Analysis of the Beauty of Lin Tai—yu in A Dream of Red Mansions

張雪瀅

Abstract：Analysis of Lin Tai-yus image has been numerous ever since the beginning of Redology， especially the analysis of Lin Tai-yus beauty. Lin Tai-yus beauty is distinctive， especially her talents of poetry. Therefore， based on this context， the paper， with its title as Analysis of the Beauty of Lin Tai-yu in A Dream of Red Mansions， will focus its main argument on the beauty of poetry. And the paper will draw a conclusion in the end to point out the theoretical and practical meanings of the beauty of Lin Tai-yu.

Key words：beauty； poetry； sentimentality

1. Beauty of Enthusiasm for Poetry

1.1 Participation in the Poetry-making Activities

A Dream of Red Mansions is said to be a novel circling around poetry， and the poetry club in the Grand View Garden not only provides new ways of entertainment for the aristocratic in the Grand View Garden， more importantly， it provides Lin Tai-yu a platform to perform her poetic talents. Her enthusiasm is like the two lines in her poem A Dream of Chrysanthemums， “Day and night the imp of poetry assails men； Skirting the fence， leaning on the rock， they start chanting.”

Lin Tai-yus enthusiasm for poetry first finds full expression in her active participation in all the poetry-making activities in the Grand View Garden as well as the excellent and numerous poems she makes. Although， at the beginning when Tan-chun proposes the idea of setting up a poetry club， Lin Tai-yu refuses， actually she is quite crazy about this. Besides， she is very confident about her poetic talents， so afterwards， as long as there are poetry-making activities， Lin Tai-yu is always the most active participant. There are many occasions of which Lin Tai-yu takes full advantage to write poems， like the birthday party of the Dowager Jung， the birthday party of Pao-chai and the feast of lanterns. On these occasions， Lin Tai-yu not only makes a huge number of poems， these poems she makes are also excellent in quality. Particularly， the three poems she makes about chrysanthemums， Writing about the Chrysanthemums， A Dream of Chrysanthemums， Questioning the Chrysanthemums， sweep the first three places in the contest. Lin Tai-yus enthusiasm for poetry can also be found in her cooperation with Hsiang-yun to write a poem after they escape from the Middle Autumn Festival Feast held by the Dowager Jung. Words like “ exclamation” ， “chuckled”， expressions like “stamping her foot” and “I shall have to give up ” etc， show on one hand Lin Tai-yu is racking her brain in this activity， and on the other hand show Lin Tai-yus happiness and joy when cooperating with Hsiang-yun.

1.2 The Symbolic Meanings of Lin Tai-yus Poetry

The reason why there are so much poetry-making in the novel is because the author Cao Xueqin hopes that by means of these poems readers can understand more deeply about Lin Tai-yu. Therefore， poems in A Dream of Red Mansions are all given rich symbolic meanings， specially those of Lin Tai-yus. The symbolic meanings in Lin Tai-yus poems can be classified into two types—personal backgrounds and rebellious spirits.

Weakness in body， parents dying early， living in the Jung Mansion with no one to rely on… these all belong to her personal backgrounds and contribute to the fact that the images in Tai-yus poems are often sad. For instance， in her poem Tang-To-Ling， Lin Tai-yu compares herself to willows. And the most sad and overwhelming poem is her representative The Song of Burying Flower， which is filled with profound sadness. Lin Tai-yu sees the falling of flowers， then she thinks of the severe surroundings she is facing， “Each year for three hundred and sixty days ， The cutting wind and biting frost contend” —this is the severe situations she is facing.

Lin Tai-yu is said to be rebellious due to the fact that she pursues freedom and ideal love even if these are against what is required in feudal times. Lin Tai-yus rebellious spirits find good expression in her three poems about chrysanthemums： Chrysanthemums in China symbolize reclusion and nobility， so that Chinese poets in ancient times often write poems in honor of chrysanthemums to show their noble quality， such as Tao-Yuan- Ming（a poet at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty）. “All flowers must bloom， what makes you bloom so late？” come from Questioning the Chrysanthemums， describing the image of a recluse who would never give up ideals and submit to the secular world. This recluse is Lin Tai-yu， and that is why her three poems about chrysanthemums show her noble qualities as well as her rebellious spirits.

2. Conclusion

The reasons for writing this paper is to deepen understanding of Lin Tai-yu and to find out valuable things.

Lin Tai-yus poems are worthwhile studying. And this paper is just the tip of iceberg in the study of Lin Tai-yus poetic talents.

Therefore， scholars can study Lin Tai-yu from various perspectives in the future， especially Lin Tai-yus talents of poetry. Because Lin Tai-yus beauty of poetry can give modern people inspiration.

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