2000 words after reading "Golden Wings"

"The Golden Wing" is a sociological work written in the form of a novel. But this is not a novel in the general sense. It is based on the life experience of Professor Lin Yaohua, a famous Chinese anthropologist, sociologist and ethnologist, in his hometown - Huangcun Village in the Minjiang River Basin of Fujian Province and the counties, townships and towns where it is located. This is a novel-style work based on his last two fieldworks before leaving China in 1936 and 1937. This novel contains the author's personal experience, the author's hometown, and the author's family history. It is a microcosm of the real oriental rural society and family system. "Golden Wings"

The novel mainly describes Dong Lin, a farmer who suffers from agricultural poverty, and his brother-in-law Fenzhou, who are unsatisfied with the status quo and struggle and develop under the pressure of life. Fenzhou, who is good at calculation, and Dong Lin, who is good at practical work, both opened a shop at the bustling Hukou Wharf. Since then, they have stepped away from purely agricultural families and connected traditional agriculture with urban society through business. As time went by, the two brothers-in-law saved a lot of money from doing business, and they decided to build their own new home. However, when the two of them jointly surveyed and selected the ideal house site, Fenzhou was fascinated by a small piece of the best flat land (only enough to build a big house) that the Feng Shui master judged as "Dragon Spit Pearl". . So he took advantage of this "feng shui" treasure land without telling his brother-in-law Dong Lin, which made Dong Lin very dissatisfied. Out of frustration due to family ties, Dong Lin had no choice but to find a piece of sloping land to build a house on the other side of his brother-in-law's house. Judging from the field site, Fenzhou's house happens to be on a rare flat land in the valley in front of Longtou Mountain. It is very consistent with the Feng Shui landscape theory of "dragon spitting beads" and is much better than the site of Donglin's house, which was later built on a hillside. According to the traditional Chinese Feng Shui concept, this undoubtedly heralds a bright future for the Fenzhou family. However, life is not always easy. The author tells the story of the partnership shop that relied on shipping from the Min River to sell rice and salted fish, and finally discovered an important way to make money. At the same time, the author also elaborates on the various troubles and misfortunes Dong Lin and Fenzhou encountered in the process of community development. Fenzhou was first in a difficult situation in family affairs, and later was unable to adapt to the store's business relationship and changing environment, and had to withdraw from the Hukou store business as one of the founders. Helplessly, Fenzhou's son also lost the opportunity to establish a new career due to mistakes and incompetence. Donglin, on the other hand, managed to get out of the trouble of the lawsuit and bring the frequent disputes within the family under control. Donglin constantly learns how to adapt to the challenges of fate, is good at working with friends, and has won success in business operations. "Golden Wing"

"Golden Wing" takes the rise and fall of two rural families, Zhang and Huang, as clues to describe and analyze local agriculture, shipping, commerce, politics, law, education, folklore, Social and cultural life from multiple perspectives such as beliefs, clans and families, this is an anthropological investigation and study of local family history and the process of the community where it is located.

Regarding the different fates of the two families, the book mentions a saying widely circulated in China, namely Feng Shui. In Chinese tradition, the location of a family cemetery, house foundation, etc. has an absolute impact on the family. Even the title of this book comes from this concept: because the Huang family's newly built homestead is located on the outstretched wings of the golden rooster, the Huang family is called the Golden Wing House. In contrast to the Zhang family's gradual decline, , the longevity of the Huang family business seems to be more evidence of the good feng shui of this area. The article focuses on this point and compares the destiny correlation of Feng Shui with the initiative of human survival and progress, as well as the effect of controlling the local relationship system, trying to show the obvious advantages of modern sociological anthropology in explaining changes in social and cultural systems. Indeed, when we talk about real life, it often happens that Feng Shui masters may have more excuses when making predictions than doctors or lawyers. However, the dimension of time is constituted by socio-spatial processes that are difficult to predict and control. Fenzhou and Donglin, who once appreciated Mr. Huangcun Feng Shui's great predictions, have experienced tragic social changes. However, several generations of Donglin's descendants rose again. Feng shui masters in Huangcun always say, "Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west of the river." The Chinese idea of ​​Feng Shui is permeated into our consciousness, emotions, inductions, thinking, wishes, beliefs, beliefs, unconsciousness, intuition, practice and lifestyle. The heaven and earth, yin and yang, the five elements, the eight trigrams, and the stems and branches can all explain and predict natural and social phenomena, as well as personal good and bad luck.

The old man Donglin in "Golden Wings" did not forget to tell his grandson when enemy planes roared overhead: "Don't forget to bury the seeds in the soil!" This is because rice seeds are actually made of What their ancestors and grandchildren have sown on demand for generations can sprout at the right time. The implication is nothing else, but that the family's decline is only temporary, it will eventually change, and one must calmly wait for the moment of family revival. "Golden Wings"

Professor Lin Yaohua used balance to explain the relationship between people, social changes and the rise and fall of families. The relationship between people is a process of constant equilibrium - destroying the equilibrium - restoring the original balance, or equilibrium - destroying the equilibrium - establishing a new equilibrium. The difference between the Huang family and the Zhang family stems from their different reactions to the destruction of equilibrium: the Huang family faces it with strength, while the Zhang family just escapes. Therefore, the Zhang family declared bankruptcy before the next equilibrium state could come. In addition, there is something hidden in the Huang family's reaction to a series of blows, which is what "Golden Wings" as a novel is intended to illustrate, which is the last sentence of the novel, "Don't forget to bury the seeds in the soil." "The balance of human behavior is also composed of a network of interpersonal relationships. Each point represents a single individual, and changes in each individual are affected in this system. In turn, he is also affected by changes in other individuals. Influence". Human life also swings between equilibrium and disequilibrium. For example, the description of the litigation process of forest disputes leads to the explanation of the local judicial system, and many details of tomb sacrifices and folk festivals are obviously different from the literary authors' intentions, because these deliberate descriptions ultimately boil down to the anthropology of how clan, house and family systems operate. Theme: Fenzhou's resignation caused chaos in the store. However, Donglin made adjustments and promoted the store's new expansion. It should be said that ordinary novels will also describe the process in this way, but the purpose of "Golden Wings" is to tell readers that the profit of the store and the prosperity of the family are not only complementary to each other, but also to find the community system to reach a new balance from the old. The driving force of balance. Similarly, at the end of the novel, the national crisis caused by the Japanese invasion brings Dong Lin back to the origin of his pre-business life, taking his grandchildren to sow seeds in the fields. The author is also explaining the social anthropological principle that a huge external force can destroy the balanced operation of established systems.

"The Golden Wing" interprets the culture and society that anthropology is good at through the narrative of the novel genre. It is one of the few pioneering works in the practice of cultural expression in modern anthropology. When I read about community systems being depicted in novels, the answers to those anthropological questions happened to be woven into the process of community. It adds a dimension that makes it easier for us readers to experience other people’s experiences and helps us understand the nature of a community.