Decoding the Prototype: A Study of Chen Zilong as "Cao Xueqin" through a Comparative Study of Zhiyanzhai Commentary and Southern Ming Traumatic History

In the text, Cao Xueqin is situated at the level of "borrowed language and veiled discourse." This paper aims, through a historical chronological and semiotic analysis of the Sexagenary Cycle dating system in the Zhi Commentary of Dream of the Red Chamber, to demonstrate its precise mapping relationship with key junctures of the Southern Ming regime (1644–1662) and to reveal its function as a covert "historical time code." Building on this foundation, the study explores the deeper metaphors embedded in the pen name "Cao Xueqin," arguing that the late Ming martyr Chen Zilong serves as his spiritual and biographical prototype, and constructs an integrated hypothesis regarding the novel's textual genesis. Employing a combined methodological approach of historical chronological comparison, textual semiotic analysis, and social network analysis, the core Sexagenary Cycle dates from the Zhi Commentary (Renwu, Jimao, Yiyou, Dinghai, Jiawu) are systematically examined within the historical coordinate system of the Southern Ming. The study decodes homophonic wordplay, prophecies, and allusions within the novel's text to explore their connection with the political discourse of Ming loyalists. By integrating the life histories and poetic networks of figures such as Chen Zilong and Liu Rushi, it analyzes their potential links to the "one Qin, one Zhi" commentary and the novel's creation. The research finds that the Zhi Commentary's Sexagenary Cycle dates form an emotionally and eventfully seamless mapping with the critical moments of the Southern Ming history—warning, establishment, collapse, struggle, and disillusionment. Simultaneously, "Cao Xueqin" can be interpreted as "the humble offering of a Ming loyalist," and his biographical trajectory (warning in Renwu, martyrdom in Dinghai) highly coincides with the fate assigned to "Qin" in the Zhi Commentary ("tears exhausted," "passed away"). The symbolic system within the text, such as the homophonic play on "Geng Huang," also constitutes a covert commentary on Southern Ming historical events. The conclusions of this study are based on textual interpretation and logical inference, constituting a hypothesis within the realm of historical poetics. The argument relies on the interpretation of connections between literary symbols and historical events and awaits further empirical evidence from textual criticism, communication studies, or intertextual sources to support or refine it. The creation of Dream of the Red Chamber is deeply embedded within the historical trauma context of the Ming-Qing transition. The Zhi Commentary's Sexagenary Cycle dates constitute a private temporal code distanced from the official Qing dynasty calendar, their emotional tone reproducing the spiritual journey of the Ming loyalist community. Chen Zilong, as the core prototype of "Cao Xueqin," together with Liu Rushi representing "Zhi," forms the ideal spiritual pairing of "one Qin, one Zhi." The novel can be viewed as a "crystallization of trauma," a vessel of historical memory initially shaped by the early involvement of loyalist scholars and ultimately synthesized and completed by a core author. 文本中的曹雪芹位于假语村言层面,本文旨在通过对《红楼梦》脂批中干支纪年系统的历史编年学与符号学分析,论证其与南明政权(1644-1662)关键节点的精密映射关系,揭示其作为一套隐秘"历史时间密码"的功能。在此基础上,探究"曹雪芹"笔名的深层隐喻,论证明末英烈陈子龙为其精神与生命原型,并构建一个关于小说文本生成的整合性假说。采用历史编年学比对、文本符号学分析与社会网络分析思路相结合的方法,将脂批核心干支(壬午、己卯、乙酉、丁亥、甲午)重置于南明历史坐标系中进行系统性检验,对小说文本内的谐音、谶语、典故进行解码,探寻其与遗民政治话语的关联,结合陈子龙、柳如是等人的生平、诗歌网络,分析其与"一芹一脂"批语及小说创作的可能关联。研究发现,脂批干支与南明史上的预警、建立、沦陷、挣扎、幻灭节点形成严丝合缝的情感与事件映射。同时,"曹雪芹"可解读为"朱明遗民之献芹者",其生平轨迹(壬午预警、丁亥殉国)与脂批为"芹"设定的命运("泪尽"、"逝矣")高度重合。文本内部的"庚黄"谐音等符号系统亦构成对南明史事的隐性评论。本研究结论建立在文献解读与逻辑推论之上,属于历史诗学范畴的假说。其论证依赖于对文学符号与历史事件关联性的阐释,有待更多来自版本学、传播学或交叉文本的实证性证据进一步支持或修正。 《红楼梦》的创作深层嵌入明清易代的历史创伤语境。脂批干支构成了一套疏离于清朝官方纪年的私密时间编码,其情感基调复现了遗民群体的精神历程。陈子龙作为"曹雪芹"的核心原型,与柳如是所代表的"脂"共同构成了"一芹一脂"的理想精神组合。小说可被视为始于遗民志士早期参与、最终由核心作者集成完成的、承载历史记忆的"创伤结晶"。