Chapter 54: The Mystery of Yuan Chun's Judgment
The Dream of Red Mansions was originally known as the Stone Record, and the ancient books recorded that this book also had the name of Fengyue Baojian, Jinling Twelve Hairpins and so on.
I think it's an epic work of Chinese historical literature. Since its actual publication, countless scholars have searched for and verified this book, so there has been a famous school of red research from ancient times to the present.
And it is absolutely well-deserved to rank first among the four classical Chinese classics. In the first fifty-three chapters of this book, I have more or less commented on the other three of the four famous novels except Dream of the Red Chamber, and until today's chapter I have been thinking about the mystery of Yuan Chun's judgment for a long time, because I love to read Dream of Red Mansions very much, and I have only commented on it out of respect for this book.
Today, I will discuss with you my judgment on Yuan Chun and my way of understanding. Friends who have read Dream of Red Mansions must be no stranger to Jia Yuanchun, we know that Dream of Red Mansions is one of the few novels in all famous books with women as the protagonists, and Jia Yuanchun is the third important character in the main book of the Twelve Hairpins of Jinling.
His verdict is as follows: For 20 years, he has distinguished right from wrong, and the pomegranate blossoms have bloomed in the palace. Three springs compete for the early spring scene, and the tigers meet each other and return to the big dream.
The verdict of the Red Chamber is also a unique feature of this book, which roughly explains the main achievements of this person, as well as the final ending.
From the first sentence, 20 years to distinguish between right and wrong, this first sentence from many modern versions of the interpretation is to say that Yuan Chun has lived in the palace for more than 20 years, and has a new understanding of the honor and disgrace of the world.
I have always believed that Dream of Red Mansions is a realistic novel, and every sentence and background in it is the prototype of something.
In the study of the official history and the archetypal of the state, I think that the Dream of Red Mansions is definitely based on the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties of the Qing Dynasty.
And the book also mentioned that Baochai was to be selected, and the draft girl was a system that only began to appear during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty.
The age of the draft girl is usually around thirteen to sixteen years old, I assume that Jia Yuanchun entered the palace at the age of thirteen, stayed in the palace for nearly twenty years, and was not favored by the emperor until she was in her thirties, and was directly promoted from a female historian to Fengzao Palace Shangshu and a virtuous concubine.
Please note: in ancient China, thirty years old can be said to be half of life. Is it possible that the emperor suddenly fell in love with a half-aged?
So my explanation is that the twenty years of distinguishing right from wrong in the past twenty years refers to the beginning of Yuanchun's sensible time, and it is absolutely impossible to stay in the palace for twenty years.
And he was named a concubine when he was in his twenties, which has a certificate, so I won't go into details first. And the second sentence of the pomegranate blossom is according to the palace, the popular interpretation is that the pomegranate has many children, which also represents many children, and Yuanchun has no children or miscarriage, which is one of her tragedies.
But ignoring the focus of this sentence is the pomegranate flower, also known as the building corresponds to the Yuanchun concubine is the icing on the cake for the Jiafu in the prosperous era, and the concubine is worse for the Jiafu in the last days, the reason is that the Jiafu has no strong economy to compete with.
Red scholar Liu Xinwu explained: Yuan Chun was pregnant with the emperor's flesh and blood, and there may be some reason why the child was not born.
But in the end, my explanation is that Yuan Chun went from the female history to the Shangshu of Fengzao Palace, and finally to the virtuous concubine, and was glorious for a while, as fiery as a pomegranate flower when it was in full bloom, and that's it.
The third sentence: The three spring battles and the early spring scene, many interpretations refer to the three sisters of the Jia family's four springs, Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun.
Fighting: How to compare. This sentence is to imply that although the other three sisters have their own characteristics, they are generally inferior to Yuan Chun.
It can also be said that this sentence means that welcoming spring, exploring spring, and cherishing spring are not as rich as the glory and wealth of Yuanchun. However, I think this three springs refer to three years, which also means that the last prosperity of Jiafu to the complete defeat of a total of four years, the early spring can also be counted from the Yuanchun Province, and the three springs compete for the early spring, which means that the last three years are not as good as the first year of the family's pomp.
But the fact is also the same, the last forty chapters of the novel are Gao E's continuation of the book, and the previous eighty chapters have also been heavily revised, and the scene of the early spring scene at the end also confirms the final defeat of the Jia family.
The last sentence: The tiger and the rabbit meet in a big dream, and it is also said that it is: the tiger and the rabbit meet in a big dream. Take me to be more pertinent to the tiger, and the popular explanation is that December of Yuan Chun's death is not only the end of the Year of the Tiger, but also the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, so the tiger and the rabbit meet, and the rabbit is eaten by the tiger, which is the inevitable outcome of Yuan Chun's entry into the palace as a concubine.
But my final research is probably the same as that of many red researchers, and from his song: Dang You's Soul Consumed, it is enough to prove that he was forced to die, and he did not attribute Yuan Chun's death to illness as Gao E's continuation of the book.
Dream of Red Mansions is a realistic self-prosecution novel, all the text is closely followed, maybe my above explanation is more vague, but my description of Yuan Chun's death in the joint Qing history manuscript of the author Cao Xueqin's family, I can infer that Dream of Red Mansions is to write the history of the Cao family from prosperity to decline.
Due to the problem of time, I can only briefly describe the mystery of Yuan Chun's judgment, but I will continue to describe and comment on my views on the Red Chamber when I have the opportunity to talk about it later.