''A Dream of Red Mansions'' ( zh, 红楼梦) is a Chinese serial feature film produced by

Beijing Film Studio } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, released in 6 parts (8 episodes) between 1988 and 1989. Directed by

Xie Tieli Xie Tieli (27 December 1925 – 19 June 2015) was a Chinese director. In 2011, China Film Directors Guild Award awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award.

(谢铁骊) and Zhao Yuan (赵元), it is a cinematic adaptation of the 18th-century Chinese novel of the same name. The film took two years to prepare and three years to shoot, and remains, at 735 minutes, the longest ever made in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Lead actresses Xia Qin and Tao Huimin were both

Yue opera Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity ...

artistes, with Xia Qin taking on the role of the male lead

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 l ...

. The film won Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Lin Moyu), Best Act Direction and Best Costume Design at the 10th Golden Rooster Awards.

Cast

Many of the actors were Chinese opera actors: Tao Huimin, Li Yongyong and

He Saifei He Saifei (born 11 April 1963) is a Chinese actress of film and television, as well as a celebrated Yue opera performer of ''dan'' (female) roles. Internationally, she is best known for playing supporting roles in period films like ''Raise the R ...

were all professional

actresses from the Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe; Xing Jinsha (or Ying Kam Sha) was a ''

Kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

'' actress; Yuan Mei was a

Huangmei opera Huangmei or Huangmei tone ( or , pinyin: or ) originated as a form of rural folk song and dance that has been in existence for the last 200 years and possibly longer. Huangmei opera is one of the most famous and mainstream opera in China (others ...

actress; and Zhao Lirong was a

Ping opera Pingju or Ping opera () is a form of Chinese opera from northern China. History Pingju originated in Tangshan, Hebei, near the city of Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coasta ...

actress. Xia Qin,

Ji Qilin Ji Qilin (born 27 May 1947) is a Chinese actor. Biography Ji Qilin was born in 1947 to two deployed soldiers on their way south during the Chinese Civil War. Because of the war, he grew up in his grandmother's house in Liaocheng, Shandong until ...

Li Lingyu Li Lingyu (born 9 April 1963, in Shanghai) is a Chinese singer and actress. Biography Li was born in Shanghai in 1963. She is a student of the notable singer Wang Kun. In 1980, she was admitted to the Beijing Red Flag Yue Opera Company, perf ...

and He Qing had all undergone years of training in Chinese opera. *Xia Qin (夏钦) as

* Tao Huimin (陶慧敏) as

Lin Daiyu Lin Daiyu (also spelled Lin Tai-yu, zh, s=林黛玉, p=Lín Dàiyù, rendered Black Jade in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is one of the principal characters of Cao Xueqin's classic 18th-century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is ...

Fu Yiwei Fu Yiwei (; born 26 May 1964) is a Chinese actress. Fu is noted for her roles as Daji in the television series ''The Investiture of the Gods''. Fu has won the Best Actress at the 1st China Film Association, 1986 Xiaobaihua Award for Best Actre ...

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 b ...

*Lin Moyu (林默予) as

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 daug ...

Liu Xiaoqing Liu Xiaoqing (born 30 October 1955) is a Chinese actress and businesswoman. She was one of the leading actresses in China in the 1980s. Biography In her early days Liu worked as a farm labourer, then as a propagandist for the People's Liberatio ...

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 ar ...

*Ma Xiaoqing (马晓晴) as

Shi Xiangyun Shi Xiangyun () is a major fictional character in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the characters known as the Twelve Beauties. She is Jia Baoyu's younger second cousin by the Dowager, Grandmother Jia. X ...

Li Xiuming Li Xiuming is a mainland Chinese film actress. She won both of Golden Rooster Award and Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress, for ''Xu Mao and His Daughters''. Her most remembered role are "Chunmiao" in Xie Jin Xie Jin (; 21 November 1923 ...

as Jia Yuanchun *Yang Shihua (杨世华) as Jia Yingchun *Zeng Dan (曾丹) as

Jia Tanchun Jia Tanchun ( Chinese: 賈探春; Pinyin: Jiǎ Tànchūn, rendered Quest Spring in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is the younger half-sister of Jia Baoyu and a major character in the 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is ...

* Ding Lan (丁岚) as

Jia Xichun Jia Xichun ( zh, t=賈惜春, p=Jiǎ Xīchūn, rendered Compassion Spring in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is a primary character in the 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. Her father is Jia Jing, a son of Jia Daihua. She is ...

*Zhang Jie (章杰) as

Jia Zheng ''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 ...

*Wang Guangquan (王光权) (early) and

(later) as

Jia Lian ''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 ...

*Shi Xian (石冼) as Jia Zhen *Zhou Jieyu (周杰宇) as Jia She *Wang Zhenrong (王振荣) as Jia Jing *Zhang Jian (章健) as Jia Rong *Shan Zenghong (闪增宏) as

Jia Rui Jia Rui (; born February 18, 1987), is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete from Macau. He was one of the most dominant wushu taolu athletes of the 2000s and the early 2010s, and won the first gold medal for Macau at the Asian Games. ...

*Xing Jinsha (邢金莎) (early) and Zhang Lei (张蕾) (later) as

Hua Xiren Hua Xiren (, rendered Aroma in David Hawkes' translation and Pervading Fragrance in Chi-chen Wang's translation), originally called Zhenzhu, is a major fictional character from the classic 18th century Chinese novel '' Dream of the Red Chamber' ...

*Li Yongyong (李勇勇) as

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 ...

*Xu Jiequn (许杰群) as Yuanyang *Ni Xuehua (倪雪华) as

Ping'er Ping'er ( zh, t=平兒, p=Píng'ér; literally "Peace", and known as “Patience” in the Hawkes translation) is an important character in the 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is Wang Xifeng's chief maid and personal as ...

*Tong Xin (童欣) as Xiangling * Chen Hong as Zijuan * Zhao Lirong as

Granny Liu Granny Liu ( zh, t=劉姥姥, p=Liú Lǎolāo) is a character in the 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. She is an elderly country rustic and a distant relative of Lady Wang through "joining families" and marriage (i.e. they ar ...

*Wang Minyi (王敏宜) as

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 sis ...

*Yuan Mei (袁玫) as

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 ...

* He Qing (何晴) as

Qin Keqing ''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 ...

*Xing Hong (邢红) as Li Wan *

Miaoyu Miaoyu (, rendered Adamantina in the David Hawkes translation) is an important character in the 18th century novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the classics of Chinese fiction. She is a young, beautiful but aloof Buddhist nun, compelled by ...

*Lin Xiaojie (林小解) as

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 ( ...

*Chen Hong (陈虹) as Second Sister You *

as Third Sister You *Fan Weihua (范卫华) as Xia Jin'gui *Zhang Baoqiu (张葆秋) as Concubine Zhao *Li Fazeng (李法曾) as Jia Yucun

Plot summary

The film adapts the major events and incidents of the novel. The last part (Part Six) is essentially an abridged adaptation of the Cheng-Gao ending.

References

External links

*
''A Dream of Red Mansions, Part 1''
at the Chinese Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Dream of Red Mansions (1988-9 film) 1988 films 1989 films Films based on Chinese novels Film series based on novels Chinese film series Works based on Dream of the Red Chamber