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Xue Baochai
Xue Baochai (, and her surname is a homophone with "Snow", rendered Precious Virtue in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is one of the principal characters in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. Described as extremely beautiful and socially graceful, her attributes complement those of her cousin Lin Daiyu. Indeed, it has been suggested that the two women are complements of one another – each has exactly the attributes of Cao Xueqin's ideal woman which the other lacks. She is the only daughter of Aunt Xue and the younger sister of Xue Pan, a local Jinling bully. Unlike her brother, she is an excellent poet and a good elder cousin to Baoyu and Daiyu, and a good mistress to her maids. Well liked by all the servants and the mistresses of the Jia household, she also is a capable person, once helping Lady Wang manage the Rong Guo Mansion. Baochai is also extremely tactful, always careful never to offend anyone of importance in the house. Eventually, she m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xue (surname)
Xue () is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname 薛 (Xuē). It is romanized as Hsüeh in Wade-Giles. In Hong Kong and Macau it is usually romanized through its Cantonese pronunciation Sit. In Korean, it corresponds to Seol (설), in Japanese to Setsu and in Vietnamese to Tiết. in Indonesia and Netherlands, it is commonly spelled as Siek. According to the 2010 Chinese Census, it is the 76th most common surname in China, a sharp decline from 48th in 1982. In a study by geneticist Yuan Yida on the distribution of Chinese surnames, people who carry the name Xue are dispersed throughout the country and is most heavily concentrated in Shanxi. It is the 68th name on the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' poem.K. S. Tom. 989(1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. . Origin The surname traces back to the State of Xue in what is modern day Shandong. Yu the Great, founding emperor of the Xia dynasty, bestowed upon his m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xue Pan
Xue Pan () is a secondary character in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. He is a ne'er-do-well lout who is guilty of the killing of a man over a beautiful slave girl, Zhen Yinglian, who is renamed as Xiangling (Lotus). He has the manslaughter case done over with money, then escapes to the capital from Jinling. He is the elder brother of Xue Baochai and the son of Aunt Xue ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for .... Pan was also a local bully in Jinling City, where the Xues came from. He is a total opposite of Baochai, who is tactful and cultivated, although he has genuine respect for his sister. He is on the other hand tactless and uncouth, and mixes around with bad company. He eventually marries a shrew, Xia Jingui, who causes much misery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about upcoming events. The writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways. Some of these ways include: character dialogues, plot events, and changes in setting. Even the title of a work or a chapter can act as a clue that suggests what is going to happen. Foreshadowing in fiction creates an atmosphere of suspense in a story, so that the readers are interested and want to know more. This literary device is generally used to build anticipation in the minds of readers about what might happen next, thus adding dramatic tension to a story. Moreover, foreshadowing can make extraordinary and bizarre events appear credible, some events are predicted in order to make the audience feel anticipated for them. Hints may be about future events, ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhiyanzhai
Zhiyanzhai (脂硯齋/脂砚斋; pinyin: Zhī Yànzhāi, ''literally'': "Rouge Inkstone Studio", sometimes translated as Red Inkstone or Rouge Inkstone) was the pseudonym of an early and mysterious commentator of the 18th-century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. This person was a contemporary of the author Cao Xueqin who knew the author intimately enough to be regarded as the chief commentator of his work while it was still unpublished. Most early hand-copied manuscripts of the novel contain red or black-inked commentaries by a few unknown commentators, considered authoritative enough to be transcribed by scribes into subsequent generations of copies. Zhiyanzhai was the most prominent of these commentators. Early copies of ''Dream'' were known as 脂硯齋重評石頭記 ("Zhiyanzhai's Re-Annotations to The Story of the Stone"). These versions are known as 脂本, or "Rouge Versions", in Chinese. They are the manuscripts with the highest textual reliability. Zhiyanzhai h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redology
Redology () is the academic study of Cao Xueqin's ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China. There are numerous researchers in this field; most can be divided into four general groups. The first group are the commentators, such as Zhou Chun, Xu Fengyi, Chen Yupi, and others. The second group is the index group, which mainly includes Wang Mengruan and Cai Yuanpei. The third group are the textual critics, including Hu Shih and Yu Pingbo. The final group are the literary critics, including Zhou Ruchang and Li Xifan. History A 1976 essay by Joey Bonner split the Chinese critical reception of the novel into five phases: *;Pre-1791: Commentators on the pre-publication manuscripts, such as Rouge Inkstone and Odd Tablet, who mainly provide literary analysis of the first 80 chapters. *;1791–1900: Post-publication questions over authorship of the addendum, speculation upon esoteric aspects of the book. After 1875 using the term "Redology" for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grandmother Jia
Grandmother Jia ( zh, t=賈母, p=Jiǎ Mǔ), née Shi, so often also called Dowager Shi ( zh, s=史太君, p=Shǐ Tàijūn) or simply the Dowager, is a major character in the 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is the daughter of Marquis Shi of Jinling. She is also Baoyu and Daiyu's grandmother and the oldest and most respected authority of the Jia Clan. A doting figure, it was she who arranged for Daiyu, her only "outside" (i.e., maternal) grandchild, to come to the Rongguo Mansion. It was with her help that Baoyu and Daiyu became extremely close as childhood playmates, and eventually, kindred spirits and lovers. Grandmother Jia is at heart a fun-loving elder who greatly enjoys conversation and the company of her many grandchildren. A Chinese opera fan, despite her great wealth and prestige she is mindful of the rustic poor like Granny Liu, and is pious and generous in almsgiving. The Dowager's descendants and close relatives include: *two sons, Jia She ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Xifeng
Wang Xifeng (, rendered Phoenix in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is one of the principal characters in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She came from one of the Four Great Families, the Wang (the other three are Jia, Shi, and Xue), and is known for her wit and intelligence, her vivacious manner, her great beauty, her multiple-faced personality and her fierce sense of fidelity. Her family had great faith in her and brought her up as a boy; in fact, the name “Xifeng” is considered masculine in her era. This accounts for her self-assuredness and straightforward ways, characteristics that do not quite fit with the traditional female role at the time. Relations Xifeng is a niece of Lady Wang and is married to Jia Lian, the eldest grandchild of Grandmother Jia (hence, she is related to Baoyu by blood and by marriage). As such she plays a significant role in the day-to-day running of the Rongguo household; in fact, she is the ''de facto'' holder of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jia Baoyu
Jia Baoyu (, and his surname is a homophone with "false" or "fictitious") is the principal character in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. Introduction The first chapter describes how one piece of stone was left over from when the Wall of Heaven was repaired by the Goddess Nüwa. That stone, changed into a piece of luminous jade, is given a chance to learn the emptiness of human existence by following another incarnation who is to be Jia Baoyu. Baoyu is thus born with a magical piece of jade in his mouth. His name, which literally means "precious jade", was given him in honor of this. The jade and Baoyu share a mystical link, and the Cheng-Gao version ends after the jade is lost for good and Baoyu himself disappears. Lin Daiyu was a fairy flower, was later incarnated as Daiyu to pay back her “debt of tears" to Jia Baoyu, who watered and gave life to the flower. Baoyu is portrayed as having little interest in learning the Confucian classics, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Wang
Lady Wang (王夫人) is a character in the classic Chinese 18th century novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is the wife of Jia Zheng, and mother of Jia Zhu (dead at the start of the novel), Jia Yuanchun and Jia Baoyu. She is the elder sister of Aunt Xue and hence the maternal aunt to Xue Baochai and Xue Pan. She is on the surface a kind lady and a devout Buddhist, who delegates authority to her niece Wang Xifeng in the everyday running of the Rongguo household. However, she is prone to malicious rumors, and can act with cruelty towards maids she thinks are seducing her son. Lady Wang is one of the culprits resulting in the death of Baoyu's maid Qingwen Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qing dy .... Wang, Lady Wang, Lady {{novel-char-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aunt Xue
''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for its psychological scope, and its observation of the worldview, aesthetics, life-styles, and social relations of 18th-century China. The intricate strands of its plot depict the rise and decline of a family much like Cao’s own and, by extension, of the dynasty itself. Cao depicts the power of the father over the family, but the novel is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. At a more profound level, the author explores religious and philosophical questions, and the writing style includes echoes of the plays and novels of the late Ming, as well as poetry from earlier periods. Cao apparently began composing it in the 1740s and worked on it until his death in 1763 or 1764. Copies of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanzashi
are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. The term refers to a wide variety of accessories, including long, rigid hairpins, barrettes, fabric flowers and fabric hair ties. In the English-speaking world, the term is typically used to refer to hair ornaments made from layers of folded cloth used to form flowers (), or the technique of folding used to make the flowers. History were first used in Japan during the Jōmon period. During that time, the wearing of a single thin rod or stick was considered to hold powers to ward off evil spirits, with people wearing them in their hair for protective purposes. The Jōmon period also saw the introduction of hair combs. During the Nara period, a variety of Chinese cultural aspects and items were brought to Japan through mutual trade and envoys. The items brought back from China included Chinese hairpins (, ; written with the same Chinese character as ), amongst other hair ornaments such as Chinese combs. During t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
