A Dream of Red Mansions: New Approaches to Learning Chinese

by Xueqin Cao

Other authorsE Gao (Author)
Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

LIT.CAX.DR1/2/3/4

Collection

Publication

Foreign Languages Press (2001), Edition: Box, 2580 pages

Description

The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the "Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature." It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century China and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the classical Chinese novel. The "Red Chamber" is an expression used to describe the sheltered area where the daughters of wealthy Chinese families lived. Believed to be based on the author's own life and intended as a memorial to the women that he knew in his youth,The Dream of the Red Chamber is a multilayered story that offers up key insights into Chinese culture. "Henry Bencraft Joly's attention to detail and the faithfulness in his translation ofHong Lou Meng makes this revised edition ofThe Dream of the Red Chamber an excellent book for the student of modern Chinese." --Edwin H. Lowe, from his introduction "...this partial version certainly deserves a wider readership, as a brave early skirmish on the outer ramparts of this masterpiece. The re-issuing of Joly's work will undoubtedly provide a rich crop of fascinating raw material for the growing community of Translation Studies scholars." --John Minford, from his foreword… (more)

Media reviews

New York Review of Books
"masterpiece"
2 more
"at any rate the effort to read The Dream of the Red Chamber is eminently worth making."
"I would say that The Dream of the Red Chamber and the Japanese Tale of Genji are the two greatest works of prose fiction in all the history of literature"

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1791 (120 chapters ∙ Gao E. ed.)
1932 (German: Kuhn)
1980 (English: Hawkes and Minford)
1980 (English: Xianyi Yang and Gladys Tayler Yang)

Physical description

1887 p.; 7 inches

ISBN

7119006436 / 9787119006437

Call number

LIT.CAX.DR1/2/3/4

Library's review

Also known as Hong Lou Meng, this is arguably China's greatest literary masterpiece. A chronicle of a noble family in the eighteenth century; but the splendor of enchanting gardens, pleasure pavilions, and daily life of the most sophisticated refinements hides the realities of decay and
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self-destruction.
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Pages

1887
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