Summary of Chapter 13 of The Scholars

Summary of the Thirteenth Chapter of "The Scholars"

Gongsun Zang met Ma Chunshang, who ran a class to help people learn knowledge. He was very impressed when he listened to him talk about the tips for getting into higher education. Inspire. Huan Cheng, a servant of the Lou family, had an affair with Shuanghong, a maid of the Zang family, and ran away with the box that Wang Hui had left at Mr. Zang's house. Gongsun Qu sued the judge, and the officer who took the box knew that the box was the judge's stolen property, and defrauded Huan Cheng of all the money he had on him. He also used Huan Cheng's name to defraud Gongsun Qu of the money, and made false demands to both parties. Red redemption. The messenger did not see Qu Gongsun, but found Ma Chunshang. Ma Chunshang tried his best to provide money to suppress the matter. Extended reading

About the author

Wu Jingzi (1701-1754), a novelist of the Qing Dynasty, was named Minxuan, nicknamed Limin, later nicknamed "old man Wenmu", and a guest in Qinhuai. Anhui Quanjiao people. One of the greatest novelists of the Qing Dynasty. Because his family had a "Wenmu Shanfang", he called himself "Old Man Wenmu" in his later years. Because he moved from his hometown Quanjiao, Anhui to the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, Jiangsu, he was also called "Qinhuai Guest". He lived a luxurious life in his early years, but later his family business declined and he moved to Jiangning. At the beginning of Qianlong's reign, he recommended Erxue Hongci, but he refused to go there because he was ill, and ended up in poverty. In terms of poetry and prose, the novel "The Scholars" is the most successful. There are also twelve volumes of "Wenmu Shanfang's Poems and Essays" (four volumes are preserved today), seven volumes of "Wenmu Shanfang's Poems and Essays" (forty-three volumes are preserved today), and the novel "The Scholars".

Introduction

"The Scholars" is a typical work of satirical literature in ancient my country. There are fifty-six chapters in the book. The work uses a series of relatively independent stories to show a genre painting of Chinese society in the eighteenth century. It centers on the life and mental state of feudal scholar-officials, starting from exposing the imperial examination system and the ugly souls of the scholars enslaved by it, depicts the appearances of all living beings of different classes in a specific era, and criticizes the eight-part system of selecting scholars that corrodes the souls of scholars.

"The Scholars" takes "fame and wealth as the backbone of the article" throughout the text. The ideological content of the book is mainly divided into two parts: one is the severe criticism of the imperial examination system and the scholars and the Biting irony; first, the ardent desire for an ideal society and moral model.

Story background

"The Scholars" is an outstanding realist satirical novel in the history of Chinese literature. "The Scholars" writes about the "foreign history" of "The Scholars". In other words, "The Scholars" is not official history, does not reflect the official will, nor is it an unofficial history. Its main purpose is to "write the real things in the world", to express the sentiments of scholars, to criticize the current ills, and to satirize the world.

The author Wu Jingzi lived in an era when the Qing regime had become more stable, and the imperial examination system had passed its peak period, revealing its shortcomings. The scribes were obsessed with their careers and their morals were ruined. "The Scholars" mainly describes scholars and literati, as Lu Xun said, "The most interesting thing is the scholars." Most of the characters in the book are shadows of real people at that time. In order to avoid persecution by the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Jingzi deliberately set the story in the Ming Dynasty. The author's purpose is to create a portrait of the feudal literati who lived in the end of feudalism and under the imperial examination system, vividly depict the cannibalistic imperial examination system, etiquette system and corrupt political system, and show a picture of social customs in the feudal imperial examination era. .

Typical characters in the article

The book focuses on depicting a group of ugly scholars who are keen on fame and wealth, thereby exposing and satirizing the decadence of the imperial examination system and the hypocrisy of the entire feudal morality.

Typical examples of corrupt Confucianism—Zhou Jin and Fan Jin; typical examples of corrupt officials—Tang Feng and Wang Hui; typical examples of stereotyped fans—Ma Jing and Lu Bianxiu; positive examples—Wang Mian, Du Shaoqing.

From Zhou Jin's crying, Fan Jin's laughter, and Wang Yuhui's laughter and then cry, we can see that the author's writing is not referring to a specific person, but to the imperial examination system and feudal ethics. Therefore, when the author praises or criticizes characters, his satire always closely revolves around the essential issues of things to show his sense of proportion. Different character models reflect different ideological and cognitive values.

Artistic Features

This is an outstanding realistic satirical novel, written entirely in vernacular. The language is accurate, humorous, vivid and concise, the details are vividly described, the characters are lifelike, the satirical techniques are superb and exquisite, and the art has reached a high level. Mr. Lu Xun believed that the appearance of "The Scholars" "is the first book that can be called satire."