Some people think that "Dream of Red Mansions" is a secret history of the Qing court written in ciphers, and some people say that Cao Xueqin is just a homonym. The book is extremely sensitive because it involves real people and real events, and in order not to anger those in power, the author uses a code instead of a real person's name. Therefore, each name in "Dream of Red Mansions" has its own unique origin, and only Qing history experts can know a little bit about it. This literary masterpiece that has been passed down through the ages is not only full of the vicissitudes of the world, but also hides many unsolved mysteries.
But there is one thing that is the consensus in the industry: that is, Cao Xueqin sees people too thoroughly and human nature too thoroughly.
In order to interpret the classic "Dream of Red Mansions", I have devoted countless efforts to it. I once memorized the 1987 TV series backwards and re-read the original book countless times. I always keep in mind that I don't read incomplete books or read any sequels in order to maintain my own unique judgment of the work. In order to find more interpretations, I purchased Mr. Cai Danjun's "Dream of Red Mansions" course, and consulted the opinions of many red scholars. Even the mixed Zhihu and other online platforms, I have explored them one by one. Despite this, my understanding of "Dream of Red Mansions" is still like a blind man touching an elephant, and I only know half of it, and I can only interpret it by guessing. I know that this may be the norm. Because in the red academic world, everyone is often like this. The charm of literature lies in its endless space for imagination and interpretation. Unlike mathematics, physics and chemistry, which have precise answers, literature often does not have a definitive answer. There may be several accepted views on a question, each with its own specific truth. And your unique point of view, as long as it is reasonable, may also become a new academic enlightenment. If your views are accepted by the mainstream of the academic community, then you may become a distinguished scholar. However, it was only recently that I seemed to have a clearer and more intuitive understanding of Dream of Red Mansions. This idea does not originate from the opinions of any expert or scholar, but from real life experience and perception. At this moment, I realized that I didn't know much about "Dream of Red Mansions" before, because my understanding of real life is still shallow. My insight, analysis, and cognition of life need to be improved. After graduating, I was ignorant of the coldness of society and blindly endured pain, but I didn't understand why society is like this. Then, I tried to understand my own life, understand the thoughts of others, and gradually interpret the world, and then I also read "Dream of Red Mansions". "Dream of Red Mansions" clearly depicts the various human natures of various characters. In essence, human nature is desire. The pursuit of human desire is based on a genetic instinct that no one is exempt from. The "good and evil" mentioned in the opening chapter are human desires. In order to achieve their own desires, everyone will do everything they can, even by unscrupulous means. This explains why there is a subtle evil aura in each person, which is a shortcoming that they create in order to satisfy their desires. People often say that Baochai is hypocritical, but her hypocrisy stems from assisting the Xue family in dealing with complex kinship relationships. Although the Xue family has a lot of wealth, the family's power is gradually declining, so it needs to rely on the help of the Jia family. Baochai shoulders the heavy responsibility of socializing, and strives to make everyone like her, so as to deepen the relationship between relatives and strengthen the relationship between the two families of Xue Jia. To achieve this, she always pays attention to the feelings of others and says good things. However, does she really think that everyone is so good?Of course not. Who doesn't have a few bored people in their hearts?And who wants to ignore their feelings all the time?Therefore, Baochai's high emotional intelligence remarks are sometimes nothing more than her fabrication, which makes us think she is hypocritical. Daiyu, who is often referred to as "mean", does not derive from malice, but from her dedication to freedom. She longs for an unrestrained and chic life, and hopes to be a person who expresses herself straightforwardly and loves and hates. She doesn't want to take into account the feelings of others, she just wants to express her truest self, and she doesn't want to suppress her inner emotions. Take the incident of Zhou Rui's family sending palace flowers as an example, people have quarreled about it for hundreds of years. Some people think that Daiyu's reaction is a tantrum attack, while others think that she shouldn't have lost her temper, but what's the point of such endless arguments?In fact, people who really understand Daiyu will not care about whether Zhou Rui's family is rude, what matters is Daiyu's inner thoughts. Her inner monologue goes like this: "I don't care how you send it, that's your business." Anyway, I, Lin Daiyu, just see that you are unhappy, and I want to scare you, and I have to hold back if I don't accept you. You can send it to whoever you like in the end, anyway, this person can't be me Lin Daiyu, do you hear clearly?"I knew it could be a trivial matter, I knew I could handle it in a tactful way, and I knew how the so-called high EQ practices should work, but Daiyu wasn't happy. She can do whatever she wants, and if she has the ability, she will come and fight with me. It's a pity that there are many Daiyu fans in the world who don't know Lin Daiyu. Lin Daiyu is so arrogant and arrogant, I just like her energy. I also like girls with Lin Daiyu's personality in real life, my best friend is this kind of character, I have been with her for ten years, and the more she scolds me, the more comfortable I am. I'm a masochist, I like this kind of character, you can not like it, that's your freedom. Lin Daiyu doesn't care if you like it or not. Therefore, if you are a real Daiyu fan, then don't bother with the incident of sending palace flowers, and you don't need to find countless reasons to save Daiyu's dignity, because Lin Daiyu doesn't care. The idol himself doesn't care, so what's the point of your behavior?Wouldn't that be a snake to add to it?In this world, we can roughly divide the crowd into two categories: one is the pursuit of material desires from the outside world, such as the pursuit of money, status, and fame;The other is a person who pursues his own inner desires, such as the pursuit of dignity, love, and morality. The first group of people, who crave material things from the outside world, are destined to deal with social interactions. Because these substances are obtained from social interactions, such as money. In order to be loved by others, they need to disguise themselves and let more people help them and give for themselves. They need to make those people like themselves and make those people feel that their interests are aligned. How do they do it?They disguise themselves with words. So, for this type of people, language is a tool for disguise. Their words can only show their purpose, and their actions are their true attitude. And the second type of people, what they pursue does not need the cooperation of the people around them, they only need to look inward. They don't think about the feelings of others because, in their opinion, the feelings of others have nothing to do with their desires. They laugh when they want to, cry when they want to, and say whatever they think in their hearts. They just need to build intimacy with people who are really compatible with them, and for those who don't agree with them, they will think that it will only drag them down. Therefore, they will express themselves authentically, which in turn can sift through the people around them. These two types of characters seem to be the two poles of the world, each with its own characteristics, each interpreting its own life. They each have their own colors on the world stage, making the world more colorful because of their existence. For the second group, language is the embodiment of emotions. Whatever they think in their hearts, they will express it. Their language is only used to show their emotions and has nothing to do with anything else in the outside world. Why do I know so well?Because I used to be the second type myself, and now I have changed to the first type. Lin Daiyu has arrogant capital, and I don't, I can only adapt to this society, and I can't treat money like dung. I have observed many of these two types of people in my life.
In "Dream of Red Mansions", there are many variants of these two types of people. Because these variants are in different social classes, they pursue different things, so their personalities are slightly different. For example, attacking people pursues status, and Qingwen pursues dignity. Neither of these people actually wants to be a maid, but the attacker thinks that if he becomes an aunt and has the status of half a master, he can get rid of the status of a maid;And Qingwen thinks that the most shameful thing about being a maid is that she has no dignity, and being an aunt is also undignified. Therefore, she put on the style of a young lady to fight against her identity as a maid.
Baochai pursues the glory of the family, and Daiyu pursues love. Because they are young ladies, the lifelong pursuit of the maids is at their fingertips, so they will pursue things that are more difficult to obtain, and this is what makes them different.
In addition, there are several varieties of hairpin. If a person like Daiyu makes a play, there are two possibilities, either Fang Guan or Ling Guan. Because the identity of the drama will completely deprive them of the qualification to pursue their desires inwardly, Fang Guan's carbon-explosive character has gone to the road of hating society. Because society deprived her of all hope, she began to take revenge on society at every opportunity. Ling Guan resisted the identity of the drama on a small scale, and then gained a small range of freedom, but this resistance was completely a grasshopper shaking the tree. To put it bluntly, others are willing to get used to you because you are young and beautiful, which does not change the fact that you are slaughtered by others under the status of senior officials.
There is also Xiangling, her inner world is like a delicate piece of jasper, and the emotions in her heart are flowing like flowing water. However, she chose to isolate herself from the outside world in order to protect herself from harm. In this lonely castle, she can stretch her desires to her heart's content, but the ruthlessness of fate still makes her feel helpless and confused. Yuan Chun and Ping'er, they are the kind of characters who are thoughtful and do what they say. Every sentence has to be carefully considered in their minds before they are spoken, and this rigorous attitude makes them comfortable navigating complex interpersonal relationships. In order to find a balance between Sister Feng and Jia Lian, Ping'er had to lie to cover up the truth of some things. Her acting skills are breathtaking, and she is worthy of the title of People's Performing Artist. And Yuan Chun, her crying is always suppressed, and she has to forcibly hold back her tears even when she is sad, because she is a member of the royal family, and her every move is strictly restricted and judged. There are also some women, they are a combination of Baochai and Daiyu, and Qin Keqing is one of the representatives. She is torn between the pursuit of power and love, but also wants to maintain her moral dignity. If she only pursues money and power, then she needs to put aside her emotional morality and act entirely for profit. However, she couldn't let go of her feelings and dignity for Jia Zhen, so she felt endless pain in her relationship with Jia Zhen. Eventually, when Ningfu's reputation gradually deteriorated, she was overwhelmed and chose to commit suicide. Therefore, Cao Xueqin once commented that Qin Keqing is "deep in love with the sky and the sea", and her emotions are too rich. This kind of "love" does not only refer to love, but covers all kinds of desires in human nature. Qin Keqing's desires are too much, causing her obsession to be deep and inseparable, so she is easily in trouble and unable to extricate herself. It is not uncommon for such people in life to crave money but can't let go of their bodies, and in the end they can only endure pain. The same is true for Qin Keqing, after she died, she realized that many of the things she pursued were actually meaningless, so she warned her not to covet wealth and glory when she gave her a dream to Sister Feng, and to plan early. Sister Feng is a character who is integrated with hairpins and dais, her desires are endlessly inflated, hypocritical to the extreme, and true to the extreme. Qin Keqing is only a part of the contradiction of hairpin, while Wang Xifeng is an extreme mixture of the contradiction of hairpin. Baochai will pretend to cover up, but Sister Feng can be full of lies. Baochai is just worried about the fate of the family, but Wang Xifeng can ignore the future of the family to collect money like crazy. Daiyu just spoke bluntly when she was upset, but Wang Xifeng would scold directly. Daiyu only pursues spiritual love, but Wang Xifeng's exclusivity for love is very extreme. Wang Xifeng can switch between two faces smoothly, but you know that both faces are real Wang Xifeng. In short, to gain insight into the characters in Dream of the Red Chamber, one must first understand their desires. All the behaviors of these characters stem from the pursuit of desire, and as long as we grasp their desires, we can follow the vine, interpret all their psychological activities, and also be able to deeply understand the essence of "Dream of Red Mansions".
The same applies to real life. Despite the fact that there are as many as 7 billion human beings, everyone has their own desires. We should not imagine others as the great good people of Our Lady, but we should be soberly aware that human beings are objective facts with desires. Others are good to you because you can help them fulfill their desires;It's bad for you because you are in conflict with his desires. If you want someone to do things for you, you have to find a way to cater to their desires. We should not live in an ivory tower, let alone think that everyone should be kind to you. Kindness is accidental, while humanity is inevitable. Only by accepting and understanding this can we truly integrate into the world.