The French mail ship "Viscount Bella Si Long" from the Indian Ocean docked in Shanghai. As soon as Fang Hung-chien, the hero of the novel, set foot in his hometown after a four-year absence, he fell into "besieged city [1]" one after another. Fang Hung-chien came back from Europe in the summer of 1937. Based on his life track, the novel reflects the ups and downs of life and psychology of some intellectuals (mainly some European and American students and university professors). ) at that time. They don't belong to the advanced intellectuals of that era. At the height of the Anti-Japanese War, most of them stayed out of the storm of this great struggle. First in Shanghai Shili Sheep Farm, and then in a remote town in Hunan, they launched a series of intrigues and competitions around life, career, marriage and love. This is also a war, although there is no smoke, but the swords and shadows of the old society are everywhere, leaping in love and vanity fair; Although there are no physical casualties, we can always see how gray life devours people's years and lives, and how dirty air corrodes people's integrity and soul. Naturally, there are sincere friendship and good wishes here; But these are so weak and powerless in front of the powerful barrier of the old society. Where is the way out for these intellectuals who have not exhausted their vitality on the road of life that may fall into "birdcage" or "besieged city" everywhere? This is a serious problem left by this profound realistic novel. The novel Fortress Besieged is divided into nine chapters, which can be roughly divided into four units. The first chapter to the fourth chapter is the first unit, which describes Fang Hung-chien's life scenes in Shanghai and his hometown (a county in the south of the Yangtze River), with Shanghai as the center. In this unit, the "love" entanglement between Fang Hung-chien and Su occupies an important part. The love between Sue and Fang Hung-chien caused a lot of farce. This exposed the embarrassing situation that Miss Su was reserved and conceited as an official and achieved nothing as a result. It also exposed the flashy situation of Fang Hung-chien's playboy who was indecisive, ignorant and cynical. Around them, the author also wrote about various figures in the social life of Shili Foreign Firm, such as Zhang Jimin, comprador of American Citigroup, who likes to be called Jimmy, Dong Xiechuan, who is fashionable in appearance and conservative in nature, Chu, a young philosopher who knows best about men and women, and Cao Yuanlang, a poet who is full of dishonesty and calls himself "neoclassicism", who secretly regards Fang Hung-chien as a rival in love and wastes his time. They are so empty, boring and vulgar at banquets, poems and songs, and all kinds of entertainment. Such a life will not cultivate healthy love, let alone healthy ideals, and it is a "besieged city" to be broken. The fifth chapter can be counted as the second unit, which is "transition" or "convergence". In this unit, Fang Hung-chien and Zhao, two people who suffered setbacks in their personal lives, rushed out of the cage of "love". They changed from imaginary rivals to real friends, and went to San Lv University in Pingcheng, Hunan Province to look for jobs together. In this unit, the author also prepared new roles for the farce of the next unit: future university president Li, associate professor Gu Erqian, and young teaching assistant. Together with Fang and Zhao, they set sail from Shanghai to the south and formed a temporary "small society". All kinds of contradictions, banter and ridicule in this "small society", as well as what I saw and heard along the way, constitute a very wonderful part of the realistic picture depicted in the novel. Chapters 6 and 7 are the third unit, which mainly describes the infighting in San Lv University. The sixth chapter we choose here is a heavy scene in this unit. From the headmaster, dean, department head, to faculty, students and even their families, they are involved in a dizzying personnel dispute. Professional exclusion, love competition, blatant routines, slanderous rumors, intrigue, and so on, San Lv University has become a stage for competition. Some scholars and scribes, black powder, appeared. Among them, Li is a semi-old man who is full of thieves and prostitutes, and Han is a fake foreign doctor who is dull in appearance and dirty in heart and cheats by forging academic qualifications. There are hypocrites like Gao Songnian who are hypocritical, cunning and treacherous, but they are actually morally corrupt, and there are also A Mu Woods who are attached to bureaucrats, seek jobs, want to form a party to consolidate themselves, and finally repeat the same mistakes. There are snobs such as Lu Zixiao and Gu Erqian who are obsessed with dragons and phoenixes, and there are also celebrities such as Mrs. Wang. Although they wander around the university, they only show the leading role in love and add fuel to the fire. In short, all kinds of people who are active in this "neo-Confucian forest" don't need stereotyped writing as a stepping stone. They all hold up a banner that they think is the most beautiful, cover up their true colors, and try their best to pursue a new promotion, as if all animals in nature are covered with protective colors and pursuing their own development. Naturally, there are some good people among them who have not worn out their shoulders, such as Fang Hung-chien and Zhao. Although they are absurd and exciting, they still have a sense of responsibility, and they are delicate, deep and calculating, and so on. These figures, like Fang Hung-chien, can be regarded as "creatable talents", or like Zhao, they finally have a skill; Or, like Sun Roujia, they are well thought out and well hidden. In a good society, they may develop into outstanding talents. However, in those smoky environments, due to the lack of clear life goals, just like the "redundant people" in Russian literature in the19th century, their intelligence was offset by social inertia. Chapters 8 and 9 are Unit 4. Fang Hung-chien and Sun Roujia got married on their way back to Shanghai. This is not an exciting combination for both parties. The anxiety about the future brought by unemployment makes them quarrel constantly after marriage. This quarrel is relatively simple on the way back to Shanghai. After settling in Shanghai, the contradiction became more complicated due to the intervention of families and relatives of both sides. There was a time when there were a series of discord and disputes between mother-in-law, Weng Xu, sister-in-law, relatives and friends, and even master and servant. Finally, the contradiction between Sun and Fang finally intensified. The former resigned as the director of the newspaper reference room and faced unemployment again. Just after the disintegration of Fang Hung-chien's new home, he once again rushed out of a "besieged city" and came to the entrance of a "besieged city"-he planned to go to Zhao, an official in Chongqing, to find a job, which must be a bumpy road with an uncertain future. The novel ends with an old-fashioned bell "Bang, Bang …". Like all the outstanding realistic works in the past, it does not provide any clear conclusions about the way out of society and life, but the life itself he described is "more profound than all languages and all smiles."

The book Fortress Besieged was written by the miser of Qian Zhongshu. The novel has no clear story clues, but some trivial plots pieced together by the author's trivial knowledge and experience. Generally speaking, a book with trivial plots must have excellent language skills if it wants to be a successful work. Qian Zhongshu's Fortress Besieged really applied language to the highest level. Therefore, reading Fortress Besieged can't just focus on the plot and ignore the language like reading ordinary novels. In that case, Fortress Besieged will lose its meaning of existence. The punch line in Fortress Besieged is the most successful part of this novel, and it is also the most admirable part. Qian Zhongshu is good at using metaphors. There are two wonderful metaphors in Fortress Besieged. One is to write the true image metaphor of scenery and things, which makes people feel comfortable and just right. Second, compared with concrete images, abstract thinking and feelings make people feel novel and mysterious. The opening paragraph "Night is like oil-soaked paper, turning into a translucent body. It is embraced by the sun and cannot be separated. Perhaps it was intoxicated by the sun, so the night after the sunset faded is also red. " This metaphor is mixed with personification, and it is smooth and natural as a whole, without any affectation. This is also the first metaphor I said, which is very common in books. For example, on the way to San Lv, five people described that "the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the water spots run through the silk. The water vortex on the river is like acne and countless pockmarks. The longer it is, the denser the rain line is, and the smooth water seems to have long hair." "Age" is used in the rain. It can be said that Mr. Qian is the only one who uses it well! Yu Simi said that there are "long hairs" on the water, and the image is more novel, but just right! The second metaphor is more common, which is also the highlight of this book. Occasionally, I picked up Fortress Besieged just to "play" these wonderful metaphors. The first chapter "Children under two years old, with flat nose, oblique eyes, high eyebrows and far apart eyes, are lovesick." It's really wonderful to use it like this, and people have to admire it. Hung-chien didn't learn anything, so he had to buy a fake diploma in order to have an explanation when he went back to his hometown. "This diploma seems to have the function of the leaf in Adam and Eve's lower body, which can cover up his shame." A diploma, associated with Adam and Eve in the Bible, is really thoughtful! Hung-chien had an idea about Miss Bao's seemingly casual "Today we all sleep alone" and went straight back to the cabin. "It's as painful as a woman who is pregnant and wants to have an abortion." It's really hard for a man to get rid of that idea. It's really hard to have an abortion with a woman! When Hung-chien spoke about the missing manuscript in county and provincial middle schools, he said that only opium and syphilis can last forever in China society, which made the girl who recorded the story "blush and stop writing, as if the virgin lost her virginity in public after listening to Hung-chien's last words". The reason why the ear loses its virginity is because of swearing. How perfect it is for Mr. Qian to use this transposition! Mr. Zhang, who plans to recruit Hung-chien as a son-in-law, likes to put unnecessary English words in China. Mr. Qian said, "English words embedded in words are not as good as gold teeth embedded in the mouth, because gold teeth are not only used for beauty, but also can be used, so they are better than meat scraps embedded in the teeth, indicating that eating is beneficial." This contrast is accurate and vivid, and the face of a vain fake foreign devil is exposed by this contrast! Fang Hung-chien returned the letter to Miss Tang. "His personal world is suddenly separated from the world in which the world lives, just like a lonely ghost isolated from the living watching Shi Yang's enjoyment, but unable to get in, watching the sun in Shi Yang, but unable to get in." The lovelorn world is dark and lonely, and it is an abstract feeling, but here, it becomes something concrete that people can see and touch. Let's take a better look at this. When Hung-chien arrived at Zhao's villa, "I heard that the radio seemed to be turned on in the room, playing the popular Song of Love in Spring. The air is torn by the harsh voice of popular female stars in China-the harsh voice of female stars contains turbidity, most of which is like nasal breathing, greasy, sticky and weak, and has the same characteristics as the main product of the nose. " Haha, the female star is really ruined by this ratio. Mr. Qian is used to this naked and ruthless irony. When Hung-chien heard Hsin-mei say that the best man was "interested in Tang Xiaofu", his heart jumped violently. "We have to run fast to prevent the pain from catching up, and we also talk nonsense. It seems that throwing some obstacles can temporarily stop the pain from catching up, so we tell a lot of stories about going abroad." It is Mr. Qian who makes the abstraction concrete and the virtual reality subtle. Although these metaphors are novel and sometimes humorous, humor still makes people laugh incompletely. Because there is always a feeling in my heart: I am laughing at others streaking in a crowded street, and suddenly I find myself just wearing a pair of underwear to hide my shame. This has a good interpretation. The car got stuck in a mud ditch and refused to leave. The driver cursed, and now he cursed even more. Scold means only one thing: the bus driver is willing to have physical love with his mother and grandmother. "Read this place, I can't help but smile, suddenly feel like talking about myself, laughter to an abrupt end! The truth behind some metaphors is also worth pondering. For example, "a person's shortcomings are like a monkey's tail." The monkey squatted on the ground, and its tail was invisible. Until he climbed the tree, he put his back for the public to see. However, the long tail of this red ass has already existed, which is not a new sign of climbing. " Being an official is reminiscent of corruption. In fact, the real reason for corruption is that he has a corrupt seedling in his heart. Just as an official, the fertilizer is well applied, and the young plants are graceful and unstoppable! The language is sharp, ironic, humorous and witty. This is my evaluation of Fortress Besieged. Of course, my knowledge is short and my generalization is incomplete. There are many paragraphs and chapters in Fortress Besieged that can be appreciated and tasted slowly. These are just nine hairs of Niu Yi for others to enjoy. If you really want to see the connotation of Fortress Besieged, experience it yourself!

On the one hand, the author depicts a large number of intellectuals in 1930s and 1940s. They drifted away in the anti-Japanese bonfire at that time. Although they all returned from studying abroad and were influenced by western culture, they did not have lofty ideals and lacked the courage to fight against traditional forces and concepts, and as a result, they could not even grasp their own lives. For example, Fang Hung-chien, the hero, Su, who is as cold as ice, as gorgeous as peaches and plums, Li, a vulgar and greedy academic liar, and Li, who hides his mind meekly, etc ... The author analyzes the personality and moral weakness of this group of people with humorous and warm irony, and reveals their spiritual predicament, so some people comment that Fortress Besieged is a modern scholar. On the other hand, the author conveys his thoughts on life through the narration of Fang Hung-chien's experience. To understand this meaning, we need to first understand the meaning of "besieged city". The work is prompted in the dialogue between the characters. In the third chapter, Chu Shen Ming said that there is an old English proverb: "Marriage is like a golden birdcage. Birds outside the cage want to live inside, and birds inside the cage want to fly out; So leave, leave, and there will be no games. " Sue said, "There is also a saying in France. However, it is not a birdcage, but a besieged castle. People outside the city want to rush in, and people in the city want to escape. " In the fifth chapter, Fang Hung-chien said, "I still remember that time when Chu or Miss Su talked about' besieged city'. I feel this way about everything in my life recently. For example, I really wanted to go to San Lv University, so I accepted the letter of appointment. The more I think about it recently, the more boring it is. At this time, I hate myself for not having the courage to go back to Shanghai. After this time, I don't know when I can get married, but I think you really married Miss Su, and your taste is as good as yours. The dog lost the bone in his mouth in pursuit of the shadow of the bone in the water! I married my lover as I wished. I am afraid that at that time, I will be sad for the shadow that I will never see again. " From marriage to feeling that life is a besieged city. Fang Hung-chien is constantly eager to break out of the "besieged city", but he has to enter another "besieged city". Life seems to be deliberately against him, always running counter to his own ideas: he doesn't want to get married, but his father gave him a wife, but he was also blessed by "disaster" and had the opportunity to study abroad; He didn't want to get any degree, and at the urging of his father and father-in-law, he bought a fake diploma to make up for it; He didn't love his own Sue, but fell in love with the gentle and clever one, but broke up because of misunderstanding. When he arrived at the university, he didn't want to fill in a fake degree on his resume in order to achieve psychological balance, but he was excluded by Han, director of the Foreign Languages Department, who was also a doctor at Clayton University. He was afraid of falling in love with Miss Sun, but somehow agreed to Miss Sun's marriage ... Some people think this is a novel about the isolation and inability to communicate between people. Others think that it explains the absurd philosophical proposition of life; Others combine the fate of the characters with the realistic struggle life, and think that this absurdity is caused by their spiritual siege. Only in the face of a broad life can we get rid of the shackles of all kinds of besieged cities. Every understanding makes sense, which is the charm of the novel. The characters and events written in the novel are very isolated from the social environment at that time and are not closely integrated with the times. It is impossible for us to examine the theme of the novel by analyzing the social background and the background of the times like other novels. Although some critics think that the novel points out the time at the beginning-1937 and at the end-1939, the whole work is set in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, so the description of the infighting in San Lv University and official corruption "shows the complexity of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression". This can be seen as an interpretation, but it is suspected of being forced to say it. In the preface, the author said: "In this book, I want to write about a certain part of society and a certain kind of people in modern China." He didn't deliberately highlight the times. When reading, he can read the text directly and should not rely on politics and the times to understand the novel. Fortress Besieged is a scholar's novel, and his language reflects Qian Zhongshu as a scholar. Although some places seem to be deliberately showing off his talent, on the whole, it is not boring, because many words are rich in cultural heritage and knowledge, often emitting wit and constantly having novel metaphors and aphorisms, which can provide useful reference for our writing.