Chapter 24 The beginning of the second half of "Dream of Red Mansions"

At the beginning of the fifty-fifth chapter of this book, there is a verse in Zhiyanzhai Gengchen’s batch (this book is now in the collection of Peking University): Let's say that the Lantern Festival has passed, but because the world is ruled by filial piety today, there is a concubine in the palace who is not safe, so all the concubines will reduce their meals and make-up for him. There is no collection of lantern riddles during the Lantern Festival. This seemingly insignificant, not very exciting text, and it doesn't quite fit the above text.The fifty-third chapter of the book is "Ningguo Mansion's New Year's Eve Worship to the Ancestral Hall, and the Rongguo Mansion's Lantern Festival Banquet"; the fifty-fourth chapter is "Shi Taijun breaks the old stereotypes, and Wang Xifeng plays colorful mottled clothes"; two consecutive chapters are very lively and lively The scene, followed by this episode, said "Rongfu does not have a collection of lantern riddles for the Lantern Festival this year", as if the Chinese New Year is not going well.Did the author forget?It would be too strange to turn over a page and forget it immediately.

All the editions are lacking, but the Zhigeng edition has this section alone. Although it seems like a casual essay, it is actually quite important and must be added. The breakdown is as follows: (1) The importance of status.There are more than one hundred chapters in the original book, where is the boundary between the first half and the second half?I thought it should be between fifty-four and fifty-five, that is, the fifty-fifth chapter has entered the second half.This section is at the beginning of the fifty-five chapters, at the position of turning off. The upper and lower halves should be demarcated here, which needs to be explained.When we read the colorful articles in the 53rd and 54th rounds, we really feel that it is too prosperous to continue.It has been hinted many times in this chapter, for example: 1. The acting is "Bayi Watching the Lantern", implying Jia's family by the dilapidation of the Zhao family in Jin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period.2. Sister Feng told jokes. It was very lively at the beginning, and children and grandchildren talked a lot. Later, it was "cold and tasteless", she said, "The year is over, and the festival is over."Her second joke was that the deaf man set off a firecracker and dispersed in a rush.3. The last program of the "evening party" until midnight that day was to beat the lotus flower and grab money all over the stage. Chapters fifty-three and fifty-four are the climax of the book's excitement, and it will take a sharp turn for the worse after that.

The author wrote such words at the beginning of the fifty-fifth chapter, which obviously contains deep meaning, not because he forgot, but because he negated the previous article, the so-called prosperity is too much, and it is like empty flowers and illusions.It is easy to prove this: 1. In the first chapter of this book, "After the Lantern Festival for the festive season, it is when the smoke and fire go out", it seems to only refer to Zhen's Yinglian, and it actually covers the whole book.Jiaxu Benzhi commented that "the front and back are the same" and "Fuhouwen" is also true.The second half of the book will describe the truth of the disappearance of the smoke and fire.2. Chapter 55 belongs to the second half, and there is a better proof.The second chapter of this book talks about Zhen's Mansion in Jinling, and Zhi Pingyun said, "The precious jade of Zhen's family is not written in the first half".Here, the difference between the upper half and the lower half has clear text.According to the fact that Zhen Baoyu was never mentioned before the fifty-fourth chapter, Zhen Baoyu was mentioned in the fifty-sixth chapter.Therefore, the boundary should be placed on the fifty-five chapters, there is no problem.The reason for the author's special mention of these few sentences can be understood by the division of large paragraphs.

(2) In conjunction with this, there is a saying that the style of the article varies.It's like a shift in music.One of Qi Ben's fifty-fifth chapters has a very good general comment: "This chapter is a continuation of the above, just like Huang Zhong Da Lu's empress turned to Yu Tune Shang Sheng, which has a refreshing taste." This feeling is good.We read this as if "sinking down". The second half of "Red Mansion" is full of voices of the change of the Qing Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, even if there are prosperous scenes, such as "Yi Hong Banquet", it is not the same as before. Sorrowful, desolate atmosphere pierces the bones.This is a feeling shared by all.

(3) From the perspective of form and trace, there is a relationship between the knot and the next in the composition.There are two things mentioned above clearly stated here: one small thing and one big thing.The so-called trivial matters are the 50th chapter "Creating Spring Lantern Riddles in Nuanxiangwu";It was mentioned repeatedly in the previous article that we had to make lantern riddles to prepare for the next year. In Chapters 53 and 54, it was written that although the Chinese New Year was very lively, the lantern riddles were never played. It seems that some explanation is needed.This is still a small section, the main thing is that Yuanchun no longer returns to the province.It turned out that when Yuanchun went there, he said, "If God's grace will return to the province next year" (the eighteenth chapter), Jia Rong still said there until the fifty-third chapter, "I'm afraid I will be poor if I visit my relatives again. ".But from this time on, the matter of visiting relatives has been put aside.To be precise, the so-called "extreme prosperity" in this book refers to returning to the province. Yuanchun will never return, that is, "difficult to continue", just like the so-called "transient prosperity, momentary joy, The feast must come to an end."This book expresses this meaning repeatedly, such as writing about Sister Feng's birthday in the forty-three chapters.But at the fifty-fourth chapter, it is considered to have really reached the apex, and then it will go downhill clearly.Therefore, these few sentences not only end in chapters fifty-three and chapter fifty-four, but also go from chapter fifty to chapter forty-three, and then to chapter seventeen. That's it for the first half.

As for "Qixia", it is more obvious.For example, in the fifty-eighth chapter, "Who would have known that the old concubine who was shown last time has passed away", this sentence still exists in all current books.The so-called "last time" means fifty-five chapters, and the so-called "Shou Biao" means "the concubine is not safe".The Zhigeng book is solidly combined, and each book is inaccessible.According to these books, how could she have shown the old concubine, and she was talking in her sleep there.There is no need to say more about such a clear mistake.However, it can be seen that the deletion or incompleteness of this text is wrong.

The death of the old concubine is written so solemnly, there may be actual events at that time as the background, and it is suspected to refer to the death of the concubine Kangxi.Because she was Kangxi's concubine, she was called the old concubine from the time of Qianlong. For details, see the article "The Age of Writings in a Dream of Red Mansions". In terms of the layout of the article, this made it easier for Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang to leave the Rongfu for a longer period of time, causing all kinds of noisy and interrupting trivial matters.There is no way to delete or modify each copy here, so I have to keep it, but I forgot that it is no longer connected with the above.