介绍:
"Six Records of a Floating Life" is an autobiography by Shen Fu who lived in east China's Su Zhou City during the Qing Dynasty. Created around 1800 A.D, it records the simple joys of Shen and his wife- travel, creating a garden, the beauty of the full moon, and maybe a little too much wine shared with happy company.
Shi Shusi, a critic, says the book stands in defiant opposition of the Confucian expectations towards marriage which were dominating the society.
"It's not that there were no literary works featuring husband-wife relations in ancient China. Actually there were a lot, including poetries and dramas. But a biography like this featuring a couple's real life is very rare. Actually it's a bold idea to reveal the domestic details when it's strictly forbidden by Confucian ethics."
Yet, with a happy marriage the author and his wife also experienced great pain and hardships. Considered a failure in both business and academia, he was never wealthy and struggled to provide a modest living for himself and his family. He drifted from place to place and job to job, often relying on friends and relatives for money and shelter. Adding to the pressures of poverty was his wife's chronic illness, which eventually took her life.
Shi Shusi says what makes the work a great one is because it not only records the light-hearted stance between a loving couple, but also shares a larger picture of life.
"It's a complete life story. The couple met each other when they were young. They fell in love and got married. Then difficulties began to pop up. The husband didn't have much achievement, scholarly or politically. The wife is sick and passed away early. Actually it's rather a tragedy."
Shen Fu's description of his wife's death is truly heart-breaking, as he writes:
"Her spirit vanished in the mist and she began her long journey. When it happened there was a solitary lamp burning in the room. I looked up but saw nothing, there was nothing for my two hands to hold, and my heart felt as if it would shatter."
Shi Shusi says both the husband and wife contribute to the happiness of their marriage. First and foremost, the author has something rare in his attitude towards women in his time. He never treats them as someone inferior to him, but as equals. However, the wife plays a more important role.
"She is virtuous, good at housework. And she is tolerant. She doesn't complain about the problems, but try to solve them. She endures the misunderstandings of her husband's parents and finally wins their respect. She has all the good qualities expected in a homemaker, and at the same time she's literate."
"If the author is a farmer, a craftsman, or any other professor rather than a scholar, if he can give up his blind pursuit of political position, and be more adaptable to his time-you know, cottage craft has become popular in Qing Dynasty-the story would have a happy-ending instead."
Besides married life, he is also able to vividly describe topics as diverse as finance, the social roles of women, literary criticism, prostitution, class relations, and family dynamics. Part romance, part tragedy, part travelogue and part memoir this book indeed lives up to its reputation as a classic.
For Studio Plus, this is Liu Xiangwei.
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