Liu Xinwu comments on the Dream of the Red Chamber

Author: Liu Xinwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: How many times has the moon in the Red Chamber been full? It can be estimated that the eighty chapters must be "the moon sets, crows cry, frost covers the sky," with Qin Keqing hidden in Ningguo Mansion, the property of Zhen's family from Nanjing, which was being investigated, being hidden and transferred to Rongguo Mansion, and other various crimes—being settled by "the scorching sun," collapsing like a towering house, dim and miserable like a lamp about to burn out, bones piled like mountains, forgetting their names,! The greatness of Dream of the Red Chamber lies in its ability to achieve a theory through a novel, namely "Red Studies." "Red Studies" was originally a playful term used by scholars and literati in the Qing Dynasty. Its academic status was established in the 1920s with the founding of the New Red Studies, which some even called "a great achievement worthy of being inscribed on the Lingyan Pavilion," demonstrating the achievements and influence of New Red Studies. More scholars like Wang Guowei, Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, and others, with their erudition and mastery, offered critiques of Dream of the Red Chamber and published, exerting profound influence on both their time and later generations. The authors selected in this series are all renowned experts in "Red Studies" or outstanding figures in other fields, with the aim of enabling readers to understand Dream of the Red Chamber from a higher perspective. The selected articles are chosen without regard to academic viewpoints, cultural backgrounds, or political tendencies; in terms of form, they include both lengthy discourses and short essays; in terms of time, they span a wide range, and during technical processing, their original form is preserved as much as possible. To balance academic rigor and entertainment, the articles are arranged in no particular order of publication. The authors selected in this book are all renowned experts in "Red Studies" or outstanding figures in other fields, with the aim of enabling readers to understand Dream of the Red Chamber from a higher perspective. The selected articles are chosen without regard to academic viewpoints, cultural backgrounds, or political tendencies, and in terms of form, they include both lengthy discourses and short essays.