Red Chamber Blood and Tears Chronicle

Author: Pan Zhonggui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Red Chamber, who is the Red Chamber? Blood and tears, who are the blood and tears? For over seventy years, the Red Chamber literary trend has undergone discussions and research in academia, and the theory that Dream of the Red Chamber is a self-narrative and autobiography by Cao Xueqin has become widely accepted. However, Professor Pan Zhonggui holds a different view. He published papers arguing that Dream of the Red Chamber is a work by Han Chinese patriots aiming to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. He not only collects various materials to support his argument but also presents his case with rigorous logic, making it difficult to refute. This book provides a meticulous analysis of the hidden art and taboos in Dream of the Red Chamber, interpreting the entanglements between Jia, Lin, and Xue from a completely different perspective and exploring the rise and fall of noble families. It reveals the hidden sorrow of a lost nation and the bitter tears hidden behind the scenes of romance and love, speaking of things that others have not spoken and saying things that others have not said, offering you a fresh perspective and a completely different Dream of the Red Chamber.
For over seventy years, the Red Chamber literary trend has undergone discussions and research in academia, and the theory that Dream of the Red Chamber is a self-narrative and autobiography by Cao Xueqin has become widely accepted. Professor Pan Zhonggui holds a different view, believing that Dream of the Red Chamber is a work by Han Chinese patriots aiming to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. The materials he has collected are extensive and well-supported, with every word demonstrating rigorous logic, making it difficult to refute. This book interprets the entanglements between Jia, Lin, and Xue and the rise and fall of their families from a completely different perspective. It reveals the hidden sorrow of a lost nation and the bitter tears hidden behind the scenes of romance and love, speaking of things that others have not spoken and saying things that others have not said, offering you a fresh perspective and a completely different Dream of the Red Chamber.
Over the years, scholars seeking the truth of Dream of the Red Chamber have proposed various theories. Now, I quote the comments from Zhou Shuren’s History of Fiction as follows: The narrative in this book preserves its original authenticity, and all the observations are based on personal experiences. Precisely because it is realistic, it becomes fresh. However, people often overlook this statement, always seeking deeper meanings and making speculations, which have multiplied over time. Now, I will exclude the absurd and unfounded theories, such as the claim that it is a satire of Hong Xiuquan (Notes from the Studio of Tansheng), contains hidden prophecies (Remnants of the Snail Shell), or uses the I Ching symbolism (Golden and Jade Love), and list the widely accepted theories below:
1. The family affairs of Nalan Chengde theory: Many have believed this theory. Chen Kangqi (Record of Village Life in Yanjing) recorded the incident of Jiang Chenying’s failure in the 1675 Imperial Examination and mentioned his teacher Xu Shidong (known as Liuquan): “The novel Dream of the Red Chamber records the affairs of the former minister Pearl, and the twelve gold hairpins are all guests favored by Nalan the Attendant. Baochai is a shadow of Gao Tanren, and Miaoyu is a shadow of Mr. Ximing. ‘Miao’ means ‘young woman,’ and ‘Jiang’ is also a beautiful name for a woman. ‘Like jade…like Ying,’ the meaning can be exchanged.” The Attendant refers to Nalan Chengde, who later changed his name to Xingde and was known as Rongruo. Zhang Weiping (Biographies of Poets) said: “Jia Baoyu is likely Rongruo; what is mentioned in Dream of the Red Chamber is his childhood.” Yu Yue (Idle Talks by Little Floating Plum) also said that he “passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen, which aligns well with what is described in the book.” However, other events do not match. Hu Shi’s Investigation into Dream of the Red Chamber (Collected Works of Hu Shi, Volume 3) has already corrected these errors. The strongest evidence is that Jiang Chenying had a Eulogy for Nalan Chengde, showing a deep bond that was not comparable to Miaoyu’s relationship with Baoyu. Another strong point is that Chengde died at the age of thirty-one, while the Qing official Mingzhu was already in his prime at that time.
2. The story of the Kangxi Emperor and the Dong Efei theory: Wang Mengruan and Shen Ping’an’s Investigation into Dream of the Red Chamber proposed this theory. The main idea is: “It is said that this book is entirely about the Kangxi Emperor and Dong Efei, as well as the famous nobles and women of that time.” It also identifies Dong Efei as Dong Xiaowan, a former courtesan from Qinhuai who later became the concubine of Mao Xiang. When the Qing army conquered the south, she was captured and taken north, where she gained favor with the Kangxi Emperor and was ennobled as a princess. She later died young; the emperor was grief-stricken and became a monk at Wutai Mountain. Meng Sen’s Investigation into Dong Xiaowan (Collected Works of Xin Shi, Volume 3) thoroughly exposed the flaws in this theory. The strongest evidence is that Dong Xiaowan was born in the Ming era in the Jiazi year, and if she entered the palace in the seventh year of the Shunzhi era, she would have been twenty-eight years old, while the Kangxi Emperor was only fourteen at that time.
3. The political state of the Kangxi era theory: This theory originated with Xu Shidong and was fully developed in Cai Yuanpei’s Investigation into Dream of the Red Chamber. It begins with: “Dream of the Red Chamber is a political novel of the Kangxi era. The author held a strong nationalistic stance, and the events in the book are meant to mourn the fall of the Ming Dynasty, expose the shortcomings of the Qing Dynasty, and particularly express sorrow for Han Chinese scholars who served the Qing.” Thus, comparisons and extensions are made to fit the theory, using “red” to represent the character “Zhu,” the stone to refer to Jinling, and “Jia” to criticize the fake dynasty. The “Twelve Beauties of Jinling” are compared to the famous scholars of Jiangnan in the early Qing Dynasty, such as Lin Daiyu as Zhu Yizun, Wang Xifeng as Yu Guizhu, Shi Xiangyun as Chen Weisong, and Baochai and Miaoyu following Xu’s theory. The author cites numerous sources and dedicates great effort. However, after Hu Shi examined the author’s life, this theory no longer stood. The strongest evidence is that Cao Xueqin was a Han military official, and Dream of the Red Chamber was indeed his self-narrative. However, the idea that Dream of the Red Chamber is the author’s self-narrative, which aligns with the book’s opening, actually emerged earlier but was later confirmed. In the early Jiaqing era, Yuan Mei (Poetry Talks from the Following Garden) wrote: “During the Kangxi era, Cao Lianjing served as the Jinling Textile Official, and his son Xueqin wrote the book Dream of the Red Chamber, recording the prosperity of romance and luxury. It includes a place called the Grand View Garden, which is my Following Garden.” The last two sentences are exaggerations, and I also made some mistakes (such as confusing Dang with Lian and Sun with a son); however, it clearly stated that Xueqin’s book recorded his observations. Yet, few believed it, and Wang Guowei (Collected Works of Jing’an) even questioned such theories, arguing that “what is seen and heard personally can also be described from the perspective of an observer, not necessarily as a character in the story.” When Hu Shi wrote his research, the truth became clear: Cao Xueqin was born into wealth and ended in poverty, his half-life resembling the “stone,” writing the book in the western suburbs but dying before it was completed; the full version that was later published was completed by Gao E.
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