"In your eastern mansion, except for the two stone lions that are clean, I am afraid that even the kittens and puppies are not clean. After Liu Xianglian learned that Third Sister You had lived in Ning Mansion for a period of time, she immediately lost her balance and said that sentence.
Although Dongfu is known as Ningguofu, Liu Xianglian has a contemptuous attitude towards such a Guogong Mansion with a reputation for poetry? I'm afraid it has something to do with her scolding. In fact, as long as you have browsed "Dream of Red Mansions" a little, you can understand that Liu Xianglian's scolding is by no means exaggerated.
Is the situation in Ningfu really chaotic? In the second episode, Leng Zixing mentions Jia Jing, and he mentions that Jia Jing began to practice at a young age and handed over the family business to Jia Zhen. But because no one came to inquire, Jia Zhen not only refused to receive education, but also "completely changed the face of Ningfu", which is enough to prove that the chaos in Ningfu has long been a well-known thing. So, how did Jia Zhen succeed in completely subverting the Ning Mansion? Father-son gatherings, collective participation in gambling, celebrations, and Jiao Da's criticism of "raising a little brother-in-law" and "daughter-in-law climbing ashes".
Compared to the chaotic situation in the Ning Mansion, the Rongguo Mansion was more serious. Although Jia Yu and his son were deeply trapped in beauty, the two did not hurt each other, and Jia Yu even bought his concubine with money. Jia Lian was afraid that Wang Xifeng would not dare to take a concubine, so he spent most of his time looking for food outside, and always followed the principle of "you love me". The practice of gambling and binge drinking is truly unprecedented. In Jia Yu's family, Jia Zheng and Baoyu are two people with very different personalities: one seems old-fashioned and pedantic, the other hides the nature of a girl, and they have nothing to do with the word "chaos", so there is no need to go into details.
Considering that they were all members of the same family, both were nobles of the Dukes, and the daily interaction between the two houses was very frequent, why was there such a big difference in their cultural atmosphere? Could it be that there is any difference between the two governments in treating their relatives? In fact, we can see the reason for this by just one thing, and that is the difference in the behavior of the female dependents of the second government of Ningfu when they see a doctor.
In the forty-second episode, Jia's mother and Grandma Liu felt unwell after visiting the Grand View Garden, so everyone hurried to find a doctor. One day, someone came to report that the imperial doctor had arrived, so the old lady hurriedly invited Jia Mu to enter the tent and sit down. What kind of regulation is this? It turned out that medicine was very developed at that time, and doctors were named after the word "medicine", so the medical officer was also called "medical officer".The word "medicine" means to cover the face with medicine and cover up the disease with illness. In that historical period, there was a distinction between inside and outside in etiquette, and when women sought medical help from doctors, they were to be isolated using economic means to prevent their appearance from being noticed by men from outside. However, there was no such rule in medical technology at that time. Taking the Kangqian era as an example, the literati at that time, Fang Bao, described the scene of the imperial doctor diagnosing the pulse of his mother in the article "The Daoxi Brothers in April".
My mother was very ill, and the emperor very generously gave her a doctor. Every day, the doctor says, 'Be sure to check your face and check your pulse.' Only then can life be restored. 'My mother, Yu Bai. She said, 'I'm old, but I'm a woman. Can I get the doctor to see my face? ”
Even an elderly woman should not let other men see her face, which speaks volumes about the defenses between men and women in that era. However, Jia's mother was naturally cheerful and close, so she relied on her parents and did not put down the veil, but smiled and said, "I can't raise anything."
However, the young women in the Rong Mansion did not dare to be so willful when receiving medical treatment. Because they know that the reason for their illness is that they can't take medicine, they can only use some simple methods to **. For example, in the fifty-first episode, after Qingwen's body temperature rises, Baoyu invites Dr. Hu Yong to come for treatment, and when the doctor arrives at the scene, it is described in the text:
Here, all the maid rings had been avoided, and three or four old ladies had put down the bright red embroidered curtain on the warm pavilion, and Qingwen had stretched out her hand from the curtain alone.
Before the foreign man entered, even the maids avoided it, leaving only the old lady. Qingwen hid behind the veil, holding out only one of her hands. Her hand swayed gently like a small butterfly. What's even more interesting is that Qingwen's hands still have two fingernails dyed red by impatiens like onion pipes, and Dr. Hu Yong immediately turned his face when he saw it, not daring to look directly. All this makes people think that she is not very polite. In those days, people's etiquette was like this: women would follow etiquette to cover up their image, while men would actively avoid looking directly at women's images, even fearing that their nails would offend others.
When she was sixty-nine years old, Second Sister You felt unwell, and Jia Lian hurriedly sent someone to invite the imperial doctor to diagnose her pulse. Despite this, Second Sister You still sat behind the curtain and only stretched out one hand. After Dr. Hu Yong finished diagnosing the pulse, he still couldn't determine that it was Ximai. Under Jia Lian's questioning, she again asked for a hand to check the pulse, which is described in the text:
After hearing this, Hu Junrong once again ordered all the old wives to help check the situation. "I've been seeing it pretty clearly these days, right? Second Sister You had to stretch out her hand from the tent again.
Despite a half-day diagnosis, Dr. Hu Yong was still unsure whether he was pregnant, so he asked Jia Lian for help again
The doctor had to behave very bravely, and he needed to ask the grandmother to show her golden face a little, and the doctor would not dare to poison her after observing her complexion. This is an anecdote from the Rijia Mansion in "Dream of Red Mansions". Jia Lian had no choice but to order the tent to be lifted gently, and Second Sister You showed her face.
Even the pulse diagnosis has its limitations, and it seems very cautious to observe the face, but Jia Lian showed extreme reluctance.
This depicts the scene of women in the Rong Mansion seeing a doctor, strictly observing the boundaries between men and women, observing etiquette, and maintaining purity. In a sense, this medical treatment is a cultural phenomenon that embodies the ethical and moral concepts and value orientations of traditional society. But in Ningfu, their style of behavior is different.
After Qin Keqing fell ill, Jia Zhen specially invited the imperial doctor Zhang Youshi, and Jia Rong guided her into Qin Keqing's room. At this time, she no longer had the grace she used to have, her face was haggard, and her complexion was yellow. What's next? Jia Rong did not hesitate to bring Zhang Youshi into her interior and arranged for him to meet Qin Keqing. I saw that her face was yellow, her face was dark, and her breathing was very weak. Next is the **disease, mentioned in the article:
Therefore, the daughters-in-law of the family held up the big pillows and pulled up their sleeves for the Qin family, revealing her pulse. Then put your fingers between your fingers, feel the tips of your fingers, press the pulse, and then press the index and middle fingers of both hands into the palms of your hands, and then rub them repeatedly from left to right. The gentleman put his hand on the pulse of his right hand, adjusted his breathing, and calmly examined it carefully for about half a minute, and when he turned his left hand, it was the same.
When Qin Keqing carried out pulse diagnosis, he did not use a curtain as a shield, and even switched from his left hand to his right hand and his right hand to left and right when he was diagnosing his pulse. Compared with Second Sister You, she would quickly withdraw her hand after diagnosing her pulse, which made Qin Keqing's pulse diagnosis process seem very casual and did not hide it at all. What is interesting is that as Qin Keqing's spouse, Jia Rong has no reaction at all, which shows that her behavior is not just like this.
From the perspective of ** disease alone, Ningfu's behavior of "abolishing the system and abandoning rites" was caused by Jia Zhen. When Jia Zhen discussed with You Shi Qin Keqing's frequent change of clothes and following the etiquette of "women's appearance", although this was a natural behavior, Jia Zhen thought that it could be avoided. After Qin Keqing's death, Jia Zhen eagerly hoped that Sister Feng could assist in handling the funeral matters, ignoring all the female family members present, and rushed into the room, making the female family members in the room so frightened that they hurriedly avoided it. Act in this way, and you will find that there is no distinction between men and women in the Ning Mansion.
The men and men of Ningfu have no restraints every day, not only Jia Zhen does what he wants, but even the servants of Rongfu can spend a good time with Wan'er once they enter Ningfu; Jia Rui was only a problematic student, and although he was frightened by Sister Feng's majesty, in the Ning Mansion, he bravely took the initiative to talk to Sister Feng; As soon as Baoyu stepped into the Ning Mansion, she looked absent-minded because she was lying on her nephew's daughter-in-law's bed. All this is the result of hovering between "rites" and "law". A series of unpleasant events occurred in the Ning Mansion, although it seems like a coincidence, but going deeper, isn't it because of the lax etiquette of the Ning Mansion?