With the development of tea drinking and tea worship customs, many unique and interesting tea customs have been derived from them, which have become one of the unique social life customs of the Chinese nation. Such as "drinking tea, ordering tea and sending tea" is also synonymous with engagement and wedding celebration. In our wedding custom in Shandong, tea is one of the betrothal gifts for young men and women. Whenever there is a wedding, relatives and friends will congratulate each other on the wedding day or two days before and give them financial and material help (dowry ceremony). This kind of etiquette is commonly known as "ordering tea" or "delivering tea". I have never understood this etiquette before. Why should the marriage custom be linked to tea?
Later, I learned that this is the embodiment of tea custom at the wedding. As early as the Song Dynasty, the relationship between drinking tea and marriage was recorded in the works of some literati. Lu You, a famous poet, described the custom of young men and women drinking tea in the minority areas of western Hunan in his Notes on Old Xuegong: "The barbarism of Chen, Yuan and Jing, when men and women were unmarried, they got together and sang' Young lady, flowers at the bottom of leaves, nothing to do, come out for a cup of tea'." What is written here is the implicit expression that young men and women in the village of Xishan District, Hunan Province fall in love with folk songs every spring and invite tea for life. Moreover, Lu You's records also revealed a very important message, that is, among the ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas of Hunan Province in the Song Dynasty, there was a folk custom of betrothal by tea. This is consistent with the fact that tea originated from Yunnan-Guizhou-Hunan Plateau in China in history, and it was also the earliest place where tea was made and exported. In the Song Dynasty, Wu's Dream of Liang Lu also talked about the wedding customs related to tea in Hangzhou at that time: "A rich family, with pearls and emeralds, jewels, goldsmiths, satin and tea cakes, is led by two sheep." Feng Menglong, a famous writer in the late Ming Dynasty, also mentioned the marriage custom of young men and women being employed by tea merchants many times in Awakening the World. In the article "Mr. and Mrs. Chen Duoshou's Life and Death", it is written that the Liu family is too poor and loves the rich. They want their daughter to get the bride price back from the Chen family and choose a rich family. However, her daughter retorted, "I have never seen a good woman take two sips of tea." Liu's daughter is very affectionate and loyal to the engagement, and will never do anything else. Zheng Banqiao, once a great painter in Weifang and one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", also wrote a poem "Zhi Zhu Ci": "The mouth of the Ganjiang River is a slave, and Lang has tea if he is free. Building a house with loess walls, there are bauhinia in front of the door. " Zheng's peasant girl is very generous and pure. She invites her favorite big boy to have tea at home and get married, and reminds him not to go the wrong way or the wrong door. Only the thatched cottage next to the river mouth where bauhinia was planted in the last life can go! Hehe, don't miss it!
Interestingly, Hangzhou is a scenic spot that produces tea and silk. It is understandable to give a woman good tea and silk when she is engaged. I used to work in a coastal town in the north. A family engaged their son with silk instead of satin, saying it was unlucky to use satin. But then all five of their sons married daughters-in-law and gave birth to girls. I haven't figured out the difference between silk and satin, nor is it bad to have girls, but these customs have no reason, just to express people's wishes.
The established social customs are permeated with the long-term labor experience, social practice and even rich traditional culture and national psychology of the Chinese nation. The relationship between tea and marriage has a long history. Why can the common tea in people's lives in China be added to the marriage customs? Lang Ying's "Seven Manuscripts" in the Ming Dynasty made it very clear, which solved the mystery for us: "Planting tea seeds can't be transplanted, and transplanting can't be revived. So women's employment is called tea. I also hired a person who took tea as a gift to see the meaning of submission. " This statement was also recorded in Xu Cishu's Tea Sparse in the Ming Dynasty. Cao Tingdong's Song of Planting Tea Seeds in Qing Dynasty also said: "All kinds of flowers and trees should be planted with roots, and only tea trees should be planted with seeds. Buds are not resistant to migration, and natural rubber is like this. " The ancients believed that tea trees could only be propagated by seeds, and the roots germinated after sowing tea seeds, and they could not "move their nests". If they "migrate" (transplant dialects), they will die. Go to Longjing for tea when you go to Hangzhou. I specifically asked the tea farmers if the tea seedlings could be transplanted. The tea farmer's answer is yes. Now it seems that this ancient knowledge of tea cultivation is obviously a misunderstanding. However, in modern times, the ancients introduced the characteristics of tea trees into marriage customs, taking tea as their profession and taking tea as their mascot, hoping that the love and marriage between men and women would be faithful and grow old together until death, especially for women, which is in line with our traditional morality. Moreover, tea tree is a long green tree, and the introduction of this character in marriage is also a metaphor for the evergreen tree of love and the blooming flower of love. A good marriage, like a tea tree, is flourishing, fruitful and prosperous. In southern China, where tea is produced, this special custom of wedding tea is not difficult to understand. In Shouguang, Shandong Province, which does not produce tea in the north of China, this custom of eating tea is also observed in weddings. Many people don't understand why. This is obviously an example of the integration of southern customs and north and south.
In the process of studying A Dream of Red Mansions, I pay special attention to Cao Xueqin and Zhi Yanzhai's descriptions and comments on tea drinking and even tea customs in this masterpiece. Thirty-first and thirty-second times, Jia Baoyu lost the golden unicorn given by Zhang, and Shi Xiangyun picked it up and returned it to him. Shi Xiangyun said with a smile, "Fortunately, I lost my seal tomorrow. Isn't that enough?" Baoyu said with a smile, "It's normal to lose your seal. If I lose this, I will die. " Aroma poured tea for Xiangyun and said with a smile, "Big Girl, I heard that you were overjoyed the day before yesterday." Xiangyun blushed and refused to pick up tea. -This is a passage that Shi Xiangyun asked her about her engagement when she was drinking tea. The author skillfully links tea drinking with engagement, which is unique and interesting. On the forty-first occasion, Miaoyu of Cuimiao invited the Lady Dowager, Baochai and Daiyu to tea. There is a strange talk in Jing Ji: Do you remember Ding Si's tea delivery in spring? Show your eyes for twenty years! Ding Chou is abnormal in the middle of spring-this is a note of "Send Tea" with a clear date. According to the custom of drinking tea in Marriage, I think this is a memory of writing about the meeting of Zhi Yanzhai, pervert and Cao Xueqin in a place called Xie Yuan when they were young. There is another comment. Thirty-eight times Xiangyun invited guests, and the two sisters sang chrysanthemum poems and crabs. Jia Baoyu especially wants acacia flowers to soak in wine. Here, Geng double-line prompt: pain! Does the author remember how to make wine with acacia flowers before the Austrian ship? Twenty years! These are two comments made by Zhi Yanzhai on "tea" and "wine" in his book. At first, I was confused. When I was a teenager, the daily life plots of "sending tea" and "making wine" were mostly interesting memories. Why did they become sad memories? ! This is closely related to Baoyu's dream in the fifth episode of A Dream of Red Mansions, and the "fragrant marrow" smell of tea and wine specially offered by the police fairy in the room. The tea that Jing Xian ordered Xiao Huan to offer was: coming back from Chunshan to Xiangdong, and cooking it with dew on the leaves of Xianhualing. This kind of tea is called "Thousand Red Cave". Wine is the core of a hundred flowers and the juice of a thousand trees. It is fermented from the marrow of chicken milk and songs, hence the name "Wan Yan Tongbei". Why do tea parties have twists and turns (under the "hole", the "song" is homophonic) and sadness? Why did Zhi Yanzhai's comments say "a thousand red flowers cry" and "Wan Yan mourned together"? The key point is that Cao Xueqin injected the nationalized tea custom into his own perception, and creatively endowed "tea" and "wine" with special literal meanings in combination with his family's enduring prosperity and falling into the abyss. This lies in the homophonic study, which led to the bending of the Red Chamber. Looking back, how can Yan Zhi and Qin Xi not shed tears in the face of the broken family and miserable life caused by the investigation!
In A Dream of Red Mansions, the love development of Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai is a main line of the book. Recently, I reread A Dream of Red Mansions, in which the 25th time "Brother Yan meets five ghosts, and a Dream of Red Mansions meets two truths" also wrote about the marriage custom of "drinking tea". The article writes: Lin Daiyu never goes out because she recently saw Baoyu burn her face, but she often talks in one place. I read two books after dinner this day, and felt bored, so I sewed with Zijuan Xueyan. I felt even more bored, so I leaned against the door and walked out, looking at the new bamboo shoots, and I didn't feel discharged at all. When I look at the garden, I look around, there is no one, only flowers and willow shadows, birds and streams. Lin Daiyu strolled into Yi Hong Yuan ... Hearing the laughter in the room, Lin Daiyu went into the room to see it. It turns out that Li Gongcai, Feng and Baochai are all here ... Feng Dao: "I sent two bottles of tea the day before yesterday. Where have you been? " Lin Daiyu said with a smile, "Oh, I forgot. Thank you very much. " Feng added, "Have you tasted it?" Before he finished speaking, Baoyu said, "The argument is good, but I don't know how others will evaluate it." Baochai said, "It's light, but the color is not big." Feng said, "This is a tribute from Siam ..." Lin Daiyu said with a smile, "Listen, after eating a little tea from their family, you will come to order people." Feng smiled and said, "Forget it, you gossip. You drink tea and water. Since you have eaten our tea, why don't you give us a wife? " They all laughed together. Lin Daiyu blushed and turned back without saying a word. Feng smiled and said, "Don't dream! You made a daughter-in-law for our family. What do you lack? " Pointing to Baoyu, he said, "Look, people, families, foundations and furniture are not worthy." Who else is defiled? "
Cao Xueqin gave Daiyu tea from Wang Xifeng, which also led to Wang Xifeng's ridicule of Daiyu, and used the marriage custom of "drinking tea" to urge Baochai and Daiyu to get married. The last forty sequels of A Dream of Red Mansions did not develop normally according to this premise, but adopted Wang Xifeng's "stealing columns" under the arrangement of Jia Mu, making Baoyu and Xue Baochai become relatives. After "burning the manuscript and breaking the infatuation", Daiyu "kept pains and hated the sky".
This involves the plot arrangement of how Daiyu died. According to the comments of Zhi Yanzhai and Qi Yuyou, the contemporary author Fu Cha and the later Shu Preface, it is known that Cao Xueqin has finished the creation of the whole book for 100 times. However, due to the "missing manuscript" in Borrowing Books, which made freaks and others lament, and the "urgent need for books" of an important person, after the death of Cao Xueqin and Zhi Yanzhai, the true manuscript in the second half of the book became a mystery with unknown whereabouts. One of the reasons for the loss is "fear of hindering language" and "there are too many taboos in later versions to spread". We read the tips in the first 80 chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions, especially the clues provided by the fat review, such as Xue Baochai's satirical words in know life about Wang Xifeng's brave man, the broken carpet in the cold winter and snowy night, Xue Qian and Redjade's visit to Baoyu in the "prison temple" and so on, all of which are closely related to the plot of stealing property, and this is the crazy persecution in the literary prison during Kang Yong's intervention period. However, my view from reading and analyzing relevant materials is that the last forty chapters, which are continued by Gao E at present, basically adopt the artistic means of novel creation and complete the shaping of Jia Baoyu and his family's fate. Especially in the last chapter, it is written that Jia Baoyu abandoned his family and love after he became famous, and was limped back to Geng Qingfeng by a crazy monk, which is closely related to the first prologue of Zhi Yanzhai. Although Baodai's love died under the arrangement of feudal parents, it is very inconsistent with the previous text. I guess from the dialect used in it that these words were hastily written by Zhi Yanzhai (or Meixi in Donglukong mentioned in the article) after Cao Xueqin's death. Although it is slightly flawed, it is still a perfect match. Later, a copy of A Dream of Red Mansions reached a reading climax. "The real name of the novel A Dream of Red Mansions is The Story of the Stone ... Every time someone copies a copy and buys it at a temple fair, it is worth tens of gold and spreads like wildfire" (Preface to A Dream of Red Mansions by Cheng Jiaben in the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong). In this case, Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E made profits by engraving and publishing books. In the past few years, they were lucky to find these sequels under the burden of a peddler. They are honest and trustworthy literati, and did not steal other people's achievements for themselves. Cheng Weiyuan wrote in the preface to Cheng Jiaben's Dream of Red Mansions: "... but the original directory was 120 volumes, and only 80 volumes have been circulated today, which is quite shocking to readers." So there is volume 120 in the book, so there is no such thing as a whole? In order to search hard, all collectors and even old paper piles are concerned. Only more than 20 volumes have been accumulated in recent years. One day, I accidentally got more than ten volumes on the drum bag, so I bought them at a big price. Looking at it happily, I saw its ups and downs, still high-pitched, but it was out of control. Friends can learn from each other's advantages and make up for each other's shortcomings. It is copied and reprinted, which is good for the public. The book A Dream of Red Mansions is a success. " Gao E also wrote in the preface of this book: "People who have heard of A Dream of Red Mansions have been well-known for more than 20 years, but there is no complete treasure and no final version. I was shocked to borrow a friend's idea and get a tripod. This spring, my friend Cheng Zixiaoquan gave me a gift to show off the whole book he bought, and said: This servant has worked hard for several years, and he will pay. I am idle and tired, why not let nature take its course? Although the book is a unofficial history, it is still a famous teacher, and it is not wrong, and it is readily accepted. Fortunately, Persian slaves saw the treasure, so they helped them. Those who have finished the work and know the ending will inform them. Shi Ganlong's Book on Consolidating Gao E in Tieling was published from 19 1 1 to the fifth day after winter. "Since Mr. Hu Shi, it has been determined that these later plays were written by Gao E. In recent years, Mr. Zhou argued that Cheng Weiyuan, a royal scholar during the Qianlong period, was castrated and quit at the behest of Qianlong and Qianlong. By studying many of Mr. Zhou's articles about red, I always feel that Mr. Zhou has lived in Beijing for a long time and is infected with a strong palace complex and political expansion. He always digs into the palace, and many statements are unreliable.
Mr. Zhou believes that Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang and Aunt Zhao are the chief culprits of Daiyu's death. The key is that Aunt Zhao poured slanderous remarks into Jia Zheng's ear pillow from time to time, saying that Bao Dai and his wife were "incompetent" and that Mrs. Wang wanted to copy the Grand View Garden to death, and her main goal was also Dai Yu! Aunt Zhao is the main culprit, and that boy Jia Huan is not good either. After layers of reports, Yuan Fei clearly declared that Daiyu was "immoral" and appointed Jia Fu to hire Baochai and abandon Daiyu. At this point, Baoyu ordered the marriage, and Daiyu died for no reason. Judging from the two plays (from Hairpin Phoenix) ordered by Yuan Chun when she returned to her mother's house, the death of Daiyu was related to her drowning. No wonder Liu said that Daiyu "sank to death". This is the original root! Oh! Zhou Lao's theory, Jia Zheng and Yuan Chun men are not wronged!
Anyone who has a little common sense in reading novels can know that the fate of the protagonist is closely related to the theme of the novel. There is a great fallacy in Mr. Zhou's interpretation of the theme of A Dream of Red Mansions. These strange ideas naturally appear in the interpretation of Daiyu's death. Back to the original novel, we can clearly draw the conclusion that A Dream of Red Mansions is intended to expose the harsh "eliminating all evils" and lead to "a hundred flowers blossom", and the author's miserable life has changed from a rich and luxurious son to a "thatched rafter, crock bed, half-life down and out". Therefore, in Life Mistakes, Blinking Eyebrows and other Twelve Poems about the Red Chamber in which gold mourns jade, especially "Birds in the Woods" as the foreshadowing, and "Copying the Grand View Garden" written in the 73rd chapter, together with the sequel "Zhenjia Punishment, Going to Beijing" and "Waiting for the Corner of Crime", the Jinyi Army raided Ningguo Mansion. Inquiry is the key word of A Dream of Red Mansions. In the first eighty chapters of Cao Xueqin's original work, he repeatedly emphasized that "the feast will break up", "the trees will be divided" and "the land will be destroyed" in the future. Zhi Yanzhai also shed tears at this point, feeling extremely sad and making sad remarks from time to time.
The opening design of A Dream of Red Mansions: Daiyu, formerly known as Jiangzhu Xiancao, vowed to "pay her debts with tears". Through Daiyu's mourning songs "Burying Flowers" and "Daughter of Hibiscus", this paper can also interpret the painful experience that these flowery daughters were destroyed by "flying disasters" when they suffered major changes in the Jia family. Therefore, according to Cao Xueqin's story that Baodai's marriage was caused by tea customs, we can also interpret it as the real root of their failure to get married is that they died because of the investigation. What prompted Daiyu to "die in tears" was naturally caused by the investigation! The tragedy happened roughly like this:
Bao Dai's love, under the care of Jia Mu, is almost finished. Unexpectedly, many good things have happened! It was when the two of them were talking about marriage that the evil spirits came to make trouble (which was consistent with the plot arrangement of talking about marriage because of tea before uncle and sister-in-law met Yan Mo), and the joy became extremely sad in an instant. After Yuan Fei's martyrdom, Jiafu was investigated by the tyrant. Jia Yucun and others all hit people when they are down, Jia She and others robbed property and killed people, and Xi Feng collected money and killed people. Baoyu's "lust, lust and profit" made friends with bandits and other evil things were also accused. Baoyu, rescued by King Jing and others, fled with Xi-feng. During her escape, Xifeng became seriously ill and died in a foreign country. Finally, she returned to Jinling in her clothes. Baoyu was detained in the prison temple in the snowy winter, dressed in rags and eating sour grapes that were hard to swallow. At this time, affectionate Xue Qian and Xiao Hong came to visit him and brought him some food and clothes. Baoyu, who is in trouble, is very sad Baoyu was dying, and he couldn't come back. Grandmother Jia also died in this disaster, and her family was ruined. Under such a blow, Lin Daiyu was so angry that she cried for a day and a night, and finally she was exhausted and died in tears. This is the so-called "flower is afraid of itself, why is it proud?" Liu Ben is so worried, why not take a bath? "
In a poem, Ye Chonglun, a member of Gan family, put forward his own opinion on the reason why Cao Xueqin created A Dream of Red Mansions: "Mr. Cao Xueqin, can you talk about the cause of dreams?" It is because I walked through the world of mortals that I realized my predecessor and behind. "The death of Daiyu and the tragedy of Baodai's love are hot topics that all dream lovers are eager to discuss. When we study A Dream of Red Mansions, we can't speculate the fate of the protagonist from the subjective desire, but must comprehensively consider and explore the theme, plot main line, character evaluation and artistic expression methods of the novel. The above is my personal opinion, and I hope everyone can correct me and discuss it.