Basically the story is about a family, the main part of the story is about two lovers, Bao Yu and Dai Yu. They were deeply in love, but Bao Yu’s father had decided that Bao Yu and his maternal cousin, Bao Chai are to be together instead. Unfortunately, at that time, Bao Yu was love sick so they did not dare to reveal the bad news. Instead they told him that he was going to marry Dai Yu. Dai Yu, who was getting weaker with illness, died during Bao Yu and Bao Chai’s wedding. When Bao Yu found out he had been tricked, Bao Chai then revealed the truth to him that Dai Yu is already dead, he later disappeared. What interests me about the story is the ending. It is not definite, as some people said they saw him as a monk while some said he committed suicide. This story plot resembles that of Romeo and Juliett except that Bao Yu did not get to see Dai Yu before her death much less dying together. It is also interesting how this story twists and turns the various events even though there was no climax or villains in the storyline, just pure sad fate and regrets. I am also wondering why Bao Yu did not disappear right after he realised who is his real bride, the story said that he lived with his wife (but never slept with her) for a period of time, if he loved Dai Yu so much, why didn’t he just jump into her grave or do something that shows his great love to her? Then again, since he didn’t hate Bao Chai,(if he hated her, he wouldn’t have been able to live with her over that few years) why did he disappear?
What I would like to share about this heart wrenching love story is the deep love between the two cousins, Bao-yu and Dai-yu. In the Chia family, the grandmother is referred as the Lady Dowager. Hence, her orders are just like the King's in the household. After Dai-yu's mother died, she was sent to live with her grandmother and she grew along side with Bao-yu. As Dai-yu was originally a weak person, her conditions worsened drastically after the death of her mother.
The climax of the story comes about when Bao-yu becomes love sick. Despite knowing their deep love, grandmother lies to the sick Bao-yu that he would be marrying Dai-yu. Hearing the good news, he soon recovers. However he did not realize that this was actually a scheme. Bao Yu’s father had decided that Bao Yu and his maternal cousin, Bao Chai are to marry instead. When Dai-yu found out that Bao-yu was to marry Bao chai, her conditions worsened and sadly, she died believing that this was the wish of Bao-yu. When Bao-yu found out that his bride was not the one he loved and that Dai-yu died thinking that he had abandoned her, he falls into despair. What is interesting is that the story does not have a specific ending, it is not stated whether he has chosen to end his life with her.
From this story, I have come to learn that one should learn to fight for what we want in life. Bao-yu should have told his grandmother that Dai-yu is the girl of his life not assuming that she will make the right decision for him. Although it is true that people in the past leave their fate in the hands of their parents, I still believe that one should express their longings and ask for their understanding. Like what the story says, Bao-yu’s grandmother loves him deeply. If he had the courage to come forth and express his wishes, the ending might not have been so tragic. I can see why this story is one of the most well known Chinese literatures, the sad fate and remorse of Bao-yu and Dai-yu’s love is indeed an interesting tale.
The Dream of the Red Chamber is written by Cao Xueqin between 1749 – 59 during the Qing dynasty. Dream of the Red Chamber rarely also called The Story of the Stone, is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It has endured its popularity up till now and the story consists of 120 chapters. Dream of the Red Chamber is talking about two branches of the Jia clan, the Rongguo House and the Ningguo House, who reside in two large adjacent family compounds in the capital. The novel describes the Jias' wealth and influence in great naturalistic detail, and charts the Jias' fall from the height of their prestige, following some thirty main characters and over four hundred minor ones. Eventually the Jia clan falls into disfavor with the Emperor, and their mansions are raided and confiscated.The novel also describes the everyday life of the upper class of the Ching Dyansty, from architecture, gardening to hairstyle and clothing, from ancestral worshipping to funeral ceremonies, from watching Chinese opera to, cooking receipt and manners in having a meal. As the novel mainly focuses on the family affairs, the main characters are mostly females. As in Chinese culture, it is the female who takes care of the internal activities. Male characters are of supporting importance as they are not the decision-makers of family affairs and they are very often out of the family for official or other business purposes. The main character is Jia Baoyu, the only surviving son of Jia Zheng and Lady Wang. Dream of the Red Chamber has an exceptionally huge number of characters; thirty main and four hundred minor.
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ReplyDeleteBasically the story is about a family, the main part of the story is about two lovers, Bao Yu and Dai Yu. They were deeply in love, but Bao Yu’s father had decided that Bao Yu and his maternal cousin, Bao Chai are to be together instead. Unfortunately, at that time, Bao Yu was love sick so they did not dare to reveal the bad news. Instead they told him that he was going to marry Dai Yu. Dai Yu, who was getting weaker with illness, died during Bao Yu and Bao Chai’s wedding. When Bao Yu found out he had been tricked, Bao Chai then revealed the truth to him that Dai Yu is already dead, he later disappeared.
ReplyDeleteWhat interests me about the story is the ending. It is not definite, as some people said they saw him as a monk while some said he committed suicide. This story plot resembles that of Romeo and Juliett except that Bao Yu did not get to see Dai Yu before her death much less dying together. It is also interesting how this story twists and turns the various events even though there was no climax or villains in the storyline, just pure sad fate and regrets. I am also wondering why Bao Yu did not disappear right after he realised who is his real bride, the story said that he lived with his wife (but never slept with her) for a period of time, if he loved Dai Yu so much, why didn’t he just jump into her grave or do something that shows his great love to her? Then again, since he didn’t hate Bao Chai,(if he hated her, he wouldn’t have been able to live with her over that few years) why did he disappear?
chua si ai(6)
2c1
297 words
Dream of the red chamber:
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to share about this heart wrenching love story is the deep love between the two cousins, Bao-yu and Dai-yu. In the Chia family, the grandmother is referred as the Lady Dowager. Hence, her orders are just like the King's in the household. After Dai-yu's mother died, she was sent to live with her grandmother and she grew along side with Bao-yu. As Dai-yu was originally a weak person, her conditions worsened drastically after the death of her mother.
The climax of the story comes about when Bao-yu becomes love sick. Despite knowing their deep love, grandmother lies to the sick Bao-yu that he would be marrying Dai-yu. Hearing the good news, he soon recovers. However he did not realize that this was actually a scheme. Bao Yu’s father had decided that Bao Yu and his maternal cousin, Bao Chai are to marry instead. When Dai-yu found out that Bao-yu was to marry Bao chai, her conditions worsened and sadly, she died believing that this was the wish of Bao-yu. When Bao-yu found out that his bride was not the one he loved and that Dai-yu died thinking that he had abandoned her, he falls into despair. What is interesting is that the story does not have a specific ending, it is not stated whether he has chosen to end his life with her.
From this story, I have come to learn that one should learn to fight for what we want in life. Bao-yu should have told his grandmother that Dai-yu is the girl of his life not assuming that she will make the right decision for him. Although it is true that people in the past leave their fate in the hands of their parents, I still believe that one should express their longings and ask for their understanding. Like what the story says, Bao-yu’s grandmother loves him deeply. If he had the courage to come forth and express his wishes, the ending might not have been so tragic. I can see why this story is one of the most well known Chinese literatures, the sad fate and remorse of Bao-yu and Dai-yu’s love is indeed an interesting tale.
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Jessica Park Jung Hyun 2c1 (25)
The Dream of the Red Chamber is written by Cao Xueqin between 1749 – 59 during the Qing dynasty. Dream of the Red Chamber rarely also called The Story of the Stone, is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It has endured its popularity up till now and the story consists of 120 chapters.
ReplyDeleteDream of the Red Chamber is talking about two branches of the Jia clan, the Rongguo House and the Ningguo House, who reside in two large adjacent family compounds in the capital. The novel describes the Jias' wealth and influence in great naturalistic detail, and charts the Jias' fall from the height of their prestige, following some thirty main characters and over four hundred minor ones. Eventually the Jia clan falls into disfavor with the Emperor, and their mansions are raided and confiscated.The novel also describes the everyday life of the upper class of the Ching Dyansty, from architecture, gardening to hairstyle and clothing, from ancestral worshipping to funeral ceremonies, from watching Chinese opera to, cooking receipt and manners in having a meal.
As the novel mainly focuses on the family affairs, the main characters are mostly females. As in Chinese culture, it is the female who takes care of the internal activities. Male characters are of supporting importance as they are not the decision-makers of family affairs and they are very often out of the family for official or other business purposes. The main character is Jia Baoyu, the only surviving son of Jia Zheng and Lady Wang. Dream of the Red Chamber has an exceptionally huge number of characters; thirty main and four hundred minor.
Done by: Felicia Sia (9)
Class: 2C1