What is the theme of the broken soul gun in Lao She's novels?

Lao She's Broken Soul Gun was published in 1935, which is one of the best short stories in the history of modern literature. Not to mention the ups and downs of the plot in its short space, it is fascinating, not to mention that its characters are full of flesh and blood. The social, historical and cultural significance of this novel alone is very intriguing.

When talking about the social, historical and cultural significance of this novel, the author said: "The survival of a culture depends on its self-criticism, constantly correcting itself, enriching itself, boasting its old brand, and stubbornly refusing to go further. This is self-destruction ... because of personal selfishness and conservatism, how many precious heritages of the motherland have been ruined." Lao She thinks that the national inferiority of "joking with life" has constituted the gene of our nation's potential crisis, so he roars with Sha Zilong's soul-killing gun to awaken the souls of those who are still wandering in the "Oriental Dream". "Although this view has the author's words as a footnote, I still can't agree with it. According to this line of thinking, some people think that Sha Zilong is a pure villain, saying that he "stands still in the face of the turbulent waves of the times and is willing to admit defeat ... (This personality mentality) is like a corrosive agent of the spirit, which makes Sha Zilong's wisdom in the past dull and numb, and the chivalrous loyalty in the rivers and lakes has evolved into a narrow and selfish stunt passed down from generation to generation, becoming a martyr of the times for no reason. I think this view is extremely unfair. But this view is extremely popular.

Since the literary theory of the former Soviet Union was introduced into contemporary China, it has become a stereotype to analyze and evaluate literature and people and things in literature from the perspective of social, political and economic development. And euphemistically called: historical materialism. In fact, no matter from the original intention of Lao She 1935 when he wrote The Broken Soul Gun, or from the social, historical and cultural significance objectively contained in this novel, it is far from Lu Xun and his True Story of Ah Q.. The analysis of literature is not only feasible from the perspective of social, political and economic development. The author intends to analyze human works from the perspective of humanistic spirit.

The same thing, from different angles, will come to completely different conclusions.

From the perspective of social material utility, Wushu is not as good as foreign guns; From the perspective of humanistic spirit, foreign guns are far less than national martial arts; Judging from the scientific and technological content, national Wushu is not as good as foreign guns; Judging from the cultural content, foreign guns are far less than national martial arts. China Wushu is the crystallization of thousands of years of oriental traditional cultural spirit. Wushu has not only external kung fu, but also internal spiritual realm.

What is the inner spiritual realm of Wushu? With the help of two ancient poems, we may be able to grasp the inner spiritual realm of martial arts.

"If Zen breaks, beauty is like a jade sword like a rainbow!" (Gong Zizhen)

This couplet originally described the realm of Zen and Taoism, saying that once the Zen master understood the true meaning, he would feel like a rock-breaker, but when he saw the beauty as jade, the snow blade was like a rainbow. This is a realm of Zen, which can also be said to be a realm of China Wushu. Because all kinds of Daoism in China are interlinked. The ancients said that poetry is like Zen. In fact, kendo is also like Zen. When it reaches the magical realm of personification, its internal spirit is basically the same, and its external phase is also very similar.

This poem refers to Zen with beauty and Zen with kendo. The so-called "beautiful as jade" means that the fat is moist, the bones are soft, mellow and mature, and there is no obstacle; Although extremely soft, it is extremely strong. The metaphor tells the true meaning of Zen, which is all-encompassing, soft, rigid, firm and moist, and everything is in it. The so-called "sword is like a rainbow" means that it is sharp as magic light, firm but gentle as a rainbow, colorful and unpredictable. If the appearance is illusory, it is actually very sharp; On the surface, in fact, the blade is everywhere, killing people without trace. Metaphor tells the true meaning of Zen, which seems illusory, but in fact it is extremely real, invincible and invincible.

If you appreciate it carefully, you are talking about kendo instead of Zen, which is the inner spiritual realm of Wushu: combining rigidity with softness, combining rigidity with softness; From real to real, even from virtual to illusory.

"Both ends are broken, and a sword is cold!" (BenQ Zen Master)

This couplet was originally the son of a Zen monk, which can be said to be a metaphor for Zen sword, and it can also be said to be a metaphor for Zen with sword. Zen is no different from kendo.

The so-called "cutting off both ends" means cutting off the worldly wisdom and ignoring the gains and losses of success or failure, the honor and disgrace of life and death; From this, we have returned to the true state of "I forget everything", that is, the state of "relying on the cold with one sword", that is, the state of understanding the true meaning of the unity of man and nature.

This is the realm of Zen and kendo. When the kendo reaches the state, the swordsman will definitely surpass the success or failure. Life is full of honor and disgrace, which makes me forget two things. Man's sword and the sky are integrated: the firm but gentle sword turns into the light of pure land, and the human body turns into the gas of mixed elements, which moves with the sky and the Tao. The sword light is invisible and cold with the sky! The sky is cold and light, and there are swords everywhere; Unpredictable, unreal and real, there is nothing in the cold light. Quiet and holy, nothing can hurt its fur; Move the king and attack the enemy invincible.

Soul Gun doesn't seem to describe the spiritual realm of martial arts in detail, but it does describe the different martial arts performances of three people-Wang Sansheng, Lao Sunman and Sha Zilong. In fact, these are three different martial arts realms.

Wang Sansheng, leaning against two bull's-eyes, looks like a tough guy with several desperate efforts. He can only rely on strength to win people and scare laymen, and he has no internal strength, let alone inner spiritual cultivation.

Lao Sunman has excellent internal strength, bright forehead, deep eyes, eyes as black as two deep wells, shining with dense black light. Competing with Wang Sansheng, staring at the top of Wang's gun, his eyes seemed to suck in. Before the weapon was connected, Wang Sansheng's heart was empty. Hand in hand, Lao Sunman tried his best to beat Wang Sansheng out of the water.

But compared with Sha Zilong, Lao Sunman can only lag behind.

In fact, there is no place for Sha Zilong to show his martial arts in the novel. At the beginning, I wrote a sentence: I have built five "magic gun salons" in my life, wandering in the northwest, and I have not met my opponent for 20 years; Finally, he wrote: "Sha Zilong closed the city gate and stabbed 64 times in one breath." In other words, the author's description of Sha Zilong's martial arts is almost empty. In fact, this is the genius of the author. The so-called "a wise head makes a close mouth", the so-called "elephant is invisible and has a loud voice"; China's Daoism (including martial arts) has reached a supreme state of Excellence, which can only be understood without words.

But Sha Zilong's martial arts really reached the highest and best level.

China's traditional humanistic spirit for thousands of years is nothing more than Confucianism and Taoism (Zen is the product of the confluence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism). The spiritual connotation of the highest realm of Oriental Taoism is nothing more than the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism outside and Taoism inside have achieved the perfect unity of harmony and harmony, and Taoism has also become a positive result. Sha Zilong can be said to be a master who has achieved positive results.

In the past 20 years, Sha Zilong can be said to be "all-powerful, saving the world"; Today's Sha Zilong can be said to be "poor, introverted and immune". Sha Zilong has faith and worship. Martial arts is not only his martial arts, but also his spiritual belief and spiritual pillar. When he was unlucky, how could he have the heart to turn it into a street juggling? How could he lose his integrity and filth!

Looking closely at Shazilong, day and night are completely different. During the day, what he does is like a hermit, following the fate, blending with the dust, doing nothing naturally and not competing with the world. In the dead of night, he closed the door, recalled the prestige of the world and practiced his five tigers to break the soul. This is clearly a warrior with an iron frame and an unyielding struggle spirit of Confucianism. This spiritual realm of complementarity between Confucianism and Taoism is just like the highest realm of martial arts shown in the above-mentioned ancient poems: combining rigidity with softness, and moistening in softness; To be true, it must be true, even illusory; It seems to be virtual and real, and it is everywhere. As unreal as reality, there is nothing in the cold light; Quiet and holy, nothing can hurt its fur; Move the king and attack the enemy invincible.

When it comes to his poor marksmanship, many commentators are derogatory, saying that he is selfish and conservative and obsessed with the endgame. Who did you ask him to pass it on to? Pass it on to Wang Sansheng, and let him become the supreme and beloved martial arts stunt, and become a bluff, Sansheng? How about passing it on to old Sunman? This stubborn old man, who doesn't understand the times, got this marksmanship. How can he stand foreign guns? Isn't it against martial arts to be defeated by foreign guns? So Sharon sighed and said, "That gun and that set of guns are in the coffin with me, both in the coffin!" " Between the lines, I can hear Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, make a generous lament: "Pulling out the mountain will make the world angry, and if it is unfavorable, it will not die. Nothing can be done until you die. What can you do? "Where can Xiang Yu put down his beloved concubine? Where can Sha Zilong's beloved Five Tiger Soul Gun be put? Bad luck, bad luck!

It is said that his marksmanship was not handed down because he was disheartened. I think readers should hear the implication from the exclamation of "no, no": "Yes! To pass! " Just wait for the luck to turn, and martial arts will regain its elegance. When the time comes, Sha Zilong will certainly spread for the sake of the spirit of China traditional culture! Otherwise, what's he doing practicing the Five Tiger Broken Soul Gun day and night?

It is said that Lao She wrote "Broken Soul Gun" and Lu Xun wrote "The True Story of Ah Q" in order to criticize the national inferiority; It is said that Lao She's treatment of Sha Zilong is the same as Lu Xun's treatment of Ah Q, both of which are mourning his misfortune and angering him. It's not a horse's mouth at all Lu Xun laughed and cursed at Ah Q, which was full of irony and contempt. Lao She showed great sympathy, respect and admiration for Sha Zilong. Comparing Wang Sansheng and Lao Sunman, we can see that Sha Zilong is the author's favorite. Lao She sympathized with Sha Zilong's untimely birth and enthusiastically wrote him as a tragic hero of an era. He respects his adherence to integrity and does not associate with filth; Appreciate his indomitable spirit of waiting for opportunities.

Ah Q's body is purely negative of traditional culture, while Sha Zilong's body is basically positive of traditional culture. Ah Q is a negative image, while Sharon is basically a positive image.

Science and technology is the common weapon of all mankind, and every nation should learn and master science and technology for its own survival and development. The endless humanistic spirit in the traditional culture of all ethnic groups is the personality and soul of the nation. Science and technology and humanistic spirit cannot be compared in the plane of social material utility. Don't confuse the essence of national traditional culture with national inferiority.

Lao She's original intention of writing "Broken Soul Gun" is definitely not to criticize Sha Zilong's so-called national inferiority. However, the words quoted above were indeed said by Lao She, but not by 1935 when he wrote "Broken Soul Gun", but later he ratified the theme of the work under some ideological pressure.