Cao Xueqin and Beijing West Mountain

Author Li Mingxin(Beijing)

Translator Jin Zi(Beijing)

At the foot of Wan'an Mountain in West Mountain, Beijing, there is a beautiful small mountain village,Huangye Village. She has beautiful scenery and the scenery is always new.Although it is located in the north, the mountain is surrounded by water, and the maolin is bamboo. It seems to have the charm of Jiangnan. What made her famous, but in the 18th century, once lived a great writer - Cao Xueqin.

Cao Xueqin is a great writer of the 18th century in China. He was born in Nanjing, and he was in the sixth year of Yongzheng. Because his family was copied by the court, the 13-year-old Xiao Xueqin returned to Beijing with his family. Initially, he lived with his family in the area of Chongwenmen Garage.According to the system of the Qing Dynasty, the 16-year-old Qi Ding, the 16-year-old Xue Qin, came to Beijing Xiangshan area under the arrangement of relatives and friends at home, and closed four or two silver coins every month, and lived a life of idle banner people. It is the economic foundation for his wife and children to write with peace of mind.

As for where Cao Xueqin lives in Xishan, Beijing, it has always been a question for the Red School. In the 1920s, Mr. Hu Shi, according to Cao Xueqin’s friend poetry, concluded that Cao Xueqin lived in “Xishan”, a place where he could see the Xishan sunset.In the 1950s, Mr. Wu Enyu went to the Xiangshan area to collect the wind. He rented a home in the old man named Zhang, on the Xiangshan Street, and spent four months visiting the Xiangshan people. All the records of Cao Xueqin were recorded in Mr. Wu’s Write down.He used the method of field investigation to cross-examine the literature and word-of-mouth information. His research,framed the residence of Cao Xueqin in the mountain bay of Xiangshan, Wan'an Mountain and Jinshan, mainly inlaid with Huangqi and Zhengbaiqi.

In 1963, Mr. Wu Enyu and Wu Shichang, Zhou Yichang, Chen Yudong,Luo Jinglan and other red scientists once again went to Xishan to collect the wind.They visited Zhang Yonghai and got two very important word-of-mouth materials∶one was about Cao Xueqin’s Xishan residence, saying that he lived. On the west side of the Four Kings House, the left side of the Dizangoukou is close to the river.There is still a big banyan tree for more than two hundred years. The other one is the legend of the people. Cao Xueqin has a friend named Ebi who once gave him a couplet∶ far rich and poor, and the courtesy of the world; the pro-family friends, because of the wealth of the world.

In 1971, the location of Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, the old house of No. 39 Zhengbaiqi, was unintentionally found on the west wall. It was only the difference between the couplet and the word of mouth on the wall. "Three words. (The"Yes" in word-of-mouth is "less" in the title wall poem; the "absolute meaning"in the word-of-mouth is "and scattered"on the wall of the question. When the two sides are compared, the wall-towall poems are more neat. The extra"very good" The three words are the need for a diamond-shaped writing form and a sigh of the front content. In addition, the external environment of the memorial hall coincides with the wordof-mouth information collected during the expert collection in 1963. Therefore,over the past 30 years, whether the 39th courtyard of Zhengbaiqi is the residence of Cao Xueqin Xishan has always been a hot topic in the red academic circle.

At that time, the famous red scientist Wu Shichang soon came to Zhengbaiqi after the discovery of the wall poem. After hurriedly watching the wall, he quickly concluded that the wall text should be the title of Jiaqing years,but "a look at the knowledge and Cao Xueqin Not relevant."

On October 4, 1975, Zhang Bozhen,Xia Chengyu, Zhong Jingwen, Zhou Yuchang and so on went to the old house of No. 39 Zhengbaiqi to visit Shu Chengxun. Shu Chengxun took out the photo of the title wall poem in the past and gave it to Zhang Bojun. Zhang Bojun has the reputation of "the head of the four sons of the Republic of China". His paintings, operas and poems have deep rumors, especially in the appreciation of cultural relics. Zhang Bozhen said that from the way of writing the wall poems,there should be no problem for the poems of the Qianlong period, but it is not only possible to confirm that this is the former residence of Cao Xueqin, but it is also impossible to deny the relationship with Cao Xueqin. From Shujia, No. 39,Zhengbaiqi, he returned to his residence.Zhang Bojun made a "Quanxi Sha" and recorded the day's events∶

In the autumn, Xiaosen Huangye Village, the relatives of the slow friends are poor, and later generations come to the front.

The engraved phoenix dragon door is still there, and the squatting rabbit is still alive.

In the note of the word, Zhang Bozhen said∶ "According to the book of the book, the poetry and the existing rabbits, it is undoubted that the Qianlong era is broken."

In 1977, Zhang Xing, the collector of Cao Xueqin's book box, went to the 39th courtyard of Zhengbaiqi to visit the wall poem. When he saw one of the fan-shaped poems that were "year-old in Bingyin", the title of the fan-shaped poem was "拙笔", The title of a pair of old yellow pine wooden bookcases uploaded by his ancestors also has the word "拙笔", and the book box also has the words "Qianlong twenty-five years old in Gengchen." After the comparison by experts, the two came from the hands of one person, which proved that the age of the wall poems was the first year of Emperor Qianlong's eleven years, which coincided with the time of Cao Xueqin's life writing in the Xishan generation.

In the first issue of "The Dream of Red Mansions" in 1980, Mr. Feng Qiyong published a "A Major Discovery in the Past Two Hundred Years - About Cao Xueqin's Book and Others", on the wall of poems, book boxes and scrap art. The relationship between the parties was demonstrated and considered to be a mutual relationship.

Throughout the various viewpoints,or the tit-for-tat or similar, but so far has not formed a more unified view.Supporting and opposing the two sides, relying too much on their own evidence, and not giving a rational and comprehensive analysis and response to the other side's views, is the main reason for the constant disputes, the confusing, the dark and the dark. The third series of "Dream of the Dream of Red Mansions" published the "The True and False Controversy of Xiangshan" Cao Xueqin's Former Residence"by Sun Yuming, and compared the various relations between Zhengbaiqi 39 and Cao Xueqin's former residence of Xishan in the past 40 years. A systematic review, Ren Xiaohui and Xin Xin's "Study on the Collection of Waste Art" is a review of the issues involving the former residence.

In 2008, this historical case gradually became clear in the face of a new and scientific research method∶Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall invited Mr.Li Hong, a handwriting appraisal expert of the Physical Education Center of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, to the title wall poem, Cao Xueqin book box, The collection of the waste art was carried out, and the result was∶ the poems on the wall of the poems were from the hands of one person; the five-line bibliography on the wall and the book box, and Cao Xueqin from the collection of the waste art, from the hands of one person. However, the experts pay attention to the real thing, the experts of the wall poetry and the book box are the identification of the real thing, and the waste art collection is only able to provide a description of the book because it is lost, and does not meet the appraisal principle, so it cannot be concluded that further discovery is needed.

From the late Yongzheng or the early years of Qianlong, Cao Xueqin moved to Xishan, and when Cao Xueqin passed away on the New Year's Eve of the 28th year of Qianlong, he probably lived in the Xishan area for nearly 30 years. Among them, he once went out and tried to seek better development.However, his character and arrogant behavior seem to be inconsistent with the world. Therefore, in his friend Duncheng, he persuaded the monarch to sneak up on the diners and persuade the monks to enrich the children. Cao Xueqin returned to Beijing Xishan and concentrated on the writing of the Dream of Red Mansions. He died here and was buried here.

Because Cao Xueqin has lived in Xiangshan for a long time, his activities are very wide∶ the vast areas of Wanshou Mountain, Yuquan Mountain,Shou'an Mountain, Baihua Mountain and Wan'an Mountain all have the story of Cao Xueqin and the Dream of Red Mansions. This area is an important gathering area of Chinese classical gardens and historical relics. The specific areas involved are Tuancheng, Fahai Temple, Yiquan Stone, Yuhuangding,Biyun Temple, Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, Cherry Ditch, Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Guanghui Temple,Dizanggou, Siwangfu, Mentou Village,Coal Factory Street, Yucun Village, etc.

Due to the hustle and bustle of the period, there were not many intellectuals who moved to Xishan life. In addition to Cao’s outstanding family history and special experience, Cao Xueqin himself was only a high-spirited student, with outstanding knowledge, humor, and frankness, and was welcomed by the local people. At that time, it became a"newsperson" in the streets. His actions have been widely spread in the folk,and gradually formed the "Cao Xueqin Xishan legend". These have become rare and precious materials for us to understand this great writer today.

From 2008 to 2009, Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall launched the declaration of the intangible cultural heritage of"Cao Xueqin Xishan Legend". Through collecting the wind, collecting and sorting out word-of-mouth information,the book "The Legend of Cao Xueqin Xishan" was published, and the filming of the feature film and the declaration and demonstration of the three-level waste materials of Haidian District,Beijing Municipality and the State were completed. In 2010, Haidian District was acquired. The two-level non-legacy protection card in Beijing; the national level has passed the “publicity” stage.

Cao Xueqin and his "Dream of Red Mansions" have an indissoluble bond with this piece of land in Xishan, Beijing.This land rich historical and cultural heritage has produced this great writer;and Cao Xueqin has become the pride of Beijing Xishan Yongshi Glory！

中国文学巨匠曹雪芹