Learning and excellence is the only way out for ancient Chinese scholars, but Dream of Red Mansions hates the imperial examination and scolds the imperial examination as a ghost. This is the position of people with lofty ideals like Gu Yanwu, who would rather starve to death than cooperate with the Qing court. Gu Yanwu scolded the surrender of the Manchus as "chaotic ministers and thieves".
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi, who was in the third major family of the early Qing Dynasty, criticized the scholars of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties for not caring about the rise and fall of the country. At the beginning of Dream of Red Mansions, the author was ashamed day and night because of "no material to make up for the sky". In other words, the author of Dream of Red Mansions wants to make up for the sky, but has no power to return to the sky. "Heaven and earth collapse" at that time referred to the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the fall of the country. For example, the national hero Xia Wanchun is self-sufficient"It's a shame to make up for it"。Shi Kefa called the fall of the Ming Dynasty "the collapse of the earth and the sky, and the withering of the mountains and the weeping". Feng Menglong said in "The Chronicle of Jiashen": "The change of Jiashen is the collapse of the sky and the earth."
Another example is "Concubine Ci", which is written about the story of King Heng's Mansion in Qingzhou, Shandong Province in the Ming Dynasty, and scolded the person who killed King Heng as a thief. Several Ming vassal kings such as King Heng were taken to Beijing by the Qing court to be killed. Therefore, Dream of Red Mansions scolded the Qing soldiers as thieves.
Another example is that there are thousands of slaves and maids in Jiafu. China abolished slavery during the Spring and Autumn Period, while the Mongols and Later Jin were still slaves before they invaded China. Therefore, both the Yuan and Qing dynasties practiced slavery and allowed slaves to be bought and sold. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that non-meritorious nobles were not allowed to raise slaves, and there should be no more than 20 people in the first grade, 12 people in the second grade, and no more than 8 people in the third grade.
During the Wanli period, it was stipulated that the commoners' homes were not allowed to keep slaves and maids, and violators would not only be punished, but also the slaves and maids would be restored to their personal freedom. Therefore, the people of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to buy and sell slaves and maids, so they called the purchase of slaves in disguise "recognition of the righteous son", the male slave called the "righteous man", and the * called the "righteous woman". Therefore, the slaves of the Ming Dynasty called the master father and mother, instead of calling the master the master and wife as in the dream of the Red Mansion. Dream of Red Mansions depicts thousands of slaves in Jiafu, which condemns the Manchu restoration of slavery.
Another example is the cloud of "Mocking Stone Poems": "White bones are like mountains and forget the surname, nothing more than a son and red makeup." The word "white bones like a mountain" in the book has nothing to do with the Cao family. There is no other explanation than to reflect the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Xing Fang, a relict of the Ming Dynasty, described the tragic scene of Yangzhou**: "The chaotic bones have abandoned the grass roots, and the yellow clouds are day and day. His "Boat Catcher" cloud: "The old man knows whether Xiang Guangzhong is or not, there should be no one to collect white bones." ”
Dream of Red Mansions scolded the "Hulu" such as the Dog Rong, the Xiongnu, and Yelu as "the trouble of China". In fact, the Jurchens were also Xiongnu. For example, Yue Fei wants to drink the blood of the Huns. The Manchus also married with the Mongols, and the Manchu emperors all had Mongol ancestry. And the Huns are the ancestors of the Mongols. Therefore, Dream of Red Mansions refers to Sang scolding Huai and scolding the Manchu Qing as "the plague of China".
The Dream of Red Mansions, "Burrowed Empty Hall", "Withered Grass and Withered Poplar", and "Spider Silk Full of Carved Beams" describe the vicissitudes of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the sorrow of the loss of the country.
Kong Shangren's "Peach Blossom Fan: Aftertaste" describes the scene of Nanjing after the fall of the Ming Dynasty in this way: "Passing by the filial piety tomb, I saw that the treasure city enjoyed the palace, and it became a field for herding. "The imperial city wall collapsed, and the ground was full of artemisia. "The long bridge is devoid of slabs, and there is a pile of rubble left in the old courtyard. "It's nothing more than a dry well and a nest, but some bricks and moss to build grass." Dream of Red Mansions and "Peach Blossom Fan" reflect the hatred of the country.
Yongzheng said, "My husband and my dynasty have inherited the mandate of heaven and are the masters of Chinese and foreign subjects." And Dream of Red Mansions says that "the winner is the king, and the loser is the villain", and the king is just a thief, not a destiny.
There are a lot of subtle words like this. Hu Shi said that Dream of Red Mansions is Cao Xueqin's family affair. But Dream of Red Mansions says that only the stone lion in front of the door of Jiafu is clean. How can anyone in the world say this about their own family. Cao Xueqin, who was researched by Hu Shi, has nothing to do with the Dream of Red Mansions. Red scholars rely on the Cao family's family lineage, and they go from side to side, misleading people's children.