Gao E (, c. 1738c. 1815) was a

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

Chinese scholar, writer, and editor. He attained the degree of '' juren'' in 1788 and ''

jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referr ...

'' in 1795. A

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

who belonged to the

Bordered Yellow Banner The Bordered Yellow Banner () was one of the Eight Banners of Manchu military and society during the Later Jin and Qing dynasty of China. The Bordered Yellow Banner was one of three "upper" banner armies under the direct command of the emperor ...

, he became a Fellow of the Hanlin Academy in 1801. His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

was Yunfu () and

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

Lanshu (,"Orchid Study-Place"). In 1791, together with his partner Cheng Weiyuan (), he "recovered" the last forty chapters of

Cao Xueqin Cáo Xuěqín ( ; ); (4 April 1710 — 10 June 1765)Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...

's monumental 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 ...

'' (sometimes called ''The Story of the Stone''). The nature and extent of his contributions to the work and the sources of his material are a matter of controversy, but it is believed by a large number of modern orthodox Redologists that the last forty chapters were not written by Cao Xueqin. He also edited the first eighty chapters together with Cheng. In 1921,

Hu Shih Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese libera ...

proposed that the last forty chapters of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' were written by Gao E himself. His proposition was accepted by many orthodox Redologist scholars such as

Zhou Ruchang Zhou Ruchang (; April 14, 1918 – May 31, 2012), was a Chinese writer noted for his study of the novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' by Cao Xueqin. He is regarded as among the most renowned and influential redologists of the 20th century. In a ...

. Gao and Cheng's continuation is believed by some as a conspiracy by the

imperial court to hide the semi-autobiographical nature of the novel, which involves the politics of the Yongzheng era. During the mid-20th century, the discovery of a pre-1791 "120 chapter manuscript" complicated the questions regarding Gao's involvement.

Irene Eber Irene Eber ( 1929 in Halle – April 2019; née Geminder) was an Israeli Orientalist. She was the Louis Frieberg Professor of East Asian Studies (emeritus) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Jerusalem (Sinologist), and Senior Fellow of t ...

found the discovered manuscript "seems to confirm Cheng and Gao's claim that they merely edited a complete manuscript, consisting of 120 chapters, rather than actually writing a portion of the novel."

References

Sources

*Zhou Ruchang, 周汝昌：《流行本《红楼梦》后四十回叙书》，北京出版社， pp. 307–8. 1730s births 1810s deaths Chinese publishers (people) Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Bannermen Qing dynasty politicians Qing dynasty writers 18th-century Chinese writers 18th-century Chinese businesspeople 19th-century Chinese businesspeople 18th-century Chinese novelists {{China-writer-stub