Chapter 17 Section 7 Mimic Storybook

"Du Shiniang Sinks the Treasure Box in Anger" is a famous story in the imitation storybook of the Ming Dynasty.The outline of the story is as follows: Li Jia, the son of Li Buzheng, fell in love with Du Shiniang, a famous prostitute in Kyoto.As time goes by, Li Jia's money is exhausted, and the madam is ready to chase away the guests, but Du Shiniang is determined to marry Li Jia.She carefully planned and designed self-redemption, finally broke through the cage, and returned to the south hand in hand with Li Jia.On the way, I met Sun Fu, a salt merchant.Sun Fu coveted Shiniang's beauty, and induced Li Jia to transfer Shiniang to him with a thousand dollars.Fearing his father's severe reprimand and considering his own future, Li Jia agreed to betray Shiniang.That night, Du Shiniang asked the reason, sad and desperate.The next morning, Shiniang angrily scolded Sun Fu and Li Jia at the bow of the boat, threw all the jewels into the river, and threw herself into the river with her treasure chest to die.Li Jia was ashamed and regretful, and eventually became mad.Sun Fu was frightened and died.

Judging from the plot, the beginning of the novel is similar to "The Biography of Li Wa".But the ending of the novel is a tragedy of Shen Jiang.The author didn't cater to the social psychology of looking forward to a happy reunion with cheap flowers and full moons, but chose the abrupt plot of angrily sinking a treasure chest to put a powerful end to Du Shiniang's fate. The "Sinking River" scene has a shocking effect.The most glorious part of Du Shiniang's thinking and character is fully revealed in the scene of "Sinking Jiang".She thought that the "loyal and sincere" Li Jia turned out to be an extremely hypocritical, cowardly, selfish and cruel person.Sun Fu's intervention enabled Du Shiniang to see Li Jia's true face and her social status.Although she has "been good", in Li Jia's eyes, she is still a plaything, a commodity, and she has been betrayed again and again!This humble woman with a noble heart, hot inside and cold outside, and a strong personality pursues human dignity first.After this kind of love ideal was shattered, she would rather be broken than broken, and used her young life to make a final protest against the feudal system and money forces that oppressed her.

This novel does not use the common coincidences in "Three Words", but introduces the climax of tragedy in a straightforward manner.The personalities of Du Shiniang and Li Jia are also revealed layer by layer.The full text focuses on "Congliang" and "Shenjiang".Writing "Congliang" is extremely full of twists and turns, and it also describes the wisdom and foresight of Shi Niang. All kinds of descriptions of "Congliang" pave the way for the scene of "Shen Jiang".In order to get rid of the life of being played with, Shi Niang tried her best, but she was still betrayed.The author accurately grasps the psychological changes of the hero and heroine, and writes out the subtleties.For example, Li Jia returned to the cabin after being persuaded by Sun Fu.The author first writes about Li Jia from Du Shiniang's eyes: "The color is in a hurry, and it seems to be unhappy."Du Shiniang asked again and again, and Li Jia "several times he wanted to speak but didn't speak".Li Jia's guilt, guilty conscience, hesitation and ambivalence that he hopes that Shiniang will agree to "transfer" are already self-evident.Du Shiniang pretended to promise and got up early the next day, "Sun Fu sent his family boy to the bow of the boat to wait for the letter", "Shi Niang took a peek at the young master, Xinxinran seemed to be happy", and then she died of despair.

From a structural point of view, the treasure chest is an important gate.It connects the two key points of Congliang and Shenjiang.Congliang's treasure chest, hidden but not exposed, half hidden and half exposed, writes Du Shiniang's elaborate design.The Shenjiang section, through the destruction of treasures in the Shenjiang River, symbolizes Du Shiniang's "Pearl in the Box" and Li Jia's "There are eyes but no pearls". Seen in Volume 1 of "Ancient and Modern Novels".The story comes from Song Maocheng's "Jiuzhu [yueyue] Collection", which Feng Menglong adapted into a story-telling novel.The outline of the story is as follows: After Jiang Xingge and Wang Sanqiao got married, the husband and wife loved each other like glue.Jiang Xingge went to Guangdong to do business, and the couple parted with tears.Wang Sanqiao was seduced by Chen Shang and gave Chen Shang a pearl shirt.On the way home, Brother Jiang Xing meets Chen Shang by chance and learns about Sanqiao's affair with Chen Shang.After arriving home, Brother Xing abandons Sanqiao.Chen Shang's merchants were robbed and died of illness.After several twists and turns, Chen Shang's original wife Ping remarried Jiang Xingge, and Sanqiao remarried Xingge and became a concubine.

The whole plot is arranged in a framework of karma, the so-called "the retribution of auspicious fruits is not false, and there is nothing far away to seek".However, after wiping off the dust of karma on the surface of the story, we can see the huge impact of the commodity economy on traditional moral concepts at that time.After Jiang Xingge learned that his wife had lost her life to others, he was furious, but he was able to regret "greeding for petty profits, leaving him a young widow, and making this ugly."He resolutely abandoned Sanqiao, but when Sanqiao remarried, he gave Sanqiao 16 soft boxes as a dowry.After Wang Sanqiao's ugly appearance, he originally wanted to die, but after listening to his mother's persuasion from Fang Chang, he changed his mind and became the second wife of the county magistrate.Judging from the actions of Brother Xing, Sanqiao, and the people around them, among these citizens engaged in business, the concept of three obediences and four virtues and chastity have been quite weak, and the concept of paying attention to practical benefits has prevailed.The author spends a lot of words and patiently describes the whole process of Xue Po seducing Sanqiao, writes Chen Shang's success very difficultly, and writes Xue Po's greed and scheming fully, which is objective The book makes readers understand Wang Sanqiao's loss of virginity, and also paves the way for Wang Sanqiao's remorse and even remarrying her former husband later.The author denies Sanqiao's betrayal of Xingge, and puts more responsibility on Chen Shang and Xue Po. This more enlightened attitude enables him to accurately grasp the context of Xingge and Sanqiao's thought changes, and writes two Real and vivid characters.The description of Jiang Xingge's psychological activities in this article has always been praised by people.He is so honest and kind, but also so devoted to emotion.After learning of his wife's loss of virginity, he "immediately got an acupuncture needle in his stomach, refused to drink because of excuses, and hurriedly got up and did not go. When he returned to the lower place, he thought and was annoyed, and when he was annoyed, he wanted to learn a method of shrinking the ground. Be home in no time." "When it's time to arrive, I'm bitter and hateful in my heart. One step forward, one step lazy. When I enter my house, I have to hold back my breath and meet each other reluctantly." Under the sudden heavy blow, the hero's sudden emotional change, The expression is so layered, and the complex mentality of loving and being unable to love, and hating and hating is so fully described.The portrayal of the villain Xue Po is also quite skillful. No wonder Xue Po seduces Wang Sanqiao's long passage, which is called the sister chapter of "Wang Po's Corruption and Bribery".The role of pearl shirts in the structure of this article cannot be ignored.It was originally "a thing handed down by Jiang's family. If it wears him in summer, it will be cool to the bone."It has always been handed over to his wife by Jiang Xingge for collection.Later, Wang Sanqiao had an affair with Chen Shang and presented the pearl shirt to Chen Shang as a "memory".Jiang Xingge and Chen Shang meet in Suzhou, and inquire about the secret of Sanqiao's loss from the pearl shirt on Chen Shang's body.In the end, Chen Shang's former wife Ping brought the pearl shirt back to Jiang's family and returned it to the original owner.The pearl shirt changed from a symbol of Jiang Xingge and Wang Sanqiao's love, to a symbol of Wang Sanqiao's affair with Chen Shang, and then to a symbol of Wang Sanqiao's return to her husband. It is closely related to the development of the plot and the fate of the characters. They are naturally connected together, making the structure of the novel more closely stitched and interlocking, and enhancing the dramatic color of the story.

See volume eight.From the beginning to the end, the whole story is filled with a humorous atmosphere of blunders, relaxed and humorous.With the background of the state of the world and human feelings, the author unfolds a series of comic conflicts around the center of the marriage issue.The first thing readers see is a dizzying list of mandarin ducks: Liu Pu, the son of Liu Bingyi, a physician, "has hired Aunt Zhu, the widow's daughter, as his wife"; Employment from my hometown".Widow Sun's son Yulang "hired Dingshan Danqing Xu Ya's daughter Wen Ge as his wife since childhood".In this mandarin duck tree, the Pei family's son, Pei Zheng, and Xu Ya's daughter, Brother Wen, were not described much and were placed in a secondary position.The two are only mentioned at the beginning and end of the story.The center of the story is the entanglement between Liu and Sun, and the real focus is on Hui Niang and Yu Lang.The Liu family wanted to celebrate their son, but the Sun family was afraid that their daughter would be troubled, so the Yulang man disguised himself as a woman and "married" in place of his sister, Aunt Zhu.Liu Pu was seriously ill and could not have intercourse, so Liu's mother asked her daughter Hui Niang to accompany her sister-in-law.The co-sleeping of the aunt and "sister-in-law" facilitated the marriage between Yulang and Hui Niang, and thus caused the marriage lawsuit of the three families.Prefect Qiao readjusted the mandarin ducks to make Huiniang match Yulang, and Pei Zheng married Brother Wen. Therefore, "Sun's son got a wife because of his sister", "Liu's daughter got a husband because of her sister-in-law", "three couples Husband and wife, each in harmony."

The author obviously looks at this comedy of accidents with a sympathetic and understanding attitude. The verdict of the prefect Qiao actually represents the author's attitude: "The younger brother marries the older sister, and the sister-in-law sleeps with the sister-in-law. Love your daughter and love your son." It's reasonable." Liu's mother asked her daughter to accompany her "sister-in-law", which was tantamount to "moving dry wood closer to the fire", so no wonder the two young people.After Qiao prefect's verdict, "This matter caused a stir in the Hangzhou government, and everyone said that he was a convenient prefect", "It was a beautiful story in the neighborhood, and it was not ugly."This description further reflects the author's sympathy for the parties involved.

The story highlights the author's excellent talent for organizing comic plots.Liu Pu was obviously seriously ill, but Liu's mother lied that "an accidental cold is not a serious illness".Mr. Liu was afraid of "harming his children and having the reputation of marrying late", but Mrs. Liu urged the marriage, selfishly wanting to celebrate her son. After the "bride" came in, Mother Liu decided to ask Huiniang to keep her "sister-in-law" company.Mr. Liu said, "I'm afraid it will be unstable", but Mother Liu said, "It will save him from being afraid of being calm."Yulang had been gone for three days. Widow Sun was worried and sent someone to pick him up, but Mother Liu refused to let him go, for fear that the "bride" would slip away.Mother Liu thought she was clever enough to plan, but in the end she "lost her wife and lost her army".