In the twelve songs heard by Bao-yu, the lyrics of the song belonging to Ying-chun is: “…A delicate young wife of gentle stock…So that he delicate, sweet soul; In just a twelvemonth from its body stole”(Yang, 51)
Ying-chun has been thought to be a coward person generally. She is not as competitive as Tan-chun and as talent as other girls to compose poems and paintings. It seems that she has no advantages and is timid. When Lady Xing blamed her for her nurse making mistakes, she just “hung her head and fiddled with her sash. It was some time before she answered.” “Ying-chun continued to hang her head and say nothing.”(Yang, 447) Maybe she doesn’t defense herself because Lady Xing is her mother; however, she also takes the same attitudes towards her servants’ behaviors. Because she is very soft that some of them don’t obey her. Hence, one of her servant girls, Tangerine, spoke up for her: “Why are you so feeble? All this ‘saving trouble’! One of these days they’ll carry you off with the loot!” In addition, she also can’t protect her servant girl or even tried to protect her. When her servant Chess is discovered to fall in love with her cousin and will be drove out of Prospect Garden, Ying-chun refuses to intercede for her but says: “If I speak up for you or try to keep you, it will be all up with me too.” When Chess is out, she makes suicide with her cousin together. Maybe it is this event that makes the readers a bad impression of her.
Nevertheless, such a character is shaped with a reason. Ying-chun is the daughter of Jia She, the first son of Grandmother. Actually, according to the deduction of some Chinese scholars, Ying-chun is the daughter of a concubine of Jia She who becomes the second wife of Sir She later. Therefore, compared with Tan-chun, she has a higher status so that she doesn’t feel so ashamed of her birth like Tan-chun. However, she is lack of safety and feels lonely and helpless all the time because her mother has died early and her father never cares about her. The loss of parents makes Dai-yu sensitive and sentimental and the loss of “parents” makes Ying-chun fearful and gentle. She doesn’t want to be outstanding so that no one can notice her. She doesn’t want to be involved in any conflicts so that she refuses Chess. Since that no one will protect her, she has to protect herself by keeping troubles away. In a word, she is just a girl who is longing for staying peacefully.
Additionally, the behavior of his father is embarrassing. He is alcoholic and lecherous, playing every day. Any good-looking female servants in his house are molested by him. He even wants a servant girl of Grandmother to be his concubine. When the girl refuses, he even comes to threaten the girl’s brother and says:
“The moon ever loved a young man. He knows all about that saying. No doubt she thinks him too old for her and has set her heart on one of the younger ones Bao-yu, probably, or my son Lian. Tell her, if she has, the sooner she abandons hope in that direction the better, because if I can’t have her, she may be very sure that no one else in this family will dare to….whoever or wherever she marries, she needn’t think she will ever escape me.”(Yang, 494)
Grandmother therefore favors the second son who is hard working. As a result, Sir She doesn’t get along with his mother and brother and their relationships make Ying-chun awkward. Thus, she can’t feel lonelier. She has to be cautious to make others love her or not dislike her. She avoids any conflicts with others at anytime. There is no necessary to criticize a girl who wants to live a peaceful life.
Ying-chun successfully makes people, both the characters in Prospect Garden and the readers outside the book, ignore her. There are a few mentions about her and each time, the author only gives her a long shot. However, as discussed before, every character was created by Cao with a purpose. Therefore, what is his object to portray a soft lady? In fact, this is a calling for humanism made by Cao Xueqin who lived in 18th century in China.
3. Reflection of Humanism
“Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism).” In the Renaissance, humanism was introduced into literature and became fashionable for a time. Although it had been very common in the 18th century in Europe, it was very significant to appear in the east.
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