The 48th chapter "Xiang Ling learns poetry" and the 52nd chapter "Qingwen mends her fur" are two rare passages in "A Dream of Red Mansions" that are full of pure and pure emotion. Now that "Xiang Ling's Poetry" has been used as a senior high school text, it is even more valuable for us to ponder.
Cao Xueqin’s close friend Zhi Yanzhai once analyzed the plot of “Xiang Ling’s poetry learning”: “Thinking carefully about Xiang Ling’s character, Ying (chun) is not allowed to explore (chun) at all, and her appearance is Don't let Feng (Wang Xifeng) and Qin (Keqing), be elegant and don't let (Li) Wan (Bao) Chai, don't let (Hunan) Yundai (Jade) be romantic, don't let the virtuous (Ren) Ping (er). Unfortunately, he suffered a misfortune when he was young and had a bad fate. He had been studying in the side room and could not live in Haitang's society with Lin Xiang. Therefore, he wanted to enter the garden, but he couldn't. After a while, we have to plan again and again. If we want to enter the garden, we must stay for a long time." This comment provides an incisive reminder for us to understand the text from a macro perspective.
Xiangling's original name was Zhen Yinglian. She was born in a scholarly family. She was abducted by a kidnapper when she was 5 years old. When she studied poetry, she was about the same age as current high school sophomores and seniors. She studied poetry under Daiyu. Daiyu was 15 years old at the time, the same age as a current junior high school student. Judging from her age, Xiangling can be said to be "not ashamed to ask questions".
Based on Zhi Yanzhai’s comments above, let’s first take a look at Cao Xueqin’s ingenuity in planning and layout.
Before "Xiang Ling Studying Poetry", the daughters of Daguanyuan had formed the Haitang Poetry Society and successfully carried out several poetry creation activities. The poetic atmosphere in the novel is very strong. Secondly, the overbearing and stupid Xue Pan, who had many evil thoughts and lustful thoughts, and was keen on "homosexuality" in modern terms, was severely beaten by the more upright gentleman Liu Xianglian. He was ashamed to see others, so he decided to go with the Xue family pawnshop. Zhang Dehui, the general manager, went out to do business. After Xue Pan left, Xiangling was the only one in the room, so she moved into Hengwu Garden in Grand View Garden and lived with her sister-in-law Xue Baochai. This made it convenient for her to study poetry with Daiyu in Xiaoxiang Hall. This is the actual situation that Zhi Yanzhai said, "If you want to enter the garden, you must stay away after traveling far away."
Why does Xiang Ling want to learn poetry? Why does Cao Xueqin describe Xiang Ling's poetry with great relish? How does Xiangling learn poetry? What are the lessons learned? Questions such as these are intriguing.
1. Why does Xiangling want to learn poetry?
On the surface, it is because Xiangling is unwilling to be lonely. But from Xiangling's subconscious mind, she wants to return her true identity as a scholarly daughter. This subconsciousness is consistent with her essential needs: she wants to live the spiritual life of the upper class, that is, the aristocratic class. After being satisfied with material things, it is natural for her to pursue physical and mental happiness. Once she learned how to write poems, she could legitimately participate in the activities of the Haitang Poetry Society and become equal to the sisters Baochai, Daiyu and Sanchun. This also corresponds to the relevant comments made by Zhi Yanzhai above.
2. Why does the novel describe Xiang Ling’s poetry learning with great interest?
First of all, it is to perfect Xiangling’s ideological and character. Xiangling was born into a "village eunuch" family and was naturally beautiful. After being abducted, she was deprived of the right to education. In feudal society that lasted for thousands of years, literature belonged to the ruling class. Poetry is the crown jewel of literature, and only those who love poetry can join the elite. There is an ancient saying in our country that "if you don't learn poetry, you won't be able to express it". Poetry is an important tool and means to make people gentle and elegant. Learning poetry itself is a process that makes people humane. Therefore, Xiangling, who has a beautiful heart and beautiful mouth, orchid quality and intelligent nature, should not be unable to write poetry. Even if she did not know how to write poetry before, she had to learn to write poetry. Poetry makes people more true, kinder and more beautiful. With Xiangling's character and Cao Xueqin's sympathetic attitude towards her, we cannot let her not be able to write poetry.
Secondly, the character image of Daiyu is enriched. Daiyu was sentimental and was born a poet. Judging from the many poems Cao Xueqin drafted for her, she was indeed a first-class poet in the Grand View Garden. However, in Lin Daiyu's interactions with Baoyu, Baochai, etc., she gave people the impression of being suspicious and crying. The novel should show her considerate, caring, sympathetic, and helpful side. So as soon as Xiangling moved into Baochai's house, she proposed to learn poetry from Baochai. Baochai, who believed that "it is a virtue for a woman not to have talent" and "it is not a woman's duty to study poetry", did not agree very much. Xiangling had no choice but to seek advice from Daiyu. Besides, at this time, Baoyu "spoke from the bottom of his heart" had happened. Daiyu no longer doubted Baoyu's love, and her mood was relatively stable, so she had the interest and patience to tell Xiangling her experience in writing poems.
The author uses the plot of Daiyu teaching Xiangling to learn poetry, allowing readers to truly feel that Daiyu, in addition to being aloof and self-proclaimed, also has a warm, cheerful and tireless teaching side.
From the above two points, we can also see Cao Xueqin’s aesthetic concept: literature, especially poetry, is the patent of the best among the best. Although Xiangling is Xue Pan's concubine, she originally had a noble bloodline, and in Zhi Yanzhai's words, she had a "foundation." In the novel, no matter how cute the characters are, such as Baoyu's maid Qingwen, Jia Mu's maid Yuanyang, Jia Lian's first-in-law Ping'er, they cannot and dare not learn poetry. "The agencies are too clever in their calculations." Wang Xifeng, who is cunning and duplicitous, has also been born with no connection with poetry.
3. How does Xiangling learn poetry?
The first step is to like it. Before moving into Grand View Garden, I secretly watched two songs when I had time.
The second step is to find a teacher. Read carefully the masterpieces of famous writers. Wang Wei, Du Fu and Li Taibai were familiar with three hundred Tang poems.
The third step is to combine reading and writing. Under the guidance of the teacher, I have the courage to write and am not afraid of failure. "I will never regret it as my clothes get wider and wider, and I will feel haggard because of the beauty." Hard work pays off, and I firmly believe that the dream pen can produce flowers.
4. What experiences and lessons did Xiangling learn from poetry?
Let’s take a look at Xiangling’s first song, “Seven Rhymes of the Moon,” written at the request of teacher Lin Daiyu:
The moon is high in the sky, the night is cold, and the clear light is bright with shadows.
Poets add to the fun and often want to play, while strangers add sorrow and cannot bear to watch.
A jade mirror hangs beside the jade building, and an ice tray hangs outside the pearl curtain.
What’s the use of burning silver candles on a good night, when the sun shines brightly on the screen.
Daiyu’s evaluation of this poem was: “The meaning is there, but the wording is inelegant.” In order to protect the students’ enthusiasm, Teacher Lin limited her criticism. These eight lines of poetry are actually written in a naive way, with narrow ideas, and they only rely on piling up words to complete the poem. Except for the slightly changed angle of the couplet "The poet adds to the fun and often thinks about playing, and the stranger adds to the sorrow and cannot bear to watch", the other three couplets talk about that month. The writing style is rigid, the content is thin, lack of thoughts and feelings, and there is no "idea" at all. ". The greatest function of poetry is "lyrical". Poetry, like other literary and artistic works, must first pay attention to its conception. These eight lines of poetry have no "intention". Instead, they seem to have been written by a crying student who was beaten. How could this be successful? The key to the success of poetry about things is good intention. Like Yu Qian's "Song of Lime": "Thousands of hammers have carved out the deep mountains, and the fire is just easy to burn. Don't be afraid of being shattered into pieces, you must leave innocence in the world." The intention is lofty, embodying such strong thoughts and feelings, and expressing such a steadfast and upright personality !
Let’s take a look at the second poem written by Xiangling after listening to Daiyu’s advice:
Not silver nor water reflects the cold window, try to see the clear sky protecting the jade plate.
The faint fragrance of plum blossoms is about to be dyed, and the silky willow ribbons are just drying.
I only suspect that the remaining powder is coated with gold, as if light frost has been applied to the jade railing.
When I woke up from the dream, no one was in the west building, but the remaining figures could still be seen through the curtain.
This poem about chanting the moon, which Xiangling thought was "wonderful", although it has made progress, is still not satisfactory. Baochai pointed out that it was a bit "off topic" and only wrote "Moonlight" from beginning to end. "Off topic" is indeed a trouble that writers often encounter. In fact, apart from straying from the topic, the fundamental problem is still the lack of "concept". Without "intention", there is no way to talk about true feelings. Xiangling blindly carves out words and sentences, only paying attention to objects such as "Ying Chuang Han", "Jade Protector", "Plum Blossoms", "Willow Belt", "Remnant Powder", "Light Frost", "West Tower", etc., overemphasis on "skills", and violates the law. Daiyu's teachings of "Don't harm the meaning with words" and "Words are the last thing after all, the first intention is important" only describe a few dry objects, without pouring emotion into these objects to turn them into "images". Of course, it is impossible to succeed if you sacrifice the basics to seek the last.
"Xiang Ling studied poetry with great determination, and gathered all his energy and blood." He was not discouraged by defeat. After two setbacks, he finally wrote a successful third poem:
The essence is hidden. The material should be difficult, the shadows are beautiful and the soul is cold.
An anvil strikes a thousand miles of white, and half a chicken sings the fifth watch.
Listen to the flute in the autumn on the green coir river, and lean on the railing in the red-sleeved building at night.
Winning Chang'e should ask, why not reunite forever!
This song, Daiyu and everyone said it was "new and interesting". The reason for the success of this song is that it first changed the problem of "no intention" in the first two songs, so it poured true feelings into the chanting of the moon. The whole poem makes good use of the technique of borrowing objects to express feelings. Through chanting about the moon, it expresses one's unwillingness to be lonely and wants to make a difference. Poetry lies in its conception.
With a sophisticated conception and artistic skills, are you still worried about not being able to write a good poem? Xiangling's successful song provides a good experience. The first couplet "The essence wants to cover up the material and cope with the difficulties, the shadow is from Juanjuan and the soul is cold", which expresses Xiangling's own life experience. Her origin is the condensation of the essence of the world. After being abducted and trafficked, he went through many hardships and finally "surrendered" to a prosperous and wealthy family. This was a "lucky thing" among the great misfortunes. At the same time, it also implicitly points out that one's talent can never be buried, and one's self-confidence in being able to write good poems after all. "The shadow is from Juanjuan, the soul is from cold", which implies that it fell into the hands of Xue Pan, the stupid overlord, which is another misfortune in "a good fortune". The couplet on the chin reads, "An anvil strikes a thousand miles of white, and a half-rooster sings the fifth watch." It goes from top to bottom. On the surface, it describes the desolation of the moonlight, but in fact it describes the "bleakness" of one's own situation, expressing a faint resentment. "Anvil knocking" is a common artistic conception in ancient poetry describing the missing woman pounding her clothes under the moonlight, which hints at Xiangling's longing for her husband. "The chicken sings at the fifth hour of the night" is also a common description of missing the husband who is traveling far away. This couplet is very apt. The neck couplet "Listens to the flute in autumn on the green coir river, and leans on the railing in the red-sleeved building at night", "Green coir" represents the man outside, "listens to the flute in autumn on the green coir river", who can't afford the love of hometown! The "red sleeves" that are symmetrical to the "green coop" can be regarded as Xiangling's own reference. "Leaning on the railing at night" expresses concern and longing for her husband who is away from home. This couplet contains profound and broad ideological content, and the realm of poetry is very broad. The last couplet "Won Chang'e to ask, why don't we reunite forever", cleverly uses the allusion of "Lonely Chang'e", combined with her own widowed life after her husband went into business, and wrote a heartfelt sigh. Although her husband is a fool, as a weak woman, she cannot escape the fate of "if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, if you marry a dog, follow the dog." Xiangling regards Xue Pan as her lifelong support, and she still loves her husband very much. The whole poem is written about the moon on the surface, but in fact it deeply embodies the poet's life experience and emotions. The moon and man are integrated, and things and emotions blend together, making it a masterpiece of poetry about things.
This wonderful passage excerpted from the novel is essentially a story-telling of the author Cao Xueqin’s poetry creation theory and experience. It is expressively expressed through Lin Daiyu’s teaching of Xiangling and Xiangling’s step-by-step poetry learning process. It's melodious and fascinating. Reading the text carefully will not only enable us to "recite poems even if we don't know how to recite them", but it will also teach us a lot about learning Chinese well. For example, the scope of life is equal to the scope of Chinese learning. To be a dedicated person in learning Chinese, you must increase your interest in learning, worship capable people as teachers, study diligently and ask questions, be open-minded to ask for advice, be brave in practice, not afraid of failure, etc.