Tuomerei Dream of the Red Chamber Poetry Interpretation

Author: Tu Mo Re (Author)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The author is a historian specializing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, delving into old documents, and poetry research is not his forte. He should not have ventured into the study of poetry in Dream of the Red Chamber. However, a few years ago, he mistakenly engaged in some "nonsense" red studies, establishing what he calls the "Tu Mo Re Red Studies System," aiming to overthrow the century-old orthodox red studies and the 200-year history of Dream of the Red Chamber research. Whether this "insidious" goal can be achieved is debatable, but the unintended outcome was attracting significant attention from red scholars—both positive and negative. Regardless of the nature of the attention, it was attention, and that is what matters. Many scholars today emphasize the sensational impact of media hype, and the author unexpectedly gained this "sudden fame" in an "accidental success." Since then, his research has been like a glider—once launched into the sky, there was no choice but to glide with the wind. Whether it would land safely or crash to pieces was uncertain. Today, he reluctantly and stubbornly undertakes another "shocking" study of poetry in Dream of the Red Chamber.
While experts see the subtleties and laypeople see the spectacle, there are always limitations. Although the author is not a specialist in classical poetry, he has immersed himself in Chinese history for decades, which can be considered a specialization. The Chinese academic tradition has always blended literature and history, so historical research inevitably involves classical literature. Therefore, the author is relatively familiar with the works of literary, historical, poetic, and dramatic masters from ancient times, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This gives an unintended advantage to the study of Dream of the Red Chamber: the poetry, songs, and couplets in the book—whether imitated, plagiarized, quoted, borrowed, adapted, or misused—the author can at least recognize them, feel a sense of familiarity, identify their original sources and meanings, and uncover aspects that contemporary red scholars fail to interpret clearly. Compared to renowned experts who rely on Dream of the Red Chamber poetry for their livelihood, this is a minor advantage for the author, who is in a "weak position."
To cut to the chase, this small book also studies the poetry of Dream of the Red Chamber, but from a different perspective, methodology, and content than the major red scholars' works like Interpretations of Poetry in Dream of the Red Chamber or Annotations of Poetry in Dream of the Red Chamber. This book examines the origins, evolution, original meanings, and extensions of the poetry from a historical perspective. The methodology is not to annotate each poem in the order they appear in the book but to categorize and examine them based on their sources. The purpose is not to praise the excellence of Dream of the Red Chamber poetry or the author's poetic talent but to objectively and calmly state how the author correctly or incorrectly used the poetry—without blindly flattering the ancients.
At this point, the masters of red studies need not be angry, because the Dream of the Red Chamber author the author refers to is not the "infinite revered and admired" Cao Xueqin but Hong Ri Fang Si, who is far from "glorious" and even somewhat "unloyal, unfilial, and flawed." Whether the author respects or disrespects Hong Ri Fang Si seems irrelevant to traditional red studies. Previously, the author, like the blind man in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, had read annotations by several prominent scholars on Dream of the Red Chamber poetry. He found that these interpretations followed a pattern: first, "rectify the heart and mind" to cultivate ample and rich "feelings" for Cao Xueqin; then, adhering to the tradition of "concealing the faults of the respected," describing all the poems in the book as "beautiful as peach blossoms, sweet as cream," regardless of whether they were round or square, fragrant or foul. The conclusion, of course, was that Cao Xueqin was a "genius" or "super-genius" in poetry, unmatched by predecessors or successors.
The author believes this interpretation is unnecessary. Setting aside how ridiculous it is to use Dream of the Red Chamber poetry to prove Cao Xueqin's poetic talent, the poems themselves do not deserve blind praise. The poetry in the novel is created by the characters within it, whose cultural backgrounds vary greatly. If all the poems were exceptionally brilliant, how could the character portrayals in the novel be so poor? It would be absurd to expect a newly learned poet like Xiangling to compose the third moon poem "Ode to the Moon, Yet Not Seeing the Moon" on her first try. It would also be strange to expect Xue Dashizi, who sings "Woe to the daughters, marrying a man who is a turtle," to suddenly switch to the melancholic and emotionally resonant "Red Bean Song," just like Baoyu.
In this book's research, the author generally avoids making ideological or artistic evaluations of Dream of the Red Chamber poetry or elevating or the author's poetic talent. Instead, he points out the origins of the poems and explains their original meanings based on the context of the characters. The poetry in the novel does not reflect the author's poetic skill or ability but rather his talent for depicting scenes and characters. For the sake of characterization, the author even deliberately composes ridiculous and clumsy poems and songs. Xue Dashizi's "A mosquito buzzes, buzzes, buzzes" is utterly terrible as poetry, but perfectly fitting in the novel. This is not to say the author of Dream of the Red Chamber cannot write brilliant poems; these "clumsy poems and songs" actually prove the author's skill!
The author's assessment of Hong Ri Fang Si's poetic talent is discussed in detail in the postscript of this book. At the very least, Hong Ri Fang Si was a first-class poet and writer in the early Qing dynasty. This is not proven by using Dream of the Red Chamber and its poetry as evidence. Hong Ri Fang Si left behind a vast body of works, including his poetry collection Bi Que Ji, which is still sold in bookstores today, and his opera The Eternal Primeval Chamber, which is still performed on stage. There is no need for the author to elaborate further.