Chapter 307 - Speechlessness! (1/2)

A brief period of silence.

“It’s still not right!”

“This opinion does not hold water!”

“Right, it definitely can’t be written by Gao E!”

“Although there’s no proof, but, but is there even need for proof?”

Many people who were not taking the “Appreciation of the Cla.s.sics” elective cla.s.s began to stir. However, at this moment, everyone also felt that they did not waste this trip and it had been worthwhile. Because no matter what Zhang Ye’s perspective was, anyone easily knew that this public lecture would cause a stir in the education and literary world!

The straight As student, Senior Song just remained standing at her seat. Even if she were to sit down, she would soon stand up again to raise her questions. It was too troublesome as she had too many doubts and questions about Zhang Ye’s perspective. She raised her hand again and asked her questions directly this time, “Sorry, Teacher Zhang. I still cannot accept your perspective. Your proof that the last 40 chapters were written by Gao E is still insufficient to explain the problem. There’s too little information and too much left to our own imaginations. Besides, Gao E was just an arranger and collator of the ma.n.u.scripts, he would not possess the literary skills to continue writing ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ to such a good extent.”

Zhang Ye wagged his finger saying, “Little Song, then you’d be wrong to think that.”

“Why?” Senior Song asked.

All the other Peking University teachers looked towards Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye said confidently, “Gao E had the qualities and conditions to carry on writing ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. In that era, I believe that only Gao E was up to the mark! Hur Hur, everyone don’t look at me like that. You might not have much understanding of Gao E, and just believe him to be someone who just collated and arranged the work. However, you do not know his background. If everyone does not believe me, then fine. I had first started my argument from an angle using information. Next, I will use a psychological standpoint to talk about it. Well, actually it’s not very important. It’s fine if I don’t mention it, but do you want to listen to it?”

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“It’s a must!”

Senior Song also nodded her head.

Even if they did not agree, they still wanted to hear it.

Zhang Ye acknowledged, “Alright, then I’ll speak briefly about it. Gao E had always been a.s.signed the t.i.tle of the publisher and collator, but many people actually do not know that Gao E’s literary level was his most dazzling accomplishments.” He noticed Professor Zeng was nodding slightly his head as he said, “Looks like Professor Zeng is aware of this.”

Professor Zeng affirmed, “Teacher Zhang is right. Anyone with eyes would appreciate him. That was the evaluation of Gao E’s contemporaries.”

Zhang Ye smiled as he continued to explain, “This is how it was. Gao E was an extremely talented man. ‘Often distressed by his frustrations, his talents exceeded everyone else’ could be used to describe Gao E’s life. Never short of experiencing ups and downs, this made his life very similar to Cao Xueqin’s. In his early years, he would be held back in the Imperial examinations while his later years were spent on a dull career that left him emotionally distressed. This put him very close to Cao Xueqin’s emotional experiences and allowed him to complete that captivating tragic ending of the novel. Additionally, we just need to look through the information and we’d know that Gao E was an honest man, often encouraging and advising his disciples about filial piety and striving for the Imperial examinations He was very skilled in writing eight-legged essays, was a creative thinker, and had great penmans.h.i.+p. In poetry, he would often describe the sentimental feelings of life as if it were embodied in a dream, adding a touch of Buddhism within. All of these can be experienced in the text contained in the last 40 chapters of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. So from the angle of sentimentalism, Gao E was the most suitable person in that era to continue writing the ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. He was also the only one that was capable of doing so!”

With a moment’s pause, Zhang Ye continued on, “When I mentioned that Gao E’s continuation of the writings of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ was mismatched with the earlier chapters, what I meant was the personal style of writing was different. I did not deny Gao E’s talent. On the contrary, I really respect him as he had given an ending to ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ and facilitated the spread of the novel. Gao E made a huge contribution!”

F**k!

Why does it sound more and more like this was the truth!

A straight As student from the History department suddenly raised his hand to speak, “What you have just said, was built on the a.s.sumption that after the first 80 chapters of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, somebody had to continue to write it. I feel that it’s not the time now to argue whether it was Gao E or an unknown person who continued writing, but…what do you base it on when you say that only 80 chapters of the original ma.n.u.scripts were written by Mr Cao Xueqin? Based on what are you saying that the 120 chapters consisted of someone else continuing the writings and were not the original works of Mr Cao Xueqin? Just based on a bet that a Qing dynasty’s poet work had mentioned the words of ’80 chapters’?”

Zhang Ye lost it and said laughingly, “You’re getting pretty agitated.”

The history department student was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, “How can I not be agitated? What you have said undermines all our knowledge of the novel. Have our history cla.s.ses all these years been wrong? Has such a stupid mistake been committed for all these years by our country’s education world? Not even getting the author of one of our Four Great Cla.s.sical Novels correct?”

This was also the main reason why everyone did not believe Zhang Ye!

So many experts, so many enthusiasts, are you telling me that all of them had been wrong? That’s impossible!

Even though the saying goes that the truth is often in the hands of only a few, but regarding this method, this wasn’t even fewer than a few! You’re the only one with such a perspective!