What kind of image is Qin Keqing in A Dream of Red Mansions?
It has been nearly eighty years since the JOE version of A Dream of Red Mansions revealed that "Qin Keqing's Death" was deleted, and the relevant discussions have been intermittent, mainly focusing on three periods:
(1) There were few articles about Qin Keqing published in the 1940s, all of which were about their own opinions, and there was no dispute. For example:
Mr. Wang Kunlun published The Mystery of Qin Keqing (the third volume of modern women in Chongqing) under the pseudonym of "Stupid";
Textual research on Zhu Yi's A Dream of Red Mansions —— Mourning in the sky and mourning in the sky (Qingdao Evening News 1947 65438+ 10/2); Zhan Lu's Qin Keqing's Funeral (Beiping Times 1947 September 1 1, 12,13);
On the death of Qin Keqing (Tianjin Ta Kung Pao194810/0/0/0/5).
(2) Around the 1980s, a number of papers on the image of Qin Keqing emerged, which formed a debate since Hu Shi and Yu Pingbo, reflecting the thawing of ideology and the active academic thought in the new period. For example:
Dai KATTO's examination of Qin Keqing's death in his later period —— A section of Shi Xiong's A Brief Introduction to the Old Manuscripts of Yue Feng's Treasures (Literature and Art Research, No.11979);
Liu Mengxi's The Death of Qin Keqing and Cao Xueqin's Copyright (Literature and Art Research No.4,1979);
Chang Lin's Why Qin Keqing Dreamed (Dream of Red Mansions, No.2,1980);
On the Death of Qin Keqing by Hu Wenbin and its typical significance in A Dream of Red Mansions (Jianghuai Forum No.61980);
Who is the "Tianxianglou criminal" written by Jiang? -Discussion on the article About the Death of Qin Keqing (Journal of a Dream of Red Mansions, No.2,1981);
Zhang's On (A Dream of Red Mansions, No.6,1987);
During this period, the papers on the image of Qin Keqing were not only numerous, but also high-level, and accumulated long-term research results of a group of middle-aged scholars. Generally speaking, it is still along the road of literary analysis, and textual research is only a supplement to literary analysis. This paper makes an unprecedented summary of the artistic mission of Qin Keqing's image in the whole Dream of Red Mansions and the image characteristics of the characters in the scene.
(3) Since 1990s, a large number of papers on the image of Qin Keqing have been published, but there is no obvious controversy, and the level of papers is uneven. Among them, it is gratifying to introduce new research methods and conduct a multi-faceted literary analysis of this character, breaking the traditional literary analysis methods. Generally speaking, it still develops in the direction of literary analysis. Although there are puzzles and lost things mixed in, it is not publicity and there is no controversy. Even Liu published an article on Qin Studies in the early 1990s, and wrote an academic novel "Death" on the basis of the research, which didn't have much repercussions in academic circles.
The study of Qin Keqing's image in the past 80 years outlines the track and trend of Qin Keqing's research from the vertical category and historical consciousness. In this way, we can have a clear understanding of the theoretical source of Mr. Liu's connotation judgment of "Qin Studies".
Let's summarize the academic research on Qin Keqing's image from the "horizontal" aspect.
Qin Keqing is the central figure in Liu's research. To distinguish the image of Qin Keqing in A Dream of Red Mansions and A New Story of Qin Keqing, we must first know what kind of image Qin Keqing is in A Dream of Red Mansions.
Of the twelve women in Jinling in A Dream of Red Mansions, Qin Keqing was the last and the first to leave. She died from the fifth appearance to the thirteenth appearance. She is a dual figure, and in the fairy dream world, she is a dreamy figure. Cao Xueqin used a lot of pen and ink to describe her special significance in the narrative structure of A Dream of Red Mansions. In the real world, she is an indispensable metaphorical figure. Although it doesn't use much ink, it occupies an important position in the figure gallery of A Dream of Red Mansions.
In the dreamy fairy world, Qin Keqing has a special artistic mission in the narrative structure of A Dream of Red Mansions. Mainly reflected in three aspects:
First of all, the first five chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions introduce two kinds of characters. Leng Zixing's narrative mission is to talk about the generations and in-laws of Jia's masters. Qin Keqing's narrative task is to guide Baoyu, and introduce the fate of your wife and the main maid through Baoyu's eyes. When Jia Baoyu was wandering in the dreamland, the police fairy said to him, "Now I met two husbands of Er Zun Rong Ning and asked me to have a caesarean section. I couldn't bear to win glory for the boudoir alone, so I gave myself up, introduced my son, got drunk with wine, moved people with fairy tea, and presented a wonderful song to the police fairy. Then I promised my sister that she had a beautiful nickname for you ..." The judgments, pictures and lyrics in these pamphlets complement each other, which metaphor and predict the ideological character, life experience and fate of young women represented by Twelve Women in Jinling. At the same time, because Jia Baoyu sympathized with these women who were poisoned and oppressed by feudal ethics, he paid attention to their fate and shared their pain, which also established Jia Baoyu's identity as the "crown of women".
Secondly, Qin Keqing had a dream for Xi Feng before she died, telling her an unfinished "wish", that is, from the philosophical height of the development of things, the so-called "full moon will be lost, full of water will overflow", "climbing high will fall", "trees will scatter" and "the feast will break up" and so on; Speaking of Jia Fu's specific strategy of maintaining "retreat", he said: "Take advantage of today's wealth, set up more acres of granges near the ancestral home for the supply of sacrifices. All the expenses will come from here, and the home school will also be located here ... even if you are guilty, you can enter the official, and this sacrifice industry will not even enter the official. It will be destroyed, and children and grandchildren will go home to study and farm, and sacrifice forever. " It is worth noting that only as the narrative background of the novel, it leads to the psychological activities and thoughts of Wang Xifeng, the head of the Jia family.
Qin Keqing's two men, Jia Baoyu, the heir of Jia Fu, and Wang Xifeng, the manager of Jia Fu, are the central figures in A Dream of Red Mansions. "Rongning Ergong" pinned all the hopes of Jia's future on their heavenly spirits and entrusted the method of saving their family from collapse to the police fairy. She and her sister Qin Keqing acted as matchmakers between Jia Baoyu and Wang Xifeng. However, Jia Baoyu, who seems to be extremely clever and promising in the eyes of "Rongning Er Gong", did not step into the right direction from the guidance of the police, but deviated from the feudal orthodoxy. Jia Fu's shrewd manager, Wang Xifeng, listened to Qin Keqing's "wish" and didn't take it to heart except that he was "scared in a cold sweat and panicked for a while". She still doesn't miss the opportunity to dig deep into her heart and collect money. The great cause of our ancestors and the retreat of our descendants were abandoned. We stepped into the tragedy of life step by step and ended in a "family ruin".
Qin Keqing is a metaphorical figure in the narrative structure of A Dream of Red Mansions. She is interspersed between the dreamland and the real world, connecting the dreamland and the Grand View Garden, showing the truth in the dreamland, imitating the truth with the dreamland, and trusting the dreamland with the truth, which makes her sleepy.
Qin Keqing is just a passer-by in the real life of A Dream of Red Mansions, coming and going in a hurry. There are not many direct descriptions of her pen and ink, and most of them are indirect descriptions by others. When she appeared for the first time in the fifth time, she gave up the direct and meticulous description of her, but chose the perspective of the highest authority of the Jia family and made a profile description of her: "I always knew that Qin was a very decent person, graceful and delicate, gentle and peaceful, and was the first proud person among my grandchildren." When she was seriously ill in bed, she said with emotion through her mother-in-law, You Shi: "A person with such a look and such a personality has no place to look with lanterns. He acts like a man, and neither the relative nor the elders of that family like him? " Until her death, this profile appeared again and again. However, only two short positive conversations are related to these repeated profiles. By the seventh time, Qin was still a lively, caring and caring housewife in Dongfu, showing no signs of illness. Xi-feng and Baoyu arrived at the gate of Ningfu. "Jia Zhen's wife, You Shi, and Jia Rong's daughter-in-law, Qin Shi's mother-in-law, took many maids and maids out." A bunch of wives and concubines, such as You Shi, Feng Shi, etc., all laughed. Qin quickly recommended his younger brother Qin Zhong to Baoyu: "Qin smiled and said,' What a coincidence that Uncle Bao wanted to see my brother last time. Today, he is sitting in the study. "Why don't you go and have a look?" "The next step is to see what Qin Zhong and Feng enjoy. After eating for a while, You Shi, Feng and Qin Shi put out dominoes. You Shi and Qin Shi lost at cards, and they also promised to treat Feng to a banquet every other day, which shows that Qin Shi is in good spirits. When Qin appeared again for the tenth time, she was already very ill. Anxiety, sadness, regret, fear, humiliation and many other emotional entanglements afflict a person who is still so lively in the seventh reincarnation, and it is almost impossible to survive the winter or the New Year, and the death is approaching, "barely getting by." "After two brief appearances, we can't get close to the artistic image of Qin Keqing in real life in the novel. We can only outline her basic image characteristics from indirect description, supplementary narration and some seemingly obscure words.
From the perspective of academic research, it is roughly as follows:
(1) Qin Keqing was born in poverty.
Qin Keqing is the great-grandson and daughter-in-law of the Governor of Ningguo, who has been famous for nearly a hundred years. She is the undisputed legal heir of the Lady Dowager and the housekeeper of the government. Qin was born in such a prominent aristocratic family. In a feudal society that pays attention to family status, he should have a noble birth. But the Qin family came from a family of "cold Confucianism and poor officials". She is an abandoned baby who doesn't even know who her biological parents are or her real name. She came because her adoptive father was "childless from 1950 to 50, so she took him to Yangshengtang" and took "Kerr as her nickname and Bian Mei as her proper name." According to the traditional concept, the adopted daughter of the "shame official" doctor is not worthy to marry the son of Houmen. Qin Keqing is not as rich and powerful as Xue Baochai, nor is it as officialdom upstart as Sun Shaozu, nor does it have the marriage conditions to form a financial alliance with Ningfu. However, life is complicated, just like the Yellow River flowing eastward, with nine twists and eighteen bays, but after all, it "enters the ocean and never returns". For Jia She, who mortgaged her own daughter with 5,200 silver, Sun Shaozu's silver is shining; For the dissolute and shameless Jia Zhen and his son, Qin Keqing's charming romance is very attractive. This is why two generations of wives of Ningguo House, you and Qin, belong to poor families.
(2) Qin Keqing's personality characteristics.
Qin Keqing's appearance features: "elegant and charming", known as "beauty" and "beauty" of Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. Gentle-natured, she herself said to Wang Xifeng: "Although my nephew (referring to her husband Jia Rong) is young, he respects me and I respect him, and he has never blushed." It is precisely because the husband and wife respect each other that Jia Rong is "very worried" about Qin's illness. Jia Zhen and You Shi are very satisfied with this daughter-in-law. She said that her in-laws "regard themselves as their daughters", and she gets along with others and is kind to others. Gentle Country is a favorite of the Jia family. The news of Qin's death came out, "The previous generation thought of her filial piety, the next generation thought of her harmony and intimacy, the next generation thought of her kindness, and the servants at home thought of her kindness in helping the poor."
Just too cautious, as my mother-in-law You Shi said: "He can be cautious and preoccupied. No matter what he hears, he has to test it for three days and five nights. " From Zhang Taiyan's mouth, we can know that the intention is too painful: "In my opinion, grandma is a smart person with a strong heart;" If you are too smart, you will often have unpleasant things; There are always unpleasant things, so I think too much. The disease is that anxiety hurts the spleen and the liver is flourishing ... "
Qin Keqing is ill.
The tenth time, I learned from Youkou that I was seriously ill: "I didn't come during my menstrual period for more than two months", "I was not happy" and "I was too lazy to move or talk for the second half of the day, and my eyes were dizzy". Three or four doctors take turns to check my pulse several times a day. Later, Feng Ziying recommended a Mr. Zhang, and Jia Zhen invited him to meet him. The gentleman said that his illness was delayed, "showing a symptom of lack of water and wood", and only "cured three points". And hinted that it would be difficult to spend the next spring. By Jia Jing's birthday in mid-September, Qin Keqing was "overwhelmed" and bedridden. He had a premonition that "he might not survive the New Year". After that, "it's been a few days, and it's still the same for a few days." 1 1 Around the solstice in the winter of October 30, "I didn't see any illness, and I didn't see any good." This is exactly what Mr. Zhang said: "This winter has nothing to do", and it is time to "dry the wax and return to spring".
(4) The causes of Qin Keqing's illness.
In the seventh chapter of Qi Xu Ben, there is a general comment: "When you get drunk, Fu Keqing dies of illness ..." The so-called "drunkenness" means that Jiao got drunk and cursed the descendants of Jia's family for "climbing the ashes, raising the brother-in-law". The "climbing the ashes" here obviously refers to the relationship between Qin Keqing and her father-in-law, Jia Zhen.
The tenth general comment of Qi: "If you want to die quickly, you must first have the fierceness of evil slaves, and then sue Qin Zhong for all kinds of coercion. Although a poor girl can live in a rich room, everyone will inevitably die young. " For the tenth time, You Shi said to widow Kim, "Her brother came to see her today ... but yesterday they had a fight in the school room, and the people affiliated with the school somehow bullied him. He said some dirty words to his sister." Aunt, you know that daughter-in-law. Although she can talk and laugh at everyone, she is cautious and thoughtful. She had to think for three days and five nights to hear any news. I was annoyed and angry to hear that someone bullied her brother today. What annoys me is that those bastards drag their feet and confuse people; Angry that her brother didn't learn well ... for this matter, he didn't even eat breakfast. " It can be seen that Qin Keqing attaches great importance to these "foul language". The scandals of Climbing the Ash and Raising the Brother-in-law have long been condemned, and even Feng and Baoyu have heard about them. How can the "those fucking friends" in the study room not know? Fighting and bickering angrily, swearing came out.
Qin Keqing was suspected of incest in the school incident. Chapter 9 describes:
"Jin Rong increasingly proud, shook his head make clicks, his mouth also said a lot of gossip, ... But angered A, who do you think this is? It turns out that this Jia Qiang is also a decent great-grandson of Ningfu. My parents died early, and I lived with Jia Zhen since I was a child. Now sixteen years old, more romantic and handsome than Jia Rong. His two brothers are the closest friends. They often get along with each other. Ningfu is crowded with people, and those frustrated slaves can only make up words to slander their masters. I wonder what the villain has to say. Jia Zhen has to sniff out some bad voices and avoid some suspects himself. Now he has divided the house and ordered Jia Qiang to move out of Ningfu and live by himself. Jia Qiang has both beautiful appearance and intelligent nature. Although he came to school by name, he just opened his eyes and ears. Or fighting cocks and running dogs, enjoying flowers and playing with willows, always holding Jia Zhen's doting and Jia Rong's help, who dares to touch him? ……"
(5) Jia Qiang feels that "rumors" make everyone bored.
Jia Qiang, a "beautiful foreign affairs, intelligent nature" and more handsome than Jia Rong, is not only an expert in enjoying flowers and playing with willows, but also a "closest friend" with Jia Rong. Can she not talk and laugh with his sister-in-law Rong, who is full of amorous feelings and full of moon? Qin and Jia Qiang have been hanging out for a long time, and it is inevitable that there will be eye contact and action. Jia Zhen got wind of it and had evil thoughts, so he got on the bus to show his treachery. Otherwise, Jin Rong said "a lot of gossip" and "what does Jia Zhen want to hear". What would be the "rumor" that Jia Qiang thinks "everyone is bored"?
When writing Jia Qiang's "rotten voice", I suddenly inserted Jia Zhen's "I have to avoid some suspects myself". Let Jia Qiang, the 16-year-old orphan he has always loved, "move out of Ningfu" to live. That is to say, Jia Qiang writes Jia Zhen by stealth. Once such incest is leaked out, the first person to be condemned is the woman who is regarded as "difficult to raise" and "a disaster". Qin Keqing was on tenterhooks all day, and her heart was in agony, just as You Shi told widow Kim that her illness was "caused by this temperament". Dr. Zhang talks about the "roots" of disease and poverty. Only Qin knows this "source". Dumb people can't say how bitter it is to eat Rhizoma Coptidis. A poor girl can live in a rich room. First, it is said that she was embraced by Yangshengtang. Second, she came from a poor family, came from a humble background, and climbed to a rich room. There are fierce and stubborn "evil slaves" outside, such as Jiao Da's scolding; The shame of the family, Huang Jia's wife and nephew bullied Qin Zhong. Others are "too careful". Long-term mental pain, illness, no hope of cure, despair. This is closely related to "a poor girl can live in a rich room", so the conclusion of this comment on writing says: "There is a way to die early."
(6) Why did your mother-in-law You Shi say, "She is very ill."
Qin Jiagang died, "I cried." Moreover, the funeral is very grand, and relatives of the royal family, old relatives and friends often meet to mourn. As for You Shi, who has always been concerned about Qin, the book only mentions a faint sentence: "You Shi has committed an old disease and can't take care of the aftermath." From the death of Qin Shihuang to his funeral, You Shi avoided illness, which seemed to be out of harmony with the whole atmosphere. Qin's adultery with Jia Zhen hurt You's family and aroused You's inner resentment. Although she is weak, this kind of adultery has been hated by couples since ancient times. I'm just afraid that Jia Zhen will be arrogant and obedient, and I dare not attack at every turn. In this regard, the book has repeatedly disclosed. In the chapter "Raging the urchin for making trouble in the study", there are rumors everywhere outside, shaking his head and fanning his mouth. You Shi said meaningfully to widow Jin: "So I am very upset these two days. ..... It happened that her brother came to see him early, but the child's family was unappreciative. Seeing that his sister was in poor health, he shouldn't have told him these things, so he was extremely disappointed, so he shouldn't have told him! ..... Who knew there was a fight in the study room yesterday, but I didn't know that the students in the affiliated middle school there bullied him, and there were some foul words in it, all accusing his sister. ..... ""dirty words "obviously refers to the" style problem "of Qin, which was said to the widow Jin. Qin Keqing was personally persuaded by the school incident, suggesting that the scandal was well known at home and abroad, which made Qin Keqing particularly stressed during his illness.
(7) Two girls in Qin Keqing.
The last comment on writing of the grotesque general was "because the Western Qin Dynasty ordered the deletion and change of clothes". Qin Keqing "left" Jia Zhen's gold hairpin, which was discovered by You Shi; The girl changed Qin Keqing's clothes and caught her having an affair with her father-in-law Jia Zhen. Therefore, only the girl knew the whole story, so Qin Keqing hanged herself. On the one hand, the two maids are deeply sorry for the wealthy family, and on the other hand, they are awed by Jia Zhen's arrogance. One girl crashed into a column and died, and the other was willing to be her adopted daughter.
(8) Yuanyang Hanging is the reappearance of Qin Keqing Hanging that day.
It is pointed out that Qin Keqing's death was written in the book11times about the martyrdom of Yuanyang. Yuanyang wants to die, but she can't think of "how to die in a while" She walked to the old lady's apartment as she thought about it. As soon as I stepped into the door, I saw the light was dim, and a woman was holding a sweat towel, as if to hang herself. ..... He thought about it and said,' Yes, it must have taught me how to die.' "Well, let Qin Keqing take a sweat towel and teach Yuanyang to commit suicide by hanging, which is the reappearance of Qin Keqing's suicide by hanging that day. Through Yuanyang's mouth, she said, "You are in front of me." Here, the death of Yuanyang is a foil, and the death of Qin Keqing is written in secret.
(9) Qin Keqing Mourning Tianxianglou is sudden death.
The thirteenth time, Baoyu heard the news of Qin's death, "only felt a stab in his heart." Wow, he vomited a mouthful of blood. " There is a marginal note in JOE's Red inkstone: "Baoyu has decided to carry on the family line, and I'm sorry." I am so disappointed to hear that. Urgent fire attacks the heart, why not have this blood? "
The above is an overview of the academic research on Qin Keqing. The research method is basically two-way text observation and criticism, which complement each other. Although some of them are beyond the imagination provided by the text, they are all based on the fact that Qin Keqing is a vague artistic image. Her identity, cause of death and circumstances of death are extremely vague. In Qin Keqing's judgment, it is written that "the disaster is really peaceful", and the "incest" relationship between Qin Keqing and Jia Zhen has laid a curse for Ningguo House. Yin is regarded as the main feature of her character. What kind of image is Qin Keqing in A Dream of Red Mansions? There are people who admire Qin Keqing, condemn him, sympathize with him and feel sorry for him. No matter how it is evaluated, the mainstream belongs to the literary analysis of the text of A Dream of Red Mansions.
Excerpt from Liu