The Story of the Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 1, The Golden Days (Penguin Classics)

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Ronald Egan: The novel is centered on one family who lived in Beijing, a very wealthy, a very elite, aristocratic family named the Jia Clan. And the novel over the course of 120 chapters describes the life, and the rise, and eventually the decline of this great family who ends up in deep political trouble with the emperor and the court. Master Li becomes suspicious about the fragment and discovers that it is actually real and that the 'mistakes' are actually clues, such as the number of a dragon's scales (146, actually 153), the number of points in acupuncture (253, actually about 360) and so on. The decoded message reveals the location of the Stone. Master Li also reveals the mummy in Liu Sheng's tomb had the wrong color wrappings, imperial yellow instead of mourning white, meaning that the mummy was not that of Liu Sheng. Baoyu's maternal aunt, mother to Pan and Baochai, sister to Lady Wang. She is kindly and affable for the most part, but finds it hard to control her unruly son.

Preferring the company of girls and women, Bao-yu seeks out the company of Dai-yu, Bao-chai, or others when possible. Divided into five volumes, of which The Warning Voiceis the third, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author’s own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence – a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things. And the crux of the love story is to see which of the many female cousins is going to end up getting betrothed to the young boy, whose name is Baoyu.Zürcher, Erik. 2007. Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaption of Buddhism in Early Medieval China. Leiden: Brill. First published 1959. [ Google Scholar] Second female family member of the generation of the Jia household after Yuanchun, Yingchun is the daughter of Jia She, Baoyu's uncle and therefore his elder first cousin. A kind-hearted, weak-willed person, Yingchun is said to have a "wooden" personality and seems rather apathetic toward all worldly affairs. Although very pretty and well-read, she does not compare in intelligence and wit to any of her cousins. Yingchun's most famous trait, it seems, is her unwillingness to meddle in the affairs of her family. Eventually Yingchun marries an official of the imperial court, her marriage being merely one of her father's desperate attempts to raise the declining fortunes of the Jia family. The newly married Yingchun becomes a victim of domestic abuse and constant violence at the hands of her cruel, abusive husband. Cao, Xueqin. 1958a. Hongloumeng Bashihui Jiaoben. Edited by Pingbo Yu. Beijing: Renmin Wenxue Chubanshe. [ Google Scholar] Truth and falsity, reality and illusion are constant throughout, side by side, often difficult to differentiate.

His fate is inextricably bound with another creature from the Land of Illusion, the Crimson Pearl Flower. The deciphered text agrees, citing a tablet from the Cave of Yu and gives a description of the appearance of the stone and that Ssu-ma Ch'ien had attempted to destroy the stone with an axe, splitting it in three pieces. It asks scholars to destroy the stone, as soldiers could not.

The rivalry and friendship among the three -- and the many other characters living in these huge compounds -- shifts throughout the book. the allegorical nature of the names of the places, like Carnal Lane, Worldly Way, etc. This precedes the story of Zhen Shi-yin, who becomes, in a sense, the first audience to the story of the Zhen family. In the story of this monk and Taoist, the fairy Disenchantment plays a role. It also becomes the story of the watering of the Crimson Pearl Flower.

Young, Serinity. 1999. Dreaming in the Lotus: Buddhist Dream Narrative, Imagery, and Practice. Boston: Wisdom Publications. [ Google Scholar] Ronald Egan: This novel almost unanimously would be considered by Chinese readers, from the time it first began to circulate down to the present day, as the finest piece of Chinese literature that was ever produced.

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Cao, Xueqin. 1973. The Story of the Stone: Volume 1. Translated by David Hawkes. London: Penguin. [ Google Scholar] Ronald Egan: Can you imagine such a thing happening in the USA for an 18th century novel? I mean, who, who would even try to mount such a, a such a thing? Right. Because how many, how many people would tune in to watch? But in China, this became a really, really hot item to tune in to watch, because people are so excited about it. People know this novel very well, and they have very strong feelings. Oh, this actor would be great. That actress would be, is the wrong type, you know, for that role. Right? Zachary Davis: Welcome to Writ Large, a podcast about how books change the world. I’m Zachary Davis. In each episode, I talk with one of the world’s leading scholars about one book that changed the course of history. For this episode, I sat down with Professor Ronald Egan to discuss The Story of the Stone. Xue Pan finds to his sorrow that he is married to a termagant; And Ying-chun’s parents betroth her to a Zhong-shan wolf They enter the tomb. The tomb is a small, barren room with two stone coffins, containing also his principal wife Tou Wan. The expected mummies are in the coffins.

Hsia, Chih-tsing. 2015. The Classic Chinese Novel: A Critical Introduction. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. First published 1968. [ Google Scholar] Several early manuscripts are still extant. At the present, the "Jiaxu manuscript" (dating to 1754) is held in the Shanghai Museum, the "Jimao manuscript" (1759) is held in the National Library of China, and the "Gengchen manuscript" (1760) is held in the library of Peking University. Beijing Normal University and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences both also held manuscripts of the novel that predate the first printed edition of 1791.

Baoyu's personal maid. Brash, haughty and the most beautiful maid in the household, Qingwen is said to resemble Daiyu very strongly. Of all of Baoyu's maids, she is the only one who dares to argue with Baoyu when reprimanded, but is also extremely devoted to him. She is disdainful of Xiren's attemp These hand-copied manuscripts circulated first among his personal friends and a growing circle of aficionados, then eventually on the open market where they sold for large sums of money. [6] [7] A country rustic and distant relation to the Wang family, who provides a comic contrast to the ladies of the Rongguo House during two visits. She eventually rescues Qiaojie from her maternal uncle, who wanted to sell her. Later, they walk through the part of Peking known as Heaven's Bridge, a crime filled area. Master Li spots a robbery in progress and makes a detour to Fire Horse Park, specifically to the Eye of Tranquility, a small lake surrounded by old sinners hoping for salvation, following the tradition of Chiang Taikung, a Taoist who fished without worms. Li Kao wrings a confession about the mushrooms from a toadish fellow named Hsiang. He identifies the manuscript fragment as a Ssu-ma Ch'ien, but an obvious forgery. It has also been traced recently.