400 words on the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions.

What is the theme of a dream of red mansions? This is the most discussed and controversial issue in recent years. Or the theme of love, or the theme of cloud politics, or the theme of anti-feudalism, or the theme of decline and fall history, it can be said that each has its own opinions, which are well-founded and reasonable. It is precisely because of this deadlock that many researchers are tired of discussing the themes of classical literary masterpieces, including A Dream of Red Mansions, and doubt the value of this discussion. Now it seems that the discussion of the theme of the work is still an unavoidable and important topic in literary research; The problem is that we must change the old and narrow observation and understanding mode in the past. That is to say, as far as the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions is concerned, the above-mentioned single and exclusive induction has its rationality, but at the same time it has obvious one-sidedness, and it is impossible to satisfactorily solve the debate on the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions. In fact, as a profound literary work, just like those rich and complicated symphonies, there can be more than two themes, not a single theme. This paper intends to make a superficial analysis and discussion on the triple theme of A Dream of Red Mansions.

First of all, the answer must be found in the work itself.

A Dream of Red Mansions is a novel that best reflects the ingenuity of China literati and the unique personality of the writer. The implication of the work and the background of the writer are cleverly hidden in the plot of the work by Cao Xueqin. Among them, the first five chapters have special significance in the structure of A Dream of Red Mansions, which is not only an introduction to the development of the whole story, but also a microcosm of the tragedy of the whole book and a concentrated expression of the author's all intentions. It can be said that the whole theme of A Dream of Red Mansions lies in these five chapters. In this sense, the first five chapters are a key to solve the mystery of the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions, and they are the general outline of a book.

However, due to the richness and complexity of the first five chapters, it is not easy to accurately grasp the theme of the novel. For a time, it was once popular to take the fourth chapter as the general program. Specifically, the four "proverbs and word of mouth" written on this "official protection symbol" are the general outline of the novel. Before and after this, there is a saying that the fifth time or the first time is the general program of the novel, that is, the fifth time is subordinate to the verdict and twelve poems of a dream of red mansions, or it is annotated as the general program of the novel for the first time. During this period, with the change of political situation, they seem to be at odds, and they have to deny anyone, but only choose and affirm one of them, and often give this choice a certain political color. In the era of "the fourth official protection symbol is the general outline of the book", it goes without saying that all other statements about the general outline can only be feudal, bourgeois and revisionist; For a period of time after the downfall of the Gang of Four, the fourth general principle was ridiculed and refuted as the stereotyped writing of A Dream of Red Mansions. The so-called "full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears", for many Redology researchers, many research words they wrote, including the discussion of the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions, have also become bitter tears.

In fact, if we think about it calmly and deeply, we will find that those unusual views in the past, that is, our artificially opposing views, only talk about one aspect of the problem. Each of them has its own rationality and one-sidedness, and this confusion between rationality and one-sidedness is an important reason for the current deadlock and stalemate in research. Without changing the angle of observation and the mode of thinking, the deadlock will never be opened. Today, if we abandon a single and exclusive way of understanding and induction, the answer lies in these seemingly contradictory but complementary statements.

To sum up, the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions consists of three levels. The first level is the literary aesthetic level, which is mainly reflected by the image system and vivid artistic life of the novel. Its connotation is the beauty of youth, love, life and the destruction of this beauty. The Fifth Judgment and Twelve Songs of a Dream of Red Mansions are the theme songs at this level. The second level is the political and historical level, mainly through some important episodes and periodicals interspersed in the novel? The tragedy of love and marriage and the tragedy of youth's fate in the image reflect the content of social class struggle and political struggle. The four proverbs on the fourth "official protection symbol" are the theme songs at this level. The third level is the highest level of philosophy, which is reflected by all the stories and artistic images of the novel, and its core is the enlightenment and understanding of life and society through deep thinking. The first note of "Good Song" and "Good Song" is the theme song at this level. In this way, the triple theme of A Dream of Red Mansions is hidden in the first five chapters carefully written by the author. So we put forward the triple theme theory, which is not the compromise of previous themes, the original creation and subjective speculation of critics, but the objective expression of the author's creative intention. A Dream of Red Mansions itself proves that this is the case.