Great Tradition: A Dream in Red Mansions and the Novels in Late Qing and the Early Republic of China

As a great tradition, A Dream in Red Mansions has a remarkable influence on the novels of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. In the tide of “imitating the old” and “renovating”, there are The New Story of Stone and True and False Baoyu. The former is also the most important modern sequel to A Dream in Red Mansions. Lin Daiyu's Notes rewrote A Dream in Red Mansions, and Tears Fate is the most similar copy in modern fictions. The grand historical horizon and complicated description of the world in Guangling Tide break through the narrative pattern of the family in A Dream in Red Mansions, but the autobiographical sentiment of life is still closely related to the traditional emotions. The “likeness” and “unlikeness” between these novels and A Dream in Red Mansions represent an orientation in the process of transition from tradition to modernity. The writers who wrote these works are the “significant novelists” as F.R. Leavis said. Their works have participated in the construction of tradition and left a deep impression of modern times.