Dream of the Red Chamber

Cao Xueqin's Qing dynasty saga of the Jia family's decline — China's novel of novels.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Cao Xueqin (last 40 chapters attributed to Gao E)

type

Family saga novel

era

Qing China (c. 1750s; printed 1791–92)

language

Classical Chinese

setting

Rongguo and Ningguo mansions, Beijing

parts

120 chapters

Relative Scale in Novels

Core Principles & Analysis

• Cao Xueqin left the novel unfinished at his death in about 1763.
• It circulated in manuscript before the 1791–92 printed edition completed it.
• An entire scholarly field, Redology, studies its text and mirror-world design.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Dream of the Red Chamber