The preface of this book says: "Mrs Cao sent a letter from Mr Cao Xueqin, that is, the book was written in A Dream of Red Mansions for the first time, and the ink was there. The manuscript is hidden in Mrs. Lin Daiyu's Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and Mr. Qin Xue crowned it with a preface. " The book "Fan Fan" solemnly states: "It is the manuscript of Cao Xueqin of the library, and each volume has the handwriting of Qin Xue and the seal of Xiaoxiang Pavilion. The whole book is not incomplete, so it was obtained at a heavy price. According to Fu Zi, these words are not credible, but they just copied the way Jin Shengtan claimed to get the ancient version of Water Margin. Although A Dream of Red Mansions is the original work of Cao Xueqin, it deviates from the original work in theme. At that time, some people criticized the rewriting of this book from different angles. For example, Yao Xie's "Reading a Dream of Red Mansions" thinks that the plot of Jialin Liangyu for no reason is to gild the lily. Xie Jushi's Story of the Stone thinks that the author wrote that Daiyu had a goldfish that could swim. "The author is really poisoned."
Wu Keqi's Summary of Yufu Series totally negates the whole book, saying: "I press the book, but I set the book before, and I give a voice of injustice on behalf of Daiyu. If there is no hair growth, its timbre will never be similar, which will be even more inhuman. If Daiyu comes back to life, we might as well use it to make up for the hatred of the gods according to the old story, instead of refining the goldfish. Political couples seek wives for their children, and Daiyu is like a parent. How dare you? Daiyu is still proud. How dare you? Adding a Jiang Jingxing has nothing to do with it. Zhen Baoyu was in trouble, and Daiyu sent someone to inquire about the reason for taking poison. " The author of this book rewrote Lin Daiyu, Qingwen and other characters with feudal ethics. Compared with the original conception of A Dream of Red Mansions, it is really a world of difference. Therefore, the "love" written in the book has entered the cliche of novels such as gifted scholars and beautiful women.
In the original work, Baoyu pursues a beautiful and affectionate Daiyu who has rebellious ideals with herself. In this book, Baoyu only wants to get a beautiful and affectionate Daiyu, no matter what her ideal is at this time. So the love written in this book has become a simple matter between children, and many of them involve obscenity. Liang Zhangju's "Four Records of Persuasion" commented that "A Dream of Red Mansions" begins with Qin's human feelings in the folio, with the turquoise at the end of the book as the finishing touch, depicting thousands of gentle and graceful forms, enlightening people's sinful sinus and guiding people's evil opportunities. " This statement is appropriate. The "obscenity" mentioned here is essentially different from a large number of naturalistic descriptions such as Jin Ping Mei. The "obscenity" in this book is aimed at the so-called "extermination of human desires" in feudal Neo-Confucianism. Because of this, it was also banned by the Qing government.
The Daiyu described in this book is far from the Daiyu in my mind. Although it is called A Dream of Red Mansions, it is far from the original spirit.