Contents CHAPTER 1 Jia Yucun finds that poverty is not incompatible with romance CHAPTER 2 The bottle-gourd girl meets an unfortunate young man CHAPTER 3 Jia Baoyu conducts his first experiment in the Art of Love CHAPTER 4 Jia Baoyu visits the Ningguo Mansion and has an agreeable meeting with inshi’s brother CHAPTER 5 Jia Rui conceives an illicit passion for his attractive cousin CHAPTER 6 Jia Baoyu is presented to the Prince of Beijing during a roadside halt CHAPTER 7 in Zhong is summoned for a premature departure on the journey into NitCHAPTER 8 Rongguo Mansion readies itself for an important visitor CHAPTER 9 A very earnest young woman offers counsel by nitCHAPTER 10 Baoyu finds Zen enlightenment in an operatic aria CHAPTER 11 The iet-voiced Girl provides fantastical material by losing her handkerchief CHAPTER 12 A beauty perspires after some sport with butterflies by the Raindrop Pavilion CHAPTER 13 Baoyu demonstrates confusion of mind by making his declaration to the wrong person CHAPTER 14 A wordless message meets with silent understanding CHAPTER 15 Baoyu tastes some superior tea at Green Bower Hermitage CHAPTER 16 Xifeng’s jealousy is the cause of an unexpected provocation CHAPTER 17 The One deluded in love turns his thoughts to trade and travel CHAPTER 18 Ningguo Mansion makes sacrifice to their ancestors on New Year’s Eve CHAPTER 19 Nightingale tessJdeBy with a startling message CHAPTER 20 Baoyu owns up to a crime he did not commit CHAPTER 21 Jia Lian’s second marriage is celebrated in secret CHAPTER 22 A scheming woman kills with a borrowed knife CHAPTER Midnight revelers are startled by a sound of evil omen CHAPTER 24 Yingchun’s parents betroth her to a Zhongshan wolf CHAPTER 25 Baoyu’s betrothal is discussed for the first time CHAPTER 26 Pursuing lust, Moonbeam evolves an artful stratagem CHAPTER 27 Lin Daiyu burns her poems to signal the end of her heart’s folly CHAPTER 28 Jingui dies by her own hand, caught in a web of her own construction CHAPTER 29 Ghostly weeping heard at the Naiad’s House provokes a fresh outburst of grief CHAPTER 30 Human destinies are revealed in a fairy realm, and the Stone is restored to its rightful owner CHAPTER 31 Baoyu becomes a Provincial Graduate and severs worldly ties
Dream of the Red Chamber, or The Story of the Stone, is the greatest masterpiece of Chinese classical novels of the Ming and ing dynasties with the most profound influence on later generations. Jia Bao xerienced the great changes from flourishing to decline of a noble family and thus gained unique perception of e nd the mortal world. Revolving around Jia Baoyu and focusing on the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, the novel portrays a tragedy in which love, youth and e re ruined as well as exposes and profoundly reflects the root of the tragedy - the feudal system and culture.