Last week I finished reading A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin.

The book is also known as Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone.

This was a major undertaking as the book consisted of more that 2,500 pages in 4 volumes.

A Dream of Red Mansions is one of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature. I had read the other three, so decided to finish off the quartet.

The book was an interesting read as it is set in the 18th Century and portrays the culture of the Chinese aristocracy.

The other great novels, Water Margin by Shi Nai’an and Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong were written in the 14th Century and Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en is from the 16th Century.

The other great novels were also written about much earlier times and include a lot of mythology, legends and folk stories. I found that this novel gave a more realistic look into the culture of the Chinese.

I found it very difficult to keep track of the characters in the novel as many of them had more than one name. There are also more than 500 named characters in the novel and 40 of them are considered major characters.

The edition that I read was filled with wood block illustrations from the 19th century and I would sometimes find myself spending more time looking at the illustrations than reading the text.

I will not share the plot of the novel, except to say that it tells the story of the declining fortunes of a Chinese family. It also includes a subplot that centers around a piece of special jade.

I have found that reading the classic novels of Chinese literature has helped me understand newer Chinese novels. You often see references to them in newer works.

They have also helped me better understand Asian culture. It even helped me understand Korean architecture. See my post, Journey to the West, to learn more about Japsang.

Reading these classics will also help you appreciate Disney movies like Mulan.

Have you read any of these classics?

Steven