Alternative Telling of Dream of Red Mansions: Cherishing Spring

Chapter 47 Afterword
——An De's Half Soul of the Red Mansion
The doubts about Xichun's life experience have already been raised by Mr. Mu in the preface, so I won't repeat them.I just want to talk about the reason for writing Xichun.In the ancient version of the Red Chamber, Qin Keqing's "Twelve Hairpin Songs" wrote at the end: "Everyone respects the fall of the Jiqiu and the fall, and the death of the family is the first crime. The evil is always due to love."

You know how important the Twelve Hairpin Songs in the Red Mansion are. Is Xueqin's "Jiqiu Qiuqiu respects" written by Xueqin just for nothing?
There is another line in the ancient book that when Qin Keqing died, Jia Zhen wore hemp and filial piety as if she was a concubine in mourning.Concubine refers to the mother. If Jia Zhen is only having an affair with the Qin family, the word Rusang Kao concubine is not used at all.This should imply that it is not Jia Zhen but Jia Jing who is having fun with Keqing, and it also echoes the previous "Jiqiu's decadence and fall are respectful". Makes sense.

When Qin Keqing died, Jia Rong donated an official, the fifth-rank Dragon Forbidden Captain, so the first half of Chapter No. 13 is: "Qin Keqing died and was named Dragon Forbidden Captain".Look at the decree made by the emperor when Jia Jing died. The emperor said: "Although Jia Jing's white clothes did not contribute to the country, he remembered the merits of his grandfather and gave him the post of fifth rank. He ordered his descendants to carry the coffin from the north." Enter the capital, enter his private funeral. Let the descendants go to Guanglu Temple to offer sacrifices according to the above regulations, after the funeral ceremonies are completed and the coffin is supported.

In this way, it would be logical if Qin Keqing's various abnormal actions were placed on Jia Jing when he died.So there is also a possibility that Xueqin transferred the grand occasion of Jia Jing's death to Qin Keqing.

It was stated in the Zhipiao that he felt that writing about Qin Keqing's obscenity in Tianxianglou was too explicit, and he asked Xueqin to delete it for fear of inconvenience.However, Xueqin may not give up. This is the author's constant pity for his own writing. He may move some plots. Ke Qing's death and Jia Jing's death may belong to this situation.When reorganizing the plot, Jia Jing's actions were concealed and transferred to Jia Zhen, and Ke Qing was demoted by a generation to marry Jia Rong as his wife.

This is a point of view I have seen, and I don’t think it’s all right, but this idea can be used as the material of the novel, so I designed Xichun under such circumstances, she is the daughter of Keqing and Jia Jing.I wrote this just for the sake of the novel, and it can't be used as an argument.

Xichun is the character who has the least ink on Mr. Cao among the Twelve Beauties, but has a distinctive personality and is unforgettable.Her eccentricity also coincides with the loneliness of modern people.As far as novel creation is concerned, this character itself has a larger and deeper room for development.

"Xi Chun Ji" has been written for a long time, accumulating over time, about a year or two.Originally, it was just a whim and I thought it was fun to conceive such a story. I thought it would be like a novella after writing. Who knew that the more I wrote, the more I couldn’t extricate myself. After the emotions and ideas were placed too deep, the plot of the story and the protagonist in the story were all different. With her own life, it is like Eve in the Garden of Eden who transformed from a rib into a complete woman, and she will not be at the mercy of Adam, and even be out of God's control.

When it was finished, I found that it was not what I originally envisioned.And the story in between has the possibility of infinite expansion.When I was writing this book, I was always thinking about some spiritual truths, pulling them out, making silk threads, and weaving them into words. Sometimes I would be surprised when I read it: at a certain moment, how could you think of such words? After this moment, you may not be able to say it, and you will not be able to recall it afterwards.These may be due to the inspiration that was touched at the moment when the words and thoughts collided.

Write down the trajectory and changes of thoughts, and leave time to confirm whether the understanding is correct or not.The role of words is roughly the same.

Everyone is a river above destiny, with its own source and flow.During this period, there are encounters and intersections, but it is just a chance meeting due to fate and appropriateness.

All causes and conditions originate from impermanence, and then take the opportunity to take shape.It's just that our eyes can trick you into saying that everything you see is constant.When there is a gap between what you desire and reality, people will waver in their minds and feel disappointed.

Among them, there will also be persistence, and the weight of ideals will continue to support people to move forward, so that people will not stop working hard in the face of difficulties and obstacles in reality.Although sometimes, what we work hard is only a process, and what changes is only at that time, the ending will not change because it is not the final ending.

At the end of the book, Xichun knows that she and Feng Ziying are in a great reincarnation, and neither of them has left.She has comprehended the principle of impermanence and became an enlightened being, able to live in this world calmly, waiting for the arrival of all causes and conditions.For her, becoming a monk was just because the time was ripe, not an escape because of disappointment.

Xichun, who has gone through reincarnation in this way, has said goodbye to her previous life.

In old-time novels, "resurrecting the soul with a dead body" is very common.The life experiences and personalities of the resurgent and the deceased may be very different, and there is an unknown communication between the two.If there is any relationship between the Xichun in the Red Chamber and the Xichun in my writing, this is the only relationship.

(End of this chapter)