A Dream of Red Mansions: Reflections after 38 Readings

The golden wind is refreshing, the cinnamon is fragrant, the chrysanthemum is yellow and the crab is fat, and poetry is sung. After the young ladies of the Grand View Garden started their club with Haitang, Shi Xiangyun acted as host. According to Xue Baochai's intention, they invited Jia Mu and others to watch sweet-scented osmanthus at the Lotus Champs, and put on a crab feast. Then they gave chrysanthemum poems and sang crabs ... This is an interesting picture described in the thirty-eighth chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions.

In my opinion, there are three interests in this writing:

First of all, the author described the "Crab Eating Classic" more than 2 years ago in a very detailed and thoughtful way through the narrative of the story and the mouth of Xifeng and Jia Mu. Crab is delicious and nutritious, and it is a traditional delicacy in China. However, crabs are cold and slightly toxic, so people who are old and weak should not eat more. Therefore, when watching osmanthus before the banquet, Xifeng teased the old lady and said, "When I come back to eat crabs, I am afraid that I will accumulate cold in my heart, so that my ancestors can smile and be happy. It is no harm to eat two more when I am happy." Grandmother Jia also told Xiangyun, "Don't let your brother Bao and sister Lin eat too much", and told Xiangyun and Baochai, "Don't eat too much either. Although it is delicious, it is not good, and it hurts to eat too much. " Crabs have a fishy smell and should be eaten while they are hot. Because of their cold nature, they are best served as wine dishes. Therefore, after the banquet, Xifeng ordered: "Don't bring more crabs, still put them in the steamer, bring ten, and take them after eating." And he said, "Bring me the hot wine." "Pour more ginger vinegar." ..... These are similar to the way we eat now. Only with the prosperity of science, modern eating methods are more refined. For example, crabs can be steamed in cages and boiled in water when they are mature. It is best to tie each crab with a rope when steaming in a cage. When it is mature, it will be served neatly. Its advantages are delicious taste and less nutrients. Boiling must use cold water to prevent crab feet from breaking. When boiling, put a small amount of ginger, which has the advantage of solving some fishy smell and slight toxicity. Another example is that when we use ginger vinegar, we also put soy sauce, sugar, monosodium glutamate, etc. to make the seasoning taste more delicious. Now there are ready-made bottled "crab sticks" for sale in the market, which makes it more convenient for eaters.

Secondly, in this chapter, the author depicts a picture of grandparents, mothers and daughters, sisters and even the master and maid having fun together. There are three tables for the crab feast: "The upper table is the one with the grandmother, Aunt Xue, Baochai, Daiyu and Baoyu; A table in the east, Shi Xiangyun, Mrs. Wang, welcome, explore and cherish; A table near the door in the west, Li Wan's and Xi Feng's ... "At the same time," have two plates sent to Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou. " "There are two tables on the porch over there for Yuanyang, Amber, Caixia, Caiyun and Pinger to sit on." Later, "I ordered another table to be set, and I picked out hot crabs, and invited xiren, Fine, Siqi, Daishu, Show, Yinger and Cui Mo to sit down.". Two flower mats were laid under the laurel trees on the hillside, and the promised women and smiles send us light all sat down, even though they were free to eat and drink ... "The words in this section of the Grand View Garden, which shared the same pleasure with others, wrote a more enlightened and casual scene on the other side of Jia's hierarchical family, especially at the gathering of young people, expressing the clue of the author's democratic thought.

Thirdly, in this trip, the author also focuses on the touching scenes of sisters and Baoyu's poems on chrysanthemums and crabs. Twelve chrysanthemum poems written by Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai stayed up all night, and Lin Daiyu's Poems of Chanting Chrysanthemum, Asking Chrysanthemum and Dream of Chrysanthemum won one or three titles because of "new topics, new poems and renewed ideas", and were pushed to the top of the list, which fully demonstrated the talent of Princess Xiaoxiang. Later, in the crab poems written by Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai, although Xue Baochai's poems were described as "crab-eating swan songs", everyone thought that she was "too sarcastic." For Heng Wujun, who has always been famous for his generosity, virtue and gentleness, it also shows another side of his personality, which is intriguing.