Not in Bian Mei, but in the late Ming Dynasty.

My most intuitive picture of life in the late Ming Dynasty comes from the Kunqu Opera Peach Blossom Fan. Wu, Wu, Wu, and other talented people of Fu She wandered in Taoyedu and made friends with Li, a famous prostitute, in the lake. Because Li was a disciple of Su Kunsheng, a famous Kunqu figure at that time, Li sang a peony pavilion in front of everyone: "It turned out to be so beautiful. It's like this ... "The flute is melodious and melodious, with a soft and graceful voice. It passed through the red wall window of the original painting ship, and the ripples on the lake lingered in the ears of many childe. The correct answer of the original poem book became the pursuit of beauty. Hou Fangyu took the fan as a gift as a token of his love with Xiang Jun, thus revealing a legendary story of a talented person and a beautiful woman ... This story was repeatedly put in the Ming Dynasty. The love story with Dong Xiaowan, a famous prostitute, has been passed down from generation to generation, and this mammoth also contributed a lot to Kong's creation of Peach Blossom Fan. ......

Later, after reading Mr. Zhao's book A Record of South China, the late Ming Dynasty in my heart became more and more clear and lovely. Think about it, Zhang Dai, Li Yu, Tu Long, Tang Xianzu, Chen Hongshou, Qi Biaojia, Dong Shuo, Liu Jingting, Dong Qichang ... The era when these people lived at the same time: exquisite houses, fireworks, flowers and birds, antiques, horses, China houses, pear orchards, gardens ... The most glorious era, how can anyone not like it?

At first, out of concern for Kunqu opera, I turned over two chapters, namely, It was a fleeting dream, and vanity was everywhere. The article talks about Tang Xianzu, the author of Peony Pavilion, and Tu Long, the author of A Story. Tang Xianzu is a contemporary legendary writer with Shakespeare, the most outstanding dramatist in the history of English literature. He was poor all his life and studied under Mount Tai. Because he refused to attract Zhang, a powerful official, he failed several existing science exams. It was not until Zhang died that he was admitted to take the exam. However, in the ups and downs of his career for decades, he has never been reused by the ruling and opposition parties.

The failure of his official career has made him talented, otherwise it would be a pity to devote his life's energy and talent to official career economy and party disputes.

When he was a magistrate in Suichang County, the first draft of Peony Pavilion was completed, and then he left office to decorate Tang Yuming at home, so a masterpiece came into being. Later, Tang Xianzu wrote Conan Collection and Handan Collection, which together with the previous four legendary scripts, are called Linchuan Four Dreams. Tang Xianzu put everything he saw, heard and felt into it. For example, The Peony Pavilion was inspired by a tragic woman of her time, Zhang, who promised to marry her cousin before she came of age, but later her fiance died of illness because of her parents' divorce. Yu Niang also died of depression. The tragedy is not over yet. The maid who served Yu Niang later died of illness, and even a parrot died of hunger strike before she died. Three. Later generations also put Zhang's deeds on the stage. There is also a proverb in Yu Niang, "The mountain is high and the moon is small, how charming it is! I have important things to worry about, and I will not see you for a day. " It has also been passed down to this day.

The Story of Conan was written because his good friends Li Zhi and monk Zhenke died in the party struggle between the ruling and opposition parties, and he felt vanity as illusory as a dream. In Conan's story, martial artist Chun Yuba married and had children in Huai 'an and paid an official visit. As a result, everything came from a dream after drinking. .....

As for dreams, I have to say Dong Ruoyu. I'm ashamed. I didn't know this man before I saw the Record of South China. "South China Record" created a separate chapter for him, called "Wake Up in an Instant".

Different from all other articles, this article rarely involves others, and it seems to be a dialogue between Dong Ruoyu and his dream from beginning to end. The dream country was built by myself, and the dream was recalled by myself against the window, and that The Journey to the West, the sequel to Journey to the West, is the narrative embodiment of my dream.

Born because of dreams, lived because of dreams, and finally died because of dreams ... It is worth mentioning that the article wrote that Dong Ruoyu could only stay at home for a long time because of his mother's illness in the hall, but the author wrote that "despite repeated visits, he was allowed to travel all over the mountains and rivers". What the hell is going on here?

In order to enjoy his dream tour, he hung landscape paintings on the wall of his room. "He also bought a lot of wood, set up a gazebo in the house, and put it in the house to look at the green mountains and white clouds from a height, so as to lie down and swim better."

Contemporary Zhang Dai failed to climb the towering Mount Tai because of the fog, so he had to give up halfway and secretly regretted it. But Dong Ruoyu, who was sitting on the roof of Mengshan Pavilion, turned a wisp of thoughts into a figure, easily flew to the top of Mount Tai, and soon reached the foot of Lushan Mountain. .....

I like Liu Jingting's chapter "The Rain Blows My Head" best. The fifth volume of Zhang Dai's Tao Anmeng contains an essay Liu Jingting's storytelling. Hemp willow with dark skin and a full face of scars is fascinating when it comes to speaking. Zhang Dai even compared this ugly uncle to a famous prostitute in Zhucheng at that time. The life experience of a storyteller is legendary. First, together with Hou Fangyu and other literati, he participated in the expulsion of Ruan Dacheng, who had voted for the eunuch party, and then he was put into the account of Zuo Liangyu, dealing with the Zuo Ying shogunate and often giving advice to Zuo Liangyu. Later, with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, Zuo Liangyu died of illness, and Liu Jingting moved north and south. Because of his legendary experience in recent years, especially his most brilliant military career, he knows all about other languages and popular hobbies, and his storytelling skill is to rely on a higher level. It was at this time that he really became famous all over the country. Both the immigrants in the Ming Dynasty and the nouveau riche in the Qing Dynasty were obsessed with his storytelling until he died in his eighties. ......

According to this book, Wen Zhenheng, the great-grandson of Ming Dynasty painter Wen Huiming, once wrote a book called Long History, including calligraphy and painting, opera, gardens and tea ... and introduced it in detail. The meaning of long things is interpreted as "superfluous or extravagant things"

But at that time, these long objects were the sustenance of literati's souls, and the unsatisfied senses and souls in officialdom were freed and satisfied here. Out of hopelessness for official career and hatred for officialdom, the literati in these times began to look to the other side-the side of managing long things: So Xiangjian Teana Pavilion collected antique calligraphy and painting, and the literati Huang abandoned the classics to write legendary scripts, and Qi Biaojia also revealed the confusion of officialdom.

However, this era has a distorted side, just like a playboy watching his wife but still looking at beautiful women in a bamboo building. The dissolute desire and the ideal of officialdom have been intertwined in his heart, just as the author said, "Half of them enjoy the melody here, and the other half is like a tight bow, waiting for the call of Gao Tang."

In the chapter of "Sensory World", it is written that Yuan Xiaoxiu in "Three Gardens of Public Security" failed in the scientific examination eight times, and his body and mind were depressed by frustration. When he was young, he simply bought a boat lake and lived a dissolute life. He swam through the Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, ready to visit his friend Tao Wangling in Shaoxing. When he returned to the south, he passed Dantu County and suddenly announced that he would take part in the ninth scientific research. As a result, he still failed until the tenth scientific research. ......

Yuan Xiaoxiu's experience seemed to have become an inevitable law at that time. At the beginning, these literati studied hard in the cold window for ten years, sharpened their heads and drilled into the officialdom, never looking back, until they dragged their tired bodies back home, looked at the painting axis on the console table, their wives around them, and the Kunshan accent from the original painting in the distance, and suddenly knew what they wanted and what made them happy. ......

Time always flies when you are happy. Counting with your fingers, 1642, 1643, the time is approaching 1644, and the previous sensory management has reached its peak. In this year, with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, all of them died suddenly, also from the lens of the Peach Blossom Fan, 65438+. Shi Kefa, Ming Taizu, is ready to deploy troops to attack Jianzhou Jurchen again. The son of Fushe accompanied Li Youshan to watch the water. At the other end, Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng are discussing how to retaliate against the children of this complex society. Suddenly, they also received the news that Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Jingshan Park in Beijing. All of them are heartbroken, and the lyrics of the crying Lord are extremely sad. Around that year, the painter Ni Zan died heroically in Beijing. Qi Biaojia also threw herself into the lake of the garden, feeling the demise of the Ming Dynasty and the fainting of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Chen Hongshou shaved his hair and became a monk. Zhang Dai also went up the mountain to write "Stone Chamber". ......

From 1573 to 1644, from Wanli to Chongzhen, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty became weaker year by year, with years of war, deserted homes and destroyed fields. "Half stepping on half ash." However, the development of these long things is eternal, because these long things are full of the souls and hopes of those literati and are immortal enough.

Finally, talk about the title of South China record. "South" refers to the south, Zhuji in Chen Hongshou, Yin Shan in Zhang Dai, Lanxi in Li Yu ... and the word "flower" is well said, "flowers are the essence, people are the essence, and the most essence is all kinds of luxurious materials and spirits of that era." South China is the "essence of the South".