W wild old man exposes the truth

Author: Xia Jingqu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, it was a period of prosperity when long popular novels were produced in large quantities. Among them, the longest one was Xia Jingqu's Wild Man's Exposure of Words. Xia Jingqu, despite his lofty ambitions, failed to achieve them. "Therefore, he composed this lengthy text of over one hundred and fifty chapters, titled Wild Man's Exposure of Words, and called it 'a talk by an old man in the sun when there is nothing to do.'" While calling it "a talk by an old man in the sun," it was actually a work of venting his frustrations. It can be said that the author wove his entire life's knowledge and dreams into the novel. Xia Jingqu focused on creating the all-powerful hero Wen Suchen. The combination of the characters "Wen" and "Bai" resembles the character "Xia," clearly reflecting his self-portrayal. However, this could only be considered a dream of a frustrated and narrow-minded scholar. Mr. Lu Xun also said, "Using novels as a means to store knowledge and articles, with the same purpose as admonition but different application, was nothing new in the Qing Dynasty, and Wild Man's Exposure of Words was the first to do so." The novel vividly records the mentality, expectations, ideals, and pursuits of scholars in the feudal era, providing a unique window for us to understand that time. Wild Man's Exposure of Words was written by Xia Jingqu in his later years. The novel is set against the backdrop of the Chenghua and Hongzhi reigns of the Ming Dynasty and narrates the heroic achievements of Wen Bai's life. Wen Bai, styled Suchen, was both literary and martial, full of ambition, and was described as "a truly righteous scholar with great courage, and an unworldly scholar who did not recognize the changing times" (Chapter 1). Seeing the eunuchs' tyranny and the monks' arrogance, and realizing the country's decline, he traveled the world. Along the way, he suppressed villains, brought peace to the people, and helped the destitute. He successively rescued the beautiful and talented women Xuan Gu, Su E, and Xiang Ling, who later became his concubines. Upon entering the capital, he cured the emperor and the prince, demonstrating his ability to bring the dead back to life. The crown prince respected him as a teacher and granted him the title of Hanlin. He was ordered to suppress the Miao rebellion in Guangxi and achieved great success. Upon hearing of the prince of Jing's rebellion in the capital, he immediately rode alone to rescue the crown prince, went to Leifu in Shandong to guard the emperor, and completely eliminated the rebellious faction. The crown prince ascended the throne, promoted Su Chen to the positions of Grand Secretary of the Huagai and Jingshen Palaces, and concurrently served as Minister of Personnel and Minister of War. He was also given a princess as his left wife. Su Chen pacified the provinces of Zhejiang and suppressed the Japanese, achieving new merits. The emperor bestowed greater honors on him, calling him "Su Father," and built him a mansion. His two wives and four concubines lived in six floors of the mansion. Su Chen then fully realized his ambitions, suppressing Buddhism and Taoism, conquering Japan to the east, pacifying the Mongols to the north, and subduing India to the south, making all Buddhist countries adopt Confucianism. Su Chen's descendants prospered, all achieving high positions and wealth. The novel ends with Su Chen having a dream on New Year's Eve, in which his four generations of descendants dream together, implying that Su Chen should be ranked among the sages, no less important than Han Yu.