Granny Liu ( zh, t=劉姥姥, p=Liú Lǎolāo) is a character in the 18th century
Chinese
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* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
novel ''
Dream of the Red Chamber
''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 fo ...
''. She is an elderly country rustic and a distant relative of
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 ...
through "joining families" and marriage (i.e. they are not related by blood).
Granny Liu's son-in-law's grandfather was adopted by Lady Wang's father, hence the Jia clan became related to her son-in-law's family. Granny Liu was entrusted with the task of calling on Lady Wang by her son-in-law Gou'er.
Granny Liu visits the Rongguo Mansion on two occasions during the novel with her young grandson Ban'er. Each time, they provide a sharp contrast to the Jia family members. Nevertheless, she is respected by everyone for her age, hale physique and forthright nature, providing much comic relief, even for the Dowager. Each time, she also takes home many valuable gifts of clothing, money, food, family remedies, and livestock. In
Cheng-Gao ending of the novel, Granny Liu visits
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 ...
before she dies and saves Qiaojie from concubinage.
The expression roughly translating to "Granny Liu visits the Grand View Gardens" (
simplified Chinese
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: ;
traditional Chinese
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: ;
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
: ''Liú lǎolao jìn Dàguānyuán'') refers to this character, who visits the noble family who plays host to her, but which also makes fun of her openly for her simplicity (Granny Liu is, however, grateful for their generosity.) The expression is used in modern Chinese to describe someone, usually simple and unsophisticated, who is overwhelmed by new experiences and luxurious surroundings.
Dream of the Red Chamber characters
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