Dream of the Red Chamber

Dream of the Red Chamber, novel written by Cao Zhan in the 18th century that is generally considered to be the greatest of all Chinese novels and among the greatest in world literature.

The work, published in English as Dream of the Red Chamber (1929), first appeared in manuscript form in Beijing during Cao Zhan’s lifetime. In 1791, almost 30 years after his death, the novel was published in a complete version of 120 chapters prepared by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E. Uncertainty remains about the final 40 chapters of the book; they may have been forged by Gao, substantially written by Cao Zhan and simply discovered and put into final form by Cheng and Gao, or perhaps composed by an unknown author. The Story of the Stone (1973–86) is a complete five-volume English translation.

The novel is a blend of realism and romance, psychological motivation and fate, daily life and supernatural occurrences. A series of episodes rather than a strongly plotted work, it details the decline of the Jia family, composed of two main branches, with a proliferation of kinsmen and servants. There are 30 main characters and more than 400 minor ones. The major focus, however, is on young Baoyu, the gifted but obstinate heir of the clan. Spoiled by his mother and grandmother, he is continually reprimanded by his strict Confucian father, who especially abhors Baoyu’s intimacy with his numerous female cousins and maidservants. Most notable among these relations are the melancholy Daiyu (Black Jade), Baoyu’s ill-fated love, and the vivacious Baochai (Precious Clasp), his eventual wife. The work and the character of Baoyu in particular are generally thought to be semiautobiographical creations of Cao Zhan. His portrait of the extended family reflects a faithful image of upper-class life in the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), while the variety of individual character portraits reveals a psychological depth not previously approached in Chinese literature.

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