Perhaps for many people, the book Fortress Besieged tastes terrible, but when you read it carefully, you will find that all the characters portrayed in this book are deja vu. Whether it's my own feelings or others' feelings, I just felt itchy today, so I decided to write something to record my thoughts. I can better understand the author's inner thoughts when I think back or read it again in the future.
When I first tasted it, I just thought all the characters in this book were funny. After repeated tasting, I feel that this Fortress Besieged written by Mr. Qian Zhongshu is like my own life, or anyone's life.
The book Fortress Besieged only tells a series of trivial things that happened after a young man named Fang Hung-chien returned from studying abroad. However, it is the hesitation of these trivial things that makes the whole story so close to our lives. Mr. Qian Zhongshu's best technique is metaphor. There are three wonderful metaphors in Fortress Besieged. One is to use the image of a real scene as a metaphor, which is also the most common writing technique. The second is to use abstract thinking and feelings as metaphors, which makes people feel more novel under close reading. The third is to use the strong contrast logic between vehicle and ontology in value level to achieve satire, sarcasm, praise and criticism.
The reason why a writer can make his works stand out from the crowd is definitely not the way of writing like a primary school student keeping a diary and keeping a running account. The character created in the work is the soul of the whole story, and the story around this character is the device that carries the soul. Almost every character depicted in Fortress Besieged represents a life style at that time, and depicts a large number of representative images of intellectuals in the 1930s and 1940s. This group of people is in a position where they can't get on, which can be said to be embarrassing but normal. When they came back from studying abroad, their thoughts were influenced by western culture and their hearts began to change. However, they are still bound by traditional ideas and lack combat effectiveness. It can even be said that they can't control their own lives, just like Fang Hung-chien, the hero of the story. Although he returned from studying abroad, if his fiancee had not died, I'm afraid he would still listen to his father's arrangement and marry a woman who is completely different from his own thoughts.
An incompetent, weak-willed, tempted and even a little cowardly man, on the one hand, wants to make great achievements, but on the other hand, he still can't escape the shackles of the secular. Every cloud has a bright side. Because of a marriage arranged by his father, he had the opportunity to study abroad, but he failed to get a diploma. For the sake of his own face, he had to bite the bullet and pull a fake diploma to' go back to his hometown'. When he was caught in the group of international students who also returned to China, he was worried about the truth. At the same time, he tasted the feeling for the first time. In the following story, his love entanglement with Sue became the first scene. This emotional drama exposed Su's reserve, conceit and affectation under her beautiful face, which led to her hasty marriage. At the same time, it also exposed the dude represented by Fang Hung-chien. What does Fang Hung-chien mean in the whole play? Then he represents those people who have ideas in their hearts, but they can't do what they want because of fear, worry and even their own' face' problems.
He is the second protagonist in Fortress Besieged. There is something special about his identity. There seems to be a powerful force behind him that can always help him. For Fang Hung-chien, his existence is more important than the heroine. It is precisely because of this strange character that Fang Hung-chien's walking route in Fortress Besieged has a direction. The first time he met Fang Hung-chien was Sue's suitor. At this time, Sue and Fang Hung-chien happened to have an emotional scene. Zhao established Fang Hung-chien as a rival in love, which led him to be recommended to Gao Songnian, the president of the university, thus forcing Fang Hung-chien to give up Sue and start a new life in the university. However, at this turn, Fang Hung-chien really started his new life and brought his wife Sun Roujia back. Zhao fled the university despondently because of his affair with Mrs. Wang. After that, Fang Hung-chien left San Lv University with Sun Roujia and stepped into another besieged city. Until the end of the story, Fang Hung-chien and Zhao called him apart, and Fang Hung-chien decided to follow Zhao into his next besieged city. Therefore, Zhao is undoubtedly a threading role in Fortress Besieged.
A woman who looks fake and naive on the surface can actually be said to be very scheming. She is gentle and docile in front of Fang Hung-chien. On the way to San Lv University with Fang Hung-chien and others, she showed a simple and innocent little woman posture, but she was also tenacious in weakness. But when she met a Lu Zixiao who she didn't like, but pursued her persistently, she turned to Fang Hung-chien for protection and advice, and finally let Fang Hung-chien fall into her hands and become her husband. When Fang Hung-chien gradually discovered that this Sun Roujia was not like when she first met her, gentleness and kindness were just her life strategy. After they got married, Sun Roujia gradually tore off her delicate veil, which was not only very opinionated, but also far from Fang Hung-chien's idea, making him feel trapped in a besieged city and in a dilemma. In fact, a figure like Sun Roujia is very representative among modern people, just like a strong woman who struggles alone in an derailed society. Who can be more careful? Who can say that such a woman would not be black and blue without this protective layer? Women, whether in career or emotion, whether in family or interpersonal relationship, the most important thing is to protect themselves.
Compared with Sun Roujia, she is actually more real and easier to understand. In my eyes, this Sue is just a woman who likes to stand among men and watch men envy her. The more men fight for her, the happier she is. She is both calculating and hypocritical. She puts her position very high, which is a kind of arrogant pride belonging to women. She also attaches great importance to love, but she thinks love is so noble that she often wanders among men, but she can't catch one. From Fang Hung-chien and Zhao to Cao Yuanlang, which one did she not play? When Fang Hung-chien fell in love, Su, who had been playing the game of "cat and mouse" with Fang Hung-chien, began to stir up trouble between Fang Hung-chien and Fang Hung-chien, so that the two lovers finally separated because of misunderstanding. Sue's hypocrisy finally ruined his life, and he finally married Cao Yuanlang, who worshipped her and regarded her as a goddess. However, Sue's nature has not changed. Although he is a woman, he still tries his best to hook up with Zhao and keep him in an ambiguous relationship with himself. I have to say that this woman is really' self-inflicted'. Of course, it takes a slap in the face to make it disappear. If Zhao and Su still have an old relationship, how can they rekindle it?
Tang Xiaofu, a flash in the pan, is the perfect character in this play. Mr. Jiang Yang once said in the appendix: Tang Xiaofu is obviously the author's favorite figure and doesn't want to marry her to Fang Hung-chien. The role of Tang Xiaofu seems to be intentionally "protected" by the author. He didn't give her a clear ending, which is illusory, and people can't help but imagine the future of this woman as beautiful as flowers and jade. For Fang Hung-chien, she and he are actually the same kind of people, but they can't get together. Perhaps it is Tang Xiaofu's inner obsession with perfect love, or perhaps it is because Fang Hung-chien is a coward. In the author's pen, this Tang Xiaofu is just a fleeting fantasy for Fang Hung-chien, but she is also a wonderful flower of that era and a real girl.
Speaking of besieged cities, how many besieged cities has Fang Hung-chien been to before and after this play?
Personally, I think there are many, but four besieged cities are more representative. This first besieged city was set up by parents for their children. Fang Hung-chien was forced by family pressure to get engaged to Zhou's daughter in his hometown. However, the marriage contracted by his parents ended because of the unfortunate death of the woman. This besieged city is not only in this story, but also in reality. The second besieged city was built by Fang Hung-chien himself. That's the siege he faced. He had an opportunity to study abroad, but didn't cherish it. Finally, he can only forge a diploma to "honor his hometown" so as not to discredit himself and his family. This is also a personal ideological siege. The third besieged city is a' fake' besieged city forged by intellectuals like Fang Hung-chien. They use banquets, poems and papers to make up for their inner emptiness, and even use all kinds of' bizarre' rhetoric to raise their knowledge value. This is the so-called false vanity.
The fourth besieged city is marriage, or love besieged city, which is also the biggest besieged city and runs through the whole play. Fang Hung-chien touched this besieged city for the first time. Just a precious girl, engaged and so slutty. Of course, that's just a passing sight. The second time was Sue, an arrogant female doctor, a woman who took pleasure in teasing men. For this woman, Fang Hung-chien felt bitter and happy, even self-deprecating. Of course, I have to say that he chose to give up this woman, but it was a blessing for Fang Hung-chien. The third time was Tang Xiaofu, who was just a flash in the pan. For Fang Hung-chien, Tang Xiaofu is really just a fantasy, a beautiful fantasy about love. In this emotional drama, Fang Hung-chien flinched again. Not only did he think nothing, but even though he knew it was a misunderstanding, he let things go on. He doesn't have the courage to defend his love, nor is he a person who dares to talk about love. He is weak and incompetent, and has accomplished nothing in his life. It is such a man, but there are still women who are willing to pay all the efforts for him. The fourth woman, Sun Roujia, was the one who drew Fang Hung-chien into her love besieged city. She pinched Fang Hung-chien's nose step by step with her soft suit and let him finally fall into her pocket. But is such a person really what Sun Roujia wants? Does Fang Hung-chien really want a woman like Sun Roujia?
It's hard to describe. Many people say that marriage is the tomb of the living dead and the cage of the living. Once you step into it, you can't extricate yourself. Of course, many people have tasted the sweetness of marriage. However, in this play, marriage is like a besieged city. Fang Hung-chien is trapped inside now, so it's hard to get out when he goes in. Sun Roujia, like a doorman with a key, hid it. Unless she took out the key to open the door herself, it would be difficult for Fang Hung-chien to open the door and go out. In fact, perhaps it was Sun Roujia who opened the door and Fang Hung-chien was able to escape.
One siege after another oppressed Fang Hung-chien. If he wants to escape, he must seize the lifeline, and his lifeline is none other than his brother Zhao. Zhao led him out of Sue's besieged city, and then at the end of the story, he threw a life-saving rope at Fang Hung-chien, but I wonder if Fang Hung-chien could catch it? Mr. Qian's wonderful emergency stop made readers feel another wave. He didn't decide anything for Fang Hung-chien. He gave his life back to Fang Hung-chien himself, or to the readers themselves.
At the end of the play, the finishing touch is the ancestral clock, which was handed down from ancient times. This is what the book says:
What can I do in a few minutes? There are many answers. But when countless minutes are together, how long will this time delay? Life doesn't have the ability to delay time like the old clock, so it can only move forward, so it leaves people with regret, chagrin and even regret for life. Fang Hung-chien stepped into the besieged city again and again, walked out of it again and again, and stepped into it again and again. In fact, he never really walked out of the besieged city. Will Zhao's last letter to Fang Hung-chien make him step into another besieged city? Will Fang Hung-chien follow Zhao Meixin into the besieged city again? Or did he choose Zhao instead? Then will the contradiction between him and Sun Roujia intensify, and will the siege of them be built higher and higher? Or, when he continues to be with Sun Roujia, can he see the beloved Tang Xiaofu in his heart again?
The ending of this play can be many, many, just like a hundred people watching Hamlet have a hundred Hamlets. However, no matter what the outcome is, I think Fang Hung-chien will never get rid of the inner siege, which is the biggest siege that imprisons him. The same is true of us in reality. Life is alive, and the besieged city stands tall. Do we choose to escape from the besieged city, or continue to live in it and smile? Or, we can choose to rebuild a picturesque castle in the besieged city instead of a besieged city that will trap people to death.
20 18.04.23 ? Thoughts on Reading Yun Qi's Fortress Besieged