The Significance of the Title of A Dream of Red Mansions

Among the five titles proposed by Cao Xueqin, The Story of the Stone and A Dream of Red Mansions are the most influential. What does the so-called Dream of Red Mansions mean? This is another inconclusive question. Cao Xueqin explained in A Dream of Red Mansions that A Dream of Red Mansions is its general name. "A Dream of Red Mansions is also the name of a group of songs in the fifth time of the novel. In "Twelve Immortals Songs of a Dream of Red Mansions", Zhi Yanzhai criticized: "The author can't dream of a dream of red mansions. The word "A Dream of Red Mansions" probably first appeared in the poem "A Dream of Red Mansions" written by Cai Jing, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty. Wei Zhuang also has a poem "Who is the master of Chang 'an spring scenery, who has always been a woman in the red chamber"; Some scholars speculate that the title of A Dream of Red Mansions comes from Chen Zilong's Early Rise in Spring at the end of Ming Dynasty: The bridge is full of spring water when you are alone in the breeze. I know I was in a dream of red mansions last night, and I was on a peach tree. It is believed that the word "Dream of Red Mansions" in this poem is not only directly related to the novel "Dream of Red Mansions" in meaning, but also closely related to the artistic conception, which is close to the time when the author wrote the book, so it is presumed that the title of "Dream of Red Mansions" comes from this poem. In my opinion, the author is probably just influenced by some related poems, and the name may not come from that poem. On the meaning of the word "red chamber" —— Can it be understood as the English translation of "dream of a small red chamber" or "dream of a big red house"? Zhou, a red scientist, thinks that none of them are right. He said, "Red Mansion" refers to the boudoir embroidered pavilion of rich women. -It seems that the "red chamber" refers to the residence of women in high-rise families, the embroidery worker in boudoir in the cultural realm, and a beautiful place on earth. It will be easier to understand these cultural connections and appreciate the original intention and artistic conception of Cao Xueqin's nomination of A Dream of Red Mansions. First of all, A Dream of Red Mansions starts from dreams, ends in dreams and runs through dreams (according to statistics, the book has written 32 dreams. Twenty times in the first eighty, and twelve times in the last forty), which is really a grand view of dreams. There is a passage in Zhi Yanzhai's comment on A Dream of Red Mansions: "The great book is a dream, Baoyu's love is a dream, Jia Rui's adultery is a dream, the Qin family's long-term strategy is also a dream, this poem is also a dream, and the' romantic mirror' also comes from a dream, so A Dream of Red Mansions is also a dream. Yu Jin's criticism is also in my dream, especially for the people in my dream. "This is a thorough explanation of the meaning of the title of A Dream of Red Mansions: the whole novel of A Dream of Red Mansions is about A Dream of Red Mansions. Secondly, the dream is also a symbol, a symbol, and the fate of the characters in it is also included in this dream. Look at the "red chamber" ladies in A Dream of Red Mansions. What about splendor? In the end, it is still not an empty dream. Isn't the famous "four big families" in the Red Chamber and those feudal nobles a dream of Conan? Third, the author's experience, thoughts and feelings are hidden in this dream. It is not difficult to see that the title of A Dream of Red Mansions is richer, more accurate and more exciting than The Story of the Stone.