An Analysis of the Spatial Structure of “Lao Can Travels” from the Perspective of Spatial Literature

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Liu E’s “Lao Can’s Travels” showed obvious spatial structure in both content and ideological level, and its space writing showed the characteristics of “endorsement” for the writer’s psychology. Therefore, exploring the space structure of “Lao Can’s Travels” is an important perspective for understanding the text of the novel. The space structure of the novel can be divided into three levels: The first is the real space, including the landscape space such as Shandong Wufu, the peach blossom mountain cave and other living spaces; the second is the virtual space including the dream space and the hell space; the third is the author’s psychology shown through the protagonist’s behavior and consciousness space. In addition, the effect of the spatial structure itself also makes the novel open to readers and expands the interactivity of the novel.

addition to the superb natural spatial structure art, the certainty of the description of the name of the scenic spot in this text and the accuracy of the position control are also worth noting. For example, from the text, we can clearly see that Lao Can got on the boat from the side of Quehua Bridge, passed the Lixia Pavilion, came to Tiegong Temple, looked at the opposite Thousand Buddha Mountain, and walked around in Tiegong Sacrificial hall before getting on the boat. After returning from the back of Lixia Pavilion to the shore of Quehua Bridge. You can also learn from the guidance of the Locality Words that Lao Can first headed north, then west, then south, and finally to the east in a circle.
Throughout "Lao Can's Travel Notes", its geographical restoration and real records of natural space are everywhere. I won't go into details here. It describes the geographical features of the five regions in Shandong, which are similar to the prefectures and Liu E where the Yellow River flows in Shandong.
In the eleventh year of Guangxu, the floods of the Yellow River moved downward. The governor of Shandong Zhang Yaozi sent Liu E to Shandong as a guest in Shandong, served as a booster in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and assisted in the Yellow River control project, which won a great reputation. He was sent by the governor of Shandong, Fu Runbao, to the Prime Minister's Office of National Affairs and appointed as the prefect. In the difficult and arduous process of surveying and mapping, Liu E has traveled throughout Shandong's large and small prefectures and counties. It is conceivable that he is familiar with the scenery and world conditions on both sides of the Yellow River that are facing each other all day long. The restoration of the scenery and the clarity of the travels in "Lao Can Travels" probably benefited from Liu E's experience in Shandong in the past few years, and at the same time confirmed the realism of the novel.

Humanity Portrayal of Living Room Space
According to Gsston Bachelard, the proponent of space poetics theory, space not only has a containment function, but also has more human value. In "The Poetics of Space", he analyzes the house as an inner space image with unique value, highlighting the spatial characteristics of the house representing the deep memories and dreams in the heart. There are several wonderful descriptions of homes and bedrooms in "The Travels of Lao Can". Among them, the bridal chamber of Daohua Mountain is the most unforgettable. Yu Gu is a brilliant female image portrayed by the author with great pen and ink. She has a wide range of knowledge, profound thoughts, and extremely high artistic attainments. Whether it is drumming, blowing horns, or playing jingle, all people who hear it will forget home, like a dream. drunk.
The novel has a complete description of Yu Gu's bedroom: "This cave is only two rooms as big, half of the window sill facing outwards, with windows on it, and the other three sides are flat and snowy..., But it is uneven and polished. The cases are all born of vine, they are not square and round, and they are made according to the situation. There is a withered bed on the east wall. …There is a curved-rule-shaped bookshelf in the north of the couch, and there are many books, all of which are cursively ordered. The heads of the books have not been cut. There are several musical instruments www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sll Studies in Linguistics and Literature Vol. 5, No. 4, 2021 154 Published by SCHOLINK INC. hanging in the middle of the double night pearl, there are two syringes..." Maybe simple and narrow, But the room first has the protective power to resist external intrusion, and has the shelter function of body and soul. In addition, the room is the expression and presentation of the owner's soul. As Balash mentioned in "The Poetics of Space": "They not only have empirical protection value, but also the imaginative value connected with it... The space grasped by imagination is no longer the work of measurement. And the indifferent and unforgiving space dominated by geometric thinking. It is a space experienced by people". Xiaogu lives in caves and withered as her bed. The seat is polished by tree roots, and several cases are born by vine. Yes, the furniture is not forced, made according to the situation, no lights or candles, bright pearls illuminate the night, with the piano as a friend, and the book policy as a companion, all of them can see the gentle and natural creation of the living environment. idea. Later I mentioned that Shen Ziping wondered how Ye Mingzhu did, only to find out that she used snail shells as the wall, built-in oil pool, rolled cotton thread into a wick, and made a lamp tube with a layer of paper. "I also learned that she used sun-dried liongrass to split silk and linen woven blankets, mica powder and red clay to coat the walls, which not only protects against tides and cold, but also sees her insight into physical properties and paying attention to life.
It can be seen that space is indeed the visualization of characters. "The insight into the relationship between space and characters is one of the signs that measure whether a writer is creative". In the living room space, self and space dialogue and comfort each other on an equal footing. The space is endowed with human value. The owner also seeks his own certainty in the poetic space. Therefore, the subjective experience process is the living process, which also haunts happiness. feel. Just as Bachelard believes that homes, bird's nests, shells, etc. are all happy spaces, the bridal chambers that are naturally natural and carefully constructed have become a poetic shelter for the owner of the house, and the life image of the aunt has also become a result of the spatialization. More certain and sturdy.

Virtual Space
Literary space is different from real space. It is created by the author and represents the space of people's perception and expectations, so it often contains fantasy elements. The first and second episodes of "Lao Can Travels" return to the current self-prefaces, one with "a spirit when crying" as the judgment, and one with "life is like a dream" as the core. This can be understood as the purpose or origin of Liu E's creation, but through the dream the corridor, entering the virtual space building of the novel, you can discover the author's attempt to find an outlet in the expansion of space with nowhere to go in the real world.

Dream Space
From the beginning of the second episode, I asked, "Life is like a dream, and life is like a dream?" Later, through unsuccessful inquiries about mayfly, Lingchunzi etc., and finally through a series of similes and rhetorical questions, life is confirmed. Hundreds of years passed suddenly, all like illusion and unrecoverable, so knowing that life is like a dream, this statement is true. We will naturally think of the dream theme of "A Dream of Red Mansions". What Cao Xueqin writes is "true and false when false is true". All the sentient beings in the red mansion "coax you to sing and I will appear on stage". "Thousands of red cried" and "Countless beautiful sorrows together", and in the end only "white land is really clean". Dreams are also used to metaphor life, but from the works we can find that Liu E's view of "life is like a dream" is not the same as Cao Xueqin's. In "Dream of Red Mansions", Cao Xueqin expresses a kind of emptiness of objects and emptiness of desires. A pessimistic attitude, and Liu E confirmed that although life is like a dream, the person in the dream is real. "Although the sun and the moon in the past fifty years cannot make it stay, but during the fifty years, it is surprising, A career that is gratifying, singular, and weeping is a long-lasting experience that cannot be forgotten. My husband is like a dream for fifty years of shocking, gratifying, singular, and weeping things, which can not be forgotten, and in the past fifty years Dreams are not without surprises, gratifications, songs, and weeping things, and they will not forget the same". It is precisely because of these unforgettable surprises and tragedies that "Lao Can's Travel Notes II" is born.
There are a total of four dream descriptions in the novel. Excluding the prefaces, they appear in the first episode, the fourth episode and the seventh episode of the second episode. The dream space is the "sunken ship dream" and "hell dream" of Lao Can.
In the first time, Lao Can dreamed that he, Wen ZhangBo and De Huisheng went to Penglai Pavilion to watch the sunrise, and suddenly found a big boat in the distance driving in the wind and waves.
Through the description of the language and actions of the big ship and the characters on the ship, Liu

Hell Space
The second expansion of the dream space in the novel occurred when Lao Can visited her Brother-in-law Gao Wei in Huai'an City. One day, Lao Can watched "The Great Circle Menopause" in the floating chakra of Yinhan, and fell asleep when she saw the moon slanting westward. , And then turn to the depiction of hell space. The concept of "hell" was introduced into China with Hinduism around the Western Han Dynasty, and gradually merged with the concept of the underworld in the Central Plains. It often appears in literary works as a means of expressing ideas, as is the writing of hell in "Lao Can Travels", But if the dream space in the novel is a projection of the real world, then the hell space is more of the meaning of reality discipline.
Try the novel's description of the Yanwangdian space: "The big corridor is also paved with stones, like a palace of the world... The red steps above seems to be level ten. Walking into the middle of the hall gate, it is level five again...from the west class. When I went up, I saw that this platform was also a three-tiered road. When I got up, I saw Emperor Yan Luo sitting on the middle table with a diadem on his head, an ancient dress and a white face and black beard, but he was very solemn and kind". The following will continue to explain the five gods of Yan Wang's questioning case, their responsibility and rotation, as well as the space furnishings of office errands. The Yanwangdian in the hell space actually mirrors the palace of the Qing government in reality, while the King of Yama reflects the emperor of the dynasty. It is the ruler in the hell space. The five gods of value reflect the appearance of the Qing dynasty's yamen when they were sitting in the hall. This complete bureaucratic system from top to bottom is roughly designed to imitate the real bureaucratic system of the Qing Dynasty.
In the eighth chapter of the second episode, the torture instruments and punishment mechanisms of the region are described in a large length. Not only does it calmly and objectively explain the shocking instruments of torture and execution methods such as oil pans and mills, but also in the form of asking questions. The basis of the conviction is informed to the reader. Using hell space as a medium, Liu E was able to reveal his concept of retribution of good and evil, as well as his deep inner pain. The penalty system generally follows the principle of karma. The more evil you commit during your lifetime, the heavier the criminal law you will suffer after you go to hell. On the contrary, if you do more good deeds during your lifetime, you will receive preferential treatment after death. It is worth noting that the author particularly emphasized the seriousness of the crime of speech during his lifetime.
A single sentence may destroy or kill a person. If the evil karma is again addressed, the crime will be heavier than the sands of the Ganges. Therefore, in hell, the penalties for those who have committed through the design of the hell space, so as to construct an illusory space for discipline and discipline to relieve the anger in his heart.

Mental Space
Corresponding to the evolution of human thinking, the author's spatial thinking has also continued to develop, from vagueness to clarity, from isolation to openness, from low-dimensional to high-dimensional, and gradually tends to have a spatial thinking form with a complete coordinate system. Therefore, the literary space is also different from the space in literature. The space in literature is the space displayed by literary works. It is a partial image that directly or implicitly contains the true meaning, while the literary space is a more integrated space. Concept, it is full of people's lives and emotions, and it is a movement that resonates with the literary mind. Following the notes in the text space, we can walk into the palace of the human mind.

Systemicity of Mental Space
From the perspective of space, the more fully a writer expands the art space, the more conducive to the release of emotions. Just as Beethoven realized the freedom and order of spiritual space in music, "spiritual spirit permeates the entire space...beyond the limits of various countervailing thoughts; you have established a magnificent order from chaos". Therefore, writers often build a complete and orderly metaphysical "psychological kingdom" to broaden the spatial dimension of the text and improve the ideological realm of the work. On the other hand, the systemic nature of psychological space is manifested in that facing the real space, it will actively reflect and create; while facing the thinking space, it will show dominance and openness. It can constantly seek out the space, overcome inner contradictions, and continue to realize the right Expansion of thinking space.
From the above interpretation of the real space and virtual space structure of "Lao Can Travels", it can be seen that Liu E's real world or realism or metaphor, as well as the construction of virtual space to release his heart and find the outlet of reality. In addition, we can also examine the systemic nature of the author's psychological space from the desire to expand the space directly revealed in the novel. The novel is named "Travel Notes". The desire and practice without space to expand naturally cannot be called "you". Today's case is over, and I will cross the river. First, I will travel to Tiantai Yandang, then from Fujian to Guangdong, to see the situation in Wuling, to visit the plum blossoms in Dayu Mountain, and then to Guilin to see the green landscape. Go to Emei. Go to the north, from Taihang to Xiyue, stay for a few days, and return to Song Mountain in Zhongyue... Cross the vast sea, go to Kunlun, set up a hut at the highest place on Kunlun Mountain, live for two years and then make a decision. One is that you can travel around eight poles without worry. For people, such a space tour of heaven and earth is obviously impractical, but not all ghosts have the desire to expand such space. Liang Haizhou was invited by Lao Can can to just shake his head and say "can't do it". This is an internal drive. The reason is different. Just as Novaris once expressed a desire similar to Lao Can, "We are eager to travel in the universe", and he believes that the universe is also in our hearts: "We do not understand the depth of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sll Studies in Linguistics and Literature Vol. 5, No. 4, 2021 158 Published by SCHOLINK INC.
the spirit. The secret path leads to the inside. Eternity is the same as it. The world, the past and the future are in our minds and bodies". It is this strong internal drive that inspires and self-determines external forces, making them rich, complete, and surplus in the earthly life. The power of will continue to expand the space in another world.

The Text "Endorsement" in Mental Space
The systemic nature of the psychological space allows the text space of the novel to be developed, but there are multiple "units" that operate flexibly within the system. Just as Yang Kuanghan said in "Space of the Muse": (Psychological space) includes advanced forms of thinking. And the low-level forms, the exposed and hidden elements of consciousness...become a kind of complete, fluid, and orderly network thinking based on the temperament, personality, and personality of the poet. The exploration of these "units" is helpful Because of our restoration of the writer's psychological space. In "Lao Can's Travels", the protagonist Lao Can cried three times and wrote the wall three times. From the opening of tears and poems, we can explore the writer's psychological space.

The Power in Tears
"Lao Can Travels" is actually a crying work of Liu E's own destiny and the destiny of the country drifting and swaying together, looking for a way out together. "The deeper his feelings, the more painful his crying. This is the reason why Hong Du Bai Liansheng created 'Lao Can Travels'. The chess game is already broken, and we will be old. If we want to cry or not?" In fact, the self-narration of the novel is complete. Writing around crying, it can be seen that it is the product of the author expressing the pain of his life, family, country, society, and education, and it is also the light of reason that the author hopes readers can learn from the pain and rise. China. The chess game of the Qing Dynasty was broken, the interior was chaotic and decayed, and the country was in danger and crumbling. Lao Can's tears were also the tears of the entire Chinese nation.
The second tears happened in the thirteenth episode. Lao Can saw that the good girl Cui Huan fell into the house with no choice but to think of her tragic situation. At this moment, I was stuck on the kang, thinking in my heart: "These are all good sons and daughters of other people. When the parents raised him, I don't know how much energy and hard work they have spent... Then they sold their daughter to www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sll Studies in Linguistics and Literature Vol. 5, No. 4, 2021 159 Published by SCHOLINK INC.
this portal. Being cruel by the bustard, there is a realm that can't be described in words... It was angry and sad, and I realized that the corners of my eyes were a little bit moist". This time it was the tears of the people. He always cares about the people, thinks of other people's children as his own, and thinks of other people's experiences as his own, and feels sad for their sufferings. Lao Can's tears also reflect all the sorrows of the people in the deep water; the third time Lao Can shed tears in front of his "corpse" in "Second Episode", "I understand in my heart", nodded and said: "I'm standing now. It's the real me. The corpse that slept on that bed was my corpse". "I didn't realize it, but also fell into two tears", and said to the corpse: "Today you fell into the cold in the middle of the night, and how many people will cry for you tomorrow morning, I will be less now. I'm with you". This time it's a cry of life experience. But compared with the last two times, there is less grief and more free and easy. It can be seen that Liu E is not obsessed with life and death. He takes the country and the people more seriously, and he only needs two tears to sustenance about his sorrowful situation.
In the self-narrative of "Living to Cry", the author divides the crying into two categories, one is the weak cry of demented women, and the other is the strong cry of the city collapsed woman. Divided into "those who cry as weepers" and "those who don't cry as weepers", and the latter ones go far. Obviously, the three cryings of the old man in the novel are a model created by Liu E for "not crying for crying".
But crying to vent emotions is not the author's purpose, just as he will not suffer from death. Behind the seeming sentimentality is complex and profound rational thinking. He hopes that readers can enter the space of the entire social soul through the window of tears and feel the power of awakening.

Philosophy in Poetry
While pouring his own experience on the old disabled, Mr. Liu E also tried to idealize it. The old man in the novel is a good doctor who can cure all diseases and prescribe the right remedy; he is a good man who can treat all diseases and is proficient in singular methods; he is elegant, has a good reading of books, and knows music; he has always been outside the officialdom. Love the people for the people, seek from top and bottom. Although in reality Liu E ended up depressed in his unremitting attempts to save the country, his life continues to this day in Lao Can. The poems written by Lao Can still linger on the walls of the inn, enlightening everybody. A heart that stops after passing through.
As mentioned above, Lao Can has a very high level of artistic accomplishment. We can notice that as long as couplets, plaques, screens, etc. appear in the novel, whether in natural space or in humanistic space, the boss will take a close look at the inscription on it. Therefore, there are often interspersed verses in the novels, and several plots of Lao Can's own "inscription on the wall" are worthy of our attention. Once happened in the sixth episode, after discovering that the cruel official Yuxian abused the people, harmed the people and forced the people into theft, but the people were so angry that they didn't dare to speak, they were deeply moved, so they took out the pen and inkstone from the pillow case and wrote on the wall. The first poem, "The gains and losses are lost to the muscles, because the urgent work is done. The city is buried in the dark, and the blood is stained with pearls. The rain is everywhere, the mountains and the tigers and leopards are everywhere. Killing the people is like killing the thieves, and the prefect is Yuan Rong!" Regarding personal gains and losses, cruelty to the people, bloody cruelty. Another time happened after the eighth time Lao Can went to Dongchang Mansion to search for a bookstore. He thought that the big bibliophiles in this area would only lock the book in a big box, which was not visible to outsiders or even members of the clan. Feeling depressed, he brought up his pen and wrote on the wall: "The library of the four Qing dynasty bibliophiles Ji Zhenyi, Qian Pu, Huang Pilie, and Wang Shizhong. After the library was defeated, the collections of these famous masters were returned to Dongchang Mansion.But the books were not used well or passed down.
Instead, they were put on the shelf, raising the borers for nothing!" Decorate the facade, and be selfish and unwilling to benefit the people.
Why does the author portray the plot of Lao Can's poems? The heart is the aspiration, and the speech is the poem, because Liu E wants to show the spiritual space word by word, so why choose the topic wall?
Yue Fei wanted to clean up the mountains and rivers, Tan Sitong wanted to leave the Kunlun Mountains, and Liu E wanted to make the bloody words blatantly and nakedly placed in front of the readers, allowing readers inside and outside the book to enter through the opening strokes. The author's psychological space has the effect of appealing and enlightening.

Result
"Lao Can Travels" shows its unique style and pursuit with its rich geographical and cultural information and profound ideological and cultural connotations. His advocating scientific and practical spirit, integrative philosophy of life, people-oriented thinking, and allegorical analysis of the current situation are all displayed layer by layer in the layout of the novel's spatial structure. Writers of different eras and different traditions have created their own spaces in literary works to accommodate the dynamic life. Today, when people are generally concerned about "poetic dwellings", space literature undoubtedly has rich inspiring significance for literary research. The research on the spatial structure of "Lao Can's Travels" helps us to have a more intuitive understanding of the psychological space where sensibility and rationality are merged, and the effect and inspiration are highly compatible. This is undoubtedly of important value for grasping the novel itself.