*Dream of the Red Chamber* Author: Cao Xueqin, Gao E Publisher: China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House

Dream of the Red Chamber is an encyclopedic novel. With the tragic love story of Bao and Dai as the main thread and the rise and fall of the Four Great Families as the background, it depicts all aspects of Chinese feudal society in the 18th century, as well as the nascent capitalist democratic ideas under feudal autocracy. Its grand structure, poignant plot, exquisite details, and vivid, lifelike characters make it a classic in ancient Chinese novels.

About the Author
Cao Xueqin, (?-1763, also written as 1764) a novelist of the Qing Dynasty. His given name was Zhan, his courtesy name Mengruan, and his pen names Xueqin, Qinpu, and Qinxian. He was a "bondservant" of the Bordered White Banner of the Manchu. From his great-grandfather onwards, three generations served as Jiangning Weaving Commissioners, and his grandfather Cao Yin was particularly trusted by Emperor Kangxi. In the early years of Yongzheng, Cao Xueqin's family suffered a major blow due to their involvement in political struggles within the ruling class. His father was dismissed from office, and their property was confiscated, after which they moved to Beijing. In his early years, he experienced the splendor of a powerful feudal landlord family, but later, due to the decline of his family, he faced hardship. In his later years, he lived in the western suburbs of Beijing and died of poverty and illness before the age of fifty. He was proud, fond of drinking, and a lively conversationalist. He possessed profound cultural accomplishments and outstanding artistic talent. He lived in the late feudal period of China, where the sprouts of capitalism were already emerging. In his later years, he had the opportunity to come into contact with the common people, which gave him a more concrete understanding of the class struggles and ideological conflicts of the time. He witnessed the corruption and brutality of the ruling class and its internal disintegration. He spent ten years creating A Story of the Stone (also known as Dream of the Red Chamber). Through the depiction of the rise and fall of a noble bureaucratic family, the book created many typical characters, profoundly dissecting and criticizing the dark corruption of society at the time, and enthusiastically eulogized young men and women with heterodox ideas, becoming a great realist work in classical Chinese literature. However, it also reflected the author's illusion of "mending the sky" for the feudal system and his pessimistic mood of finding no way out. It is said that he revised the work five times, but died before completing the entire book; the popular version today consists of 120 chapters, with the last forty generally considered to have been continued by Gao E. He was also capable of poetry and good at painting rocks, but very few of his works have survived.