Chapter 366

460 chapters, also wishing to be splendid like a little moss flower.

46o chapters, also wishing to be splendid like a little moss flower.

—— a branch of red apricot extending over the wall.

In the evening, the setting sun was red, the weather was sultry, and the air seemed to congeal.

At this sultry moment, I still cannot forget that maid in Dream of the Red Chamber who eagerly wanted to study poetry, Xiangling.

Some friends might say: "You're just bored stiff. What's that got to do with the cow and the horse? What does that poetry‑studying maid in Dream of the Red Chamber have to do with you? Isn't this just borrowing trouble?"

Everything in this world is related to everyone. Anything that has happened is somehow connected to oneself, more or less—either it concerns people you know, or it concerns your feelings.

If it is not connected to your feelings, then it is connected to your thoughts.

People are inherently social; the whole of human society's activities are linked together. No matter where you are, even in outer space, your heart remains linked to humanity. I have long heard of the butterfly effect—

A single butterfly over the Pacific can stir up a storm. Therefore, no one should look down on a speck of dust underfoot or a blade of grass. When the great wind rises, that speck of dust can blow into your orifices and make you uncomfortable; that blade of grass by the roadside, if you don't pay attention, can trip you up……………………………………

I like most of the characters in Dream of the Red Chamber very much, while I dislike most of those in Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As for the so‑called 'characters' in Journey to the West, needless to say, they are all monsters and demons—there isn't a single good thing among them.

Reading Water Margin, you can't tell who's good and who's bad. In my view, there's nothing good at all—not even the 108 heroes; their hands are stained with the blood of the weak. Those so‑called 'heroic good fellows' will, at the slightest carelessness, a minor mistake, or a slip of the tongue, strike to kill you. Such people cannot distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, show no tolerance or forbearance toward anyone, and center everything on themselves—can they be called heroes? They are brutes! They are dogs………….

Therefore, I have never liked any character in Water Margin. I recall that as a child I first heard others tell the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger, and later I read it myself in a book. I thought, 'Wu Song is a hero,' 'very heroic.' He feared no fierce tiger and managed to beat it to death.

Anyone who can kill a tiger is truly remarkable.

But as I grew older, I increasingly felt that Wu Song could not be considered a hero at all; he was merely an ignorant brute——

It wasn't the tiger that wanted to eat him; it was he who intruded on the tiger's territory. It wasn't the tiger bullying him; it was he bullying the tiger. How could such a person be called a hero?

Wu Song killed the tiger in the Song dynasty, and people called him a hero; but if it were today, anyone who killed a mountain tiger would not be a hero—he might even end up in jail.

As for the characters in Dream of the Red Chamber, I like almost all of them. Especially those little people—the 'lowly folk' who serve tea and water to the powerful—I like them even more. I often keep them company in their joys and sorrows; in the depths of my heart I am one of those maids who serve tea and water. That one is me. I was, I am, and I will be……………. This is fate, this is timing! Having written this, I recall my 'clansfolk' (Lu Xun said that Ah Q also wanted to take the surname Zhao, and when Master Zhao heard that Ah Q this lad also wanted to take the surname, he wondered whether he deserved the surname Zhao; so he had the constable bring Ah Q to answer for his crime. When Master Zhao saw Ah Q, his face beamed with joy—Master Zhao was also utterly lacking in refinement, using a rural saying: 'Old clumsy tube, making things like the Ba Ji chicken,' Ah Q didn't just want to take the surname Zhao? Think about it—if you want to share in someone's glory, you treat them this way? To share in someone's glory is a good thing; it shows you are a person who has gotten along decently in this life and cut a figure. Someone wants others to share in his glory, yet people don't share in his glory. Listen, Master Zhao glared at Ah Q and shouted:

"Ah Q, you little rascal! Are you saying my clansfolk are yours?"

Ah Q remained silent. He dared not speak, for Master Zhao was too fierce, too overbearing. I even wondered whether Master Zhao bore the surname Zhao, since back when Zhao Kuangyin ruled the realm he wished everyone under heaven would be Zhao; how then, in this generation, does Master Zhao refuse to let Ah Q be Zhao? In my view, the one truly unworthy of the surname Zhao is not Ah Q, but Master Zhao himself.

The more Master Zhao looked, the angrier he grew. This Master Zhao is nothing but a petty man; petty men have no belly. He strode forward a few steps and said: "How dare you talk nonsense! How could I have such a clansfolk as you? Are you surnamed Zhao?"

Ah Q stayed silent, wanting to step back; Master Zhao lunged forward and slapped him.

Isn't this Master Zhao just a thing? Relying on his wealth and power, he opens his mouth to curse and raises his hand to strike. Such a creature, how could he be a descendant of the Great Song emperor Zhao Kuangyin? He shouldn't bear the surname Zhao at all—he should be surnamed Dog! Call him Dog‑thing Master.

That Dog‑thing Master Zhao, relying on his power to bully others, said: "How could you possibly be surnamed Zhao——you have no right to bear the surname Zhao!"

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This is what Zhao Taiye said about Ah Q. Liu Xinwu would not say to me: 'You there don't match Liu.' I believe he not only wouldn't say it, he might even say to me: 'Thank you, you have stir-fried my name again a piece of cloth!' A great person has great tolerance, great breadth of mind, great magnanimity. My friend Weiyun, who researches punctuation marks, once told me: when he sent his research to Professor Zhang Bin of the Chinese Department at Shanghai Normal University, Professor Zhang, after seeing Weiyun's research results, immediately replied: 'The great work is readable, has factual basis, naturally it stands to reason...' Look, how broad-minded, how respectable an elder. Friends, you should know, a great person's sincere, kind smile toward a small person—how important that is. Friend Weiyun stepped step by step toward his own path of success from many such sincere, kind smiles. Listen, friends, recently he again received a special 'smile'……, what kind of special 'smile' is this? ………………I have drifted off the topic, or should we listen to how Liu Xinwu said it.)

The gist of Liu Xinwu's words (it's been a long time, I was still listening on TV.) Others are charming peonies, fragrant roses, blooming very eye-catching, while I, on the other hand, am merely a moss flower in a tiny corner (moss flower, what kind of flower is that? Since it blooms in a tiny corner, it must be a very tiny flower. Certainly not a famous flower. But, this moss flower in the tiny corner, unwilling to be lonely, also wants to bloom its own splendor, bloom its own beauty. The peony has its beauty, the rose has its fragrance, you beautify yours, I beautify mine. Greens and radishes, each to their own liking. You love your splendid prose, I love my little punctuation. What's wrong with little punctuation? Is little punctuation not lovable?

Lu Xun said: A stingy publisher, when commissioning him for an article, said that punctuation marks don't count toward the manuscript fee. Lu Xun then removed all punctuation from the article and sent it to the publisher. After receiving Lu Xun's article without punctuation, the publisher apologized to Lu Xun and asked him to add the punctuation back into the article.

Although punctuation is small, it is nevertheless indispensable in an article.

That moss flower, though small, yet you do not slight its smallness. Without small moss flowers, where would big peonies come from? Who said, 'Water6 grass and wood flowers, the lovable are myriad. Jin Tao Yuanming alone loved chrysanthemums; since the Li Tang dynasty, people have greatly loved peonies; I alone love the lotus for rising from the mud unstained, washed in clear water yet not alluring, hollow inside and straight outside, neither creeping nor branching, fragrance far-reaching and increasingly pure, standing upright and pure, can be viewed from afar but not played with wantonly.'

I say that chrysanthemums are the recluses of flowers; peonies, the wealthy and noble of flowers; lotuses, the gentlemen of flowers. Alas! The love for chrysanthemums, few have heard since Tao; the love for lotuses, who among those who understand me? The love for peonies, rightly belongs to the multitude.

I recall these few lines; they may have been written by a Song dynasty person named Zhou Dunyi. This Zhou Dunyi loved lotus flowers, mainly loving the quality of 'lotus rises from the mud unstained.' Zhou the adult was a scholar-official; scholar-officials being able to stay utterly unstained is very hard to achieve. Everyone is in the mundane world; who can be like the lotus, rising from the mud unstained? The peony's wealth and nobility is its good fortune, its fate is good. You also should not be envious; this world also needs peonies, great wealth and nobility, that is one direction of the world's development. I often think: although the lotus rises from the mud unstained, after all it grows upon the mud, nourished by the 'mud's milk.' It rises from the mud unstained—could it be somewhat ungrateful?

Upon careful thought about the lotus, we still cannot love it. We still love that moss flower like the one in a tiny corner. This little moss flower also has fragrance, a faint fragrance; if you do not sniff carefully, you cannot smell its fragrance; this moss flower also has beauty, a very small beauty, and it lies in a dark corner, its beauty often being obscured by other plants, or people simply never think that in such a tiny corner there could be such an unnoticeable beautiful moss flower. This fully confirms what a Western philosopher said, which is correct: the world is not lacking beauty, but lacking eyes that perceive beauty.

Still returning to the beginning of this article, what I want to express: In Dream of the Red Chamber, many of those insignificant small figures like moss flowers are also fragrant like moss flowers, beautiful like moss flowers. Only their beauty, their fragrance, have not been revealed, or people are unwilling, or disdain to appreciate them. I love them because I am even smaller than that moss flower in the tiny corner……

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(Heart with the disaster area, emotion with the disaster area: wishing peace, courage, confidence, strength to go along with and accompany the people of the disaster area!)