| Qian Zhongshu who has his own style is a famous scholar and his satiric novel Wei Cheng is masterpiece in Chinese modern literature history.Wei Cheng, serialized in the magazine Renaissance in 1946, was republished by People's Literature Press in 1980. Wei Cheng first aroused great influence in overseas; especially it has been rewritten in English, Russian, Japanese, and French, and so on. Wei Cheng enthusiasm abroad spread to China in the eighties of the twentieth century.For Wei Cheng, the most researches pay much attention to the satiric character image, because its satiric quality is actually a new version of Unofficial History of Confucian Scholars. The writer of the thesis would like to participate in such discussion and research.1. On the character image in Wei ChengThe main character image in literary works always shows the author's appreciation of life and thinking of human lives. Especially it also indicates the theme of the works.Fang Hongjian, the main character in Wei Cheng, is the figure who runs through the plots of this novel.Wei Cheng describes a Chinese educated person's condition of life and thinking in the forties of the last century. When Japanese imperialists invaded further to the inner land, Fang Hongjian returned to the country in foreign aggression and civil strife from West Europe. This novel develops the depiction of his thoughts and nature from here.Firstly, in the aspect of love affairs Fang Hongjian himself fell into the "besieged city": He didn't succeed in pursuing Tang Xiaofen. While Su Wenwan who didn't arouse him managed to pursue him, and finally he got married with has some happiness of wandering, and the tiresome of beingbesieged as well. The novel succeeds in representing the failure of Fang Hongjian in love affairs.Secondly, Fang Hongjian also fell into the "besieged city" in family. He entered a "golden cage" when he got married. With almost the seventh part in proportion, the novel describes his contradiction in family, vividly reflects his suffering in this "besieged city".Furthermore, in the respect of his course, Fang Hongjian has been involved in another "besiege city". Sanl University, which he is eager to enter, is full of traps, where people undercut each other, slander each other, and spread rumors to injure other's reputation. As is sighed with feeling by Fang Hongjian, "or you prick my body, or I scratch your skin." From this, we can infer that Fang Hongjian is weakly struggling with life in this "besieged city"From the description of Fang Hongjian, we see that the writer, with a feeling of "worrying the world, hurts oneself (from preface of Wei Cheng), represents the feeling of "worrying the world, hurts oneself of Fang Hongjian.The ending part of the novel has some implied meaning. After a big quarrel with his wife, he was deserted by his wife. Then he "thought a lot", he is "very tired and hungry", then "the old clock strikes". Now, a vivid description of an unconfident, weak, besieged, educated man has been modeled.It is a pity of Fang Hongjian's life. Undoubtedly, this is also the pity of time.2. About the Arts of Wei ChengAs for the art of Wei Cheng, the description of knowledge does function a lot in expressing the topic portraying characters. However, there exist some defects as loading one's knowledge, causality in expressions, and little emphasis on the process of reader's acceptance. A novel showed, bymeans of modeling characters to represents life, express his/her thoughts, feelings, or viewpoints, but not instruct the readers with knowledge. We can find many allusions and aphorisms in Wei Cheng, while we can not ignore its weakness: a lack of vivid detailed descriptions. There are many arguments, which do a little in the novel, cause the over-directness in narration, and the linearization of the reader's process of acceptance thereby. There is great potential in the characters and events in Wei Cheng, from which the readers can present his/her own thoughts upon it; while these arguments interfere... |
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