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Volume 52 Issue 9
November 2020
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Citation: Ying XIAO. On the Aesthetic Meanings of the Dream of Red Massions[J]. Academic Monthly, 2020, 52(9): 131-139. shu

On the Aesthetic Meanings of the Dream of Red Massions

  • The novel A Dream of Red Mansions is mainly set in the Grand View Garden, with Jia Baoyu as the main protagonist, and the romance between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu as its dominant plot thread. This article explores the aesthetic meanings of the novel from three perspectives, namely, the “yixiang” (image, “意象”) of the Grand View Garden, the “yixiang” of the character Jia Baoyu, and the “yixiang” of the Bao-Dai romance. I argue that A Dream of Red Mansions, in a highly realistic but at the same time whimsical style, unfolds a passionate and poignant life story of Jia Baoyu in a mixed narrative of reality and fantasy. While it synthesises multiple spiritual resources, the quintessence of the aesthetic implications of A Dream of Red Mansions lies in an illustration of the philosophy of life from the Zhuang Zi. I argue that in order to grasp the meanings of this novel and analyse the character Jia Baoyu, one has to approach from a negative aspect, viz., the Zhuang Zi notion of “the use of the useless.” The use of the useless is the truth and freedom of personal life, and in a greater sense, it is also the infinity of the world and its immanent vitality.
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    1. [1]

      Lei ZHANG . Great Tradition: A Dream in Red Mansions and the Novels in Late Qing and the Early Republic of China. Academic Monthly, 2019, 51(9): 133-142.

    2. [2]

      Nengzhi LIDingguang LI . On the “Mistakes” in Quoting and Discussing Poems in Dream of the Red Chamber. Academic Monthly, 2021, 53(10): 173-181.

    3. [3]

      Zhenfu WANG . “Hermeneutics of Sunya the First Chapter”: Aesthetic Meaning of Sengzhao’s No Knowledge of Prajna and No Name for Nirvana. Academic Monthly, 2019, 51(11): 139-149.

    4. [4]

      Yun CHEN . Two Interpretation Orientations of the Debate on the Small and the Big in Zhuangzi and their Effective Ranges. Academic Monthly, 2019, 51(8): 13-26.

    5. [5]

      . . Academic Monthly, 2020, 52(1): 27-31.

    6. [6]

      . Where Will Aesthetics Go: Thomas Munro’s Way of Cross-civilization Comparative Aesthetics. Academic Monthly, 2018, 50(04): 108-117.

    7. [7]

      Chengji LIU . The Aesthetics of Rites-Music and Traditional China. Academic Monthly, 2021, 53(6): 171-182.

    8. [8]

      Pingyuan CHEN . Politics and Aesthetics of Voice. Academic Monthly, 2022, 54(1): 146-166.

    9. [9]

      XU Ming . Aesthetics and Cognitive Science. Academic Monthly, 2023, 55(8): 145-165.

    10. [10]

      Xiangzhan CHENG . The Theory of Aesthetic Appreciation: The Unique Aesthetic Conception of Environmental Aesthetics and Its Promotion of Aesthetic Principles. Academic Monthly, 2021, 53(2): 151-159.

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      . . Academic Monthly, 2016, 48(07): 66-78.

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      . . Academic Monthly, 2017, 49(01): 28-35.

    13. [13]

      . . Academic Monthly, 2017, 49(12): 122-133.

    14. [14]

      GUO Yongjian . Two Dimensions of Aesthetic. Academic Monthly, 2023, 55(7): 142-151.

    15. [15]

      Jianping GAO . The Revival of Aesthetics at the Turn of the Century. Academic Monthly, 2020, 52(6): 111-121, 134.

    16. [16]

      Yanping GAO . Herder on Touching: Aesthetics of “Dunkelheit” (Darkness). Academic Monthly, 2018, 50(10): 130-139.

    17. [17]

      Xiaobai CHU . An Intertextual Research on “Dingyou Dream”. Academic Monthly, 2019, 51(7): 113-127.

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      . . Academic Monthly, 2016, 48(11): 140-149.

    19. [19]

      . . Academic Monthly, 2018, 50(02): 114-122.

    20. [20]

      . . Academic Monthly, 2016, 48(03): 5-12.

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        On the Aesthetic Meanings of the Dream of Red Massions

        Abstract: The novel A Dream of Red Mansions is mainly set in the Grand View Garden, with Jia Baoyu as the main protagonist, and the romance between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu as its dominant plot thread. This article explores the aesthetic meanings of the novel from three perspectives, namely, the “yixiang” (image, “意象”) of the Grand View Garden, the “yixiang” of the character Jia Baoyu, and the “yixiang” of the Bao-Dai romance. I argue that A Dream of Red Mansions, in a highly realistic but at the same time whimsical style, unfolds a passionate and poignant life story of Jia Baoyu in a mixed narrative of reality and fantasy. While it synthesises multiple spiritual resources, the quintessence of the aesthetic implications of A Dream of Red Mansions lies in an illustration of the philosophy of life from the Zhuang Zi. I argue that in order to grasp the meanings of this novel and analyse the character Jia Baoyu, one has to approach from a negative aspect, viz., the Zhuang Zi notion of “the use of the useless.” The use of the useless is the truth and freedom of personal life, and in a greater sense, it is also the infinity of the world and its immanent vitality.

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