People who like Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅) love to compare it with Dream of Red Mansions (紅楼梦), and often feel that Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅) is better than Dream of Red Mansions (紅楼梦), because Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅) is more authentic and realistic.
In fact, Jin Ping Mei writes about the marketplace, and Dream of the Red Chamber writes about the aristocracy, and there is no one who is more real or more realistic than the other. What is comparable between the two is the level of human life and the spiritual realm of life.
"Dream of Red Mansions" write aristocrats: Yuanchun provincial relatives, Qin Keqing's luxury funeral, rich and noble flow; poetry, flowers, crabs, poetic; and bird gold tweed, eider dimple fur, glazed world of white snow and red plums ...... such a life, from us has been very far away, although today's guqin, tea, Chinese dress and kunqu, each revived!
"Jin Pingmei" is written in the city life: hawkers walk the streets, concubines fight, Simon Qing son of the official, drinking and cheating to find a woman, brothers patting the horse skirting to play the autumn wind ...... human heart and the world situation, ancient and modern so. The anxiety, weakness, confusion, greed and so on of the marketplace characters, we also have all.
What do Simon Qing's women wear?
The boss Wu Yuniang "wear big red colorful brocade all over the ground, the hundred beasts towards the unicorn satin through the sleeves of the robe, waist girdle gold inlaid with jewels haunted makeup, the head of the treasure bun looming, phoenix hairpin, double insertion, beads and emeralds piled up, chest embroidered with hanging gold, the neck plate is wrongly placed, the skirt side of the forbidden step Mingzhu ......" This is the "Golden Vase Plum Lyrics", the 43rd time, Wu Yue Niang see Qiao fifth wife's dress, covered with cloak, walking all have the sound of gold.
Ximen Qing's concubines in summer wear "white silver striped yarn shirt, dense color yarn pick line through the flower phoenix wisp gold drag mud skirt. Li Huier is a big red burnt cloth than armor, Jinlian is silver red than armor, all with sheepskin gold piping, makeup flower eyebrows.
Words and phrases of this book than the embroidered image of this more like to describe the clothing and accessories, the light skirt: insert yellow wide Communicator pick embroidery, goose yellow wisps of gold picking line, Cuilan all over the gold, blue weaving gold, dainty green satin, blue satin, red Luo, the big red and gold branches of the green leaves of the hundreds of flowers dragged mud, the five-color line pinched parchment gold picking of the oil of the goose yellow and silver stripes of yarn ......
Large red, large green, are all highly saturated colors, each fold flaunts desire.
The background of Plums in a Golden Vase is the Song Dynasty, but it is actually written in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the docks became small towns because of the well-developed canal transportation and frequent trade. Qinghe, where Ximen Qing lived, was close to the Linqing wharf. The commercial economy has cut off the connection with the land, no longer "in the field, do not travel", everyone is a businessman.
This is a whole new world. People are confused, desire rises, everyone is an adventurer, restless --
Wang Mao will do anything to make money, Song Huilian wants to wear a silver bun, Wang Liu'er wants to change her hair, and Wang Liu'er wants to change her hair. Bun, Wang Liu'er want to change the new house, Pan Jinlian miss Li Baili's leather jacket, Li Zhi Huang Si borrowed usury from Simon Qing, Ying Earl was busy as a middleman, even Xue Aunties are calculating to cheat Wu Yue Niangs silver ......
Ximen Qing is the most adventurous of them all. He first only raw medicine store, married the rich widow Meng Yulou and Li Baili, made a fortune, opened a silk store, pompom store and pawnshop, befriended the Tokyo Cai Taishi, when the deputy commissioner. The money will have the power, the power is even more money, so repair ancestral graves, buy a house, make clothes, pick up women, non-stop.
Ximen Qing is the pride of business, the favorite of the times.
As the richest man in Qinghe County, if you don't return to your hometown when you're rich and famous, won't you walk at night in brocade? Money can make ghosts push mill, Simon Qing of course, no shortage of sedan chair, sworn brothers should be counts, always in due course slurping praise.
Just when the official Simon Qing, spend 70 silver from the Wang Zhaoxuan bought a rhinoceros horn belt, should be earl praised: this bandwidth is big, is the water rhinoceros horn is not dry rhinoceros horn, full of the capital with the silver can not buy!
Liu eunuch sent a few pots of chrysanthemums, should Earl partial recognition of flower pots, is the official kiln double-banded Deng paddle pots, high-grade goods.
With the well-informed and knowledgeable Earls, Simon Qing's happiness is bursting at the seams. The so-called happiness, not only from I have more money than you, but also from this is the same class but "I have you do not have" of the cranes. Therefore, whenever there is mignonette lotus wine, bad anchovies, clothes plums, these rare things, Simon Qing are reserved for the Earl.
The mob loves to show off its consumption, not just Simon Qing, but all those who can climb up the ladder, are eager to show off.
Pan Jinlian or Wu Da wife, wearing "woolen green cloth shirt with big sleeves, short lining Hunan skirt grinding silk damask". To Simon's home, there is a big red all over the gold than armor and silver? Buns. Lantern Festival to Lion Street to see the lanterns, deliberately exposed all over the gold jacket sleeves, poking out of the body to get high, showing the hand of the six gold stirrups ring.
Wang Liuer has not hooked up with Simon Qing, wearing a "purple damask jacket child basalt satin gold than armor, old crow satin sheepskin gold cloud head shoes", the color is dark, no jewelry. Later, silver? Bun, blue hoop, goose yellow skirt, all in one place, wearing gold lilac earrings, every cell is screaming: I have money!
In contrast, Song Huilian was a failure. Simon Qing seduced her with an emerald blue and four seasons of flowers and happy satin. The bead hoop and gold lantern pendant on her head were yellow and baked. Underneath her clothes were red Communicator pants, with three or four sleeves of fragrant tea and fragrant buckets, and she spent two or three dollars a day on flowers and melons.
But she committed suicide, and the silver bun that she never forgot was not put on.
Bun is the Ming Dynasty women bundled hair with, the material is divided into levels: the poor is hair braided, the rich is silver? Bun, Li Huier's most expensive, is a top weight nine two gold? The most expensive was Li's, a gold bun weighing nine taels.
The top luxury in "Plum in the Golden Vase" is Li Bail's leather jacket.
In the 46th episode, Wu Yue Niang took all her concubines to be guests at Wu Da Zhaozi's house, and when it got cold, she asked the boy to go back and get a leather jacket, which Pan Jinlian did not have. Yue Niang said that there are other people when the leather jacket, Jinlian want to be strong, dislike is when the goods, like yellow dog skin, wear to make people laugh.
After the death of Li Bail, Pan Jinlian gave Simon Qing to bottle leather jacket: "with two big red all over the gold crane sleeves, lined with white damask jacket to wear, but also to do your wife a."
Ximen Qing said: this coat is worth 60 silver, you wear is going to sway.
60 two silver, for today's yuan, a conservative estimate is 500,000, similar to the northeast three treasures in the mink it. White rich beauty Li Bier died, leather jacket was worn by Pan Jinlian, the collection of 100 Western beads and a few boxes of fine soft, but also became the bag of Wu Yuniang. It's a pity that no one can see through it.
In "Plum in the Golden Vase", everyone can grasp only the present, no tomorrow; only desire, no time to think about other: eat is chicken, duck, fish and meat, stacked bowls stacked plate; wear is red, green, beads and emeralds full of head; desire is like the wind like dust, flying in the sky.
To the "Dream of Red Mansions", into the Rongguo Mansion, not to mention Simon Qing, even if the Ming Dynasty was born in the Jiangnan giant family of literati Zhang Dai also want to converge voice screen.
As a "family of bells and whistles, a family of poems and hairpins", the Jia family has been a hundred years, and Baoyu is the fourth generation, with its own rich and noble weather.
Cao Xueqin, who has experienced a prosperous life, writes about the daily life of the aristocracy with a strong sense of confidence.
Jia mother has a rosewood carving, embedded with a large red yarn through the flowers and grass poetry celluloid, is the Gusu Huiniang's handmade, belonging to the private customized, non-sale items. Huiniang died early, embroidery is even rarer, known as "Hui lines", only a few families of the world's officials collection. This is a true luxury item that Simon Qing could not buy with any amount of money.
And "soft smoke Luo", even Wang Xifeng have not seen, according to her than now on the use of internal manufacturing are good. Jia mother said: the original paste window drawer, from a distance like smoke, so called "soft smoke Luo". The color of the rain, autumn incense, pine green, and silver red. Then instructed Phoenix, take the silver red, to Daiyu paste window, with the outside of the bamboo look good; green to Liu Lou Lou, the rest of the tent, to the maids to do the undershirt, to save the mold.
Dealing with luxury goods, the weight is light, comparable to the "Hermes" as a grocery bag.
And the mother of Jia gave Bao Yu's bird gold fur, to Bao Qin's eider dimple fur, one is peacock hair, one is duck hair. Baoyu accidentally burned a hole in the sparrow gold fur, and no tailor in the whole capital could mend it; still, Qingwen was deft with her hands, and stayed up all night mending it by means of a boundary line.
The most lavishly dressed in A Dream of Red Mansions is Wang Xifeng.
Large red with emerald, but also very colorful, but "colorful embroidery brilliant, as if the goddess of fairy", not vulgar. Because the outer cover of the colorful carved silk silver mouse coat, is stone green. Shiqing color is slightly reddish black, with red and jade, the achievement of the "warm wind", not ostentatious. If it is Wu Yuniang, must be incense or blue, like a dyeing workshop.
Lou Lou Lou saw Wang Xifeng for the first time, she wore a peach blossom jacket, red crepe silver rat skin skirt, stone green cape, slightly exposed at the corners of the peach blossom and red, warm and noble.
What did Daiyu wear?
The 49th "glazed world of white snow and red plums", she wore "pinched gold dug clouds red fragrant sheepskin boots, covered with a large red feather veil face white fox in the crane cloak, bundled with a green and gold flash green double ring four together Ruyi tapestries, the head of the snow cap."
The sisters were all in the same color of big red gorilla felt and feather satin cloak, the background is white snow, especially bright and beautiful.
This is the most beautiful group in the Grand View Garden.
After the 40th anniversary of the book, the author of the sequel, but let Daiyu put on "moon white embroidered small fur coat, plus silver rat shoulders; head pulled the usual cloud bun, pinned on a red gold plaque pin, no flowers. Below the waist tied with Yang Fei color embroidered brocade skirt." The small family spirit also let it go, there is even the "Golden Vase Plum" of the city gas. Daiyu also ate the five-spice dashi that Earl Ying could not even look at! I can't believe people are still saying that the last 40 books were written by Cao Gong!
Daiyu just entered the Rongguo Mansion, Mrs. Wang took her to see Jia Zheng, meandering all the way to the East Corridor, three small rooms - a kang table on the kang, the table lei books and tea sets, semi-old green satin backrests cushions. Next to a sliver of three chairs, but also on the semi-old bullet ink chair burden.
Why is half old? Some people say, this is the Jia family revealed the "light of the next world", everything from simple. But I do not know, "half old", appropriate and homely, like the Baochai wearing "honey-colored cotton jacket, rose purple two-color gold and silver mouse shoulder coat, onion yellow damask skirt", are half new, not old, is low-key luxury.
This is the aesthetics of restraint, is the accumulation of years, belonging to the old money (aristocrats). Only the rich family, only covered with logos, new everywhere, emitting dazzling light of thieves.
Can write such a scene, must have witnessed the prosperous years, know what is called real aristocrats, what is called decent.
Confucian master Mr. Mou Zongsan said, "The aristocrats have it so noble in morality and wisdom." To be fair, the aristocracy often represents the peak of the age in terms of culture, aesthetics and morality.
There aren't many nobles in China, and even fewer writing about them. The first and middle volumes of the Shishu Xinyi (New Sayings of the World) have the headings "Virtue, Speech, Politics, Literature, Founder, Elegance, Knowledge and Appreciation, Appreciation and Honor, Character and Algae, Rules and Regulations, Jiewu, Chunghui, and Haoxiang," and the famous scholars in the book all came from families, and these words, in fact, are the qualities of the nobility, their morals and their aesthetics.
The Dream of the Red Chamber is the only novel that describes the life of the aristocracy in all its aspects -- from food and drink, to manners, to etiquette, to culture and aesthetics. Daiyu enters the Jia residence and is careful in every way; it's not a city, it's upbringing.
Baoyu rode out on horseback and insisted on dismounting when he arrived at the door of Jia Zheng's study, even when his family said his master was not in, which is also upbringing.
Many people do not like Jia Zheng, but Cao Xueqin Gong said he: "for people humble and generous, not anointed lightweight Shi Huan stream." This is true. When Jia Zheng heard that Jin Chuan jumped into the well, very shocked: my family has never had such a thing! Since the ancestors, are "generous and gentle to treat their subordinates." "If outsiders know about it, what will happen to the face of the ancestors!"
More than Jia Pian, Jia Zheng tried to support his family with generosity, refinement and responsibility, and it was not up to him to decide how it would turn out. When I was young, I read Dream of the Red Chamber and paid attention to the love of Baodai, but as I grew older, I understood the seriousness of Jia Zheng's face and the honor and decency he defended.
Many people say that Dream of Red Mansions is "anti-feudal", but they ignore the fact that the beauty Cao Xueqin cherishes is built on the status of the family. There is the Yuanfei provincial relatives, there is the provincial villa, there is the Grand View Garden; there are flowers and willows in the prosperous land, gentle and rich townships, there is a "gold mourning jade" of the "Dream of Red Mansions". The rich, exquisite, high culture and aesthetics will not be found in Simon Qing's world, and it is difficult to be found in Liu Lou Lou's world. There will be no Grand View Garden without suitable soil.
Entertainment, poetry and aesthetics, is the value and meaning of the Grand View Garden - Daiyu buried flowers, Baoyu mournful; Xiangyun drunken, Xiangling learning poetry; "Autumn Sharpness Zhai occasional knot Begonia Society", "glazed world of white snow and red plums ", "Shou Yihong Qunfang open night feast", "Au Jing Hall Joint Poem sad loneliness" ...... people, to be able to live poetically.
Only the Grand View Garden, can rest these useless and beautiful soul.
Some people say that Baoyu and Ximenqing are actually the same. It's just that Simon Qing wanted to physically possess more women, while Baoyu was spiritually possessed.
The same desire, one is "skin promiscuity", want to lust all the world's beautiful women; one is "intentionality", willing to bow down in front of the beauty, this is the real understanding and humility.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is "popular fiction", romance novels, is beautiful, small Bourgeois mood. Baoyu and Daiyu lived in the world of the aristocracy, and had desires, but also free will, as well as a noble consciousness and soul.
And the Golden Lotus writes about human hearts and desires, and heavy flesh. In the world of Jinpingmei, everyone has only one mouthful of food, one coat, only wine, sex and wealth, everyone is like a subject under the tyrant, blindly living, blindly dying, never seriously measuring themselves and the world. Where is the concern for upbringing and decency?
From Simon Qing to Jia Baoyu, from Pan Jinlian to Wang Xifeng and Lin Daiyu, from Song Huilian to Qingwen, it is off the charts. Cao Xueqin turns stone into gold. Transforming and sublimating desire into a more abundant and lofty realm.
Jin Pingmei is a dark place of human nature, while Dream of Red Mansions is a warm and bright place of life, with decency, dignity and beauty. Though in the end, "the earth is so clean and white", the beauty will last forever and become an immortal memory.
From "The Golden Lotus" to "Dream of the Red Chamber", from the desire to be decent, from Simon Qing to Jia Baoyu, there is a long, long way to go.