Personality characteristics of Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai

Two kinds of lives, two kinds of tragedies

-On Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai

abstract

Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai are the two most radiant women in the literary masterpiece A Dream of Red Mansions. One is "you were born with two kinds of sadness, and you were attacked by a disease." "Laziness is like a beautiful flower shining on the water and acting like a weak willow." One is "face like a silver basin and eyes like water apricots." The lips are not sharp but contain Dan, and the eyebrows are horizontal without drawing. However, they respectively represent completely different typical images of traditional women in ancient China. Lin Daiyu represents the traditional female image of aestheticism, and Cui Yingying in The West Chamber and Du Liniang in The Peony Pavilion are also "homologous" with her. Xue Baochai represents the traditional utilitarian female image, and her "similarity" is full of papers in the history books of past dynasties.

Daiyu stands for talent and Baochai stands for virtue. However, both Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai love one person-Jia Baoyu. Different status, different personality, led to two people finally became a tragedy.

key word

1. Personality II. State 3. Social background. Legend 5. tragedy

main body

one

Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai are both twelve women in Jinling, and their beauty is self-evident. One is that they are "in a state of anxiety, they are all ill", "they are as quiet as beautiful flowers, and their actions are as weak as willows." One is "the face is like a silver basin and the eyes are like water apricots." The lips are not sharp but contain Dan, and the eyebrows are horizontal without drawing. "Theory of talent, the title of chrysanthemum xiaoxiang won the first place, and the praise of Haitang topped the list. As far as their names are concerned, Dai is jade; The hairpin, the gold also. According to China's traditional national heart theory, jade symbolizes noble character, while gold symbolizes wealth, but it also represents the secular world. " In the end, we only hate gathering too much and closing our eyes for too long. "Dai Yu's" Burying Flowers "is a" Yan Gu "mourning the dead, full of pessimism; Baochai is pursuing her own "value" in flying butterflies, but her attitude towards life is optimistic. As far as personal charm is concerned, Daiyu, whose eyes are empty and tears are hanging, is mainly emotional and spiritual, while Baochai, who is heartless and affectionate, is "rich in skin" and "white in arms".

two

Because the typical images represented by Lin Xue and Kwan Xue are different, their life paths are quite different.

Lin Daiyu's life is full of tragic beauty. Her parents died early, and she relied on others. Since childhood, she has developed a pessimistic attitude towards life and a "child" who is aloof and sentimental. Too stubborn pursuit of self-dignity is simply the degree of "sharpness". I regard others' pity and charity for myself as cynicism, and my love for Baoyu is saturated with this painful pursuit. I know Baoyu very well, and I doubt him. I am constantly suspicious, worried, tempted and angry ... This kind of "little girl" makes her more isolated in Jiafu on the one hand, and makes her fragile body and mind more painful and tired on the other. She finally gave in to her lifelong pursuit. She has paid too much for her pursuit, and there are no more tears to pay.

However, Wang Dai's "smallness" is saturated with an unruly soul's pursuit of human nature under the shackles of feudal thought of "keeping righteousness and destroying human desires". She pursues the dignity of self-personality, the sincere love with Baoyu, the purity of soul and the freedom of human nature. But at that time, China's social environment, her own social status, personality and emotion, and even her physical condition decided that she could not confront her fate head-on, so she could only "throw pearls and roll jade" in sadness and melancholy. And this just perfectly shows an elegant image of oriental aestheticism.

In the image of Lin Daiyu, the author devoted his life to it. All her gestures reflect beautiful brilliance. The word "Jade Buries Flowers" is like blood, which fully shows a very classical lyric "complaining about women and hurting spring". Therefore, Lin Daiyu, an arrogant, confident and sentimental aristocratic girl image, will always be fixed in the deep heart of every reader.

three

"Since there is a good theory, it is up to you and me to have it. Why should there be Baochai? " Yes, if Xue Baochai hadn't come, Baoyu and Daiyu might have got married. However, Baochai not only came, but more importantly, she wore a gold lock around her neck that matched the psychic Baoyu. Thus, the golden jade theory began.

Since Xue Baochai's life is closely related to this golden lock, we might as well start with this golden lock. First of all, this is a lock. So, what is it locked? What it wants to lock is Baochai's frozen feelings and endless scheming. Then why lock it? This is closely related to Baochai's lifelong pursuit. What Daiyu pursues is the freedom of human nature, but what does Baochai pursue? What she pursues is a good reputation and a "glorious" image of a well-known model feudal lady. This requires her to be "well-behaved, open-minded and punctual." It is these that require her to be good at hiding her thoughts, which further contributes to her diligence, thoughtfulness, sophistication and shrewdness from childhood. The 27th time, Baochai drifted into the whispering space between Xiaohong and Zhui Er. Baochai was as cool as a cucumber, pretending to play hide-and-seek with Daiyu, and left casually. At first glance, it was a plan to get out, but in fact, it pushed all the disasters to Daiyu. Secondly, this lock is gold, just like Baochai. As mentioned above, Jin is a secular representative, and Baochai's reputation is also secular.

According to feudal moral standards, she is really seamless, knowledgeable, able to take on heavy responsibilities, and worthy of being the ideal candidate to take power. However, if measured from an aesthetic perspective, Baochai has "entered the stream of national thieves." How can a perfect woman be confused with a traitor? Baochai's surname is Xue, which means "snow". The medicine she takes is cold fragrant pills, and the place where she lives is like a snow cave ... Baochai, who looks so gentle and honest, is heartless inside! She is really a "cold" person, plus her virtue of "stopping": she often advises Baoyu to engage in career economy, which is also the reason why Baoyu "separated" from her.

The image of Xue Baochai embodies the hypocrisy of Confucianism in ancient China for thousands of years. Different from Taoism, there are many aesthetic elements, and Confucianism is originally a utilitarian thought. Therefore, Baochai's ideal, pursuit, personality and emotion are all utilitarian. The author's disparagement of her is also very obvious. Daiyu is a "fairy on earth", and Baochai is just a mundane thing "as blind as a bat and empty in the belly". (Note 1)

four

The feudal building of Jiafu finally collapsed. "Under the boulder, the egg can be preserved", and the two roads of aestheticism and utilitarianism have finally come to an end. Although Cao Xueqin didn't finish this amazing work, the meaning of A Dream of Red Mansions is far more than the words "mourning for gold and jade". However, we can be sure that no one has a happy ending.

The beauty of Lin Daiyu lies in the word "love" Lin Daiyu's "love" not only enriches her appearance, but also enriches the souls of countless loyal readers of A Dream of Red Mansions. The beauty of Baochai lies in the word "virtue". What Cao Xueqin wants to describe is casting all the virtues of China women from her character. From top to bottom, all the characters in A Dream of Red Mansions don't like Baochai, and Daiyu later loved her. Four characteristics can be found from Baochai's personality. The first is filial piety. Second, be loyal to others. Third, it is gentle. Fourth, by contrast, she knows everything. Such people may not be found in the real society, but in people's minds, such people exist. To tell the truth, Baochai is not sinister. If she has a way, she can, but insidious is not. But the reason why the world thinks Baochai is insidious has its own psychological background. Gao E married Baochai, which made Daiyu angry and people hated Baochai. All those who say that she is insidious start with "hate". (Note 2)

It is also very important that there are no perfect characters in a dream of red mansions. Everyone has his strengths and weaknesses, even Daiyu and Baochai are no exception. This is one of the great things of A Dream of Red Mansions. Everyone is a living person with flesh and blood, with lovely places and weaknesses, so it is not flat, but three-dimensional. However, this does not mean that there is no ideal and truly perfect woman in the author's mind. Such a woman still exists, not others, but the combination of Daiyu and Baochai. All the above evidences point to the same conclusion everywhere: Daiyu and Baochai are not antagonistic but complementary, and only by adding up their advantages and strengths can they become an ideal woman. (Note 3)

Lu Xun said that tragedy is to destroy beautiful things for people to see, and comedy is to tear ugly things apart for people to see. In the tragicomedy of A Dream of Red Mansions, aestheticism and utilitarianism are vividly interpreted for readers to understand.