About the author Zhao Xinfang, whose pen name is Zhao Shi, has been engaged in various types of work and various enterprise management jobs. The novels, essays, poems, and children's songs published in recent years are scattered on the Internet and in local newspapers and periodicals. Member of Chongqing Nan'an District Writers Association.
This article is published with the authorization of the author
Xiang Ling, the first and last "wonderful woman" to appear in Cao Xueqin's "Dream of Red Mansions", had a rough life, and many people criticized her. After research, the author will make a rough analysis here to explore why Cao Xueqin named Xiangling three times.
("The Legend of Daiyu" Xiangling and the 1987 version of Xiangling) (1) Before entering the Grand View Garden, Xiangling was seriously injured when she was young
Xiangling's original name was Zhen Yinglian, and she was born in Gu. Su comes from a prominent family. His mother is Feng and his father is Zhen Shiyin. The couple, now fifty years old, have no children and only one daughter. Yinglian was "born with pink make-up and jade, and she is so well-behaved and happy", and the two elders loved her very much.
Unfortunately, during the Lantern Festival when she was five years old, Zhen Shiyin asked her family member Huo Qi to take her to see the lanterns. In the middle of the night, Huo Qiyin, a family member, put Yinglian on the threshold of a house because he had urinate. When he came back, there was no sign of her. The whole family searched everywhere, but there was no news. Yinglian was abducted by human traffickers and moved to another country.
On March 15th of that year, the Calabash Temple caught fire and burned Zhen's house into a field of rubble. Zhen Shiyin had no choice but to convert the farm into a house and move with his wife to his father-in-law's house. These unfortunate encounters one after another gave Yinglian's fate as a child a tragic color.
When I learned about Yinglian again from the book, she was raised in a secluded place by a trafficker and recognized the trafficker as her biological father. When she was 12 years old, she was already pretty. The trafficker lied to her that her father wanted to sell her because he had no money to pay off his debts. At this time, there happened to be a local Feng Yuan. His parents died young, he had no brothers, and he had a small income. He took a fancy to this girl and decided to buy her as a concubine. He swore not to marry her again and agreed to marry her in three days.
Little did they know that the traffickers sold Yinglian to Xue Pan, the "stupid overlord" of the Xue family, who had "a good year of heavy snow" on the second day, intending to "marry one woman twice" to collect double the money and abscond.
How can Feng Yuan and Xue Pan accept this account?
The two families teamed up to catch the trafficker and beat him to death. However, both families only wanted people and refused to take back the money, so they "joined forces" and became rivals again. Relying on their strength in numbers, the Xue family beat Feng Yuan until one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. Feng Yuan only carried Feng Yuan home. He died in three days.
Xue Pan dragged Yinglian back home. Later, Xue Pan's sister Xue Baochai changed its name to Xiangling. Xiangling was originally Aunt Xue's girl, but Xue Pan didn't approve of it and often had trouble with Aunt Xue. In the end, the Xue family held a banquet and officially accepted Xiangling as Xue Pan's concubine. (2) Xiangling felt happy after entering the Grand View Garden, but it was more humiliating. In the end, Xiang Ling returned to her hometown
Sister-in-law Xue Baochai was generally very kind to Xiangling and brought her to play in the Grand View Garden. Then he had the opportunity to get to know the girls, and was fortunate enough to learn poetry from Daiyu as his teacher. Xiangling was originally a smart person. Although she failed several times, she finally succeeded. The poems I got in the dream were "The essence is concealed by the material, but the shadow is from the beauty, and the soul is cold" and "Won Chang'e to ask, why don't we reunite forever", which won the praise of everyone and was added as a member of the "Begonia Poetry Society".
The author believes that if a person can learn knowledge and be treated equally, he will be happy.
But Xiangling was more humiliated. I won't talk about the general things, but let's talk about how Xue Pan's eldest wife Xia Jingui tortured her. Xue Pan went out to do business and met the Xia family, an old relative of the family. This Xia family was also a royal merchant, supplying potted plants for the palace and growing many osmanthus. They were known as the Osmanthus Xia family. The old lady of the Xia family liked Xue Pan and asked her daughter Xia Jingui to come out to meet her. Xue Pan fell in love with the beautiful Xia Jingui. Before Xia Jingui came to the future, although Xiangling had the misfortune of being a concubine, she still lived a relatively happy and simple life.
This Xia Jingui, although she looks like a willow or a flower on the outside, is like a wind and thunder in her heart. Because Xiangling was a concubine taken by the Xue family before she entered the house, she deliberately punished Xiangling. First, Xiang Ling was ordered to sleep with her, but Xiang Ling refused. Jin Gui said that she was too dirty and was afraid of sleeping with her at night; soon after, she pretended to be sick, saying that it was because of Xiang Ling's smell. Jin Gui made a paper man himself and instigated Xue Pan. Xue Pan didn't care about anything, grabbed the door bolt and beat Xiang Ling.
Xiang Ling was tortured both mentally and physically.
Xia Jingui is a self-centered person, and he often dislikes Xue Baochai, but Xue Baochai can adapt his brain and speak, and will use words to suppress him at critical moments, leaving him no chance to take advantage of him. Xia Jingui was "a leper looking for an itchy place to rub", so he took Xiangling as an excuse and changed his name to "Qiuling".
God will complain on behalf of others, but Jin Gui self-defeated and fell into the conspiracy of his own design and was poisoned. Xiangling lifted the taboo and became his wife. This was another important turning point in Xiangling's fate, but it came too late. Because of the catastrophe and misfortune in life, especially after being removed from Xue Pan's house, I can't help but feel sad about the moon, sigh to myself with the light of day burning, anger hurts the liver, and is overwhelmed internally and externally, resulting in xerospermia... (3) Why did Cao Xueqin create the character Xiangling in the book and named her three times?
The author believes that the author Cao Da has two meanings:
First, to enrich the book The character image creates another type of woman. It can be said that there are two completely different main female images in "A Dream of Red Mansions": one type, such as Daiyu, Miaoyu, Qingwen, etc., has a cold and arrogant personality; the other type, such as Xiren, Baochai, etc., has sophistication and sophistication. When Cao Xueqin portrayed Xiangling, she did not use these two types, but instead portrayed her as a naive, pure, gentle, and lovable woman. Although Xiangling encountered bad luck and suffered many hardships, she was still innocent and innocent, without any scheming. She always faced everything in the world with a smile, sticking to her gentle and dedicated character. Just like Xue Pan was beaten half to death while looking for flowers and willows outside, Xiang Ling was heartbroken and cried until her eyes were red and swollen, sacrificing her precious infatuation. In a word, Cao Xueqin deliberately planted a faintly fragrant water chestnut in the grand view garden, which is full of purples and reds and has many towering trees, which serves as the icing on the cake.
Secondly, writer Cao Da arranged to change the name of this unlucky girl, which has a deep meaning. Xiangling's real name is "Zhen Yinglian", and she can be regarded as a lady. Zhi Pi pointed out that Zhen Yinglian refers to "Zhen Ying Lian", which alludes to the fact that she was later sold and taken as Xue Pan's concubine. This is well known. After arriving at Xue's house, Xue Baochai named her "Xiang Ling", using Xu Hun's poem "The water chestnut flowers bloom and have a faint fragrance". After entering the Grand View Garden, I learned poetry from Daiyu. During this period, I really received "pity" from everyone. After Xia Jingui changed her name to Qiuling, the homophonic pronunciation became "please for mercy", which alluded to the sharp deterioration of Xiang Ling's situation. She asked for mercy but received no mercy, and finally "caused Xiang Ling's soul to return to her hometown."
Writer Cao Da is using this to express his feelings.