Keywords: Study on Lin Daiyu in the Century Dream of Red Mansions
It has been nearly two and a half centuries since the birth of A Dream of Red Mansions, and people have evaluated Lin Daiyu for more than two hundred years, but there is still no consensus on the essential characteristics of Lin Daiyu's image. According to the author's incomplete statistics, there are more than 300 monographs on Lin Daiyu in the 20th century, not including the works related to this image. The purpose of this paper is to make a summary of these research results, in order to make a general comb of the main vein of Lin Daiyu's comments.
The general process of character analysis in China's classical novels is three stages: realistic moral and ethical evaluation, typical literary criticism and cultural aesthetic exploration. Lin Daiyu's comments in the 20th century also went through such a process. It can be divided into three stages in time: from the beginning of 20th century to the end of 40s, from 1950s to 1970s, and from the beginning of 1980s to the end of 20th century.
Realistic moral and ethical judgment
A Study of Lin Daiyu in the First Half of the 20th Century
In the first 50 years of the 20th century, most commentators put Lin Daiyu on the balance of moral articles and drew some valuable conclusions.
Wang Guowei's A Dream of Red Mansions was published in 1904 (the 30th year of Guangxu), which was the beginning of the study of a dream of red mansions in the 20th century. It discusses the love tragedy between Lin Daiyu and Baoyu: "Let's talk about Baoyu and Daiyu first: the grandmother loves Baochai's kindness, punishes Daiyu's loneliness, believes in the heresy of Jinyu, and wants to suppress Baoyu's illness;" Mrs. Wang is firmly attached to Xue Fengjie's housekeeping, so she is afraid that Daiyu is talented and inconvenient for herself. When xiren punished Second Sister You and Xiangling, she heard Daiyu's words (the eighty-first time): "East wind will crush west wind, or west wind will crush east wind". She was afraid of disaster and it was natural to be with Xifeng. Baoyu's promise to Daiyu, not his favorite grandmother, is based on universal morality, and Daiyu is a woman! Because of these reasons, gold and jade are combined, wood and stone are separated, and there are snakes and scorpions and extraordinary changes? However, the usual morality, the usual human feelings, and the usual situation are nothing more than this. " According to Wang Guowei, Lin Daiyu's personality, background and moral factors at that time doomed her tragedy to be inevitable.
In the early years of the Republic of China, a powerful faction-Suoyin School was formed in the study of A Dream of Red Mansions. Its representatives are Wang, Shen Ping-an, Cai Yuanpei, Deng,. Their purpose is to seek the "skill" or "subtle meaning" hidden in the novel, while the essence is to seek some historical figures alluded to in A Dream of Red Mansions. Wang and Shen Ping's Dream of Red Mansions (published by 19 16) thinks that Dream of Red Mansions was written by Dong E Fei, the ancestor of Qing Dynasty, and Lin Daiyu was Dong E Fei Dong Xiaowan. Cai Yuanpei 19 17 published The Story of the Stone, which holds that "Lin Daiyu is the shadow of Zhu Zhu An" and "Zhu Jiang is the shadow of her family, and she lives in Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Her name is Zhu Zhu An. Bamboo was born in Xiushui, so crimson pearl grass was born on the bank of Linghe River. " Deng Kuangyan's Interpretation of a Dream of Red Mansions (published by 19 19) agrees that Lin Daiyu is Dong Xiaowan. He said: "Baoyu, Daiyu, Empress and Concubine in the book." (Back to the 22nd session of Interpretation of Truth) But he also said that Lin Daiyu wrote Fu Cha, the Queen of Qianlong. "Cao Shi Lin Daiyu is not him. After the original match of Qianlong, he was promoted by Zheng Fujin and later died as the filial piety queen Fu Cha. " The second time was contradictory, saying that Lin Daiyu was none other than Fang Bao. Lin Daiyu mixed it with courtiers and Fang Bao. Also, Gao Ling also; Crimson pearl, fairy grass, dew and tears. One and two, two and one. "("The Truth "II) Lin Daiyu suddenly became Dong Xiaowan, Fu Chashi and Fang Bao. Looking at the research of Lin Daiyu by Suoyin School, it is not only far-fetched, but also self-contradictory.
Yu Pingbo's Dream of Red Mansions was published in 1923. In the article "The Author's Attitude", he compared the original work and put forward the famous viewpoint that "if the two peaks confront each other and the two waters diverge, each is extremely wonderful, making the situation prosperous and the article wonderful", that is, "Chai Dai is one." Although the theory of "the combination of women and clothing" existed as early as the publication of A Dream of Red Mansions, and Geng always criticized "two women and jade, one person", Mr. Yu Pingbo was the first scholar who explicitly put forward the theory of "the combination of women and clothing" in modern times. His evaluation of Lin Daiyu is no longer limited to the scope of a single person, nor to the ethical judgment of the characters. From then on, Lin Daiyu's comments began the process of literary evaluation and aesthetic evaluation.
On May 24th, 1935, Peiping Morning Post published the article "Lin Daiyu" by Li. Li believes that "Lin Daiyu's outlook on life is exactly the same as Baoyu's, seeking only one love. It doesn't matter whether the rich or the poor rise or fall. " He said that Lin Daiyu "lost her mother when she was young, then her father", and the living environment where she lived as a stranger "cultivated her sadness", and this special environment formed by the appearance of Xue Baochai caused her "jealousy". "In the history of China literature, there are two typical figures of jealousy, one is Pan Jinlian and the other is Lin Daiyu; However, if we compare, we can find that the former is bourgeois and rude, while the latter is gentleman and elegant. " In his analysis, Li talked about the reasons for the formation of some of Lin Daiyu's personality characteristics, which is reasonable, but he summarized Lin Daiyu's personality image as a word "jealousy", but it was very one-sided
1944 No 1, No.2, Modern Women Publish Lin Daiyu's Infatuation and Daiyu's Death. He said in Love with Lin Daiyu, "This girl found the conflict between man and heaven, and she was helpless. But feelings don't allow her to give in. She insists on monopolizing Baoyu, that is, using her life to fight against the golden jade marriage that day. So she listened at any time, whose footsteps approached Baoyu; Watch at any time, to whom Baoyu's heart is beating. Her soul is always in tension and surprise. However, the poet's girl knows neither the environment nor the strategy and tactics. Her only ability is to inadvertently stab the enemy with sharp words and hurt the neutral, so as to alert the enemy and make herself isolated. The keener her nerves are, the stronger her enemy's feelings are, the more isolated her position is, and the more imaginary enemies she has. She has to let deep doubts, jealousy and depression erode herself, and the road to life is very narrow. " He also pointed out in "The Death of Daiyu" that "Why did Daiyu die? Because her love failed. Why does love fail? Because her personality is not allowed by the environment. Daiyu and her rival Baochai are completely opposite in character. Baochai is a person, Daiyu is a poem; Baochai is getting married and Daiyu is in love; Baochai is practical, and Daiyu is immersed in artistic conception; Baochai adapted to social laws in a planned way, and Daiyu naturally showed her spirit; Baochai represented the reason of ordinary housewives at that time, and Daiyu represented the feelings of intellectuals in the boudoir at that time. So the environment accommodated Baochai, who catered to the times, and stifled Daiyu, who went against reality. Daiyu's tragedy is caused by such a contradiction between personality and the times. " Yu Tai can be said to be the first scholar who began to understand the image of Lin Daiyu, and his incisive views were inherited by many critics later.
Zhou Hua's article "Lin Daiyu-Looking at the aristocratic life in China from an unhealthy individualist" (Tianjin Ta Kung Pao1947 65438+February 16) holds that "Lin Daiyu is an individualist who has accepted many natural philosophies. She is kind, spontaneous and natural, and longs for equality and freedom. Her spiritual life, which originated from the poor aristocratic life, is full of fragility, and her tenderness makes her unable to resist any persecution, so she can only beg for support everywhere, which shows that her spiritual life is unhealthy. "
It is a misunderstanding that the Suoyin school in this period completely regarded Lin Daiyu as a real person in real life and did not treat her as a literary image created by a writer. Some commentators have made some moral evaluations and judgments on this image. Yu Tai is the first person to study Lin Daiyu with Marxism, and his views have far-reaching influence.
Typical literary criticism
-Research on Lin Daiyu in 1950s and 1970s.
From 65438 to 0954, domestic academic circles criticized the New Dream of Red Mansions represented by Hu Shi and Yu Pingbo, which marked a certain turning point in the study of a dream of red mansions. It is in this case that Li Xifan published Two Typical Contradictions in a Dream of Red Mansions-Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai (New Observation, No.23, 1954). The article holds that "Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai are two completely opposite typical personalities, reflecting different social forces. Lin Daiyu was a rebel in feudal society. She pursued the ideal of a better life and demanded the free development of her personality. The contradiction with feudal forces eventually led to her tragic fate. Xue Baochai is a staunch defender of the feudal system, and feudal ethics should be both' moral' and' talent'. " On this basis, Li Xifan criticized Yu Pingbo's theory of "women's dress in one", which was regarded as an idealistic aesthetic.
Another important article that negates the theory of "women wear in one" is the artistic images of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu of Sister Liu (Liberation Daily195465438+February 12). The article holds that "the tragic example of Lin Daiyu is the best typical woman in China classical literature." "She has a high degree of literary genius, clear philosophical mind, noble sentiment and sincere enthusiasm. She despised the vulgarity of feudal culture and cursed the hypocrisy of stereotyped writing. She is neither arrogant nor impetuous, nor greedy for money. She fights for her ideals with her life, never giving in, never surrendering, and never colluding with others. In order to insist on her complete personality and happy love, she fought to the last moment. " "This typical image is a summary of the talents and pains of women in long-term feudal society." The author thinks that Baochai and Baochai are opposite in thought and character, and the theory of "Baochai and Daiyu are one" is difficult to establish.
Li Xifan and Sister Liu's articles had a wide influence at that time. In the following years, Shu Wu's "Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai" (New China Women 1955No. 1 period) and Ju Sheng's "Beating Baoyu" and "Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai" (Literary Studies 1955 No.65438) appeared. And the social significance of Liu Yang to the typical images of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu (Guangming Daily1955 February 13) and Lan Xin Daiyu and Baochai written by Cao Xueqin (see 1963 A Dream of Red Mansions). The views of these articles are basically consistent with those of Li Xifan and Sister Liu, that is, Lin Daiyu is defined as a "feudal rebel", and she and Xue Baochai are in two opposites.
When the academic and reading circles basically agreed on Lin Daiyu's evaluation, He Qifang finished the long article "On a Dream of Red Mansions" at the end of 1956, and published it in the fifth collection of Literary Studies the following year. The fourth part of the article points out that "as for Lin Daiyu's personality characteristics, it would be too general to describe them only as rebels." Some articles say that she is "a person with a strong mind-emancipator" and that she "almost has the gentleness of Cui Yingying and Du Liniang, and the courage and strength of Zhu Yingtai and Bai Niangzi", which is the result of ignoring this typical personality and characteristics. Let's look at how people use such a common name as Lin Daiyu in their lives. People call this thin, sentimental and tearful girl Lin Daiyu. Although this understanding is simple, incomplete or superficial, it is not groundless. This is precisely the most typical and prominent feature of Lin Daiyu, and it is also repeatedly described in A Dream of Red Mansions. " "Naturally, people's personality is always complicated. The author also wrote about other aspects of her personality. Write that she is as smart as ice and snow. Write about her self-denial. Writing about her is sometimes straightforward and humorous. Write that she is so persistent and infatuated with love. Writing that she is not only' easy to get smaller', but sometimes she is gentle with the person she loves. But the strongest color in her character is sadness and sorrow, which is typical of unfortunate women in China feudal society. " He Qifang pointed out that many misfortunes were concentrated on her. First of all, she is a woman, which makes her rebellion and resistance very different from Jia Baoyu. "Lin Daiyu's rebellion and resistance are mainly manifested in such a painful form. Although misfortune almost crushed her, she still did not give in and was still trying to change her destiny; Although she can't break the shackles of feudalism in thought, she is still fighting against it and still shows indomitable spirit in spirit. " He Qifang's view broke the simplification of Lin Daiyu's image analysis. It tells people that "if only rebels are used to explain" Lin Daiyu's character, it will be difficult to uncover all the connotations of this immortal model.
Jiang Hesen's On Lin Daiyu (People's Literature No.8, 1957) neither made a moral judgment on Lin Daiyu nor simply labeled her as a class, but analyzed the typical environment of her life in great detail and pointed out the typical significance of this image: "Lin Daiyu's childhood life was overshadowed by her innate weakness and her mother's early death. "She is uneasy about the fate of living by others, and she can't get rid of this fate, which makes her sensitive, self-respecting, narrow-minded and frank." "Lin Daiyu's pain is not because of her sensitivity and paranoia, not because of her self-esteem, but because of the private social system that caused this sensitivity and paranoia and oppressed this self-esteem." "The influence of class left an indelible mark on this girl. The lofty, delicate, fragile and life style of many aristocratic ladies cultivated by the rich exploitation life are naturally intertwined from her various performances, just like many other shining things in her personality. " "She has that kind of sensitivity and delicacy that belongs to the' art type', which is mainly used not to feel the beauty and poetry in life, but to feel the cold and humidity of that era. It has become a terrible disaster for this girl, which has caused her to suffer more and greater social torture than the average person. " She is obsessed with the pursuit of exclusive true love. She, born to love, died for love. It seems that she doesn't know that there are other joys and sorrows in the world besides love. However, the feudal traditional concept constantly threatened her desire for love, so that she regarded the ruler of the feudal family as the protector of free marriage, which inevitably led to her tragic ending. "Even if Baodai becomes a lifelong partner as she wishes, it is still a tragedy. The root of this unchangeable tragedy is always that there is no land that can accommodate Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu on the land of China at the turn of the century. " "Lin Daiyu's tragedy is a tragedy of character, a tragedy of the times, and a tragedy between the inevitable requirement of history and the failure to realize this requirement (Engels)". At the same time, we should not forget that in Lin Daiyu's tragedy, there is also the tragedy of the feudal declining class to which she is attached, and the tragedy that Miss Jin Daiyu can't get rid of. The author believes that through this image, Cao Xueqin raised extensive doubts about the existing system and moral concepts. He Qifang's and Jiang Hesen's articles are different from Li Xifan's and others' class typical theories by using Marxist literary theory of creating typical images in typical environments, thus perfecting the typical theory of Lin Daiyu's characters.
Throughout the research history of Lin Daiyu, a prominent feature is that critics abandoned the ethical judgment method of human reality and began to think about the image in literature, combining Lin Daiyu with the author's creative ideas and even artistic means, focusing on the literary image level of character, thought, era and class connotation.
During the ten-year "Cultural Revolution", due to the influence of the "Dream of Red Mansions" of the Gang of Four, comments on the image of Lin Daiyu produced some absurd views, which were non-academic noises, so I won't repeat them here.
Cultural and aesthetic exploration
-Research on Lin Daiyu from 1980s to the end of 20th century.
After the reform and opening up from the 1980s to the end of the 20th century, with the liberation of ideas, research methods have changed. The criticism of Lin Daiyu's image has entered the stage of taking cultural aesthetic exploration as the mainstream, combining philosophical and psychological research with comparative research, and achieved new achievements in Lin Daiyu's research in the 20th century.
It should be pointed out that there was a transitional period from typicality to cultural aesthetic exploration. On the whole, the understanding of Lin Daiyu's image is not repeated, but there is a process of affirmation, negation and combination in some parts. Nan Lin's On Daiyu's Awakening and Baoyu's Sleeping (Journal of Hebei University, No.2, 198 1) separated Daiyu and Baoyu from the anti-feudal ethics and rebellious comrades: "Lin Daiyu found the right way out on the road of rebellion." "Jia Baoyu is just an image that can be awakened, but has not yet awakened and is on the verge of awakening." Zhang's "On Lin Daiyu's Character and Love Tragedy" (Journal of a Dream of Red Mansions, No.2, 1980) holds that "Lin Daiyu's ideological character has both a self-esteem, sensitivity, sharpness, aloof and fragile side, and a respectful, upright, generous, modest and strong side. The former is external and the latter is internal. " "There is an internal connection between the two: from the philosophy of life, it is the principle that whoever Dai Yu respects will respect him, which contains the bud of modern equality concept. Politically speaking, it is Daiyu's persistent rebellion against the life path designated by this class for the younger generation. From the perspective of marriage, it is Daiyu who insists that marriage must be based on love, and love must be based on common rebellious thoughts. These three forms the essential characteristics of Lin Daiyu's ideological character. " He Yongkang's Perspective on Lin Daiyu's Character World (A Dream of Red Mansions Research Series 1985No. 12) holds that Lin Daiyu's dominant character is rebellious spirit, but she is also "sensitive, suspicious, arrogant and aristocratic." ChouHuei's On Lin Daiyu (Literary Heritage No.3, 1988) holds that "she is the third person with unique aesthetic value between Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai". The first forty-two times were Jia Baoyu's fellow travelers, and the last forty-two times became Xue Baochai's fellow travelers. "
Just as researchers have made little progress in the structure of characters, morality, times and class connotation, many people try to turn from literary thinking to cultural aesthetic thinking and begin to explore the inner meaning and charm of this image. Zeng's On the Beauty of Lin Daiyu (Journal of Sun Yat-sen University, No.3, 1983) is an early attempt in this respect. He believes that Lin Daiyu "is essentially an image comparable to Qu Yuan. She is a beautiful figure both inside and outside, with a strong sense of the times. Bamboo, hibiscus flowers and chrysanthemums symbolize her beautiful character-out of the mud but not stained, pure and pure in mind, open-minded and open-minded, and kind and unyielding in heart. " "Its ideological character also has the characteristics of the times, that is, it requires respect for people, safeguards human dignity, and cannot tolerate the slightest interpretation of personality and self-esteem." Lin Daiyu (Flower City 1983 quinquies), one of the twelve characters in A Dream of Red Mansions, Wu Ying's article "Lin Daiyu" holds that "Lin Daiyu's family life environment and the semi-closed Jiafu nurtured and formed her character of pursuing human liberation and awakening and pursuing free love." "Lin Daiyu's personality is beautiful, noble, beautiful, rich, subtle, profound, and clear inside and outside."
Following these two articles, a large number of studies from cultural and aesthetic perspectives have emerged, forming the main theme of Lin Daiyu's image interpretation. Li Xifan's "Lin Daiyu's Poetry and Character-A Probe into the Artistic Conception of A Dream of Red Mansions" (Journal of A Dream of Red MansionsNo. 1 0983) holds that "sensitive poet temperament is an important factor that makes Lin Daiyu's character have touching artistic power, and the poetic realm and atmosphere have cultivated her charm and beauty, making her always linger in the' group portrait' of twelve women. Lin Daiyu's artistic image, a poetic personality, can be said to be a brilliant and unique creation in the history of China's novels. " Lu Qixiang's "The Embodiment of Flower Poetry —— Cultural Implication and Modeling Characteristics of Lin Daiyu's Image" (Journal of A Dream of Red Mansions, No.3, 1987) points out that "Lin Daiyu is not only the first heroine in A Dream of Red Mansions, but also the first heroine in the whole literary history of China. She is the essence of China culture. " "Cao Xueqin, the author of a dream of red mansions, understands that this is a work faxed for the boudoir. If he refers to his daughter, who is impressed by the beautiful spirit between heaven and earth and is a flower, then Lin Daiyu is the flower spirit. If we say that he spiritualized life, sprinkled it on poetry and created a poetic and true art, then the image of Lin Daiyu he created is the most poetic and the embodiment of poetry. " At the same time, he believes that the cultural implication of Lin Daiyu's image is both inherited and new. From the perspective of modern values, the new quality of Lin Daiyu's image beyond the goddess of flowers lies in the awakening of independent consciousness or personality consciousness. The combination of those traditional things and new qualities strengthens the true independence and uniqueness of the character. The Beauty of Xu and Its Sublimation and Destruction —— On the Aesthetic Value of Tragic Images Lin Daiyu (Journal of A Dream of Red Mansions, No.2, 1987) thinks that "Lin Daiyu's life and personality are poetic, and Baochai's life is dull." "Lin Daiyu, who has experienced the tragedy of life, is beautiful because of' truth'. On the basis of' truth', beauty has risen to Huawei's' sublime' and other beauty. "
Di Ruiping's Loneliness and Pride —— Lin Daiyu (Journal of A Dream of Red Mansions, No.65438 +0988, No.65438 +0) holds that "Cao Xueqin's style of despising the powerful, daring to struggle, being frank and frank, hating evil as hatred, saving the weak and helping the poor is brilliant after optimization. Together, they mobilized the artistic experience of poetry, songs, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting that feudal literati were good at, and completed a brand-new artistic image-Lin Daiyu. " Zhong Wang's On Lin Daiyu's Spiritual Beauty (Journal of Huaihua Teachers College, No.2, 1989) points out that Lin Daiyu's attraction lies in her "brilliant personality" and "unswerving feelings".
Li Lan and Du Min's "Leng Yue talks about Daiyu-Thoughts on the Emotion and Implication of Lin Daiyu's Image" (Journal of Dream of Red Mansions, No.3, 199 1) put forward that "Lin Daiyu is an artistic spirit written by Cao Xueqin, not everything in life, but a ghost of the era when she was born, raised, destroyed and buried." Her poetic temperament, self-cultivation, style and character will last forever with the bright moon. Du Jinghua's Evaluation of Daiyu's Personality and Morality (Journal of a Dream of Red Mansions, No.4, 1992) points out that "both Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai have traditional morality, and Xue Baochai has a deep feudal moral concept, and Lin Daiyu embodies the crystallization of China's excellent culture. Lin Daiyu is a new figure, and Mr. Yu Pingbo's comments on her are the traditional virtues of China since ancient times, which are in sharp contrast with Baochai's inflexibility, coldness and sophistication. Like Baoyu, she pursues a new morality that conforms to the meaning of life and abandons another old morality. "
Xue's On Lin Daiyu (Journal of A Dream of Red Mansions, No.3, 1993) points out that Lin Daiyu's personality charm lies in her truth: "She can only find a confidant in the truth, and she only needs to find a confidant in the truth. No one will love Lin Daiyu's shortcomings, but no one will distance herself from her because of her shortcomings. This is also the real charm, the charm of Lin Daiyu. " "Jia Baoyu is the representative of criticism, Lin Daiyu is the representative of sentimentalism, and Lin Daiyu is sentimental with the depth of her women and the sharpness of the poet. The interaction between personal feelings and feelings of the times caused by the two bitter fruits of parents' death and blocked love makes Daiyu's melancholy and sadness more heavy and moving. Qu Mu's Sao Ying in a Dream of Red Mansions —— On the View of Life and Death between Lin Daiyu and Qu Yuan (Journal of Guizhou University, No.3, 1993) holds that "in the history of ancient China literature, the literary creation with the theme of' death' originated from Qu Yuan's Li Sao, while A Dream of Red Mansions reached its acme. Cao Xueqin never died in his subconscious. He described the deaths of many women, but the most "amazing" was Lin Daiyu's suicide. Cao Xueqin used the writing method of "learning from Chu" to project his understanding of the human characteristics of Chu people's life and death on his beloved characters, so that they could flash more Chu people's elegance. Therefore, Lin Daiyu's resentment, life personality and outlook on life and death all have some characteristics of Qu Yuan. "
Liu Xiangyu's The Pursuit of Love and the Loss of Love —— On the Cultural Complex of Daiyu's Image (Journal of A Dream of Red Mansions, No.2, 1988) holds that "the love in the previous life —— a tragic fate and a mythical warning (the legend of E Huang and Nv Ying)" and "the love in the present" ——— Daiyu won with her persistence and sincerity. "The epochal nature of Lin Daiyu's love-her unremitting pursuit of love shows that an awakened woman attaches great importance to individual life and youth, and reflects her betrayal and transcendence of China's traditional culture and Confucianism." Lu Xiaojun's New Theory of Baodai's Love Tragedy (Research on Novels of Ming and Qing Dynasties, No.2, 2000) puts forward that "the love between two jade is a unique love under the free ethics in China's literary history. No, stay in the west wing of the moon, with the windward door ajar. Probably the adventure of "Jade Man Comes". Without the thrill of "the living can die and the dead can live", everything will return to daily life. It is also an unforgettable rebellion, but Baodai's love reflects the fragility of love under free ethics-the desire of two individuals to fully fit in love cannot be fully realized in real life. At the same time, China people's personality orientation centered on "worshipping pure children" has been vividly and cruelly reflected in Bao Dai's love. This is not only a love tragedy, but also a personality tragedy about purity, love worship, pity, inferiority, sincerity and eternity. Under the care of liberal ethics and traditional personality, Bao Dai's love is an ideal rather than a reality, a song of retrogression rather than progress. "