violated.I talked about Qin Keqing and Jia Yuanchun earlier, and I talked about a lot of politics in the book and outside the book. The outside of the book is the regime change and open and secret struggles of the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties, especially after Qianlong ascended the throne, and the occurrence of Hongxi’s rebellion; In it, there are Prince Yizhong's old thousand years old, the words of Yueyu Prince, the Beijing Palace and the Zhongshun Palace competing for Jiang Yuhan, and so on.Because it is a series of lectures, the atmosphere of political struggle in the previous circles is so strong that some listeners mistakenly think that I just think it is a political novel, and Cao Xueqin does not write anything other than political allusions.But now I have talked about Miaoyu. At this point, I want to tell you sincerely that the greatness of Cao Xueqin lies in his ability to care about politics, have his own political inclinations, and yet transcend politics.The image of Miaoyu he created reflects his transcendence consciousness, which we should pay special attention to.

Then talk about the conversation between Xing Xiuyan and Baoyu. After hearing about the invitation post, and knowing that Baoyu was worried about how to reply to the post, Xing Xiuyan gave Baoyu an idea.She said Miaoyu didn't claim to be an outsider?You have to be humble, don't argue with her, just say that you are an insider; if she says you are a deformed person, you say that you are a disturbed person in the world.Just say what she says, you can tell her the opposite, and she will be happy.What is a disturber?What are you doing running around all day long, looking for food, drink, enjoyment and happiness, isn't it?Laity, right?Of course, he is not a bad person, just a little life among the bustling crowd in the world who is busy all day long.She will be happy when you say that.If she says she is an outsider, you can say that she is an insider, and you admit that you are inside the iron gate, then you will agree with her heart.When Baoyu heard this, he suddenly became enlightened-this is a Buddhist term, which means to be enlightened immediately.Later, Jia Baoyu really listened to Xing Xiuyan's suggestion and wrote a reply post claiming to be an insider, and didn't send it to Miaoyu directly.This is a big plot and a side introduction.

Through what the servant reported to Mrs. Wang, and Xing Xiuyan’s introduction to Miaoyu written in the book I will repeat to you in detail, the character of Miaoyu has basically been established. We understand her basic life experience, The trajectory of her life up to the age of eighteen, her contacts, the poems and essays she likes, how she sees herself and others, these are basically clear. Miaoyu's two dark appearances have already given readers a taste of her aloofness and aloofness.Generally speaking, Cao Xueqin has to write a biography for her important role in the novel, and Miaoyu, who is cherished by the author, is of course no exception.In this time, Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden for the second time. Mother Jia took Grandma Liu to visit and play around in the Grand View Garden. s story.Miaoyu also stepped forward to meet the readers after being explained by others.

Then in the forty-first episode, Cao Xueqin solemnly wrote a biography of Miaoyu when he served tea at Changcui Temple. In this episode, Miaoyu appeared. Um, how many words are there in total?I checked various ancient and current editions, and found that there are less than five characters in and out, roughly 1,350 characters—a very small number of characters.Miaoyu only uttered twelve sentences in this scene, or strictly speaking, a certain opening, punctuation, and division into several sentences are twelve openings.Cao Xueqin asked this character to speak twelve times out of 1,350 characters, which was enough, and this person stood out, and his character was highlighted.So I really admire Cao Xueqin, admire him, even he not only writes about this person's character, he conveys a lot of information.

Then we will take her twelve openings and savor them carefully like tasting tea. It is written in the book that when Jia's mother arrived at Changcui'an, she took Grandma Liu and a group of young ladies and so on.Miaoyu offered tea to Jia Mu. What kind of tea set did she use?It is a small tea tray with carved lacquer filled with begonias and filled with gold, and a small bell with five colors in a kiln is placed in it. This is a very important prop, and I will not go into details now.Then I was amazed when he wrote the pen, how did he write it?First write that Jia Mu said a word, Jia Mu's words are very strange, saying that I don't eat Liu'an tea.Is it strange?How easy is Cao Xueqin, what message does he want to convey?Obviously, Jiamu and Miaoyu's family were very familiar with her previous generation, not only her parents' generation, but also her grandparents' generation.She knew the hospitality habits of Miaoyu's family. When Miaoyu's elders were alive, Miaoyu's family always served Liu'an tea to guests, which had become a custom of hospitality.Mother Jia is the ancestor of the Jia family, and Miaoyu is a junior, so she doesn't need to be polite, so Cao Xueqin didn't talk nonsense, so she just wrote to Mother Jia that I don't eat Liu'an tea.Then the character Miaoyu spoke for the first time in her first appearance. Miaoyu's words were also very concise, even better, and very powerful. She said, I know, this is Laojunmei.Great or not?The relationship between the Jia family and the family behind Miaoyu is highlighted.That family used to socialize with Jia's family and always served Liu'an tea outside, which didn't suit the tastes of Jia's people, especially Jia's mother.And this year, Miaoyu was eighteen years old. Although her parents died, she still had family memories. She had been prepared for a long time, wasn't she?So she immediately answered two words, yes, and then told Jiamu that this is Lao Junmei.Miaoyu is also a soft top, she can't talk too much to Jia Mu, saying that you don't eat Lu'an tea, but this is not Lu'an tea, you don't need to change it, this is Laojunmei, you have to drink Laojunmei, Laojunmei this The name contains the meaning of birthday, you can't refuse the kindness, right?Jia Mu took the tea, but Jia Mu was also very good, so she asked what kind of water it was?You have to know how to drink tea to talk like this, right?If she doesn't know how to drink tea, would she ask that?The author also writes Jia Mu with a very personal character, who enjoys life very much, and enjoys it to the point of delicacy. This kind of person really tastes tea, not drinking tea, but tasting tea.Those who taste the tea should not only be picky about the tea leaves. It is useless to say that the tea leaves are the sister of Laojun, but also pay attention to the water used to cook the tea, so you must ask what kind of water it is.Miaoyu told her that it was the rain from the old year.In the past, when making tea, it was popular to catch the rainwater from the rainy season this year in jars and jars, let it clarify after it was collected, and decant the water after it was cleared, put it in a special kind of porcelain or pottery, and bury it under the root of the tree. After one year, dig it out, and then use that water to cook tea, then it is considered qualified water, and the well water drawn now is not acceptable.Some people may now feel, ouch, can that be drunk?We now have tap water, mineral water, and space water. How can we drink stale rainwater?But there is a certain emphasis in an era. At that time, the rainwater from the old years was considered to be very high-grade tea water.When Jia Mu heard it, the tea was also qualified for Lu Shui, so of course it was fine, so she tasted the cup of tea and drank half of it.

Through the two short conversations between Jiamu and Miaoyu, I feel that the character Miaoyu is certainly an artistic image, but she has a prototype of life, otherwise the author would not be able to write such a text.Let us not forget that the prototype of Jia's mother is the younger sister of Li Xu who weaves in Suzhou during the Kangxi Dynasty. Now the book explains that Miaoyu is from Suzhou, and her prototype should be the daughter of an official family in Suzhou.Her father's official position may be related to the taxation of tea production and trade, so her family is very knowledgeable and particular about all kinds of tea, water for cooking tea, and tea utensils.Of course, the relationship between Li Xu, an official in charge of court fabrics and often also in charge of salt administration, and the official in charge of tea administration in the same place can be very close, and the family members of the two families will know each other and exchange courtesy.Therefore, when the servant introduced Miaoyu to Mrs. Wang, she expressed her opinion before she finished listening, and here it is written that Jiamu entered the meditation hall and sat down, and declared that she would not eat Liu'an tea before the receptionist could speak. Not surprising anymore.The prototype of Jia Mu later lived in Nanjing, and Mrs. Wang became her daughter-in-law and lived together. However, they kept close contact with their relatives and friends in Suzhou, and they had contacts with Miaoyu's family.In my opinion, Cao Xueqin wrote this because in real life, there was such a family of officials in Suzhou, and there was such a woman who was a few years older than him.I also particularly noticed that both Liu'an tea and Laojunmei are good teas, but Liu'an tea—produced in Lu'an, Anhui—is characterized by its natural color and slightly bitter taste.It is completely understandable and natural for a person who is not from a wealthy family to become an official through the imperial examination. He and his family like to drink Liu'an tea, and guests often worship Liu'an tea when they come.But the Li family and the Cao family in life turned into the historian Jia’s family in the book. They are the descendants of the princes. soul.What they like to drink is several kinds of fragrant tea that they pay tribute to the emperor every year. So Laojunmei—produced in Junshan in Dongting Lake—is shaped like a silver needle and has a sweet and mellow taste. Of course, it is very suitable for their psychology and taste. The tongue and throat demanded it.Miaoyu is well aware of the particularity of these Houmen nobles, so instead of offering Liu'an tea, it is only logical that she will present Laojun's eyebrows.I think such details are difficult to fabricate out of thin air, and should be extracted from the original ecology of life. It is difficult for Cao Xueqin to express such rich connotations in such a concise way. Okay, let's move on to see how Cao Xueqin wrote about Miaoyu.After Miaoyu said these two words to Jiamu, she didn't bother to talk to Jiamu and the others.She is a very proud person, and she has to be perfunctory with Mother Jia, but she is too lazy to waste more time.She pulled Baochai and Daiyu's skirts, took them to the side room next to the East Zen room, and invited them to drink Tiji tea alone.Jia Baoyu would follow up as usual——Jia Baoyu is a beautiful event for all women, and he must go to get together, and he is always indispensable. This is really an interesting admirer of young women. After Jia Baoyu followed him in, the ancient books in it were written in different ways. Some said that Daiyu and Baochai told him that you came to drink tea again, and you are not here; some said it was said by three people. .If counting three people talking, Miaoyu spoke again, and I counted it in, it was the third time Miaoyu spoke.You are not here, this sentence may be said by Miaoyu, because she wanted to invite Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai to taste this tea.Then at this time, Jia's mother over there was almost done drinking, and everyone knew that after Jia's mother drank half of the cup of tea, she gave the remaining half of the cup to Grandma Liu.Miaoyu also saw it at that time, and at this time Miaoyu's servant took back the Chengyao cup, and Miaoyu spoke for the fourth time, and she ordered the servant to stop taking Chengyao's teacup and put it outside.This is to write about this person's cleanliness, she is too clean, and from today's point of view, she discriminates against working people, so she must be labeled as this.She probably thought in her heart that if only Mother Jia drank it, forget it, wash it cleanly, wash it carefully, and keep it, but in the end, Grandma Liu drank it—Grandma Liu may also have poor living conditions in the countryside, with yellow teeth, She felt awkward when she saw it - after being drunk by Grandma Liu, she didn't want it after washing it, no matter what, this is Miaoyu.I say that Cao Xueqin cherishes the character Miaoyu, but it does not mean that he does not write about the character’s shortcomings. In fact, every hairpin in Cao Xueqin’s works has both advantages and disadvantages, and it is unclear whether it is an advantage or a disadvantage. Personality characteristics, they are all living beings, carrying all their complex humanity, and going through their own life journey. Then the author wrote that Miaoyu entertained Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai and brought out a very precious tea set. This description is very exaggerated. Some descriptions are really similar to the previous description of Qin Keqing's bedroom in the book, which is too exaggerated.She took out one thing—these three characters are difficult to write, and the pronunciation is very strange, it is pronounced as "banpaojia"—this thing is not porcelain, generally speaking, when the gourd grows, a mold is used to cover the gourd. First, after the gourd grows up and fills the mold space, the mold is disassembled, and the gourd grows into the strange shape required in the mold; in addition, this thing has to go through other fine processing.It is said in the book that there are ears next to this strange thing, and there are words engraved on the cup, which say "Jin Wang Kaizhen Plays", and it is even more exaggerated. Secret House".As you all know, Wang Kai was a rich man in the Jin Dynasty, who collected all kinds of valuable things. This thing was also collected by Wang Kai, and there were people to testify. There was a person from the Song Dynasty who testified. Five years is a year name of the Song Dynasty. In April of the fifth year of Song Yuanfeng, Su Shi in Meishan—either Su Shi who was born in Meishan, or Su Dongpo—was also seen in Mifu.This is exaggerated. In fact, this description is sublimated from the prototype of life to the creation of art. He exaggerates very much, because if you ask experts on cultural relics, they will tell you that this kind of drinking utensils made of gourds are made of molds. Forcing gourds to grow into weird shapes, this practice only existed during the Kangxi period, and became popular after the Qing Dynasty. It is difficult to find evidence to prove that there were such things in the Jin or Song dynasties, but he just wrote it like this. It's his art.This strange vessel, Miaoyu, was used to pour tea for Xue Baochai, and Xue Baochai was invited to taste it.The other drinking utensil is also a treasure, and it is also a three-character name. The last character, with "Joe" on the top and "vessel" on the bottom, is pronounced "Dianxiqiao".In some editions, the first character is not the "dot" of "spot" but the "apricot" of "桃晶". The name of this thing is controversial in edition studies. I won't go into details now, but it is still a very precious thing. , is made of rhino horn, which she used to taste tea for Lin Daiyu. So at this time, Jia Baoyu will see what she brings for tea. This is also a question that all researchers are most interested in, that is, how did they find Cao Xueqin wrote it?Miaoyu took the green jade bucket that she used to drink tea in the past, and brought it to Baoyu to taste tea.What is a green jade bucket?It was made of green jade, shaped like the bucket used to measure rice—of course it has been shrunk many times, so it can be used in the hand—Miaoyu gave him tea with this.Because this is what Fan Miaoyu used to drink tea on a daily basis, so it arouses the imagination of many readers, right?I will discuss this issue with you in more detail below.At this time, Miaoyu was about to speak for the fifth time, because Jia Baoyu protested first. Jia Baoyu said, as the saying goes, the world is equal, so they use such antiques and rare treasures, and I use this vulgar one?Miaoyu replied, "Is this a vulgar vessel?"It's not that I'm talking crazy, I'm afraid you may not be able to find such a vulgar vessel in your family!This is Miaoyu's character, "I'm not talking crazy", she is actually talking crazy, she is more crazy than every sentence, right?Cao Xueqin has written here, and what she said has not reached a hundred words in total, and this character has come to life, just such a person, such a character.Then she saw that everyone was drinking happily, so she found another thing, which was too exaggerated, and it was difficult to restore this thing. The writing method is a "tai" on the top and a "dish" on the bottom).Think about it, I won't break it down and go into details, a concubine of Xiang is carved from bamboo roots, what is this thing!Then she took this thing, smiled and said to Jia Baoyu, this is the only one left, can you eat this whole thing?Jia Baoyu was a bit silly, saying that I could eat it.Miaoyu laughed and said—this is the seventh time Miaoyu has spoken—that although you can eat it, you don’t want to waste the tea. Wouldn’t it be good for you to smell one cup, two cups are a thirst-quenching idiot, and three cups are enough. Drinking cows and donkeys!This is so powerful, every time I see this, I feel very ashamed, because I always drink tea in big tea pots, one pot after another, according to Miaoyu's standard, we don't drink any more, we can only drink one cup , take a small sip, one cup is good, two cups is a thirst-quenching idiot, three cups, don’t repeat it, it’s hard to hear, but Miaoyu said it, and said that you’d be nothing if you eat this sea, because this One sea is more than three cups.This is Miaoyu. Then she spoke for the eighth time, saying that it was thanks to the two of them that you had tea this time, and I wouldn't give it to you if you were the only one here.Everyone would understand this if you don’t say it, you are a monk, he is a male, you are a nun, and of course you can’t entertain a young man for tea, but she wants to say it, just such a person . Then in the ninth sentence, Baoyu said that I would thank them, and Miaoyu replied: "I understand." These words she said were very rigid, and they were all "steel company" things. Yes or no?Then the most prominent expression of Miaoyu's withdrawn and bitterness is the bottom, she speaks for the tenth time. The tenth time I spoke was about Lin Daiyu.Sister Lin is really an extraordinary character in the book. Do you remember how Lin Daiyu told Zijuan when she left the Xiaoxiang Pavilion? I can’t recite that passage, but you can recall the general idea, right?That passage was about how to tidy up the house, open the windows to let the big swallow come back, how to put the curtains, how to burn the incense burner, and so on.That Lin Daiyu's life, you think, a poetic life, could not be more elegant.You can criticize Lin Daiyu with countless words, but you can't criticize Lin Daiyu with one word. If you say Lin Daiyu is vulgar, can you bear it?Can you?But in the description below, Lin Daiyu is as stupid as Jia Baoyu, so she asked, is this also the rain of the old year?Because everyone was with Jia Mu before, in the East Meditation Hall, Jia Mu asked what kind of water is this?Miaoyu said that this is the rainwater from the old year's Juan, and Juan means storage.Lin Daiyu thought that the tea she drank was also the rainwater from last year, which is considered to be a very high-grade water used for making tea.In the end, Miaoyu sneered and said, you are such a common person, you can't even taste water. This is the snow on the plum blossoms that I collected five years ago when I lived in the Xuantou Panxiang Temple.花瓮一瓮，总舍不得吃，埋在地下，今年夏天才开了，我只吃过一回，这是第二回了，你尝不出来？旧年蠲的雨水，哪儿有我这样的清醇，如何吃得？ ——这个妙玉亏曹雪芹写得出来，怎么这么说话，她敢教训林黛玉。薛宝钗后来也教训过林黛玉，但是你看，赔多少小心，话绕来绕去，最后怎么样，只是指点一下林黛玉。妙玉她不这样。而且这段话就透露出很多的信息，说明她给贾母喝旧年的雨水本身也并不意味着看重贾母，知道吧，我还有好水，轮不到给您喝。你张口就说我不吃六安茶，你那臭德行谁不知道，知道，这是老君眉！这就是妙玉。 然后她第十一次说话。宝玉后来就建议，成窑小盖钟你既然不要了，干脆送给刘姥姥得了。妙玉听了，想了一想她才开口说——她就这一次开口有点时间差，不像前面张口就来，别人问完以后，一句就跟上了，这次想一想才说，这也罢了，幸而那杯子是我没吃过的，如果我吃过的我就砸碎了也不能给她，只是我可不亲自给她，你要给她我也不管，我只交给你，你快拿去吧。就这么把杯子打发了，这是她第十一次说话。 她第十二次开口是客人要走了，这时贾宝玉就说了，是不是叫几个小幺儿到河里打几桶水洗洗地？其实贾宝玉是一个调侃，开一个玩笑，对吧？结果妙玉就接这个茬，你以为你开玩笑，我还当真了。这更好了，妙玉说，只是你嘱咐他们抬了水只搁在山门外面墙根下，别进门来。这真是把妙玉的性格写绝了，对不对？然后底下就接着写，所有人出了栊翠庵，妙玉并不甚留，送出山门回身便将门关闭了。这就是妙玉。这段文字，现在我告诉你，各种古本和通行本上下相差非常少，就是一千三百五十个字左右。而以蒙古王府本为底本，我用六个本子汇校以后，最后得出的它的精确数字是一千三百四十七个字。其中写到妙玉的性格，写到了她和贾母之间的关系，写到了她对刘姥姥的态度，写到她本身和这个大观园里面最雅的一个女子林黛玉之间的冲突，写到她和薛宝钗、贾宝玉的种种微妙关系，才用了这么点字。 说到这儿以后，我想大家最感兴趣的一个问题就浮现出来了，就是究竟妙玉和宝玉之间有没有情爱关系，说白了，她把她那个绿玉斗给宝玉喝，有没有暗中亲嘴的意思？这是一个年轻人直截了当给我提出来的，问我作者究竟有没有这个意思在里面。我将在下一讲里面分析妙玉的情爱之谜。