As one of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Xue Baochai, in Dream of Red Mansions, how do you evaluate Xue Baochai? Some people like it and some don’t like it. Naturally, everyone has their own opinions and evaluations. For the near-perfect Xue Baochai, history is How to evaluate her? Why would such a perfect woman end up in tragedy? If you want to know more about the reason, please come and explain it below!
How to evaluate Xue Baochai, the "cold beauty" among the Twelve Beauties of Jinling?
There have always been different views on Xue Baochai. People who admired Xue Baochai vigorously suppressed Lin Daiyu and looked down upon her look of self-pity. Of course, people who liked Sister Lin also felt that Xue Baochai was a completely artificial "fake lady".
As one of the heroines of "A Dream of Red Mansions", Xue Baochai is talented, beautiful and elegant in manners. She is simply the representative of the "cold beauty" among the female models in the feudal era. As one of the few beauties in the Grand View Garden, she is dignified, steady, and open-minded, and is quite popular with Wang Xifeng, the head of the Jia family.
Actually, nowadays, no mother-in-law would reject a woman like Xue Baochai! Have both ability and political integrity, respect your elders, and most importantly, be able to take charge of the overall situation. A weak woman knows how to manage a huge family. What else do you ask for? If you want a virtuous wife, the Jia family should be satisfied!
In "A Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin used these short sentences to describe Xue Baochai, one of the twelve hairpins in Jinling: The child wears a honey-colored cotton jacket, a rose-purple gold and silver-colored mouse shoulder-to-shoulder jacket, and a sapphire-yellow silk cotton skirt. They are all the same color but not old. Her lips are red but not painted, her eyebrows are green but not painted, and her face is like a silver basin. , Eyes like water apricots. He is rarely taciturn, and people say he is a fool. He is calm at all times and remains humble."
. "It snows heavily in good years, and pearls are like earth and gold are like iron" is a poem used by Cao Xueqin to describe the Xue family, which makes people see the wealth of the Xue family at a glance. It stands to reason that Xue Baochai should be an aristocratic lady who lives a luxurious and leisurely life without any worries. However, Xue Baochai is a woman who dresses plainly and does not pay attention to wealth and leisure. She does not like extravagance and waste, and she never puts perfume on her clothes. She was born into wealth, but she was not obsessed with wealth, which gave her a different personality.
The first time I came into contact with Red Mansions was probably when I was in junior high school. I heard the teacher mention these four classics for the first time in Chinese class. At that time, I was still confused about Baochai's name. How could a girl have the character "Chai" in her name? A bit manly! Doubts are always doubts, but I didn’t delve into them because I thought no one was as entangled in these boring things as me.
After class, I went to the school library to borrow "A Dream of Red Mansions" and spent two weeks reading it. The intricate relationships between the characters and the delicate sister Lin in the book simply attract everyone's attention. Looking back now, there is so much content that I can’t remember it all at once. The only thing I clearly remember is the scene of Baochai's wedding, with red candles swaying and laughter. How lively this wedding was at the time, how lonely Baochai would be in the future. It was supposed to be Qin Se and Ming, but this was just a marriage created only for profit, which missed the happiness of two people's lives. Such a dignified and majestic woman did not find happiness. Although there is a gold lock on Baochai's body, engraved with the eight-character motto "Never leave, never give up, and you will live forever", it happens to be a pair with the "Don't lose, don't forget, immortality and longevity" engraved on the jade that Jia Baoyu carried with him. , there was a happy and great "gold and jade marriage" between Baochai and Baoyu, but they could not be as "never leave each other" as the words engraved on the lock, and the two finally failed to get married.
Having seen various images of Xue Baochai, it seems that I can see the shadow of Wang Xifeng in Baochai. Today's Baochai is probably the young Mrs. Wang! It's a pity that she is not as strong and courageous as Mrs. Wang. Without the support of a man, I can still live a wonderful life and dominate the palace. After marriage, she held a lifelong grudge against a man who didn't love her because of a wrong marriage.
What is so special about Xue Baochai
Cao Xueqin wrote "A Dream of Red Mansions" from the perspective of praising women, not to mention that it was Xue Baochai who was ranked alongside Lin Daiyu in the verdict. Strange woman". In fact, from the perspective of artistic creation, Xue Baochai is undoubtedly the most successfully created among the characters in "A Dream of Red Mansions". And its success lies in the versatility and complexity of the character.
I admit that Xue Baochai has many shortcomings, such as his "coldness" when resolving Jin Chuan's death for Mrs. Wang, and his overhearing the conversation between Hong Yu and Zhuo'er but blaming someone who was not present Lin Daiyu's "treacherousness", such as her "selfishness" when participating in the "Golden Marriage" conspiracy, etc.
But we must also realize that Xue Baochai also has more rare and valuable excellent qualities. Otherwise, according to Cao Xueqin's standards, she would not be tied for first place with Lin Daiyu. So, what are the extraordinary qualities of Xue Baochai?
The first is tolerance and tolerance. Whether facing Jia Baoyu's "gaffe", Lin Daiyu's "sarcasm", or the maid's "joke", Xue Baochai can take the overall situation into consideration, stop when enough is enough, be patient first, and never make the situation worse. It gets out of hand and embarrasses everyone.
This is undoubtedly what makes Xue Baochai different from others.
Second, it is outstanding talent. This point almost does not need to be discussed. Whether it is poetic talent, knowledge, cultivation or even eloquence, Xue Baochai is a "super first-class player" and is not inferior to Lin Daiyu.
Third, it is capable and shrewd. Everyone must still remember that Jia Mu asked Xichun to paint the Grand View Garden. This not only made Xichun sad, but also worried Baoyu and the sisters. When everyone was at a loss, Xue Baochai came up with a solution in an orderly manner. The orderliness in handling things, and the quality of not panicking when big things happen, really have the potential to make women not to be inferior to men.
Fourth, it is self-respect and self-love. This is the most critical point. We say that Xue Baochai's participation in the "Golden Marriage" conspiracy is a stain that is difficult to wash away. However, we should also see that she has obvious disgust in this conspiracy.
Just imagine, a girl who is no worse than Lin Daiyu also likes Jia Baoyu, and to some extent, the people who support her are more powerful. She can definitely "win without force", but she No, she understands the value of feelings. She knows how to cherish her own feelings and the feelings of others. How can one not love such a treasure?
Why does Xue Baochai have no friends? Just because I failed to help others without asking for anything in return
If I said "Xue Baochai has no friends" you would definitely not believe it. Because after Baochai entered the house, Cao Xueqin wrote: "Unexpectedly, a Xue Baochai suddenly came here. Although he was not much older, he had good character and beautiful appearance. Everyone said that he was not as good as Daiyu. But Baochai behaved badly. She is open-minded and adapts to the times. She is no more aloof and self-proclaimed than Daiyu. She has no eyes for the world, so she is deeply popular. Even the little girls are often close to Baochai. "Baochai has good appearance, good character, good temperament, and everything is good." , everyone is willing to get close to her, then she should have many friends! However, throughout the entire "Dream of Red Mansions", the sisters in Grand View Garden would rather go to Daiyu's place to play when they are lonely, but never go to Baochai's place to play .
So who is Baochai’s friend? For Baoyu, Baochai almost treats him as a child. Whenever he sees Baoyu, he will always advise him to work hard and make progress, which makes Baoyu very disgusted; for Daiyu, On the surface, Baochai is very polite and takes good care of her. Daiyu also regards Baochai as her sister and treats her heart and soul, but secretly Baochai is competing with Daiyu; Xiangyun is a die-hard fan of Baochai and says: "I think about it at home every day, among these sisters, none is better than Sister Bao." But what would such a good sister do to her? She moved out of the Grand View Garden without even saying hello, and she didn't care about Yun. My sister was not happy; we had agreed to enjoy the moon and write poems together during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but she was left alone. Therefore, Baochai doesn't have a single true friend. Baochai is good at everything, so why doesn’t she have true friends? Where did she fail?
First of all, Baochai failed in "helping others without asking for anything in return". Not asking for anything in return is certainly a beautiful trait. However, psychologist Homans once pointed out: "Interactions between people are essentially a kind of social exchange. This exchange follows the same principle as the exchange of goods in the market, that is, people all hope to gain something in their interactions." However, even if what you get is not less than what you give, if you get more than what you give, it will make people lose their psychological balance. "Baochai is a warm-hearted person, and she will help others when they are in trouble: She helped Shi Xiangyun hold a crab feast; she brought bird's nests to Daiyu; she secretly took out the cotton clothes that Xiuyan had pawned and returned them to her; after Baoyu was beaten, she brought medicine to treat injuries; Aunt Xue also brought fresh tricks to her Palace flowers are given to the girls in the garden. She helped others too much, but never asked for anything in return, and others had no chance to repay her. Therefore, as time goes by, everyone will stay away from this enthusiastic and good sister, just because they don't want to owe her too much.
Secondly, Baochai does not treat people sincerely. To make friends, you need to exchange sincerity for true feelings. Baochai's support for Daiyu, Xiangyun, and Xiuyan was just because they were relatively poor, out of pity for them, rather than sincere friendship. She is very close to Xi Ren and often helps him, but it is just for the purpose of forming a united front. There is a relationship of interest here, and it is definitely not friendship. Furthermore, Baochai has the same face and a standard smile to everyone, and it is impossible to tell who she likes and dislikes, who she is good with and who she is not good with. She seems to be a standard model, which undoubtedly widens the distance between others and her. Therefore, the people around her treated her with courtesy and respect, but they did not treat her sincerely. Daiyu is very different from Baochai in this aspect: if she is happy, she is happy, if she is unhappy, she is unhappy, and all her emotions are written on her face. Of course this will offend some people, but it can give people a sense of authenticity, so others are willing to associate with her. Xiangling came to her to learn poetry, Miaoyu and she were close friends, and Zijuan confided in her. When the sisters had free time, they met at the Xiaoxiang Pavilion for a small gathering. Everyone talked and laughed, and was very happy.
Bi Shumin once said: "If you have many friends, it is basically the same as having no friends." Baochai is such a person: on the surface, she seems to have many friends, but in fact she has no true friends. . So she was destined to stay alone in an empty room without a confidant around her.