Under the twinkling night sky, each star tells a different story in its own way. Tonight, I opened a yellowed book, Mr. Lu Xun's "Kong Yiji", which was already a vague chapter, but it still set off layers of waves in my heart. "I don't understand Kong Yiji when I am young, but I am already a person in the book when I read it".Now, have I seen my reflection in the book?
Standing in the rapidly changing 21st century, I try to call out the character in the corner of the old time in the agarwood of the old paper, Kong Yiji, a soul who is both familiar and strange.
Kong Yiji, a scholar who has no fame and only uses the three words "Shangda" to call himself a scholar. His image, like a vague back, hovers between the long river of history and the gap between reality. His posture of standing and drinking in a long robe reveals an indomitable but comical contradiction. It is this seemingly incongruous image that has become an indelible imprint in the hearts of countless readers who have read "Kong Yiji".
The gentleman is poor", Kong Yiji's life seems to have been annotated with these words. He believed in the holy scriptures engraved with every word; What he holds on to is that seemingly fragile but indestructible belief. But in the dilapidated tavern, the lonely shadow who pursues the gentleman's demeanor has become the object of ridicule of the world. The smile on his face, is it his helpless dress, or is it the unique self-esteem of a scholar?
Laughter, which emanates in various tones in the throats of different people. In the teahouse, the taunts of the Shortcoat Gang came in waves; The cold eyes of the long-shirted guests, the calculations of the shopkeepers, the pranks of the young men, and the childish hustle and bustle all constitute a "symphony" for Kong Yiji. And the most ironic thing is that in the face of such ridicule, Kong Yiji chose to accept it, accepting the bitterness that belongs to the residue of the old era.
Every "laugh" is not only a denial of his personality, but also a sober slap in the face, slapping on the face of every modern person who is still clinging to his ideals. The sorrow of the reader lies not only in poverty and ridicule, but also in the fact that the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting that he has persisted in all his life has become lonely in the end. In today's world, how many "Kong Yiji" are clinging to their seemingly outdated beliefs and ideals, but they are only exchanged for the cold eyes and ridicule of the world?
"Things are not people", who can assert that there is no shadow of us in the former Kong Yiji? The years go by, things go by, but the heart that sticks to the faith will never be extinguished, and it continues in everyone who is as attached to the inner world as Kong Yiji.
In the reflection of the contrast between the past and the present, we begin to examine ourselves. Do you go with the flow or forge ahead? Is it to compromise reality or to stick to ideals? Kong Yiji's shadow is unusually clear on every night thinking about the future. His experience is not only the sinking of a cultural symbol, but also the collective memory of an era and a class.
In this era, beggars may no longer want food but only money, and intellectuals, should they also learn to bend in the face of reality? The dilemma of the reader is obviously not a problem that can be completely solved by several generations. Poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, power cannot be bent, although fame will be passed down for generations, but Kong Yiji's experience may be eternal.
Walking back through the corridor of time, to the dim corner of the tavern, we saw the laughter of the "Shortcoat Gang", their sweat condensed into a sharp sneer: "You must have stolen something from someone else!" The water-like words flowed through Kong Yiji's cracked self-esteem. Yes, they are laborers, people who "can't take off their coarse cloth shirts at the moment", and their ridicule of Kong Yiji pierced the most sensitive dignity of a scholar like a needle.
The laughter here may have a little more envy and jealousy. They run around the world year after year, watching others become famous with their learning, and although they are unconvinced, they can only express their reverence and recognition for learning with ridicule. However, coincidentally, they never confide in those really high-ranking and powerful long-shirt patrons, and their jealousy and helplessness only choose to release on a "near-commoner" scholar like Kong Yiji.
And those "patrons of the long shirt", their laughter is calm and arrogant, they have money, some have status, and all this seems to have long since trumped a thousand words in a book in their eyes. They regard Kong Yi as fun, a momentary conversation, and a burst of scenery. What they are facing is no longer a physical person, but a carrier of extravagant sneer. In their hearts, they may have long regarded Kong Yiji as a relic of that fading era, just a springboard for them to show themselves.
When the tavern reverberated in the tavern about the shopkeeper's verbosity about "nineteen cents", that was the most practical stereotype for Kong Yiji. Although these cheongsam customers wear the same cheongsam, there is an invisible gap between them and Kong Yiji. Just like the boundary between inside and outside the store, the patron of the cheongsam can sit elegantly in the store, and only a character like Kong Yiji will stand outside the store, between dignity and humility, absurdly maintaining a so-called dignified posture.
Time is reincarnated, the vicissitudes of the world, but Kong Yiji's shadow seems to be trapped in that dusty moment, and the struggle has become a joke. From the threshold of Xianheng Hotel to the modern human heart, each of us will have a little shadow of Kong Yiji in the depths of our hearts. Embarrassment and self-esteem, poor and persistent, but still maintain a noble arrogance in the face of setbacks. This is Zhuang Zhou's dream-like existence, we are all playing our roles on this great and absurd stage, maybe embarrassed, maybe noble, or just like Kong Yiji, it seems desolate but with an inextinguishable light.
However, in the childish ridicule outside the tavern, we seem to be able to capture a more innocent and brutal contrast. The ignorance of the children simply sees Kong Yiji as part of their naïve game, rather than realizing that they are mocking the dignity of an intellectual who has read a lot of poetry and books. Still, from their point of view, perhaps Kong Yiji's stubbornness and persistence seem equally absurd and ridiculous. They have not yet understood the cruelty of society and the dignity of profession, but they have inadvertently participated in the ridicule and injustice of the world. This little episode reflects a top-down inculcation of values, a generational prejudice and ignorance that has been inadvertently passed on.
As the story unfolds, Kong Yiji's mirror image becomes clearer and clearer in everyone's hearts. Despite the ridicule of those around him, his respect and pursuit of knowledge remained unwavering. In the context of his time, he represented a cultural symbol that was both despised and precious. His plight is emblematic of the common plight of the scholars of that era, and the relentless destruction of their deep cultural roots by the larger social environment. From Kong Yiji, we seem to see the decline of an era, as well as the endless longing and sad endurance of the long-lost grace of the scholars in it.
Now, standing outside the tavern in Luzhen, if Kong Yiji is still there, how will he view the world? I can't help but think of the phrase "How much? Not much either. These are the words of Kong Yiji when he is playing with the children, and perhaps this is his happiest moment. Kong Yiji, a soul who is stubborn in his dreams and beliefs, a person who interprets life and dignity in his own way.
When we look back from the past to the present, we can't help but reflect on the enlightenment that Kong Yiji's experience has brought to modern people. In today's era of rapid development and fierce competition, the situation of intellectuals is not all smooth sailing. Although it is no longer the bitter reading of the snow and the fennel bean as a lonely sustenance, modern intellectuals are also faced with the dual challenges of self-worth and social recognition. They oscillate between seeking ancient wisdom and facing reality, trying to find their footing in contradictions.
In the dead of night, the pages are light, leaving behind always thinking and confused. At present, the world is surging like a tide, can we scholars still adhere to Kong Yiji's respect for knowledge and dedication to self-worth? Or, more deeply, how do we maintain that ancient and enduring wisdom in a rapidly changing world? Kong Yiji's image is like a mirror, allowing everyone to see their own shadow in it.