Dream of the Red Chamber (Upper and Lower)

Author: Cao Xueqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: To comprehensively improve the Chinese literacy of primary and secondary school students, enhance the modern awareness of language courses, and vigorously promote new learning methods, the Ministry of Education issued the "Full-Time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" and the "General High School Chinese Curriculum Standards" as core content of the basic education curriculum reform in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The "Chinese Curriculum Standards" serve as the basis for teaching, assessment, and examination question setting, as well as the foundation for national curriculum management and evaluation, reflecting the fundamental requirements of the state for students at different stages in terms of knowledge, skills, processes, and methods. Compared to the original "Chinese Teaching Syllabus" for primary and secondary schools, the "Chinese Curriculum Standards" have made significant revisions to the specific titles of extracurricular reading materials in the original syllabus and have stipulated the total amount of reading required for students at different stages, urging primary and secondary school students to read widely. For this purpose, we have compiled and published this series of "New Curriculum Standards Chinese Must-Read Books," with all the titles in the series designated by the new standards. To assist students in reading, we have included an introductory essay before each classic, providing an in-depth yet accessible introduction to the relevant information about the book. Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the greatest literary masterpieces of 18th-century China, not only a rare and precious gem in the forest of Chinese literature but also a dazzling pearl in the vast ocean of world literature. This masterpiece of fiction has captivated countless devoted readers with its miraculous artistic charm for two centuries. The Grand View Garden depicted in the book is like a maze, winding and intricate, with flowers and willows alternating between light and shadow, often leaving readers entangled within it, unable to step outside the garden and reflect on the text from a literary perspective. Since its inception, readers and scholars from different eras and with varying perspectives have always examined and explored its depths and truths from different levels and in different ways. As a result, each person has their own re-creation of Dream of the Red Chamber, leading to conflicting interpretations and no single definitive view.