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红楼梦 A Dream of Red Mansions- Classic 'written in blood and tears'
April 14, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
"HONGLOU Meng," or "A Dream of Red Mansions," is one of the Four Great Classic Chinese Novels of Chinese literature. The other three are "Water Margin," "Journey to the West" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Also known as "The Story of the Stone," the novel was written by Cao Xueqin (circa 1715-64), a great writer of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The book was first published in the middle of 18th century in China in the form of hand-written copies, only the first 80 chapters of the original novel have survived.
The remaining 40 chapters of the current popular 120-chapter edition are usually attributed to fellow writer Gao E (circa 1738-1815).
Many Chinese literature scholars believe "A Dream of Red Mansions" is a semi-autobiographical work.
Cao was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were appointed in succession by the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty as Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Jiangning, today's Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
The position was a very lucrative one and the family became so rich that they played host on four occasions to the emperor during his well-recorded trips to the Yangtze River Delta areas in the south.
But the good fortune of the Cao family came to an end when a new emperor came to the throne. In 1727, their properties were confiscated in a politically motivated purge and the whole family was forced to move to today's Beijing.
Cao was a very talented boy who had received a very good education during his childhood and while just a teenager was already an excellent poet and painter.
However, after the downfall of his family, Cao lived in poverty for the rest of his life in the western suburbs of Beijing.
In his later years, Cao could barely eke out a living through selling his paintings, but declined recommendations offered by friends to become a painter in the imperial court.
Instead, he spent more than 10 years writing "A Dream of Red Mansions," a work today widely regarded as the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels.
Some of his friends said that every word written by Cao in the novel was soaked with "blood and tears" and that the decade of hardship he endured writing this novel was simply "unimaginable."
The novel tells the stories of four rich and prominent feudal families, from their peak, to their decline. At its heart is the tragic love story of Jia Baoyu, the chief protagonist of the novel, and his younger cousin, Lin Daiyu.
But the novel also has a wider scope. It portrays a galaxy of vivid, distinctive characters; describes the debauched lives of the noble class; offers many original and beautifully written poems; and reveals the corruption, political struggles and inhumanity of the feudal system.
As a result, some scholars say "A Dream of Red Mansions," was a prophecy of the demise of the nearly 2,000 years of feudalism in China.
Because of its sharp criticism of feudal society, descriptions of incest among noble families and generous praise of the rebellious thought and behavior of young heroes, the novel was banned as "pornography" for a time during the Qing Dynasty.
But "A Dream of Red Mansions" was so popular that many Chinese scholars devoted their lives to studying Cao's work and later developing a so-called "Redology" school.
However, there have long been criticisms of the last 40 chapters of the present edition written by Gao E.
Gao is often criticized for twisting Cao's original intentions, particularly, for adding a happy ending to a tragic love story as a ridiculous anticlimax.
As a result, even today, there are still some writers who are trying to rewrite the last 40 chapters of this great novel.
Also known as "The Story of the Stone," the novel was written by Cao Xueqin (circa 1715-64), a great writer of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The book was first published in the middle of 18th century in China in the form of hand-written copies, only the first 80 chapters of the original novel have survived.
The remaining 40 chapters of the current popular 120-chapter edition are usually attributed to fellow writer Gao E (circa 1738-1815).
Many Chinese literature scholars believe "A Dream of Red Mansions" is a semi-autobiographical work.
Cao was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were appointed in succession by the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty as Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Jiangning, today's Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
The position was a very lucrative one and the family became so rich that they played host on four occasions to the emperor during his well-recorded trips to the Yangtze River Delta areas in the south.
But the good fortune of the Cao family came to an end when a new emperor came to the throne. In 1727, their properties were confiscated in a politically motivated purge and the whole family was forced to move to today's Beijing.
Cao was a very talented boy who had received a very good education during his childhood and while just a teenager was already an excellent poet and painter.
However, after the downfall of his family, Cao lived in poverty for the rest of his life in the western suburbs of Beijing.
In his later years, Cao could barely eke out a living through selling his paintings, but declined recommendations offered by friends to become a painter in the imperial court.
Instead, he spent more than 10 years writing "A Dream of Red Mansions," a work today widely regarded as the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels.
Some of his friends said that every word written by Cao in the novel was soaked with "blood and tears" and that the decade of hardship he endured writing this novel was simply "unimaginable."
The novel tells the stories of four rich and prominent feudal families, from their peak, to their decline. At its heart is the tragic love story of Jia Baoyu, the chief protagonist of the novel, and his younger cousin, Lin Daiyu.
But the novel also has a wider scope. It portrays a galaxy of vivid, distinctive characters; describes the debauched lives of the noble class; offers many original and beautifully written poems; and reveals the corruption, political struggles and inhumanity of the feudal system.
As a result, some scholars say "A Dream of Red Mansions," was a prophecy of the demise of the nearly 2,000 years of feudalism in China.
Because of its sharp criticism of feudal society, descriptions of incest among noble families and generous praise of the rebellious thought and behavior of young heroes, the novel was banned as "pornography" for a time during the Qing Dynasty.
But "A Dream of Red Mansions" was so popular that many Chinese scholars devoted their lives to studying Cao's work and later developing a so-called "Redology" school.
However, there have long been criticisms of the last 40 chapters of the present edition written by Gao E.
Gao is often criticized for twisting Cao's original intentions, particularly, for adding a happy ending to a tragic love story as a ridiculous anticlimax.
As a result, even today, there are still some writers who are trying to rewrite the last 40 chapters of this great novel.
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