The so-called dude is trousers made of fine silk, which can represent the gorgeous clothes worn by this rich boy. The dude must have a prominent family background, otherwise he will not squander the idle and idle capital. In fact, Zhang Dai's ancestors did have fame. His great-great-grandfather was admitted to the Jinshi examination, and once served as the official department chief. His great-grandfather won the top prize and was the editor of the Hanlin Academy. His grandfather, Zhang Rulin, also won the Jinshi.
But by the time his father became unworthy of fame, he was happy to preach. In modern words, he is very interested in music and drama, but he is not very interested in studying and being an official. Generally, when writing epitaphs, ancient people often go back three generations. Zhang Dai deliberately omitted it in his article, probably for fear of humiliating his ancestors, and he was embarrassed to mention his ancestors' English names because he had achieved nothing. But the word dude alone has made us understand that the Zhang Dai family is no ordinary family.
then why did Zhang Dai say that he was a dude? Let's read Zhang Dai's self-report. When he was young, he said,
"He loved prosperity, fine houses, beautiful maids, good prostitutes, good fresh clothes, good food, good horses, good lanterns, good fireworks, good pear orchards, good advocacy, good antiques, good flowers and birds, and abused oranges with tea. He worked hard for half his life and became a dream. From 195 to 195, the country broke its home and died, avoiding the mountains. "
Jing she, in the Han dynasty, refers to the study and the learning house. Many great scholars set up a refined house to pass on scriptures and teach disciples. Ming and Qing dynasties refer to exquisite houses. Child molestation refers to a handsome man. The social atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty was more open, and the south was even more open. In fact, it is not ashamed of being a good man, and the child molesters raised by the official family have reached a certain age, so they can leave their families and get married and have children like ordinary people, so they are not subject to special discrimination.
a good pear garden is easy to preach. His hobby is probably influenced by his father. Tea is obscene and oranges are abusive, and books are addicted to poetry. What they say is that they like tea and oranges. I like reading and writing poems, all of which are beyond my control. Let me add one thing here.
There is a very famous sinologist in the United States named Shi Jingqian. Shi Jingqian explained this orange abuse in his book "Dreaming of a Dai in the Past", saying that he was particularly fond of playing chess, because we had a chess score called "The Secret of the Orange" in ancient times, so the explanation certainly seemed more in-depth. But is this really the case?
I have carefully read Zhang Dai's Memories of Taoan Dreams and Collected Works of Heaven's Library, and found that Zhang Dai really likes oranges. For example, in Volume III of Tao An Meng Yi, there is an article written by Chen Zhanghou: After crossing the Yulian Pavilion, Ding Shuqian called to the north bank of the boat, and went out to Tangqi Orange to pay tribute and spit it out.
Ding Shuqian is one of his friends. He eats oranges from his friends. Attention everyone is Tangqi orange, which is very famous and very enjoyable to eat. There is another orange called Fanjiang Chenshi in Volume Five, which says:
Every year, I must go to the garden to buy oranges from Chenjia ... The orange peel is wide and bursting, and the color is yellow and deep. The pulp is firm and crisp, and the tendons are untied and taken off, and the taste is fresh and beautiful. The fourth gate, Taoyan, Daoxu and even Tangqi are incomparable.
Zhang Dai eats oranges professionally. He has to rank oranges from all over the world. Then the description of the color and taste of Chenjia oranges is very detailed, which makes us want to drool after listening to it. It can be seen that the orange abuse mentioned by Zhang Dai here refers to delicious oranges. Mr. Shi Jingqian may be over-interpreting.
it is written below that from 199 to 195, the country broke down and the family died, which is the current situation. Because Zhang Dai didn't want to sell herself to the new dynasty, she went into the mountains and hid herself from the nymphs. For the current living conditions, Zhang Dai wrote, "Those who have survived have broken their beds and broken their pianos, and there are only a few books left, and they are short of inkstone, so they often have to eat clothes and vegetables.
It's easy for us to think that in the first time of Cao Xueqin's Dream of Red Mansions, there is a saying that "although today's thatched rafters are luxuriant, the morning breeze is dew, and the willow flowers are beautiful, there is no one who hinders my mind".
Zhang Dai and Cao Xueqin are really bosom friends, and the situation in their later years is so similar. It is with this change of home and country that Zhang Dai will look back. Looking back 2 years ago, it was like a lifetime ago. The prosperity when I was young and the loneliness when I was old, with the help of this look back, I got some kind of echo and confrontation. The year of Zhang Dai's death is still inconclusive, but it is certain that he will live to be over 8 years old.
there is an ancient saying that longevity is more humiliating, that is, if you are too old, many shameful things will often happen. Then Zhang Dai experienced the ruin of the country, looking back on his life in his later years, recalling the urban prosperity he loved when he was young, and he could not help but be emotional. It is precisely because of this deep attachment and endless feelings brought by attachment that Zhang Dai's nostalgic articles are endless.
since it's an epitaph for myself, you must say something about your career. In the article, it is said that there are seven unsolvable things: that is to say, I occasionally reflect on myself and feel that I am living in seven unsolvable things. Then, the following narrative about the seven indissolubles, such as the confusion between the rich and the poor, the civil and military mistakes, the respect for the humble, the lenient and fierce back, the absurd priorities, the ignorance and miscellaneous, etc., are actually not only about Zhang Dai's personal situation, but also the general trend of society and the times.
The style of "The Epitaph for Yourself" should have focused on itself, but the disorder of nobility and inferiority, the mistakes between the rich and the poor, the fall of civil and military officials, etc. here all point to the era of great turmoil. When the Ming and Qing Dynasties changed, all kinds of values were shaken or even subverted. The reader's psychological feelings are particularly strong. In fact, all this is just a general statement. After all, it is not particularly relevant to Zhang Dai's family life.
The following passage is Zhang Dai's real self-criticism. He said, "There are seven things that are insoluble. Why don't you understand them yourself?" That is to say, I still can't understand it myself. Do I want others to understand it? Therefore, it can be called a rich man, a poor man, a wise man or a stupid man. Such self-defense is still irrelevant and ambiguous.
the most important and painful thing is the following passage. He said:
You can't learn books, swords, vows, articles, immortals, buddhas, farmers and gardens. Let the world call it worshipping the defeated son, being a waste, being a stubborn people, being a dull scholar, being a sleepy man and being a dead old charm.
When the sky were to fall and the earth were to fall, it was easy for a scholar who did nothing to express the feeling that nothing was a scholar. There is no doubt that there is pain in the heart. However, when writing an article, Zhang Dai pretended to be relaxed and made fun of himself. Generally speaking, self-mockery, in addition to obvious self-criticism, often implies two other meanings, one is to satirize the world and the other is to express one's ambition.
It's easier to understand the irony of the world. For example, the seven are insoluble, which means that the whole world has been greatly shifted, and right and wrong have been reversed. Describe how you are incompatible with the whole society. Narration is not easy to see, but a hidden intention to be discovered behind the words. Zhang Dai said that he couldn't learn articles, learn immortals and buddhas, and learn agricultural gardens. It seemed to be very low-key, but in fact he was lamenting his lack of talent.
On the surface, the whole epitaph for himself is self-reproaching, but in fact, he is joking with himself. But in this joke, Zhang Dai's self-orientation is implied. Why don't others have so many sighs? Probably because others didn't learn so many lofty ideals and ambitions when they were teenagers. After middle age, people will suddenly find that many things we originally wanted to do can't be done. There are factors of personal ability and time and space constraints.
In short, the greater the initial ambition, the more obvious the sense of loss in the future. This kind of feeling is sometimes independent of the individual's actual performance. Many people may think that he is very successful, but in the dead of night, he will still be depressed and dissatisfied. So these depressed and dissatisfied, to a great extent, is because he has higher self-expectation than others.
Zhang Dai's epitaph for himself is not entirely ironic or ironic. In self-mockery, there is also a real component, and this real component is narration. While describing his inaction and helplessness, it reflects how lofty the original life ideal and self-design are. As we all know, it is a common fault of countless literati throughout the ages that talent is not met. Unfortunate is true, but it's hard to say whether they are all talented.
The reason why people sink into the bottom is sometimes due to the social system, and sometimes it is an opportunity or a personnel problem, but it is more likely that the personal talent is insufficient and has nothing to do with the external environment. At the same time, not all complaints can be successfully transformed into works like Li Sao.
the reason why Zhang Dai's epitaph for himself is his masterpiece is that this article summarizes his life in a self-deprecating tone. The mood is desolate, just as he said in the middle of the preface to Tao An's Dream: "Prosperity and splendor are all empty. In the past 5 years, it has been a dream. " With this desolation as the background, Zhang Dai's self-mockery is real and cute.
Then Zhang Dai wrote: The first word was Zongzi, and now everyone calls him Zhang Zongzi, and he is called Shigong, that is, the word Shigong, which is good for writing books. Since he is good at writing books, what books did he write? He listed them one by one below. For example, The Book of Stone Chamber, Collected Works of Heaven's Library, Historical Que, Dream of Taoan, Dream of West Lake and so on.
Although he laughed at himself for failing to learn books, swords and articles, Zhang Dai actually wrote a lot. I listed my 15 works at once. There is no such thing as complacency. Maybe everyone will think that Zhang Dai is playing bungee jumping here, and the article turns too fast. In fact, this is the stylistic feature of the epitaph for himself. Although the whole article is full of self-mockery, it is not a review. Readers must not think that the author is really useless.
in a sense, self-mockery is the expression, while self-praise is the essence. This bibliography is, of course, set for self-evaluation. What is this kind of looking back on life, not self-praise? For scholars, what is more to be proud of than the handed down works, and what is more worth showing to the world?
in the middle of the article, according to the style of epitaph, it is necessary to explain the birth and death of the owner of the epitaph, the year of death and so on. Contemporary writing this article is almost 7 years old, and the year of death is of course unpredictable. Had to write from the year of birth, after introducing the situation of childhood, Zhang Dai specifically recorded a proud thing of his childhood.
When Zhang Dai was 6 years old, he once belonged to his grandfather, Zhang Rulin, who was visiting the West Lake. At that time, it happened that a very famous celebrity, Chen Jiru, was riding a deer and wandering around Hangzhou. Chen Jiru knew Zhang Dai's grandfather, so he asked Zhang Dai's grandfather. I heard that your grandson is good at making pairs. Can you give it a try? So Chen Jiru pointed to the picture of Li Bai riding a whale on the screen. He said, "Taibai rides a whale, quarries for jathyapple by the river." Six-year-old Zhang Dai replied almost without thinking, "Mei Gong crosses the deer, and Qiantang County has an autumn wind." Everyone knows the meaning of having an autumn wind.
In addition to being right, this bottom line is slightly funny, which is really quick-witted. It's no wonder that Mei Gong laughed and said, "That's a good idea, my little friend." He regarded Zhang Dai as a friend who had forgotten the new year. Why are there so many encounters in my life? Zhang Dai only recorded this anecdote from his childhood, probably for the last sigh. Unexpectedly, I have accomplished nothing.
Lingjun, once praised by Chen Jiru, the grandfather of Chen Mei, lamented that he had accomplished nothing. Of course, I didn't really accomplish anything, but I felt a little lost compared with my childhood wisdom and sensitivity. Next, after Zhang Dai wrote about Jiashen, he was so careless that he could neither seek death nor talk about life. Everyone should pay special attention to this year of Jiashen. Guo Moruo once wrote a book called "The Three Hundred Years Festival of Jiashen", a very thin booklet, which is also about this Jiashen.
This year was the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. In this year, the peasant uprising army led by Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, and the Ming Dynasty fell. Later, the Qing army entered Shanhaiguan and seized power. Zhang Dai personally experienced the pain of the country's death. For example, children lost their parents, flowers and plants left the land, and they were bored. He was afraid that once he died, he would rot with the vegetation, because he imitated the ancients and made his own epitaph.
so who are the ancients he imitated? There is Wang reactive power, that is, Wang Ji in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and Tao Jingjie, that is, Tao Yuanming and Xu Wenchang, that is, Xu Wei, a great writer in the Ming Dynasty. These people all have their own narratives or epitaphs handed down from generation to generation. Zhang Dai said that I wanted to learn from them, but as soon as I wrote, I felt that my own people were not good at literature. That is to say, my article and my character. It seems that they can't compare with the previous people. After hesitating, he finally figured it out and said a word: If the first thing is wrong, it can be passed on. This means that it is ok for me to write about my hobbies and my shortcomings.
Zhang Dai has achieved nothing in his life. The only thing that can be passed down after thinking about it is his hobbies and flaws. Literati say that we all know that we can complain, be unfair and laugh at ourselves, but we must not go too far. It would be bad if it gave the impression that it was not desirable. At the same time of self-mockery, we have to leave some hope for readers. So Zhang Dai said that my shortcomings and mistakes can be passed on. It can be said that my addiction is wrong, which is the key to this article.
There is a hobby called Qi Zhixiang in Volume 4 of Dream of Tao 'an, which introduces a good friend named Qi Zhixiang. This Qi Zhixiang has many hobbies, and one of them is well summed up. We often quote it now. Zhang Dai said: "People who have no addiction can't make friends with it, because they have no affection; People can't pay with it without flaws, so they have no true qi. " This idiosyncrasy and flaw is exactly the idiosyncrasy in the epitaph for myself, which shows Zhang Dai's true spirit and temperament.
Of course, Zhang Dai's hobbies, such as boasting, being a fine horse, being a good antique, being a good Chinese lantern, and so on, are inseparable from the above, just as Cao Xueqin called Jia Baoyu's behavior remote and perverse. Well, in the eyes of ordinary people, none of these seem to be any advantages. But Zhang Dai doesn't think so. In his view, this is the expression of his deep affection and true spirit.
It can be seen that despite self-mockery, we will stick to it in the future. This insistence is to have a special understanding and recognition of one's own hobbies, shortcomings and infatuation. Throughout, Zhang Dai takes self-analysis as the thread, and self-mockery and irony as the main way to express the block in his chest. On the surface, it seems humorous and almost playful, but we hide our thoughts and feel that there is a kind of yubo gas echoing in it. It's exciting and embarrassing.