No matter how ruthless it is, it is touching

In Chapter 63 of "Dream of Red Mansions", Qun Fang's Night Banquet, grabbing the ivory flower sign, Xue Baochai stretched out his hand and pulled out the peony sign: "Beautiful pressure" "Qun Fang", and there is a Tang poem: "No matter how ruthless it is, it is moving." Among all Cao Xueqin's descriptions of Xue Baochai, this one impressed me the most. Because I think this poem is the best footnote to Xue Baochai. Among the Twelve Hairpins of Jinling, Xue Baochai is probably the most three-dimensional, controversial, and confusing to us. It is obvious that her feelings are extremely cold, until "there is a hint of gloom in the coldness", but this does not hinder the gentleness and kindness on the other side of her character, nor does it hinder the praise and love of her from everyone in the Jia family; she is knowledgeable and knowledgeable. She is the best among the Twelve Beauties in reciting poems and writing poems, and she even has a lot of experience in Zen philosophy. It is said that such a person should be as noble and otherworldly as Daiyu or Miaoyu. However, on the contrary, she actually Power, money and interests are highly valued. Compared with her sisters, her palace is extremely deep, but unlike Wang Xifeng, Wang Xifeng is very smart. She makes people both love and hate her. We admire her talent but hate her vulgarity; we admire her smoothness but hate her smoothness; we appreciate her coldness but also fear her coldness. Regarding her, I don’t think anyone can tell what kind of feelings they have for her. Is it mostly lamentation or hatred? But we have to admit that the artistic image created by Cao Xueqin is moving. Although it is ruthless, it is still moving.

I don’t know that there is no such element in the readers’ hatred towards her: she married Jia Baoyu instead of Daiyu. Her painstakingly designed marriage with Jia Baoyu not only made Baoyu hate him for life, but also made Baoyu resentful for the rest of his life. Daiyu died miserably and unjustly with hatred (disputed, so I will continue the novel with a high amount for the time being). Perhaps if Baochai had not been involved in Baoyu's marriage in the end, we might be less angry with her. It is true to say that she is ruthless. Sanjie You committed suicide because of her love. Even Aunt Xue sighed with regret, but she could "not care" and said, "This is their destiny" and "In my opinion, it has to be left to him." , and immediately changed the subject, and asked Aunt Xue to ask Xue Pan to send favors, and all the people in the Jia family were involved. Even Aunt Zhao said good things for her. This is Xue Baochai, who "doesn't speak until she's done with her own business." Wang Xifeng was right. Sanjie You's death had nothing to do with her career, so she thought she didn't even need to be sad, so she wanted to take care of her favors and do well. Relationships are the most important thing to her. But there is a hint of "affection" in her "ruthlessness", which is her feelings for Jia Baoyu. She originally came to the Jia Mansion as a candidate to be selected into the palace. If she was a completely self-interested person, she would not be attached to the Jia Mansion in the slightest and would quickly find a way to enter the palace (based on her talent, appearance and scheming) , it should not be difficult to win favor), but the matter of being "selected to enter the palace" was never mentioned again. Instead, she began to focus on designing her marriage with Jia Baoyu (such as the golden locks and cold scented pills of suspicious origin, She also blindly pleases Mrs. Wang and Jia Mu, framed Lin Daiyu, etc.) This shows that she is not a complete pursuer of fame and fortune. Her feelings for Jia Baoyu to a certain extent outweigh her strong desire for fame and fortune. This rare touch of tenderness in her body also makes her whole image a little cute (such as Cao Xueqin's description of her "reddish eye circles and red cheeks" in Baochai's Inspection). There is also her complicated feelings towards Lin Daiyu's sister and love rival. There were many ways she framed Lin Daiyu, and every time she used her tricks, they were very vicious, so vicious that people would accuse her. For example, Jin Chuan'er committed suicide by throwing herself into a well. Mrs. Wang wanted to bury her properly and "wrap her in two pieces of the sisters' new clothes." However, she was afraid of Lin Daiyu's taboo, so Baochai was willing to give her her own clothes, and said A meaningful sentence: "Don't worry, aunt, I never care about this." She is not so ignorant that she doesn't know the consequences of this sentence, she obviously knows it. This move was so cruel that it not only won the favor of Mrs. Wang, but also alienated the already indifferent relationship between Mrs. Wang and Lin Daiyu. But it would be wrong to say that she was completely jealous of Lin Daiyu and wanted to kill her. In her heart, she actually still has a sisterly feeling of sympathy with Lin Daiyu. Lin Daiyu lamented her ill-fated fate many times, and it was she who took the trouble to persuade her every time. When Lin Daiyu accidentally said the lyrics of "The Peony Pavilion" that she shouldn't have said at the banquet, it was she who explained it to Lin Daiyu secretly. Although of course there are still mostly false elements in it, it cannot be said that she does not have a trace of tenderness. Of course she is hypocritical, but she is not completely hypocritical. She still has a true temperament, but it is rarely triggered. She naturally won in the field of power in the Grand View Garden, winning completely, but she obviously lost in the field of love, and she lost completely. She has talents that can compete with Lin Daiyu, and her painstaking design finally worked out, promoting her marriage with Baoyu. However, we see from the book that Jia Baoyu did not have any affection for her from beginning to end. Her painstaking efforts resulted in a life of loneliness and widowhood (temporarily continued from Gao E). Like Wang Xifeng, she spent her whole life in vain. This is also Xue Baochai, a smart woman who was miserable and got nothing. Perhaps this was fate. If she had entered the palace at that time, at least she would not have such an embarrassing ending, and of course there would be no such sad and happy stories.

If the most successful among the Twelve Chai, it must be Xue Baochai. Think about it, in the entire "Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin described about five hundred characters in a row (one statistics includes those whose names appear but have no deeds), including the four huge families. , there are more than five hundred people up and down! However, in such an environment of intrigues and complex relationships, Xue Baochai has won the love of everyone. The most brilliant politician can only do so. You say she is smooth, is it enough to be smooth? Is Wang Xifeng smooth or not? Is Mrs. Wang tactful? Is Tanchun Yuan smooth? Even Lin Daiyu, who disdains tact, has her moments of tact, but they are obviously not as successful as Xue Baochai. It is said that managing such a big family is an easy job to offend. Tan Chun and Xue Baochai managed it together for a while. As a result, Tan Chun completely offended his mother, Aunt Zhao, and Xue Baochai actually used this to win over her. Once the human heart is touched, what is this but talent? After reading this, I think we can only be stunned. "Xian Baochai, Xiao Hui, and the whole body", just "Xiao Hui" can "complete the whole body", this is talent, and this is also her touching point. Her intelligence in this regard is unparalleled. In fact, if we think about ourselves, isn’t the harsh evaluation of Xue Baochai also unfair? If there is a Xue Baochai and a Lin Daiyu around us, do you prefer Xue Baochai or Lin Daiyu? How many people can maintain their aloofness in real life? Of course I deeply love and admire Lin Daiyu's noble character, but in real life, how many people can understand and accept her? On the contrary, Xue Baochai has the flavor of a fisherman who is "able to adapt to the world", and he can also win the love of most people in real life. I am not talking about Xue Baochai here, I also hate her kitsch - but, please note, this is the practical meaning of her existence. Cao Xueqin said that Jia Baoyu is the "Waiter of Shenying" in heaven, and Lin Daiyu is the "Fairy of Jiangzhu". This is not a random arrangement. It is difficult for people like Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu to exist in reality. Even if they exist, they will be pushed to the margins in a sinister society. Does the reason why Cao Xueqin arrange them as gods in the sky also have this meaning: they are the figures in the sky after all, and their nobility and good deeds are the innate gifts of the gods. We can only look up to see them. , can only imagine. Cao Xueqin did not arrange Xue Baochai to be a flower goddess, because Xue Baochai is from "the earth", her talent and appearance are all mortal, no matter how extraordinary she is, she is also extraordinary. She is the most successful person in the world, and is the most successful person among us all. The epitome of people who are busy in the world of mortals. And Lin Daiyu is the most extraordinary among the gods, "different people in life, different ghosts in death". However, once this most extraordinary god lands in the world, he will be ostracized by others, and his fate will be so ill-fated, unlike a good man and a woman of faith. The wooden idols we worship all day are as "perfect" as we imagine them to be. Does this also contain another level of Cao Xueqin's helpless and sad irony towards reality?

In the judgment of "A Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin said when commenting on Xue Baochai, "It is a shame to stop virtue." This word "sigh" is quite meaningful, and it seems to represent Cao Xueqin's attitude towards Xue Baochai. "Sigh", sigh her talent and appearance, sigh her ability, sigh her wisdom, sigh her pursuit of fame and fortune, sigh her life, love, hate and sigh, these complex emotions condensed into this complex... Xue Baochai, this Xue Baochai who is "moving even if she is ruthless".