 As one of the masterpieces of Chinese fiction, Dream of the Red Chamber ( 红楼梦 ) was written by Cao Xueqin ( 曹雪芹 ) , which was composed in the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty ( 清朝 ) . Generally known as the four Classics, the novel is usually grouped with other pre-modern Chinese works of fiction.
The novel is semi-autobiographical, which mirrored the fortunes of Cao Xueqin's own family. Originally extremely wealthy, with a female member made an imperial concubine, the family eventually fell into disfavour with the emperor, and had their mansions raided and confiscated. It was also intended to be a memorial to women he knew in his youth; friends, relatives and servants.
The main character, Jia Baoyu ( 贾宝玉 ) is an adolescent boy, apparently the reincarnation of a stone. In that previous life he fell in love with a flower, who is incarnated now as Baoyu's sickly cousin, the emotional Lin Daiyu ( 林黛玉 ) . However, he is predestined in this life, despite his love for Daiyu, to marry another cousin; Xue Baochai ( 薛宝钗 ) . The novel follows this tragic love triangle against the backdrop of the family's declining fortunes.
 The novel is normally called Hong Lou Meng ( 红楼梦 ) － literally "Red Mansion Dream". " Red Mansion " was an idiom for the daughters of rich men; thus the title can be understood as a "dream of rich young women". It can also be understood as referring to a dream that Baoyu has - in a " Red Mansion " - at the beginning of the novel, where the deaths of many of the female characters are prophecized. "Red" also suggests the Buddhist idea that the whole world is "red dust" - merely illusory and to be shunned. Thus the novel fits in perfectly with Buddhist and Taoist beliefs that to find enlightenment, one must realize that the world is but a dream from which we must awake.
Cao Xueqin revised his novel five times, and died before he had finished the fifth version. To compound this problem, a friend lost the latter chapters of the book, so we only have 80 chapters that are definitively written by the author. However, some versions of these eighty pages have comments written on them by members of Cao's family, which give some clues as to how the novel was originally going to end. Furthermore, the book brims with prophecies and dramatic ironies, which again give hints as to how the book would continue. For example, it is obvious that Lin Daiyu would eventually die; that Baoyu would become a monk; various characters would suffer in the snow; and that the whole estate would finally be consumed by flames. |
