Paul S. ROPP
A Qing dynasty woodcut print by Gai Qi depicting Xiren, one of four hundred vividly drawn characters from the novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
Dream of the Red Chamber is universally recognized as China’s greatest novel. Written primarily by Cao Xueqin (c. 1715–1764), this semi-autobiographical novel combines deep psychological insight with sharp social satire, all set in a Buddhist-Daoist mythological framework that emphasizes the futility of human desire, the impermanence of all things, and
