Ming and Qing novels have a certain market for students nowadays, but their charm is certainly not as good as that of modern and contemporary novels. Just look at the sales of classic books and short stories on the counter. Readers based on "classic books" are far more than their favorite reasons. Why do students lack enthusiasm for classical novels? The sense of distance between classical novels, including Ming and Qing novels, and modern society has caused great reading inadaptability. When some students read A Dream of Red Mansions, they were surprised that Bao and Dai didn't read all day except eating, drinking and drinking, and they didn't understand what was commendable about their love value. This is a work of the Qing Dynasty, written from 1757 to 1778, only 300 years ago. what has changed?
Students' reading difficulties first come from language barriers. Although these works were basically written in vernacular Chinese at that time, they are basically equivalent to reading simple classical Chinese for students now. The bigger obstacle comes from the change of life scenes. From Ming and Qing dynasties to today, social politics, economy and culture have undergone earth-shaking changes. It is hard for students today to imagine how people lived three or five hundred years ago, even in every detail of their lives. Students' understanding of social customs and social life in Ming and Qing Dynasties mostly comes from true and false TV dramas in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is limited and sometimes even misunderstood.
It is inevitable to draw such a conclusion. The primary task for us to appreciate novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties is to understand the social life in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a relatively stable period of feudal society in China. The feudal political system is more mature and complete, and absolutism is more strengthened. At the same time, it is also heading for decline and decline. At this time, farming civilization was highly developed, and commodity economy sprouted in rich places. There are a large number of craftsmen and businessmen in cities and towns, and a new group-citizen class-is emerging in cities, which is different from farming society. At the same time, the ideological trend belonging to this class is gradually emerging. For example, this happened in Shanxi during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Local officials told the emperor about local customs. First-rate children no longer take the imperial examinations, but are often sent to study business. Such ions are of course common in Ming and Qing novels. For example, the hero of Bai Qiulian is that his father didn't want him to take the imperial examination and turned to business, which led to his romantic love story in his spare time. Although it is a kind of "deviant" to value commerce over agriculture and even despise the imperial examination, this trend of thought is impacting the overall situation of the feudal system. With this understanding, we can understand why Du Shiniang didn't tell the secret of Li Jia's treasure chest until he was betrayed by Li Jia. Du Shiniang wants to use these treasures to pry open the door of the minister's master, make him accept himself, and use money to break the barriers of the feudal gate system. This idea not only exists in Du Shiniang, but also the heroine in Bai Qiulian is recognized by her father-in-law. The reason is that Bai Qiulian is good at playing futures and can.
With the change of social life, the writer's thoughts are also changing. Influenced by social life in the ideological and cultural fields, this trend of thinking of worshipping sages and advocating individual liberation has risen. This makes the literary concept have new characteristics. So in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we saw a strong praise of "loyalty" with grassroots cultural characteristics. Even Huarong Road, which has a little personal color, is also regarded as the spirit of loyalty. In Water Margin, what we see is a strong criticism of the social reality of "officials forcing the people to rebel" and "top-down chaos", and a strong praise of the rebellious peasant uprising heroes. The most impressive The Journey to the West is the Monkey King, who calls himself "the Monkey King" and publicly clamors that "the emperors take turns to do it", while the whole Dream of Red Mansions is more devoted to eulogizing the pursuit of individual liberation, demanding freedom and equality, and opposing the arrangement of fate. The novels and even fragments selected in the textbook are all wrapped in brand-new ideological factors. For example, in Du Shiniang's Furious Box, we not only see Du Shiniang's resistance to feudal ethical values, but also see Du Shiniang's choice of the most tragic water as his last counterattack in the face of the impact of money on human nature, especially on good feelings.