What kind of person is Granny Liu?

Granny Liu in the masterpiece A Dream of Red Mansions is just a nobody. Although she is regarded as a relative of the royal family in Beijing, she knows very little and has long been alienated. However, under the brilliant pen of the author of A Dream of Red Mansions, Granny Liu has become a household name in China, and "Granny Liu enters the Grand View Garden" has become a common saying in daily life, and this passage has been selected into senior high school Chinese textbooks for many times. In the first eighty works, the author wrote "Granny Liu entered the Fu" for the sixth time and "Granny Liu entered the Fu for the second time" for 39 to 42 times, and spent a lot of space and ink on a little person to highlight his character characteristics. What is the charm of granny Liu, a country girl? In the author's pen, is Granny Liu a sophisticated old woman or a fawning clown? There have always been different opinions. The following is a comparative analysis of the information and various viewpoints seen in the book:

Second, the image of Granny Liu in A Dream of Red Mansions.

In this well-known novel A Dream of Red Mansions, Granny Liu entered the mansion seven times, which happened to be arranged in different situations of Jia's mansion, and became a hidden foreshadowing to witness the rise and fall of Jia's mansion: Granny Liu visited the book for the first time for the sixth time, and the layout of the whole book was completed. Many characters have not yet appeared, and the story has not yet begun. This is the preface stage, which explains how the new relationship between Granny Liu and Jia family was established, thinking that the plot developed later. The second time was between thirty-nine and forty-two, when the Jia family was in its heyday. These chapters were full of laughter. The third visit, which is not described in the book, can be skipped; The fourth visit was the most unlucky one for the Jia family. Five or six times, I was saved, reflecting the despicable face of Jia's relatives when they were in trouble. The seventh time, not only Qiaojie's incident subsided, but also two houses in Rong Ning and Rongrong were restored to their original state, and they were rewarded with stolen property. Baoyu and Jia Lan are both scholars, Baochai is pregnant, and Jia Zheng also promised to marry the Zhou family. Except for Baoyu's regret to become a monk, the Jia family was shrouded in a jubilant atmosphere. Granny Liu met Mrs. Wang and others and said something about "how to get promoted, how to get married, and how to have generations to come." Therefore, Granny Liu's several visits to Guo Rongfu were just an ambush line, witnessing the different ups and downs of Jia's family. Granny Liu's speech acts in Guo Rongfu can be summarized as follows:

(A) simple old peasant woman

This is the most basic image of granny Liu. According to the description of granny Liu in Chapter 6:

This granny Liu is an old widow for many years. She has no children and lives on two acres of wasteland. Today's son-in-law took over to raise him, but he didn't want to, so he helped his daughter-in-law get along wholeheartedly.

Granny Liu was originally an "old widow" who lived only on two acres of wasteland. She was taken over by her son-in-law, "wholeheartedly helping her daughter and son-in-law make a living." This kind of "single-minded" just points out Granny Liu's diligence and dedication to the life of crops. And the sixth time to persuade the dog said:

People in our village are dishonest and keep as many bowls as they eat.

When granny Liu advised the dog, she stressed the need to live quietly, and even blamed the dog for "having money to ignore the head and tail, but not having money to get angry" and asked the dog to live a real life within his means.

From the 39th to the 41st, Granny Liu entered the Grand View Garden, and a countryman entered the beautiful Grand View Garden, feeling fresh and curious everywhere and making many jokes. But granny Liu did not show envy in front of Jia Jia's extravagance and waste, but repeatedly lamented Jia Jia's extravagance and waste, and repeatedly turned those extravagant consumption into a dull household livelihood, such as writing back to Jia Jia's house to eat crabs for 39 times:

Granny Liu said, "This crab is worth five cents a catty this year. Ten jins of five money, five two five two, three five one five, and then get on the dining tables, a * * * has more than twenty two silver. Amitabha! The money for this meal is enough for us bankers to spend a year. 」

Forty times again wrote:

Give a pair of chopsticks inlaid with ivory and gold to the old man and granny Liu. Granny Liu saw it and said, "This fork is heavier than my spade, so I can't move it." ..... and wore a pair of ebony inlaid with silver. Granny Liu said, "It's silver, not as good as what we have. 」

Granny Liu can't tell either. She recited the Buddha and said, "We don't think he can make clothes. Wouldn't it be a pity to hold it against the window? 」

Granny Liu doesn't envy Jia's life in her heart, but she is bent on calculating the meager livelihood at home: the money for a meal in Jia's family is enough for the banker to live for a year, but the gold and silver chopsticks are not as good as usual. The poor can't make clothes if they want to, but the rich hold the window. Granny Liu sighs again and again. The author created a simple and realistic image of Granny Liu with several details. At the same time, the author also reflected the scene of "Zhu Men stinks with wine and meat" in Jia Fu through grandma Liu's eyes, and made a heavy condemnation of Jia Fu's corruption.

(2) Brave people who are optimistic and enterprising and break through difficulties and setbacks.

In the face of difficulties, some people are trapped in the city, helpless, but grandma Liu Can is optimistic and bravely breaks through the immediate difficulties. In the sixth narrative, the dog is worried because he has nothing to do at home in winter, so he can only "eat wine" and "find gas", while Liu Ye "dare not contradict". When the dog couple were filled with gloom, Grandma Liu advised the dog:

Although we live far away from the city now, we are still at the feet of the son of heaven. Chang 'an has money everywhere, but unfortunately no one wants it. ..... The dog sneered ... What can I do? ..... "Granny Liu said," That's not the case. Man proposes, God disposes. We've found it, and with the blessing of the Bodhisattva, there are still some opportunities that we don't know about.

Grandma Liu wants the dog to face up to his life. God won't close a door, but he must fight for it himself. Grandma Liu loves life. She really knows that life is prepared for both bitterness and pleasure. She doesn't feel sorry for herself or blame others, but faces and solves all the disappointments with a happy and optimistic mood. What a dull and optimistic attitude towards life!

A person can face life optimistically, but when encountering difficulties, does he have the courage and perseverance to face layers of difficulties? That's not necessarily true. In order to break through the difficulties of life, Granny Liu bravely took her grandson Banel to Jia's home in Gaomen Courtyard. However, there are several difficulties to overcome. First of all, we should overcome the psychological barrier of being embarrassed to tell others that it is difficult for us to help. In the sixth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions, the dog offered to accompany Mrs. Wang to Zhou Rui, which was excellent before. Granny Liu said:

I know his, too. I just don't walk around often and know what he looks like now. I don't know ...

It can be seen that Granny Liu knows that people are warm and cold, and her former "excellent" friends have changed. She hasn't walked around for a long time, so it's hard to say what she looks like now. Maybe you will encounter obstacles and even be laughed at when you go. But granny Liu agreed at once. Even think:

Give up my old face and feel it. Sure enough, there are some benefits, which are beneficial to everyone; Even if I have no money, I will go to the bar to see the world and live my life.

Being able to face the first difficulty with such a cheerful and optimistic attitude is of course full of courage. However, granny Liu's entry into Guo Rongfu was not smooth, and there were still many difficulties to overcome. In the sixth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions, she told him that she had arrived at Jia Fu's door and asked the porter to inform Zhou Rui of the situation.

They looked at him for a while and then asked, "Where are you from? Grandma Liu smiled apologetically and said, "I'm looking for my wife's escort, Grandpa Zhou, and I'm asking him to come out for me. Hearing this, those people didn't take it to heart. The Japanese side said, "You wait far away under that corner, and someone will come out of their house soon. One of the old men said, "Don't misunderstand him. Why play with him? ".」

These third-class slaves first "looked at him for a while" and then "ignored him". Some people even tried to play tricks on him. Fortunately, an old man showed him the way, which was the first defeat. Later, although Zhou Ruigu took the lead, it still needed Pinger's approval and Xi's face. Stupid once commented on this journey:

This is an ant in the mud of Qian Qian, flying towards the bright moon in the sky! (Yu Tai wrote A Dream of Red Mansions, published in The Art of A Dream of Red Mansions, Taipei, Liren Bookstore, first edition, 65438+ 1975 10).

How humble the ants in the mud are! And how difficult it is to "March to the bright moon in the sky"! Granny Liu is not afraid and moves forward step by step.

Funny clown

Is grandma Liu a clown or not? There have always been many discussants, and each family has its own views. Zhang Xinbo despised Granny Liu in the article "Talk about Granny Liu again" and thought:

Cao Xueqin is very familiar with this kind of character and hates this kind of character, so he wrote in a sarcastic tone ... he deliberately spoiled grandma Liu. In particular, granny Liu entered the Rongfu, and the author wrote that she pretended to be crazy and sold stupidly, kowtowing and kneeling, which vividly portrayed the ugliness of "fighting". (Taiwan Daily19th Edition, August 22nd, 963)

Zhang Xinbo thinks that Cao Xueqin is a person who hates "beating", so he deliberately pampers Granny Liu. Grandma Liu entered Rongfu, and all the performances were considered ugly. Cao Xueqin deliberately vilified Grandma Liu, but such criticism was really excessive.

Before the myth and humor of A Dream of Red Mansions, it highly affirmed Granny Liu and said:

If laughter can give a lot of happiness to a tragic beauty like Lin Daiyu, Mr. Liu is always happy to be a ridiculous person. ..... The landscapes, flowers, birds, insects and fish in the Grand View Garden are the crystallization of exhausted human wisdom, while Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu are sensitive to an imperfection. It is the simple old gentleman who makes the finishing touch in this paradise on earth and gives full play to his light. The old peasant woman walked into the Grand View Garden from the field, which brought sunshine to everyone and made the garden evergreen ... (Central Daily 1963, May 27th, the first edition 12). In the whole book, Mr. Liu is always a clown ... In the structure of the novel, the clown is the closest to the author and the reader, and he is also the most insightful about the mysterious operation of the plot (Central Daily1May 28, 963 12 edition).

In the article "Myth and Humor of a Dream of Red Mansions", Fu highly praised Granny Liu, who brought sunshine to the Grand View Garden, making the garden evergreen and making up for the shortcomings of the Grand View Garden. This statement seems to be over-praised, because Granny Liu did bring a brief laugh to the Grand View Garden, but it was still not enough to "make the garden evergreen". Fu went on to say in the article "Love the Sea and Love the Heaven":

After Mr. Liu entered the Grand View Garden, there was a new development: Daiyu cried less and laughed more, and her relationship with Baochai was more harmonious. We can even regard this change as the key to the plot of the novel ... (Central Daily News1June 3-5, 963 12 edition).

This seems to raise Granny Liu's position too high. Granny Liu does have her place in A Dream of Red Mansions, but it is too high to regard it as the key to the plot of the novel.

Tong's article "On the Clown in a Dream of Red Mansions" still classifies Granny Liu as a clown, but he is sympathetic and understanding. He said:

In these many painful and twisted faces (referring to the clown in A Dream of Red Mansions), Granny Liu walked through the scars of time and still smiled brilliantly. ..... Know grandma to make fun of her son, appreciate her rustic, and she is more cunning than Yuanyang and Xifeng. ..... Granny Liu's gaffes in the Grand View Garden have created a series of jokes, but in fact, as far as the mind is concerned, the readers are laughing at Granny Liu and themselves. (included in A Dream of Red Mansions, published by Taipei Young Lion Culture Co., Ltd., March 5th edition, 7 1, p. 79. )

Tong thinks Granny Liu is a clown, but she is not an ugly figure, but she is clear and confident, and can appreciate the laughter brought by her simplicity.

Being a clown is stupid. >, against the clown, he said:

She came with a heavy mission and a hard heart: on the one hand, she should fight for it with fear; On the other hand, we should improvise and perfunctory the environment. What kind of funny characters is she wrapped in? She just happened to meet a strange stage and a group of people who like to watch lively plays. I was forced to make up and became a temporary ticket friend. ..... She seems straightforward, but she is never reckless; Seemingly ignorant, but never stupid; It is also quite scheming, but it is not evil. ..... In essence, she is just a clown who puts on airs (Dream of Red Mansions, Wang Guowei, Lin Yutang, etc. Taipei, Liren Bookstore, 75, 1+0 1- 12).

It is foolish to think that Granny Liu is just a clown pretending to be a clown. In fact, her heart is painful, more reckless, more stupid and more evil than ordinary clown characters. Luo Zhande also holds the same view in the article Granny Liu, a sophisticated woman:

The author wrote this village woman so vividly and profoundly. Although Granny Liu once made everyone laugh, she is not a ridiculous figure. It's just that her family is poor, and only in this way can she curry favor with rich and powerful relatives. Therefore, we think Granny Liu is a ridiculous person, to be exact, she is a poor person. (See Luo Dezhan, Literary Value of A Dream of Red Mansions, Taipei, Dongda Bookstore, 1987, updated and reprinted, p. 387. )

Luo Zhande sympathized with Granny Liu in his article, thinking that Granny Liu's performance was not to pretend to be crazy, but to please rich and powerful relatives. Meiyuan, an important woman in A Dream of Red Mansions, has a similar view. He said:

A country in the Zhou dynasty