DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER OUTLINE

(Pinyin [P/Y], Honglou meng; Wade-Giles [W/G], Hung-lou meng)

Richard J. Smith
Rice University

NOTE: This outline is designed to provide a bit of guidance as you read volume 1
of The Story of the Stone. I am less interested at this point in your appreciation of
the novel as a "literary work" than I am in the book as a reflection of Chinese
culture (world view, aesthetics, values, life-styles, etc.). Don't worry about the
names.

I. Basic features of the novel (generally considered to be China's greatest):

A.120 chapters; nearly 1,300 pages; over 700,000 words

B. Over 75 printed Chinese editions; over 15 foreign translations

C. About thirty major characters; over 400 minor characters

D. First 80 chapters of the novel commonly known as The Story of the

Stone; written by Cao Xue-qin (W/G, Ts'ao Hsueh-ch'in, d. 1763); descended from
Chinese Bannerman-Bondservant family; grand holdings in Nanjing confiscated by
Yongzheng emperor for family's dishonesty and incompetence

E. Last 40 chapters of the novel attributed to Gao E (W/G, Kao O)

F. Entire novel made comprehensible by commentaries; most famous and useful:

the Red Inkstone Commentary

G. Hawkes translation (Story of the Stone; five vols.) is by far the best; takes into
account linguistic and other subtleties, rendered in the British idiom

II. Structure and style of the novel

A. Basic organizing principles (like the culture as a whole); several modes:

realistic, allegorical, narrative' much foreshadowing, but, as in Chinese philosophy,
syncronicity esteemed over simple causality as an explanatory principle; emphasis
on relations, qualities, and states of being; novel deliberately not fixed in time or
place (tho' the time is obviously the Qing dynasty, and the place, a composite of
Nanjing and Beijing)

B. Yin-yang complementarity (juxtaposition and alternation of themes, images,

personalities, situations); some examples: 1. Theme of interpenetration of reality
and illusion, daily life and dreams (the idea of true and false producing one
another)--"Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true"--the Chinese reader takes
delight in his/her disorientation. 2. Juxtaposition of Confucian and Buddhist (or
Daoist) elements and themes. 3. Alternation of scenes (situations growing out of
one another)--e.g. action and stillness (or excitement and boredom); elegance and
baseness; sorrow and joy; separation and union; prosperity and decline; contrasts
often emphasized in chapter heads. 4. Characters are often complementary
opposites, although some are mirror images of one another

III. Major characters (see The Story, vol. 1, pp. 535 ff. for full list and
genealogy)

A. [Jia] Bao-yu (W/G, Chia Pao-yu; lit., "Precious Jade" of the Chia family line);
the "hero" of the novel; talented but lazy and spoiled by his paternal grandmother
(Grandmother Jia, called the "Matriarch" in some translations); tyrannized by his
severe Confucian father; Chinese commentaries assume him to be about 13 years
old at the time covered by vol. I of The Story

B. [Lin] Dai-yu (W/G, Lin Tai-yu; lit., "Black Jade" of the Lin family line); Dai-yu
is Bao-yu's cousin, an orphan who is supposed to have come to the Rong-guo
family compound when she was about 6 years old; considered to be about 12 years
old in vol. I, The Story; talented, pretty, slender, unhealty, suspicious and jealous;
a yin character, but Bao-yu's "girlfriend"

C. [Xue] Bao-chai (W/G, Hsueh Pao-ch'ai; lit. "Precious Clasp" of the Xue family
line); also Bao-yu's cousin; comes somewhat later than Dai-yu to Rong-guo,
inconsistency regarding time of her arrival; considered to be about 15 years old in
vol. I; also talented and pretty, but a bit plump and robust (yang character);
competes with Dai-yu but is also a friend; Bao-yu is the meeting point; his given
name, one should note, consists of the first character of Bao-chai's given name, and
the last character of Dai-yu's given name

D. [Wang] Xi-feng (W/G, Wang Hsi-feng, lit. "Phoenix" of the Wang family); very
capable woman; wife of Bao-yu's cousin, Jia Lian; a strong woman, but rather
corrupt and devious; eventually her activities bring disaster to Jia family

IV. Main plot: Rise and fall of the Jia family, which lives in two major adjoining
compounds (Rong-guo, headed by Grandmother Jia; Ning-guo, headed by Jia Jing)

A. Much action takes place in Prospect Garden (P/Y Daguan yuan; W/G Ta-kuan
yuan; lit. "Garden of Great Vision"); built in honor of Bao-yu's elder sister, an
imperial concubine

B. Focus on Bao-yu--his upbringing and interaction with various characters

(mainly women--see Vol. 1, Appendix: "The Twelve Beauties of Jinling," pp. 527
ff.); but the novel begins with Bao-yu's supernatural "origins" as a magical stone,
unused by the Goddess Nu-gua in repairing the "dome of Heaven," which wants to
enjoy the pleasures of the "red dust" (the mundane world); Bao-yu born with a
piece of jade (the magical stone) in his mouth through the machinations of a
Buddhist monk and a lame Daoist priest (who make periodic appearances
throughout the novel to mock or enlighten people)

C. Basic story line concerns conflict between Bao-yu and his family over his
laziness and failure to study well for the examinations, etc.

D. Also a complex love story, or series of stories; Bao-yu believes he will marry
Dai-yu, but his family instead arranges a marriage with the more robust Bao-chai;
Bao-yu is surprised on his wedding day; Dai-yu is grief-striken and dies on the
same day; a series of family tragedies follow, but Bao-yu eventually passes the
exams, Bao-chai bears him a son to carry on the line, and the Jia family fortunes,
which have fallen, rise again; but Bao-yu then renounces the world to go off and
become a monk (symbolizing individual liberation)

V. Ways of looking at the novel

A. Several traditional interpretations: love story, political satire, autobiography;

work in praise of women ("Red Chamber" refers to the women's quarters of a
traditional family compound)--all are essentially correct

B. A basic element: Quest for identity and an understanding of one's purpose in life

C. Chinese Communist interpretations see it as a critique of "feudal" society

D. Western scholarship (see below): Growing appreciation for the novel and its
cultural significance; Dream may be viewed as a kind of "total vision" of Chinese
culture--"Prospect Garden" is a sort of cultural metaphor

E. The novel itself is a reflection of Chinese aesthetics and world view; the
culmination of China's rich literary tradition; includes examples of every major
type of Chinese literature, including several kinds of poetry

F. General cultural value: Sheds light on virtually every aspect of elite (and much
popular) culture, from family life, social roles and values to religious practices and
attitudes, amusements, food, medicine, clothing and architecture

G. Also highlights the gap between theory and practice in Chinese social life