The document provides an overview of Cao Xueqin's classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng) in 3 parts: 1) Background on the author Cao Xueqin and setting of the novel. 2) A high-level summary of the plot, which follows the love stories of characters Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai against the backdrop of two aristocratic families. 3) Discussion of some of the novel's key themes around love vs duty, hierarchy in society, and the rise and fall of power and fortunes.

1. Prelude
• http://video.sina.com.cn/ent/v/m/2009-12-
26/193560958.shtml
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 1

2. Dream
of
the Red Mansion
Presented
by Emily Rose
周枢
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 2

3. Cao Xueqin
• One of the greatest literary giants in the Chinese
history
• Born in 1715 into a very established family of
lords and ladies
• Died in 1763 in poverty
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 3

4. The Novel
• The love story between Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai as the plot line
• 1 emperor's favorite royal concubine
• 2 stately homes – Rong’guofu, and Ning’guofu
• 4 generations of lords and ladies
• 12 beautiful Jinling ladies
• 32 dreams
• 108 beautiful girls on 9 “Lists of the Beloved”
• 120 chapters with the first 80 written by Cao Xueqin and the next 40 by others
• 975 characters, 732 named, 243 not
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 4

5. The Story Line
1. The stone – Baoyu and his 6. Daiyu lost her dad and
jade became depressed
2. Daiyu lost her mum and met 7. Yuanchun’s royal visit and
Baoyu Daguanyuan
3. Baochai met Baoyu who loved 8. Daiyu’s death and Baoyu’s
Daiyu marriage to Baochai
4. Baoyu’s dream – the fate of 9. Yuanchun’s death and the fall
the girls of the four clans
5. Qin Keqing and her death 10. Baoyu left the family to
become a monk
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 5

6. Key Characters
- Baoyu -
• The most spoilt
• The lady’s man
• The rebel
• Historical similarities to Werther
as in “Die Leiden des jungen
Werther” by Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe (1749-1832)
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 6

7. Key Characters
- Daiyu -
• The orphan
• Baoyu’s only love
• The image of
talents, purity and
kindness
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 7

8. Key Characters
- Baochai -
• The model lady of her
time
• Baochai’s love for
Baoyu
• The destined as well
as the abandoned
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 8

9. Love vs. Marriage
• Marriage and politics
• Love not allowed – death of Daiyu
• Relationships between Baoyu and the servant
girls - Xiren, Qingwen, and Jinchuan
• Qin Keqing and her father-in-law
• Wang Xifeng toyed Jia Rui to death
• Yuanyang’s suicide
• Yuanchun, Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 9

10. Respect for Authority
in a Hierarchical Society
• The role of Mm Jia as head of the family
– the revering of the elderly
• Yuanchun’s influence on the family –
her role as the daughter of the family
and as the royal consort to the lords
• Expectations of Baoyu to secure the
family fortunes
• Baochai’s aspiration to be enrolled into
the palace
• The repression of individualism,
freedom, love, and equality
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 10

11. Power and Corruption
• Men and political power
• Women and domestic
power – Wang Xifeng vs.
the team of Tanchun,
Baochai, and Li Wan
• Jia Yucun vs. Jia Zheng
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 11

12. The Lack of Sustainability
• In political
correctness – change
of emperors
• In family fortunes
• In individualism –
childhood vs.
adulthood
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13. 24 April 2010 China study lecture series 13

14. Cao Xueqin’s Time Worldwide
American literature
• The first novel, William Hill Brown’s “The
Power of Sympathy” published in 1789
European literature
• The Age of Enlightenment
• Enlightenment – Romanticism
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 14

15. English literature
1) Historical background：
• A period of comparatively peaceful development
• Industrial Revolution
• The struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism.
2) Main writers and their works:
• Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe; Moll Flanders
• Jonathan Swift - Gulliver’s Travels
• William Blake - Songs of Innocence; Songs of
Experience
• Robert Burns - A Red, Red Rose
• Richard Brinsley Sheridan - The School for Scandal; The
Rivals
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 15

16. The 18th Century Country House
• The golden age of the English country house
• Time period of Jane Austen (1775-1817)’s stories
• The separations between the classes – the “polite
society” would stay within their circle
• Improved roadways meant that they could mingle during
the London season, then head down to Bath and travel
to stay at the various country houses of friends or
strangers
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 16

17. Chatsworth & Mr. Darcy
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 17

18. International Interests
• Russian sinologist, V．P．Vasiliev (1818-1900),
and his collection of the manuscripts
• German sinologist, Franz W. Kuhn (1884-1961),
his Baoyu way of life and the first German
translation
• French-speaking Swiss sinologist, Paul
Demieville (1894-1979), and his monkey
• “Lin Daiyu in Shakespeare's Eyes”
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 18

19. Relevance to Today
• “Old habits die hard” – the world hasn’t changed
that much
• The lessons we can learn from the rise and fall
of the lords
• The inspirations from the rebels
• The continuous pursuit for freedom, love and
equality
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 19

20. The End
• http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTUyNDU
5MDA0.html
24 April 2010 China study lecture series 20