Although Ying Ning is the undisputed first protagonist in this article, the obvious clue of the novel is unfolded through the encounter of the protagonist prince's clothes: the process of courtship, mate selection and having children, and the narrative context is very clear. It's hard not to marvel at the good luck of the prince's suit when you can read the novel carefully. Last time I met a beautiful woman during the Lantern Festival, my cousin lied that she was "my aunt's daughter", that is, she really had such a relative. Cousin said that the beautiful woman lives in the southwest mountainous area, and it can take more than 30 miles to walk here, so Wang Zifu can really find such a small place. And found it and went to my aunt's house, and my aunt took the initiative to recognize her relatives. Finally, I believe my daughter will take her home ... This paradox of good luck can't be ignored and I don't want to delve into it: my cousin Wu Sheng searched for "Luo Xiaoli" in the southwest mountainous area a few days later, but it was "no house at all". The author makes Wu Sheng's lies come true again and again, making liars feel incredible, thus creating suspense. Pu Songling did not give a positive explanation in the novel, but provided enough clues for readers to "explain themselves" and intervene in the reasoning of the plot of the novel through narrative logic: someone must have deliberately used Wu Sheng's mouth to encourage the prince to insist on "seeking beauty" and make Ying Ning happy; This person needs to be both magical and "long-term" to Ying Ning; Only one person meets the requirements-Qin Menqin, her first mother, is also the wife of the prince who has been dead for many years.
Ying Ning was born to her husband and fox spirit. Although it is not biological, it is also the only blood of Qin's family. In addition, his life experience was tragic, his father died and his mother abandoned him, and Qin's pity and kindness were more kind. However, Ying Ning is half human after all, so she can't die like a ghost. Therefore, in the long run, she must be allowed to enter this world. In the way of "entering", Qin chose "marriage" to realize lifelong support, and at the same time changed his family: the part of "the fox begets ghosts" in his life story is hard to forgive.
Therefore, it can be seen that when Wu Sheng revisited the southwestern mountains, Pu Songling's "Wu Yi's burial place seems not far away; However, the narrative intention of The Tomb Lost Beyond Recognition is to point out that the tomb of Qin is in the southwest mountain, in order to remind readers that what they saw at that time was actually an illusion created by Qin Shengong. After Ying Ning was "brought back" by the prince's clothes, there was no need for Lushe to exist, and Wu Sheng would inevitably stop looking for her. From this, we can also be suddenly enlightened, because it is very convenient to visit the prince's clothes. The reason why Qin is kind to the prince's clothes is that everything he says and does is in his heart, because the goals of "seeking beauty" and "adopting a daughter" are the same. Therefore, the explicit clue of the novel is the process of the "beauty" of the prince's clothes, while the implicit clue is the process of Ying Ning's entry into WTO from "quotations" to "the world". The ingenious arrangement of this hidden clue makes the novel structure present the beauty of polyphony: although they are independent, they are coordinated and unified. In addition, although "obvious" and "hidden" have been integrated in the middle of the novel, the narrative logic of the novel has been established because of hidden clues, so its effectiveness is still playing in the second half.
Second, the story logic from "Quotations" to "The World" was carefully designed and cleverly hidden by Pu Songling. He not only hid Qin, the behind-the-scenes pusher, but also put the client in a protected and particularly innocent situation, leaving a huge space for his image portrayal. Readers of novels may wish to think carefully: Is it just the wishful arrangement of the Gui family to send Ying Ning into this world? Can Ying Ning be completely ignorant? Of course not. Qin, who loves her daughter deeply, can't ignore her last wish. Moreover, without Ying Ning's cooperation, the plan could not be implemented smoothly.
Ying Ning's images of Pu Songling's "love for flowers" and "love for laughter" have been expounded by many commentators. For example, in the discussion of Love Flowers, Mr. Tang analyzed the exquisite carving of Flowers from three angles: time clues, plot clues and miraculous colors, which is quite right (Flowers in Ying Ning, Pu Songling Research,No. 1 issue, 2009). It can be added that the image of "flower" also contains metaphorical color in the text. When Ying Ning first saw the prince's clothes, she "picked a plum blossom to make her look beautiful and smile". Plum blossom is a good thing in early spring, but because of the homonym of "plum" and "media", Ying Ning "praised himself", which means "from the media". Seeing the concern of life, Ying Ning "threw the flowers on the ground and walked away with a smile", which made the clothes of the prince "lost his soul", which was a very obvious provocation. When we met again in the mountains, the first thing the prince saw was "a girl from east to west, holding an apricot flower and bowing her head", and that girl was Ying Ning, holding an apricot flower. "Apricot" and "Xing" are homophonic, which means that they are lucky and their marriage will be harmonious. Judging from the connection between "plum" and "apricot", Pu Songling is also an allusion here. According to Amin Jiang Yikui, an old man asked Jie Jin, "What is a good couple?" Jie Jin replied: "I am very lucky to meet good media." The old man praised his wit and married him. The Collection of Sorrow for the Past in the early Qing Dynasty is slightly different: "Cheng went to Beijing in the Ming Dynasty as a child prodigy. The wife of Li Xian, a college student, is his daughter. Because the rest of the money refers to the fruit at the dinner:' What did you buy for my couple (lotus root)?' Cheng Ying said,' Fortunately (Apricot) doesn't need to pull strings (Mei). Li Da praised. "From the Ming Dynasty to the desire, it serves to show that this allusion is very popular with the public. At the same time, Pu Songling put forward a new viewpoint. After all, predecessors only used it to describe the confidence of men, especially talented people, in marriage, and no one ever used it on women. The author also implies that in Ying Ning's love and marriage, it is Ying Ning who is really active and lucky, not the servant of the prince.
Ying Ning's "love to laugh" left a deep impression on readers. Pu Songling mainly described three scenes: a formal meeting in the mountains, an encounter in the back garden, and taking her back to the Wangs. * * * rendered the superficial image of Ying Ning as playful, ignorant, lively and less restrained. This is the image that Wang Zifu saw, and it is also the proof that Gui Mu evaluates "stupid as a baby". However, only from the point that Ying Ning can bear the mystery of her life story until she completely trusts the prince's clothes, Ying Ning's true personality is by no means like this. From the point of view of the story, the "smile" played a practical role in the preface three times-further attracted the clothes of the prince, swept away the wariness and doubts of others, covered up the embarrassment in the investigation of life experience, and was able to stand in the Wang family and so on. Especially, when Wang Zifu and Ying Ning came home, the Queen Mother, Wu Sheng and Ying Ning confronted each other. This is the best time to find out what happened. However, "when mother came into the room, the woman still smiled." When mother urged the bill, she laughed at it, but her face moved and she came out. Just after a visit, suddenly burst into laughter, which made Wu Sheng unable to cross-examine normally, and the investigation of his life experience was completely ruined. In the above description, she became an innocent person with a charming smile, while Wang's mother was forced into a helpless situation where she could not get angry: after such a "naive school", wouldn't the image of a loving mother in her son's eyes collapse? But the truth is, isn't this the real use? Taking advantage of the queen mother's "fear of mice" and "unbearable heart", she not only concealed the truth of her life experience, but also was accepted by the Wang family and became the daughter-in-law of the Wang family.
Therefore, our "smile" has a strong purpose, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a tool for Fox Baby Ning to go global. Of course, the author's description here is not derogatory. After all, apart from the dedication of the prince's clothes, Ying Ning has no more dependence and dependence. It is wise and harmless to choose the universally accepted "laughter" as a "tool" to break through people's mental obstacles. You can also give another joke about the author. After the "West Neighborhood Incident", Ying Ning seemed to "stop laughing" because of her mother-in-law's lesson. In fact, it is because of the instrumental effect of "laughter": she has gained a firm foothold in her husband's family, and it is okay not to laugh from now on. The author is afraid of disappointment. The following article "Although I teased him, I never laughed, but I never looked sad" is a clear statement: Only when "laughing" is not an uncontrollable nature and is strangled by external forces, it will not care and will not be sad.
Pu Songling's description of Ying Ning's true Qirong is a further development of the complex characters. Because she moved to the grave, she "cried" and even "cried" after seeing her mother's body. How can Ying Ning be stupid at this time? Completely is a filial daughter with deep feelings and delicate mind! Let the deceased parents be buried together, and Ying Ning did his duty as a son of man, which is not only a reward for Guimu's kindness in raising him, but also the best gratitude for Guimu's sending him to the WTO.
At this point, Yi Shi's so-called "I am hiding in Xiao Yu's Ying Ning" can be solved: Ying Ning's smile is really "playing dumb" rather than really stupid, as Shan Minglun commented. Laughter is only her hidden strategy, and it is her tool and means to enter this world. The real Ying Ning is hidden behind a smile: she is delicate, emotional and scheming, and shows no mercy to those who commit her intentions-as evidenced by the death of her western neighbor. Therefore, driven by the logic of "joining WTO" and "repaying kindness", Ying Ning has not only achieved "identity replacement", but also achieved a logical "image change" from "fox" to "* * *" and then "filial daughter". From this point of view, those who think that Ying Ning is the embodiment of innocence, such as "almost naive and ignorant" (The History of China Literature, Volume IV, edited by Yuan Xingpei, Higher Education Press, 1999 edition) have great necessity for scrutiny.
San Yingning's emotional change from "love to laugh" to "stop laughing" and then to "weep" is an important evidence that "feudal ethics were criticized and suppressed, suffocating women's healthy nature" (Selected Works of China Ancient Literature (II) edited by Xu Zhongyu and Jin Qihua, East China Normal University Press, 1999 edition). However, as far as the facts of this article are concerned, Ying Ning's laughter and crying are all related to secrets, not entirely out of nature, so it is not uncommon that it is not accurate to focus on the liquidation of ethical hazards, so it is not uncommon to be stretched and difficult to fully demonstrate. For example, how to understand "I have never seen a strange face" after Ying Ning stopped laughing? Another example is Ying Ning's sobbing, which is to move the grave for Guimu. How can you blame "etiquette"? In fact, starting with the hidden clues in Ying Ning, we can have a more reasonable logical interpretation of the theme of the novel.
Read the name of the novel first. There are many discussions about the origin and meaning of the word "Ying Ning" in academic circles. Zhang Hong mentioned in the Summary of the Study on the Origin of Ying Ning's Name (Journal of Chengdu University of Technology (Social Science Edition), No.5, 20 17) that there are three sources: the childlike innocence of Han Feizi, Zhuangzi and Li Zhi. This paper agrees that the title of the novel is related to Zhuangzi, but there are still different views on the meaning of the word. There is a saying in "Zhuangzi Grand Master":
It is a thing, everything will be, everything will be welcomed, everything will be destroyed and everything will be realized; It's called Garning. Those who are willing to make peace will succeed. (Zhuangzi Ji Jie, by Guo Qingfan, Zhonghua Book Company, 2004)
The background of this passage is that the woman explained "Tao" to Nanbo Zikui: What is Tao and can it be learned? In the eyes of women, "Tao" can't be learned, but the way forward can be described, and the all-encompassing state of all things "Tao" should be clear. "Jinning" is the name of "Tao", which means "Jin" and its etymology is interpreted as "disturbance"; For the interpretation of Jinning, Cheng's theory of "Tao is silent" has always been the most widely used, but this is not an unpublished theory. For example, when Mr. Qian Mu commented on Zhuangzi, he didn't take it seriously. Instead, he quoted Lu Changgeng, a famous figure, as saying that "the world is troubled and great things will be decided", and he also described Yang, who is close to people, as "annoying, annoying, peaceful and determined". The two doors are opposite and complement each other. The so-called "80,000 dust and toil, that is, liberation" (Zhuangzi Edited by Qian Mu, New Knowledge of Life Reading Joint Publishing Company, 20 14 edition) shows that "Ning" means from "chaos" to "determination", which is also the view of many scholars. This paper holds that this view holds that "gold" is the focus of Zhuangzi's "Jinning Theory", which is more in line with the original meaning of Zhuangzi.
Then the word "Jinning" implies the dialectical thought of complementarity and unity of opposites in the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, which can at least be mentioned. According to the text content of Ying Ning, the viewpoint that Pu Songling created an image that is homophonic with' Jinning' was originally intended to enhance the spiritual realm of' Jinning' (Ma Ruifang's Ghost and Fox World: Solitary Appreciation, Zhonghua Book Company, 2002) should be challenged and questioned. Because the image of Ying Ning in Pu Songling's works does not reflect "Tao has no movement", but "Movement becomes Tao".
Corresponding to the dialectical connotation of the word "Jinning", the theme of Ying Ning is rich but not single. Ying Ning described by Pu Songling seems bright, free and easy, brilliant and naive, but in fact, her life experience is bitter and sad. The former is a disguised baby in the superficial narrative of the novel, while the latter is a more real baby under hidden clues. By revealing and hiding the * * framework of two clues, the image of Ying Ning with rich levels and full personality was created. All kinds of shrewdness, self-recommendation, excessive laughter, concealment, punishment and so on that she passed on to the world from quotations. Can point to the flaws of women's moral norms, which is a breakthrough and challenge to women's moral norms in a patriarchal society. However, the author is absolutely positive about Ying Ning. While praising women's scheming and keeping a low profile, we sincerely praise their beauty in controlling their own destiny. This theme tendency is reflected in the novel's ending "October in Yi Shi":
Look at him laughing assiduously, as if heartless; And the prank under the wall is nothing. I feel so sad for Guimu that I can't laugh or cry. I was stupid in Ying Ning. Stealing grass in the mountains is called "laughing." Smell it and laugh at the deep valley. If you plant this in your room, you will be immersed in love, forget your troubles and have no color. If you explain this language, you doubt it.
The first half of the above is ignorance of Ying Ning, which has been explained in the previous part, so I don't need to say anything here. In the second half, we need to further clarify the comparison between Ying Ning and "Laughter" grass and Jieyu flower. First of all, laughter is actually a fungus. In Qing Louis, Gu Tao in the Song Dynasty recorded: "There is a kind of mushroom that makes people laugh badly when they eat it, and scholars call it laughter." There are two points to note here: first, dry laughter is not only a phenomenon of food poisoning, and second, its name comes from a joke of a scholar-the reason why it is called "laughter" rather than anything else, from the perspective of "literati", is related to the song crying and resentment in Li Bai's "Laugh, laugh, you can't see a hook, and the ancients know it as a vassal". In Pu Songling's works, there are three changes in "laughter": first, it has changed from fungus to grass; Second, it has entered the human body through breathing; Third, it is harmless and beneficial. Is this a rewrite of the author's letter? I'm afraid not. Pu Songling transformed "I" into a kind of enjoyable grass, which not only reflected the weakening of its "harm" but also the strengthening of its "benefit", which may imply that "I" in Li Bai's works once represented a kind of fierce cynicism. For example, Ji Kang's health theory says: "Love is bitter, and the day lily forgets the worries", so Love is bitter and Forget the worries is peaceful, so Pu Songling can't stand it, so he even praises Laughing Grass Collection. The classic "Releasing Flowers" is contained in Wang Renyu's "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao": "In the autumn and August of next year, Taiyechi will count Bai Lianhua in Chiba, and the emperor will have a banquet. Both sides are envious. For a long time, the emperor pointed to the imperial concubine and said,' Fight like me?' "Li Longji, Yang Yuhuan. However, in the article, Pu's opinion is negative, and he thinks that it is not advisable to be artificial and ungrateful to Bertie like that.
The author uses the antithesis of "laughing" and "explaining words" to remind readers that this unusual text contains profound meaning. "Deep meaning" is conveyed through the cultural layer of allusions, and then becomes a hidden expression. They are one-sided and one-sided, which reflects the author's attitude towards Ying Ning: they not only affirm her stubbornness and resistance, but also praise her sincere love with the prince's husband and the beauty of frank meeting at last. In Pu Songling's works, women's scheming and hiding are not only not terrible, but also cute. But at the same time, the author seems to have hidden concerns. After all, this view of women is too rebellious to be publicized in a big way. It is more appropriate to outline the profound and complicated side of Ying Ning's character with bent pens and hidden clues. From this perspective, the author is also helpless. But this helplessness forced him to try to update the novel structure and characterization and create a brand-new classic.
As a classic Ying Ning, its artistic charm is not only manifested in the great possibility of excavating its connotation, but also in its far-reaching influence on later literature. In the novel A Dream of Red Mansions, it is not difficult to see Cao Xueqin's inheritance in characterization. For example, Wang Xifeng's Smile is equally impressive. It is only in the sixth novel that Granny Liu enters the mansion, and her eight smiles are thought-provoking and meaningful every time. Another example is the way she punished the coveted Gary and the way Ying Ning treated her western neighbors. They are cruel and heartless. A Dream of Red Mansions also makes good use of the alternation of implicit and explicit in structure. For example, the carvings of the Zhen Shi family in the south of the Yangtze River are basically obscure, and only sketched in the second, sixteenth, fifty-sixth, seventy-first and seventy-fifth places of the novel, suggesting that the fate of Jia's family is irreversible with its rise and fall. Because of its long span and many clues, A Dream of Red Mansions is more obvious than Ying Ning in dealing with hidden lines, but its writing method is quite similar.
(Author: College of Literature, Yangzhou University)