Lesson
Plans

Quick Links
Library Links
Citing Sources

The Story of the Stone

General Questions | Group Questions | Criticism | Pictures | Links

Country/Date Written/Published
Chinese
Written: 1740/1750

Additional Readings
Chapter five -- the one with the dream.

Terms to know
Jade: "The Chinese have historically regarded carved-jade objects as intrinsically valuable, and they metaphorically equated jade with purity and indestructibility."

"Chinese jade." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia 2010. Web. 29 August 2010.

Buddhism: For some, Buddhism is a religion. For others it is a philosophy or a culture. There are so many kinds of Buddhism and so many contradictions within the overall tradition that it is almost impossible to define, but there are important common threads. The so-called “Three Jewels” (Triratna)—Buddha (see Buddha, Gautama Buddha), dharma (see Dharma), and sagha—are essential elements for Buddhists. In most sects there is the presence of certain of the teachings or concepts of Gautama Buddha, the Buddha Skyamuni, who lived in Nepal and India some 2,500 years ago. Of primary importance to these teachings are nyat, the sense of selflessness achieved by way of inner searching—often in a monastic setting—and a goal of nirvna (see Nirvna), or Enlightenment. Dharma, or proper behavior and truth, in the Buddhist world is manifested in the life and teachings of the Buddha. Sagha, or “community,” is the holy community of Buddhists, a place of spiritual refuge. Sagha can refer to a community of nuns or monks or to any group of devoted and spiritually committed Buddhists. At the basis of sagha are the “Four Noble Truths” of the Buddha's teaching. These are (1) the acceptance of dukkha, or transience and the suffering which comes with it; (2) the realization that it is tanh, or the “thirst” for permanence that leads to suffering; (3) the understanding that by eliminating taha, dukkha can be overcome and nirvna achieved; and (4) the Agika-mrga, or “Eightfold Path” to the elimination of taha taught by the Buddha in the first sermon after his Enlightenment.

The Eightfold Path contains the elements necessary to Enlightenment. These are (1) perfected understanding of the Four Noble Truths; (2) non-attachment; (3) perfected speech; (4) perfected conduct; (5) the pursuit of livelihood in such a way as to do no harm to others; (6) the production of good karma (see Karman); (7) the development of meditative mindfulness; and (8) perfected concentration.

From "Buddhism"  A Dictionary of Asian Mythology. David Leeming. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Web.  29 August 2010.

Taoism: Chinese philosophy and religion considered as being next to Confucianism in importance. Taoist philosophy is traced to a 6th-century BC classic of Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching. The recurrent theme of this work is the Tao (way or path). To follow the Tao is to follow the path leading to self-realization. Te (virtue) and ch'i (energy) represent the goal of effortless action. Taoist ethics emphasize patience, simplicity, and the harmony of nature, achieved through the proper balance of yin and yang (male and female principles). As a religion, Taoism dates from the time of Chang Tao-ling, who organized a group of followers in AD 142. See also Book of Changes; tai chi

"Taoism"  World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Web.  29 August 2010  

Bildungsroman [bil-duungz-raw-mahn] (plural -ane)    A kind of novel that follows the development of the hero or heroine from childhood or adolescence into adulthood, through a troubled quest for identity. The term (‘formation-novel’) comes from Germany, where Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre ( 1795 – 6 ) set the pattern for later Bildungsromane. Many outstanding novels of the 19th and early 20th centuries follow this pattern of personal growth: Dickens's David Copperfield ( 1849 – 50 ), for example. When the novel describes the formation of a young artist, as in Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ( 1916 ), it may also be called a Künstlerroman. For a fuller account, consult Franco Moretti , The Way of the World ( 1987 ).

"Bildungsroman."  The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Ed.Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Web.  12 September 2010

Concubine: Concubines are women who cohabit with men but are not married to them. In ancient China it was common for successful men to have several concubines – the Chinese Emperors often kept thousands. Concubines’ situation ranged from pseudo-wives to poorly treated prostitutes.

Concubines do not officially exist in modern China, but ‘Ernai’ or ‘second wives’ are increasingly common. Unlike in the West, keeping a mistress is not always frowned upon in China. The CCP tried to stamp out concubinage, which they saw as a feudal vice, but among China’s new breed of super-rich businessman, keeping a young, fashionable, spoilt young woman as a mistress can gain you face – which in turn is good for business. Concubinage was not abolished in Hong Kong until 1971.

In ancient China position of the concubine was inferior to that of the wife. The concubine was heavily dependent on the nature of the wife, and the favour of her ‘husband’. A concubine could improve her lot by producing an heir (although their sons would be inferior to legitimate children), but this could happen at the expense of the goodwill of the wife. Chinese history is littered with wife-concubine intrigues that often end in murder. Concubines were sometimes buried alive with their master to keep him company in the afterlife.

The Chinese Emperors kept concubines with them in the Forbidden City. By the Qing dynasty there were around 20,000. They served a dual purpose – to ensure the Emperor a very good chance of producing an heir and, of course, limitless opportunities to indulge his more licentious instincts. There was also a very convenient Daoist theory that helped the Emperor justify requiring the favour of 20,000 different women. According to the theory, the Emperor represented the extreme of Yang, and so therefore it was essential for the harmony of the cosmos that he have sex with as many women (women are yin) as possible.

The Imperial concubines were guarded by an equally obscene number of eunuchs (men who’ve been castrated) to ensure that they couldn’t be made pregnant by anybody except the Emperor. Becoming a concubine might not seem like a very appealing career path, but successful concubines became extremely rich, and were able to use their position to promote the interests of their own family. In the classic of Chinese literature ‘The Dream of the Red Chamber’, three generations of the Jia family are supported by one favourite concubine of the Emperor.

Perhaps the most successful concubine in China’s history was Yehenala, otherwise known as Dowager Empress Cixi. Cixi first entered the court as a concubine to the Xian Feng Emperor and gave birth to his only male heir. By killing off our outmanoeuvring her rivals (including her own son), she took the reigns of power and held onto them for almost half a century.

There’s a popular Chinese explanation why Chinese men need multiple women but women are expected to make do with just one man: ‘One teapot is usually accompanied by four cups. But have you ever seen one cup with four teapots?’

"Concubines of Ancient China." Beijeng Made Easy. Beijeng History. Web. 29 August 10.

Quick version of Chinese Philosophies
Confucianism—Based on the legend of Confucius (551-479 b.c.e.) His main influence in his life was to compile the books of poems that were to become the 4 books. His sayings, or analects, are compiled by his disciples. An ethical system guiding social interaction and responsibility. Emphasizes order, authority, duty, and loyalty, is extremely patriarchal and respectful of age. Social and familial hierarchies.
Taoism—Lao Tsu. Where yin and yang comes from, represents another kind of order that is not striving or rigid, but is like the order of the flow of a river or stream. Finding enlightenment through self-effacement. Emphasis on individual freedom, spontaneity, mystical experience. Rejection of formal, learned wisdom (the antithesis of Confucianism).
Buddhism—Founded in the 6th century B.C.E. Spread from its origin in India throughout East and South East Asia. Says man’s sufferings are caused by desire, and we rid ourselves of worldly attachments on the way to achieving nirvana.

from http://www.laits.utexas.edu/doherty/storystone.html

Outline

from http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~asia/DreamRedChamberOutline.html

DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER OUTLINE
(Pinyin [P/Y], Honglou meng; Wade-Giles [W/G], Hung-lou meng)

Richard J. Smith
Rice University

NOTE: This outline is designed to provide a bit of guidance as you read volume 1 of The Story of the Stone. I am less interested at this point in your appreciation of the novel as a "literary work" than I am in the book as a reflection of Chinese culture (world view, aesthetics, values, life-styles, etc.). Don't worry about the names.

I. Basic features of the novel (generally considered to be China's greatest):
A.120 chapters; nearly 1,300 pages; over 700,000 words
B. Over 75 printed Chinese editions; over 15 foreign translations
C. About thirty major characters; over 400 minor characters
D. First 80 chapters of the novel commonly known as The Story of the Stone; written by Cao Xue-qin (W/G, Ts'ao Hsueh-ch'in, d. 1763); descended from Chinese Bannerman-Bondservant family; grand holdings in Nanjing confiscated by Yongzheng emperor for family's dishonesty and incompetence E. Last 40 chapters of the novel attributed to Gao E (W/G, Kao O)
F. Entire novel made comprehensible by commentaries; most famous and useful: the Red Inkstone Commentary
G. Hawkes translation (Story of the Stone; five vols.) is by far the best; takes into account linguistic and other subtleties, rendered in the British idiom

II. Structure and style of the novel
A. Basic organizing principles (like the culture as a whole); several modes: realistic, allegorical, narrative' much foreshadowing, but, as in Chinese philosophy, syncronicity esteemed over simple causality as an explanatory principle; emphasis on relations, qualities, and states of being; novel deliberately not fixed in time or place (tho' the time is obviously the Qing dynasty, and the place, a composite of Nanjing and Beijing)

B. Yin-yang complementarity (juxtaposition and alternation of themes, images, personalities, situations); some examples: 1. Theme of interpenetration of reality and illusion, daily life and dreams (the idea of true and false producing one another)--"Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true"--the Chinese reader takes delight in his/her disorientation. 2. Juxtaposition of Confucian and Buddhist (or Daoist) elements and themes. 3. Alternation of scenes (situations growing out of one another)--e.g. action and stillness (or excitement and boredom); elegance and baseness; sorrow and joy; separation and union; prosperity and decline; contrasts often emphasized in chapter heads. 4. Characters are often complementary opposites, although some are mirror images of one another

III. Major characters (see The Story, vol. 1, pp. 535 ff. for full list and genealogy)
A. [Jia] Bao-yu (W/G, Chia Pao-yu; lit., "Precious Jade" of the Chia family line); the "hero" of the novel; talented but lazy and spoiled by his paternal grandmother (Grandmother Jia, called the "Matriarch" in some translations); tyrannized by his severe Confucian father; Chinese commentaries assume him to be about 13 years old at the time covered by vol. I of The Story

B. [Lin] Dai-yu (W/G, Lin Tai-yu; lit., "Black Jade" of the Lin family line); Dai-yu is Bao-yu's cousin, an orphan who is supposed to have come to the Rong-guo family compound when she was about 6 years old; considered to be about 12 years old in vol. I, The Story; talented, pretty, slender, unhealty, suspicious and jealous; a yin character, but Bao-yu's "girlfriend"

C. [Xue] Bao-chai (W/G, Hsueh Pao-ch'ai; lit. "Precious Clasp" of the Xue family line); also Bao-yu's cousin; comes somewhat later than Dai-yu to Rong-guo, inconsistency regarding time of her arrival; considered to be about 15 years old in vol. I; also talented and pretty, but a bit plump and robust (yang character); competes with Dai-yu but is also a friend; Bao-yu is the meeting point; his given name, one should note, consists of the first character of Bao-chai's given name, and the last character of Dai-yu's given name

D. [Wang] Xi-feng (W/G, Wang Hsi-feng, lit. "Phoenix" of the Wang family); very capable woman; wife of Bao-yu's cousin, Jia Lian; a strong woman, but rather corrupt and devious; eventually her activities bring disaster to Jia family

IV. Main plot: Rise and fall of the Jia family, which lives in two major adjoining compounds (Rong-guo, headed by Grandmother Jia; Ning-guo, headed by Jia Jing)

A. Much action takes place in Prospect Garden (P/Y Daguan yuan; W/G Ta-kuan yuan; lit. "Garden of Great Vision"); built in honor of Bao-yu's elder sister, an imperial concubine
B. Focus on Bao-yu--his upbringing and interaction with various characters (mainly women--see Vol. 1, Appendix: "The Twelve Beauties of Jinling," pp. 527 ff.); but the novel begins with Bao-yu's supernatural "origins" as a magical stone, unused by the Goddess Nu-gua in repairing the "dome of Heaven," which wants to enjoy the pleasures of the "red dust" (the mundane world); Bao-yu born with a piece of jade (the magical stone) in his mouth through the machinations of a Buddhist monk and a lame Daoist priest (who make periodic appearances throughout the novel to mock or enlighten people)
C. Basic story line concerns conflict between Bao-yu and his family over his laziness and failure to study well for the examinations, etc.
D. Also a complex love story, or series of stories; Bao-yu believes he will marry Dai-yu, but his family instead arranges a marriage with the more robust Bao-chai; Bao-yu is surprised on his wedding day; Dai-yu is grief-striken and dies on the same day; a series of family tragedies follow, but Bao-yu eventually passes the exams, Bao-chai bears him a son to carry on the line, and the Jia family fortunes, which have fallen, rise again; but Bao-yu then renounces the world to go off and become a monk (symbolizing individual liberation)

V. Ways of looking at the novel
A. Several traditional interpretations: love story, political satire, autobiography; work in praise of women ("Red Chamber" refers to the women's quarters of a traditional family compound)--all are essentially correct
B. A basic element: Quest for identity and an understanding of one's purpose in life
C. Chinese Communist interpretations see it as a critique of "feudal" society
D. Western scholarship (see below): Growing appreciation for the novel and its cultural significance; Dream may be viewed as a kind of "total vision" of Chinese culture--"Prospect Garden" is a sort of cultural metaphor
E. The novel itself is a reflection of Chinese aesthetics and world view; the culmination of China's rich literary tradition; includes examples of every major type of Chinese literature, including several kinds of poetry
F. General cultural value: Sheds light on virtually every aspect of elite (and much popular) culture, from family life, social roles and values to religious practices and attitudes, amusements, food, medicine, clothing and architecture
G. Also highlights the gap between theory and practice in Chinese social life

Questions to mull over as you interpret the story

• Review the main characters
• Remember that Bao-yu is supposed to be studying for his examinations, a kind of SAT on steroids that will determine his -- and as the only male heir his family's -- future.
• Why open with a scene from the supernatural?
• What does the novel gain by being set in a timeless and unspecified location?
• The jade -- which becomes Bao-yu -- was one of the "building blocks" (148) of the sky -- why? What's different about the block that becomes Bao-yu?
• According to the novel itself, where does the story we read come from? Where was it found?
• What or where is the

brilliant
successful
poetical
cultivated
aristocratic
elegant
delectable
luxurious
opulent
locality on a little trip. (149)?

• Is it appropriate for a Taoist monk to be called "Vanitas" (149)? ("of the Great Void" or "Voiding the void" in other translations)
• What about the names of the Buddhist and Taoist who bring the jade to the world -- Impervioso and illuminate Mysterioso (150)?
• Why a need to describe the genesis of the story?
• "Vanitas" tells the stone that all he can find it the story "are a number of females, conspicuous, if at all, only for their passion or folly for for some trifling talent or insignificant virtue [. . . .] I cannot see that it would make a very remarkable book" (150). The stone replies "I am only saying that the contemplation of their actions and motives may prove a more effective antidote to boredom and melancholy" (151). Is this all the novel is meant for? Entertainment? how can you tell?
• "He [Vanitas] could see that the main theme was love" (151). How many kinds of love can this refer to? Only the love between Bao-yu and the Dai-yu and Bao-chai?
• Odd paragraph -- unpack. What does this say about Art? What do they mean by Form?

  As a consequence of all this, Vanitas, starting off in the Void (which is Truth) came to the contemplation of Form (which is Illusion); and fro Form engendered Passion; and by communicating Passion, entered again into Form; and from Form awoke to the Void (which is Truth). He therefore changed his name from Vanitas to Brother Amor, or the Passionate Monk, (because he had approached Truth by way of Passion), and changed the title of the book from The Story of the Stone to The Tale of Brother Amor.

  Old Kong Mei-xi from the homeland of Confucius called the book A Mirror for the Romantic [many translate this character as Erotic instead of Romantic]. Wu Yu-feng called it A Dream of Golden Days. [And Cao Xueqin called it] The Twelve Beauties of Jinling. (151)

• How does the author suggest this will be a more realistic story than others?
• Explain the quatrain on page 151 -- what's the "secret message"?
• Why is one of the first place noted in the "real world" called "Carnal Lane"? (152)
• What is "the vale of tears"? (152)
• Who does Crimson Petal become? On page 153, what is a line which foreshadows her actions?
• Who describes life as "the great illusion" (153)? Why?
• Explain the couplet on stone archway to the Land of Illusion (154). What does it connect with that was mentioned earlier? Where is this land of illusion?
• Why does Shi-yin want to hug hsi daughter after his dream (154)?
• There's mention of "historical romances" and other types of fiction (150); how are these similar or different to Story of the Stone? How are these similar or different to fiction today
• In Chapter 5, what role does the dream play? Why a dream? What does the garden in the dream prefigure? How does this tie in with the idea of fiction and reality?
  • Why does Bao-yu not like the first motto he sees?
  • Why does he like the second? What room is he more comfortable in? Why?
  • How does he feel about his father and mother?
  • Why is the fairy named "Fearful Awakening"? Where does she live? Why?
  • Explain the couplet "When seeming is taken for being, being becomes seeming,/ Where nothing is taken for something, something becomes nothing." What does it connect with in the first chapter?
  • Why are the Departments only for women? What do you make of their names?
  • Page 3 -- what does this tell about the Jia family? ¶21
  • Contradiction in ¶22 -- dream and awaken? What is the Fairy hoping for?
  • How can the Fairy tell Bao-yu hasn't been awakened? ¶36
  • What do you make of the ¶38 about the mixing of identities?
  • Do you buy the distinction between "profligates" made by the fairy ¶40? Why tempt Bao-yu?
  • Why add the supernatural comment at the end of Chapter 5
  • Why is this chapter so important?
• How do the Taoists who see the jade want to pay Bao-yu for the honor of having seen his jade?
• There is a kind of editorial aside in the narrative four pages into Chapter 29 where a comment is made on the innermost thoughts of the two young lovers and their actual words and deeds. How does this aside point out an ironic situation for the lovers?
• In Chapter 34 Bao-yu is thinking of Dai-yu, and sends along a gift. What is this gift, and what does Dai-yu do with the gift?
• In Chapter 26, why are "menfolk" required when monk's are visiting? (155)
• Interesting sequence when Jia Yun is "dazzled by the brilliance of gold" and can't find Bao-yu (Chap 26 158). Why? See Jia's comment about presuming on 159 as well.
• Morality/Duty: (Chap 26 161); Bao-yu's sexuality chapter 34 257; "It's looks and character that count" (203); great set piece showing Bao-yu's nature chap 32 236, 238
• Nature: nature and aesthetics -- nature becomes art (Chap 27, 168)
• Passion: Chap 29 208; Bao-yu tries to smash his jade Chap 29, 209, 211*: why? What does his reveal? But consider chap 29 204 when he gives gifts from monks away; 202 as well on Bao-yu's character; chap 32 238 'My feelings got the better of me"
• Connections between Bao-yu and Dai-yu Chap 29 209.
• What kind of class system is at play in the novel? How do the demarcations of the differences play out in the novel? How are these differences shown? (chap 26, 158, 159, 160, 165; chap 27 172 [among ser vents]; chap 29 197 -- excluding people; 199, 200 the beating of the acolyte; chap 29 205*)
• Dai-yu and Bao-yu: what is Dai-yu afraid Bao-yu will "change" into? (chap 34, 254)
• Symbolism: courtship of storks (chap 27 175); Flower burial: significance (chap 27-8 poem on page 177; chap 96, 260)
• What does the death of Golden Chap 32 241 signify?**** Why?
• What does Jia Huan lie about?
• Where does he receive his beating? In garden?
• Jia Zheng calls Bao-yu an "unnatural monster" (chap 33 246). How is this both true and not true?
• Taoist and Buddhist monks open the novel: how are the influences of these religions/cultural arbiters seen throughout the work?
• How is Bao-yu feminized in the novel? Why is he feminized? Who saves him from a death by beating (chap 33, 250)
• Chapters 96-97
  • Why repetition of the flower burial scene? (chap 96, 260)
  • What's important in the final meeting between Bao-yu and Dai-yu (Chap 96, 262-3)? What are some connections between them here? When Dai-yu says "It's time," what is it time for?
  • Why does Dai-yu burn her poems and handkerchief (chap 97 270-71);
  • Why does "Mrs. Lian and Her Old Ladyship" want a servant from Dai-yu's house at the wedding? (chap 97, 274, )
  • Why the references to "dream" and "life" when Bao-chi is revealed as his bride? (chap 97, 277)
  • Which dreams is Bao-yu referring to at the bottom of chap 97, pg 275?
• Chapter 50
  • How does the author show that Madame Cheng is still rooted in the material world?
  • How does Bao-yu forshadow his departure?
  • Who's responsible for restoring the Jia family's honor?
  • Why is Bao-yu lost in snow? Why not rain or just moving far away?

Group Questions

Questions Day 2

1. What's important about chapter 5? What does it foreshadow? What does it look back to from chapter 1?
2. How do both chapter 1 and chapter 5 suggest that the physical world is an illusion? How does this tie into the idea of fiction?
3. What's the symbolic importance of the beating of Bao-yu? What does it reveal about the Jia family?
4. One critic notes that "in the 'privileged adolescent world of the garden,' Bao-yu and his companions remain sequestered from adult social restrictions, making Daguanyuan an 'oasis of pleasure that stands apart from the desert of 'sober' realities beyond the garden wall' (221, 233). (Ferrara). How is this true?

Questions Day 3

1. How does the poem on 177-78 forshadow the events of chapter 97?
2. Regarding Bao-yu and Dai-yu's relationship, one critic writes that it "is erected upon a genial friendship which deepens into a quest for mutual understanding belies the opinion of some critics that the experience of the two teens does not move much beyond infatuation and romantic longing." (Yu 70)
3. Given the following:

   To be committed to the life of pravraj [Budhism] (chujia, literally, leaving one's family), is to renounce those ties to the family that the Chinese, in the spirit of Confucian orthodoxy, most deeply cherish and the importance of which they most assiduously seek to inculcate. The person in such a religious profession would justifiably be regarded as someone unfilial and therefore disloyal (in both the familial and political sense), someone who is, in the words of Han Yu's famous memorial against receiving the relics of Buddha, "ignorant of the obligations between ruler and subject, of the sentiments between father and son." (Yu 61)

How is Bao-yu guilty? And how is Bao-yu innocent?

4. How do dreams and illusion influence the narrative? To answer this, chart out three dreams in the novel and explain how they develop the narrative. Now a larger question is why: why so many references to dreams? What larger themes/ideas do they connect with in the novel?
5. Check definition of bildungsroman above and state what you believe he learns from his experiences as portrayed in the novel. As a starter, you can consider, the following from a critic who believes that in the novel "Knowledge is indeed a major theme [. . .]: social, moral, artistic, psychological, and sexual" (Yu)?

What the author/critics say

The Garden

“The society of the garden subverts the political, religious, and amorous intrigue of Confucian orthodoxy. Indeed, even the phrase daguan comes from a Buddhist metaphor for spiritual insight (Levy 108). In Honglou meng, the decline of the Jia clan, emblematized by Daguanyuan, occurs despite the best intentions of that exemplum of Confucianism, Jia Zheng (who, due to filial obligation, will not question the actions of that "nasty old man" [2:414], Jia She, or the whimsical decisions of Lady Jia). Yet, the inevitable decay of the garden teaches Bao-yu the truth of mutability, a spiritual realization that eventually allows him to sever his filial obligations and leave the Red Dust world” (Ferrara)

“Yet the garden, like its symbolic counterpart, the Illusory Realm, is a precarious dream. Rivalries and jealousies among the girls (chapters 19, 21, and 22) preface the move into the garden and persist afterward” (Li 650)

“However, in ways more fundamental, ineluctable, and impersonal, the garden world is undermined by the sheer passage of time and the very fragility of love and beauty. The tone is elegiac from the beginning—the first act of Paoyü and Tai-yü in the garden is to bury fallen blossoms. Inmates of the garden refer intermittently to inevitable separation and dispersal (chapters 26, 36, 57, and 78).” (Li 650)

Reality and Illusion

“The dialectics of reality and illusion is coextensive with the paradoxical relationship between love (ch'ing) and its transcendence or negation (puch'ing). Enlightenment is attained through love (yi ch'ing wu tao), even as reality is apprehended through illusion (chi huan wu chen).” (Li 652)

“is possible that these "dreams and illusions" are to be taken in tbe Buddhist sense, that is, a sense which sees everything we experience as "dreams and illusions." And there is indeed a Buddhist circle throughout the text's structure, in which Baoyu returns to his true nature as a heavenly stone” (Yau 129)

Pictures

"One page of the Jiaxu edition of Dream of the Red Chamber"

"A scene from the story, painted by Xu Baozhuan (born 1810)."

Both images from Wikipedia.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Hongloumeng2.jpg

Links

Bibliography

Misc. Bibliography from Richard Smith Rice University

Cooper, Eugene, and Meng Zhang, "Patterns of Cousin Marriage in Rural Zhejiang and in Dream of the Red Chamber," Journal of Asian Studies, 52.1 (February, 1993) DS 501/.J6

Edwards, Louise, "Jia Baoyu and Essential Feminine Purity," The Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, 20-21 (1988-1989).

Edwards, Louise, "Women in Honglou meng: Prescriptions of Purity in the Femininity of Qing Dynasty China," Modern China, 16.4 (1990). DS777.55/.M56

Edwards, Louise, "Gender Imperatives in Honglou meng: Baoyu's Bisexuality," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 12 (1990) PL2250/.C45

Edwards, Louise, "Representations of Women and Social Power in Eighteenth Century China: The Case of Wang Xifeng," Late Imperial China, 14.1 (June, 1993). DS754/.C5332

Edwards, Louise, Men and Women in Qing China: Gender in 'The Red Chamber Dream." New York: E.J. Brill, 1994.

Gao, George, "Lin Yutang's Appreciation of the 'Red Chamber Dream,'" Renditions, 2 (Spring, 1974). PL2658/.E1/R46

Hawkes, David, "The Translator, the Mirror and the Dream--Some Observations on a New Theory," Renditions, 13 (Spring, 1980). PL2658/.E1/R46

Hawkes, David, "The Story of the Stone: A Symbolist Novel," Renditions, 25 (Spring, 1986). PL2658/.E1/R46

Hawkes, David, The Story of the Stone. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979-1987; 5 vols.) PL2727/.S2/A23

Hegel, Robert and Richard Hessney, eds., Expressions of Self in Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. PL2275/.S44/E96/1985

Hegel, Robert, Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998).

Hsia, C.T., "Dream of the Red Chamber," in The Classic Chinese Novel: A Critical Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press, 1968. PL2415/.H8

Huang Xinqu, trans. A Dream of Red Mansions. San Francisco: Purple Bamboo Publishing, 1994.

Kao, Yu-kung, "Lyric Vision in Chinese Narrative: A Reading of Hung-lou Meng and Ju-lin Wai-shih," in Plaks, ed., Chinese Narrative.

Kinney, Anne Behnke, ed., Chinese Views of Childhood (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995)

Knoerle, Jeanne, The Dream of the Red Chamber: A Critical Study. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972. PL2727/.S2/K58

Lin, Shuen-fu, "Chia Pao-yu's First Visit to the Land of Illusion: An Analysis of a Literary Dream in an Interdisciplinary Perspective," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 14 (December, 1992) PL2250/.C45

Miller, Lucien, Masks of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber: Myth, Mimesis, and Persona. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1975. PL2727/.S2/M47

Miller, Lucien, "Children of the Dreams: The Adolescent World in Cao Xueqin's Honglou meng." in Kinney, ed., Chinese Views of Childhood

Plaks, Andrew, Archetype and Allegory in the Dream of the Red Chamber. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.

Plaks, Andrew, "Allegory in Hsi-yu Chi and Hung-lou Meng," in Plaks, ed., Chinese Narrative.

Plaks, Andrew, ed., Chinese Narrative: Critical and Theoretical Essays. Princeton. Princeton University Press, 1977. PL2415/.C48

Plaks, Andrew, "Chang Hsin-chih on How to Read the Hung-lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) in Rolston, ed., How to Read the Chinese Novel.

Rickett, Adele, Chinese Approaches to Literature from Confucius to Liang Ch'i-ch'ao. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. PL2272.5/.C5327

Rolston, David. How to Read the Chinese Novel. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. PL2415/.H66/1990

Saussey, Haun, "Reading and Folly in Dream of the Red Chamber," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 9.1-2 (July, 1987) PL2250/.C45

Soong, Stephen, "Two Types of Misinterpretation--Some Poems from 'Red Chamber Dream,'" Renditions, 7 (Spring 1977). PL2658/.E1/R46

Wagner, Marsha, "Maids and Servants in Dream of the Red Chamber: Individuality and the Social Order," in Hegel and Hessney, eds.

Waltner, Ann, "On Not Becoming a Heroine: Lin Daiyu and Cui Ying-ying," Signs, 15.1 (1989). HQ1101/.S5

Wang, Jing, The Story of Stone: Intertextuality, Ancient Chinese Stone Lore, and the Stone Symbolism in Dream of the Red Chamber. Durham: Duke University Press, 1992. PL2265/.W28/1992

Wang, John C.Y., "The Chih-yen-chai Commentary and the Dream of the Red Chamber: A Literary Study," in Rickett, ed., Chinese Approaches to Literature.

Wong, Kam-ming, "Point of View, Norms, and Structure: Hung-lou Meng and Lyrical Fiction, Plaks, ed., Chinese Narrative.

Wu, Shih-ch'ang, On the Red Chamber Dream. London: Clarendon Press, 1961.

Yang, Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, A Dream of Red Mansions. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1962; 3 vols. PL2727/.S2/A29513/1978

Yang, Michael, "Naming in Honglou meng," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 18 (1996).

Yee, Angelina, "Counterpoise in Honglou meng," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 50.2 (December, 1990) DS 501/.H3

Yee, Angelina, "Self, Sexuality, and Writing in Honglou meng" Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 55.2 (December, 1995).

Yü, Anthony, "Self and Family in the Hung-lou meng: A New Look at Lin Tai-yü as Tragic Heroine," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 2.2 (July, 1980). PL2250/.C45

Yu, Anthony, Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997. PL2727/.S2Y76/1997

Yu, Ying-shih, "The Two Worlds of Hung-lou meng," Renditions, 2 (Spring, 1974). PL2658/.E1/R46

Yu, Ying-shih, Hung-lou meng ti liang ko shih-chieh (The Two Worlds of the Dream of the Red Chamber; Taipei, 1981; includes English text] PL2727/.S2/Y8 1981

© 2010 David Bordelon