Dream Of The Red Chamber is a Chinese
classical novel written in 18th century
. It has been translated and adapted in many versions. Professor Chi- Chen Wang of Columbia
university translated and adapted the
novel in a revised version originally done by Arthur Waley in 1929. The
novel by Tsao Hseueh-chin is Hung Lou Meng or Dream of The Red chamber, a reference to where young
maidens live. It was originally written in 18th century. It was fiction based
on partly his family history. It has gone through many versions copied at
different times and main credit goes to Kao Ou for his editorial
work in finalization. It is considered’ the greatest of the Chinese novels ‘
according to Mark Van Doren in his preface to the novel published by Anchor
Books Editions in 1958. The translator has done an admirable job in recreating
ambience but some of the Chinese names
given in translation necessitate constant reference to the family tree
of the characters given in the
beginning.
The novel is written in racy
style bringing out the fortunes of Chinese households of the seventeenth
century. It tells the story of stone transformed into human Pao-Yu by the
grace of a Buddhist monk and a Taoist priest. After going through a pampered life of a young
scion of a high family with many experiences including mischief, composition of
poems, licentiousness, illnesses bordering on near death, chastisements and punishment from father Chia Cheng for
irresponsibility, his finally passing in the imperial examination in flying
colours, he disappears along with a Buddhist seeking spiritual path.
We find the mixture of mythology,
dreams, life styles of large feudal
families with matriarch, cousins , their loves, intimate relations, concubines , servants , jealousies, conspiracies , tricks to outmaneuver one
another in a bid to attain and elevate one’s positions, unexpected deaths and
renunciation and in brief a world view of that century.
The two households called
Ningkuofu and Yungkuo , lives of four generations and how the family system
moulds the characters of the young , rescues the people from inevitable
illnesses, rescue by talismans, and
dishonour and silencing the anguish of the servants who are abused by the high
born and the wealthy and forced to commit suicides which are managed by the
family through compensation without causing any scandals.
It shows primarily the love story
of Pao-yu born with jade in his mouth
and pampered by the entire
household of NIngkuofu and black
jade, its rough course and eventual death of Black Jade. Pao-yu , the licentious and over indulged
young man . The masters take concubines, children play sports and
conundrums , servants such as Golden Bracelet , Bright Design who devote their
lives to serve their masters and mesdames
and commit suicides to escape scandals
and insults , celebration of festivals,
performance of dramas, the authority of
matriarch the allotted slots of daughter -in-laws in
hierarchy of respect and honour. It also portrays the subordinating status of
women in that society , the corruption of mandarins from Chia family like Chia Gen,
Chia Sheh , the punishment in the form of
confiscation of property and titles by the Emperor, and eventual pardon since they are related to Pao-yu and Cardinal Spring , the Imperial concubine and
reconciliation by the survivors with vicissitudes
in their fortunes and inevitable hand fate. It is about a world now vanished but the story
is long-lasting as it is representative of feudal society of 18th
century China.
The characters such as Pao-Yu ,
the licentious , kind -hearted hero, the Matriarch Madam Shih who is feared and revered by the family,
Pao-yu’s parents Chia Cheng and Mme. Wang , her niece Phoenix (Hsi-feng) who is an
able administrator of the family , shrewd
and vindictive , her husband Chia Lien
who is authoritarian father but submissive son, Black
Jade(Tai-yu) who loves Pao-yu but dies due to illness and for losing her love due to rejection
of her match by the Matriarch and Chia family , the
servant maidens such as
Pervading Fragrance (Hsi-jen) who serves and gives herself to Pao-yu , Patience (Ping-er) , Precious Virtue (
Pao-chai) are which linger in our minds after finishing the reading of
the novel. It is an interesting novel full of suspense and thoroughly interesting and gives a glimpse of Chinese culture .
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