Chapter 4 The first floor "Red Mansion" culture (1)

What kind of book is it? In the final analysis, it should be called a Chinese cultural novel.Because this book is full of the essence of traditional Chinese culture, but it is expressed in the form of a novel that "communicates with everyone".If you want to understand the essence of this national culture, it is better to read the ancient scriptures first. Under Xueqin's pen, they appear more intimate, vivid, and lifelike. It means. The poem says: What is Chinese culture like? It is difficult to know thousands of books in Siku. Confucius and Mencius are not as wonderful as Cao Zi, and the lotus flower has tongues and tears.

It contains Chinese culture, talking and laughing with sorrow and joy. If you can get Lin Tong's unique writing, you should feel ashamed if you have a clumsy tongue in Spring and Autumn. and Chinese culture Whenever I meet with Western or foreign visitors, I always say to them: If you want to understand the cultural characteristics of the Chinese nation, the best - both the most interesting and the most convenient (specific, real, vivid) The best way is to read through. This illustrates my basic understanding: it is a unique "cultural novel" of our Chinese nation throughout the ages.

Where did this remark come from? I mean, from all the important Chinese novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties, none of them has such astonishingly broad and profound cultural connotations. As we all know, there have always been different interpretations of the Chinese Communist Party, and it is amazing: some have seen politics, some have seen historical biography, some have seen family and society, some have seen the adherents of the late Ming Dynasty, some have seen celebrities in the Jin Dynasty, and some have seen Some have seen love and marriage, some have seen a clear heart, some have seen the strange book of prophecy, and some have seen the Jindan Avenue... This kind of magnificence has also aroused the ridicule of many wise people, or just thought it was a talk. Help, or laugh at its boredom.In fact, if you are willing to calm down and think carefully, you will be able to realize that there must be some truth in it. Otherwise, why did such problems not occur in the earlier "Four Great Books", ,,,, appear so What about Qizhi?

It is precisely because of the richness of the content that everyone sees each other, and each of them claims to be the only one to explore Lizhu, which has triggered the phenomenon of the "Red Studies" with diverse and spectacular schools.And this "contains richness" is just a manifestation of the broad and profound traditional Chinese culture that I am referring to. In recent years, there has been a popular saying: since the end of the Qing Dynasty, there have been three prominent schools of Sinology, one is "Oracle Bone Studies", the other is "Dunhuang Studies", and the third is "Red Studies".Some people think that comparing the three is really neither fish nor fowl, and they are forced to talk.But I think it is also meaningful and worth exploring.why? "Oracle Bone Studies" represents the cultural studies of ancient prose and history in the prosperous Xia and Shang Dynasties. "Dunhuang Studies" represents the cultural studies of art philosophy in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.And "Red Learning", it represents the cultural studies of the trend of thought and world movement in the prosperous Kangxi and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty.Our splendid traditional culture of China is divided into the above three stages and reflected in the three great learnings, which is indeed a great landscape created by nature.Isn't it interesting to think about it?

From this point of view, I think the reason for being a cultural novelist is even more obvious. Well, I don’t call them political novels, romantic novels, historical novels, sexual novels...but only call them “cultural novels”, and there must be people who don’t abandon their ignorance and come to ask: your so-called medium contains richness. What is the profound cultural connotation? China has a very long cultural history, at least seven thousand years.Such a nation, with its abundance and wealth, accumulated to the last prosperous age of the old era, and produced a particularly great novelist, Cao Xueqin.This novelist, of course, has long been different from "storytellers" and ordinary novel authors. He is an amazing genius. In him, his demeanor embodies the brilliance and realm of our Chinese culture.He is a wonderful "compound body" that is rare in ancient and modern times-a great thinker, a great poet, a great songwriter, a great writer, a great esthetician, a great sociologist, a great psychologist, a great folklorist, and a great system of laws and regulations. Scientists, great garden architects, great clothing display experts, great musicians, great medical scientists... His knowledge is extremely extensive, and his accomplishments are extremely profound.This end is a genius.It is no wonder that some people compare the novel written by such a person to an "encyclopedia", a "kaleidoscope", and a "magic mirror of heavenly immortals"-in this mirror, the truth of all living beings, men, women, old and young in China The appearance is fully visible, in every detail.This is what Huiyan and what divine power it is!It's unimaginable, incredible!

I mean to use this to explain: Although Xueqin seems to only write about a family, the rise and fall of a family, the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, but it actually writes about the grand sights and wonders of the Chinese culture. In the book, Xueqin uses his colored pens and pens to let us see vividly and vividly how we Chinese people live, how to dress and eat, how to speak and smile, how to communicate with each other, how to express thoughts, how behavior.Their joys, their sorrows, their tastes, their encounters, their fates, their burdens, their minds, their hearts...you can find the best from them one by one, from Xueqin's works The most authentic and beautiful portrayal!

The "world change" that the Chinese nation is facing is "urgent"!The basic brilliance and state of the Chinese nation's culture should not and will not be lost - it is cast in it.This is a bit like what Dongpo said: "If you look at it from what is changing, the world cannot last for a moment. If you look at it from what remains unchanged, you will see that what has passed away has not gone away." So I said: it is a cultural novel. It is almost a household name, what book is it?Isn't it acting in the book of "Bao and Dai Love"?Everyone says so.I said no.What is the reason?Because everyone didn't understand the meaning of the word "love" in the book, and it was distorted and confused by Cheng and Gao's pseudo-continuations, so they misunderstood that Xueqin's "the main purpose is to talk about love" refers to the love between men and women.In fact, this is an illusion.

It turns out that in Xueqin's book, what he called "the main purpose of love" is not the love between a man and a woman.He borrowed his lament about the fate of a large group of women to write about his great problem of how people should treat each other.He first put forward "Thousands of Reds and One Cave (crying)" and "Wanyan Same Cup (sorrow)", which has already made it clear to readers: the intention of this book is not between a certain man or a certain woman, but between a certain man and a certain woman. , incomparably vast.He borrowed the fundamental attitude of how men should treat women, and expressed his grand vision of improving the relationship between people.Because in history, women have always been treated in ways and attitudes that are not good. For example, the author's attitude towards women is a famous example.If the attitude towards women can be changed, then the relationship between people (whether male to male, female to female, or male to female) will surely reach a new and noble level.If so, life, society, country, and the world will reach an ideal situation.

It was Xueqin who borrowed Baoyu to speak out, writing about how he was sad and thinking about the fate of a large group of women.With his unique eyes, he can recognize the talents and virtues of these women, their ability (such as Xifeng), their ambition (such as Tanchun), their knowledge (such as Baochai), and their nobility (such as Baochai). Miaoyu), their integrity (such as Qingwen)... are much better than the men in power.He is happy for their joy and sad for their sorrow.He put himself in his place and was considerate; he did not spare himself, but he felt pity, sympathy, admiration, and grief for it with all his heart.This is the most noble feeling, without any "evil thoughts" mixed in it.It is not allowed for ordinary people to desecrate it from the perspective of "obscene books"!

The biggest characteristic of Baoyu is inferiority, self-deprecation, self-denial, and self-sacrifice.Just look at him in front of his daughter, even if he is a village girl and peasant girl, he is "ashamed of his appearance" and has absolutely no sense of arrogance of "son and brother".He burned his hands, but he didn't feel any pain, and asked urgently if anyone else had ever been burned?He was almost killed by the whipping of his strict father, and his lower body was burning like fire. He didn't care about it, but he only thought about the fate of others, and only hoped that others would be comforted.The height of his selflessness has reached the realm of "selflessness"!He would rather turn himself into ashes and smoke, and only hope that others can be happy, which is also the same artistic conception.