Prose about dreaming about a colorful kite that can overcome the cold at high places
A kite, a very ordinary kite or a very exquisite kite, is like a colorful dream that people pursue; a feeling swaying in the sky; a piece of thread that goes up and down with destiny. Cause and effect that affects and fluctuates with the east wind.
Xue Qin’s kite crashed hundreds of years ago on New Year’s Eve. That winter night was so cold: the north wind was as sharp as a sword, and the dead branches and yellow leaves of the cold mountains were flying, making it especially cold and lonely. Occasionally, I saw a broken kite with its wings folded in the roar, hanging sideways here, whispering in a low voice, telling the few visitors about the little-known past events of Xishan.
The story that has long gone with the wind happened on a winter night during the Qianlong period. Su Lian, a businessman who was injured and disabled while serving in the army, staggered over and sighed as he faced the smog-shrouded Xishan Mountains. He thought that the business of the Mingyi shop he ran on Qianmen Street was in trouble and his life was hopeless. In sorrow, he was ready to walk into the desolate cold forest to end his remaining life. However, walking all the way from Qianmen Dashilan to the foot of the West Mountain, it was already dawn when there were more and more pedestrians, and it was not easy to commit suicide. In his hesitation, he suddenly thought of his old friend Cao Xueqin who lived at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, so he frowned and sighed again, and walked into Huangye Village.
After the wooden door was clicked, it was gently opened. The owner of the small courtyard - Cao Xueqin, who often provides free medical services to the poor people in the village and enjoys making toys to give to neighborhood children, appears. After listening to Lao Yu's sobs, he poured a cup of crude tea for his friend and gave him some pointers in just a few words.
Mr. Xueqin said that there was a rich man in Beijing who loved kites and once "spent thousands of dollars on one." Why don't you make some kites and try selling them? "Then, Cao Xueqin made some paper kites for Lao Yu, borrowed some money from a neighbor, and gave them to him together. Before leaving, Xueqin repeatedly warned: "In the future, don't introduce to outsiders that I made these kites."
A few days later, at the Yujia Mingyi Shop in Dashilar, Qianmen, Beijing, during the period from the 23rd to the 15th of the twelfth lunar month, when people welcomed the spring, all kinds of kites were on display, and business was booming. In order to thank Cao Gong, he rode a donkey. The second time they entered Huangye Village, they expressed their hope to Xueqin at the wine table: "A kite shop has too little influence. Why doesn't Mr. Cao write a book on kite-making for those who are poor and disabled?" " "Zhi", decades later, became the "Kite Collection" highly respected in the kite world.
During the Qianlong period, there was a cultural salon in the capital where literati gathered, named after the "Ruyi Pavilion" (similar to today's one). One of the "Literary and Art Circles" "Walking in the Study" named Dong Bangda was deeply moved after reading "Collected Works of Fei Yi Zhai". He wrote in the preface of this book: "Cao Zixueqin has no mercy for his illness." Tell the poor people that they can't bear to live in hope and turn to the gully..." Then, I was filled with admiration.
When the winter snow falls, I always like to lean in front of the window and drink black tea as my companion. , reading "A Dream of Red Mansions". Every time I see the scene of the kite flying three times, I feel sad and empty, so I warm up a pot of daughter red to comfort my mood.
This is the first time in the book. The kite appeared because Baoyu saw a painting and a poem in Taixu's illusion. The latter showed two people flying a kite, a sea, a big boat, and a woman in the boat hiding her face and crying. There are two sentences. The poem goes: "Talent comes from being shrewd and ambition comes from high. Born in the last days, luck has faded. I shed tears on the Qingming Festival and look out to the riverside. The east wind thousands of miles away is just a dream away. "The boat is getting farther and farther away, and there is a thread of love, but the sea breeze is strong, how can the paper kite accompany it for a long time? Tanchun, who has surpassed his talent, finally fell into the sorrow of being born at the wrong time. The second time the kite appears in the book, it is still a metaphor Tanchun’s fate is her homemade lantern riddle: “When the children at the foot of the stairs look up, the Qingming decoration is most suitable. Once the hairspring is broken and powerless, don't blame the east wind for leaving. "The east wind reveals such warm feelings of spring! And the word "broken" behind "the hairspring is weak" makes the readers who are soft and tender by the spring breeze suddenly shiver. When the kite appears for the third time in the book , the performance is very specific. Baoyu, Tanchun, Baoqin and others were reciting catkins poems, and the maid outside the curtain shouted, "A big butterfly's kite is hanging on the treetop", so the handsome men and beauties started talking about each other. There are several kinds of kites, including "big fish", "soft-winged phoenix", "beauty", "red bat", etc. It was originally a passionate picture, but Xue Qin changed it and used precious jade to cut the leads of several kites. The ending darkens the tone, especially Daiyu's words: "My kite has flown, I am tired, and I want to take a rest." "The word "fly" in "flying a kite" is very thought-provoking.
It seems that Daiyu's fate is hinted at clearly. What a vivid interpretation of "The feast must come to an end"!
Every time I see this place, I always unconsciously feel the sky from a distance, sending silent greetings to the kite that is getting further and further away, getting smaller and disappearing among the clouds, hoping that it will float to a fairyland where there will never be any fetters...
Mr. Sometimes when the old man is lonely and looks at the sunset alone, he may also think about Lao Tzu's saying: "High virtue is not virtuous, so it is virtuous; low virtue is not virtuous, so it is virtuous". It really makes us ashamed and self-reflective.
In mid-autumn of that year, I walked out of Huangye Village at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in western Beijing and went to look for the inheritors of Cao's kites.
It was a small farmhouse surrounded by rice waves, forest waves, and lakes. It was an extremely ordinary farmer's house. There are two borders of green vegetables, several kinds of melon stands, the morning calls and night barks, spring flowers and autumn fruits, it’s such a leisurely and peaceful day. The handsome man, the descendant of Cao's kites, invited me into the main room. He is the third generation descendant of the Cao family of kites. He is a young man with extraordinary conversation. As early as 2001, this descendant had already flown Cao's kites over the Israeli Kite Festival. Then, the exquisite product he made won third place in the National Art and Crafts Kite Decoration Competition. Then, in order to enhance international cultural exchanges, he went to Athens, Greece, to participate in kite flying and exhibition activities, and was well received by international friends... …
I saw several foreign tourists visiting the capital looking at this small courtyard with smiles. Before returning to China, they purchased several Cao's kites as gifts for relatives and friends.
The descendants of Cao's kites told me that in "Southern Harrier and Northern Kite Kao Gongzhi", *** introduced 43 techniques. The most representative ones are the "anthropomorphic Zhayan" and the "reborn technique", which are also beyond the reach of other kite schools. When I watched it, I had a deep feeling: the gender, age, clothing, demeanor, expression, body shape of a person are integrated with the light Zhayan kite, and the width of the "door" and the proportion of the "arms" are used to distinguish the swallows of different age groups. , derived from Mr. Xueqin’s inspiration and emotion!
I gently held up a 5:1 young swallow. But the head is big, the limbs are stubby, the eyes are childish and cute, and the mouth is in the shape of crying for food. What was shown in front of me was a little swallow, it was clearly a child under one year old! Then, if you look closely at it with the eyes of admiring a kite, it turns back into a craft kite in the shape of a young swallow. Look at the 7:1 Zha Yan again. He has strong limbs, mature eyes, dark clothes, and his claws are ready to go. He is undoubtedly a "mature man". Reading it and letting it fly is like a man in his thirties. dream. The most meaningful thing is "Bi Yiyan". But seeing the peonies on both sides side by side symbolizes the unity of wealth and wealth, and also indicates the best time for swallows to mate. At that time, it is the season when peonies bloom.
Just imagine, when Cao’s kite is flying, the powerful falcons, colorful butterflies, graceful beauties, and dancing fishes and dragons... coupled with the sounds of musical instruments, drums, strings and whistles, often make the flyer feel intoxicated. . The most exciting thing is that the kite successors have integrated the art of lacquerware into the kite-making skills, making Cao's kites unique. When I saw artists tearing tissue paper into velvet shapes and then simulating the shape of birds to make vivid kites, I couldn't help but think of Mr. Xue Qin. After the kite was reborn, it fluttered in the wind and clouds. So where should the husband live happily after he was reborn?
Leaving the courtyard where the descendants of Cao’s kites live, I can’t help but reminisce about the Laijin Yuxuan in Beijing’s Zhongshan Park, which is full of the red mansion atmosphere, Huangye Village, a botanical garden with ancient locust trees and old houses, and the capital city where colorful kites are soaring. The square... people meditate there, people admire there, people keep asking about the wind in early spring, the clouds in midsummer, the rain in late autumn and the snow in early winter: "A cultural man who never wants to 'invite the crowd to appreciate' , why was he poor and helpless during his lifetime, but left behind endless cultural wealth for people to enjoy? Is it that the world is not spacious enough and too complicated to accommodate the pure and unbridled spirituality? ”
God? Speechless, Qiuye is speechless. Perhaps only the dream-seeking kite that floats to the end of the sky at an unknown date can explain how much sorrow there is in the world, and whether high places can overcome the cold!