Rereading the Stone
Rereading the Stone is a weekly discussion of historical Chinese literature, philosophy, and poetry, currently focusing on the Qing dynastic Classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng 紅樓夢) also known as Story of the Stone (Shitou ji 石頭記).
Rereading the Stone
Ep. 28: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 15 part 1/2
•
Kevin Wilson, William Jones
•
Season 1
•
Episode 28
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Whereas the last chapter was heavy, even somewhat brutal, this chapter of Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) gets our protagonist and his buddy Qin Zhong out of the Jia compound, outside the city walls, and into the open air. On-going funerary matters aren’t going to prevent Baoyu from enjoying a scenic trip and maybe even learning a little about rural agricultural life. A roadside encounter between Baoyu and “the second girl” leaves fantastical impressions that seem to diverge from reality along multiple dimensions.