Why you should read chinas vast, 18th century novel, dream of the. The dream of the red chamber community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Xueqin cao quotes author of dream of the red chamber. The dream of the red chamber also known as the story of the stone is one of the four great classical novels of china, and considered the greatest of them all. Dream of the red chamber original title is considered one of the four great classics of chinese literature, along with water margin, journey to the west and romance of the three kingdoms.
Nov 10, 2016 background introduction about the famous classical novel the dream of the red chamber. Almost 40 main characters and some 500 minor characters tell the fortunes of the chia family. Dream of the red chamber, chinese pinyin hongloumeng or wadegiles romanization hungloumeng, 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. Languages and literatures of eastern asia, africa, oceania. Dream of the red chamber tv series 19871987 the movie. The series begins with the motherless child, lin daiyu whose beauty and intelligence surpasses all moving into the family compound of her maternal grandmother in the capital. This apparently is a great translation by the late professor wang and. Dream of the red chamber, chinese pinyin hongloumeng or wadegiles romanization hungloumeng, novel written by cao zhan in the 18th century that is. To me the idea of authorship often seems associated with the concept of ownership, as is the case with the controversy over the last 40 chapters of dream of the red chamber. The dream of the red chamber community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and. We have based this set of notes on the threevolume original novel, feeling that the richness of the original work is too important to ignore.
Somehow, through the spats, crushes and rivalries of a. But for a person just looking for a diverting read, not so much. It details the decline of the jia family as it blends realism and romance, psychological motivation and fate, and daily life and supernatural occurrences. Cao xueqin, a member of an eminent family that had served the qing dynasty emperors but whose fortunes had begun to decline, began composing dream of the red chamber during the 1740s. It gained enormous popularity with its superb music, cast, and plot adaptation. The series follows the plot of cao xueqin s novel dream of the red chamber. Pdf the dream of the red chamber book by cao xueqin free. Hsuehchin is the author of dream of the red chamber and a dream of the red mansions. Background introduction about the famous classical novel the dream of the red chamber.
It gained enormous popularity for its music, cast, and plot adaptation. There are two dukes in the family duke ningkuo and duke jungkuo. For those of thus who do, we are grateful to have it available. A dream of red mansions chinese classics, classic novel in 4. Pdf dream of the red chamber download full pdf book. Presentation of artificial flowers made in the palace. Dream of the red chamber, also called the story of the stone, or hongloumeng composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. Dream of the red chamber contains examples of abhorrent admirer. Record of the stone, is thought to be a great work of chinese literature and is. With jie deng, fenqiang ouyang, xiaoxu chen, ting li. The first complete english translation was published by british sinologist david hawkes in 1970s, gladys yang and yang hsienyi has also translated a complete version. Like a chorus of golden pages and jade maidens came onto the stage, fairy streamers fluttering and flags aloft, to reveal in their midst a gorgeously attired lady, her head draped in black, her costume shimmering with. At the beginning of the story, nuwa, an elder goddess of the.
Apr 18, 2018 yet dream of the red chamber, written in the mid18th century, is the fullest immersion one could hope for into late imperial china, the best access to the minds, hearts and habits of that period. Jan 01, 2006 hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese novel, book i language. It also makes sense to read idema and haft 1997, or the much older but more detailed presentation of the novel in hsia 1968, or else the translators introduction to the most readable. In chapter 9, jia zheng, bao yus father, questioned li gui, a servant, about what bao yu had been learning in class, and spoke of punishing him for allowing bao yu to neglect his studies. It was written sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the qing dynasty. Librivox recording of the dream of the red chamber book i by xueqin cao. Dream of the red chamber also red chamber dream, hung lou meng or a dream of red mansions simplified chinese. Tsao hsuehchin wasa chinese writer who lived and worked during the 18th century. The dream of the red chamber tuttle classics cao xueqin, h. The novel is most often titled hong lou meng, literally red chamber dream.
Dream of the red chamber was finally published in print in 1791, but the text is still surrounded by controversy. Dream of the red chamber may be a great novel in its original mandarin chinese, but i gave up reading it about onethird of the way through. What is the best english translation of dream of the red. Dream of the red chamber cantonese hong kong drama. The story of the dream of the red chamber moves in a background that is strange to western readers. The monitory vision fairy expounds, in ballads, the dream of the red chamber.
In red chamber, a love triangle for the ages before most chinese readers learned of romeo and juliet, they fell for dream of the red chamber. Xifeng, the target of his obsession, was not impressed. Dream of the red chamber, written in the 18th century in china, is a book for people who have a particular interest in chinese culture. For more than a century and a half, dream of the red chamber has been recognized in china as the greatest of its novels, a chinese romeoandjuliet love. The dream of the red chamber by cao xueqin, paperback. The main characters of this classics, fiction story are baoyu, daiyu. I have read it bit by bit in my study, in railway trains, in hotel rooms. Full text of the dream of the red chamber hung lou meng. The setting of the story is based on the political, social and cultural environment of the ming dynasty 68 1644, the. Written in the mid18th century by cao xueqin, it tells the story of the slow fall from grace of a rich family, the jia household. Dream of the red chamber, also called the story of the stone and a dream of red mansions, composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. Dream of the red chamber is a onevolume adaptation of a much longer, threevolume work, sometimes translated into english as a dream of red mansions.
Dream of the red chamber is an 18thcentury novel written by cao zhan that is generally considered to be the greatest novel of chinese literature. Dream of the red chamber is one of the great classic chinese novels, along with three kingdoms warfare, water margin and journey to the west. Some chinese critics remark the latter one to be more precise. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 352 pages and is available in paperback format. The first edition of the novel was published in 1791, and was written by cao xueqin. The novel was written by cao xueqin in the 18th century. Honglou meng, released in 1987, was a television series produced by cctv adapted from the classic chinese novel dream of the red chamber. Dream of the red chamber simple english wikipedia, the free. Old goody liu pays a visit to the jung kuo mansion. It also makes sense to read idema and haft 1997, or the much older but more detailed presentation of the novel in hsia 1968, or else the translators introduction to the most readable english version of the novel, hawkes. Learn the red chamber dream from national taiwan university. Hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese novel, book i language.
As such, the social and economic relationships between various characters illuminate a larger system of social hierarchy and a broader understanding of the eastern. Chichen wangs translation is skillful and accurate. Dream of the red chamber, released in 1987, was a television series produced by cctv adapted from the classic chinese novel dream of the red chamber. Believed to be based on the authors own life and intended as a memorial to the women that he knew in his youth, the dream of the red chamber is a multilayered story that offers up key insights into chinese culture. We see the inferior status of concubines manifest in the behavior and the treatment of concubine zhao zhao yiniang, the mother of tanchun and jia huan. Why is chinas greatest novel virtually unknown in the west. Dream of the red chamber, by cao xueqin, follows the travails of a pubescent boy. Feb 12, 2016 dream of the red chamber was finally published in print in 1791, but the text is still surrounded by controversy. Then it was translated into cantonese, shanghainese, and other languages and aired in the rest of china. There is a story that it had been censored because eminent people it satirised had.
This 63page guide for dream of the red chamber by cao xueqin includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 26 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Why is chinas greatest novel virtually unknown in the. China history qing dynasty, 16441912 fiction subject. Dream of the red chamber simple english wikipedia, the. Because of the huge numbers of characters and difficulty of remembering all the chinese names, i was getting little out of the book. A short introduction of the dream of the red chamber youtube. Dream of the red chamber wikisource, the free online library. His personal name was zhan, and his style name adopted by a man at his coming of. Chichen wang, dream of the red chamber 1958, introduction, p.
Yet dream of the red chamber, written in the mid18th century, is the fullest immersion one could hope for into late imperial china, the best access to the minds, hearts and habits of that period. Free download or read online the dream of the red chamber pdf epub book. Almost 40 main characters and some 500 minor characters tell the fortunes of the chia. Jia huan is in no way treated as an equal to his halfbrother baoyu, and he is, as a result, quite jealous. Dream of the red chamber s textual history is involved and complex, and has long been a subject of critical scrutiny, debate, and conjecture. These 40 chapters are problematic because their origin is unknownthey dont belong to cao xueqin but also cant fully belong to anyone else. Dream of the red chamber was written in the 1750s by a great artist with his very lifeblood, said hawkes. The dream of the red chamberstory of the stone is unlike any work in the western canon yet it fits into the western tradition of great literature in a way few other examples of classic chinese writing are able to, offering an engrossive narrative and a real feel for both character and place. Jul 15, 2012 in red chamber, a love triangle for the ages before most chinese readers learned of romeo and juliet, they fell for dream of the red chamber. It is a story about the tragic love of jia baoyu and lin daiyu, and the prosperity and decline of the four. Reviewed in the united states on october 23, 2005 the second installment of the dream of the red chamber is saliently deprived of all the supernatural phenomena, celestial illusions and fairy appearances that were mandatory to account for the general background of the novel.
This is counted among chinas four great classical novels, composed in the 18th century during the qing dynasty. It was first filmed in beijing in mandarin, then the series was dubbed in. The dream of the red chamber story of the stone is unlike any work in the western canon yet it fits into the western tradition of great literature in a way few other examples of classic chinese writing are able to, offering an engrossive narrative and a real feel for both character and place. Why you should read chinas vast, 18th century novel.
For more than a century and a half, dream of the red chamber has been recognized in china as the greatest of its novels, a chinese romeoandjuliet love story and a portrait of one of the worlds great civilizations. Social hierarchy and class one function of story of the stone is its capacity to shed light on chinese customs, value systems, and social hierarchies during this period in chinese history. Dream of the red chamber one of chinas greatest classical novelsas famous in china as romeo and juliet is in the westrecounts the love triangle between a young nobleman and two very different women. The red chamber is an expression used to describe the sheltered area where the daughters of wealthy chinese families lived. Chinese architecture provides for the mass of the population low, onestory buildings. These 40 chapters are problematic because their origin is unknownthey dont belong to. Hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese. Jul 27, 2017 dream of the red chamber, written in the 18th century in china, is a book for people who have a particular interest in chinese culture. One of chinas greatest classical novelsas famous in china as romeo and juliet is in the westrecounts the love triangle between a young nobleman and two very different women. Jul 26, 2017 dream of the red chamber, also called the story of the stone and a dream of red mansions, composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. The basic storyline of a dream of red mansions focuses primarily on the chia family. Chia paoyu reaps his first experience in licentious love. Based on the mideighteenth century novel by cao xueqin, beijings cctvs version of a dream in red mansions aka dream of the red chamber is known by many to be the ultimate and best adaptation of the story either on tv or film. Also known as hung lou menga, red chamber dream, and a dream of red mansions, a chinese novel in two parts by cao xueqin.
Why you should read chinas vast, 18th century novel, dream. Dream of the red chamber or the hung lou meng is the greatest of all chinese novels and the first of its kind to break completely with the past. Dream of the red chamber all the tropes wiki fandom. Honglou meng, originally the story of the stone simplified chinese. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Translated and adapted from the chinese by chichen wang, with a preface by arthur walcy. Dream of the red chamber, also called the story of the stone, composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. For dream of the red chamber, as for most works of traditional chinese literature, the first place to go for a general overview is nienhauser 19861998.
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