In the ninth chapter, Mingyan appears as a naughty boy who is "ignorant of worldly affairs". In order to prevent his little masters Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong from being bullied, he was instigated by Jia Qiang and made a big fuss in the school. His naughty yet brave and lively image emerged vividly on the paper:
(Ming Yan) then came in to look for Jin Rong. He no longer called him "Jin Xianggong", but only said, "Who are you, surnamed Jin!"... Ming Yan first grabbed Jin Rong and asked: "... who are you? "Good boy, come out and touch your uncle Ming!"... Ming Yan had already eaten and shouted, "You guys don't come and do it!" Baoyu and three other servants... all shouted... and swarmed up.
As a result, the inkstones and inkstones were broken in the classroom, and the paper and ink were in a mess. It was a fierce battle! Even the school's "acting teacher" Jia Rui couldn't stop it. When Li Gui and other servants came in to put an end to the commotion, Mingyan felt she was still angry and exposed Jin Rong's old background:
Mingyan said outside the window: "He is Lihuang of East Alley. Grandma's nephew. He's a tough guy, and he's here to bully us. Grandma Huang is his aunt. I look down on a master like him!"
Although Mingyan is young, these words are not taken lightly, which shows that he has a clear understanding of the relationships between various characters in the Jia family. However, as a slave, what he said was a bit "offensive". No wonder Baoyu's servant Li Gui shouted after hearing this: "But you... know, there are these maggots chewing!" Fortunately, Baoyu understood Mingyan's "stirring" very well, and he believed that "Mingyan" was also "for someone" "I want to insult me." This shows that the master and servant Baoyu and Mingyan, who are of similar age, are very close emotionally. Mr. Wang Kunlun described Mingyan in his early "A Theory of Characters in a Dream of Red Mansions" as "a little guy who takes advantage of others' power." "A noble slave" is too strong a statement. Mingyan is unequivocally loyal to Baoyu, and Baoyu is generous enough to Mingyan. Although they are masters and servants, they love each other like brothers. Chapter 19, Mingyan and Dongfu The girl Wan'er in the house was having a private meeting in the small study, and Baoyu happened to catch him. Instead of punishing him, Baoyu asked him questions and showed concern for him:
Baoyu asked: "Is that girl a teenager?" Ming Yan said: "No older than sixteen or seventeen years old. Baoyu said, "I didn't even ask about his age. Naturally I don't know anything else. It shows that he recognized you in vain." Poor, poor! Then asked: "What's his name?" Mingyan laughed and said: "...So his name is Wan'er." Baoyu laughed and said: "It's really novel. I guess he will have some good fortune in the future."
After all, Mingyan felt a little embarrassed at this time, so she changed the subject and asked Baoyu: "Why don't you watch such a good show?" Then she catered to Baoyu and said that she would quietly take Baoyu for a walk outside the city. Regarding this, Zhiyanzhai has a comment saying:
"Mingyan only needs to cover up his mistakes at this time, so he set this up to please Baoyu's heart."
From Mingyan's idea Immediately after leading Baoyu to see the attacker, Zhi Yan commented again: "Baoyu had this idea in mind, but he was afraid that Mingyan would not lead him away, and he happened to meet Mingyan having sex in private. Because of Baoyu's cooperation, he was lured out of the city to please his heart. Baoyu began to say that he was going to Hua's house. Unless Mingyan was guilty, he would not dare to go out privately like this. Kuang Baoyu. Alas! Kuang Mingyan! "
No one knows his master better than a servant, and no one knows more about gems than Mingyan. Mingyan's shrewdness lies in his alertness and good observation, especially good at understanding Baoyu's thoughts. Chapter 43: Sister Feng’s birthday coincides with the first anniversary of Jinchuaner’s death after falling into a well. Early in the morning, Baoyu, who was "pure all over his body", took Mingyan out of the city and went to Shuiyue Temple to pay homage to Jin Chuaner. Although Baoyu didn't reveal a word to Mingyan at that time, the shrewd and well-behaved Mingyan had guessed at least seventy-eight points from Baoyu's behavior. After Baoyu burned incense on the well platform in the nunnery, he ordered Mingyan to take away the incense burner. Mingyan didn't take it away, and hurriedly climbed down, kowtowed several times, and said in her mouth: "In the past few years, I, Mingyan, and the second master have been together. I don't know anything about the second master's worries, only today. The priest didn't tell me, and I didn't dare to ask. It's just that although the ghost who was sacrificed didn't have a name, I guess it was a sister who was unparalleled in the world, extremely smart and elegant.
After leaving Xiren's house, Mingyan said to Hua Zifang: "You have to wait until the second master and I go back to Dongfu to hang out, otherwise they will be confused." Not only did she win Baoyu's favor, but she also Mingyan's "thief" is to avoid being caught.
Mingyan's "thief" became particularly prominent after Jia Baoyu sacrificed to Jin Chuan'er in the 43rd chapter: ...Mingyan said: "That's it. Another thing to say, let's do it There are still people who are worried. If no one is worried, why not go to the city late? If there are people who are worried, the second master must go to the city and go home. It's over, but that's it. Even if the family went to the theater and had a drink, it was not the second master's intention. He was just accompanying his parents to fulfill his filial piety. My ghost will not be able to live in peace. What do you think of my words?"
Mingyan's words are reasonable and comprehensive. Spending too much time out shopping may make the old lady at home uneasy and worry about herself. This is Mingyan - a Mingyan who can not only satisfy Baoyu, but also make the old lady and his wife tolerate it, a Mingyan who comes from a humble background and has no foundation but can stand firm in Jia's family, a future person. Mingyan, a little person who is outspoken and outspoken but also very "thief".
There are no "idlers" in Cao Xueqin's works. In the artistic "Grand View Garden" of "A Dream of Red Mansions", if Jia Baoyu is a bright and dazzling red flower, Mingyan is a small green leaf lining the red flower. As the saying goes: "Red flowers must be supported by green leaves." Due to the existence of this little character Mingyan, Baoyu's ideological character and artistic image have been further deepened and perfected. "Ming" refers to tea in ancient times. After brewing tea, it can also be called Ming. Ming fuming refers to a cup of hot tea, which quenches thirst and warms people's hearts after drinking it. This is where the name Mingyan comes from.
Mingyan is also called "baoming" in some chapters, which means fried tea leaves. The Jia family is a public family with a strict hierarchy, and status is determined by birth. Mingyan's mother, Lao Yema, was a flower gardener in the Grand View Garden and a lower-class servant. Perhaps, it is this old leaf that gave birth to the buds of fragrant tea. Li Gui's mother, Grandma Li, was Baoyu's nanny. She had the potential to be a "half-master" and even Xiren and others looked down upon her. In feudal society, the mother is honored by the son or the son is valued by the mother, hence the name Li Gui. Therefore, Li Gui has a higher status and is the leader among Baoyu's dozen male servants. In the ninth chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions", when Jia Zheng asked Baoyu before going to school, it was Li Gui who knelt down and answered. Ming Yan was just a boy and a bookboy, a minor figure in the entire Jia family, and his status was much lower than that of Li Gui.
Judging from the names of Mingyan and Li Gui, Mingyan, who came from a low background, is much more elegant than Li Gui, who came from a better background. Mingyan is Baoyu's "first useful and young and inexperienced" confidant. He specializes in cooking tea and pouring water, and is inseparable. Chapters 9 to 23 of the Gengchen version, and chapters 39 and after, are called "Mingyan"; chapters 24 to 30 are called "Baoming". The use of two names for one person is obviously an oversight on the part of the author. But both of his names are related to tea. "Ming" originally refers to the buds of the tea tree; tea leaves and brewed tea are also called Ming. "Baking" is a process of making tea, which is to carefully bake it over a fire in a vessel. Poets often sing, for example, in Bai Juyi's "Inscription on Shishan People's Wild Residence": "The rice fields are warm in the spring mud, and the tea roasted by night fire is fragrant." In Xu Hun's "The Village House": "The wild rice is pounded and the rice is smooth, and the mountain kitchen is baking tea. The word "Mingyan" is found in poets, such as "Mingyan is green in the white clouds" in Guanxiu's "Dengqianxiao Pavilion". In the seventeenth chapter, "The correct question in the Grand View Garden Examination", Baoyu said, "The tea in the Baoding is still green when the tea is idle, and the smoke is still green." It can be seen that this name is related to cooking tea. "Ming" emits "smoke", isn't it a cup of hot tea? I just made a cup of hot tea, and after drinking it, it quenches thirst and promotes body fluids, and it is warm...