Many people will wonder, Xue Baoqin is not the official figure of twelve women in Jinling, but she is almost a perfect girl. No matter her appearance and personality, or her talent and knowledge, she is on a par with Dai, even more so. What is Zuo Zongtang's intention in arranging the appearance of this character?
To know the reason and significance behind this, we have to study the original text and find the connection from the context.
Bao Qin, Wen Li, Li Qi, Xing Xiuyan and others entered Jia Fu once, which happened in the forty-ninth chapter of the original text. What happened before that? That is, Xue Pan molested Liu Xianglian and was beaten, and then went out for entertainment, giving Xiangling a chance to enter the garden, so she had the opportunity to learn poetry from Xiangling.
As for Xiangling, there is a long comment on writing in the original text, which specifically tells the story that Cao Gong arranged Xiangling to enter the park, which can be traced back to Lai Shangrong's family banquet. Therefore, Zhi Yanzhai criticized that recalling Xiangling's going to the park was to write about A Dai's love mistake, and writing Lai Shangrong first because of A Dai's love mistake was very euphemistic.
That is to say, before this, Tso has been deliberately arranging Zhu Fang to enter the park, and to arrange these girls to enter the park, there must be a beginning and a plot to promote it. It's easy to understand when you look back at Baoqin's appearance.
Zuo Zongtang seems to want to arrange a big party in the Grand View Garden before the Red Chamber and Jiafu really fall, so he arranged a very reliable reason for every girl who entered Jiafu, either to get married in Beijing or to defect, so as to force these girls to enter Jiafu.
Zuo Zongtang's arrangement seems to be hasty, but it is an indispensable plot to link the past with the future, so Lu's poem festival is created, which is actually taking care of the context.
Why do you say it is to take care of the context? As we know, Baoyu once wandered in a dreamland. The burning incense in the dreamland was called "Xiangsui", his tea was "Thousand Red Cave (Crying)" and his wine was "Wan Yan Drinking the Same Cup (Sadness)". Will it be a strong shock to see the scene of flowers overflowing in the Grand View Garden?
If we think about the first time, "you said fat is thick and powder is fragrant?" Why is the temple frosted again? " Then contact Jia Rui with a fat comment from Jane: "The skull of a good educated youth is a masked man in the red building." Will it be more shocking?
Tso arranged for everyone to get together in the Grand View Garden, which was not so much "rich in powder and gas" as Hua Zhong's burial place. These girls we see are all illusions, and they are all "the remains of Qingling" in the future. Cao Gong introduced these girls to the Grand View Garden to bury their pre-marital youth.
Besides, we know that all the girls in the Grand View Garden have finally dispersed. This diaspora is not entirely caused by the decline of the Jia family. Like Shi Xiangyun, Xue Baoqin, Xing Xiuyan and Jia Yingchun, they all left the Grand View Garden because of their marriage, so that the Grand View Garden was finally lonely and deserted, without the excitement of the past.
So after Zhu Fang drifted away, Baoyu gave birth to infinite sadness, especially after copying the Grand View Garden, Qingwen died and Yingchun got married ... The departure of these girls constantly stimulated Baoyu and laid the groundwork for him to see through the world of mortals.
We can see that this period of time after Baoqin and others entered Jiafu was Fang Qun's last lively gathering, which was also a foreshadowing. We know that Cao Gong is best at hiding great sadness when he is happy. He took a romantic class, so we seem to have a lively gathering of flowers, Xue Luan's couplets, a treasure piano and snow ... This is a precursor to the spread of various fragrant flowers.
Of course, Cao Gong's arrangement for Baoqin's appearance also played an important role in promoting the development of the plot, especially Baoyu's marriage. We know that Baoyu's marriage has always been the focus of attention. Wang Xifeng was joking, Aunt Xue was joking, and the Taoist priest in Zhang Guan said he was near. ...
Before this, Jia Mu had never made clear Baoyu's marriage, but after Baoqin appeared, Jia Mu suddenly asked about Baoqin's fortune, which was actually a signal. It conveyed at least two messages: First, Jia Mu was going to kiss Baoyu; Second, it seems that Jia Mu did not choose Baochai.
No matter what Grandmother Jia thinks, this plot is an important foreshadowing of Baoyu's marriage. According to Zuo Zongtang's conception, it should have an important connection with the following plot, and Baoqin can't be "anticlimactic". It disappeared after such a period of time, and the following article should appear again.
Wen Li, Li Qi and Xing Xiuyan, who appeared at the same time as Bao Qin, generally can't write. There should be a text and an ending after 1980s, but unfortunately we can't see it.
To sum up, Baoqin's appearance is more to promote the plot. She is not only an unlucky girl, but also related to Baoyu's marriage. Her talent and appearance are comparable to Baochai's. So the unlucky girl in a dream of red mansions had a big party, which was the last happy time for all the women in the Grand View Garden. After that, their respective marriages moved, which opened the prelude to the separation of Zhu Fang.