A Dream of Red Mansions
（Learn to spread China and Chinese cuIture in EngIish）
A Dream of Red Mansions (also translated as Dream of Red Chamber or Hong Lou Meng or The Story of the Stone) is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and one of the four classical novels in China. The novel was written between 1749 and 1759 in the Qing Dynasty. The first 80 chapters of the book were written by Cao Xueqin, and the last 40 chapters were written by Gao E after Cao Xueqin died.
《红楼梦》（又译 Dream of Red Chamber 或 Hong Lou Meng或 The Story of the Stone）是中国白话文学的杰作，也是中国四大古典小说之一。小说大约创作于清朝1749年至1759年间。书的前80回由曹雪芹所著，后40回是曹雪芹死后由高鹗续写完成的。
A Dream of Red Mansions is written in the so-called Mandarin, which is the dialect of local officials and is closer to vernacular than classical Chinese. Writing in Mandarin helps to establish the legitimacy of vernacular. The author Cao Xueqin is proficient in Chinese poetry and classical Chinese, and is good at writing works in semi-classical Chinese style. The dialogue in the novel is written in Beijing dialect, and is also influenced by Nanjing dialect. The language is simple and sincere, vivid and intuitive. By popularizing classical Chinese into vernacular and applying popular discourse to literature, Cao Xueqin skillfully molded the book into a coherent and organic whole to meet the tastes of both refined and popular.
《红楼梦》是用所谓的官话写成的，官话是地方官员的方言，更接近白话文而不是文言文。用官话写作有助于确立白话文的合法性。作者曹雪芹精通中国诗歌和文言文，善长以半文言风格撰写作品。小说的对话是用北京话写成的，并掺杂南京地方话的影响。语言简洁真诚，生动直观。通过将文言文通俗化为白话文，并将通俗话语应用于文学，曹雪芹巧妙地将该书塑造成一个连贯、有机的整体，以满足雅俗共赏的口味。
A Dream of Red Mansions is regarded as a semi- autobiographical work, reflecting the fate of the Cao family. As the author elaborated in the first chapter, this is to commemorate the women he met when he was young: friends, relatives and servants. The soul stirring artistic charm of A Dream of Red Mansions lies in its perfect originality in plot structure.
《红楼梦》被认为是半自传体作品，反映了曹氏家族的命运。正如作者在第一章中详述的那样，这是为了纪念他年轻时认识的女性：朋友、亲戚和仆人。《红楼梦》惊心动魄的艺术魅力表现在情节结构方面的完美独创性。
A Dream of Red Mansions tells a story about a large feudal family in the Qing Dynasty. It takes the emotional entanglement between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai as the main line, and through the description of some daily events, it reflects the love and hate of the women in the Grand View Garden of the Jia family, with the twelve hairpins in Jinling as the main body, At the same time, it also reflects the decline of a large family and the internal ugliness of this seemingly gorgeous family from the secondary storyline of the Jia family from the rich and magnificent to the decline .
《红楼梦》讲述的故事发生在清朝的一个封建大家庭,其中以贾宝玉,林黛玉,薛宝钗三个人之间的感情纠葛为主线，通过对一些日常事件的描述体现在贾府的大观园中以金陵十二钗为主体的众女子的爱恨情愁，同时又从贾府由富贵堂皇走向没落衰败的次线反映了一个大家族的没落历程和这个看似华丽的家族的内在丑陋。
The main story is that Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu first met in the Jia family, met each other while growing up, and fell in love with each other with the belief of "fated marriage"（木石前盟）. However, in the end, Baoyu was deceived into marrying Xue Baochai, who was regarded as a "golden and jade match" by her elders in a semi sober state. However, Lin Daiyu only ended up burning the manuscript to break off her infatuation and return to heaven. The story ends with Baoyu becoming a monk to pay her confidant while Xue Baochai was pregnant and staying in an empty room.
主要故事为贾宝玉和林黛玉第一次在贾家相遇，在成长过程中相遇，并挚守“前世姻缘”(木石前盟）的爱情信念。但最后宝玉却终究在半清醒状态下被骗而娶了长辈眼中"金玉良缘"的薛宝钗，而林黛玉终只有落得焚稿断痴魂归离恨天。故事最终以宝玉清醒后出家断尘缘，薛宝钗怀孕守空房为结局。
This book records in detail the two branches of the Jia family in the capital, Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion. Their ancestors were granted the title of Duke. At the beginning, the owners of these two luxury houses were still the most prominent nobles in the capital. One of the descendants of the family became a royal concubine. In order to celebrate this event, a huge garden was built in the house. The novel describes the wealth and influence of the Jia family and the decline of its reputation in a naturalistic way. The book includes about 30 major characters and more than 400 minor characters. Finally, the Jia family was neglected by the emperor, and the residence was attacked and confiscated. The book combines the vivid and subtle family life with the turbulent social events by arranging numerous sentimental events along two story lines, which makes its theme particularly noticeable in the high complexity of the plot.
这本书详细记录了京都贾氏家族的两个分支荣国府和宁国府。他们的祖先被封为公爵，一开始，这两座豪宅的主人仍然是京都最显赫的贵族，家族有个后人做了皇妃。为了庆祝这一事件，便在府上修建了巨大的玉赐花园。小说以自然主义的方式详细描述了贾府的财富、影响以及贾府声望的败落。全书包括大约30个主要人物和400多个次要人物。最终，贾氏家族被皇帝冷落，宅邸遭到袭击和没收。该书通过将众多情节沿两条故事线索安排，将栩栩如生的细微的家庭生活与波涛汹涌的社会事件结合在一起，而使其主题在情节的高度复杂性中特别引人注目。
The book also expounds that the tragedy of life is actually caused by the tragedy of the times, and points out that no matter how high the official position and how much wealth are, they are only an illusory dream and are doomed to end in "an empty and desolate wilderness". In the Grand View Garden, no beauty can finally escape the tragic fate in tears. The novel reveals a historical inevitability, that is, the long-term glory must be accompanied by destruction and decline. In this book, the author also expresses his sense of indifference based on his profound understanding of life. Throughout the whole book, there is not only a strong sense of fate and destiny, but also a clear concept of "vanity" and "emptiness". Therefore, it is full of strong tragic significance.
该书还阐述了生活悲剧其实是由时代悲剧造成的，指出再高的官职和再多的财富都只是一个虚幻的梦想，注定会在“一片空旷荒凉的荒野”中落幕。在大观园中，没有任何一个美女能最终逃脱以泪洗面的悲惨命运。小说揭示出一种历史必然，即长期的辉煌必然伴随着毁灭和衰落。在本书中，作者还表达了他基于对生活的深刻感悟而产生的世态炎凉感。贯穿全书不仅是一种强烈的命运感和宿命感，也是一种清晰的“虚荣”和“虚空”概念。因此，充满了强烈的悲剧意味。
A dream of Red Mansions is a great realistic masterpiece. Since its publication, the study of Red Mansions has been the field of special research on this novel, which is recognized as the peak of Chinese classical novels.
《红楼梦》是一部伟大的现实主义巨著。自出版以来，红学一直是专门研究这部作品的领域，这部小说被公认为中国古典小说的尖峰。
声明：文中的英文取材于孙立新主编、中国海洋大学出版社出版的《中国文化要览》。著作权属于原作者，本资料室借用相关英文材料，旨在促进中国文化的宣传和普及。如有侵权，联系删除。
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