It is a story about the tragic love of jia baoyu and lin daiyu, and the prosperity and decline of the four. For those of thus who do, we are grateful to have it available. Apparently, the book has been translated with various titles. The basic storyline of a dream of red mansions focuses primarily on the chia family. Chen shihyin, in a vision, apprehends perception and spirituality.
Written in the 1700s, also known as dream of red chamber or story of the stone, this is considered perhaps the ultimate expression of chinese literature. 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. This novel recreates the ritualized hurlyburly of chinese family life that would otherwise be lost. Included here are the preface and comments by zhang ruzhi at the tops of the pages, the table of contents. The interesting thing is, in dream of red chamber, jia baoyus sister in law, the nice and tender widows name is its because. It is the first printed edition of the classic novel written by cao xueqin circa 1715. The entire book has one hundred and twenty chapters, each of which lasting. It is a question that the novel itself attempts to answer, and it is a question that has occupied commentators and scholars ever since the novel first began to circulate in manuscript form in 1754. Xifeng makes sure that after jia rui enter the house he get stuck in an outside court for all night in the cold this scene takes place in winter.
Jia ruis infatuation with wang xifeng ends with his death. Divided into five volumes, the story of the stone charts the glory and decline of the illustrious jia family. With jie deng, fenqiang ouyang, xiaoxu chen, ting li. Patterns of fate in dream of the red chamber jstor. Dream of the red chamber cliffsnotes study guides book. Im told that dream of the red chamber is most correct, but my copies all say the story of the stone and the story of the stone. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century china and is considered by many to. The red chamber is an expression used to describe the sheltered area where the. 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.
This apparently is a great translation by the late professor wang and. 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. The project gutenberg ebook of hung lou meng, book i, by. Pdf the dream of the red chamber book by cao xueqin free. 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. I have the exact same feeling with you the moment i began to read tolstoy. Dream of red mansions mainly depicts the flourishing and decline of the jia, the representative of the feudal family. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. Hong2 lou2 meng4, composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. A dream of red mansions directory red house character relationships table the opening poem ningguo articles zhen jia speech represented by jia jia zhens greatgrandfather coke modern servant jia jia speech zhen jia s grandfather the gujing zhen jia father of zhen jia i youshi zhen jia the following with similarities youshi the. Aug 29, 20 apparently, the book has been translated with various titles. The story of the stone, dream of the red chamber, red chamber dream, and a dream of red mansions.
She is portrayed by various actresses through different adaptations, with the 1987 tv. Hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese. As she did so, she raised her head and saw zhou ruis wife with her two. The sexuality of servants, especially servant girls, is of some concern in the novel. This was a really big family and their family structure was absolutely different to our modern family str. The dream of the red chamber, which he devoted ten years of his life to writing, was not published until thirty years after his death. Chinese architecture provides for the mass of the population low, onestory buildings. The golden days two week quiz a that include 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions for a quick inclass quiz. Jan 01, 2006 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg.
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. However, many lesser characters like grannie liu and subplots like jia ruis attempt to seduce. This novel recreates the ritualized hurlyburly of chinese family life that would otherwise be lost and infuses it with affirming buddhist belief. 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. 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. It was written sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the qing dynasty. What is a guide to reading dream of the red chamber. There are two dukes in the family duke ningkuo and duke jungkuo. This is the theme of chinas fascinating and bestloved story, dream of the red chamber or dream of red mansions hung lou meng, written by tsao. Filmed mostly in shanghai, the tv series was first broadcast on chinese television system from november 1996 to october 1997. Xifeng, the target of his obsession, was not impressed. Feb 12, 2016 a performance of dream of the red chamber at the cairo opera house in 2010.
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. Because of the huge numbers of characters and difficulty of remembering all the chinese names, i was getting little out of the book. Jane kivik free download or read online the dream of the red chamber pdf epub book. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as cds or access codes. 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. Jia baoyu experienced the great changes from flourishing to decline of a noble family and thus gained unique perception of life and the mortal world. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Dream of the red chamber, or the story of the stone, is the greatest masterpiece of chinese classical novels of the ming and qing dynasties with the most profound influence on later generations. Ye cats, the longest book ive ever read 2,549 pages, yang translation. This novel recreates the ritualized hurlyburly of chinese family life that would otherwise. Chichen wang, dream of the red chamber 1958, introduction, p. Why is chinas greatest novel virtually unknown in the west. This study guide consists of approximately 44 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the story of the stone, or the dream of the red chamber.
Chichen wangs translation is skillful and accurate. Dream of the red chamber contains examples of abhorrent admirer. It details the decline of the jia family as it blends realism and romance, psychological motivation and fate, and daily life and supernatural occurrences. The magic stone will become jia baoyu while the flowerfairy will become lin daiyu. Translating religion in the dream of the red chamber. Dream of the red chamber in 120 chapters world digital.
Premade quizzes on the story of the stone, or the dream of the red chamber. A performance of dream of the red chamber at the cairo opera house in 2010. The stone or a dream of red chambers hong rou meng. According to lu xun in the appendix to a brief history of chinese fiction, dream of the red chamber broke every conceivable thought and technique in traditional chinese fiction. Long considered a masterpiece of chinese literature, the novel is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of chinese fiction red chamber is believed to be semiautobiographical. Authored by one cao xueqin, the book is claimed by some scholars to be based on the authors own family. Through the describing of the spirit and tragedies of jia baoyum lin daiyu and other characters, this works deeply criticizes the the evils of the feudal system and its patriarchal ethical code. The jia family throws a spectacular birthday party for jia. The golden days quiz cao xueqin this study guide consists of approximately 44 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the story of the stone, or the dream of the red chamber. From this chapter to chapter 15, the author focuses mostly on the hostess of the jung mansion wang hsifeng phoenix. Almost 40 main characters and some 500 minor characters tell the fortunes of the chia family. Filmed mostly in shanghai, the tv series was first broadcast on chinese television system from november 1996 to october 1997 cast. Hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese novel, book i by xueqin cao.
Hung lou meng, or, the dream of the red chamber, a chinese novel, book i by cao free ebook project gutenberg. The project gutenberg ebook of hung lou meng, book i, by cao. Bencraft joly was viceconsulate of macao at the time he translated the dream of the red chamber in an effort to advance appreciation of chinese literature among western scholars. This is perhaps best seen in her treatment of characters such as jia rui and you. Subsequent to the visions of a dream which he had, on some previous occasion, experienced. Here, taiyus overly sensitive character is revealed when she bitterly remarks that everyone else had their pick of the flowers before she did. The first edition of the novel was published in 1791, and was written by cao xueqin. See more ideas about chinese art, chinese painting and art. Dream of the red chamber illustrated book i by xueqin cao. Chichen wangs translation is skillful, accurate and fascinating. The dream of the red chamber is one of the four great classical novels of chinese literature. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. What is the appeal of the chinese classic dream of the red. Wang xifeng is one of the main characters in the classic chinese novel dream of the red chamber, and can be considered as the novels main antagonist due to her actions that caused several severe tragedies in the book.
Dream of the red chamber is widely regarded as the greatest novel of classical china. 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. Dream of the red chamber by cao xueqin librarything. Pdf a guide to reading dream of the red chamber bryan w. Dream of the red chamber1 the most highly esteemed work of prose fiction in.
Xin jian quan bu xiu xiang hong lou meng newly printed complete illustrated edition of the dream of the red chamber is also known as the chenga edition. Although, when the novel begins, the jias are immensely wealthy and distinguished. It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century china and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the classical chinese novel. 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. Why is chinas greatest novel virtually unknown in the. The novel begins, in the david hawkes translation, with a question. Chou go on an errand to deliver twelve sprays of gauze flowers to the girls in the jung mansion. Honestly, up until the second time i finished reading the novel, i was still not quite clear of their specific relationships with each other. Dream of the red chamber s textual history is involved and complex, and has long been a subject of critical scrutiny, debate, and conjecture. Dream of the red chamber, also called the story of the stone, composed by cao xueqin, is one of chinas four great classical novels. The selected narratives from the novel are acted out chapter by chapter. Bencraft joly was viceconsulate of macao at the time he translated the dream of the red chamber in an effort to advance appreciation. Dream of the red chamber by hsuehchin, tsao and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 352 pages and is available in paperback format.
History for literaturedreamoftheredchamber tv tropes. Reading dream of the red chamber a sentimental girl sought to repay a debt of tears to a young man with a penchant for female companions in a complex web of family and social relationship. Heck, the book itself gives more titles than even that. 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. Chia yuetsun, in the windy and dusty world, cherishes fond thoughts of a beautiful maiden. The story of the stone, or the dream of the red chamber. Dream of the red chamber is a taiwanese tv series based on cao xueqins acclaimed 18thcentury novel of the same name. Her marriage to baoyu is seen in the book as predestined. But for a person just looking for a diverting read, not so much.