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Dream of the Red Chamber

Last Updated on 2016/05/08

Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the four Chinese classics. The novel is semi-autobiographical and it gives an incredibly detailed insight into 18th-century life in China, particularly that of the aristocracy. The plot is grand in scale, peopled with a complex array of characters.

Dream of the Red Chamber, also called The Story of the Stone, composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels. It was written sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature and is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of Chinese fiction. “Redology” is the field of study devoted exclusively to this work.

The title has also been translated as Red Chamber Dream and A Dream of Red Mansions. The novel circulated in manuscript copies with various titles until its print publication, in 1791. While the first 80 chapters were written by Cao Xueqin, Gao E, who prepared the first and second printed editions with his partner Cheng Weiyuan in 1791–2, added 40 additional chapters to complete the novel.

Red Chamber is believed to be semi-autobiographical, mirroring the rise and decline of author Cao Xueqin’s own family and, by extension, of the Qing Dynasty. As the author details in the first chapter, it is intended to be a memorial to the damsels he knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. The novel is remarkable not only for its huge cast of characters and psychological scope, but also for its precise and detailed observation of the life and social structures typical of 18th-century Chinese aristocracy.

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Dream of the Red Chamber is a masterpiece of Chinese literature and one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the mid-18th century during the Qing Dynasty and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of Chinese fiction. The novel is believed to be semi-autobiographical, mirroring the rise and decay of author’s own family and, by extension, of the Qing Dynasty. As the author states in the first chapter, it is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth – friends, relatives and servants. At the center of the story is Bao-yu, a precocious, spoiled, and undisciplined boy and his romantic affinity to his poetry-loving, orphaned cousin, Dai-yu. The novel is remarkable not only for its huge cast of characters and psychological scope, but also for its precise and detailed observation of the life and social structures typical of 18th-century Chinese aristocracy.

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