Dream of the Red Chamber (Full Set of 60 Volumes)

Author: Cao Xueqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The art of Chinese (huánliánhuà) has existed since the Western Han Dynasty. It reached maturity after the widespread adoption of lithography in the late Qing Dynasty. After the 1930s, influenced by the techniques of sound films, "living"—those with characters speaking directly from the illustrations—became popular, and their themes grew increasingly diverse, appealing to a broad audience, including adults. Among these, the most influential works were those based on classic literature, especially Ming and Qing Dynasty novels. The linguistic artistry of Dream of the Red Chamber represents the pinnacle of classical Chinese novelistic language. The author often needed only a few words to sketch vivid characters with distinct personalities. Each typical character in the novel speaks with a unique voice, enabling readers to distinguish them solely by their dialogue. The author's narrative language also exhibits exceptional artistic expression. The poetry, songs, and couplets in the novel not only blend 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, Dream of the Red Chamber possesses a fresh and original character, both in its ideological content and artistic techniques, endowing it with enduring artistic charm and a place among the world's greatest literary works without any inferiority. Dream of the Red Chamber is China's most literary-accomplished classical masterpiece, the pinnacle of Chinese classical literary creation, the finest long serial novel in the history of Chinese literature, and a cultural treasure of humanity. This book, in the form of, tells the rise and fall of the four great families—Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue— (zhǎnxiàn le) a broad spectrum of social life, encompassing the myriad complexities of human relationships. Dream of the Red Chamber is a story of a feudal aristocratic family's decline, centered on the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu grew up together, sharing a harmonious temperament and mutual affection. However, the arrival of Xue Baochai inadvertently made her a rival to Daiyu. Jia Yuanyang, one of the sisters, was enshrined as an imperial concubine, and the Grand View Garden, built for her return visit, was a place of joyous flower-gazing, moon-watching, poetry recitation, and wine-drinking, yet also a site of injustice, resistance, and bloodshed. Daiyu grew increasingly melancholic and frail. With the support of Grandmother Jia, Wang Xifeng used the "swap-the-bride" scheme to force Baoyu and Baochai to marry, leading to Daiyu's death. The Imperial Guards searched and confiscated Ningguo Mansion, and Jia She and others were severely punished. Although the Jia family later regained its hereditary title, its fortunes had long since declined. Baoyu, after experiencing these dramatic changes, quickly developed the desire to renounce the world. On the day of his imperial examination success, he abandoned his family and worldly ambitions, finally departing with a monk and a Taoist priest.