Chapter 8 The Seventh Worst Yadong Version

Strictly speaking, Eileen Chang's red studies should have officially started after she settled in Los Angeles in 1973.If you think it is too "strict" to say this, then it can be said that it has entered a period of leap since then. This key, she has since seen the "fat book", namely. Judging from this point of view, she is a "beginner in red learning", because it was too late for her to see Zhiben. So, before that, what kind of books did she read? I don't know if there are any records in this regard.Now try to make some conjectures, maybe "although it is not in the middle but not far away", it is fortunate.

According to the date and whereabouts available, she was born in Shanghai in 1920 and moved to Tianjin in 1922 when she was 3 years old.She lived in Tianjin until she was 9 years old (1928) before returning to Shanghai.During this elementary school, she already liked reading novels and novels. What kind of books were popular in Tianjin at that time? According to my personal recollection, there are roughly two types: one is the old-style folk version, the engraved and reprinted version of the "Cheng Jiaben" branch of the so-called "embroidered image enhancement", and the title, "Jinyuyuan", which is not consistent; It is also divided into lithographed editions and printed editions in various forms.The second is the "new style" typesetting version, which is printed by "Yadong Library". Before the volume, there are Chen Duxiu's preface and Hu Shi's "Red Mansion Dream Textual Research". The "new style" is characterized by "punctuation and segmentation".This book later overwhelmed the old Fangben, with a "monopolistic" influence. Literati and students probably read the "Yadongben".

The most "important" feature of the "Yadong Edition" is that, in addition to the "new style of punctuation", it is the first time that it uses the "Cheng Yi Edition" as the base (with irregular school changes), and has since "broke" the "Cheng Jia Edition". world". I guess: If Zhang Ying (Ai Ling’s real name) read this book when she was a child, she would probably get in touch with the old workshop book first in Tianjin; when she arrived in Shanghai, that place has been a bustling city of "Dayinhonglou" since the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty. Unclear bookstores are printing, and there are new editions every year—changing the soup but not the medicine, all "Cheng Jia" is of Miao descent (the publishers have slight differences in words and sentences).However, "Yadong" also originated from Shanghai.That is to say, when Zhang Ailing was in elementary school and junior high school, I am afraid that she has read these two "old" and "new" books, and she has read them countless times. She is very familiar with the differences between the two words. .

In this way, her "red study" also started from "version study" - because she seems to have never delved into the author Xueqin's affairs, and her knowledge is limited to the general scope. "Yadong Ben" is the worst and worst "new" Ben in the world! But "poor": It wasn't until 1973, when she lived in Los Angeles, that she had the opportunity to see "Fat Ben"—she was already 53 years old. What did she think after reading "Fat Book"?What did you say or write? The matter is so important, how can we be silent. The poem says:

Fifty-three years passed away in the east, and the words were red in surprise. It's deplorable that Cheng A and Cheng B are both, and the dissatisfied master laughs.