The Red Flag is an autobiographical novel, which describes the life scenes of Beijing flag bearers in the late Qing Dynasty, and vividly describes five kinds of people at that time: one is the elder sister's father-in-law's family, great uncle, great aunt, etc., who lived a life of "being rich is really exquisite, but being poor without money is also exquisite" and "ups and downs" all their lives. One is to assess the situation, want to break away from the Eight Banners system and imagine a way out for themselves from scratch, such as Fu Hai's second brother and others; The other is foreigners who entered China in the late Qing Dynasty. They either tried to run amok with the strength of the embassy or did evil in the colony. There is also a "big Russia" and "two Russia" that relied on foreigners at that time. In turn, they bully the elderly in China, such as many uncles and others; The first group is people who can't stand the bullying of the church and foreigners and consciously organize to resist, such as 100% Boxer Rebellion. In addition, the book also gives a vivid description of Manchu social customs in the late Qing Dynasty.
Under the Red Flag is Lao She's first novel. Whether it is the conciseness of words, the use of rhetoric and the tempering of writing, it has reached its peak, which can be said to be one of the most worth reading novels. In the form of autobiography, Lao She told readers about the life, behavior and things of the flag-bearer in the late Qing Dynasty with what he saw and heard. Although the novel has only eleven chapters from the first line to the second line, the character scene presented is so unusual. Lao She once said: I have no regrets all my life. The only pity is that Under the Red Flag is not finished. I think this is not only the author's regret, but also the reader's regret.
The language style of this article is simple and humorous, but there is a lot of truth in it. In this word, we can see that the author is angry at the failure and incompetence of the Qing government, hates the weakness and incompetence in the nature of the children of Banners who forget to eat and sleep all day, and is excited about the emerging new era thought ... It must be said that Lao She is a great writer who constantly cares about our nation and our national spirit. As a member of the standard-bearer, the author brings readers into the family life of the standard-bearer through the protagonist himself, and sometimes the mocking style shows us the society, which is the epitome of the times. Perhaps this novel is only a slight opening, but whether it is characterization, scene description or the profound meaning of keeping out the cold, I think it is enough to make this book a model of China's modern novels.
After reading Under the Red Flag, if I want to describe Lao She's writing in eight words, I think it is nothing more than "mourning without hurting, anger without complaining."
Lao She wrote not about liking the big prince, but about the little people who devoted themselves to the corner of society. These people will not have biographies in the official history, and even if they are occasionally involved, they will only be touched by "someone." If you want to see their stories and listen to their thoughts, maybe Lao She's works are the best choice.
People in Lu Xun's novels are often "angry at their own misfortunes", such as Kong Yiji and Ah Q, which are quite different from those in Lao She's novels. The common people in Lao She's works, such as the mother and daughter in Crescent Moon and Sha Zilong in Broken Soul Gun, have a kind of calmness of "mourning without hurting anger but not complaining" in the sad lining.
In Lao She's words, ordinary people really live, no matter whether this day is good or bad, and whether the sky will fall tomorrow, they always live naturally or deliberately. They are either obscene or ostentatious; Or short-sighted, or broad-minded; Or diligent and honest, or lazy. Lao She always uses his unique humor to make people feel that "this is the common people."
"Under the Red Flag" was written by Lao She 196 1, and the brushwork is quite mature, which is very Lao She's style. As a red flag bearer, he is writing his own story, the stories of people around him, especially the story of the flag bearer. The days of this group of ordinary people began from the day when Lao She was born to the immortal in Lao She's works. This theme is a rare novel in modern times. Unfortunately, these efforts have been shelved for some reason, which is not only the regret of Lao She, but also the regret of China people.
The novel begins with Lao She's birth, which is an extremely important event in the history of China, the 23 rd Movement of the twelfth lunar month in China. The Reform Movement of 1898 was this year, and so was the coup of 1898. The Qing Dynasty was hopelessly destroyed.
Lao She didn't know whether he was interested in thinking about the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, but it was not mentioned in the article. But what is certain is that under the afterglow of Qing Dynasty, the children of the Eight Banners didn't realize that Qing Dynasty had only ten years to die. What they care about is their own hardcore crops, which have a few taels of silver every month, and whether they can eat sauced meat on credit in cheap shops.
For example, Lao She's elder sister-in-law regards credit as a skill, and her mantra is "Listen! I am the daughter of viscount, the wife of Zuo Ling, and my parents-in-law have hardcore crops! You can put down the money and rice then. You can't owe money if you owe money. Why are you in such a hurry? " Not only that, the elder sister and mother-in-law look down on relatives and friends who dare not and don't like credit. "If you don't give credit, you will be a standard bearer in vain!"
Lao She's pen and ink are always so cold that there are few words of criticism. The image of big sister and mother-in-law who are lazy and do face-saving flag-bearer has come to the fore. Menstruation, another female character in the novel, only bullies herself and others don't bully her. With some money she doesn't know how to get, life is not bad. This elder sister-in-law always "bullies" her brother and daughter-in-law, but doesn't beat and scold. She just needs "service"
The elder sister's father-in-law and brother-in-law are two fathers and sons, one is the deputy leader and the other is Xiao Qi Wei. Zuo Ling can't fight and Xiao Qiwei can't ride a horse, but when it comes to walking birds and setting off firecrackers, they all claim to be the first-class masters in Beijing and Kowloon. With such a father and son, can the fighting capacity of the Eight Banners be high? Therefore, it is normal for the lame to fill the vacancy of flag soldiers, and Romania can get the job of soldiers. Seeing this, I still smiled a few words.
It is not entirely true that the children of the Eight Banners are lazy masters. Lao She's father is a flag soldier, honest as a policeman, who sends three taels of silver every month, and does not bully the weak and take credit for it. His mother will live, get along well with relatives and friends, and work hard at home, but what can she do? A clever woman can't cook without rice!
Fu Hai, the second brother of Big Jiu's family, is different from Wan's children of the Eight Banners. He is very capable, not only riding and archery, but also a painter. But it is such a person who often works as a gunman and fills flags for others, but he can't fill a vacancy himself. He didn't complain. Without hard-core crops, he can live the life of a painter. But his lifestyle was looked down upon by the children of the Eight Banners because he was alive.
A flag bearer, if he can't walk a bird and has no nickname, what's his name? Style, identity and face can never be lost, so Bosheng can sell his daughter-in-law for a pair of blue aconites [Teahouse] Mr. Marie Laure Gigon would rather starve himself than let the birds starve to death, he will not stand on his own feet]. The Qing dynasty building will collapse, and only political reform is the way out, but they think that political reform is absolutely bad, because without political reform, there will be no hard-headed crops. How do they live? So they thought that killing the six gentlemen and abolishing the political reform would restore peace to the Qing Dynasty!
Although Manchu and Han don't get married, they can live without each other, so they are friends and communicate with each other on holidays. Lao she's three days, old Wang Zhanggui, old Shandong, also didn't come to send gifts. This is human feelings. Come to think of it, our ancestors may be different, but now we live in one place, in a Beijing city, how can we not contact each other? With contacts, there will be human feelings, which is another circle of human feelings.
In the face of bullying by foreign powers, most flag-bearers are powerless. They hope to use Wen Tianxiang and Yue Fei to motivate themselves, which is obviously useless. There are even many people like Boss who see that joining a foreign teacher is profitable and join it, thus bullying cheap shops. Lao She didn't scold him, and even criticism didn't exist. It just says, can readers smile and feel pain?
When the novel writes about the contradiction between "Ermaozi" and ordinary people, it is estimated that the Boxer Rebellion will follow, and the article comes to an abrupt end. The 80,000-word "Under the Red Flag" is like a Venus with a broken arm, which is beautifully arranged for everyone to enjoy. I'm still unfinished, I'm still unfinished.
Lao She's writing is not gorgeous, and there are anomalies everywhere between the lines, but it is normal everywhere. He doesn't criticize or get angry. But we know what he is expressing, and we don't know what it is. Maybe he borrowed the words of his second brother Fuhai:
"no! No! " He comforted himself. "If something goes wrong, spending money on sports can turn everything into luck!" At this thought, he felt that he was not sympathetic to the rebellion, but took it for granted-everything could be corrupted, and if he had money, he could buy an official and be redeemed. What a scandal! He has never read classics, but he has heard a lot of Peking Opera and storytelling. When did he not collapse because of decency?
The children of the Eight Banners lost their dignity, and the Qing Dynasty lost its dignity. Perhaps this is Lao She's humor. He won't complain if he doesn't hurt!