THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER
Genre: Kindle Edition
Author: CAO XUEQIN
Price: £0.00
The novel provides a detailed, episodic record of the two branches of the Jia clan — the Rongguo House and the Ningguo House — who reside in two large, adjacent family compounds in the capital. Their ancestors were made one of the highest courtiers in the country, and as the novel begins the two houses are among the most illustrious families in the capital. The novel vividly describe the prestigious, prodigal life in a Chinese Aristocratic family, in great detail(Food, clothes, demneanor, recreations, ceremony, festical rituals etc), from a sharp and unique perspective, that criticized the feudal system and its oppression upon young people, but hinted a bit of nostalgic sentiments.(The writer was born in a similar downfallen aristocratic family.)
In the story‘s preface, a sentient Stone, the 361st stone Nuwa made for mending the heaven and abandoned because only 360 stones were needed, begs a Taoist priest and Buddhist monk to bring it with him to enjoy in the worldly world. The priest and the monk mocked at the ridiculousness of the idea but under relentless petition they used their power to change it into a piece of limpid jade, which were held in the mouth of the protagonist of the novel, Jia Baoyu, the incarnation of the Attendant of The Divine Jade.
The main character, Jia Baoyu (whose name means "precious jade"), is the rebellious-to-feudal-conventions, largely spoilt heir of the family, a reincarnation of the Attendant of The Divine Jade. The Crimson Pearl Fairy is incarnated in Baoyu's cousin, Lin Daiyu, an extremely sentimental and unworldly young aristocrat with exquisite talents in poems. Baoyu, however, is predestined in this life to marry another cousin, Xue Baochai. This triangle against the backdrop of the family's declining fortunes forms the most well-known plot line in the novel.
In the story‘s preface, a sentient Stone, the 361st stone Nuwa made for mending the heaven and abandoned because only 360 stones were needed, begs a Taoist priest and Buddhist monk to bring it with him to enjoy in the worldly world. The priest and the monk mocked at the ridiculousness of the idea but under relentless petition they used their power to change it into a piece of limpid jade, which were held in the mouth of the protagonist of the novel, Jia Baoyu, the incarnation of the Attendant of The Divine Jade.
The main character, Jia Baoyu (whose name means "precious jade"), is the rebellious-to-feudal-conventions, largely spoilt heir of the family, a reincarnation of the Attendant of The Divine Jade. The Crimson Pearl Fairy is incarnated in Baoyu's cousin, Lin Daiyu, an extremely sentimental and unworldly young aristocrat with exquisite talents in poems. Baoyu, however, is predestined in this life to marry another cousin, Xue Baochai. This triangle against the backdrop of the family's declining fortunes forms the most well-known plot line in the novel.