As Pao-Yu's In The Dream Of The Red Chamber

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In the Dream of the Red Chamber a picture is painted of two worlds or two mindsets about living, and the reader is confronted with the task of contemplating what is real. The worlds that are introduced are of the contemplative person, which is represented by Great Void Illusion Land (GVIL), and that of education, working, and pleasure, which is represented by the Red Dust. The book alludes to an understanding that even though one way of life might be preferred to another, both are real, and that people will be exposed to both as they journey through their life. The challenge, as I see it, is to find a balance that will bring out the best in the person, for themselves and for society. This is where the book falls short because there is …show more content…

Pao-yu takes a liking to the beauty of girls and enjoys playing with feminine things, like make-up for example (22). This leads to a dream that Pao-yu has in which he returns to GVIL, and as he enters this realm he passes through an archway that has an inscription carved into it. This inscription reads that “When the unreal is taken for the real, then the real becomes unreal” (42). This is the second time in the book that this inscription has been presented, but at this point the reader is more aware and begins to see that the book is making a differentiation between the Red Dust and GVIL. Pao-yu continues to investigate GVIL and attempts to obtain insight into the Red Dust through learning about its emptiness of meaning. As he is trying to obtain this insight he is being escorted through GVIL by the goddess of disillusionment. She leads him to her sister whom she wants him to marry, engage in coitus with, and come to an understand about the emptiness of vain pleasures that accompanies the sexual act. After Pao-yu learns this he can then abandon the vain pleasures of the Red Dust and focus on his studies of Confucius and Mencius

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