Compared with the other three of the four famous works, "Water Margin" undoubtedly has the most versions. However, before liberation, there were only two basic versions that were widely circulated: one is the so-called "Water Margin" by Jin Shengtan in the mouth of later generations of experts.
"Cut in half" dropped the 70-chapter version of the "Last Thirty Chapters", which was also the most circulated version before liberation; the second was the 100-chapter version, and after the 70-chapter version there were more acceptances
The tragic ending of recruiting an army, conquering Liao and Fang La, and finally being killed by a treacherous minister. However, because the writing style is far rougher than the previous seventy chapters, the unique "Water Margin flavor" has suddenly disappeared, and the plot and characters have disappeared.
It is also an extremely abrupt change from the beginning, so some people have always believed that the last thirty chapters and the first seventy chapters are not written by the same author, and Hu Weidong also supports this view.
Historically, after the founding of New China, the publishing house unexpectedly excerpted the plot of Hirata Tora and Wang Qing from another novel "Conquering the Four Bandits" with the theme of the heroes of Heiliang Mountain, and slightly modified it before inserting it.
The period between the last 30 chapters and the first 70 chapters of the 100-chapter version has become the 120-chapter version that has the greatest impact on later generations. Because the middle section is forced
(It is not impossible to piece together a masterpiece, such as the classic cartoon "Battlestar" in the 1980s, but that is only a small probability event after all, and in most cases it will significantly lower the standard of the whole book.), discussion
Both the literary level and the response to the context are a mess. This 120-chapter version is undoubtedly the worst version of Water Margin.
However, the cultural life of the people at that time was too poor, so the demand for quantity of cultural products even exceeded quality. The 120-chapter version was more popular than the classic 70-chapter version because it had more chapters.
It is somewhat similar to the situation in later generations where updating of online articles is more important than quality. Of course, the number of publications is also a reason. The strength of the printing industry in New China, which quickly became an industrial country after liberation, is far from what it was before. Therefore, although the 120th volume was published late, it
The total amount is the largest
However, Hu Weidong had also read another version of the 120-chapter "Water Margin" back then, and that version claimed to be the "Ancient Edition of Water Margin", which meant that it was the real 120-chapter version written by Shi Naian.
original
The first seventy chapters of "Water Margin" are no different from other versions, but the last fifty chapters are completely different. After the stones fell from the sky and the heroes of Liangshan were assigned their seats, the heroes of Liangshan in the book were not immediately replaced.
The imperial court sought peace, but continued to replace
Tian Xingdao developed and expanded the Liangshan Bo Rebel Army. The last part of the edition only briefly describes the reaction of the Liangshan leaders to the appointment of the virtuous Zhang Shuye (historically the Songjiang Uprising was put down by him) as the prefect of Jeju.
Previously
Sun Sheng's message when he left Liangshan (he was the first to leave, and Lu Zhishen later took Wu Song to Mount Wutai.) "The heroes of Gang Sha are in trouble, and the world will be robbed. Heaven sends orders to control the chaos, and there are men with bows and spears."
Iron melts, war horses neigh in the wind, clouds fly and stars scatter. Water is green
The mountain is empty." (Note 1), which hints at the tragic ending of Liang Shanbo, and ends with the divine reading of the Heavenly Book (Song Jiang forgot the original instructions of Empress Xuannv and promised to show the three volumes of the Heavenly Book to his brothers, but the result was tragic), Lei
The blast of Shijie brings the whole book to an abrupt end
Compared with the 100-chapter version, the plots of the last fifty chapters of "Water Margin" are better connected with the first seventy chapters. And the characters have not changed too abruptly (there are some changes, but there is a process,
Instead of suddenly and inexplicably changing like the last 30 chapters of the 100-chapter book,
Here it comes.). At the same time, like the previous seventy chapters, it continues Shi Naian’s love of echoing back and forth (likes to dig holes and has to fill them in). If Shi Naian really wrote more than seventy chapters, then this
Among the various versions of the 120-chapter "Ancient Water Margin", it is suspected that it is the most likely to be the authentic one.
However, later generations of Water Margin experts also discovered an obvious flaw in the ancient version of Water Margin. Although it did not lower the standard of the book, it made the possibility of it being a real ancient version much smaller. It turns out that "Water Margin"
In the last fifty chapters of "Guben Water Margin", the spoken language of the Republic of China appears many times. Therefore, later generations of Water Margin experts generally believe that "Guben Water Margin" and its predecessor "Guben Water Margin" (which was published in 1933
The title of the 1985 edition of "The Ancient Water Margin" has been compiled. A small amount of other editions and even newly created content have been added. It is different from the 1933 edition, but of course it is still generally the same.) The last fifty chapters
It was a forgery. Mei Jihe, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor from Changshu during the Republic of China who first came up with this version, was considered the most suspect. At that time, the turmoil caused by "Ancient Water Margin" had basically subsided.
According to ordinary people's thinking, this matter should be concluded at this point, but Hu Weidong has never been afraid of doubting people with the greatest malice. He knows very well that if "The Ancient Water Margin" is really proven to be the original work written by Shi Naian,
, then the so-called "Water Margin" experts at that time were probably the ones who suffered the biggest blow, because all the knowledge they relied on for food would disappear.
As the saying goes, "Destroying a person's wealth is like killing his father." Those so-called academic authorities will not let "Water Margin" be "rectified" no matter what, so naturally they try their best to search for clues that are beneficial to their arguments and use their knowledge to
They have the right to speak and try their best to amplify it. Perhaps they feel that this is not safe, and even use the public opinion they control to make it obvious that
It is not written by one person, and there are vast differences between it and the previous one (in addition to the problems in plot and characterization, the language problems in the last fifty chapters of "Water Margin" also exist in the last thirty chapters of the hundred-chapter version (Note 2)
, but those "experts" turned a blind eye to this due to double standards) and regarded hundreds of chapters as the original, so it is not difficult to see clearly their hidden selfishness.[
Note 1: It means that the evil spirits from Tiangang came down to earth to disturb the world, and later Zhang Shuye (the long man holding a bow refers to Zhang Shuye's pacification of the Songjiang Uprising in history, Lu Junyi's Dream at the end of the 70th chapter)
There are also hints in the plot.) Ji Ping
Everyone dispersed, guns and horses were used, and only the beautiful Liangshanbo was left. Gongsun Sheng's message not only pointed out the ending of the hero in Liangshanbo, but also responded to the words "Hong Taiwei accidentally walked away from the demon" and the seventy chapters in the wedge.
The plot of Lu Junyi’s dream at the end of this book
Note 2: Of course, it is not the language habit of the Republic of China, but the mid-Ming Dynasty, but Shi Naian was born in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, and books with a rebellious theme like Water Margin only had sufficient creative motivation in the late Yuan Dynasty when the people were in dire straits.
, you must know that writing this kind of subject matter in ancient times required a lot of courage. To dare to write this is to really intend to rebel. As a literati, only in the dark late Yuan Dynasty would he be "forced" to make such a determination.