Why is Jia Min in A Dream of Red Mansions called Mrs. Jia instead of Mrs. Lin?

This article was first published by Dayu's original 100 schools. Reprinting is strictly prohibited.

Keywords Dream of Red Mansions: Revealing the Secret of Lady Jia Min

Although Jia Min in A Dream of Red Mansions died suddenly, there are many mysteries about her, and the title is the biggest one. As your wife, why do you call her Mrs Jia instead of Mrs Lin?

Some people say it's the author's clerical error. This statement can only be told as a joke, not to mention that the author has been deleted and revised several times in the process of writing and revising. More importantly, in the book A Dream of Red Mansions, the names of characters have numerous metaphors, and each name has its meaning behind it. For example, the four ladies who should sigh, such as winning in a row (should pity), Hodge (disaster), Yucun (stupidity) and so on. So it's definitely not a clerical error.

Some people say that because the lady is an official title. There seems to be some truth in this statement. It is written in Seventy-two Books of Official History of Ming Dynasty: The number of a foreign women is nine, which means the wife of a country, the wife of a Hou and the wife of an Bo. One is called Mrs. Yipin, the other is called Mrs. Yipin, the third is called Shu Ren, the fourth is called Gong Ren, the fifth is called Pleasant, the sixth is called An Ren, and the seventh is called Ru Ren. The book says: Mrs. Jia died of sudden illness. Similar to her, after her death, Qin Keqing wrote on the spirit tablet "Qin's spirit tablet for respecting people at home". In addition, Jia Zheng's wife, Mrs. Wang, has always used the surname "Wang" in the book.

Bian Xiao believes that there are two reasons:

The first is to highlight the Jia family. As we all know, the main content of A Dream of Red Mansions is the rise and fall history of Jia's family, and everything revolves around Jia's family. Jia's position in the book is supreme. Writing about Mrs. Jia can help readers understand the relationship between Lin Daiyu and the Jia family more deeply.

The other is because of culture. The background in A Dream of Red Mansions is not bad, and it is estimated that it belongs to the upper officialdom, but compared with the Jia family, it is still a layer lower. As we all know, in traditional culture, when addressing others, people often say big or small, high or low. For example, the deputy section chief is called the section chief and the deputy director is called the director. Compared with the Lins, people around her are more willing to call her Mrs Jia, but in Jia Min's heart, they are more willing to accept this title.

Of course, from the author's point of view, there may be such a possibility, which is closer to the truth:

The so-called Mrs. Jia means nothing. The design of her sudden death in this paper is to tell readers that this lady is "fake", so as to attract and set off Dai Yu, which has no practical significance in itself. Her existence is just a literal symbol.