《祝福》中的食色文化精神

Food and Sex as Cultural Gist Embodied in Lu Hsun′s Story Blessing

我国有传统的食色文化观念 ,承认食欲性欲是人的自然本性。程朱后儒否定食色 ,“存天理、灭人欲”。“五四”新文化运动的重要使命是 ,猛烈攻击礼教对食色人欲的扼杀 ,解放民众的自然人性。《祝福》体现的正是这种文化精神和主体意识。小说开头再三声言“我明天决计要走了”,去吃“福兴楼的清炖鱼翅”。这是营造意象 ,是象征隐喻。“我”要弃绝礼教理学窝子 ,向往“福兴楼”,那里能“兴”幸“福”。得鱼即得福 ,因为“鱼”是食色象征符号。

There has long since existed in China a traditional concept of food and sex culture,regarding appetite and sexual desire as man′s natural wants.However,Cheng Yi,Zhu Xi and later Confucial scholars of Song and Ming dynasties all refuted human desire for food,drink and sex,calling on people to'eliminate material desires in order to uphold heavenly reason'.One of the important missions of the May 4th Movement was to fiercely attack the feudal ethic code that used to strangle human desires,and to emancipate human nature from such shackles.It is such a cultural spirit and principal consciousness that Lu Hsun expressed in his short story'Blessing'.The author says,'I have decided to go to Restaurant Fu Xing tomorrow'and 'taste their delicacy shark′s fin'.Here Lu Hsun is creating an image,a metaphor with symbolic significance.What the author really intended was to break off with the Neo Confucian feudal ethics,and longed for the Restaurant Fu Xing,two Chinese characters meaning 'happiness' and 'prosperity' respectively and 'fish' here has turned out to be a symbol for human prime wants.\;