First, the concrete expression of "Beijing flavor" in Lao She's novels.
1, picture description of social life in Beijing.
Lao She is good at "painting" genre paintings in Beijing dialect. He wrote about the market in old Beijing, just like a "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", which is very large and crowded. Among them, the most distinctive is the description of downtown Dragon Boat Festival in Chapter 16 of the novel Zhao Ziyue. He described the natural beauty of Beijing in May like this: "In May in Beijing, pollen blooms, bees fly, tender willows float lightly, goldfish play in the water and kites fly." Then, I changed a pen and wrote out the ugly social phenomenon: "There are teams of fat pigs and sheep hanging in front of the butcher shop, bloody hearts, intestines that have not been cleaned with green manure, hanging on iron hooks, and buzzing green-headed flies are holding pig heads and sheep tails in droves to suck some blood. Compared with people who don't eat meat, there is not much difference between the cruel gluttony of flies ...... they run for their lives and sweat for debts. The vicious sun warmed the black soil on the road, and a dry wind blew, covering all palm trees, cherries and mulberries with a layer of dust containing horse manure. The face of a small business was washed black and white by sweat, like a child in a city god temple ... pulling a rickshaw and spraying blood on the road, he died. Debt collectors and debtors beat their chests and shouted, punched and kicked, and broke their noses. The bald old lady and the rice dumplings seller fought for half a copper coin, and the old lady scolded her for being hard. When selling bighead carp in the market, the cook grabbed the meat from a plate and ate it in a foul smell ... "(1).
This passage describes the epitome of old Beijing in the 20th century-the "truth" that the law of the jungle rules the society with pure Beijing spoken language. A similar description of the pawnshop business with four generations living under one roof. Here, the description of these life pictures is not only a background, but an organic part of the novel, with profound implications and thought-provoking.
2. Description of natural scenery in Beijing.
For Beijing, Lao She loves its natural landscape more. In his novels, Beihai, Huguo Temple, Xishan, Beishan and Jishuitan are all beautiful and cordial, and they are all the incarnations of Beijing in Lao She's mind. He wrote about the summer of Jishuitan, the winter of Xishan and Beishan, the beautiful scenery of Beihai White Pagoda and the red wall of Di 'anmen in spring. In China's classical literary theory, he paid great attention to scenery writing. "If you can't make landscape language, how can you make love language?" (2) and Lao She are familiar with the natural scenery of Beijing with great enthusiasm. According to Yi Shu's statistics, in Lao She's works, * * * mentioned more than 300 natural scenic spots in Beijing, among which Jishuitan is Lao She's favorite.
Jishuitan, also known as Jingyi Lake, is named after the Jingyi Temple on its north shore. The spring water from Xishan Mountain flows into the urban area from the high beam bridge and gathers here to form a lake, so it is also called Jishuitan. Lao She's first novel, Lao Zhang's Philosophy, his last unfinished novel, The Red Flag Spectrum, Zhao Ziyue and Camel Xiangzi all have detailed descriptions of Jishuitan. It bears the memories of Lao She's childhood. In Zhao Ziyue, it is just a poem. Delicate little dragonflies, yellow and green, from Ye Jing Lake to Houhai, from Shichahai to Beihai, to the South China Sea, bend their tails bit by bit on the Shui Pi, as if Beijing were a poem, and they lit the sentences of the poem on the green waves. Jingyue Lake is full of dark green puzi, with golden baguettes, beating the clapping festival against the wind ... It is precisely because Beijing's natural landscape is as beautiful and full of vitality as Jishuitan that Lao She repeatedly chanted with pen and ink, showing the charm of ancient Beijing.
3. Description of traditional customs and etiquette exchange in Beijing.
Lao She's novels, from the earliest "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" to the last "Under the Red Flag", are all custom novels. In his novels, custom has become the plot itself and runs through it. Among them, Under the Red Flag is the most mature one. Under the red flag is the most mature. The description of customs in Under the Red Flag is mainly about four typical times and scenes: birth, washing, full moon and Chinese New Year. Among the four, the description of the baby's "washing three" ceremony is the most vivid and interesting: grandma Bai sits cross-legged on the kang, and the bitter water boiled by Sophora branches and mugwort leaves is poured into a wide copper basin. The old lady and daughter-in-law who attended the ceremony all "added pots" first, put some copper coins into the pots and said auspicious words. A few peanuts, a few red and white eggs, and the message "have a baby together" were put in the water. Finally, all these money and things were taken away by grandma. While washing, he said, and said a word of congratulations that he had said many times: "Wash your hair first and be a prince;" After washing the waist, each generation is taller than the next; Wash eggs and be a magistrate; Wash the ditch and make a state; Hearing this, everyone admired Grandma Bai even more-she knew that there was not much copper in the basin, but she still made the auspicious words completely and did not cut corners. It's really hard to get more ... After washing, Grandma Bai used ginger to moxibustion my forehead and all the important joints on my body. Therefore, I have never had arthritis in my sixties. She also used a new green cloth, dipped in some green tea and rubbed my gums hard. Then I began to cry, which is a good sign! In the old mother's dictionary, this is called' ringing basin'. I don't know if there are any children who insist on not crying and giving up Geely. Finally, grandma Bai picked up an onion and hit me three times, muttering,' One is going to be smart, the other is going to be smart! (3) Such a wonderful description of customs and people's feelings shows the unique folk color of the novel Red Flag Spectrum. The description of etiquette communication in Lao She's novels has both universal significance and distinctive local cultural characteristics, and has become an inseparable thing soaked in the temperament of characters. In Lao She's works, the etiquette of China people is not only an external form of "being polite to many people", but also an internal psychological belief, among which Beijingers are especially polite. Under four generations, no matter how tense the war is, the Qi family can't help celebrating the birthday of the old man Qi, which is the etiquette of Beijingers! The description of "rules" in Under the Red Flag is even more unique. The second chapter of the novel is almost entirely about entertainment and rules.
"Big sister stands in front of her elders for hours at a time, smiling all the time." ④
"These weddings and funerals are so important. It is a big mistake for our relatives and friends to do things and we are short of gifts. Mother can't reduce the deficit, but she doesn't give Aunt menstruation a birthday, condolences to her relatives or congratulations on her hip bones, or bows to her relatives and friends, which shows that she is ashamed to live with her relatives and friends, and it is disgraceful to die ... People who do funerals often lose everything. Shouldn't relatives and friends give their lives to accompany the gentleman? " ⑤ This complicated "rules" combined with the backwardness of citizens is a sad mental weakness. Because traditional customs are often more powerful than formal new education in shaping the character of China people, there will be a problem of "weak national character". From this perspective, Lao She's description of these red tape is essentially a sharp criticism of this "sincerity and hypocrisy".
4. Describe Beijing orally.
Besides the above four factors, Lao She's novels are often regarded as Beijing local literature, which has a lot to do with the frequent use of Beijing spoken language in Lao She's novels. Lao She's novel language is an important part of his "Beijing flavor" style. Lao She has been exploring the lofty realm of language use all his life. In his novel creation, he pays great attention to the identity, industry, times, honorifics and appellations of people who use this language. He combines speech and writing with authentic Beijing spoken language, and his eloquence is not isolated from his pen. A few strokes crossed out the word. The language is concise, lively, handsome and funny, with a strong flavor of life.
Lao She has always maintained the "vulgar" characteristics of literary language. There is a passage in "Divorce" that Mrs. Ma, the landlord, said before going to bed: "How nice it is that children are not naughty! How old are the elders? Don't ask them to go out by themselves. There are many cars and horses in the street, and cars can be overbearing. Even I am dizzy, let alone the child! Haven't you made a fire yet? Put more clothes on them. Just entering winter, the weather is slippery, cold and hot, so take more insurance! Do you have thick cotton-padded clothes? If there is any work that can't be done, I will help them with a mirror. If you are not careful, you can sew a few stitches; The children won't get dressed anyway. See you tomorrow. Be careful when you go to the toilet. Don't trip over bricks and tiles. Take a lamp and see you tomorrow. " There is not a word of these words that has not been said by countless old ladies in Beijing. That kind of extravagance, frankness and enthusiasm can be described as incisively and vividly.
Lao She describes the local customs, daily necessities such as stoves and steamers, and things with traditional customs and characteristics such as Dashilan and Tiaojia Palace all appear in his novels in large numbers, in which the local customs, strong local colors can be seen and heard, and there is a simple sculpture beauty, which also makes the works look kind, fresh and lively.