The Satire Art of The Scholars

The Scholars is a famous satirical novel in the middle of Qing Dynasty, and Lu Xun's favorite is The Scholars. He said: "satirists have existed in the Jin and Tang Dynasties and flourished in the Ming Dynasty, especially in human novels. However, this kind of novels usually set themselves as a mediocre person, extremely ugly and inferior, in order to set off a gentleman and show his talent, so they are often far from feeling and better than' slapping'. ..... Wu's "The Scholars" came out, upholding public interests above all else and pointing out the shortcomings of the times, which was forward-looking, especially in the scholars; His writing is harmonious, gentle and ironic; So there are satirical books in the Ministry. " The Scholars reveals the feudal society profoundly and thoroughly, and its irony is incisive. After reading this book, people feel that their life experiences should be rewarded, but they are not "scholars". It has an important position and great influence in the history of China literature. On the basis of inheriting the fine tradition of ancient satirical art in China and the genius creation of the author, it pushed the ancient satirical art in China to a new height and formed its own unique artistic style.

First, cartoon-like modeling description

It is a common technique in novels to express the author's distinct love and hate through comic description. The portrait description of the characters in The Scholars can highlight the main characteristics of the characters with a few strokes in extremely concise language, with both form and spirit. For example, the second time, Xia Zongjia wrote, "At this moment, a man came in from the outside, with two red eyes, an iron face, a few yellow beards, a corrugated hat on the side, and a patchwork of green clothes like an oil basket; Holding a donkey whip in his hand, he entered the door, bowed to everyone and sat on the seat. " The simple descriptions of these models alone vividly depict the image of an annoying junior official. His position is not high, and he is embarrassed in life, but he is qualified, putting on airs, and a little imposing. He is a small and influential hooligan in the local area. Obviously, the author's attitude is full of hatred in ridicule. Another example is Jin Fan's wonderful clip of being crazy because of the joy of winning the lottery. The author wrote: "(Jin Fan) clapped his hands and smiled and said,' Oh, come on! I won! As he spoke, he fell back and fell down, his teeth clenched and he was unconscious. "Although this was not a common phenomenon among taxi drivers at that time, it was also a fact. It is this exaggerated technique that the author uses to highlight the scene of Jin Fan's ecstasy and fainting on the ground through several actions of "slapping and laughing with one word and falling". Then, the author drew a more wonderful cartoon: "(Jin Fan) kicked in the pond and earned it. His hair fell off and his hands were yellow, covered with mud and dripping with water." Why doesn't Jin Fan's madness and embarrassment make people laugh?

For example, when Jin Fan entered the examination room for the third time, there was an extremely wonderful description, which was written from Zhou Jin's eyes: "Zhou Xuedao was sitting in the classroom and saw those young students who came recently: some were young, some were old, some were well dressed, some were shortsighted, well dressed and ragged. In the back came a boy, with a sallow and emaciated face, a gray beard and a broken felt hat. Although it was warm in Guangdong, it was the beginning of December, and the boy was still wearing linen. He was so cold that he shrank back, took the paper and went down to the count. " Sketch Jin Fan's miserable appearance with a few thick lines, which is full of the author's deep sympathy.

Second, use exaggeration to satirize

The author is good at exaggerating the most characteristic details of a character, that is, unfolding something that needs to be home to reveal the true face of the character. For example, Jin Fan went crazy when he went out, and fell down as soon as he went out, deliberately making a fool of himself: "When he left the gate, something was wrong. He kicked around in the pond, earned up, his hair was loose, his hands were yellow, and he was dripping with water. When he got to the meeting place, everyone couldn't stop him." The most famous example is that Yan Jiansheng refused to give up his life with two fingers before he died. Because he can't talk, everyone has speculated. Some say it belongs to two people, some say it belongs to two things, some say it belongs to two pieces of silver, and some say it belongs to two fields. He shook his head and said no, Zhao, who had just returned to absolute being, understood his mind. She "separated everyone, went up to him and said,' Sir, only I can know what's on your mind. You ordered two rushes in that lamp. Don't worry, I'm afraid I'll run out of gas. I'll pick one now. "He just" nodded, put down his hand, and was out of breath when he boarded the ship. "As a result, it has a strong comedy effect, and the image of this miser is vividly on the paper. The satire of a miser really goes from the outside to the inside, and goes deep into the bone marrow. In addition, like Hu San's son, before buying a duck, pull out the ear scoop and poke the meat on his chest to see if it is fat; Butcher Hu's hand ached after being hit. "I got a slap on my back and I can't bend any more." All these exaggerated descriptions of typical details highlight some aspects of the character's essence.

Third, use comparative skills to satirize.

The successful application of contrast skills is also an important aspect of irony in The Scholars. The author often makes the same person take different or even completely contradictory attitudes towards the same object in different situations, resulting in a strong contrast, thus producing a comedy effect. There are many wonderful contrast descriptions in the case of Fan Jinzhong. For example, butcher Hu's comparative description of his attitude before and after is very vivid. Before Zhongju, he was called "worldly treasure" and "toad", and after Zhongju, he was called "virtuous man" and "satellites in the sky". The description of his appearance is also different: before the middle lift, he said that he was "sharp-tongued, no three no four", and after the middle lift, he praised him as "talented and good-looking"; The two gifts are also different. Before the middle lift, "a bottle of wine for a pair of large intestines" and after the middle lift, "seven or eight pounds of meat, four or five thousand dollars"; The way to leave Jin Fan's house is also different: when I left before the middle lift, I was "hungry with clothes", and when I left after the middle lift, I was "grateful, bowed my head and smiled happily". In contrast, his typical image of a philistine who worships foreign things and flatters foreign countries, disrespects the poor and loves the rich, goes with the flow, is addicted to money and is vulgar and selfish. There is also a contrast with neighbors: Jin Fan was unable to expose his family before his promotion, and he was on the verge of death if he was not careful. After Jin Fan was promoted, he soon sent wine and meat and moved tables, chairs and benches. The author strongly satirizes their past mentality of staying at a respectful distance from others, being too poor and loving the rich. It is better to let Zhou be Xue Jiaji's teacher, because he is not even a scholar, so Mei Jiu, the scholar who invited him to accompany him, did not rush out. When Zhou entered the main room, "he stood up slowly to meet him." When Zhou Jin became a scholar and an official, he kowtowed to Zhou Jin's longevity card. Two totally different attitudes exposed Mei Jiu's despicable soul of worshipping fame and fortune.

Fourth, satirize through the contradiction between words and deeds of the characters.

It is also the author's usual practice to expose the hypocrisy and absurdity of characters through their contradictory words and deeds. For example, in the fifth and sixth chapters, Yan boasted in front of Zhang Jingzhai that he was "straightforward and never knew to take advantage of the villagers", and then exposed his despicable behavior of extortion and evil in the village with a series of vivid plots. Because of the sharp contrast between words and deeds, it plays the role of self-disclosure, thus forming a sharp and meaningful irony effect. Another example is Du, who wrote in Chapter 33. At the same time, he shouted that he not only disliked women, but also hated them very much. He said: "My great-grandfather Emperor Gao said:' If I am not born a woman, all women in the world will be killed!'" "Which woman has a good one? My brother's temperament is that he can smell his stench three rooms away from a woman. " At the same time, ask the matchmaker Shen Dajiao to tell him that a beautiful girl who is only seventeen years old but has twelve and a half talents is the little wife. This not only exposes his hypocrisy, but also shows his hatred of women's desires. (the thirtieth time) There are others, such as Jin Fan, who swallowed shrimp balls without silver chopsticks because of Ding You; Kuang boasted about how good his anthology was and how it sold well in many provinces in China, but immediately revealed that he didn't even know what "pre-Confucianism" meant, and so on. It is through the contradiction between words and deeds of the characters that the ridiculous and despicable parts of the characters are exposed and good artistic effects are received.

In addition to the above four main satirical techniques, the author is also good at using subtle and euphemistic satirical techniques, mainly through refining and typifying the plot, so that the contradiction, absurdity and irrationality of the deformed thing itself can be displayed centrally. Sometimes it is ironic with the help of the contradiction between the words and deeds of the characters = or the comparison before and after. For example, Yan brazenly declared that he never took advantage of others, and his voice did not fall. The page came to report that he shut a pig in the morning. Mei Jiu used to make fun of Zhou Jin maliciously and made him feel ashamed, but when he was in high school, he pretended to be his student and worshipped his immortal Luvika respectfully. In this way, the author tore open the scars on the characters with cold brushstrokes and purulent blood layer by layer, exposing their hearts naked.

In addition, The Scholars also appropriately grasped the scale of irony and satirized different characters in different ways and to different degrees. And can take different attitudes to satirize with the changes of social status and ideological quality of the characters. For example, Zhou Jin and Jin Fan lived a hard life and were in a difficult situation before the middle school entrance examination. Although the author satirizes them to some extent, most of them are in a difficult situation. Although the author satirizes them to some extent, he is more sympathetic to them. After becoming an official, great changes have taken place in political and economic status, the quality has deteriorated, and the author's attitude has also changed, and he has taken a bitter ridicule.

Generally speaking, the satirical techniques in The Scholars are varied and colorful: there is a subtle side of graceful songs, which is thought-provoking and meaningful; There is also an exaggerated side, which makes people feel sharp and pungent. It is reasonable for predecessors to call The Scholars a "laughing and cursing article".

This article quotes all articles of Huang Xiong in 2005.