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The Story of the Stone Cao Xueqin

The Story of the Stone By Cao Xueqin

The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin


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Summary

A novel of manners in Chinese literature.

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The Story of the Stone Summary

The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin

The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is the great novel of manners in Chinese literature.
Divided into five volumes, of which The Warning Voice is the third, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.

The Story of the Stone Reviews

"Filled with classical allusions, multilayered wordplay, and delightful poetry, Cao's novel is a testament to what Chinese literature was capable of. Readers of English are fortunate to have David Hawkes and John Minford's The Story of the Stone, which distills a lifetime of scholarship and reading into what is probably the finest work of Chinese-to-English literary translation yet produced. You will be rewarded every bit of attention you give it, many times over." -SupChina, "The 100 China Books You Have to Read, Ranked" (#1)

About Cao Xueqin

Cao Xueqin (Ts'ao Hsueh-ch'in) ca. 1715-1763
Cao is considered to be China's greatest novelist, but little is known of his life. An unconventional, versatile man, he came from an eminent and wealthy family which suffered a reversal of fortune in 1728 after the death of the Kangxi Emperor and a power struggle between his sons. Cao seems to have spent about ten years writing and revising his novel, from roughly 1740 to 1750, but the last 40 of the 120 chapters were completed by a different author, probably after his death. He also worked for a period of time in the Imperial Clan's school for the children of the nobility and bannermen, but eventually settled in the countryside west of Peking. He earned some money by selling his own paintings, but his family seems to have been perpetually in poverty.

Table of Contents

The Story of the Stone Volume 3Note on Spelling
Preface

Chapter 54:
Lady Jia ridicules the cliches of romantic fiction; And Wang Xi-feng emulates the filifal antics of Lao Lia-zi

Chapter 55:
A foolish concubine seeks to humiliate her own daughter; And an ill-natured stewardess tries to outwit her young mistress

Chapter 56:
Resourceful Tan-chun abolilshes abuses in the interests of econoomy; And sapient Bao-chai shows how small consessions can be made without loss of dignity

Chapter 57:
Nightengale tests Jade Boy with a startling message; And Aunt Xue comforts Frowner with words of loving kindness

Chapter 58:
In which the cock-bird who mourns his mate is found to be a hen; And a true heart is able to sympathize with a strange kind of love

Chapter 59:
By Willow Walk the conververs of property resort to violence and abuse; And at Green Delights the defenders of law and order invoke a higher authority

Chapter 60:
As a substiture for rose-orris Jia Huan is given jasmine face-powder; And in return for rose essence Cook Liu is given lycoperdon snow

Chapter 61:
Bao-yu owns up to a crime he did not commit; And Patience bends authority in order that the innocent may be spared

Chapter 62:
A tipsy Xiang-yun sleeps on a peony-petal pillow; And a grateful Caltrop unfastens her pomegranate skirt

Chapter 63:
Flower-maidens combine for nocturnal birthday revels; And a grass widow copes with funeral arrangments single-handed

Chapter 64:
Five fair women make subjects for a chaste maid's verse; And nine jade dragons make a love-gift for a flirt

Chapter 65:
Jia Lian's second marriage is celebrated in secret; And the future marriage of San-jie becomes a matter of speculation

Chapter 66:
Shame drives a warm-hearted young woman to take her life; And shock leads a cold-hearted young gentleman to renounce the world

Chapter 67:
Frowner sees something that makes her homesick; And Xi-feng hears something that rouses her suspicions

Chapter 68:
Er-jie takes up residence in Prospect Garden; And Xi-feng makes a disturbance in Ning-guo House

Chapter 69:
A scheming woman kills with a borrowed knife; And one who has ceased to hope swallows gold and dies

Chapter 70:
Lin Dai-yu resuscitates the Poetry Club; And Shi Xiang-yun tries her hand at a song lyric

Chapter 71:
Lady Xing deliberately humiliates her daughter-in-law; And Faithful inadvertently iterrupts a pair of love-birds

Chapter 72:
Wang Xi-fen refuses to see a doctor; And Brightie's wife seeks help with a betrothal

Chapter 73:
A half-witted servant girl picks up a highly embarrassing object; And an easy-going young mistress refuses to inquire into a theft

Chapter 74:
Lady Wang authorizes a raid on Prospect Garden; And Jia Xi-chun breaks off relations with Ning-guo House

Chapter 75:
Midnight revellers are startled by a sound of evil omen; And Mid-Autumn moon-watchers listen to quantrains of unequal merit

Chapter 76:
Flute-playing at Convex Pavillion provokes too much melancholy; And linked verses at Concave Pavilion betray a morbid sensitivity

Chapter 77:
A wronged maid takes a loving last leave of her master; And three young actresses seek to escape matrimony in the cloister

Chapter 78:
Jia Zheng commissions the Ballad of the Winsome Colonel; And Bao-yu composes an Invocation to the Hibiscus Spirit

Chapter 79:
Xue Pan finds to his sorrow that he is married to a termagant; And Ying-chun's parents betroth her to a Zhong-shan wolf

Chapter 80:
Unfortunate Caltrop is battered by a philandering husband; And One Plaster Wang presribes for an insufferavle wife

Appendix I: Sandal, Musk, and Skybright
Appendix II: Suncloud, Sunset and Moonrise
Appendix III: You San-jie, Liu Xiang-lian and Jia Lian's Journeys
Appendix IV: Old Mrs. You and the Zhangs
Appendix V: Fivey, Bao Er and The Mattress
Appendix VI: Euergesia and the Little Actresses

Characters in Volume 3
Genealogical Tables

Additional information

CIN0140443703G
9780140443707
0140443703
The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin
Used - Good
Paperback
Penguin Books Ltd
1980-09-25
640
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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