Re-examines The Story of the Stone

Author: Cao Xueqin
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Reassessment of Shitouji by Zhiyanzhai (Gengchen Edition) is a manuscript copy, originally consisting of eight volumes, containing 78 chapters. Chapters 17 and 18 are not separated into individual chapters, Chapter 19 lacks a title, and the table of contents includes the note "Missing Chapters 64 and 67." Each volume is marked at the beginning with "Zhiyanqi Fan reviewed it four times," and starting from the fifth volume, it also bears the inscription "Dingben in Gengchen Autumn" or "Dingben in Gengchen Autumn." Therefore, this The Reassessment of Shitouji by Zhiyanzhai is also known as the "Gengchen Edition." Gengchen corresponds to the 25th year of the Qianlong reign (1760). From the inscription "Zhiyanqi Fan reviewed Shitouji four times" at the beginning of each volume, we can deduce that Zhiyanqi had reviewed Shitouji four times by the Gengchen year, which aligns with the "Jiaxu Edition" also being marked as four reviews. However, the year of the first review remains unknown, as the available evidence does not go back that far. Additionally, some redologists question whether the four reviews were truly completed. The Reassessment of Shitouji by Zhiyanzhai (Gengchen Edition) plays a significant role in the popularization and study of Dream of the Red Chamber and holds a special position of its own.