Taste the Red Chamber

Author: Li Chendong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Among the masters of world literature, only Shakespeare can be compared to Cao Xueqin; the others are slightly inferior. From a literary standpoint, studying the novel as a standalone work was a groundbreaking achievement. The book compares Dream of the Red Chamber with Western literary masterpieces such as Dante's The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare's tragedies, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, and Tolstoy's War and Peace, offering insightful discussions. Its structure is like the vast sea, with countless waves overlapping, influencing each other in a boundless and ever-changing manner, profound and unfathomable. Moreover, the entire book is a unified whole, not fragmented by chapters, making it unmatched by War and Peace. In its moments of tranquility, it surpasses Balzac's novels. Wu Mi called this a comprehensive and systematic study of Cao Xueqin and Dream of the Red Chamber from a Western literary perspective, believing that Cao Xueqin could be placed alongside Shakespeare as one of the greatest representatives of objectiveist writers. This was a valuable study of Dream of the Red Chamber in the 1940s. Feng Qiyong The republication of Li Chendong's Dream of the Red Chamber studies today holds the significance of restoring order and clarity, serving as a strong antidote to the current obsessive and misguided trends in Red Studies. This is a study that systematically examines Dream of the Red Chamber using Western modern literary criticism methods. Li Chendong's Dream of the Red Chamber studies was originally his doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris, later personally reviewed and finalized by Mr. Feng Youlan, and first published in early 1942. It was one of the most important research achievements in Red Studies at that time, with six reprints within a year. Unlike the secretarial school and textual research school of Red Studies, the author adopts Western literary criticism and comparative methods, standing at the pinnacle of world literature to survey, making unique and precise comparisons and analyses of Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber with Dante's The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare's tragedies, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Goethe's Faust, Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, and others, concluding that only Shakespeare can be compared to Cao Xueqin among the masters of world literature, with the others being slightly inferior. Therefore, Deng Qingyou praised that before Li Chendong, although figures like Wang Guowei and Cai Yuanpei had already compared Dream of the Red Chamber with Goethe's Faust and preliminarily assessed its status in world literary masterpieces, no one has surpassed Li Chendong in terms of comprehensiveness, depth, vividness, and persuasiveness in arguing that Cao Xueqin is a world-class writer and Dream of the Red Chamber is a world-class work! Moreover, the author compares Wang Guowei's Dream of the Red Chamber Commentary with Hu Shi's Dream of the Red Chamber Examination, consciously inheriting and developing the legacy of the novel criticism school of Red Studies pioneered by Wang Guowei. Due to various reasons, Li Chendong's classic work was buried for many years. Its republication today includes sixteen color illustrations of Dream of the Red Chamber characters by Mr. Dai Dunbang, enhancing both content and form, serving as a strong antidote to the current obsessive and misguided trends in Red Studies. This book was published in 1942, based on Li's doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris, later personally reviewed and finalized by Mr. Feng Youlan, and published by Chongqing Zhongzheng Bookstore in 1942. It was one of the most important Red Studies works of that period, with six reprints within a year. Due to his deep influence from Western modern literary criticism methods, this book is a specialized study of Dream of the Red Chamber from a Western literary perspective, praised by contemporaries as a groundbreaking achievement. This attitude of judging art with an artistic eye and criticizing aesthetics with aesthetic methods is worthy of respect and promotion at any time in the history of Red Studies. Regarding the title, since Mr. Yu Pingbo's Dream of the Red Chamber Studies is highly renowned in mainland China, although Li Chendong's book was published first, it no longer suits the title. Therefore, it was changed to Taste the Red Chamber, taking the meaning of "who can understand its essence?" The original title is preserved as a reference and placed on the cover. The book now includes sixteen illustrations of Dream of the Red Chamber characters by Mr. Dai Dunshou, selected from Dai Dunshou's Newly Painted Complete Dream of the Red Chamber by Shanghai.