Lively writing lasts for a thousand autumns (On the characters of Dream of the Red Chamber)

Author: Li Xifan, Li Meng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Someone told me that a redology authority is opposing people from writing articles analyzing characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. I think this kind of restriction is as absurd and ridiculous as the exclusion of fiction studies from "redology." Because Dream of the Red Chamber is about people—even when it writes about gods, emotions, or landscapes, it is still about people; literature is the study of humanity. Even today, I still believe that using human nature and life will, which are detached from society and the era, cannot accurately and thoroughly analyze the individual images of such complex and numerous "typical characters in typical environments" as in Dream of the Red Chamber. Just as Aisin Gioro Yongzhong praised it: "A masterful pen can last for a thousand autumns," in Dream of the Red Chamber, even minor characters who appear only once possess irreplaceable personalized brilliance, leaving a deep impression on readers.