Chen Yinque and The Dream of the Red Chamber

Author: Liu Mengxi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: When Mr. Chen Yinkuo explained and commented on the poems of "Qian Liu Yin Yuan" and discussed "Zai Sheng Yuan" as well as its author Chen Duansheng, he often touched upon the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber." This was not accidental. The authors and characters of these works were all active on the social stage during the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. This was a time when the ruling power was in flux and the new regime's rule was particularly harsh. Such historical moments more clearly revealed the choices and principles of scholars. If Mr. Chen's late-life writings of "On Zai Sheng Yuan" and "Biography of Liu Rushi" were to "praise the red dress," then the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber," Cao Xueqin, and the author of "Zai Sheng Yuan," Chen Duansheng, had already been "praising the red dress" long before him by three hundred years. It is well-known that Cao and Chen (Duansheng) had historical reasons for "praising the red dress." So, why did Mr. Yinkuo, in his declining years, exert great effort to write "Biography of Liu Rushi" and "On Zai Sheng Yuan"? As the postscript of "On Zai Sheng Yuan" says, "The powder on the forehead of the Buddhist disciple has long dried." The first poem of the chapter "Origin of Fate" in "Biography of Liu Rushi" says, "Even if Yang Ai laughs a thousand pounds, in the end, there remains the eternal sorrow of returning to Zhuang."