Tu Sang Huiming: It’s not a problem to be too beautiful – Qingwen’s death is seen occasionally

Tu Sang Huiming: It’s not a problem to be too beautiful – Qingwen’s death is seen occasionally "Elaborating on Red Mansions" Editor’s Note: The 87 version of Dream of Red Mansions...

"A Detailed Description of Red Mansions" Editor's Note: The song music of the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" was written by the famous composer Wang Liping based on the lyrics of "The Twelve Hairpins of Jinling" by Cao Xueqin. It took more than four years to write, among which "The Song of the Burial Flowers" took the musician almost two years. Its songs, performed by Chen Li, a music wizard, have almost become eternal songs in the hearts of fans. In order to recreate the beauty of the Red Mansions songs, the Tucson Huasheng Chorus in Arizona and the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona jointly organized the 2013 Mid-Autumn Festival Concert of Dreams of Red Mansions (held on September 20 and September 21). Wang Liping and Chen Li will attend the concert, and Chen Li will also serve as the lead singer of the chorus. This is the first time Chen Li has performed the song of Red Mansions since the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" was aired in 1987. In view of the lack of understanding of the story of Dream of Red Mansions by overseas audiences, this column specially invites experts to introduce and comment on the story and characters of Red Mansions. We also hope that this will inspire more Chinese friends.

Tu Sang Huiming Qingwen's beauty and elegance are recognized by everyone. She has a "snake-like waist, narrow shoulders, and her eyebrows look a bit like Sister Lin." This sister Lin is basically the beauty model of the Red Mansion. As long as any girl stands in front of this model, her various features will appear. Even today, if you say that a girl's features look like Sister Lin's, or that her little slur has the lingering sound of that sister, it will make the girl smile. Therefore, Qingwen is somewhat confident in her appearance. Cao Xueqin also has a preference for Qingwen. In "A Dream of Red Mansions", Qingwen is the first among the twelve beauties of Jinling. What puzzles all those who are new to The Red Mansion is why a maid who was born in poverty and has been bought and sold many times has such a high status. Generally speaking, a person's thinking and style as an adult are often related to his childhood experiences. For example, if you have been discriminated against due to social status or physical defects since childhood, you will unconsciously become hostile or retaliate against people who are more talented and outstanding than you as an adult. But as a slave, Qingwen rarely has these negative things. Although she was sold as a slave to the old slave Nanny Lai, "Jia Mu saw that she was smart and beautiful and loved her very much. Therefore, Nanny Lai treated her as a filial piety to Jia Mu." She deliberately belittled her as a slave of slaves. But she doesn't have the servility of girls like slaves. She likes to tell other people's stories consciously or unconsciously, to please her master. On the contrary, she has gained many psychological advantages of beauty, because she believes that from being sold to others at the age of ten to entering the Red Mansion Courtyard, it is all due to her natural beauty. This beauty is very important for girls. Later generations commented that Qingwen liked to use political labels, such as being a rebel against the old ethics, resisting feudal society alone, etc., including the fact that her death caused readers to hate feudal society, etc., but these are actually all nonsense. Qingwen's psychological support is so simple: I am beautiful, who should I be afraid of! Only with beauty can you have self-confidence, and be cold-eyed towards the dog-like footman Wang Shanbao's family, and be sarcastic towards those who behave casually and please Baoyu. He even dared to say, "Who is more noble than the other? I offended my wife, and I don't tolerate this tone"! The wife of Wang Shanbao falsely accused Qingwen in front of Mrs. Wang: "There is nothing else, but my wife doesn't know, the first one is Qingwen from the Baoyu House. That girl is prettier than the others, and she has a clever mouth... If she doesn't say anything, she will raise her eyes to curse people, she is so charming, so unbecoming!" In fact, she was right about Qingwen. Qingwen just wanted to take advantage of her beauty and establish an unusual friendship with Baoyu. She would not deliberately imitate characters like She Yue, Bi Hen, and Qiu Wen, who were bedfellows, given water and tea, and she even disdained sexual partner characters like Xi Ren. What Qingwen cares about is to be a kind of friend with Baoyu who is not like a master or a servant, but who can have spiritual conversations like Baodai. So when she heard Xi Ren say, "It's our fault," she sneered, "I don't know who 'you' are, don't make me feel ashamed for 'you'! ... She's not even a girl yet, and she's just like me, how can she call her 'us'?" Guess it was this beauty mentality that made Qingwen dissatisfied with the fact that there is no "appearance" in the world, but people who like to use "color" to please their masters. But in this world, big trees attract the wind, and beauties are jealous. Qingwen thought that relying on her beauty and uniqueness, she could establish a different kind of intimate relationship with Baodai and be able to resist any evil wind in the Red Mansion. But she was wrong. Those who were not very beautiful and were discriminated against by her, such as the Wang Shanbao family, when Xi and Mrs. Wang formed a mother-in-law alliance, beauty was no longer their opponent. This is the reason why Cao Xueqin gave Qingwen the verdict at the beginning of the Red Mansion: "The bright moon is rare, and the colorful clouds are easy to disperse. Her heart is higher than the sky, but her body is humble. Being romantic and clever attracts resentment. Longevity is mostly due to slander, and sentimental young masters miss her in vain." In fact, Qingwen's heart was high, but in the end she endured her life. At the end of her life, she regretted to Baoyu and said: "Although I was born better than others and I have no personal feelings to seduce you, why do you insist that I am a 'vixen'! Today, I have a false reputation, and there is no limit to my future. I am not saying a word of regret: If I had known this, I would have-" This regret is really sad. Cao Xueqin was ruthless enough to make such a beautiful woman leave the topic of Red Mansions early, and almost gave up on the idea of ​​beauty—