The Story of the Stone (Also Known as the Dream of Red Mansions, the Dream of the Red Chamber, Etc.) Is Generally Accepted as China's Greatest Novel. What Are Its Most Outstanding Qualities as Literature?
Most of famous traditional Chinese novels have the universal and unique artistic style, writing technique and artistic language, ¡°Honglou meng¡± is one of the best novels that contain profound cultural connotation and ideological content. As well known, the original author Cao xue qing only wrote the first eighty chapters of this novel, but died before the completion of the last 40. The last 40 chapters of the novel are of questionable authenticity. It is been said that the other forty chapters were written by Gao E. It is not a completely and unified whole so that the literary qualities of first eighty chapters might be discussed more efficiently rather than the last forty chapters in this essay. In addition, Honglou meng¡¯s three most outstanding qualities as literature which is its netted form structure, the vivid characters in the novel and diversity of literature technique will be discussed in this essay. Honglou meng is a book which consumed the whole life of Cao xue qing. It is believed that the novel is semi-autobiographical, mirroring the fortunes of Cao Xueqin's own family. It was intended to be a memorial to the women Cao knew in his youth: friends, relatives, and servants, as the author details in the first chapter. The novel itself is a detailed, episodic record of the lives of the extended Jia Clan, made up of two branches, the Ning-guo and Rong-guo houses, which occupies two large adjacent family compounds in the Qing capital, [Beijing]. Their ancestors were made Dukes, and at the novel's start the two houses were still one of the most illustrious families in the capital. It can be obviously seen that the subject content of this novel is not easy to understand but contains profound meanings. As Lu Xun said it will be had various understanding of Honglou meng by various persons¡¯ eyes. It is clear that the three most outstanding qualities as literature of Honglou meng which is the structure, the characters and the literature technique should not be