Dream of the Red Chamber

Author: Cao Xueqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Cao Xueqin is one of the greatest and most complex writers in the history of Chinese literature, and Dream of the Red Chamber is also one of the greatest and most complex works in the history of Chinese literature. Dream of the Red Chamber depicts the tragic love and marriage between the feudal aristocratic youth Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, and centers on this, portraying the rise and fall of the four great families—Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue—representative of the time, with the Jia family being the focal point. It exposes the darkness and evils of the late feudal society, as well as its irreconcilable internal contradictions, and delivers a powerful critique of the decadent feudal ruling class and the collapsing feudal system, leaving readers with a sense of its inevitable downfall. This book is a great work of both high ideological depth and high artistic achievement. From the ideological tendencies it reflects, the author demonstrates preliminary democratic ideas. He critically examines the darkness of the imperial court and officialdom, the corruption of the feudal aristocratic class and their families, the feudal imperial examination system, marriage system, servant system, and class hierarchy, as well as the corresponding social ruling ideology of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, and social moral concepts, proposing vague ideals and proposals with preliminary democratic characteristics. These ideals and proposals are a twisted reflection of the budding factors of capitalist economic development at the time. Cao Xueqin is one of the greatest and most complex writers in the history of Chinese literature, and Dream of the Red Chamber is also one of the greatest and most complex works in the history of Chinese literature. Dream of the Red Chamber depicts the tragic love and marriage between the feudal aristocratic youth Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, and centers on this, portraying the rise and fall of the four great families—Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue—representative of the time, with the Jia family being the focal point. It exposes the darkness and evils of the late feudal society, as well as its irreconcilable internal contradictions, and delivers a powerful critique of the decadent feudal ruling class and the collapsing feudal system, leaving readers with a sense of its inevitable downfall. This book is a great work of both high ideological depth and high artistic achievement. From the ideological tendencies it reflects, the author demonstrates preliminary democratic ideas. He critically examines the darkness of the imperial court and officialdom, the corruption of the feudal aristocratic class and their families, the feudal imperial examination system, marriage system, servant system, and class hierarchy, as well as the corresponding social ruling ideology of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, and social moral concepts, proposing vague ideals and proposals with preliminary democratic characteristics. These ideals and proposals are a twisted reflection of the budding factors of capitalist economic development at the time.