Discussing Gao E with a calm heart

Author: Lin Yutang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The articles are elegant or leisurely. Women's makeup is bold or subtle. People can be disciplined or innocent. In dealing with matters, one can be serious or carefree. Everyone knows that Qingwen is Daiyu's shadow, and Xiren is Baochai's shadow. People who read Dream of the Red Chamber tend to favor Daiyu or Baochai. Those who favor Daiyu will also like Qingwen but dislike Baochai, along with Xiren. Among female readers, those who aspire to be virtuous wives, good mothers, or ideal daughters-in-law often sympathize with Baochai while deeply disliking Qingwen, completely agreeing with Lady Wang. Here lies the truth of life and social conduct. Generally speaking, figures like Ruan Ji and Ji Kang would favor Daiyu and Qingwen, while scholars like Sun Jun and the Cheng brothers would favor Baochai and also like Xiren. Later, Xiren marries Jia Yuhan, and many male readers curse her—a separate matter, driven by the demonization of Confucianism, as it clashes with the concept of chastity. If Xiren had remained unmarried or had taken her own life like Yuanyang, she would have surely earned the praise of those Confucian scholars. But that is a digression. In my opinion, Xiren's behavior and character surpass those of any man in the Grand View Garden. Why are the men in Dream of the Red Chamber so inadequate, like clay figures? That too is a digression. It can be said that Baochai and Daiyu represent opposing archetypes, and some may judge them based on personal preference, seeing one as genuine and the other as false. But is "genuine" or "false" the whole story? Elegance and worldly wisdom, leisure and rigor, freedom and constraint, adherence to propriety and unrestrainedness—these are both sides of life, and also the key differences between Confucianism and Taoism.