What does Grandma Liu’s Grand View Circle mainly talk about?
In the countryside near the capital, there was a farmer, Wang Gouer, who married his wife, Mrs. Liu, and had a son and a daughter. Wang Gou'er took care of the farm affairs and Mrs. Liu took care of the housework. When she was too busy, she took her mother-in-law Liu Laolao to live with her and asked her to take care of her. Old Liu was originally an old widow who was experienced in the world and familiar with people. After moving here, she devoted herself to helping her daughter and son-in-law live their lives. This year, there were severe floods and no harvest in the fields. Wang Gouer's family could no longer maintain their livelihood and were very anxious. Mr. Liu remembered that Mrs. Wang of Rongguo Mansion was Gou'er's distant aunt. He wanted to come to her to find a solution, but they were afraid of the disparity between the rich and the poor, so they refused to help. After some discussion, Mr. Liu finally plucked up the courage to go into the city and go to Rongguo Mansion. When Old Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion, the ladies and grandmothers all teased her for a while, but Old Liu dealt with it very well with her humor, wit, and experience of being worldly and humane. As a result, everyone in the Rongguo Mansion expressed a favorable impression of her. Before leaving, everyone gave her gifts and hoped that she would come again. Needless to say, Mr. Liu was very happy.
In this story, we see the luxury and luxury of Rongguo Mansion from the eyes of Mr. Liu. This kind of exploitative and parasitic life is in sharp contrast to the hard life of the majority of farmers. The former gets something for nothing, has enough to eat all day long, and makes fun of the poor; the latter works hard all year round, suffers exploitation and oppression, but does not get food and clothing. Here, we also see the simplicity, purity and enthusiasm of Mr. Liu from the countryside, which further exposes the corrupt and ugly side of the aristocratic family.
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Grandma Liu’s role in the artistic structure of the work
As we all know, the first five of the one hundred and twenty chapters of "A Dream of Red Mansions" are the introduction to the book. Chapter 5 gives a general introduction and arrangement of the theme of Dream of Red Mansions, the character and destiny of the main characters and the entire plot. Therefore, the real beginning of the novel should be Chapter 6, "Jia Baoyu's first attempt at love, and Grandma Liu entering the Rongguo Mansion." "Jia Baoyu's first trial of love in the clouds and rain" has been basically described in the fifth chapter when Jia Baoyu sleepwalked into the illusion of Taixu, so the sixth chapter actually only wrote "Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion".
Who is this Grandma Liu? Is he the protagonist of the work? "In total, there are more than 300 people in Rong Mansion from top to bottom, and there are about 10 or 20 things a day. It is like a mess, with no clue to draw an outline. When I was thinking about who should start writing Fang Miao, I couldn't help but think about it. Suddenly, a small family from thousands of miles away, with some connections to the Rong Mansion, was coming to the Rong Mansion, so we talked about this family, but I still had a clue. "①Grandma Liu. Not only is he not the main character in the book, but he is also a "little bit of a mustard". It turns out that Grandma Liu is the mother-in-law of Gou'er. Gou'er's surname is Wang. His ancestors also served as minor officials in the past, so he knew Mrs. Wang's father and recognized the clan because he was greedy for the power of the palace. Later, Gou'er's grandfather passed away and his family fell into decline, so he moved out of the city to work in farming. Since the family had a small population and no one to take care of the children, he took his widowed mother-in-law to live with him and take care of him. This is a very far-fetched relationship between Grandma Liu and the Jia family.
If Grandma Liu's first entry into the Rongguo Mansion was just the beginning of the entire story of "A Dream of Red Mansions", then when she entered the Rongguo Mansion the second time, she went deep into many corners of the Jia Mansion, leading to the story of the Jia Mansion's clothing, food and clothing. , accommodation, transportation and other aspects. This time, Grandma Liu came into contact with more people, saw a wider range of scenes, and felt more amazed than the first time. The character also changed from a relative of the Wang family to a guest of Jia's mother, attending the sumptuous family banquet of Jia's family and touring the Grand View Garden. Through Grandma Liu's observation, experience, and comments, the author further expresses the enjoyment and luxury of the masters of the Jia family. It not only writes about the prosperity of the Jia family's flowers and brocades, but also foreshadows the future decline of the Jia family and the coincidence of their rescue. .
When Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion for the third time, the Jia Mansion was already facing ruins and was desolate. The ancestor of the Jia family, Jia Mu, was dead. The former fierce sister Feng was so sick that she was as thin as a stick and in a daze. She had to entrust her only daughter to this poor old woman who came to treat convulsions in the past.
It can be said that Grandma Liu is not only an introduction to the full text of the general leader in "A Dream of Red Mansions", but also a clue throughout the entire text. The three times when Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion were the turning points of the Jia family's transition from prosperity to prosperity and decline. That is to say, whenever there was a major turning point in the plot of "A Dream of Red Mansions", Grandma Liu would appear in the Rongguo Mansion.
It can be seen that this is the significance of the author's creation of the character of Grandma Liu: the author uses her to introduce the story and advance the plot in a consistent manner. Grandma Liu has a perspective and detailed inspection of Jia's house from the inside and from close sources. As a result, the plot of the novel can be developed, and the details of life inside Jia's house can be unfolded in a deeper and more detailed way.
The image of Grandma Liu sublimates the theme of "Dream of Red Mansions" and expands its ideological connotation
The author of "Dream of Red Mansions" wrote more than 400 named characters. Most of them are members of the Jia family. Although some are not named Jia, they are related to the Jia family by kinship, employment, colleagues, mentors, etc. The only important person who has no relationship at all is Grandma Liu.
Grandma Liu came from a poor family, and because she could not survive, she "forsook my old face" and went to the Jia Mansion for help. Therefore, Grandma Liu walked into this place as a poor woman from the lower class. From the perspective of a poor widow who has been working as a farmer all her life, we observe this wealthy mansion with "bells ringing and cauldrons eating". This choice of perspective allows us to better understand the family headed by the Jia family. The corrupt, parasitic, reactionary evil nature of the four major families.
As soon as Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion, the author focused on showing the power of the Jia Mansion from Grandma Liu’s perspective. Grandma Liu saw the magnificent stone lions on both sides of the door, the sedans and horses, and the gatekeeper with "thrust out chest and belly", which made her tremble with fear. Pushed to the corner and asked to wait. This bossy style is in obvious contrast with Grandma Liu's low-mindedness.
If Grandma Liu’s first entry into Rongguo Mansion revealed the power of Jia’s Mansion, then the second time Grandma Liu entered Rongguo Mansion focused on the wealth of Rongguo Mansion. This time, the author used four chapters to describe in detail the dazzling scenery of the Grand View Garden and the luxurious daily life of Rongguo Mansion through Grandma Liu's eyes. When Grandma Liu came in, she encountered a crab feast at a family dinner. She calculated the account: "The money from this meal is enough for us farmers to live for a year." When "Shi Taijun's Two Banquets at the Grand View Garden" came, it was even more incomparable. . It was really like "Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden - she was dumbfounded." It can be seen that the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Qiu Shuangzhai, Xiaocuitang, Haocui'an, Yihongyuan and other scenery in the Grand View Garden are astonishing to a country woman. Grandma Liu said as soon as she entered the garden: "We country people. At the end of the year, we all go to the city to buy paintings and stickers... Everyone said: 'How can I get paintings to hang out!' Thinking that the paintings are just fake... …Who would have thought that when I went into this garden today, it was ten times better than the paintings?” As the saying goes, “the scenery is as beautiful as a painting.” However, Grandma Liu thought that the Grand View Garden was ten times better than the paintings, which shows how beautiful the scenery of Rongguo Mansion is. Beyond Grandma Liu’s imagination. During the visit to the garden, the author made two random remarks: Sister Feng's clothes and the things she used were either gold or silver, and the scarlet cotton-padded jacket she wore was made of materials that could not even be compared to those made by the emperor. Regarding the dishes at the banquet, the author deliberately described one dish in detail - eggplant. Sister Feng introduced: "Peel off the skin of the freshly harvested eggplant, clean the flesh, cut it into small pieces, fry it with chicken, and then add the chicken breast meat with mushrooms, new bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and dried bean curd." All kinds of dried fruits are cut into nails, dried with chicken soup, collected with sesame oil, and mixed with bad oil. Put it in a porcelain jar and seal it tightly. When it is time to eat, take it out and use the good chicken feet ( Pheasant meat with skin peeled off) is ready to be mixed.
After hearing this, Grandma Liu shook her head and stuck out her tongue and said, "My Buddha!" It took about a dozen chickens to go with it, and it smelled so strange! ”①
Cao Xueqin’s writing of such a dish in such detail has vividly described the extravagant and lustful life of the Jia family. Coupled with Grandma Liu’s inexplicable reaction of “shaking her head and sticking out her tongue”, it has simply made The poor peasants have reached an unimaginable level. Doesn't this expose the luxurious life of the Rong family more deeply? So, why can the Jia family live in such luxury?
From Wujin Xiaojiao's post-Qiu land rent, we can see that the main source of the Jia family's economy is land exploitation. Feudal families like the Jia family live by exploiting the blood and sweat of the working peasants. Poor working farmers like Grandma Liu work as cattle and horses all year round but have no food and clothing and need to eat and drink everywhere. The masters, wives and young ladies of the Jia family on this side are industrious and have nothing to do with grain. They are there from morning to night. They were either greeting guests or seeing off guests, playing chess, reciting poems, watching flowers and watching operas, but they enjoyed endless prosperity and wealth. The irreconcilable contradiction between the landlord class and the peasant class in feudal society is shown here through the eyes of Grandma Liu. Being in front of everyone also gave us a deeper understanding of the evil feudal society.
But the Rongguo Mansion that Grandma Liu saw for the third time was completely different from the first two times. The Rong Mansion at that time no longer had the intimidating power it had in the past. Grandma Liu could no longer see those servants who "stretched their chests and gesticulated", and did not need to "slip" or "sneak", but "as soon as they came to the back door" to look for them. It took a long time to find someone. When I saw Sister Feng, this aunt who was originally elegant and famous for her shrewdness was already "skinny and in a daze" and was dying. Grandma Liu came to Rongfu for the first time to "beat her up". "Cai Feng" asked for help, but this time it was Sister Feng who regarded Grandma Liu as the most trustworthy person who could be entrusted with help. She entrusted her biological daughter Qiao Jie to her.
The Jia family is not only The four major families are also representatives of the entire feudal aristocratic family. In the past, there was a glorious time when "Jia was not fake, and white jade was the king's gold and horse". However, in the end, the luxury, corruption, and parasitism of the feudal aristocrats led to the tragic ending of the family and the death of the family. Therefore, Grandma Liu was not only a witness to the rise and fall of the Rong Mansion, but also a "control object" of the rise and fall of the Rong Mansion. At the same time, she witnessed the complete decline of the Jia Mansion.
In short, Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion three times. She witnessed with her own eyes how the Jia family developed from its peak to its final decline. She is not only a witness to the rise and fall of the Jia family, but also a historical witness of an era. She is very important in the work.
Four. The cultural significance of the image of Grandma Liu
Novel is the carrier of culture. Excellent novels are the crystallization of the culture at that time, and the characters in the novel naturally shoulder the important task of inheriting culture. . Successful characters are always combined with certain cultural factors, thus reflecting some essential attributes of the culture.
Chinese culture has always been divided into elegant culture and popular culture. The tastes of the ruling class, dominated by scholar-bureaucrats, only occupied the upper culture of the ruling class. Popular culture represented the interests of the ruled class, dominated by peasants, and belonged to the lower class of culture. After being passed down from generation to generation, elegant culture has become increasingly sophisticated and refined and has evolved into two branches: on the one hand, it has evolved into a complete set of social systems and cumbersome customs and etiquette; on the other hand, it has evolved into the artistic category of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Due to the suppression, popular culture has never been fully developed, and it is deeply influenced by upper-class culture, showing a very rough state.
In fact, popular culture is the deepest foundation of national culture, the most authentic "cultural text", and the source of the greatness of national culture. Without the secular life of ordinary people, human culture will lose the source of life.
In "A Dream of Red Mansions", the Jia family represents the long-standing elegant culture, while Grandma Liu represents the vulgar culture. Grandma Liu's three visits to the Rongguo Mansion were essentially a conflict and exchange between refined culture and popular culture. It was in this conflict and exchange that the two cultures each showed their own characteristics, essence and limitations, embodying the Chinese The whole essence of culture.
So, what basic characteristics of popular culture does Grandma Liu reflect?
The first is "repaying gratitude". We know that Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion because her family was in dire straits and she wanted to seek help. "I brought your nephew here today for no other reason than because his wife and I are at home and don't even have anything to eat. Now that it's cold again, the more I think about it, the less stylish I am, so I have no choice but to bring your nephew." Come back when you're done." ① Sister Feng, the housekeeper who was enjoying luxury at the time, was very arrogant and pretended to be poor in front of her: "Looking at the raging fire here, I didn't know that there was a big difficulty..." Wait until When Grandma Liu entered Rongguo Mansion for the second time, she brought a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables to honor the grandmothers and girls who were used to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas every day. It can be seen that although Grandma Liu was eager to make some money from her wealthy relatives when she was poor, she never forgot her past kindness once the economic situation improved. What's even more valuable is that when Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion for the third time, the Jia Mansion family was ruined and everyone was dead, and Sister Feng was also seriously ill and dying. Faced with this situation, Grandma Liu bravely took on the important task of caring for Sister Feng without saying a word. Later, when Sister Qiao was being sold, she resolutely rescued Sister Qiao. By this time, the idea of "repaying kindness with gratitude" was most vividly expressed in Grandma Liu. How completely different is this from the so-called relatives and friends of the Jia family in the past, as well as the upper-class nobles who betrayed their relatives!
The second is simple, authentic and personalized language. Completely different from the gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen in the Jia family, Grandma Liu was born as an out-and-out farmer, and she fully embodies the simple and authentic language of working farmers. When Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion to seek help, when she heard that Sister Feng gave her twenty taels of silver, there was this passage: Grandma Liu beamed with joy and said: "We also know it is difficult, but as the saying goes: 'Thin A dead camel is bigger than a horse. No matter what, you are still stronger than our waist!" ① The Rui family was nearby, and when he heard her speaking so vulgarly, he just winked at her... The Zhou Rui family I thought what Grandma Liu said was vulgar, so I just winked at her, but little did I know that it was this vulgar language that touched people's hearts, and it was this simple language that captured Grandma Liu's personality. When Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden for the second time, she had more exciting popular language: "The fire burned the caterpillars", "One radish and one garlic", "When the flowers fell, a big melon was picked up". This drinking dialogue could only have come from Grandma Liu. Moreover, a few simple sentences seem to make Grandma Liu’s expression and posture appear vividly in front of the readers. It is precisely because of such simple and authentic personalized language. , so that the typical image of Grandma Liu gained immortal vitality.
It’s “ignorance and superstition” again. Grandma Liu believed in ghosts and gods. When Jia's mother and her eldest sister were ill, she suggested burning paper to drive away evil spirits. She also named the eldest sister according to the principle of mutual regeneration and mutual restraint, using "qiao" to defeat "qiao". She named the eldest sister "qiao" because she thought it would bring disaster. Cheng Xiang turned misfortune into good fortune and won Wang Xifeng's favor.
Vulgar culture is a culture with farmers as the main body. It has a long history. In essence, it is a product of China's agricultural civilization. Popular culture and refined culture together constitute China's traditional culture, and together create the extensive and profound Chinese culture that has existed for five thousand years in Chinese history. The image of Grandma Liu has high cultural value and great influence. cultural significance.
Although Grandma Liu is just a small character in the author's works, the author is able to use his clever mind and deft writing to give this little character an important role. Her three entrances and three exits serve as a clue throughout the novel. Her image of an ordinary poor rural woman sets off some big figures such as Baoyu, Sister Feng, and Miaoyu. She also plays an important role in sublimating the theme of the novel and expanding its ideological connotation. Moreover, a little person like Grandma Liu also embodies a kind of cultural significance-popular culture. Therefore, the creation of a little character like Grandma Liu by the author Cao Xueqin is not accidental, but of great significance.