The song from the series "Dream of the Red Chamber"

" Dream of the Red Chamber" by Xueqin Cao is one novel which lays the cornerstone  of Chinese novels. 

In the history of Chinese literature, till the "Dream of the Red chamber",  novels are always deemed as inferior to other writings such as poems. However, Xueqin Cao, a royal who was deprived of title and confiscated  family fortune by the emperor in Qing dynasty changed the game. When the tragedy happened, Xueqin was only a teenager. Living in poverty after his family fell apart,  Xueqin spent ten years on writing and revising the novel " Dream of the Red Chamber" , which demonstrates the death of one bloomed Chinese royal family.

Chinese culture prefers happy ending. However, the " Dream of The Red Chamber" is an exception, it's a drama full of tragedy. It contains the tragic love story between Lin daiyu( The heroine) and Jia baoyu ( The hero), the marrige tragedy of the ladies in the family and the tragedy that a family ,once to be the most eminent in the Jinling ( Nanjing in China today), totally destroyed by the emperor. Another exception is that Xueqin Cao pays high respect and deep sympathy toward female roles in the novel, which is a rarity in his era in China with huge gender inequality constituted by androcracy. In the novel, Lin daiyu, the heroine is a talented girl who pursues the freedom for love, which is revolutionary especially under the situation that many parents still arrange their kids' marriage in current China.

For me, the most valuable part of novel is not only about plots, but also all of poems written in the novel. Xueqin is a poet who is so talented that he granted different roles different writing styles. You will not mix Lin daiyu's poems with another female role, Xue Baochao's poems even their poems are anonymously.  


The song in this blog demonstrates the tragic love story between lin daiyu and Jiabapyu in the classical series "Dream of the Red Chamber" adapted from the novel in 1987. The lyrics is by Xueqin Cao and composed by Liping Wang. The original singer is Li Chen but I sing it by myself this time! It's maybe not that professional but hope you enjoy it!

The main theme of " Dream of the Red Chamber" by Mengyi