"A Dream of Red Mansions" is the only ancient Chinese novel with a profound sense of confession. Cao Xueqin permeates confessional emotions through his characters, tragic stories, metaphors in plot arrangements, and the voice of the narrator. . Since the publication of the novel, there have been numerous studies and criticisms. However, only a few such as Wang Guowei and Lu Xun really have their own reading experience and academic discoveries. Their criticism can grasp the tragic nature of "A Dream of Red Mansions", and this grasp is based on a profound understanding of what makes literature literature. This article intends to discuss the issue of confessional consciousness in "A Dream of Red Mansions" based on their criticism. This is not only because there are not many people involved in this issue compared to the complicated research on redness, but more importantly, it can explain the key points of the touching and aesthetic charm of this immortal novel. It would be impossible to fully discuss "A Dream of Red Mansions" without talking about its "criminal structure" and its sense of repentance. Therefore, this article will start from this key point to give a new explanation of the artistic value of this great novel.
1. Tragedy and the "criminal structure"
In the past hundred years, it was Wang Guowei who had the deepest and most thorough understanding of the tragedy of "A Dream of Red Mansions". In other words, in the history of "Dream of Red Mansions" research in the 20th century, no one has surpassed Wang Guowei in his interpretation of the tragedy of "Dream of Red Mansions". This profoundness is concentrated on one point, which is that it reveals that the cause of the tragedy of "A Dream of Red Mansions" is not caused by a few "snake-scorpion people", that is, it is not caused by a few villains, villains, and bad people, nor is it caused by "blind fate" , but the result of the position and relationship of the characters in the play. He said:
The book "Dream of Red Mansions" is a complete tragedy. ... According to Schopenhauer, there are three kinds of tragedy
in tragedy: The first kind of tragedy is caused by extremely evil people and extremely evil people
Ability is constructed by interaction. The second type is those who are blind to fate. The third type of tragedy is unavoidable due to the position and relationship of the characters in the play. Snakes are not necessary
The nature of scorpions is subject to unexpected changes, but forced by ordinary people and ordinary circumstances,
it has to be the case. They clearly know the harm, give it to them and accept it, each exerting his own strength
and not taking any blame. This kind of tragedy is far more touching than the first two. Why? He shows life
The greatest misfortune is not an exception, but is inherent in life. As for the tragedies of the first two types,
we shudder at the viper characters and blind fate. However, because it is rare, I still believe that I can avoid it in my life, and there is no need to seek a place to rest. But in the third category,
those who see such extraordinary power that can destroy the well-being of life must not fall in front of me
from time to time. Moreover, such cruel deeds can not only be done to oneself at any time, but can also be inflicted on others. Bow
Ding Qi is cool, but there is no injustice to complain about. This can be said to be the most miserable thing in the world. If "A Dream of Red Mansions",
is the third type of tragedy. I would like to talk about Baoyu and Daiyu. Mother Jia loves Baochai
and punishes Daiyu for being withdrawn. She also believes in the heresy of Jinyu and thinks about Baoyu's illness. Wang
My wife is closely related to the Xue family; Sister Feng, for the sake of running the household, is afraid of Daiyu’s talent and is worried that it will be inconvenient for her.
Also; the incident of attacking people and punishing the second sister You and Xiangling has been heard. Daiyu's words "Either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind" (Chapter 81), she is afraid of disaster and agrees with Sister Feng,
also The trend of nature. Baoyu swears by Daiyu, but cannot say it to the one she loves most
Grandma Yuan, ordinary morality dictates that Daiyu is a woman! For various reasons,
With the combination of gold and jade, how can there be a snake or scorpion character, and extraordinary changes occur in it? It's just ordinary morality, ordinary human feelings, and ordinary circumstances. From this point of view, "A Dream of Red Mansions" can be described as a tragedy among tragedies.
Wang Guowei's discussion, except that Wang Xifeng's statement about Lin Daiyu's talent is questionable, the general idea is very insightful. He is full of insight and insight and reveals that the tragedy of "Dream of Red Mansions" is the result of homosexual relations, that is, "complicit crime", that is, the result of the characters related to Lin Daiyu entering the "communist structure". What caused Bao Dai's love tragedy and even Lin Daiyu's death were not a few "snake and scorpion people", but Jia's mother, who had the closest relationship with Lin Daiyu and even loved Lin Daiyu the most. Even Jia Baoyu also participated in the creation of the tragedy.
In other words, from Xi Ren and Wang Xifeng to Jia Mu and Jia Baoyu, they are all the conspirators to cause the tragedy of Lin Daiyu's death. No one can be found here who is the murderer of Lin Daiyu, nor can a certain murderer be punished, but people will find many "innocent murderers", including Jia Baoyu, who is also one of the "innocent sinners". The so-called "innocent" refers to sins that have no secular or legal meaning; the so-called "guilty" refers to sins that have moral significance and conscience. The consciousness of repentance is the answer to "innocent sins" and "** Comprehension and recognition of "the same crime". It was precisely this sin that Jia Baoyu fully realized and finally bid farewell to his parents' home. Wang Guowei said that Jia Baoyu originally vowed to Lin Daiyu, but when Jia's mother decided to have a "good match", he could not refuse and resist his grandmother who loved him most. Obeying his grandmother and following "filial piety", he is not guilty in the secular sense and even in the traditional cultural sense. However, he is guilty of conscience sin for Lin Daiyu. If Jia Baoyu's love for Lin Daiyu is thorough, then, His conscientious concern for Lin Daiyu should be reflected in his conscience rejection at this moment. But his failure to reject Jia Mu was a betrayal of Lin Daiyu's guilt. The profound spiritual connotation of literary works. The tragedy caused by the "position and relationship of the characters in the play" as Wang Guowei said can be completely translated as the tragedy of the characters in the play committing crimes
***Same. The reason why crime is an innocent crime is that this kind of crime is not a deliberate crime, but a natural crime, that is, a crime caused by "normal morality, normal human nature, and normal circumstances". It can also be said to be an unconscious crime. . Both hold ordinary morals and ordinary human nature. Therefore, the sinner who commits this crime also complies with the law of sufficient reason, that is, his crime is not "impossible". Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu are of the same temperament. Mu, Baochai, Sister Feng, Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang, Xiren, etc. are all members of the famous religion. The conflict between them is that they act based on their own beliefs. There is nothing good or bad about their actions. "Zhuangzi said. "Zhi Tong Yi Yi" explains the trend of "nature", which means that the road is made by people, and the names of things are named by people. There are reasons why it is possible, and there are reasons why it is not possible; there is There is no reason why it is not. There is a reason why it is. There is a reason why it is not. There is a reason why it is not. There is a reason why it is not. . Everything has its own place, everything has its own place, nothing is not, nothing is not, so the grass and the big trees, the ugly women and the beautiful Xi Shi, and everything weird. All things can be integrated into one. All things have their parts and must be accomplished. Therefore, all things are not completed or destroyed when viewed as a whole. They all return to a whole. Zhuangzi said, "Only the wise know that everything is one." The truly profound tragedy is that both parties in the conflict have their own reasons. In line with the law of sufficient reason, that is to say, they all confirm this "unity" principle to varying degrees. This aesthetic principle is put in the interpretation of "Dream of Red Mansions", that is to say, Lin Daiyu's free temperament has no "". "It is not allowed"; and Xue Baochai followed the famous teachings, and Jia Mu and Jia Zheng maintained the famous teachings. It is completely futile to ask the right and wrong and find out who is the murderer. The greatness of "Dream of Red Mansions" is precisely It transcends the worldly standards of right and wrong, karma and retribution, promotion of good and punishment of evil, etc. in interpersonal relationships, and reaches the supreme aesthetics of unity, no right and no wrong, no truth, no falsehood, no good, no evil, no cause and no effect. realm, thereby forming an artistic freedom that is different from the traditional Chinese opera novel model.
In the history of criticism of "Dream of Red Mansions", there has been endless debate about the praise and criticism of Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. Of course, from a spiritual perspective, Jia Baoyu, the personification of Cao Xueqin, the author of "A Dream of Red Mansions" in his work, loves Lin Daiyu more. However, in the love tragedy that constitutes Jia Lin, we see that both Lin and Xue represent the antinomies in love tragedy. Lin and Xue are not divided into good and evil, but two ends of the paradox of love. If Lin and Xue are really representatives of good and evil, then Jia Baoyu does not need to be so hesitant and hesitant. As long as he is a hero who eliminates evil and promotes good, he can resolve all disputes and contradictions and achieve a happy and happy marriage. Happy reunion. However, it is precisely the paradox represented by the two beautiful women. They each have their own reasons for being cute, which makes Jia Baoyu's heart full of tension and division. In the end, they both failed their deep love and suffered double sin. Therefore, the conflict between Lin and Xue can also be regarded as the paradox of Jia Baoyu’s soul and even the paradox of Cao Xueqin’s soul.
We can also understand Wang Guowei’s theory of tragedy with the help of Hegel’s famous thesis on tragedy. In terms of philosophical system, Wang Guowei used Schopenhauer's theory of will, not Hegel's theory of absolute ideals. But in terms of tragic aesthetics, the two have some similarities. In Hegel's Theory of Tragedy, abstract ethical forces are differentiated into different characters and their purposes, leading to different actions and opposing conflicts, denying the ideal peaceful unity. Conflict must be resolved, and this resolution is the negation of negation. The conflict denies the peaceful unity of ideas, and the final solution of the tragedy denies the one-sidedness of both parties to the conflict. The actual outcome is the tragic character's destruction or resignation, which is "reconciliation."
Regarding the issue of the culpability of tragic characters, Hegel believes that in terms of their adherence to ethical ideals, they are not guilty, but in terms of their adherence to only one-sided reasons and therefore wrong ideals, they are Guilty. Starting from his general philosophical formula of "positive, negative, and combination", Hegel believed that the tragic ending destroyed individual characters who insisted on one-sided ethical power, thus restoring the inherent power of ethical power. This is the victory of reason or eternal justice. , so it evokes not sadness but wonder and purification of the soul in the audience. This tragic "union" of rational victory is actually a kind of spiritual reunion of rationality. It cannot explain the most profound tragedy in the history of human literature, nor can it explain "Dream of Red Mansions". However, when elaborating on the conflict between the "good" and "anti" sides in the tragedy, he emphasized that the two parties in the conflict are not the polar opposites of good and evil. On the contrary, both sides have reasons to defend themselves. After explaining that the cause of tragedy is the differentiation of ethical forces into different characters and their purposes, resulting in different actions and conflicts, he made the following judgment:
The basic tragedy here lies in this Each of the opposing sides in the conflict has its own justifications, while at the same time the true content of the purpose and character that each side asserts is not It can only deny or destroy the other party who also has defences. Thus, both sides uphold an ethical ideal
and fall into sin by realizing it.
This means that the two opposing parties each have their own reasons for their actions. However, both opposing parties must insist on their own one-sided ethical positions and must deny the other to affirm themselves, so they are both guilty. What Hegel discussed was the antinomy of character tragedy: both sides of the opposition have reasons, but neither side can grasp the "degree" of the relationship, thus causing the breakdown and tragedy of the relationship. The tragedy caused by the positions and relationships of characters mentioned by Wang Guowei is consistent with Hegel's discussion. Therefore, the tragedies caused by evil people and the tragedies caused by blind fate that Wang Guowei criticized had already been criticized by Hegel. Hegel believed:
There is only one way out of the outcome of a tragic dispute: the defense of the two parties fighting against each other
Although the rationale was maintained, the one-sidedness of their dispute was eliminated.
And the undisturbed inner harmony, that is, the same for all the gods represented by the chorus
The world situation in which the sacrifices can be safely shared is restored. Real development consists only in
the negation of opposites as opposites, in the reconciliation of the different ethical forces on which those actions which sought to negate the other
in the conflict were based. Only in this case, the final outcome of the tragedy is not disaster and pain but spiritual comfort, because only in this ending, the experience of individual characters Only then did the necessity appear as absolute rationality, and the mood truly reached peace from an ethical point of view
This mood was originally shocked by the fate of the hero, but now it has changed from
Reconciliation has been achieved on the subject. Only by firmly grasping this point of view can we understand Greek tragedy. Therefore, we should not understand this ending as a simple moral result that good will be rewarded and evil will be rewarded with evil, as the saying goes
"Sin is vomiting, and morality is feasting." The issue here is definitely not how to view good and evil in terms of the subjective aspects of one's own personality, but rather how if the conflict is fully developed, people will realize that each other The two fighting forces achieved a definite reconciliation, and both parties still maintained their original value or effectiveness. The inevitability of this ending
is not a blind fate, that is, the kind of incomprehensible master of destiny without
rationality that ancient people often mentioned; Rationality...
Hegel confirmed: First, the ending of tragedy should not be a simple moral result of eliminating evil and promoting good (the first type of tragedy mentioned by Wang Guowei is this result) : Second, the ending of tragedy should not be the result of blind fate (the second type of tragedy mentioned by Wang Guowei). These two points are obviously connected with Wang Guowei's theory of tragedy. However, Hegel believes that the ending of tragedy should be "the negation of opposites as opposites" (negation of negation). This is the recognition that all existence is reasonable. The so-called harmony means the temporary suspension of the rationality of existence.
Hegel's absolute affirmation of the rationality of existence can explain Greek tragedy, but it cannot fully explain "Dream of Red Mansions". "Dream of Red Mansions" is the same as Greek tragedy. It is not the result of the author (who reflects his own personality) judging good and evil, nor is it the result of blind fate. It allows both sides to have reasons to defend themselves, and also writes the "characteristics" of both sides. "One-sidedness", however, Cao Xueqin gave different weights to the one-sidedness of both sides, mentally supported the one-sidedness of one side, and sympathized with the destruction of this side's one-sidedness.
The tragedy cannot be completely "reconciled" in the end, cannot fully affirm the original moral order, and cannot affirm the rationality of real existence. On the contrary, its irreconcilable ending denies the rationality of existence, thus causing shock and sadness to readers. This judgment can also be explained from the perspective of rationality premises. That is to say, Cao Xueqin confirmed that under the cultural premise of traditional Chinese concepts, the choices of both parties in the tragic conflict are reasonable, but under the premise of respecting the human nature of true feelings in the world, the choice of Jia Mu's side is unreasonable. Here, Cao Xueqin does not admit that everything that exists (the environmental order and concept existence of both parties in the conflict) is reasonable, and only confirms that everything that exists in line with human nature is reasonable. Because of this difference, the entire book "A Dream of Red Mansions" shows a human orientation and spiritual orientation that is different from traditional Confucian values, making the overall effect of the tragedy an affirmation of human beings - the liberation and love of human nature. The affirmation of freedom. "A Dream of Red Mansions" actually contains the basic content of centuries of Western Renaissance, and its spiritual connotation is enough to become a banner for the dignity and liberation of individual life in China.