There is nothing in western literature that is quite like Dream of the Red Chamber
. Once you get over the shock of reading the mid-18th century vernacular, the ...
Dream of the Red Chamber: There is nothing in western literature that is quite like Dream of the Red Chamber. Once you get over the shock of reading the mid-18th century vernacular, the depth and charm of this romantic epic is one of the most compelling reasons to read it in the original Chinese. This is why we are proud to present the world's only word-by-word annotated copy of Dream of the Red Chamber. To help you understand this novel, we have annotated the entire first chapter of the book with contextual mouseover popups. Simply hover your cursor over any word in the text for an instant popup containing a definition of the word in question along with a pronunciation guide and explanation of any hidden meanings. In this installment, which covers the first paragraph of the book, read on as author Cao Xueqin introduces his novel as a work of fiction in which the astute reader will find eternal truths. He admonishes us to pay close attention to the text and explicitly tells us it is laced with double meanings. We get our first reference to life itself as a dream, and hear of two members of the Zhen and Jia dynasties, the two families in the saga whose surnames are homophones for truth and falsehood itself. Dream of the Red Chamber is tragic and funny and brilliant all in turn. So throw out your dictionary, grab a cup of coffee and read on as we bring you this tale of philosophy, romance and pathos. When you're ready to read the rest of the novel, you can find the other installments here.
not to have accomplished a single thing yù to wish yījìwúchéng not to have accomplished a single skill bànshēngliáodǎo to waste away half a lifetime guīgé woman's chambers bùxuéwúwén to be uneducated and uncultured běnzhǐ real guide shítoujì Story of the Stone jiǎyǔcūnyán rustic village language Jiǎ Yǔcūn Jia Yucun jiǎ false Zhēn Shìyǐn Zhen Shiyin zhēn true
chengyu
wú
verb chengyu
verb
noun verb
noun proper noun noun person adjective person adjective
Questions : 1. The author claims to have once experienced a strange and fantastic dream. Throughout his book, dreams and dream visions are often presented as: a) spiritual blessings by a benevolent deity b) a source for literary inspiration
c) the source of consciousness d) a reflection of hidden truth 2. What does曰 mean: a) the sun b) to quote c) to paraphrase d) to expound on 3. When used as a conjunction,故 generally means: a) thereby b) incidentally c) as follows d) therefore 4. Which of the following does the author not consider one of his crimes: a) his inferiority to the women of his youth b) his spurning of fatherly virtue c) his neglect of the counsel of friends and family d) his rejection of brotherly counsel on morals 5. We know the author is writing from a state of poverty. Which of the following helps tip us off? a) 堂堂鬚眉 b) 繩床瓦灶 c) 一技無成 d) 不學無文 6. What is the difference between Dream of the Red Chamber and the novel Story of the Stone? a) there is no difference, they are different titles for the same book b) Story of the Stone refers to the book-within-a-book, not the entire story c) Story of the Stone refers to this specific edition of Dream of the Red Chamber d) Story of the Stone is the name of the film version Answers: 1 - d, 2 - b, 3 - d, 4 - a, 5 - b, 6 - a.