APPRECIATION OF CHINESE LITERATURE(1)

Grandpa Liu Xinwu on Dream of the Red Chamber

Liu Xinwu

Tiandi Press

October 2021

168.00 （CNY） per set

After repeatedly pondering upon and understanding the content and themes of Dream of the Red Chamber， author Liu Xinwu removed content unsuitable for children， and abridged and simplified the story from a child’s perspective. Separating the novel into parts， here he only tells its beautiful people， beautiful scenery， and beautiful stories. Written in lovely language， this is an easy-to-understand version of Dream of the Red Chamber that children will love to read.

Liu Xinwu

A famous Redologist， he has worked as a middle-school teacher， the editor of a publishing house， and the editor-in-chief of People’s Literature.

In 1977， he published the short story “Class Teacher”， which is thought to be a founding work of “scar literature”. His novel The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower won the second Mao Dun Literature Prize.

His novel The Quadrangle Tower won the second Shanghai Outstanding Novel Award.

Cao Xueqin wrote in Dream of the Red Chamber that Grandmother Jia really dotes on Lin Daiyu， her granddaughter. So， where does she arrange for Lin Daiyu to live after the girl comes to Jia Mansion？ Grandmother Jia makes Lin Daiyu stay with herself. At first， Grandmother Jia wants her servants to move Baoyu out of Green Voile Lodge to stay with herself in Warm Chamber.

But Jia Baoyu doesn’t want to move to Warm Chamber to live with Grandmother Jia. Why not？ He says， “I’m afraid I’ll disturb you. Why don’t I just live outside Green Voile Lodge？”

It turns out that Green Voile Lodge divides the large room into an outer section and an inner section. Before the arrival of his cousin Lin Daiyu， Jia Baoyu lived in Green Voile Lodge. Grandmother Jia now arranges for Lin Daiyu to live in Green Voile Lodge， while Jia Baoyu moves to Warm Chamber to sleep with herself. But Jia Baoyu wants to be close to Lin Daiyu， so he simply tells Grandmother Jia that he doesn’t mind sleeping outside Green Voile Lodge. The compartment outside Green Voile Lodge is also quite spacious. When Jia Baoyu says the room is “outside Cousin Lin’s Green Voile Lodge”， he doesn’t mean that the two of them are separated by a green voile door or wall. In fact， the place Jia Baoyu intends to live in is a space with a kang （a heatable brick bed in North China）. There are also an outer section and an inner section， both of which are quite spacious.

Do you get it now？ Lin Daiyu lives in Green Voile Lodge in Jia Mansion， while Jia Baoyu lives in a room outside Green Voile Lodge. Grandmother Jia herself sleeps in Warm Chamber. So you see， Grandmother Jia’s compound is not only tall and wide， but also very luxurious. The space in the room is so intricately divided that many people can sleep in it. Grandmother Jia’s main room is divided into many smaller spaces， one of which is called Warm Chamber. The window of Warm Chamber faces south， so it receives plenty of sunlight and is a very warm place in the winter. Grandmother Jia is old and likes to be warm， so she has to sleep in Warm Chamber. Grandmother Jia’s Warm Chamber has many kangs. Of course， the kangs in Warm Chamber are not the same as the earthen kangs of the countryside. They are made of quality bricks. The bedding and furnishings on these kangs are also very luxurious.

So， what is a “Green Voile Lodge”？ In ancient times， in the large households of the rich and powerful， there were many ways to divide a large room into smaller rooms. Green Voile Lodge was a space partitioned from a large room.

Together with sliding doors， beautiful wood-carved fretwork partitions were used to separate spaces in a large room. Lovely voile would be glued to a fretwork partition. This voile was often emerald in color， and the artisan would sometimes paint designs on it. These partitions divided a large room， and the space allotted is called the “Green Voile Lodge”.

Cao Xueqin wrote in Dream of the Red Chamber that Grandmother Jia likes to indulge herself and enjoys company. Her courtyard is already very large and beautiful， but she isn’t satisfied and has built for herself a “flower hall” in her west courtyard.

What is a “flower hall”？ In ancient times， the rich and the powerful would build a special space inside the courtyard where they lived. This space was completely open inside， with a small opera stage for the enjoyment of spectators. There were also many tables for them to hold banquets. If the tables were shifted away， the people could stand together for social activities. This place dedicated to entertainment， feasting， operas， and social interaction for the wealthy is called a “flower hall”. The hall required beautiful scenery outside the windows and doors， adorned with peonies， banana trees， magnolias， and other fresh， gorgeous， and elegant plants.

So you see， Grandmother Jia’s compound not only has a particularly lovely courtyard but there are also many compartments inside her rooms. There was even surplus space to build a “flower hall”. As the novel progresses， this “flower hall” will be a place of action： someone in the mansion will throw a birthday banquet there; everyone will gather to feast and watch an opera.

After Lin Daiyu arrives at the Rongguo Mansion， she initially lives in such a compound. You must not be confused by this. In Dream of the Red Chamber， many stories take place in Grandmother Jia’s courtyard compound. For example， many of the stories between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu take place in Green Voile Lodge where Lin Daiyu lives， and in the space outside where Jia Baoyu lives.