Dream of the Red Chamber (Volumes 1, 2, and 3) (Treasured Complete Embroidered Illustrations Edition)

Author: Cao Xueqin et al
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The linguistic artistry of Dream of the Red Chamber represents the pinnacle of Chinese classical novel language art. The author often needs only a few words to sketch a vivid character with distinct personality traits. Every typical character's language in the author's works possesses its own unique individuality, enabling readers to distinguish characters merely through their speech. The author's narrative language also exhibits a high degree of artistic expressiveness. The poetry, songs, and couplets in the novel not only integrate seamlessly with the narrative but also serve to shape the characters' personalities, achieving the ideal of "poetry reflecting the person." Due to these outstanding achievements in various aspects, Dream of the Red Chamber possesses a fresh and original character both in its ideological content and artistic techniques, with enduring artistic charm, making it stand out without inferiority in the world of literature. Cao Xueqin is the greatest and most complex writer in the history of Chinese literature, and Dream of the Red Chamber is also the greatest and most complex work in the history of Chinese literature. Dream of the Red Chamber depicts the tragic love and marriage between the feudal aristocratic youth Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, and centers on this to portray the rise and fall of the four great families—Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue—representative of the era, with the Jia family being the focal point. It exposes the darkness and evils of the late feudal society and its irreconcilable internal contradictions, delivering a powerful critique of the decadent feudal ruling class and the collapsing feudal system, leaving readers with the sense of its inevitable downfall. This book is a great work of both high ideological depth and high artistic achievement. From the ideological tendencies it reflects, the author demonstrates preliminary democratic thought, critically examining the darkness of the imperial court and officialdom, the corruption of the feudal aristocracy and their families, the feudal imperial examination system, marriage system, servant system, and hierarchical system, as well as the corresponding social ruling ideology of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, and social moral concepts. The author also proposes faint but nascent ideals and proposals with preliminary democratic characteristics, which reflect the subtle influence of the budding capitalist economic factors of the time. The linguistic artistry of Dream of the Red Chamber represents the pinnacle of Chinese classical novel language art. The author often needs only a few words to sketch a vivid character with distinct personality traits. Every typical character's language in the author's works possesses its own unique individuality, enabling readers to distinguish characters merely through their speech. The author's narrative language also exhibits a high degree of artistic expressiveness. The poetry, songs, and couplets in the novel not only integrate seamlessly with the narrative but also serve to shape the characters' personalities, achieving the ideal of "poetry reflecting the person." Due to these outstanding achievements in various aspects, Dream of the Red Chamber possesses a fresh and original character both in its ideological content and artistic techniques, with enduring artistic charm, making it stand out without inferiority in the world of literature. Cao Xueqin is the greatest and most complex writer in the history of Chinese literature, and Dream of the Red Chamber is also the greatest and most complex work in the history of Chinese literature. Dream of the Red Chamber depicts the tragic love and marriage between the feudal aristocratic youth Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, and centers on this to portray the rise and fall of the four great families—Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue—representative of the era, with the Jia family being the focal point. It exposes the darkness and evils of the late feudal society and its irreconcilable internal contradictions, delivering a powerful critique of the decadent feudal ruling class and the collapsing feudal system, leaving readers with the sense of its inevitable downfall. This book is a great work of both high ideological depth and high artistic achievement. From the ideological tendencies it reflects, the author demonstrates preliminary democratic thought, critically examining the darkness of the imperial court and officialdom, the corruption of the feudal aristocracy and their families, the feudal imperial examination system, marriage system, servant system, and hierarchical system, as well as the corresponding social ruling ideology of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, and social moral concepts. The author also proposes faint but nascent ideals and proposals with preliminary democratic characteristics, which reflect the subtle influence of the budding capitalist economic factors of the time.