Dream Of The Red Chamber

Xinyu Wang

GHIST 101

Yongguang Hu

March 27, 2015

Study of the Qing dynasty from Dream of the Red Chamber

Dream of the Red Chamber (Chinese: 红楼梦), also named as The Story of the Stone (Chinese:石头记) is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and one of Chinese Four Great Classical Novels. The novel was written around 1749 C.E to 1759C.E during the Qing Dynasty. The book was originally written by Cao Xue Qin and then continued and finished by another Chinese writer, Gao E. This is not only a great literature, but also could be considered as an encyclopedia with a rich content. In this essay, we will first discuss the background of the author and then focus on two main aspects: the corruption and savageness of feudal society and people’s

Most people in the book are somehow influenced by the feudal rules. Although from the earliest age of China, people were living under the feudal society, that kind of feudal thoughts are actually aggravated during Min and Qing Dynasty. The book criticizes the feudal system through the two main characters, Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. Since Baoyu is the grandson of the most important person at Jia’s family, who in charge of Jia’s family, Baoyu was born with a high expectation. He grows up under the care of a group of naive maid, which has influenced him being more wild and free. He knows clearly what to love and what to hate. Daiyu has quite background with Baoyu. She moves into Jia’s mansion after her parents’ death. Although her grandmother, which is also Baoyu’s grandmother being nice to her, she still could feel the home when live in the mansion. She observes the hierarchy and the complexity of the family. However, even though she tends to watch her steps in the family, it does never stop her hate on the feudal rules. She and Baoyu are the two characters challenge the feudal society. Xue Baochai is one figure innocently poisoned and bounded by the feudal ethical code. She is good at hiding her actual thoughts and acting like an obedient woman. She is the type the elder people like. A good example is Baochai persuading Daiyu not to read “unnecessary books”. She says, “ Reading is not the thing we girls need to do. It might be better if we do not know how to read and write… What we are supposed to do is the needlework.” In this case, the “unnecessary books” are the books, which tell story about a woman breaks the feudal boundary and pursue their love, such as The Story of the Western Wing (Xixiangji) . According to Baochai, it is not a right thing to be against the elders’ will. These all revels that women’s thoughts had been constrained and many women had been