Hidden Meanings
Frankly, I don’t think there’s anything in Dream of the Red Chamber that is ordinary or straightforward.
Yesterday’s translation segment was straightforward enough. Jia Zhen and his side of the family have decided to throw a birthday party for Jia Jing. Jia Jing, meanwhile, has decided to completely renounce the world and is focused only on his religious studies.
Grandmother Jia decides not to come because she ate half a peach the evening before. The peach didn’t agree with her, and so she decides not to go.
Pretty simple, right? Well, not quite.
There are three interesting things here that you probably missed.
The first is that the party is entirely performative.
There’s no reason to hold a special party. There’s no reason to go to any expense at all. In fact, Jia Jing specifically asked Jia Zhen not to do this.
That doesn’t mean that Jia Zhen shouldn’t celebrate his father’s birthday, of course. Not only is there nothing wrong with such a celebration, I actually think that it’s a pretty natural thing to want to do.
But we’re talking about a huge and ostentatious celebration, one in which Jia Zhen went to the lengths of inviting an entire acting troupe to come over and perform for the small assembling of family members. Doesn’t it seem odd that something like this would happen in the honor of somebody who isn’t actually present?
The truth is that this family celebration is taking place largely because it’s simply what a wealthy family does. It’s all about social norms and expectations. There’s no real substance in this presentation, which is why the whole thing feels so awkward.
The second odd thing is that Grandmother Jia is almost certainly not ill.
You kind of have to read between the lines to understand this part. Jia Zhen gives kind of an embarrassed speech trying to excuse her for not taking part in the event, after which Wang Xifeng pipes up with Grandmother Jia’s excuse.
The truth is that Grandmother Jia is older than Jia Jing, and would wind up usurping him at his own birthday celebration. There was really no need for her to show up in the first place.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that she knows that Jia Jing didn’t want a major celebration at all. If that’s true, her lack of attendance is actually more in line with his wishes than anything that his own son has been doing.
It’s almost certainly true that the peach story is nothing more than a face saving measure that Wang Xifeng came up with to excuse the situation. The truth is that Grandmother Jia’s lack of attendance is actually a signal that the party really shouldn’t have been planned in the first place. However, we saw in chapter 9 the disaster that can take place when people are direct. And so the political dialogue behind the scenes happens in this indirect manner.
But the most important part is Wang Xifeng’s position of power.
Lady Wang is Wang Xifeng’s aunt (and Jia Baoyu’s mother), and should have replied to Jia Zhen. But Wang Xifeng replied first, and nobody did a single thing to stop or dissuade her.
Wang Xifeng’s quick thinking saved the day, of course, and the excuse she created for Grandmother Jia diffused a situation that might have otherwise been awkward. However, it’s absolutely clear by now that Wang Xifeng is the person who is actually calling the shots in the Rongguo Mansion.
Anyway, there’s the story of what is actually happening in this small segment. It might not seem like much at first, but it’s pretty impressive when you think about it.