Dream of the Red Chamber (Volume 1 and 2) (New Curriculum Standard Reading Series)

Author: Cao Xueqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: To comprehensively improve the Chinese literacy of primary and secondary school students, enhance the modern awareness of Chinese teaching courses, and vigorously promote new learning methods, the Ministry of Education issued the "Full-time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" and the "General High School Chinese Curriculum Standards" as core content of the fundamental education curriculum reform in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The "Chinese Curriculum Standards" serve as the basis for teaching, assessment, and examination question setting, as well as the foundation for national curriculum management and evaluation. They reflect the fundamental requirements of the state for students at different stages in terms of knowledge, skills, processes, and methods. Compared to the original "Chinese Teaching Syllabus" for primary and secondary schools, the "Chinese Curriculum Standards" have made significant revisions to the specific works of extracurricular reading in the original syllabus and have stipulated the total amount of reading required for students at different stages, urging primary and secondary school students to read widely. For this reason, we have compiled and published this series of "Essential Readings for the New Chinese Curriculum Standards," with all the book titles designated by the new standards. To assist students in reading, we have included an introductory essay before each classic work, providing an in-depth yet accessible introduction to the relevant information about the book. Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the greatest literary masterpieces of 18th-century China. It is not only a rare and precious gem in the forest of Chinese literature but also a dazzling pearl in the vast ocean of world literature. This literary masterpiece, for two centuries, has captivated countless devoted readers with its miraculous artistic charm. The Grand View Garden depicted in the book is like a labyrinth, winding and mysterious, with flowers and willows alternating between light and shadow, often leaving readers entangled within its depths, unable to step outside and observe it from a textual perspective. Since its inception, readers and scholars from different eras and with different perspectives have always examined and explored its essence and truths from various levels and in different ways. As a result, each person has their own re-creation of Dream of the Red Chamber, leading to a multitude of interpretations and no single consensus.