-Analysis of Xue Baochai's Character Image
In A Dream of Red Mansions, there are two beauties: an isolated forest outside the world and crystal snow in the mountains. The beauty of Daiyu is a perceptual and poetic existence, while the beauty of Baochai is a rational and secular existence. For a long time, among the many characters with distinctive personalities portrayed in A Dream of Red Mansions, Baochai is undoubtedly the most difficult to define, and people cannot simply classify her as a "good person" or a "bad person". She is both "heartless" and "touching". From the perspective of "human", she abides by her recognized morality, beliefs and ideals and lives with the times. As far as artistic charm is concerned, the versatility of her personality has caused endless debates and become a classic in the history of literature. From the ideological point of view, the image of Baochai undoubtedly plays an important role in the expression of the theme of the work. Baochai's moving side represents the appearance of "warmth" and "beauty" of feudal ethics, which is very attractive. But readers can understand the essence of the so-called secular ideal through Baoyu's respect for her from intimacy to abandonment. Behind the dazzling appearance, it is so vulgar and cold.
The sixty-third time in A Dream of Red Mansions, "Shouyihong Fang Qun gave a banquet" is quite intriguing. When drawing lots for flower names, Daiyu got a lotus sign, also called Lotus. Baochai drew a peony flower sign, and the poem said, "Let no one move." Why did the author choose these two kinds of flowers for comparison? We can find the answer from the far-reaching "Love Lotus" written by Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty: "The world loves peony very much, and it doesn't touch the mud of loving lotus alone ... Peony is also full of flowers; Lotus, the gentleman of flowers. ..... lotus love, who is the giver; The love of peony is suitable for all ages. " This contrast between lotus and peony is in line with the author's rebellious heart towards secular ideals. Baochai represented the highly respected "virtue" of that era. She was widely praised, just as people's love for peony was "suitable for all ages". However, the author is dismissive of this. He only loves the true colors of hibiscus flowers. Therefore, it is undoubtedly of great significance for the author to put aside many poems praising peony and single out the only poem in the whole Tang Dynasty saying that peony is heartless with Baochai.
First, Baochai's "move"
Daiyu and Baochai are undoubtedly the best in China and the United States in the Grand View Garden. Compared with Daiyu's "being attacked by a charming girl", Baochai's health beauty is slightly better. Her face is like a silver basin, her eyes are like water apricots, her lips are not sharp but red, and her eyebrows are not painted green. She is more charming than Daiyu. No wonder Baoyu's soul is free from the body because of her white and crisp arm, and she is ridiculed by Daiyu as a "foolish goose". Cao Xueqin expressed Baochai's beauty as a graceful and refined beauty. According to Confucian aesthetic standards, this beauty represents a gentle and sincere personality ideal. "Proud without arguing, not for party member" is in line with her "quiet and motionless" character.
In terms of talent, she is also comparable to Daiyu. Daiyu is an energetic "immortal" and Baochai is a "generalist". She is proficient in classics and history and has a wide range of poems and songs. Even the Romance of the West Chamber and the Pipa are "hundred-yuan households". She can casually say the words "gloomy, elegant in Suzhou and elegant in manners" in Preface to Poems of Tang Dynasty, and she can fluently say the words "Zhu Wen Ji" when it comes to managing money. In addition, she is also very familiar with painting theory and proficient in talking about pigment painting tools; I know a lot about medical pharmacology, and my experience is very reasonable. Even I know the meditation machine like the back of my hand. I can say anything. Such outstanding talent adds elegant and intellectual charm to her "moving" strength.
However, talent and appearance are not the most touching places for Baochai. What Cao Xueqin wants to show is this woman's "good character" and her "practical feelings". In this respect, the wayward and rebellious Daiyu is unattainable. As the old saying goes, "When you please, you will be proud", but Baochai can have the best of both worlds, and even the Jia family says that she is good. Even the author who loves Yu couldn't help but send her a sentence: "Don't complain about the east wind." Daiyu indulged in the unique feelings of boudoir intellectuals, wrote poems and painted pictures, and indulged in emotions, which naturally released her spirit. Baochai, on the other hand, upholds secular rationality, abides by feudal women's virtue, almost abandons personal feelings and pursuits, devotes herself to maintaining the orthodox style of aristocratic women in feudal times, and gradually realizes the life ideal of "good wind will send me to Qingyun": a husband has the talent to govern the country, and a wife has the virtue to stop working. This is also the highest life ideal of women in feudal times. All the humanistic qualities of Baochai are obviously utilitarian because of this ultimate ideal, which completely covers up the vitality and spirituality that a pure girl should have. But in the eyes of the rulers, Baochai's character is the most pleasing and moving.
Second, Baochai's ruthlessness
In A Dream of Red Mansions, Daiyu is the most emotional figure. She is beyond worldly life and only lives poetically. However, Baochai is the most rational person. She lives in reality and tries to be a "person" instead of a "poem". Rational calmness not only makes Baochai stand out in the lively and fragrant Grand View Garden and become a "good role", but also makes her take on a "heartless" color.
Baochai's ruthlessness is first manifested in her feelings. On the thirty-fourth visit, I went to see Baoyu, who had been anointed, and quickly said, "I won't even listen to a word today. Don't say that the old lady's wife is distressed, even if we read it, our hearts will be--"We just said half a sentence and were busy swallowing it. We regret speaking in a hurry and blushing unconsciously. This description is the most vivid. Baochai is, after all, a girl who loves spring, but her education and acting philosophy forced her to hide her natural emotional desire deeply. But the deepest feelings in the subconscious can't be resisted by strict ethics and strict self-discipline, so on some occasions, Baochai's true feelings will be inadvertently revealed. Of course, this "gaffe" will soon be discovered and stopped by her deep-rooted reason. She is used to "playing dumb" and "shaking her head when asked, it's none of her business and she doesn't open her mouth". She would rather lose her natural nature and turn herself into a "wooden beauty" who can pitch at any time and follow the crowd. It is no longer a "heartless" load to destroy one's heart and abandon one's sex and lose oneself. It is not only the sorrow of her personal personality, but also the sorrow of the whole mankind at that time.
In dealing with people, Baochai's calmness and reason are also amazing. "Shrew", like Mrs. Wang, is still uneasy about forcing Kim to die; The unscrupulous "Xue nerd" is also sad for his friend's "cold reception". However, Baochai, who is young and energetic, reacted very calmly to these two things. She didn't show any human pity and sympathy, only thinking about how to comfort Mrs. Wang and how to settle the family with her brother. Outside Didi Cuiting, she came out of the disaster with the tactic of "golden cicada shelling", but at the expense of innocent Daiyu, which made Daiyu even more unpopular among servants. If it is excusable to be wise to protect oneself, this kind of selfish behavior has completely exposed the hypocritical and cold shadow of her human nature. The "perfect personality" expected by feudal ethics and her own pursuit, under the delicious coat of self-deception, can not cover up the pitiful and despicable essence.
Even when dealing with the most affectionate personal feelings, Baochai can be "ruthless". Her life is not for love, but for an ideal marriage. Therefore, in the confrontation between reason and emotion, she can always hide her emotions under reason, showing a "ruthless" style. She knows the world clearly. She has seen the love between Baodai, but she can still ignore it. It is true that she often squeezes out Daiyu skillfully, but more for the benefit. In that vigorous farce of cheating on marriage, she asked her parents to dress her in a wedding dress without making a sound. Even when she is Baoyu's lawful wife, Baoyu is known to miss Daiyu, and all she can think about is how to restore his normal mind, gain fame, and let her get the happy ending she dreams of. However, Baoyu is deeply rooted. "Facing the sky, the mountains are crystal clear and snowy, which I will never forget. It is a lonely forest in the world. " Losing the last comfort of life, he finally escaped from the world of mortals. Leaving Baochai alone, savoring the desolation of "the marriage of gold and jade is always sad, and the harp is always missed".
Third, the comparison between Baochai and Daiyu and Xifeng.
In the Grand View Garden, the most "touched" person is Chai Dai. Baochai's beauty makes people naturally compare her with Daiyu, but her ruthlessness is different from Daiyu. If Lin Daiyu embodies Cao Xueqin's spiritual ideal pursuit, Xue Baochai is the embodiment of her secular ideal. In this way, we can understand that Baoyu loves Daiyu and it is inevitable to marry Baochai. The contradiction between the two personalities actually reflects the author's inner hesitation. On the one hand, he rebelled against the class he came from and the moral concepts represented by this class. On the other hand, he is not without nostalgia for this class. He can't decide whether to go forward or backward. Only when he finally got away from Baochai's gentle hometown could his ideal finally sublimate. Therefore, the image of Baochai plays a more important role than that of Daiyu in deepening the ideological significance of the works. In other words, the more attractive Baochai is, the greater the ideological significance of Baoyu's final choice of Daiyu.
Baochai's management ability and calculation of her hometown will remind people of Wang Xifeng. But what distinguishes Baochai from Wang Xifeng is her "movement". What makes Baochai's image more attractive is that her coldness is not as naked as Wang Xifeng's, and her coldness and snobbery are perfectly hidden in the elegance of a good family. Therefore, although she and Wang Xifeng have many essential similarities, no one in Jia's family has ever compared them. Growing up in a similar family environment, Baochai, like Xifeng, developed the habit of careful calculation. And search's vision is obviously much more short-sighted, giving people a bad impression of eating people and not spitting bones, and planting a curse for themselves. Baochai knows "small favors". She can not only guarantee the interests of the rulers, but also make the people up and down "cheer for joy". This exquisite skill is the concrete manifestation of Baochai's ruthlessness.
A Dream of Red Mansions mourns the golden jade. As a believer and follower of traditional morality, Baochai tried her best to show her life value and pursue her ideal marriage life, but in the end it was difficult to get rid of the net and become a martyr of ethics and morality. Xue Baochai's tragedy is the tragedy of the whole era: she abides by the creed of feudal ethics, but she still inevitably becomes a victim of ethics. This is a contradiction between a spent force and the glory of the last days, which reflects the confusion and difficulties of people in the historical transition period. If we can't find a suitable lifestyle and behavior standard, we can't get rid of the tragic ending of fate.