Among the 198 articles**, the most full of the spirit of the times are the emerging merchant class and the vibrant image of women. They have gone from the fringes and bottoms of society to the market stage. The kind, self-respecting, and righteous businessmen such as the oil seller, Xu Laofu, and Wen Ruoxu replaced the image that has always been scandalized and became the protagonists of the story. White Lady, Du Shi Niang, Xin Yaoqin, these beauties who plan for themselves have broken the same weak face of women. Businessmen and women make up the most iconic group portraits of the "Three Words and Two Shots". 
Event time. 
Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 19:00
Live streaming channels.
Keynote speaker.
Wang Xin, Professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of Chinese. He is mainly engaged in the research of ancient Chinese literature and Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. He has presided over a number of projects, such as the National Social Science Project, the Humanities and Social Sciences Project of the Ministry of Education, and the Beijing Social Science Major Project. He has published more than 40 academic articles in core journals such as "Literary Review", "Literary Research" and "Literary Heritage", and his academic monographs include "History and Narrative of the Script", "Three Words and Two Beats", "Research on the Cultural History of Liao Zhai Zhi", etc.
Wonderful book excerpts. Du Shi Niang and her treasure chestThe story of Du Shi Niang is the most vibrant one of the "Three Words". As mentioned earlier, "Three Words" and "Two Beats" have been lost in China, and the Ming and Qing dynasties have a short story in the Ming and Qing dynasties, relying on the selection of the old man holding the urn "Ancient Wonders" in the folk. "Du Shi Niang's Angry Sinking Treasure Chest" has been recited endlessly, and its popularity among the people is very high. From the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China to the founding of New China, Du Shi Niang in Peking Opera and Ping Opera were all very popular dramas among female audiences, and they became popular with many famous actors. Interestingly, the opera's treatment of grooming and throwing into the river is its most popular place. The large number of confessions and sensationalism are very much in line with the appetite of the women and children in the audience, just to accommodate the audience's aesthetic habits, the character of Du Shi Niang and her relationship with Li Jia are portrayed as a situation where women from good families who are dependent on men may be abandoned and insulted. This way of understanding is very simple and simple, and it also seems a bit vulgar. The Qing Dynasty plum window master made "Treasure Chest", which can be regarded as a representative of vulgar adaptation. There is no need to talk about the plot in the front, and the back is that Du Siniang was rescued after throwing herself into the river and lived in a nunnery. Liu Yuchun met Shi Niang on the way back to his hometown and took her back to Suzhou. Li Jia was robbed in Dongting Lake and lived alone in Suzhou, selling words in Xuanmiaoguan for a living. Liu Yuchun gave him a coil to let him go to Beijing to take the exam, and pretended to have a distant relative and wanted to give Li Jia as his wife. Li Jia was the top student in high school and sent a matchmaker to Suzhou to ask for relatives. After entering the cave room, he realized that the newcomer was Du Shi Niang, and Li Jia was surprised and delighted. Du Shi Niang ordered the maid to beat Li Jia violently and punish him for his luck, Li Jia begged hard, and the two reconciled as before. All the plots of joys and sorrows that have been used in "Three Words" are gathered here: the robbery and renunciation in "Suzhi County Luo Shirt Reunited", and the falling water and re-entering the cave room in "Jin Yu Slave Stick Beating Bo Qinglang", and even the plot of beating with a stick was dragged over. But the effect of adding here is negative, which is vulgar. An important reason why so many people like Du Shi Niang, and why some people have shed a few tears of sympathy for her misfortune from generation to generation, is that she is a perfect and holy artistic image that exists in the imagination. Morality, talent, and appearance are all so good that they are not flawed. In the relationship with Li Jia, he is also the party who has been hurt by no fault at all. People are prone to empathy for such characters, that is, they imagine themselves as perfect and noble characters like Du Shi Niang. When lamenting the misfortune and grievances of others, release your own trivial and depressed little grievances. Or rather, emotions are sublimated. It is also a matter of learning what kind of artistic image the recipient empathizes. Generally speaking, this character must naturally have truth, goodness, and beauty. You will imagine yourself as Sister Lin and Brother Bao, but it is unlikely that you will imagine yourself as Grandma Liu, although she is a working person;Similarly, the audience will feel that they are the Esmeralda on the screen, and no one will feel much like Quasimodo, the monster of the bell tower, despite his kindness. There are many successful female images in "Three Words". For example, Wang Sanqiao, Cai Ruihong, Oiran Lady, White Lady, Yutang Chun ......But none of them are as popular as Du Siniang, and they are not as shocking as her experience. In Du Siniang's tragedy, isn't the author's deep regret and grief pinned on this woman also imprinted with the author's projection on the characters?He wrote that woman's heart so noble, so holy, so persistently cast his fate on her love. Mr. He Manzi commented on the high degree of empathy of the author of the book in the character of Du Shi Niang. The script is adapted from Song Maocheng's "The Biography of Negative Love" in the Ming Dynasty. According to Song Maocheng, after he heard Du Shi Niang's story, he thought that her chastity surpassed the beauty of everyone in the boudoir, and he couldn't bear to be annihilated. Du Shi Niang, a female ghost who dreamed of "being sent to her voice", claimed that "shame makes the world know about this", and if Song Maocheng still wants to pass on her, he wants Song to "make a sick work". But after Song recovered from his illness, he hurriedly wrote a pen and sent a message to the girl, and wrote a small biography, if he continued to make trouble, he would be redone after crossing the river. As a result, within a few days, the Song family's ** Lu Tao fell into the river and died. Researchers often point out from the perspective of literary sociology, that this tragic ending ** is more real and profound than the romantic reunion ** seen in the Ming and Qing dynasties, revealing the true face of society and revealing the real living conditions and status of oppressed women in feudal society. From a sociological point of view, this judgment is understandable, but it does not seem to help explain the artistic appeal of the work itself. If the charm of art is affirmed from the truth of the state of existence expressed in the tragedy, then Qiao Yanjie's marriage to Zhou's concubine ("Qiao Yanjie's Concubine Breaks the Family"), Cai Ruihong has been repeatedly changed hands ("Cai Ruihong endures humiliation and revenge"), why did the inevitable doom of such low-level women not arouse people's stronger emotional reactions?For another example, people regard the creation of Du Shi Niang's glorious artistic image as the main artistic achievement. But as far as the creation of ** is concerned, even if the character is a tragic hero with noble sentiments and does not follow the customs, it is impossible to exist in isolation and in suspension. The success of Du Shi Niang's character creation lies in the narrator's deliberate integration of the expression of his personality traits with the process of plot development. In order to achieve this effect, the narrative subject uses a restrictive perspective that is relatively rare in Ming Dynasty texts. This kind of restrictive narrative is quite ingenious in the works with the artistic style of omniscient and all-powerful white drawing and realism. **The description of the relationship between Du Siniang and Li Jia used a large time span at the beginning, omitting scenes or details such as how the two met and fell in love. The narrator highlights Du Shi Niang's desire to "have a good ambition for a long time, and see that Li Gongzi is loyal and sincere and has a heart for him", and then there is a scene where she quarrels with the bustard's mother. In this scene, the characters' personalities are basically revealed by dialogue, but the narrator is afraid that the reader will not understand why the bustard's mother only asks Li Jia for 300 taels of silver, so he uses psychological observation to show her cunning. remained silent about Du Shi Niang's inner activities. In the subsequent development of the plot, the narrator has avoided making omniscient observations of Du Shi Niang's psychological activities. On the way to redeem himself and return to the south, the narrator's perspective and scope of perception are always to exclude the character's heart and intentions. One thing worth noting: in the process of redemption, the hint of the master-slave relationship between Li Jia and Du Shi Niang. The narrator has made very few changes to the original work, so the slight additions and deletions are quite noticeable. Before inserting the scene of Shi Niang and the bustard's mother arguing, the legendary author only outlined the relationship between the two, but the script said that Shi Niang had a good intention for a long time and had never had a favorite person, at this time Li Jia's appearance made her "very hearty for him", and "Li Gongzi was afraid of the master and did not dare to agree". Adding such a psychological description before redeeming oneself is bound to make readers have some associations: maybe Du Siniang was anxious to choose someone from the good side, and Li Jiazhi ran to borrow silver out of reluctance. Without Shi Niang's urging and encouragement, Li Jia's weakness and cowardice would not automatically bear moral responsibility. Although the narrator does not use more psychological observations and scene descriptions as foreshadowing, he directly puts the characters in the dramatic climax, so that their characters are expressed in the progress of the plot. However, the character is also the internal basis that drives the plot to the story. In the process of redemption, Du Siniang seemed proactive, she always gave spiritual and material help to Li Jia when he was cowardly and difficult, making Li Jia "frequently admitted". These actions show the courage and shrewdness of this character. However, while revealing the character's character through the side description of the relationship between the surrounding characters and the protagonist through the concession of the bustard's mother, Liu Yuchun was sincerely moved and finally willing to run for Li Jia, etc., the narrator also has reservations about the inner world of this character. Just as Du Shi Niang concealed her treasure chest and her deliberate plans from Li Jia, the restrictive perspective that the narrator obscures from the reader by avoiding the inner observation of the characters obscures this fact from the reader. Yuelang said: "The ten sisters are thousands of miles away from Langjun, and they are in their pockets, and we can't forget our feelings." Now with a thin balance, the ten sisters can be checked, or they can be empty for a long time, or they can be less helped. "After that, the order is from the person to the front of the gold stationery, the blockade is very solid, and I don't know what is in it. Shi Niang didn't look at it, nor did she shirk it, but she thanked her diligently. Du Siniang's concealment of her belongings from Li Jia was due to her vigilance and caution, just like Zhao Chun'er buried her belongings in the ground, intending to get a black yarn for Cao Kecheng ("Zhao Chun'er Regains Caojiazhuang"), Du Siniang's painstaking expression is not uncommon in works of the same theme. But the narrator takes a restrictive perspective narrative not in pursuit of a dramatic reversal of the plot. Before the plot reaches the drama, he has made a concise outline of the characters' personalities, and vaguely hints at the treasures of the treasure chest, these implicit narratives and hints are for the reversal of the storyline and the general outburst of the characters' emotions to pave and prepare. Here, the application of the restrictive perspective is not only for the needs of layout and narrative effect, but also for the means of shaping the characters. The two character traits that Du Shi Niang shows in the process of redemption are self-esteem and self-confidence, and through her quarrel with the bustard's mother and her control and domination of Li Jia, the reader has a full understanding of her fierceness. So when the cowardly and selfish Li Jia really betrayed Du Siniang (instead of Xie Xiaotao or Zhou's concubine) for fear of her father's life and a little bit of money, the character's strong and self-respecting personality was devastated far from being just a sense of tragedy caused by the common fate of people as a prostitute, but also her self-esteem, her conspiracy, and her self-confidence and dominance in the relationship with Li Jia, which were easily shattered and reversed by reality. is such a cowardly person as Li Jia, and as soon as her ears are soft, she will ruin the future she has been planning for so long!So when she heard Li Jia's negative heart, her hurt self-esteem suppressed her resentment and sorrow, and her fierceness and nobility were shown through the fierce actions of scolding Sun Fu and hugging and sinking. This scene is both the climax of the plot development and the most dramatic appearance of the characters' personalities. "What is it that the character is not the determining factor of the event?What is the explanation that the event is not a character?"The progress of the plot depends on the promotion of the characters' personalities, and the shaping of the characters is inseparable from the ups and downs of the plot. Du Shi Niang's treasure chest is not only a line of plot development, but also a part of his emotions and personality. In the climactic scene of the plot development, its appearance is not only a kind of narrative structure of "the discovery of facts leads to the reversal of fate", but also the sublimation and improvement of the protagonist's personality. It is the shocking power of the heroine's tragedy from her character that has become the artistic charm of the work. In this sense, the artistic achievement of the text of "Du Shi Niang's Angry Sinking Treasure Chest" is due to the narrator's narration skills and narrative structure on the one hand (and this technique and structure are more inherited from the existing methods in literary works, so this work is similar to literary language in terms of language and narrative mode, and is different from other scripts);On the other hand, the success of the characterization frees the storyline from the banal mode that similar genres are accustomed to. In terms of the structure of the story, the plot is quite simple and ordinary: a prostitute longs to live a normal life, and all she can hope for is to find a client with a good character, but no matter how they get along, such a union is a buying and selling relationship. If the client does not have the money for a while or regrets it, he can sell his position as a buyer to someone else. If the story were told by an early professional narrator who valued narrative value rather than character value, the heroine would have become Zhou's concubine or a restless little lady ("Zhicheng Zhang Director"), how tedious that plot would be!Therefore, if there is no successful shaping of Du Shi Niang's character, there would be no unique artistic achievement of this script. But we want to point out that the characterization of this ** is not separated from the backbone of plot development. On the contrary, because the narrative is less psychologically observed and descriptive, the characterization and plot narration are inextricably blended. Du Shi Niang's strong, self-esteem and self-confident personality and Li Jia's cowardly and selfish nature determine the inherent tension and imbalance in the relationship between the two. Although in most of the plots, people feel Du Shi Niang's domination and influence over Li Jia, but in terms of realistic social status, even if Li Jia swears and swears, even if Sun Fu is not inserted halfway, Shi Niang's self-esteem and authoritative status will be overturned. For example, Li Jia's strict father and his wife may put Shi Niang back in the status of a commodity. Therefore, the established quality and social status of the characters determine the development of the plot to the tragic ending, and the development of the plot and the transformation of the environment in turn affect and change the original intention of the characters. The appearance of Sun Fu led to Li Jia's betrayal, and Li Jia's betrayal made all the heroine's efforts and all business plans become a breakthrough for her emotional outburst. Everything is moving towards the ending indicated in the title, towards a scene that expresses the climax. There is not only the internal authenticity of the character development, but also the external logic of the plot development, and the authenticity of the two aspects of the character and the plot development has reached a perfect unity. Book Synopsis.
"Three Words and Two Beats" is an important collection of vernacular short stories in the history of Chinese literature, which is widely read by the public. It reflects the life outlook and thoughts and feelings of the citizen class in the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. "Three Words and Two Shots" has created literati, businessmen, monks and nuns, prostitutes and other characters of three religions and nine streams, including real historical figures such as Li Bai, Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo, etc., as well as fictional characters such as White Lady, Du Shi Niang, etc., reflecting the vitality of the public's ideology.
This book "Three Words and Two Beats: Fireworks and Customs of the Song and Ming Dynasties" from several perspectives such as "Song and Ming in the Script", "The World of Men and Women in Food", "Scribes and Articles", "The History of Characters in the Market", "Faith and Mentality in the Hustle and Bustle", etc., closely follows the original work, explores the highlights of these short stories, and reveals the rich fireworks and customs contained in it.
The author's writing is smooth and humorous, and the book is equipped with more than ten color illustrations.
Preliminary review of the manuscript: Zhou Bei.
Manuscript review: Zhang Yi.
Final review of the manuscript: Wang Qiuling.