在夾縫中活下來的襲人·深明大義還是太有心機Xiren, Who Survived in the Cracks · Profoundly Sensible or Far Too Calculating?Xiren, Who Survived in the Cracks · Profoundly Sensible or Far Too Calculating?在夾縫中活下來的襲人·深明大義還是太有心機

中篇小說（120）Novella (120)

整部《紅樓夢》巨著中，那些正值花季的少女，大多命運悲慘，許多人甚至年紀輕輕便死於非命。上吊、投井、撞牆、吞金……無奇不有。整座大觀園，表面上繁花似錦，實際上卻像是一座吞噬、埋葬妙齡少女的墳墓。 襲人是個另類。她竟然在逼死、趕走那麼多女孩的大觀園夾縫中活了下來，實屬不易。也正因為如此，襲人成了《紅樓夢》中最複雜、最難說清楚，又最值得研究的女孩之一。 很多讀者不喜歡襲人，雖然她表面上與世無爭，乖巧懂事。 有人說她世故，有人說她太有心機。確實，她不像晴雯那樣率真，也不像黛玉那樣純粹。甚至有人認為，她是王夫人安插在寶玉身邊的眼線，是一個躲在暗處的「告密者」。她幫助封建禮教和賈府的規矩慢慢收緊怡紅院，最終導致一個又一個女孩被趕走，甚至走向死亡。 可若真正細讀、慢品《紅樓夢》，便會發現，襲人其實只是太早看清楚了一件事：人在那個世界裡，不能只靠真性情活著。 襲人本姓花，名珍珠。這個名字，帶著一點窮苦人家女孩樸素而又平常的氣息。她出身寒微，家裡窮得活不下去，年幼時便被父母賣進賈府當丫鬟。 她不像林黛玉那樣，出身名門，又是賈母的外孫女；也不像薛寶釵，有富裕的家庭背景可以依靠。年幼時被父母賣入賈府，又先後服侍賈母和寶玉的經歷，使她很早便明白，自己若不懂事、不學會做人，在賈府這樣的環境中，便很難生存下去。 所以，她很小便學會了察言觀色，乖巧行事。 她知道在賈府這種地方，誰是真正有權勢的人，誰只是狗仗人勢；誰能得罪，誰不能得罪；什麼話該說，什麼話不該說。她知道怎樣才能讓主子高興，也知道怎樣才能保護自己。 後來，襲人的父親去世，花家的生活逐漸好轉，母親和哥哥便想把她從賈府贖回去。可是襲人堅決不肯。 她對母親和哥哥說，當初家裡沒有飯吃，只剩下她還能賣幾兩銀子，若不讓父母賣掉自己，難道眼睜睜看著全家餓死？如今家裡已經恢復了元氣，又何必再把她贖回去？她已經習慣了賈府的生活，也接受了自己作為一個丫鬟的命運。 從這件事情便可以看出，襲人不是沒有感情，也不是不知道父母當年賣掉她的痛苦。只是她比別人更早學會接受現實。既然命運無法改變，她便努力在這種命運中，為自己尋找一條可以活下去的道路。 根據曹雪芹原著所寫： 「原來這襲人亦是賈母之婢，本名珍珠。賈母因溺愛寶玉，生恐寶玉之婢無竭力盡忠之人，素喜襲人心地純良，克盡職任，遂與了寶玉。寶玉因知他本姓花，又曾見舊人詩句上有『花氣襲人』之句，遂回明賈母，更名襲人。 這襲人亦有些痴處：伏侍賈母時，心中眼中只有一個賈母；如今服侍寶玉，心中眼中又只有一個寶玉。只因寶玉性情乖僻，每每規諫寶玉，心中著實憂鬱。」 自從跟了寶玉，襲人便盡心盡力。 寶玉房中的丫鬟不只一人，但自從襲人來了以後，寶玉的衣食起居，幾乎全靠她打理。寶玉病了，她守著；寶玉醉了，她照顧；寶玉鬧脾氣，也是她哄著。她是丫鬟，卻又像一個照顧寶玉生活的大姐姐。 襲人不像晴雯那樣耀眼。她更像春天裡一股慢慢滲進人骨子裡的溫暖，無聲無息，卻讓人受用。 使襲人與其他丫鬟有了根本不同的，是《紅樓夢》第六回發生的一件事。寶玉神遊太虛幻境之後，心神迷亂，回到現實世界，竟然把夢中警幻仙姑所傳授的雲雨之事告訴襲人，又強求襲人與他一同嘗試。 襲人知道賈母已經把自己給了寶玉，認為這樣做也不算越禮，於是便與寶玉「偷試一番」。 對寶玉而言，襲人是他人生中第一個有深入接觸的女子；而對襲人而言，那一次以後，她的人生也徹底改變了。 她明白，自己已不再只是寶玉身邊一個普通的丫鬟。她已經成了寶玉沒有正式名分的屋裡人，也開始把自己的一生寄託在寶玉身上。從那以後，她比任何人都更加盡心照顧寶玉，也比任何人都更加害怕失去自己已經得到的一切。 而這，也正是她與晴雯以及其他丫鬟之間最大的不同。

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晴雯內心坦蕩，無拘無束，活得像一團火。她寧可讓自己被烈火燒盡，也不肯向別人低頭。 可襲人不是。 她太清楚，一個丫頭若沒有人可以依靠，會落到什麼下場。她見過太多被責罵、被驅逐的女孩，也知道在賈府的繁華背後，有許多丫鬟和下人的命運，隨時可能被主子的一句話徹底改變。 後來在大觀園發生的一切，也證明襲人的恐懼並非毫無道理。 晴雯死了。 芳官被趕走了。 四兒、司棋、入畫……一個個女孩，或死去，或被逐出大觀園，命運從此跌入黑暗。 所以，襲人本能地希望維護賈府的規矩。 她勸寶玉讀書，勸寶玉收斂，勸寶玉不要整日與丫鬟們廝混。她並不真正理解寶玉為什麼厭惡功名利祿，也不能接受寶玉那種蔑視世俗規矩的生活方式。她只知道，寶玉若一直這樣胡鬧下去，怡紅院早晚會出事。 寶玉被父親賈政毒打以後，王夫人曾經單獨把襲人叫去，詢問寶玉挨打的原因。襲人趁機向王夫人說出自己的憂慮。 她認為寶玉年紀漸漸大了，不應繼續長期住在大觀園裡，與姐妹和丫鬟們整日混在一起。萬一將來發生不合禮法的事情，不但寶玉的名聲會受到損害，姑娘們的名節也可能受到牽連。 王夫人聽了這番話，如同遇到了知己，對襲人更加信任，甚至在心裡把她當作寶玉未來的屋裡人看待。 有人因此認為，襲人是在向王夫人「告密」。 但嚴格說來，襲人在這次談話中並沒有具體告發晴雯、芳官或者其他哪一個丫鬟。她真正告訴王夫人的，是自己對寶玉和怡紅院未來的擔憂。 她的確是在維護寶玉，也是在維護姐妹們的名聲；可是，她同樣是在維護自己的地位和前途。因為她知道，只有寶玉平安，怡紅院不出事，自己才可能繼續留在寶玉身邊，將來成為一個有正式名分的妾。 正因為如此，有些讀者非常討厭她。 襲人未必存心想害死誰，但她選擇站在規矩和權力一邊。她依靠王夫人的信任保護自己，也在不知不覺中成了賈府規矩的維護者。 而怡紅院裡那些不肯守規矩、不懂得低頭，也不懂得保護自己的女孩，則一步一步走向了被驅逐的命運。 所以，襲人既是封建規矩的受害者，也是封建規矩的維護者。這正是許多讀者始終無法真正喜歡她的原因。 可從另一個角度看，她也只是害怕而已。她知道，如果寶玉一直這樣胡鬧下去，怡紅院早晚會出事。而一旦出事，她便會失去已經擁有的一切。她從小被父母賣掉，沒有家庭可以依靠，也沒有退路。她唯一能做的，就是緊緊抓住眼前的生活。 《紅樓夢》裡那麼多女孩，小姐也好，丫鬟也好，許多人死於非命。襲人之所以能夠一直活著，是因為她懂得進退。她不像晴雯那樣硬抗，也不像黛玉那樣死守自尊。她知道什麼時候應該低頭，什麼時候應該忍耐。 有一次，寶玉當日心情極度不順，先與黛玉發生磕絆，又得罪了寶釵，後來淋著大雨回到怡紅院。 怡紅院的丫頭們正在院子裡嬉笑，沒有聽到敲門聲。寶玉在門外等了許久，心中惱怒，本想教訓前來開門的小丫頭。門剛剛打開，他不問青紅皂白，抬腿猛力一踢，卻沒有想到，開門的人竟是襲人。 襲人被一腳踢中肋骨，疼得「噯喲」一聲。到了夜裡，她胸口越來越痛，最後竟然吐出一口鮮血，為後來的身體埋下了病根。襲人雖然疼痛難忍，卻沒有藉此哭鬧告狀，也不肯把事情聲張出去。 她擔心一旦鬧起來，不但寶玉會受到責罰，自己也會被人議論。她只是讓寶玉第二天悄悄找人詢問王太醫，弄些藥回來服用，希望整件事情可以「人不知，鬼不覺」地過去。 這種隱忍，很多人覺得卑微。可換個角度看，這也是她在那種環境中不得不具備的生存智慧。 她不像黛玉那樣，是賈母疼愛的外孫女，有資格表達自己的委屈；也不像寶釵那樣，有富裕的家世在背後支撐。她若不忍耐，若真的與寶玉撕破臉，她又能到哪裡去？ 而最諷刺的是，賈府裡有那麼多才華洋溢、身世比她強百倍的女孩，最後襲人卻成了少數從劫難中活下來的人之一。 賈府敗了，寶玉出家了。那些曾經轟轟烈烈的愛情、眼淚和詩句，到最後，全都隨風而去。 在通行本《紅樓夢》的最後，寶玉離家出走、出家而去。王夫人開始為襲人的未來發愁。襲人雖然一直被當作寶玉未來的屋裡人，卻始終沒有正式名分。她若留下，名不正言不順；若讓她為寶玉守一輩子，賈政也未必會答應。 最後，王夫人聽從薛姨媽的勸告，讓襲人的哥哥嫂子為她另尋一門正經親事。花家替她選中了住在城南的蔣家。王夫人派人打聽以後，知道對方有房、有地，還有店舖，家境不錯，便同意了這門婚事，並為襲人準備了一份陪嫁。 襲人並不願意離開賈府。 她曾經想過為寶玉守下去，甚至想過以死明志。可是，她畢竟只是一個沒有正式名分的丫鬟。王夫人已經作了決定，她無法反抗，只能含著眼淚離開賈府，回到哥哥家中等待出嫁。 直到嫁入蔣家，襲人才知道，自己的丈夫竟然是蔣玉菡——那個當年與寶玉互換汗巾、關係頗為親密的戲子。很多人說，這應該算是襲人最好的結局。 蔣玉菡家境尚可，對她也十分溫柔體貼。襲人嫁過去以後，是正式的妻子，家中的丫鬟僕婦都稱她為奶奶。她終於有了一個穩定的歸宿，不必像晴雯那樣病死在破屋裡，也不必像鴛鴦那樣上吊殉主。 可若細想，這個結局其實也很蒼涼。因為她盼了多年，守了多年，最後卻還是沒能真正成為寶玉的妾室，反而嫁給了一個雖然家境不錯，在當時社會中地位卻很低的戲子。 她極力守護的大觀園，終究還是倒塌了。她竭力照顧的、那個她也曾經真心愛過的少年，最終出家而去，離開了她的世界。 後來有人說，襲人是《紅樓夢》裡最現實的人。這句話有道理，卻也不完全公平。她不是沒有感情，也不是沒有真心。她只是太早明白，在她所生活的那個世界裡，光靠愛，是活不下去的。 晴雯選擇了真，結果死了。 黛玉選擇了情，結果也死了。 鴛鴦選擇了忠，最後上吊自盡。 襲人選擇了忍耐、順從和適應，所以她活了下來。 她確實有自己的心機，也懂得藉助王夫人的權力保護自己的地位；但她的心機並不是為了飛黃騰達，更不是為了置誰於死地。她只是希望自己不再像幼年時那樣，被別人隨意出賣、安排和拋棄。 可是她奮鬥了一生，最後仍然沒有真正掌握自己的命運。她被父母賣進賈府，後來又被王夫人作主嫁出賈府。她努力順從了一輩子，最終仍然是別人在替她決定人生。 襲人究竟是深明大義，還是太有心機？也許兩者都有。 她既有忠誠善良的一面，也有世故自保的一面；既是封建規矩的受害者，也在不知不覺中成了封建規矩的維護者。 她不是一個完美的女孩，也不是一個陰險的壞人。她只是一個在夾縫中小心翼翼活著，努力抓住每一根救命稻草的普通女孩。不管是自覺還是不自覺，襲人很早便懂得了適者生存的道理，所以她活了下來。 你能因此怪她嗎？…… （未完待續）

Throughout the monumental Dream of the Red Chamber, most of the young women in the bloom of youth meet tragic fates, and many die violent deaths while still very young. Hanging, drowning in wells, crashing into walls, swallowing gold—the forms of death are almost beyond imagination. The Grand View Garden appears to be a magnificent world overflowing with blossoms, but in reality, it resembles a graveyard that devours and buries young women in the prime of life. Xiren is an exception. She somehow survives in the narrow cracks of the Grand View Garden, a place that drives so many girls to their deaths or casts them out. That alone is no small achievement. It is also why Xiren becomes one of the most complex, most difficult to understand, and most worthy of study among all the young women in Dream of the Red Chamber. Many readers dislike Xiren, even though she appears gentle, obedient, sensible, and unwilling to quarrel with anyone. Some say she is worldly-wise; others say she is far too calculating. Indeed, she is not as candid as Qingwen, nor as pure-hearted as Daiyu. Some readers even believe that she is a spy planted beside Baoyu by Lady Wang, an “informer” hiding in the shadows. In their view, she helps feudal morality and the rules of the Jia family tighten their grip upon Happy Red Court, eventually causing one girl after another to be driven away or even pushed toward death. Yet if we truly read Dream of the Red Chamber carefully and savor it slowly, we discover that Xiren has merely understood one truth far too early: in that world, no one can survive on an authentic temperament alone. Xiren’s family name is Hua, and her original given name is Zhenzhu, meaning Pearl. The name carries the plain and ordinary quality of a girl born into a poor family. She comes from a humble background, and her family is so impoverished that they can scarcely survive. While still very young, she is sold by her parents into the Jia household as a maid. Unlike Lin Daiyu, she is not born into a distinguished family, nor is she the beloved granddaughter of Grandmother Jia. Unlike Xue Baochai, she has no wealthy family standing behind her. Being sold into the Jia household by her parents at an early age, and then serving first Grandmother Jia and later Baoyu, teaches her very early that if she does not behave sensibly and learn how to deal with people, it will be difficult for her to survive in a place like the Jia household. Therefore, while still very young, she learns to observe people’s expressions, understand their intentions, and behave obediently. She knows who in the Jia household possesses genuine power and who is merely a bully borrowing someone else’s authority. She knows whom she can afford to offend and whom she cannot; which words may be spoken and which must remain unsaid. She knows how to please her masters, and she also knows how to protect herself. Later, after Xiren’s father dies and the Hua family’s circumstances gradually improve, her mother and brother want to redeem her from the Jia household. Xiren, however, firmly refuses. She tells her mother and brother that in those earlier years, the family had no food, and she was the only one who could still be sold for a few taels of silver. If she had refused to let her parents sell her, was she supposed to stand by and watch the entire family starve to death? Now that the family has recovered, why should they redeem her? She has grown accustomed to life in the Jia household and has accepted her fate as a maid. This incident shows that Xiren is not without feeling, nor is she unaware of the pain of having been sold by her parents. She has simply learned to accept reality earlier than most people. Since she cannot change her fate, she does her best to find a path that will allow her to survive within it. As Cao Xueqin writes in the original novel: “Xiren had originally been one of Grandmother Jia’s maids, and her name had been Zhenzhu. Because Grandmother Jia doted upon Baoyu and feared that none of his maids would serve him with complete devotion, she gave Xiren to Baoyu, for she had always admired the girl’s kind heart and conscientious devotion to her duties. Baoyu knew that her family name was Hua, and he remembered the line from an old poem, ‘The fragrance of flowers assails one,’ so after informing Grandmother Jia, he changed her name to Xiren. Xiren also possessed a certain single-minded devotion: when she served Grandmother Jia, her heart and eyes held only Grandmother Jia; now that she served Baoyu, her heart and eyes held only Baoyu. Because Baoyu’s temperament was eccentric and unruly, she frequently tried to advise him, and this caused her considerable anxiety.” From the moment Xiren begins serving Baoyu, she devotes herself wholeheartedly to him. There is more than one maid in Baoyu’s quarters, but after Xiren arrives, almost every detail of his food, clothing, and daily life depends upon her management. When Baoyu is ill, she stays beside him; when Baoyu is drunk, she takes care of him; when Baoyu loses his temper, she is the one who soothes him. She is his maid, yet she is also like an elder sister who looks after every detail of his life. Xiren is not as dazzling as Qingwen. She is more like the warmth of spring slowly seeping into one’s bones—silent and unnoticed, yet deeply comforting. What fundamentally distinguishes Xiren from the other maids is an event that occurs in Chapter Six of Dream of the Red Chamber. After Baoyu’s spiritual journey through the Land of Illusion, he returns to the real world in a dazed and confused state. He tells Xiren about the mysteries of love taught to him in his dream by the Goddess of Disillusion and then insists that Xiren experience them with him. Xiren knows that Grandmother Jia has already given her to Baoyu. Believing that this does not constitute a serious violation of propriety, she and Baoyu secretly “make trial together.” For Baoyu, Xiren is the first young woman with whom he has intimate relations. For Xiren, that encounter changes the course of her life completely. She understands that she is no longer merely an ordinary maid at Baoyu’s side. She has become his unofficial chamber maid, a woman without a formally recognized position, and she begins to entrust her entire future to him. From that moment onward, she cares for Baoyu more devotedly than anyone else, and she also fears more deeply than anyone else that she may lose everything she has already gained. And this is precisely the greatest difference between Xiren and Qingwen, as well as the other maids.

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Qingwen is openhearted and unrestrained, living like a ball of fire. She would rather be consumed by the flames than bow her head before anyone. But Xiren is different. She understands only too well what may happen to a maid who has no one to depend upon. She has seen too many girls scolded and driven away. She also knows that behind the splendor of the Jia household, the fate of a maid or servant can be completely overturned by a single sentence from a master. Everything that later happens in the Grand View Garden proves that Xiren’s fears are not without reason. Qingwen dies. Fangguan is driven away. Si’er, Siqi, Ruhua—one girl after another either dies or is expelled from the Grand View Garden, her fate descending from that moment into darkness. Therefore, Xiren instinctively wants to preserve the rules of the Jia household. She urges Baoyu to study, urges him to restrain himself, and urges him not to spend every day mixing freely with the maids. She never truly understands why Baoyu despises official rank and worldly achievement, nor can she accept his contempt for conventional rules. She knows only that if Baoyu continues behaving so recklessly, trouble will eventually come to Happy Red Court. After Baoyu is brutally beaten by his father, Jia Zheng, Lady Wang summons Xiren privately and asks why Baoyu was punished. Xiren takes the opportunity to voice her concerns. She believes that Baoyu is growing older and should not continue living indefinitely in the Grand View Garden, spending every day among his female cousins and the maids. If something contrary to propriety should occur in the future, not only would Baoyu’s reputation be damaged, but the honor of the young women might also be implicated. When Lady Wang hears these words, she feels as though she has found someone who truly understands her. She trusts Xiren even more and begins to regard her privately as Baoyu’s future concubine. Because of this, some readers believe that Xiren is “informing” on Baoyu to Lady Wang. Strictly speaking, however, Xiren does not specifically accuse Qingwen, Fangguan, or any other maid during this conversation. What she truly tells Lady Wang is that she is deeply worried about the future of Baoyu and Happy Red Court. She is indeed trying to protect Baoyu and preserve the reputations of the young women. Yet at the same time, she is also protecting her own position and future. She knows that only if Baoyu remains safe and Happy Red Court avoids disaster can she continue staying beside him and perhaps one day become his formally recognized concubine. This is precisely why some readers strongly dislike her. Xiren may never deliberately intend to cause anyone’s death, but she chooses to stand on the side of rules and authority. She relies upon Lady Wang’s trust to protect herself, and without fully realizing it, she becomes one of the defenders of the Jia family’s rules. Meanwhile, the girls in Happy Red Court who refuse to obey those rules, do not know how to bow their heads, and do not know how to protect themselves move step by step toward expulsion. Xiren is therefore both a victim of feudal rules and one of their defenders. This is why so many readers can never truly like her. From another perspective, however, she is simply afraid. She knows that if Baoyu continues behaving so recklessly, trouble will eventually come to Happy Red Court. Once trouble comes, she will lose everything she possesses. Sold by her parents in childhood, she has no family upon whom she can rely and nowhere to retreat. The only thing she can do is hold tightly to the life before her. Among the many girls in Dream of the Red Chamber, whether young ladies or maids, a great number die violent deaths. Xiren survives because she understands when to advance and when to retreat. She does not resist as fiercely as Qingwen, nor does she defend her self-respect unto death as Daiyu does. She knows when to lower her head and when to endure. One day, Baoyu is in an extremely troubled mood. He first has a quarrel with Daiyu, then offends Baochai, and later returns to Happy Red Court through a pouring rain. The maids of Happy Red Court are laughing and playing in the courtyard and fail to hear his knocking. Baoyu waits outside for a long time and grows furious. Intending to punish the young maid who comes to open the gate, he kicks violently the moment it opens, without stopping to see who is there. He never imagines that the person opening the gate is Xiren. Baoyu’s kick strikes Xiren in the ribs, and she cries out in pain. As the night wears on, the pain in her chest grows increasingly severe, until she finally coughs up a mouthful of blood, leaving an injury that will trouble her health thereafter. Although Xiren is suffering terribly, she does not use the incident to make a scene or report Baoyu, nor does she allow the matter to become widely known. She fears that if the incident causes an uproar, not only will Baoyu be punished, but she herself will also become the subject of gossip. She merely asks Baoyu to make discreet inquiries of Doctor Wang the following day and obtain some medicine for her, hoping that the entire matter can pass “without man or ghost knowing.” Many people regard this kind of endurance as humiliating. Yet from another perspective, it is also a form of survival wisdom that she has no choice but to acquire in such an environment. Unlike Daiyu, she is not Grandmother Jia’s cherished granddaughter and has no right to express her grievances freely. Unlike Baochai, she has no wealthy family supporting her from behind. If she refuses to endure, if she truly breaks with Baoyu, where can she possibly go? The greatest irony is that the Jia household contains so many gifted young women whose family backgrounds are a hundred times more privileged than hers, yet Xiren ultimately becomes one of the few who survive the catastrophe. The Jia family collapses, and Baoyu becomes a monk. All those once-tempestuous loves, tears, and poems are finally scattered upon the wind. At the end of the commonly transmitted 120-chapter edition of Dream of the Red Chamber, Baoyu leaves home and renounces the world. Lady Wang begins to worry about Xiren’s future. Although Xiren has long been regarded as Baoyu’s future chamber companion, she has never received any formal status. If she remains, her position will have neither name nor legitimacy; if she is expected to remain faithful to Baoyu for the rest of her life, Jia Zheng may never agree. In the end, Lady Wang follows Aunt Xue’s advice and instructs Xiren’s brother and sister-in-law to find a respectable marriage for her. The Hua family chooses a family named Jiang in the southern part of the city. After Lady Wang sends people to investigate and learns that the prospective husband owns a house, land, and a shop and is financially secure, she approves the marriage and prepares a dowry for Xiren. Xiren does not want to leave the Jia household. She has considered remaining faithful to Baoyu and has even thought of proving her devotion through death. Yet she is, after all, only a maid without formal status. Lady Wang has already made the decision, and Xiren is powerless to resist. She can only leave the Jia household in tears and return to her brother’s home to await the wedding. Only after marrying into the Jiang family does Xiren discover that her husband is Jiang Yuhan—the actor who once exchanged sashes with Baoyu and shared an unusually intimate friendship with him. Many people say that this should be considered the best possible ending for Xiren. Jiang Yuhan is financially comfortable and treats her with great tenderness and consideration. After Xiren marries him, she becomes his lawful wife, and the maids and servants of the household all address her as Mistress. At last, she has a stable home. She does not have to die of illness in a ruined cottage like Qingwen, nor hang herself in loyalty to her mistress like Yuanyang. Yet upon closer reflection, this ending is also deeply desolate. She has hoped for years and remained devoted for years, but in the end, she still fails to become Baoyu’s concubine. Instead, she marries an actor who, despite being financially comfortable, occupies a very low position in the society of that time. The Grand View Garden she struggled so hard to protect finally collapses. The young man whom she cared for with all her strength and once genuinely loved ultimately renounces the world and disappears from her life. Some people later describe Xiren as the most realistic person in Dream of the Red Chamber. There is truth in this judgment, but it is not entirely fair. She is not without feeling, nor is she without sincerity. She has simply understood far too early that in the world where she lives, love alone cannot keep a person alive. Qingwen chooses truth and dies. Daiyu chooses love and also dies. Yuanyang chooses loyalty and finally hangs herself. Xiren chooses endurance, obedience, and adaptation, and therefore she survives. She is indeed calculating in her own way, and she knows how to use Lady Wang’s authority to protect her position. Yet her calculations are not intended to bring her wealth and glory, much less to destroy anyone. She simply hopes that she will never again be sold, arranged, and abandoned at someone else’s will, as she was in childhood. Yet after struggling all her life, she still never truly gains control over her own destiny. Her parents sell her into the Jia household, and Lady Wang later decides that she must marry and leave it. She spends her whole life obeying, but in the end, other people are still making the decisions that determine her future. Is Xiren profoundly sensible, or is she far too calculating? Perhaps she is both. She is loyal and kind, yet also worldly and skilled at protecting herself. She is a victim of feudal rules, yet without fully realizing it, she also becomes one of their defenders. She is not a perfect young woman, nor is she a sinister villain. She is merely an ordinary girl living cautiously in the narrow cracks of an unforgiving world, struggling to seize every lifeline within her reach. Whether consciously or unconsciously, Xiren understands the principle of survival of the fittest from a very early age, and that is why she survives. Can you really blame her for that?… (To be continued)