The Analysis of Ethical Relationships of Xiao Bao Zhuang

【Abstract】The novel Xiao Bao Zhuang， written by Wang Anyi， mainly narrates the story of the Bao Family living in the Bao Mountain. The thesis analyzes the personality and destiny of the characters and discusses the ethical relationships of them， dissecting the topic of benevolence and righteousness within the literary work.

【Key words】Xiao Bao Zhuang; ethical relationships; benevolence and righteousness

【作者簡介】刘诗雨（2000-），女，汉族，江西抚州人，江西师范大学，本科生， 研究方向：英国语言文学。

Introduction

This thesis puts emphasis on analyzing the main characters from the perspective of ethical relationships， inquiring into the relationships of the characters from a new perspective and discussing the effects of the novel on ethics concept.

1. The relationships between different characters

The novel provides vivid accounts of the story of the Bao family happening in the Bao Village and several figures from the Feng village. Though the Bao Village highlights benevolence and righteousness， the only character that can be called justice is Lao Zha.

1.1 The Story of Lao Zha and Bao Wuye

On the day of the big flood， when all the people in the Bao Village are seeking to live by only minding their own businesses and finding rescue by escaping to the top of the mountain， only Lao Zha came back to find Bao Wuye and loses his young life. From the perspective of traditional moral value promoted in the village， Lao Zha comes back to save Bao Wuye at the risk of his life is not the result of education. Instead， he is the representative of benevolence as well as righteousness. The traditional ethics of being kind truly reflects on the character， Lao Zha.

1.2 The Story of ShiLai， ErShen and DaGu

In ShiLais heart， he obtains the warmth from DaGu. And ShiLai considers ErShen as his wife because ErShen is very identical to Dagu. When the villagers find the relationship between them， Bao Yanshan and other men come to beat ShiLai. It is to explain from the perspective of ethics. In the minds of the villagers in the Bao Village， they cant imagine a widow get married again with a man from nowhere. Their marriage seriously disobeys the moral value of Bao Village.

2. The Reason of the Ethical Relationship of the Writer

The specific social background and awareness is also the source of their works. In other words， the literary work is the reflection of the true world in the level of awareness.

2.1 The Inspiration of the Novel

In a forum in Shanghai， Wang Anyi admits that the story of Xiao Bao Zhuang is based on a real story in our life， from which we can see that the personal experience plays a significant role in the creation of literary work.

2.2 The Specific Background of the Writers Time

The novel is written in 1985. And it is belongs to the literature on searching for ones roots. At that time， the reform and open policy is just being executed， which further have a great influence on the thoughts of the literary circle. Thus， the big change of the social background also makes a difference to the ethical thoughts of the writer.

3. The Feeling of Readers about the Ethical Concepts of the Novel

The functions of all the other characters except LaoZha in the novel are serving as a foil to the theme. After LaoZha died， the life of the villagers became better. The feeling of readers about the ethical concept of the novel and the writer is that kindness， benevolence and righteousness in the novel do exist.

4. The Novel and Its Education Function

The origin of the concept of benevolence of this novel is from Confucius. Confucius defines Ren as the love to all men. The novel highlights the moral value of Confucianism， which affects the thoughts of the society about benevolence and righteousness greatly.

5. Conclusions

Through analyzing the characters from the perspective of ethical relationships， we can draw the conclusion that all the behaviors and qualities of them are hugely affected by traditional moral values， revealing the strong effects of ethics on people at that time.

References：

[1]暢广元.《小鲍庄》心理谈[J]当代作家评论，1986（1）：9-15.