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664:. "Born in the prosperous, finally degenerate." Cao Xueqin's family fate has changed from the status like blooming of flowers to the state of decline, making him deeply experience the sorrow of life and the ruthlessness of the world, and also get rid of the mundanity and narrowness of his original social class. The trend of decadence also brought disillusionment and sentimentality. His tragic experience, his poetic emotion, his spirit of exploration, and his sense of innovation are all cast into "Dream of the Red Chamber". They praised both his stylish paintings, particularly of cliffs and rocks, and originality in
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notes the strong Manchu element in the lives of these
Imperial Household bond servants. They balanced the two cultures: Cao Yin took pleasure in horse riding and hunting and Manchu military culture, but was at the same time a sensitive interpreter of Chinese culture to the Manchus. By the early 18th
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is a vivid recreation of an illustrious family at its height and its subsequent downfall, and the novel was "semi-autobiographical" in nature. A small group of close family and friends appeared to have been transcribing his manuscript when Cao died quite suddenly in 1763–4, apparently out of grief
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scholars are still debating Cao's exact date of birth, though he is known to have been around forty to fifty at his death. Cao Xueqin was the son of either Cao Fu or Cao Yong. It is known for certain that Cao Yong's only son was born posthumously in 1715; some
Redologists believe this son might be
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to the throne. Yongzheng severely attacked the family and in 1727 confiscated their properties, while Cao Fu was thrown in jail. This was ostensibly for their mismanagement of funds, though perhaps this purge was politically motivated. When Cao Fu was released a year later, the impoverished family
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The precise dating of Cao Xueqin's birth and death is a matter of heated debate amongst
Chinese Redologists. It would be fair however to confine Cao's birth date to between 1715 and 1724, as attested by the elegiac poems by his friends – Duncheng (敦誠) and Zhang Yiquan (張宜泉) – which stated Cao was
672:'s. Cao died some time in 1763 or 1764, leaving his novel in a very advanced stage of completion. (At least the first draft had been completed, some pages of the manuscript were lost after being borrowed by friends or relatives.) He was survived by a wife after the death of a son.
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where he lived the larger part of his later years in poverty selling off his paintings. Cao was recorded as an inveterate drinker. Friends and acquaintances recalled an intelligent, highly talented man who spent a decade working diligently on a work that must have been
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edition. Reprinted a year later with more revisions, this 120-chapter edition is the novel's most printed version. Many modern scholars question the authorship of the last 40 chapters of the novel, whether it was actually completed by Cao Xueqin.
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owing to the death of a son. Extant handwritten copies of this work—some 80 chapters—had been in circulation in
Beijing shortly after Cao's death and scribal copies soon became prized collectors' items.
916:(周汝昌) and Feng Qiyong (馮其庸), which formed the basis of modern Redology. A detailed summary into the researches on Cao Xueqin's genealogy can be found, once again, in Chen, pp. 362–366; 681–687.
650:). Further complicating matters for Redologists is the fact that neither the names Cao Zhan nor Cao Xueqin—names that his contemporaries knew him by—can be traced in the register.
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When Cao Xi died in 1684, Cao Yin, as Kangxi's personal confidant, took over the post. Cao Yin was one of the era's most prominent men of letters and a keen book collector.
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century, the Cao clan had become so rich and influential as to be able to play host four times to the Kangxi
Emperor in his six separate itinerant trips south to the
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Zhang Yiquan: Hong lou meng volume 1. p.2 cited in the introduction to The Dream of the Red
Chamber. by Li-Tche Houa and Jacqueline Alézaïs.La Pléiade 1979
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After the Plain White Banner was put under the direct jurisdiction of the Qing emperor, Cao's family began to serve in civil positions of the
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forty and nearly fifty respectively when he died. A much fuller discussion can be found under the relevant sections in Chen
Weizhao's
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Most of what we know about Cao was passed down from his contemporaries and friends. Cao eventually settled in the countryside west of
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To this very day, Cao continues to be influential on new generations of
Chinese novelists and poets, such as Middle Generation's
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This section summarises the more salient facts on Cao Xueqin's family as unearthed by 20th-century
Redologists like
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royalty in the late 1610s. His ancestors distinguished themselves through military service in the
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Allen, Tony; Grant, R. G.; Parker, Philip; Celtel, Kay; Kramer, Ann; Weeks, Marcus (June 2022).
532:'s reign, the clan's prestige and power reached its height. Cao Xueqin's grandfather, Cao Yin (
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When Cao Yin died in 1712, Kangxi passed the office over to Cao Yin's only son, Cao Yong (
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region. In 1705, the emperor ordered Cao Yin, himself a poet, to compile all surviving
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426:: Cáoxuěqín); (4 April 1710 — 10 June 1765) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the
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The family's fortunes lasted until Kangxi's death and the ascension of the
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1075:), Shanghai People's Publishing Press, 2005. (《红学通史》, 陈维昭, 上海人民出版社, 2005年)
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Almost no records of Cao's early childhood and adulthood have survived.
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934:. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. 2007. p. 722.
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Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-Hsi
Emperor: Bondservant and Master.
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This paragraph is largely a summary of Chen, pp. 72–74.
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China: Five thousand years of history and civilization
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Cao achieved posthumous fame through his life's work.
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715:, who paid homage to him in her poem
430:. He is best known as the author of
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866:. pp. 230–233.
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1202:commentaries
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157:Chinese name
130:(1765-06-10)
128:10 June 1765
115:4 April 1710
64:
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48:Please help
44:
33:
1565:1765 deaths
1560:1710 births
1485:(1944 film)
1475:Adaptations
1422:Jiang Yuhan
1350:Jia Qiaojie
1335:Wang Xifeng
1309:Xue Baochai
1271:Jia Tanchun
970:See Note 1.
845:, Longman,
528:During the
488:Han Chinese
382:family name
52:if you can.
1554:Categories
1447:Daguanyuan
1412:Granny Liu
1376:Qin Keqing
1371:Jia Xichun
1302:Xue family
1242:Characters
1214:Odd Tablet
1209:Zhiyanzhai
1174:Cao Xueqin
1049:References
864:Cao Xueqin
454:) and his
402:Cao Xueqin
207:Wade–Giles
199:Cáo Xuěqín
141:Occupation
111:1710-04-04
84:Cao Xueqin
1417:Qin Zhong
1392:Lin Daiyu
1319:Xiangling
1286:Lady Wang
1281:Jia Zheng
1261:Hua Xiren
1256:Jia Baoyu
1064:, 1st ed.
562:Jiangning
546:wet nurse
514:) of the
500:) to the
498:Cigu Niru
446:Cáo Zhān
58:June 2023
1541:Category
1427:Lingguan
1355:Jia Lian
1200:Text and
1191:Redology
1132:LibriVox
723:See also
635:Redology
493:booi aha
460:Mengruan
376:In this
356:Mèngruǎn
34:require
1525:(opera)
1456:Sequels
1340:Ping'er
1314:Xue Pan
1266:Qingwen
1121:at the
655:Beijing
641:五慶堂曹氏宗譜
615:Beijing
574:Nanjing
416:Chinese
266:Hokkien
163:Chinese
135:Beijing
120:, China
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1467:(1905)
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1402:Miaoyu
1276:Li Wan
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1224:Gao E
812:Notes
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691:Gao E
670:Li He
560:) in
1017:ISBN
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621:Life
458:was
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1176:'s
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686:程偉元
647:曹天佑
578:shi
511:正白旗
478:).
440:of
420:曹雪芹
387:Cao
384:is
269:POJ
221:IPA
169:曹雪芹
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696:高鶚
602:曹頫
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557:織造
551:曹璽
541:孫氏
535:曹寅
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476:夢阮
470:;
468:梦阮
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