第1个回答 2013-06-20
A Dream of Red MansionsThe novel A Dream of Red Mansions was written 200 years ago. During the last 200 years it conquered countless readers. A Dream of Red Mansions is the peak of ancient Chinese novel. It is also a well－known masterpiece in the world of literature. The author Cao Xueqin lived through the reigns of Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. At first his family was favoured by the emperor. But later his house was confiscated and his family sank to the rock bottom of the society. Cao Xueqin too turned from a noble scion to an impoverished youth. In his old age he was so poor that the whole family had to live on thin gruel. In the drastic change he experienced the ups and downs in the snobbish world and observed the sharp conflicts between the rich and the poor. He clearly understood the degenerating quality of his feudal aristocratic family. He wrote this immortal novel in the dire straits. Unfortunately he died in poverty and illness before he finished his work. He was still in his forties then. The novel originally entitled The Story of the Stone, also known as A Dream of Red Mansions, has 80 chapters finished. The rest 40 chapters are believed to have been added by Gao E. An outstanding achievement of A Dream of Red Mansions is that it successfully presents a heart－stirring tragedy, a tragedy of the society, of the time and of human life. A good part of the novel was assigned to the description of the daily depletion of Family Jia and the final bankruptcy of the influential family that had enjoyed a hundred years' prosperity. This symbolised the decline of the feudal society. Cao Xueqin devotes all his feelings to a number of trampled and destroyed young women whom he admired. Neither daughters of influential families nor maid－servants nor actresses from low origins escaped their tragical fate. The destruction of the beautiful invested the whole book with a grace of tragic. Since Jia Baoyu's birth his family arranged him a path to wealth and fame. But his special life experience turned him into a rebel of the feudal family. The genuine love between him and Daiyu was opposed by his family. At last he chose to go to a monastery. Daiyu was intelligent and gifted. She showed contempt to vulgar feudal scholars and denounced the hypocrisy of those who sought fame by way of writing stereotyped essays. She pursued Baoyu's genuine love, but she died in grief. Baochai observed the feudal moral code. To win her parents' favour and to ensure the family's interests, she was forced by Jia's mother and Lady Wang into marrying Baoyu. But she did not win love. She became a victim of the arranged marriage. The tragical marriage among Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai is the main thread of the whole novel. Their love story has moved every reader. The greatest achievement of the novel lies in its convincing and vivid characterisation. Of the more than four hundred persons depicted in the novel, at least forty are highly individualised. Under Cao Xueqin's pen those persons not only have their special looks, but their voices and emotions. The subtle mentality of the characters leaves indelible impression in the reader's mind.