In the field of ancient novel research, they have always mentioned " Romance of the Three Kingdoms ", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", " Scholars ", and " Dream of the Red Chamber ", believing that they represent the achievements of the creation of novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
For well-known reasons, people have always been secretive about the "great realistic novel" of "Jin Ping Mei".
After the 1980s, the academic restricted area was broken, and the research on "Jin Ping Mei" had an unprecedented prosperity. It enjoys a status that is no less than the above five classics in the history of Chinese literature, which has become a consensus in the academic community.
I think this not only depends on its artistic role as a bridge to the maturity of novel art, but also on its great development in the field of Chinese novel subject matter.
If we base ourselves on descriptive subjects to evaluate the status of these famous works, we can say that "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is the leading figure in the field of historical novels, "Water Margin" is a typical representative of heroic legends, "Journey to the West" marks the pinnacle of , "Scholars" is a strange flower in scholarly literature, "Dream of Red Mansions" is a photo of the life of aristocrats in the end of the world, then "Jin Ping Mei" is an immortal monument to the literature of citizens.
One of the important reasons why it enjoys an irreplaceable position in the history of Chinese literature is its "secular" character, that is, its specific, delicate, comprehensive and profound description of secular society.
In this sense, it is not only unprecedented in the history of ancient Chinese literature, but also has no future. This article will explore its important position in the history of Chinese novels around the "secular" character of "Jin Ping Mei".
"Jin Ping Mei Ci Talk"
(I) The main theme of warning the world
In essence, the task of literature is to reflect life and express the true meaning of life. However, under the long-term suppression of Confucian culture, the journey of Chinese literature has deviated to some extent from the essential characteristics of literature.
Because Confucian orthodox thought always dominates Chinese culture, the vast majority of Chinese literati have strong obligation-oriented qualities.
Maintaining the long-term stability of the feudal regime is not only the irresponsible responsibility of civil officials and military officials, but it is also often externalized as a conscious pursuit of Chinese feudal literati who are "in the world".
is reflected in the field of creation, which is manifested in the first requirement that the works promote the "kingdom" and political and educational ethics, which will help the stability of patriarchal politics.
The creative principle of "literature carries the way" has always dominated the long development process of Chinese classical literature.
The pursuit of adapting to emotions and "not Tang and Wu but thin Zhou Kong", works that truly fully express human feelings and human nature without political utilitarianism are often either rejected, banned, or neglected or criticized. This has become a proof of the history of the development of Chinese literature.
"Jin Ping Mei Cihua" produced in the middle of the Ming Dynasty has been working hard to get rid of this rigid pattern.
Its creative intention is no longer from the ethical consciousness that promotes the orthodox concept of Confucian in works such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", nor is it based on the resonance and inspiration of secular life.
Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng no longer had the previous writers' enthusiasm for feudal patriarchal moral concepts such as "the king, the minister, the minister, the father, the son, the son", loyalty, filial piety, integrity, justice, etc. He faced a living urban society and secular life, and issued a punishment for the "four greeds" of wine, sex, wealth, and energy in response to the life reality of all living beings.
The purpose of the novel is to warn the world, expose the "four greeds" diseases, and let secular society see the pain and harm caused to life by alcohol, lust, money, and showing off.
Although there are still some slight reservations of Confucian utilitarian concepts, it has broken away from the traditional stereotype of political utilitarianism in the past, and is manifested as a realistic thinking about secular society.
In order to make people understand the main theme of their creation, Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng specially wrote "Four Seasons Ci" and "Four Greeds Ci" before the main text of "Jin Ping Mei Ci", expressing his advice on the "Four Greeds" of wine, sex, wealth and energy in the secular society.
The former promotes the leisurely idea of being free from honor, being carefree, being at odds, being at odds, and not fighting with the world. The "Four Corruption Words" says:
wine
wine treacherously and ruining the home, and the language is uncharacteristic and noisy. You are mostly your relatives, your friends and relatives, and your kindness is also your fault. You must be careful and drink the flowing clouds. If you can follow this, there is no difference. If you lose everything, you will only wait for tea when you meet guests in the future.
color
don't love green temples and beautiful red faces, and less greedy for red pink and green flowers. It hurts your body and life, and it is even more beautiful. Don’t like this, nourish the dantian, so that people can live for a long time without desire. From now on, I am idle in the wind and moon, and the plum blossoms sleep alone in the paper tent.
wealth
money, silk, gold beads, if not fair, less greedy. The morality of relatives and friends is lost due to wealth, and the relationship between father and son is lost for profit. Retreat your hands quickly and tap your head to avoid worrying your body, mind, day and night. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so don’t worry about them far away.
qi
Don’t let strong beams show off your skills, swing your fists and sleeves to make your spirits. When you are angry and have a ignorant point, you will be worried and cause trouble to the body. Don’t go too far, avoid disasters and advise you to relax your feelings in everything. When you let go, you must let go. If you want to forgive others, please forgive others.
In fact, the establishment of this creative theme is by no means a product of the author's imagination, but a result from the social reality of the Ming Dynasty.
From the perspective of the highest ruling group of the Ming Dynasty, since Yingzong , it gradually lost the tradition of the emperors in the early Ming Dynasty working hard to govern and rest with the people, and became deserted in political affairs and indulging in lust. It reached its peak in Wuzong and Shizong .
They are addicted to wine and sex, and are licentious and worship Buddha and Taoism. The result of this upward and downward effect has led to a sharp degeneration of the entire social atmosphere, and the trend of deception, toughness, pleasure and luxury is prosperous.
At that time, secular society was "commonly accustomed to being arrogant and stingy, and worshiping each other as open-minded, and taking the banquet as open-minded, and taking the precious taste as a tribute as a tribute.
Its flowed to the market and sold servants, and there were many tasseled hats and shoes, gauze skirts and fine treasures, wine and tea shops, and the sound of new tunes were gushing, and it was not refreshing. Even the sweet voices filled the countryside songs, and the alias were extended to beggars, and the beginning was at this point. However, those who were more concerned about the foundation were dissipated day by day, those who were rushing to the end were prosperous day by day, and those who were rushing to eat did not work. slogans became popular, and those who were happy and unrestrained were less savings, and those who were in the camp were forgotten"[1].
"Officials are noble and wealthy, competing for extravagance and skill, changing fashion, and spreading simplicity."[2]
Huangren also said: "In the Ming Dynasty, there was no division of vassal states, and the annual loss of gold and silk, so material resources were slightly relieved in the Tang and Song dynasties, and extravagance was arisen. The palace advocated it, and the upper and lower levels were effective. A family of a middle-aged man of one's life must have the honor of gardens and music, and the gentry is no matter what. A local tyrant, a wandering scholar, or even a clerk, and a servant, also use gold and silver, and the family is swaying silk and silk."[3]
pursues the pleasure of the present world and the satisfaction of the functional world, which has become a social fashion and the supreme living standard in secular society. The specific manifestation of this fashion is that it is greedy for money, lust, and alcohol.
is reflected in the literary field and is directly produced in the common songs and songs of urban society. The chanting of wine, sex, wealth and energy was popular for a while (for example, there are more than 20 branches in "Four Seasons and Five Updates to the Clouds"); the story of "Four Greeds" that causes disasters and failures are also used as its own object of expression.
"Jin Ping Mei Cihua" is nurtured in such a timely condition and atmosphere.Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng used a novel to warn the "four greeds" in secular society, which was free and reasonable.
It concentrates on revealing the harm brought to life by the proliferation of the "Four Greeds", which leads to the depravity of human nature, the depravity of the world, the depravity of morality, the consumption and destruction of life, and the rapid decline of the entire society.
Let's look at the author's discussion:
It turns out that this woman's beauty will lead to failure whenever she succeeds. The ancients have a few mottos that say it well:
"Flower face, jade body demon king, silk makeup is a jackal. The tent of the law field, prison fangs, willow eyebrows, star eye sword, crimson spear. Beautiful mouth, fragrant tongue, snake scorpion heart, all others suffer. The dust enters the water, and the snow throws the soup. Qin Chu is strong, Wu Yue is brave, and he died for him. If he had known that color is a sword to hurt people, everyone will not beware of killing all the world."
8 beautiful body is like crispy, and the sword is on the waist to kill fools. Although no one's head falls, I secretly teach you that your bone marrow is dry. (Chapter 79)
st jade piles of gold to make you feel sad, but who knows that treasures cause trouble. A piece of love is like a cream and blood, and a righteous person is laughing and stunned. Everyone is strangers to each other, and the heart is so sad that you are dead. He also had an unpredictable day and was empty-handed to the night platform. (Chapter 56)
is a person who accumulates good deeds, not more wealth. Accumulate good deeds and become good people, and accumulate wealth and cause trouble. Shi ChongIt is unavoidable to kill you. Deng Tong was starved to death, what's the use of money mountain! Today is not a common person, I don’t understand it. It is good to accumulate wealth every day, but it is better to laugh at it and be stupid. How many rich people have no coffin when they are over! (Chapter 79)
Rich and prosperous, and the fame and deeds are in the eyes. (Chapter 91)
Every time the disaster is forced, the troubles are caused by unbearableness. (Chapter 35)
Do good deeds and blessings in your life. If you are strong, you will definitely suffer. The tongue will not be damaged if it is soft, and the teeth will be damaged due to hardness. (Chapter 87)
From these direct comments, readers can fully understand the author's good intentions in warning the world.
Not only that, the overall framework of "Jin Ping Mei Cihua" also clearly reflects the warning theme of Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng.
He used the cause and effect reincarnation of the Buddhist family, which was deeply favored by the rulers in the Ming Dynasty and favored by ordinary people, to describe the joys, anger, sorrow, and happiness of all living beings in the framework of religion. He used the experiences of the characters before and after their deaths in the novel, to remind the world of keeping their precepts and fears.
The first seventy chapters of the novel perfunctory story of the Ximen family's lively history, and detailed the process of his rise from a rogue, and his outbreak history is also the history of greed for money, lust, drinking and showing off.
However, the good times did not last long, and the joy and sorrow came, and I was finally buried in my desire. As soon as he fell, everyone betrayed his relatives and his family fell sharply. Let the world take the fruits of "Four Greeds" as a warning, which is the intention of the rise and fall changes written by the author from the extreme prosperity to the extreme decline.
As for the characters in the book, it is not necessary to say that Ximen Qing is a typical example of the "four greeds". Others such as Pan Jinlian , Li Jiaoer, Li Pinger, Chen Jin, Pang Chunmei, etc. also reflect their greed for wine, sex, wealth and energy to varying degrees.
, published at the beginning of the volume of "Jin Ping Mei Cihua", "Preface to the Jin Ping Mei Cihua", "Postscript to the Jin Ping Mei Cihua", and "Preface to the Jin Ping Mei" by Nong Zhuke, have been valued by researchers throughout history.
Among them, Xin Xinzi clearly pointed out that "Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng wrote the "Biography of Jin Ping Mei" and expressed his meaning in the customs of the times, which is probably because of the meaning."
gong also saw the novel's intention to warn the world, believing that it "has a little thorny" and "this book will be popular in the future, and its merits will be immeasurable." Nong Zhuke said that the novel "The author also has his own intentions, which is probably a precept for the world, not an advice for the world." He believed that reading "Jin Ping Mei" and "a gentleman is a fearful person."
Although their evaluations have their own emphasis, they all believe that the intention of the novel is to correct the customs of the times and provide reference for the secular world.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhupo commented on "Jin Ping Mei", he repeatedly stated that this book "only sins of wealth and sex" ("Zhupo Gossip"), "When he said it in a small way, the literati knows to warn him, and when he said it, the common people know to fear" ("The First Strange Book of No Elude"), and believed that the author was performing a life tragedy of greed for money, lust, drinking and showing off his anger, achieving the purpose of admonition and warning of the world.
Manchu text "Preface to Jin Ping Mei" points out that "Jin Ping Mei" "refers to hundreds of precepts in all the hundreds of chapters", and the author "compils bad habits into the precepts for all ages", "sets the intention as a warning", so that "those who view this book will regard these hundreds of chapters as a hundred precepts, Kui Ran is reluctant, thinks calmly, knows that if you are afraid of such a person, you will be afraid of such a person. This can be said to be worthy of the meaning of this book."
In modern times, people have also seen the advice and punishment of novels. Ru Mengsheng believed in "The Legend of Novels" that "written the snobbishness of 'money' is enough to make readers sad; writing about the benefits and disadvantages of 'sex' is enough to make readers feel refreshed; writing about seeing through money and sex is extremely painful, which is really the author's heart." "Jin Ping Mei is a book that punishes the world and criticizes the evil and vulgarities."
These views are in line with the author's original intention of creation and the actual work.
xin subsequence
(II) Including secular tendencies
came to investigate the entire Zhuming Dynasty. From the early Ming Dynasty to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it experienced a historical transformation from stability to turbidity, from clean to turbidity, from weak to prosperity, from imprisonment to active, and from pure to extravagant customs.
The hypocrisy of feudal discipline, which was strongly advocated by the Zhu family emperors in the early Ming Dynasty and its extreme alienation of life individuals, have been recognized by the vast number of people in secular society in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
The kind of preaching that ignores the existence of people and forces individuals to absolutely obey unreasonable group norms is rejected and challenged by secular society.
People no longer believe in and worship the majesty of feudal principles and conquer all things, but instead base themselves on themselves and put themselves in their own position.
Although this awakening of individual consciousness has its narrow negatives, it undoubtedly has the objective significance of calling for human nature in the dull atmosphere of "preserving principles and excluding desires".
First of all, thinkers slapped the table. They issued a deafening cry for the rational norms that have been strengthened by the ruled and severely stifled the secular sensibility. In theory, they have restored the secular world with their true and original appearance, trying to free the secular human nature from the shackles of Neo-Confucianism and politics and religion, put the rights that people should have in a crucial position, and affirmed the existence of human beings alienated by Neo-Confucianism as inherent in social individuals.
is regarded as the most heretics Li Zhi pointed out incisively that the subject of personality imprisonment of Neo-Confucianism: "People today are all covered by others, but at first they did not know that there was a matter of sheltering people. When they stay at home, they were covered by their parents, when they were officials, when they were officials, when they were in court, when they were prime ministers, when they were border commanders, when they were central officials, when they were sages, when they were Confucius and Mencius, when they were articles, they were bans and horses, and when they were all self-reflective. They all thought they were men, but in fact they were all children but did not know them." [4]
He pushed down the ethical weight imposed by Confucian philosophers of all generations on the secular life, regarded secular common feelings as the sacred way of heaven, and regarded the natural nature of food, men and women as the first priority: "Dressing and eating is human ethics and physics; except for dressing and eating, there are no ethics. All kinds of things in the world are all kinds of clothes and food, so clothes and food are raised, and all kinds of things in the world are naturally in it. In addition to clothes and food, there are so-called all kinds of things that are completely different from the people." [5]
and openly openly openly for human selfish desires: "Private hearts are the hearts of people. People must have selfishness, and then their hearts will be seen. If they are selfless, they will have no hearts.”[6]
echoes this secular philosophical trend. The entire late Ming literary world formed a creative trend that fully expresses personality, pursues free personality, and returns to the truth of the world.
Xu Wei zaju , Tang Xianzu legend, Feng Menglong , Ling Mengchu's short vernacular novel, Yuan Hongdao prose, etc., all show the rebuttal of human nature to rationality to varying degrees and with different emphasis, while Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng uses his profound and profound majesty to truthfully reproduce the value orientation of secular society and express the rebellion of secular society to the patriarchal tradition.
"Jin Ping Mei" first shows the blasphemy of patriarchal politics in secular society. As a liar in Qinghe, Shandong, Ximen Qing manipulated the feudal institutions with his money and did whatever he wanted.
1 For Li Ping'er to recruit Jiang Zhushan to open a pharmacy shop He ordered the hooligan to fight against Jiang, and used the magic wand of money to instruct the Shandong Execution Office to "reprimand Jiang Zhushan" to "reprimand the thirty boards" and forced him to pay the thirty taels of silver that the hooligan blackmailed (Chapter 18).
was a traitor, and reported the hatred of Lai Wang's slander in the drunken state. He used "one hundred stones of white rice" to buy Xia Tixing and future Wang to hand over Xuzhou ( Chapter 26).
Yang Jian fell from the dynasty. He was named Ximen Qing on the list of the pro-party convicted party. He also used 500 taels of silver to make Ximen Qing, the right prime minister of the dynasty, the Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the Minister of Rites, Li Bangyan, turn into "Jia Qing", a serious matter directly taught by the court The big case finally aborted in front of the money of a businessman.
The dignity of feudal law and supreme imperial power were all mocked by money.
"Jin Ping Mei" describes many feudal officials, such as Cai Yiquan, the new top scholar in the imperial examination and An Chen, the Jinshi , Shaanxi Inspector Song Pan, Chief Huang of the Ministry of Works, and the civil and military officials from all over Shandong were honored to make friends with the "Ximen Officials" and received gifts of gold, silver and wealth from him.
And the other side of this transaction is that these officials opened the door of convenience for Ximen Qing's arbitrary and greedy grab.
For example, in the 49th chapter, Ximen Qing made friends with the two censors Cai and Song, and gave them thousands of taels of silver. Before leaving, he gave them gold and silver utensils. Ximen Qing proposed to ask the Censor Cai to collect Huai salt 30,000 citations early. As a result, the Censor Cai agreed immediately, so that Ximen Qing could collect salt one month earlier than other merchants, and made huge profits in this business.
More importantly, Ximen Qing's increase in value shows Ximen Qing's blasphemy and usurpation of the hierarchy of superiority and inferiority. Therefore, when Wenlong commented at this time during the Guangxu period, he believed that "the two censors of Song and Cai were embarrassed, and Ximen Qing benefited a lot." In the 65th chapter of the novel, it was written that the Censors of Song and others used the Ximen Mansion to make a banquet for the imperial envoy, and the officials in Shandong Province entered and left the Ximen Mansion in Xiaoxiao Qinghe County, where flattered him, which made Ximen Qing worth a hundred times.
Through these descriptions, it can be seen that officials at all levels, as pillars of the feudal building, could no longer hold up their noble heads in front of Ximen Qing, a secular tyrant who holds huge amounts of money. They have lost their traditional majesty in the face of money, and sometimes even act as Ximen Qing's hawks. The deep heritage of these events is the ruthless blasphemy and huge impact of secular society on patriarchal politics.
secular value standards and ideas reflected in "Jin Ping Mei" are also manifested as a rebellion against the patriarchal tradition "order" and feudal ethical concepts.
There was a Ming Dynasty. As the spiritual pillar of the feudal regime and extremely strengthened by feudal rulers, the ethical consciousness, patriarchal morality, and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism , the constraints on secular life reached the pinnacle.
Higher concepts and hierarchical order permeate people's daily lives such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.The so-called "cloths are regulated, palaces are regulated, people are only qualified, and the use of funeral and sacrificial utensils is suitable" [7] was highly promoted by the Zhu family emperors and used as a criterion to restrict people's thoughts and behaviors.
However, the objective changes in the external world and the emergence of new economic factors have caused the closed structure of small peasant economy to some extent, and the subsequent development of secular concepts is very different from traditional secular concepts, but it has vigorous vitality.
The secular society in the middle of the Ming Dynasty seemed to have thrown the hasith of Confucian sages out of the sky. According to the records of "Miscellaneous Notes on Sees and Experiences", "Yunjian Jujuan", "Guest Sessions", and "Wanli Yehuo Bian" that in the secular society at that time, from clothing to food and daily life, from marriage and funerals to seasonal entertainment, all of them were manifested as different situations from traditional ones.
"Jin Ping Mei Cihua" reflects this "uspense" fashion and consciousness.
In the novel, Ximen Qing, a fifth-rank official of the Shandong Institute of Punishment and Punishment, actually covered the green satin colorful flying fish python clothes that only a second-rank or above official is qualified to wear. No wonder Ying Count was "joking" when he saw this.
Ximen Qing's wives and concubines either wore big red jackets or wore big red robes, and big red is the banned clothing for civilian women in the "Ming Dynasty Laws and Regulations" and " Daming Hui Dian ".
The luxury of Ximen Qing's mansion made feudal officials sigh, so that Cai Zhuangyuan, who came from the capital, admired Ximen Qing's garden pavilions and pavilions and luxurious buildings and expressed his feelings of "Sincere is better than Peng Ying".
Ximen Qing also kept a song, had family joy, and the joy of sound and color, showing the characteristics of a secular nouveau riche everywhere. During the Guangxu period, Wenlong said in his comments on the 46th chapter of the novel:
Ximen Qing’s family is in a regular and etiquette, and always brings the atmosphere of a nouveau riche. He usually kneels down and goes out to kowtow; his sisters are called each other, and his uncle, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and brother-in-law, and his wife avoids him; prostitutes can also be daughters, and all mistresses can call him mother; wealthy people are hanging around, and there is no difference between son-in-law and slaves. ...I don't understand what rules and etiquette these are.
In short, these behaviors are objectively a counter-argument against feudal hierarchy and feudal ethics and moral , and are a distinct manifestation of a secular rebellious character that rebelled against the patriarchal tradition.
The world of "Jin Ping Mei" is a world of desire. What it strives to arrange is the pursuit and satisfaction of various desires in secular life.
In addition to describing Ximen Qing's unfilled desires, greedy pursuits and luxurious and corrupt enjoyment, the author also spent a lot of time describing the enjoyable life of everyone around Ximen Qing and their mentality.
Wang Liuer went to Ximen Qing to serve the money, houses, maids, delicious food, and gorgeous clothes. If she got 100 taels of stolen silver in the case of murderer Miao Qing in Ximen Qing, she "did not idle during the day, and had no sleep all night, and was worried about putting her head and hairpin, and called the tailor to cut clothes, and then pulled the silver silk bun again." The slaughter of Ying and others is for money, the dedication of women is for money, and the chanting of scriptures, repentances, and praying of rituals are all for the satisfaction of selfish desires such as money and wealth. In short, the "nature law" that the rulers shouted and advocated has no sense of sacredness in secular society, and it has lost the power to dominate people's hearts.
Of course, this human desire itself is not without the original barbaric and wild components, but it objectively indicates the rebellion and reaction to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism!
"Collection of Books"
(III) Covering the secular scenes
"Jin Ping Mei" is the first novel in the history of Chinese novels that mainly describes secular daily life. In the field of classical literature, its all-encompassing description of various forms of secular society is unprecedented.
First of all, it covers all areas of secular social life and weaves a colorful real picture of secular life.
In this picture, there are Wu Dalang , Xu San, and his wife who sells jujube cakes, Li San, and his wife who sells baidu, Qiao Yunge, who sells fruits, Ding Manzi, Liu Er, and Lu Bingyi, who runs a hotel, Xue Guzi, who sells steamed cakes, Wang Po, who runs teahouses, Ximen Qing, who runs merchants and sits in a business, Bai Si Ge, who runs paper shops, Song Ren, who runs coffin shops, Ge Yuanwai, who runs satin shops, Wang Sifeng, who sells salt, Ding Xianggong, who sells silk, Yang Zongxi, who sells cloth, peddlers who walk around the streets, and Li Sanma, who runs brothels. Chen Erlang in the hotel, Mr. Han in the portrait, tailor Pan and tailor Zhao who are engaged in sewing,
Gu Yinjiang who is a jewelry person, Xiao Zhouer who is a haircut and a caster head, acrobatic teacher Li Gui, rap teacher Li Ming, Zhang Chuaner and Wei Cong'er who are carrying sedan chairs, boatmen Chen San and Weng Ba, thugs Lu Hua and Zhang Sheng, midwife Cai Laoniang and Deng Laoniang, matchmaker Wensao, Xue Sao, Kong Sao, Wang Po , etc., official media Tao Mama, gynecologist and Imperial Hospital judging Zhao Longgang, pediatrician doctor Bao Taidian, medical officer Houxi and Hu who practices medicine The old man, Hu Guizui, Hu Tai Doctor, He’s father and son, Jiang Zhushan, etc., Yuanshe Baibazi, Xiao Zhang Xian, Luo Huizi,
rap artists Wu Hui, Han Bi, Yu Sister, Zheng Jin, Shen Erjie, Zhou Cai, Zheng Chun, Zuo Shun, Wang Xiang, Suzhou actors Zhou Shun, Gou Zixiao, Yuan Yan, Hu Qing, Haiyan children Zhang Mei and Xu Shun, prostitutes who sell their lives for their lives, Li Guijie, Zheng Aiyue, Dong Jiaoer, Wu Yiner, etc., Liu Lixing, who deceives people with witchcraft and superstition, Wu Shenxian, who faces each other, and Xu Xian, who is a prostitute who sells his life for his life. The mother who is born and Bu Gui'er, the teacher who treats people with gods and diseases, and the mother who treats people with gods and diseases, etc.,
In addition, there are also commercial agents such as Lesan and Wang Boru, beggar Feitian Gui, Hou Liner, urban wanderers Chen Saner, He San, Yu Kuan, Che Tan, Guan Shikuan, Youshou, Hao Xian, helping Xian Yingbin, Bai Lai Chuang, Changshijie, etc., Wen Bigu, the nurse attendant, Ruyier, business partners Fu Ming, Ben Dichuan, Han Daoguo, Hu Xiu, Gan Run, Wang Xian, etc., chef Liu Bao... In short, all the 360 abilities of secular society are truly depicted.
Of course, when describing customary life, the novel also widely involved the behavior and actions of important officials of the court, royal relatives, civil and military officials, scholars and bureaucrats at all levels at that time, but this was entirely based on Ximen Qing's activities.
The author's purpose is to provide a broad background for Ximen Qing's activities to set off Ximen Qing's character. It can also be said that the author's description of the feudal officialdom obeys the needs of secular life. The former is set for the latter, which is for the first time in the history of Chinese novels.
Secondly, the novel depicts the group portraits of all living beings in secular society.
According to statistics, "Jin Ping Mei" writes more than 800 characters, but the author's colorful and vivid portrays are basically all the people in the market.Such as Ximen Qing, who combines bullies, scoundrels, businessmen, lust, and bureaucrats;
Pang Chunmei, who helps evil, is stubborn and violent, has a strong heart, is vicious, lewd, kind, and has a clear distinction between kindness and grudges; the victim under the patriarchal marriage system, is ruthless and jealous, and does not succumb to fate and resists abnormally, and eventually has a different body and head;
episode infatuation and lust, weakness and cruelty, viciousness and kindness, Li Ping'er who lost his life in intrigue;
html who is generous on the surface, abides by the moral character of women, jealous and selfish in the heart 1 Wu Yueniang ; Li Jiaoer who is in the same bed with Ximen Qing and has different dreams and looks apart;
月天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天天� 2;
stupid nature, frustrated throughout his life, and was persecuted repeatedly.1 Sun Xue'e ; vanity and depravity, numbness and degradation, serving the Lord with her beauty to climb high branches, but not undue reason, Song Hye-lian, who is very kind and strong and strong; Ruyi'er who has to sacrifice her body for survival;
lust The desire is difficult to curb, the personality is lost, the nature is lewd and shameless Wang Liuer; he is flirting with flowers, frivolous and voluntary, spends money and spends money, is content when he is embarrassed, is carried away when he is proud, is skillful and deals with, and is cunning and changeable Chen Jin; he is idle and has a good attitude, wags his tail and begs for mercy, loses his personality, and combines the "pug dog" and the Zhongshan wolf;
Wu Dianen, who is ungrateful and repays his kindness with grievances; he is exaggerated and good at deceiving people and money, Han Daoguo, who is good at observing his words and expressions, guessing people's wishes, pretending to be a tiger, deceives the inside and hides the outside, and shows diligence, and is known as the servant Dai'an, who is called the worm in Ximen Qing's stomach;
, Li Guijie, who is flirting with the power of the enemy, and makes a living by flirting; he is straightforward, does not know how to please his master, does not flatter, complains and rambles, suffers all the hardships, and becomes a Qiuju who is a punching bag in Pan Jinlian; he is a regular season when he gets money to be proud of his wife and children;
frivolous and crazy, taking advantage of the situation, pleases women without ability, and defeats Jiang Zhushan at the hands of Ximen Qing; he squanders, spends money, pretends to be a bachelor, and finally loses his wife and life; he uses a series of tricks, is skilled in scheming, and is cunning and clever Zheng Aiyue; he is a cowardly, duty, kind, and humiliating martial arts; he is a coward, duty, kind, and humiliating martial arts; he is a coward, duty, kind, and humiliating martial arts; he is a coward, duty, kind, and humiliating martial arts; he is a coward, duty, kind, and humiliating person. Dalang; Ma Bo Liuwangpo, who is distorted and greedy; Sister Ximen who is lonely and miserable, no one loves, suffers all the torture, and fights to death; Ms. Wen and Mrs. Xue who are good at dealing with each other, are clever and clever matchmakers; Ms. Yang and Zhang Si who insult and even fight for money; Ms. Yang and Zhang Si who are obedient and timid, are timid and fearful; Mrs. Fu Zixin, who is capable in doing things, has good management, and is bullying the master and is betrayal. Tang Lai Bao; Li Sanma, a madam who is jealous of money; Liu Er, a tiger who relies on the strong and bully the weak, lewd private debts, commits evil deeds; Lu Hua and Zhang Sheng, a rogue scoundrel in brothels and noble houses, coaxing money under the guise of speaking Buddhas and preaching; Mr. Wang and Mr. Xue, a quack doctor who talks loudly and seems to be humble; Shi Bocai, a Taoist priest who is greedy for money and lustful, is a Taoist priest who is accomplices of tigers; Yang Dalang, an iron-hard man who cheats people of money and makes money and makes money.
Whether it is the main character that the author has vigorously described in the thick and colorful colors or the secondary character outlined in a few words, they all have the form and spirit and are vivid and vivid.
This huge group of characters reflects all aspects of political life, economic life, spiritual life, and human relationships in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, forming a secular painting from the mid-16th century.
Lu Xun commented on it: "The author is very sincere in the world", "to view "Jin Ping Mei" based on the words and images, it will only describe the world's emotions." He mentioned "worldly emotions" many times, which is worldly feelings, that is, secular life.
Wu Han said that "Jin Ping Mei" is a realistic work, which concentrates on the extravagant and lewd life of the urban society in which the author lives. The full affirmation of its "secular" character by the predecessors shows that it is unique in the history of literature.
Once again, the novel also makes a truthful and realistic description of the life values, psychology, and practices of secular society. People pay attention to their own rights, pursue personal vocality and joy, and the spirit of obligation and nature of their family and country has disappeared. As for love and marriage, the traditional concept of "being a good match" is challenged.
Pan Jinlian desperately resisted an immoral marriage that had no security and could not even satisfy her physical desires. Meng Yulou did not marry Shang Juren but married Ximen Qing, did not become the wife of the official wife and became the third concubine, Li Ping'er recruited her husband and expelled him from the house without being satisfied... Although these descriptions are full of obsession with naked lust, and even accompanied by the blood, tears and life of the weak, the decisive role played by personal wishes in marriage cannot be ignored.
The secular society's indifference to women's chastity is also very different from the traditional patriarchal concepts. Ximen Qing not only married widows Meng Yulou and Li Ping'er, but even openly took prostitutes as concubines. It is common for widows to remarry in secular society.
The traditional concept of Shang Dynasty that has been eternal has also been shaken. The status of merchants is highly valued by the secular world. The marriage between the royal relative Qiao Dahu and Ximen Qing and the court's appointment of officials to get along with Ximen Qing are enough to illustrate this problem.
is rushing towards wealth and profit, which is also a typical psychological characteristic of the male and female men and women in secular society in "Jin Ping Mei". There are even descriptions of people pursuing luxury, despising simplicity, and overbearing etiquette in life, which all reflect the secular reality under the rampant money.
We do not deny the certain negative effects contained in these descriptions themselves, but it is a typical photo of the secular society in China in the 16th century, and its significance and value must not be underestimated!
"Jin Ping Mei Art World"
(IV) In line with the limitations of the world
"Jin Ping Mei" has its limitations, which is obvious to all.
In addition to the naked vent of sexual matters that are filled with the novel, the secular consciousness and secular concepts it reflects also have serious pathological characteristics. Some of them are even difficult to strictly distinguish from the decadent and superstitious ideas of the ruling class to some extent.
We admit that this secular concept does objectively impact the harsh constraints of patriarchal tradition and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism on people's thoughts and behaviors. However, this way of resisting tradition and restoring human nature is pathological, distorted, and deformed.
It not only contains the factors of the new era with a certain enlightenment character, but also clearly bears the mark of the old era, presenting a transitional characteristic of a mix of the old and the new.
I think this cannot be attributed to the limitations of the author's creative thoughts. On the contrary, it is completely consistent with the real situation of secular society and shows the author's loyalty to life. Because "no one can truly transcend his era, just as no one can transcend his skin" [8]
Hegel said: "Every work of art belongs to its era and its nation, each with a special environment, and depends on special history and other concepts and purposes." [9]
We say that the shortcomings in "Jin Ping Mei" are caused by factors such as the special era it produced and the childish concepts at that time.
htmlChinese society in the 116th century has entered the age of feudal society. With the emergence of the capitalist economy, the superstructure has also undergone subtle changes.
In the field of ideological , "Since Wanli , Mind learning flowed everywhere, Confucian style was very bad"[10], Buddhism and Taoism are prosperous, and Wang Xue is prosperous. "
After the rise and fall, the fortune will be in the last place, and the trend will be stolen every day. Taoism is extravagant and is dedicated to Zen Buddhism; mountain people compete to tell Mei Gong, and speak aloof and elegant." [11]
In terms of material life, from top to bottom, it is fashionable to pursue extravagance.The secular status of Yuncheng, Shandong, recorded in the "Yuncheng County Chronicles" of Chongzhen was:
competed for extravagance, and was uniformed by the people, and was dressed by the scholars, and officials of the scholars, and were the officials of the officials, and were used for food and utensils, as well as weddings, funerals and banquets, all of which were changed. The poor also beat the cows and beat the fresh ones, and the food is mixed with the rich, fighting for luxury, and they are completely ignored. If you are taxed and labored, you will not be moved at all. No matter how old or young you are, you are always accustomed to being superficial. When you see a kind and frugal person, you will be embarrassed and laugh at him. He made profits by chasing the last, filled the streets and alleys, mixed goods and land, and had different erotic skills... The clerks and officials were also extravagant and noble. He took daily meals and planned to be an official.
Gu Yanwu summarized the current social situation at that time in the "Book of Profits in the World" as follows:
There are many merchants, but the land is not heavy; the stewards are handed over, and the rise and fall are not constant; the capable are only successful, and the clumsy ones have been destroyed; the eastern family is already rich, and the western family is poor; the high and the lower are not even, and they compete with each other; they are mutually snatching each other, and each is on the emperor.
So the fake became popular, the struggle started, the chaos and the glory was dyed, and the loss was gone... It was particularly different from the late Jiajing period and the Longqing period.
Most of the wealthy are, and the wealthy is less; the rich are richer, and the poor are poorer; the rise is heroic, and the fall is easy... The gold is the sky, the money is the god of gods; greed is extremely frail, and the flesh and blood are tragic; enjoy it in one's body, and cannot bear waste.
Even the intellectual class actually "will be unfair to hear about a moral and upright thing, and then he will be disrespectful; if he hears about a lustful and unjust, he will come up and talk about it and recite it all the time" (Tu Long's "Hongbao Excerpt" Volume 2)
In short, secular society simply disdains the pursuit of traditional ideal personality, nor does it pay attention to the desire for infinite happiness in the other world, but focuses on the world on this side or is a crazy obsession with the pleasure in front of him.
In this case, the pain caused by the collision between the pursuit of subject's desire and the constraints of rational norms gradually faded in secular society, replaced by the indulgence of desire and the proliferation of sexuality. Although the sudden awakening of natural personality has escaped from the shackles of rational personality, in the struggle, even many reasonable factors in tradition have been abandoned.
As a social individual, the essential attributes of people - social attributes are ignored by people. This distortion of indulgence from abstinence is still a misfortune for secular society. The distorted and unfortunate reality described in "Jin Ping Mei".
It is often overlooked that the trend of personal liberation in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was very naive.
It just destroyed the barriers of old morality, and did not establish a reasonable moral system and constraint mechanism; it just destroyed the edifice of patriarchal tradition, but did not complete the transcendence of tradition and the construction of new mechanisms.
Yan Jun advocates "going out of nature and being purely natural", Wang Gen proposes "the people's daily use is the way", Li Zhi emphasizes the "natural nature" of man, and Yuan Hongdao declares "what you are happy cannot be strong, and doing things in a straightforward manner is called real people". The foundations of these theories have obvious characteristics of natural human nature.
While thinkingers washed away the patriarchal moral content imposed on human nature by Confucian sages such as Cheng Zhu, they regarded human natural nature and biological attributes as human essential attributes, and even conflated human biological attributes with moral concepts.
This theoretical bias undoubtedly plays an absurd public opinion-oriented role in the process of secular sentient beings breaking through the shackles of Neo-Confucianism. Marx pointed out: "Eating, drinking, sexual behavior, etc. are certainly also the functions of real people, but if these functions are separated from other human activities and make them the final and only ultimate purpose, then in this abstraction, they are the functions of animals." [12]
The unsatisfactory description and consciousness in "Jin Ping Mei" leave us not only thinking about the gains and losses of literary creation, but also inspiration to build a new social civilization.
"Selected Works of Zhang Jinde Jin Ping Mei Research"
comment:
① "Boping County Chronicles" Volume 5 "Humanitarianism and Interpretation of the People's Customs". "Chinese Local Chronicles Integration·Shandong Prefectures and County Chronicles 86", Nanjing: Phoenix Publishing House 2004 edition, page 503.
② Cui Xian "Ten Essentials of Political Discussion". See Chen Zilong and others for "Ming Jingshiwen Edition" Volume 153, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1962 edition, page 1531.
③ Huang Ren's "Ming Dynasty Chapter Novels". See Hou Zhongyi and Wang Rumei's "Compilation of Jin Ping Mei Materials", Beijing: Peking University Press 1985 edition, page 478.
④ Li Zhi's "Burning Books" Volume 2 "Farewell to Liu Xiaochuan". "Burning Books and Continuing Books", Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1975 edition, page 58.
⑤ Li Zhi's "Burning Books" Volume 1 "Answer Deng Shiyang". "Burning Books and Continuing Books", Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1975 edition, page 4.
⑥ Li Zhi's "Collection of Books" Volume 32 "On the Destiny of Confucians", Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1974 edition, page 1827.
⑦ "Xunzi·The King's System". See Wang Xianqian's "Collected Explanations of Xunzi", "Collected Compendium of All Sons" (2), Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 1986 edition, page 101.
⑧ Hegel's Lectures on History of Philosophy Volume 1, Beijing: Commercial Press, 1978 edition, page 57.
⑨ Hegel, translated by Zhu Guangqian, Volume 1 of "Aesthetics", Beijing: People's Literature Press, 1958 edition, page 17.
⑩ "General Catalogue of Siku Quanshu" Volume 123 "Miscellaneous Family Class 7" "Shaoshi Shanfang Pen Collection", Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1965 edition, page 1064.
1 "General Catalog of Siku Quanshu" Volume 132 "Miscellaneous Classes of Catalog IX" "Continuation of the Path", Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1965 edition, page 1124.
2 Marx's "Manuscript of Economics and Philosophy in 1844", Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1985 edition, page 51.
Author’s unit: Henan University
This article is authorized to be published, and the original article was published in "Selected Works of Zhang Jinde Jin Ping Mei Research", 2015, published by Taiwan Student Bookstore Co., Ltd. Please indicate the source when forwarding.
