Qing Dynasty Color-Painted Complete Edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber" (3 Volumes)/Color-Painted Series of Chinese Classical Novels

Author: Cao Xueqin (Qing Dynasty), illustrated by Sun Wen and Sun Yunmo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Dream of the Red Chamber has been ranked as the pinnacle of Chinese literature in classical novels and serial fiction, and is considered the first among the "Four Great Classical Novels of China." Dream of the Red Chamber is an encyclopedia of the late feudal society in China; it centers on the upper aristocratic society, vividly depicting the entire life of the late feudal society in China in the first half of the 18th century. It serves as a mirror and of this historical period. It is a true reflection of the irreversible decline of the ancient feudal society in China. Dream of the Red Chamber has become the "unconquerable peak of Chinese fiction literature" not only because of its high ideological value but also because of its extraordinary artistic achievements. The entire work is grand in scale, well-structured, features vivid characters, and employs elegant language, in addition to several distinct artistic characteristics worth appreciating by later generations. The illustrations in this book are taken from the full set of Dream of the Red Chamber paintings by Sun Wen and Sun Yunmo (Qing Dynasty) in the Lushun Museum. Chinese sequential art has existed since the Western Han Dynasty and matured with the widespread use of lithography in the late Qing Dynasty. After the 1930s, "living" sequential art that incorporated dialogue from sound films began to appear in large numbers, with themes becoming increasingly diverse, appealing to a broad readership, including adults. Among these, the most influential may be works based on classical literary masterpieces, especially those from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The artistic achievements of the language in Dream of the Red Chamber represent the peak of classical Chinese fiction language art. The author often needs only a few words to sketch a vivid character with distinct personality traits. Every typical character in the author's narrative possesses a unique voice, enabling readers to distinguish characters solely through their language. The author's narrative language also exhibits a high degree of artistic expression. The poetry, lyrics, and quatrains in the novel not only blend seamlessly with the narrative but also serve to shape the characters' personalities, achieving the goal of "poetry reflecting the person." Due to these outstanding achievements, Dream of the Red Chamber possesses a fresh and enduring artistic charm, making it stand out in the world of literature without any inferiority. There are 230 original paintings preserved, with silk scrolls as the medium, measuring 43.3 cm in height and 76.6 cm in width. The album is bound in a scroll format, consisting of 24 volumes, with one blank volume and the remaining 23 volumes each mounted with 10 paintings. The painting technique is meticulous brushwork with colored pigments. The creators aimed to recreate the key scenes of Dream of the Red Chamber through vivid illustrations. The paintings bear inscriptions of "Seventy-three-year-old Runzai Sun Wen" and "Jianyang Sun Yunmo," along with seals of "Jianyang Sun Wen," "Runzai," "Sun Yunmo," and "Xiaozhou." It is puzzling that the paintings depicting the last 40 chapters of the original Dream of the Red Chamber exhibit a slightly different style compared to the first 80 chapters, mirroring the original novel's inconsistencies. The last 40 chapters, which were added by Gao E ("continuing the tail"), have been criticized by later generations, and the paintings' "change in expression" adds to the mystery: was it intentional? Or just a coincidence? Before the paintings were mounted into albums, the 10 illustrations depicting chapters 103 to 108 were lost. With regret, while compiling illustrations for this book, we had no choice but to employ a "transplanting flowers and replacing branches" technique to piece together six chapters, hoping for the readers' understanding in this regard.