I remember reading Mr. Qian Zhongshu’s The Siege once when I was very young, but at that time I only watched it briefly and couldn’t even remember the protagonists Fang Hongjian and Fang Jianhong. . This time I spent two days reading this book in one go. Although I didn't read it very carefully, I still had some insights and insights of my own.
As for the protagonist Fang Hongjian, in my opinion he is a smart person, but he is also a person without any opinion. He is hesitant about his feelings, life, career, etc. Here I want to find a new way to interpret this book through the four women Fang Hongjian experienced.
Indulgence of lust - Miss Bao
Miss Bao on the Vicomte de Belleron should be Fang Hongjian in the book The first woman I came into contact with was a very ambitious young man. The book describes him as: "He was a useless person who couldn't learn civil engineering. He transferred from the sociology department to the philosophy department in the university, and finally to the Chinese literature department. Graduation." As he neared graduation and still accomplished nothing, when his family asked him if he would get a doctorate and when he would return east, he scolded the doctorate title for being useless. However, he couldn't bear his father-in-law's investment, so he bought one from an Irishman out of desperation. Fake diplomas, as Mr. Qian Zhongshu said, "This diploma seems to have the function of the leaf on Adam and Eve's lower body, which can hide shame and hide one's ugliness; a small square of paper can cover up a person's emptiness, ignorance, and stupidity." Cover it all up."
Okay, let's go back to this Miss Bao. This Miss Bao is unwilling to compromise and become a free servant at home in order to go abroad. She was engaged to a man who was 12 years older than her. So what kind of role did Fang Hongjian play in Miss Bao's eyes? She didn't bother chatting with the Cantonese waiter in the third class cabin. She found it boring. She saw that Fang Hongjian was sitting in the second class, he was a decent person, and he could be regarded as a recreational companion during the trip. Fang Hongjian was just a companion for her to pass her boring time. I believe that during the time on the ship, including in the cabin, Miss Bao only had restless lust instead of love. When she was about to arrive in Hong Kong, Miss Bao also immediately distanced herself from Fang. Hongjian showed no signs of commemoration.
So what kind of role does Miss Bao play to Fang Hongjian in his eyes? As I said at the beginning, Fang Hongjian is a smart man. On the premise that he knew that Miss Bao had a fiancé, he accepted Miss Bao's "Hey! You and my fiancé look a lot like". All he had was It's just restless lust. To use the words of Fang Hongjian's old man, he said: "You are attracted by sex!" After seeing Miss Bao, she threw herself into the arms of her fiancé, a half-bald, dark fat man, without looking back. After graduation, he no longer had the slightest interest in Miss Bao.
Longing for Love - Su Wenwan
It was initially mentioned in the book that most of the people on board the Viscount Belagelon were professionals. A young man who has no place to live. But our Miss Su, who has a Ph.D. and a rich family background, is also on board. Why is this Miss Su rushing back to China in the summer? There is no specific explanation in the article. Then we don’t have to worry about it anymore. This should be what Mr. Qian did deliberately, otherwise there would be no subsequent plot.
Miss Su Wenwan is said to have pretty features in the article, and she is extremely well-dressed. Although she is not a beautiful lady, she can still be called a beauty, otherwise how could she be? She would make Zhao Xinmei wait hard for her. At first, Miss Su was very precious to her love, and she had a feeling of self-admiration. But after seeing Fang Hongjian and Miss Bao making love to each other, I felt uncomfortable.
After Miss Bao got off the boat, she immediately responded to Fang Hongjian's words, "I'm afraid I won't be lucky if I want to accompany you." She takes care of and accompanies Fang Hongjian like a little wife, which also frightens Fang Hongjian. What is the most famous sentence in the book? "Marriage is a besieged city. People outside the city want to get in, and people in the city want to get out." Fang Hongjian never wanted to enter this city, so he refused Miss Fang's request to be like a wife.
In fact, this is something I have never figured out. For Miss Su, her suitors include Cao Yuanlang and Zhao Xinmei. He was better than Fang Hongjian in academic qualifications and ability, but Miss Su only recognized Fang Hongjian.
This reminds me of a story in Maugham's short story, in which a bigamist commented on "old" virgins: Many of them have never experienced a man holding her waist and sitting together on a long street in the dark. What does it feel like on the bench? And Fang Hongjian did this for Su Wenwan. He brought her change and excitement. Miss Su was shelved, but Fang Hongjian came quietly, casting a ray of sunshine about love into her dry life. This is also I can think of why Miss Su loved Fang Hongjian with all her heart.
But novels are novels. Fang Hongjian brought Miss Su the experience of love. However, Fang Hongjian did not love Miss Su, but he did not know how to reject this hot love. Love is really "remaining chaotic without being cut and sorted out." When Miss Su said the words "Embrasse-moi!", Fang Hongjian still didn't know how to refuse, which eventually led to Miss Su giving up on him and Go ahead and curse
Naive and “alternative”-Tang Xiaofu
Among the women in the text, Tang Xiaofu must be an “alternative” "" role, her alternativeness is reflected in many aspects. The book says: "There are many urban girls who are already pretentious precocious women and cannot be considered children; there are many girls who are just chaotic and stubborn genderless children." , can’t even be called a woman.” And Miss Tang is a real girl, a rare thing in this materialistic modern civilized society. Whether it is appearance description or language, etc., it fully proves Mr. Qian Zhongshu’s understanding of this role. favorite.
I think Mr. Qian Zhongshu must have had a conflicted mentality about this role. When Tang Xiaofu knew about Fang Hongjian’s various unsavory past events, she flatly rejected Fang Hongjian. Gradually, she felt intolerable. She wanted Fang Hongjian to explain and quibble. But what kind of person was Fang Hongjian? As mentioned earlier, he was a person who was hesitant about his feelings or life. , he loved Tang Xiaofu deeply, but he left sadly instead of explaining anything. When Tang Xiaofu tried to save her, perhaps Mr. Qian Zhongshu made the right decision not to let Miss Tang enter the siege of marriage.
The "Women" of the Siege - Sun Roujia
The most exciting part of the book is that Fang Hongjian, Zhao Xinmei and other five people went to That journey was reported by Sanlv University. It was also at the beginning of the journey that Fang Hongjian met Sun Roujia, who had been entangled with him for the longest time.
Rou means softness in the dictionary, while Jia means approval. "Roujia" probably means approving of gentleness, but the character Sun Roujia is not in my mind. A great image for two reasons.
1. Sun Roujia is a little woman. She has made a man's "gentleness and virtuousness" towards women into a strategy. The description of her in the book begins when they first meet. "Miss Sun has a round face, with slight freckles on her old ivory cheeks. Her eyes are set too far apart, which often makes her look surprised. She is dressed very plainly. She dares not say a word for fear of being born, and her face keeps rolling. "This simple description is slightly ironic. It can be said that she is naive or pretending to be naive, but her family environment makes it impossible for her to remain naive. Her father is just a newspaper publisher. As an ordinary employee, coupled with the preference for sons over daughters at home, she had to be more scheming.
Zhao Xinmei said more than once that Sun Roujia was a very powerful and deep-hearted woman. There was a wonderful conversation in the siege: "People even talk about gossip." Miss Sun still said He lowered his head and lowered his voice. Hongjian was uneasy and pretended to be calm: "Let them talk, as long as you don't care, I'm not afraid." "Some bastard--I suspect it's Lu Zixiao--wrote an anonymous letter to dad, making--making you follow My rumor, dad wrote to ask -" This conversation can be said to be the best explanation of Sun Roujia's strategy of "Roujia". Fang Hongjian finally consciously walked into that trap until he became trapped in a cocoon and was trapped in " "Besieged City" is a dilemma.
2. Sun Roujia is the killer of male friendship. There is no such thing as male friendship in her siege. She requires Fang Hongjian to obey three virtues and four virtues like her aunt taught her uncle. , at this time Fang Hongjian was confused. He could not give up friendship or career because of marriage.
But Fang Hongjian's friendship and career also violated Sun Roujia's taboos. She was deeply influenced by her aunt and believed that male friendships were fake and nothing more than debauchery. In her career, she relied on her aunt's relationship to make more money than Fang Hongjian. Gradually, she became more confident in controlling the family's opinions.
Sun Roujia is a woman who lives in a "siege". Her circle is very small. She will get stage fright when meeting Su Wenwan and will control Fang Hongjian with scheming. But she She is also the richest female character in Siege, but unfortunately she is the last one. Many people compare Tang Xiaofu with her, which is actually not fair, because Tang Xiaofu is the author's favorite character, but Sun Roujia is not. From the beginning, Tang Xiaofu has been blessed with a large amount of resources. Sun Roujia can only rely on herself to fight for it bit by bit. They are not at the same starting point, so they cannot be compared at the same end point. Just like Qian Zhongshu's wife, Ms. Yang Jiang, said: "Even if Fang Hongjian and Tang Xiaofu are together, will the ending be happy? Not necessarily."
To be fair, Sun Roujia is an unpleasant woman, but she was very good to Fang Hongjian after marriage. If she were a man, then she must be a good husband, but it is a pity that she is a woman. Although Sun Roujia is annoying, we can understand her psychology. She was hesitant and uneasy in that era. She used her scheming to surround Fang Hongjian and was often afraid of losing her. When looking at Sun Roujia, maybe we should look at the real things around us. Girls, although they are not cute, it would be wrong to put all the responsibility on them.
Okay, let me briefly analyze the four women who appeared around Fang Hongjian, and then I will make a summary.
Miss Bao is a woman with indulgent passions who cannot bear a moment of loneliness. She is smart and scheming, but she also knows that she will never have love. Maybe she once She has longed for love, but she relied on eroticism and dignity to get the opportunity to go abroad. She will never change her heart, because she has no heart, and she will not have the opportunity to enter the "siege" of marriage. Can circle around the city wall.
Su Wenwan is a woman I can’t understand. Maybe she is just like Lu Xiaoman. She is a solitary and narcissistic person. She only loves herself from beginning to end, no matter it is She has never loved Fang Hongjian, Zhao Xinmei or Cao Yuanlang. She only cares about the feeling of a long-lost love. When she gets tired of this feeling, she will look for the next ray of sunshine of love again. She will not enter the "siege city" "Go inside, because if you go into the "siege city", she will be trapped in it and unable to extricate herself.
Tang Xiaofu is a rare thing in modern civilized society. She is a real girl, innocent and lively, but also because of the author's preference for her, she She will not enter the "siege city". Unlike Miss Bao and Su Wenwan, Tang Xiaofu may not be exposed to the concept of "siege city" at all under the arrangement of Mr. Qian Zhongshu.
Sun Roujia is a real but cute little woman. Her inferiority and hesitation also make her think that she is safe and content in the "siege". Everything can develop according to her expectations. She can fight for what she wants and not meet people she doesn't want to meet. She only needs to carefully manage her one-third of an acre of land. No Need to think about things outside the city.
Generally speaking, The Besieged City is a good book, a book that should be read at different ages. Each age group will have insights for each age group, and It seems to me that Mr. Qian Zhongshu was also a joker of that era. He also satirized many social phenomena, such as speaking with some awkward English, such as Chu Shenming claiming to be the founder of New Chinese Philosophy in thirty or forty letters. Founders, there are still many of these people in today’s society.
As a married person, Mr. Qian Zhongshu gave a statement that "marriage is a besieged city", which is slightly ironic. In my opinion, the besieged city is not It is not a love novel, its content is multi-faceted. As I said before, I just used four women to briefly interpret the siege in my eyes. At the moment, I just feel that the love and marriage in the book are It's not wrong, it's just that society at that time was wrong. At that time, many people had conservative ideas, and many people also had the idea of ??blindly worshiping foreigners and favoring foreigners. This led to many things that were not acceptable at the time, so there were people like Sun Roujia. Such insecure women have built sieges one after another. Maybe in 5 or 10 years, when I read this book again, I will have new insights and insights.