Dream of the Red Chamber (Zhou Ruchang, collated) Complete Two Volumes

Author: Cao Xueqin, edited and collated by Zhou Ruchang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: This book is the result of more than half a century of meticulous collation by Mr. Zhou Ruchang, based on eleven extant ancient manuscripts of Dream of the Red Chamber. The collator has studied and understood the true style and intent of Cao Xueqin, discerned spurious texts, false continuations, and errors, and strived to restore the original form, providing a reliable version for fans of Dream of the Red Chamber. Unlike the 120-courtyard edition that includes the 40-courtyard continuation by Gao E, this book is truly a "Cao Xueqin original." Most readers believe that Cao Xueqin only left the first 80 courtyards of Dream of the Red Chamber during his lifetime. However, scholars like Zhou Ruchang argue that Cao Xueqin completed the entire work, though the manuscript after the 80th courtyard was lost for some reason. At the end of this book, the article "The Trace of Zhi Yan's Ink, the Red Chamber's Shadow Still Fragrant" includes the collator's research findings on the content of the 80th courtyard and beyond, based on clues from Zhi Yan's annotations, presenting a complete authentic version of Dream of the Red Chamber for reference. This book strives to remain faithful to the ancient manuscripts. During the Qing Dynasty's reign of Emperor Qianlong, when Cao Xueqin wrote Dream of the Red Chamber, few scholars used colloquial language. Many characters in what was then called "vernacular" had no fixed forms, and authors often used phonetic approximations, leading to inconsistencies. Ancient writing customs also included a preference for variant characters, as people were reluctant to adhere to standardized forms, unlike the regulated characters of today. The collator cross-referenced various manuscripts and found that Cao Xueqin's draft used words and phrases inconsistently, often varying over time, with the same meaning but different forms, such as "wěiqu" (grievance) vs. "wěiqū" (twist), "dǎliang" (to observe) vs. "dǎliàng" (to consider), and "fúshì" (to attend to) vs. "fúshì" (to serve). Others include writing "yītàng" as "yītǎng," "hěnshi" as "hěnshi," and the modern character "guàng" appearing in ancient texts as "kàng," "kuàng," "+kuáng" (double-person radical + kuáng), or "+kuáng" (single-person radical + kuáng), among others. These variations were used interchangeably, reflecting the personal preferences of writers at the time or changes due to different circumstances and revisions. There are also characters that modern readers may find difficult to understand, such as the Manchu Bannermen's tendency to write "xiāng" as "xiāng," which was not considered unusual. This book aims to preserve the original form of the text, including all variant characters, without standardizing them. The annotations provided for these word forms, after prior explanation, should not hinder smooth reading and can instead help readers appreciate the evolution of vernacular Chinese and the origins of today's standardized characters. Additionally, there are differences in character names between ancient manuscripts and popular versions, such as "Dáishū" (Taisu) not being "Shìshū" (Shishu), "Bìlàng" (Bilang) not being "Bìhén" (Bihen), and "Qígōng" (Qigong) not being "Qígōng" (Qigong). For example, the place where Miaoyu lived is actually "Lǒngcuì ān" (Longcui An), not "Lǒngcuì" (Longcui). These differences may seem unfamiliar to readers, leading them to suspect errors, so careful attention is required. Beyond the widely circulated editions that include Gao E's continuation, there are various "ancient" versions of Dream of the Red Chamber in the market, including "collated editions" based on single or multiple manuscripts. However, these often merely list variant texts without thorough collation or finalization, making them suitable only for scholars but not for general readers. The publication of this Zhou-collated edition aims to provide ordinary readers with a new choice for appreciating Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber.