Think of it as the Stratford-upon-Avon of China. Cao Xueqin wrote the fourth and final of China's four classic novels, Dream of the Red Chamber, also occasionally translated as A Dream of Red Mansions or Story of the Stone. Cao was born into a Manchurian noble family (although the family was ethnically Han) that over time fell into decline. In his novel, Cao traces the amorous adventures of Jia Baoyu and his two love interests, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. Over the course of the novel, the Jia family suffers a similar fate as Cao's. An entire sub-school of Chinese literature, dubbed "Redology," picks apart the text and its various inconsistencies in the same way that Shakespearean works are constantly read, analyzed and dissected.
Cao was originally from Nanjing but settled in Beijing after his family's decline. The house is neither red nor a mansion. For one interpretation of the novel's courtyards, visit Grand View Garden in Xuanwu District.
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