The other Peking University students took it with a grain of salt, and waited for him to continue.
Zhang Ye glanced at the audience’s reaction and said, “Then, Three times nine is twenty-seven, and four times nine is thirty-six. The general plot here is where Cao Xueqin focuses on Jia Baoyu’s emotional life in Prospect Garden. As well as his love with Lin Daiyu and his delicate relationship with Xue Baochai. When we reach the thirty-sixth chapter, Cao Xueqin ended all these emotions. Do you remember what he wrote?” He then pointed to the screen. “Learning hard facts at Pear-tree Court!”
The first row finally produced the sounds of discussions.
Yan Yu had a quiet exchange with Teacher Yang with his eyebrows frowned. Meng Dongguo and Ma Hengyuan were either pondering or discussing with their surrounding friends. They were all very quiet.
Zhang Ye said, “As for the specific plot, I will not talk anymore about it. The general idea is that Jia Baoyu thinks that all the young girls should love or like him, but the performer did not act that way. Jia Baoyu had an important sublimation to his understanding of emotions. He knew he could not force things that did not belong to him, and that everything was fated. This is another way that Cao Xueqin uses to express his understanding of life through the novel. See, this is another division.”
The crowd did not respond.
It was unknown if they were pondering or shocked.
Zhang Ye laughed. “Everyone should already have a feeling. You can carry on thinking. Ponder over it and listen on to my lecture. The next plot’s unit is Chapter 54. Five times nine is forty-five, and six times nine is fifty-four. Since I said ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ has 108 chapters. Then as the middle divisor at chapter 54, clearly it is an extremely important divisor. And indeed, that is the case. What was written here? It writes about the golden era of the Jia family. It reaches a position that could not be any higher. They celebrate New Year’s Eve and have a feast. They enjoyed all forms of splendor, and what happened after the opera? Just a shout of rewards, and they would take a basket to pour money for the performers. Their riches reach an extreme point. However, great pleasure brings about sadness. A cup will overflow when it’s full. By chapter 55, Cao Xueqin begins to write how the Jia family experiences internal and external difficulties. In the first 54 chapters, it writes about the Jia family’s flourishing growth. In the last 54 chapters, it begins to write about the decline of the Jia family, eventually leading to nothing. Hence, everyone can see that the division is very clear. Cao Xueqin’s textual structure is very strict!”
Yan Yu turned silent. This…
Teacher Yang also pondered with a gloomy expression.
Senior Zhou raised his hands to ask, “Then why is it twelve?”
Zhang Ye laughed. “Why nine times twelve. Why would this constant twelve be used? Actually, it is very obvious. You can understand just from reading the first five chapters. Jia Baoyu dreams of entering the Land of Illusion, where it is led by the Fairy of Disenchantment to the Board of Ill-fated lives. There he secretly read the records. In the records, it recorded the fate of the women in Jinling. Then how were these pages split? I would like to know how many people were there on that list?”
Yao Cui immediately stood up. “There were twelve! Twelve Beauties of Jinling!”
“Yes.” Zhang Ye asked again, “Then what about the secondary records, and what was inside the secondary records?”
Senior Zhou exclaimed, “It was also twelve.”
Zhang Ye said, “Then the Fairy of Disenchantment entertained Jia Baoyu and got the fairies to sing songs. How many songs were there?”