First, the theme of Water Margin and the formation of a gray society
The rise and fall of a country is the responsibility of the whole world. Scholars in the history of China often pay attention to the topic of the rise and fall of the country. However, world prosperity will decline, and decline will prosper. How many people understand the truth? Zhang Dui said: Prosperity will make the people suffer, while death will make the people suffer. Huang Yanpei said that all dynasties could not avoid the historical periodic law of "its prosperity is also rich, and its death is also sudden". What is the truth contained in Water Margin, which is called the four fantastic books of Ming Dynasty, and what enlightenment can the characters in it give us? This is an endless story and a thought-provoking topic. As "Water Margin" said at the beginning, "Rise and fall are like crisp willows, and life experience is like righteousness."
The following focuses on the analysis of the image of Song Jiang, the leader of Liangshan hero in this survival game.
Second, loyal ministers are brave and resourceful.
(1). Dedicated to wealth and timely rain, learn from Mo Zhai from head to toe.
Song Jiang was born in a landlord's family, and he is a big family in the local area, so he is very rich. The eighteenth time, Song Jiang came to power and introduced him as "generous to money" and "extravagant, treating gold like water." "Heroes in the Jianghu have defected to him, leaving him to live in the heights for free. He didn't dislike it for a long time, stayed with him all day and gave him financial support when he left. " "At ordinary times, everyone asks him for property, and he doesn't shirk it. It is more common to give coffin bait to help the poor. Song Jiang's income comes partly from family property and partly from rent-seeking. In the Song Dynasty, the state allowed small officials to obtain certificates, just as Yan Poxi commented on Song Jiang: A public servant, doesn't that cat eat fishy? " The third is gift income. When Kongming Kong Liang was here, the Kongs gave Sung River fifty taels for travelling expenses. In Qingfeng Mountain, Yan Shun, Huangying and other places. "Send one ingot each" and Song Jiang; When Song Jiang was rescued from Liangshan for the first time, Chao Cuo and others "took out a pot of gold ingots" and Song Jiang. There are some examples, but Song Jiang's money undoubtedly opened a road to fame and success at that time. In Song Jiang era, the vagrants in society had to solve the problem of survival first. When they are inseparable and displaced, the most important thing is the assistance of friends, and the most direct and effective way of assistance is to solve their survival problems. When they are inseparable and lonely, the best way to help is material help. Song Jiang knows this best, so he has accumulated a lot of contacts for his uprising. After the persecution of Qingfeng Village in Beiliu, Song Jiang lost confidence in the imperial court and decided to take Huarong to Liangshan. Because of the seat problem, Yan Shun and others clashed with Shi Yong. Shi Yong said loudly, "There were only two people in the old world, and the rest were used as soles." Song Jiang asked him who these two men were, and cabos c told him that one was Chai Jin and the other was "Yuncheng County in charge of timely rain in Shandong, Hu Baoyi and Song Gongming", which showed Song Jiang's reputation in society.
(2). Brilliant, sincere and heroic, paying attention to commitment, he is a great person.
Song Jiang's family background enabled him to get a good cultural education. "He studied classical literature from an early age." In the street, Song Jiang saw people playing with a toy, which is called "knocking" in the north. After Song Jiang figured it out, he casually occupied a tune of "Hu Knock" and still remembered it, so he wrote a poem. Later, after his death in Liu Tang, Song Jiang "wrote a poem and cried." All these show that Song Jiang is a man of great literary talent. In Water Margin, most of them are ignorant people who don't know Wen Zi. Song Jiang's performance stands out from the crowd. It's just that Song Jiang is low-key and claims to be incompetent.
If Song Jiang is just a man with outstanding literary talent, he is not enough to be the leader of the Water Margin. First of all, Song Jiang is actually a very resourceful person. When he was a petty official in Yuncheng, he had already learned the strategy of being a cunning rabbit. On the one hand, he has a good relationship with officials in Yuncheng. On the other hand, he secretly digs tunnels at home for emergencies. He is good at making friends with heroes in the Jianghu and giving himself a way out. To some extent, Song Jiang is a strategist. When going up the mountain, Song Jiang's slogan was "Helping the country and benefiting the people", and after going up the mountain, Song Jiang's slogan was "Doing Heaven for Heaven"; But when he surrendered, his slogan was changed to "loyalty to the country, loyalty to the country." His firmness in politics and flexibility in policies kept him in balance with the heroes who became an outlaw and the government in all periods. On the one hand, he achieved the loyalty of the Jianghu government, on the other hand, he achieved the policies of the Jianghu government. After Song Jiang became the leader of Liangshan, he implemented the policy of "not invading counties and towns, not disturbing the people", and Song Jiang gave hospitality to the captured soldiers. This reflects Song Jiang's military talent and ability. Song Jiang is good at keeping a low profile, which is reflected in his early use of his own relationship and management of Yunxian County to build a good network of relationships; On the other hand, he dug a hole at home and hid in it in times of crisis. On the one hand, he made friends with Jianghu people for his future career.
Three. A tragic figure who sings an elegy for harness.
(a) kill countless people, all because of loyalty.
Song Jiang killed many people in his life. The first one killed Yan Poxi because she was not only cuckolded, but also greedy. She was kind enough to save her, but she also threatened to take revenge on this woman. As a result, when the broadsword fell, Song Jiang's fate changed. The second murderer is Gao Liu and his wife in Qingfeng Village, and they are also a couple who bite the hand that feeds them. The third murderer was Huang Wenbing, who almost killed him; After Song Jiang went to Liangshan, he killed corrupt officials and local tyrants. Actually, Song Jiang didn't want to fight against the regime, just because it was classical at that time, and he couldn't help it himself. So when Classical abdicated, Song Jiang's attitude towards the regime improved a lot. He won Tong Guan twice and refused to kill him. He lost Gao Qiu three times and let him go back to earth. Instead, Sung River killed the most schools in Liangshan. Fang La's soldiers will be even more malicious, and "stomach-cutting" will kill loyal Li Kui jy when Sung River dies.
Song Huizong had looked down upon the rebel forces in Xiaoliangshan of Sung River, but the court was shocked because the Liangshan heroes defeated Tong Guan three times and captured Gao Qiu alive twice. Coupled with Song Jiang's excellent diplomatic skills, of course, he succeeded. "Song Jiang, who is walking on the road to woo an, will face subversive destruction when his survival is threatened again, whether he chooses to obey or fight; He has entered a dead end that cannot be turned back. " (Emperor undercurrent, page 252) "Chen Qiaoyi shed tears and beheaded a pawn", and Song Jiang said, "Since we went to the water margin, none of our brothers collapsed. I am an official today, and I can't move a step. " So that at this time, Song Jiang has officially changed from the uprising leader of Liangshanpo to the courtiers of Dasong. The change of role determines that Sung Jiang's behavior will also change. Psychologically, a person's role in society is often a mask that he has to wear, and Song Jiang has been eager to wear this mask since he was a child. Although Liangshan Primary School, the hero of the tragedy, was doing harm for the people, he prevented Song Jiang from embarking on the road of Zhao 'an, so the primary school had to die in Song Jiang's eyes. Song Jiang's tears may be crocodile's tears, but Liangshan primary school died because he didn't understand that the situation has changed now and before. Song Jiang is a patient person, and it is often amazing that a capable person bursts out.
Song Jiang was clever at one time and confused at the other. He doesn't understand that although his loyalty to the court is understandable, the court can't be at ease with a rebel who has been fighting it. The court agreed to woo you because it could not destroy you by formal means, so it had to woo you with thieves. With Song Jiang's cleverness, on the one hand, he knew that in order to gain a foothold in the imperial court, he had to make certain achievements for the imperial court and prove his loyalty, which was the same as his killing of Liangshan Primary School, but he didn't know that the price he had to pay for expressing his loyalty was not only as simple as paying for a primary school, but also most of his brothers and their own lives. If I had known this ending, maybe Song Jiang would have hesitated, but this time, Song Jiang ended up with a meritorious service. On the one hand, he is eager to make contributions and be loyal to the court; On the one hand, he pays attention to loyalty and loves his brothers. When loyalty and righteousness can't be satisfactory, Song Jiang has to choose loyalty and give up benevolence and righteousness.
"According to Shi Naian's heart and intention, he must think that Song Jiang is a glorious and great positive figure, a typical hero. But the Song Jiang he wrote was too real, so "not concealing defects" became "concealing defects". From the materialistic point of view, a person is three-dimensional, and his comments should also be evaluated by materialistic methods. Shi Naian lived in the feudal era where Confucianism dominated, and he himself was a scholar with universal Confucian feelings. His description of Song Jiangzhong Jun may actually be a part of his thoughts. Although Song Jiang's loyalty and filial piety should be criticized today, it should be praised at that time. Shi Naian should want to tell the tragedy of a loyal minister through his novels and criticize the darkness of bureaucracy at that time. However, due to the great power of realism, it was written to reveal the rationality of Zhao An's demise and rebellion, and also reflected the inevitability of the demise of feudal society. These may be unexpected by the author. Under the powerful revealing power of realism, Song Jiang's image is so hesitant and hateful that he becomes a tragic hero and a tragic sinner. Mr. Lu Xun once said that tragedy is to destroy beautiful things to others. Song Jiang's tragedy in Water Margin is not only because of his own destruction, but also because of him. He destroyed others and 108 heroes. The image of Song Jiang has important social significance. He vividly revealed to us a truth: if the peasant class only opposes corrupt officials and bad emperors without destroying the whole feudal system, it will be impossible to avoid the recurrence of political tragedies and liberate itself from feudal exploitation. " Song Jiang's character image gives us infinite enlightenment, so I only discuss it briefly, leaving it for more people to discuss it in depth.