Literature & Ideas
Landmark
Cao Xueqin
1724 – 1763
Wrote Dream of the Red Chamber, the greatest Chinese novel
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Why they are here
The Qing dynasty author of Dream of the Red Chamber, the vast novel of a declining aristocratic family that is generally regarded as the greatest work of Chinese fiction.
Cao Xueqin grew up in a wealthy family that lost its fortune when he was a boy, an experience that shaped his novel. He worked on Dream of the Red Chamber for many years; it circulated in manuscript and was completed and printed after his death.
The novel portrays hundreds of characters with psychological depth unusual for its time. Its study has become a scholarly field of its own, known as Redology.
The novel portrays hundreds of characters with psychological depth unusual for its time. Its study has become a scholarly field of its own, known as Redology.
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