从事件到神话:“赵五贞自杀”的历史重构

From Event to Myth: the Historical Reconstruction of “The Suicide of Zhao Wuzhen”

长沙新娘赵五贞不愿婚事于花轿中自刎,因时间恰好是五四运动如火如荼之际,便与妇女解放有了直接联系。以毛泽东为首的新文化知识分子,以《大公报》为载体,利用此事对传统婚制进行了讨伐与批判。作为主要报道媒体,湖南《大公报》在赵五贞形象的塑造过程中起了重要作用。后代叙述者出于不同需要,又对"赵五贞自杀"进行了诸种重构,关于它的历史叙述日益丰富。随着时间的演变,作为事件主人公的赵五贞已淡出了人们的视野,后"赵五贞自杀"经过加工处理,出现在书画和艺术作品中,是这一事件的叙述模式逐渐定型后的延伸。

Not satisified with the marriage,Zhao Wuzhen,a bride in Changsha city,committed suicide in the bride’s sedan.At that time,the May 4 th Movement was in full swing,so her suicide was directly connected with woman’s liberation.Mao Zedong and other intellectuals of new culture utilized that event to criticize the traditional marriage system on the Ta Kung Pao.As the main media,Hunan Ta Kung Pao played a vital role in reconstructing the profile of Zhao Wuzhen.The subsequent story tellers also reconstructed the suicide of Zhao Wuzhen for different purposes and thus the historical narration of that event became increasingly abundant.After that,"the Suicide of Zhao Wuzhen"appeared in many books mainly focused on women’s liberation movement and young Mao Zedong.Besides,Zhao Wuzhen turned into the representative character of the women’s liberation movement and the event also symbolized the heroic behavior of Mao Zedong when he was young.As time went by,people gradually paid less attention to the protagonist Zhao Wuzhen.The event of her suicide,after processing,appeared in paintings,calligraphies and art works,an extension of the narrative mode of that event which gradually took shape.