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Proposing the Red Chamber Dreams to the World Documentary Heritage List
Martin Woesler, Hunan Normal UniversityAbstract
In every culture, readers associate the literature they know with new literature they read. So literature is always cumulative, it grows out of existing literature and can refer back to it. When Western readers read the Red Chamber Dreams, they foremost associate novels and other pieces of literature of their own cultural tradition with the Dreams. This has also influenced the first full translation into German.
Cao Xueqin and even more his protagonist Jia Baoyu both are early humanists, universalists and world citizens. The Red Chamber Dreams function worldwide. The Dream is a complex showroom of diverse aspects of Chinese cultures and is the embodiment and essence of Chinese cultures, but it has also a global impact, therefore it should be honoured as “World Documentary Heritage”.
Key words
Western culture, reception tradition, German translation, Embodiment of Chinese cultures, global compatibility, World Documentary Heritage
摘要
在每一种文化中，读者都会把他们读到的新文学与已知文学联系起来，所以文学总是积累的，它从现有的文学中生长出来，并以已有文学为参考。西方读者在阅读《红楼梦》时，首先会把《红楼梦》与自身文化传统中的小说和其他文学作品联系起来，这也影响了首次德语全译本。
曹雪芹，尤其是他的主人公贾宝玉，都是早期的人文主义者，普世主义者和世界公民。《红楼梦》具有普世价值。《红楼梦》综合展示了中国的多元文化，是中国文化的集中体现和精华，同时在全球范围内产生影响，理应列入世界记忆遗产名录。
关键词：多元一体
1. Chinese Ethics
To help the poor and disadvantaged belongs to the traditional core values of Chinese culture.
When we sit in the Beijing Subway today, the loudspeaker announcement reminds us, that it is Chinese traditional ethics to give seats to the disadvantaged (老弱病残孕让座是中国传统道德). We know of Cao Xueqin, that he supported the poor and disadvantaged, and that he made kites for children.
However, when we look closer at these “Chinese Ethics”, we discover, that they are claimed also in Indian Buddhism “karuna” and in the Christian tradition of “caritas” and in almost every civilization. Therefore, we might call these values “human ethics”.
Red Chamber Dreams also contains rich Taoist and Buddhist connotations that is characteristic of Chinese, but the love of life and praise of youth and love expressed in the novel make it far out of the category of Chinese culture to a broad human ethics. Liang Qichao had said in Drink Ice Room Collection that "when you want hero's story, go to Water Margin, and when it comes to love, go to Red Chamber Dreams". During 20th century's May Fourth Movement, Chinese scholars have emphasized strongly on such commonalities of literary works.(Liang 19..:...)
Another great ethical contribution of the novel is its question on the meaning of life. Wang Guowei has pointed out in his Comments on Red Chamber Dreams that the weakness of Chinese literature lies in its too much emphasis on the educational and instrumental functions, neglecting the independence of literature as an art form. He noted that Red Chamber Dreams has gone beyond this limitation and questions the meaning of life, which should be the primary aim of literature.(Wang 19..:...)
2. Compatibility
Why do the Red Chamber Dreams function worldwide and have achieved world literature status even in their translations?
First of all, the Red Chamber Dreams are, like novels worldwide, a piece of entertainment literature. In comparison to the drama, in which every element is compulsory and plays its part in the overall structure, in the novel the line of action itself is simpler and not so important, most of the scenes or episodes are loosely put together and fit in the broader theme of the novel. However, the lose arrangement of episodes of the Dreams comes from the tradition of almost unconnected episodes like in the Shuihuzhuan and is a step towards the greater coherence of the episodes, the aligning into a story line and the greater concentration on fewer protagonists. Therefore, the Dreams show clearly a step towards the Western tradition of novels, maybe because of growing Western influence in Qing dynasty.
Adaptions in the West
Feng Quangong
Feng Quangong, a translation expert documented parts of the reception of the English opera version of the, which premiered in September 2016 at San Francisco Opera House. He describes the first performance before its premier and the the critiques. The early reception was basically positive and focuses on the introduction of the original novel, the plot, the creative team, the creation of the background, the introduction of the cast etc. The subsequent comments generally affirm the aesthetic value of the opera and the role of cultural communication, and mostly appreciate the creative team and the opera performers. However, there was also a lot of criticism, such as the relatively simple plot of the opera, the lack of authentic script language, the lack of development of characters in the first act and the lack of tension of the whole. The adaptation was quite successful. Feng names as success factors: informal communication, emphasis on fine works, an increase of propaganda efforts, and a focus on moderate hybridity.
New York Times
节选（excerpts）： 2016 年 9 月 9 日，《纽约时报》发布了一则题为“美国歌剧公司改编中国的‘战争与和平’”的新闻②，聚焦于首演前歌剧面临的抵制、创作背景介绍、创作团队介绍以及剧情介绍等。文章最后还提到歌剧将于 2017 年 3 月份在香港演出，届时将会面临更加强硬与挑剔、也更加熟悉小说内容的观众。盛宗亮看起来也并不因此而烦恼，他说，“如果问 10 位红学家这部小说到底讲的是什么，你将会得到 10 种不同的答案，如果有谁问我的话，我会说讲的就是一个三角恋爱的故事”。面对外界的质疑，盛宗亮的表现还是很自信的。（always full reference, e.g. "Feng 2017:131-132"page 131-132）（原文）
On September 9, 2016, The New York Times published a story---An American Opera Company Adapts China's "War and Peace" （footnote②: https: / /www． nytimes． com/2016 /09 /10 /arts/music /san-francisco-opera-dream-of-the-red- chamber． html( 2017 － 07 － 25)）. The article focused on the resistance the opera faced before its premiere, introduced the background of the production, the production team, and the story. Finally, it mentioned that the opera will be performed in Hong Kong in March 2017. There it will face tougher and more critical reception by an audience more familiar with the novel content. Sheng Zongliang is not nervous about that, he said;“If you ask 10 different Redologists what the novel is about, they would give you 10 different answers,” he said. “And if anyone asks me what this opera is about, I’ll say it’s a story of a love triangle. That’s it.” Sheng Zongliang's expresses confidence to meet global challenges.（译文）Since the paper will be published in English and the original text of the quote was English, please find out the English original. We cannot mention the title of the English article in an English translation of the Chinese translation of the English article. reference： An American Opera Company Adapts China's "War and Peace"[J].The New York Times',September 12, 2016. 冯全功 徐雪飞. 旧金山英文版歌剧《红楼梦》的推介与接受———基于相关网络资源的分析[J].《曹雪芹研究》2018 年第 3 期,131-132
Mercury News
2016 年 9 月 11 日，“水星新闻”网( Mercury News) 发布了一则评论，题为“旧金山歌剧院首演迷人的《红楼梦》”①，其中对曹青( 黛玉) 的赞美溢于言表，称其表演令人痴迷，独自站在小船上的场景( 泰然、幽静，又伴以迷人的音乐) 尤令人难忘，不过这也只是盛宗亮这部歌剧中很多令人震撼的剧照之一。作者还特意提到，黛玉开始坐的小船在最后时刻又出现了，前前后后发生了很多事情，物是人非，爱情已逝，贾家财运一去不复返，究竟是到头一梦，万境归空，此评论对歌剧主题的把握比较到位。（"Feng 2017:133"）
On September 11, 2016, In a review headlined "Review: S.F. Opera premieres enchanting “Dream of the Red Chamber”" Please check the correct title in English,（footnote①：http: / /www． mercurynews． com/2016 /09 /11 /cct-chamberrev-0912 /） Mercury News was full of praise for Cao Qing (Dai Yu), calling her performance mesmerizing, a scene of standing alone in a boat (calm and secluded, set to enchanting music) particularly impressive. However, this was just one of the most stunning pictures of this opera directed by Sheng Zongliang. The author also specially mentioned, Daiyu began to sit the boat at the last minute again, back and forth a lot of things happened, much transformed, love has vanished, the Jia family's fortunes gone. At the end of the dream, much has changed since that first scene: lives lost, love spent, fortunes come and gone, this comment on the main theme of the opera is on target.Reference? reference:GEORGIA ROWE."Review: S.F. Opera premieres enchanting “Dream of the Red Chamber”"[J].'Mercury News',September 11, 2016. 冯全功 徐雪飞. 旧金山英文版歌剧《红楼梦》的推介与接受———基于相关网络资源的分析[J].《曹雪芹研究》2018 年第 3 期,133
San Francisco Examiner
2016 年 9 月 11 日，“旧金山观察家”(San Francisco Examiner)网发布一则新闻，题为“旧金山歌剧院的繁华梦: 跨越障碍，沟通中西”②，开篇说把《红楼梦》改编为英语歌剧既不能让亚洲文学学者高兴，又不能让西方歌剧纯粹主义者高兴，这似乎是命中注定的。但创作团队打消了这种观点，把小说的核心内容转化为旧金山歌剧院令人满意的世界首演。作者认为创作团队聚焦于引人入胜的三角恋爱与王朝阴谋是很明智的，叶锦添隐喻化的舞美设计为歌剧增添了很多精彩的视觉元素。随后对几位主要演员进行了述评，但对歌剧在跨越中西障碍方面的作用与表现并没有太多论述，与新闻题目不甚相符。（"Feng 2017:133"）
On September 11, 2016, the San Francisco Examiner website published a report entitled "SF Opera bridges East-West divide in lush ‘Dream’（footnote②：http: / /www． sfexaminer． com/ sf-opera-bridges-east-west-divide-in-lush-dreamsf-opera-bridges-east-west-divide-in-lush-dream/）, the opening said the dream of the red chamber Adapted to English opera can neither make Asian literature scholars happy, also can't let the western opera purists, this seems to be doomed But creative team from this view, the core content of the novel into San Francisco opera house satisfying world premiere The author thinks that creative team focused on absorbing a love triangle with dynasty conspiracy is wise, the choreography of Tim yip metaphor for opera a lot of wonderful visual elements Then has carried on the review to several main actor, but the opera across barriers of Chinese and western of the role of and the performance is not too much, not very consistent with the news title.
Text is cut off, reference missing.
reference: SF Opera bridges East-West divide in lush ‘Dream’[J].San Francisco Examiner, September 12, 2016. 冯全功 徐雪飞. 旧金山英文版歌剧《红楼梦》的推介与接受———基于相关网络资源的分析[J].《曹雪芹研究》2018 年第 3 期,133
Comment by mw: here you need to find out the English original of the quote. Also, you need to indicate and translate the footnotes in details.
3. Impact of translator’s native culture on the translation process
There are intercultural parallels between the Red Chamber Dreams and Western works of literature. These parallels are fundamental for the translation and were explicitly and implicitly fundamental for the German translator Martin Woesler during his translation and editorial work on the first full German translation. In the following, I will mention some of the Western novels and pieces of literature, which the Western reader of the Dreams will immediately think of.
4. The novel as embodiment of “Zeitgeist”
According to Georg Lukács’ Theory of the Novel, while the Epos (like Homer’s Ilias, which like the Dream reasons the stories in the divine realm) displayed a holistic world experience, a complete, self-contained culture, the novel displays, that the modern world has become infinitely large and has lost its homely quality. The novel as a genre is no longer documenting just one culture, but represents, with the words of Walter Benjamin, the Organon of History. So the understanding of the novel changed with Lukacs to historical-philosophically. A novel is understood as typical for its historical era, the novel embodies the spirit of the epoch (Zeitgeist).
The Red Chamber Dreams are written in front of the background of the Manchu minority having taken over the power in formerly Han-shaped Ming-China (which was a multi-ethnic and crosscultural society) and families suffering the changing favor of changing emperors, with the Cao family being fostered by Kangxi and being persecuted by Yongzheng. While the author in his time could not criticize the system and power of emperors, in the novel he came to terms with this life by seeking the guilt for the persecution in the growing decadence of the family (engaging in Daoism, leisure, poetry-writing, arts and music instead of learning for being able to earn a living) and in himself not fulfilling the expectations as the family heir. This description of decadence of a declining family reminds us of the novels of Tschechov (and e.g. in the Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann, including the turn to arts and music). Moreover, with the detailed description of life on all social levels in early Qing Dynasty, the Dream appears as a documentary historical novel very much like Günter Grass’ The Tin Drum 1959.
5. Coming-of-age and Alienation
Abandoning the paradise-like garden in the Red Chamber Dreams is a symbol for leaving the protected childhood and arriving in the complex world of adults. With George Lukács theory of the novel, the protagonist starts to problematize the sense of his life, in the novel, the protagonist’s self permanently struggles with his environment. However, Cao Xueqin’s message is not simply the one of “Paradise Lost”, instead he himself made the best out of his life.
Although being less wealthy than when his family still enjoyed the favour of the emperor, there was a payroll system and a social net intact in Early Qing China, where he received enough income to be independent from his rich relatives, to be selective on accepting jobs, to live a relaxed life in a small house in the nature, spending time with his family and friends, follow his own interests, like reading, writing and drinking wine, making kites for the children and thinking of the disadvantaged. Reference
Cao Xueqin was fully aware of his time and China’s cultural achievements, he was familiar with the different levels of society, he was a detailed observer and skilful narrator. He may have conceptualized the ending of the novel as a discussion about the different personalities of the characters in the novel and therefore displaying his reflection about life and his psychological understanding of the diversity of human nature. He was able to grasp the “spirit of time” (Zeitgeist) and with his autobiographical experience create an eternal coming-of-age novel not just for his family, for the Qing-Chinese, for Chinese people, but for mankind.
This tradition of Coming-of-age novels is also a European one, like enlightenment philosopher Voltaire’s novel Candide or Optimism《老实人》shows at the very same time (1759) in Europe. Also Voltaire’s Candide has to leave the luxurious paradise of his childhood and strives for true love, but his main learning is more pessimistic, since Voltaire wrote the novel in opposition to Leibniz, who optimistically looked to China as “the best of all worlds”. Recent research findings show that China had a much larger influence on European enlightenment philosophers and we can be sure, that also Cao Xueqin was aware of some European literary traditions.
Also the German readership is familiar with the chronological following of the life of the protagonist and his development, the fate of a family over generations, the German readership knows this type of novel as the “Education novel” or “Coming-of-age-novel”. In Germany, the genre of the coming-of-age novel has a long tradition and it is shaped more by single characters, who appear as teachers (Goethe: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship威廉·麦斯特的学徒岁月 1795-96, Novalis 诺瓦利斯: Heinrich von Ofterdingen《海因利·封·歐福特丁根》1802). Wilhelm Meister, parallely to Jia Baoyu, is struggling with the traditional education, in Wilhelm Meister this is represented with the classics revived in Shakespeare’s dramas. Tradition can give orientation, but the personality of the protagonist needs to develop through emancipation is a wisdom, we can learn from all mentioned novels including the Dreams.
6. Pornography and True Love, female rivals
Sexuality is a basic human need and has developed into different shapes in all cultures. The German audience is familiar with erotic topics from the Middle Ages, in which sexuality was stylized. In the “Schwänke” of the 15th century (Wittenwielers Ring), erotic scenes are described sexually explicit. In the barock literature of the 17th century even the physical act is described extensively.
According to „cumulativity“, every human being is a product of history and literature is based on previous literature, therefore the author of this pager thinks that this background has to be taken into account while translating. The best study on qing passion in the Dreams is the one by Anthony Yu, who understood it as desire and as the central motif of the Dreams. „The centrality of qing in shaping virtually every aspect of The Story of the Stone’s structure and meaning cannot be denied [...].“ (Anthony Yu 2001, 54).
In the framework story of the Dreams, the narrator consciously takes a stand against low-action and stereotypical pornographic literature as well as against the widespread romance novels (with the classic roles of the beautiful, talented woman and the poor scholar who finally achieves a respected position and prosperity by passing a civil service exam). In chapter 1 he says: ”of the true feelings of young people [...] nobody has reported about so far.”
Erotic scenes are described in a decent and associative way (“Game of clouds and rain”), while displaying another quality in its openness e.g. towards bisexuality. The Dreams narrate the story of unfortunate lovers. Unfortunate lovers also in the West have a literary tradition, they constitute an archetype, such as Hero and Leander, Pyramus and Thisbe, Tristan and Isolde, Flore and Blanscheflur as well as Troilus and Cressida, the latter being considered the model for Arthur Brookes, who wrote Romeo and Juliet in 1562 and thus directly influenced Shakespeare.
While Marián Galik saw as the central topic of both, the Dream and Faust, the eternal feminine, which draws us on high, Gu Cheng called it the “eternal virgine”. In Goethe’s coming-of-age novel Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, we find a similar motif of female rivals, in Keller 凯勒 The Green Henry《绿衣亨利》1855, the hero turns away from an emphatically sexually designed figure and turns to the 'real' woman. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice 1813 Elizabeth is similar to Lin Daiyu, e.g. they both strive for real love (Zhuang 2011:who can find out the page number?).
7. Feudal society and slavery
A widespread interpretation is that Jia Baoyu’s equal treatment of family members and slaves would be a manifesto to free the slaves. I also do not share this interpretation, since Aristotle, when he demanded democracy, excluded slaves from the right to vote. So we cannot use modern concepts to judge on the past. In my understanding, Jia Baoyu was not fighting inequality, but looked at the people as humans and individuals. Also the understanding of the servants as slaves does not match the description in the Dream, since some servants had servants themselves, the family took care after they left the Jia family to find a match for them and Jia Zheng refers to his daughter Yingchun as „yatou 丫头“, so it is inappropriate to translate this expression with "slave". Therefore, the translator preferred “servant” over “slave” in the translation.
Mo Yan in his speech at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 2009, when China was the guest of honor, draws the (similarly) parallel between the Dream and Goethe’s Sorrows of the Young Werther, that both expressed the wish to abandon feudal society. My own impression is that both do not express this wish, but that this is a later concept and interpretation and we should not apply this to judge the past.
The Red Chamber Dreams were created in the time of feudal autocratic society. Late Qing was on the surface seemingly prosperous but from the inside full of crisis. The Qing dynasty since Qianlong began to decline while the ups and downs of four big families in the Red Chamber Dreams may be understood as a symbol of the decline of the whole dynasty.
The Journal of a Plague Yearwhich journal?, on the other hand, was a product of Western civil society, and Defoe(the writer of A Journal of a Plague Year) who is that was a staunch supporter of the Whigs(辉格党，英国历史党派名称，产生于17世纪末，19世纪中叶演变为英国自由党。) - who are they?, which were dominated by the emerging bourgeoisie who opposed the monarchy, advocated a parliamentary system, and believed that the supreme power of the state should belong to the "people”. (Shi 2021:1...)
8. Tragedy of all tragedies
Aristotle explained in On the Tragedy (Poetics VI), that tragedies move people more than comedies because they “imitate [mimēsis] an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude” (Aristotle 1971, 51), This high esteem of the tragedy in Europe is partly ascribed to the loss of Aristotle’s work On the Comedy. While Europe has the Hamlet as its tragedy of all tragedies, the lack of tragic literature in Chinese literary tradition has long been lamented. Wang Guowei sees the Dream as "tragedy of all tragedies". To Wang Guowei the suffering of Faust and Jia Baoyu is central in the novels. However, many scholars contest that Faustianism is central for Chinese culture.
In 18th century Europe, we saw a new development in the genre of the drama, to establish a “bourgeois tragedy”. It developed as an emancipatory movement in the 18th century in London, Paris and Germany, and demonstrated that tragedy was not reserved to rulers, but was also imagineable for lower noblemen and ordinary citizens. The Dream at the same time as the bourgeois tragedy in Europe shows a tragic story of a mid-level noble family which loses its titles and privileges.
9. “Non-Binary” Novels
One of the things attracting Western readers is the adorable but mysterious protagonist Jia Baoyu. With his open bisexual orientation and his interest in his mates regardless of their social status, he appears “modern” or at least displaced in time. His struggle with traditional learning makes him appear sympathetic, his long states of rapture out of the world give him both the aura of a timeless character and of mystery.
With the bisexual orientation of the Dreams’ protagonist, the novel appears non-binary. According to Karl-Heinz Pohl, binaries are just superficial, ultimately decisive is the Heart Sutra. Today, the novel is listed among the genre of non-binary literature (see e.g. the bibliographical list on https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/non-binary), in which contrasts are dissolved deconstructivistically.
We need example scences for the bisexual nature of Jia Baoyu, e.g. the scene next to the private school, where Jia Baoyu is caught together with a fellow student mutually touching their anuses.
And we need to compare that to other novels of that time: Was it common to speak about sexual orientation freely?
10. Foreign Cultures in the Red Chamber Dreams
Texts from foreign cultures are often bridging space and time and therefore also cultural distance. Wolfgang Proß suggests a "philological commentary" (Proß 1992:269) and Steinmetz an "intercultural interpretation" (Steinmetz 2003:466), which many translators combine into a preface and footnotes explaining cultural phenomena of the source culture to the target reader.
10.1
The novel applies "distance" as rhethoric means to create a fall height to reach a comic effect, e.g. when Liu Laolao as symbol for the backward peasant for the first time encounters a mirror as symbol for most advanced civilization, technology and luxury. Following this logic, the self-evidency and profeinity with which household members are accepting even the most novel, exotic and alien foreign objects like watches and goods, shows the high grade of civilization reached in the Jia family.
10.2
Foreign Cultures frequently appear in the Dreams in all kinds of varieties, like exoticism with the many objects in the household and presented to the household as novelties. These foreign objects were mostly coming from the huge trade ships from Europe, sometimes through the imperial court. They were collected by wealthy families as rare objects, expressions of human craftsmanship and they were displayed in the wealthy households as a sign of cosmopolitianism. Reasons for receiving foreign goods were that the Cao family engaged in silk weaving and also undertook private business investments, at least one time also with imperial funds and support. Another reason may be that the Cao family hosted the emperor four or five times during his inspection trips to the South and received gifts as signs of gratitude.
10.3
Foreign objects appearing in the novel were Siamese tribute gifts like Siamese tea and pigs, wood incense and rose dew, a monocle#, #. Repairing the peacock fur for Baoyu may have required knowledge about Western weaving techniques.# There is a self-chiming bell in Baoyu’s room which was repaired often. Baoyu had a watch and clocks are referred to frequently in the novel.
10.4
There are also some other foreign elements in this famous novel (Zeng 20#).
10.5
First is the exquisite fabrics, imported fabrics are the representatives.Since the opening of the Silk Road in the Western Han Dynasty, cultural exchanges and commercial cooperation between the Central Plains and the outside world have become more and more frequent. In the Ming Dynasty, the Maritime Silk Road was opened up, further strengthening exchanges with western countries. China used silk, porcelain, tea and so on to exchange the horse, grapes and foreign cloth and so on. The imported fabrics in A Dream of Red Mansions mainly include Doroit and Fansi. (Zeng 20#:14?-15?)
10.6
(1)Duoro:in the 49th episode of The Dream of Red Mansions, Li Wan wears a "blue doro double-breasted jacket." Duo luo based on duo luo leaves (a similar palm tree), fabric organization closely, appearance is soft and smooth, do more raincoat, storm coat. It was introduced into China from Holland during the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. It was regarded as a treasure and was mostly used as winter clothes for nobles. (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.7
(2)In the 49th chapter, Xue Baochai wore a "crane cloak with lotus blue bucket pattern and icing on the cake with foreign thread," which is an imported fabric. (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.8
(3)Camlet and satin: camlet is also called "camlet feather crepe,""feather satin," is a kind of wool fabric, organization is close, thick texture, appearance is firm and smooth, can resist rain and snow. Satin is thin camlet from the Netherlands and Thailand.It is often used as foreign tribute, which was regarded as treasures for noble winter clothes. In Chapter 8 of the novel, Lin Daiyu visits Xue Baochai "wearing a pair of red camlet jackets," while in Chapter 49, the sisters wear "a blanket of orangutan and feather satin cloak" while stepping on the snow, while Lin Daiyu "wears a crane cloak with a red camlet surface and a white fox." (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.9
首先是考究的面料，其中舶来面料是代表。自西汉开通丝绸之路以来，中原与外界的文化交流、商贸合作越来越频繁，至明代更是开辟了 海上丝绸之路，进一步加强了与西方各国的交流。中国用丝绸、瓷器、茶叶等换来了骏马、葡萄以及外国衣料等等。小说《红楼梦》中出现的舶来面料主要有哆罗呢和番羓丝。
1.哆罗呢：小说《红楼梦》第49回中，李纨穿一件“青哆罗呢对襟褂子”。哆罗呢取材于哆罗树叶（一种类似棕榈的树），织物组织紧密，外表柔软而滑爽，多做雨衣、雪衣。明末清初时期由荷兰传入中国，被视为珍品，多用作贵族冬衣。
2.番羓丝：同样是第49回中，薛宝钗穿的一件“莲青斗纹锦上添花洋线番羓丝的鹤氅 ”，番羓丝是一种舶来面料。
3.羽缎和羽纱：羽缎也叫缎“羽绉 ”、“羽毛缎 ”，是一种毛纺织物，组织紧密，质地厚实， 外表坚挺而爽滑，可御雨雪。羽纱为羽缎之疏细者，出自荷兰和泰国，为外国贡品，被视为珍品多用于贵族的冬衣。小说《红楼梦》第 8 回中林黛玉看望薛宝钗时“外罩着大红羽缎对衿褂子 ”，第49回踏雪时众姐妹着“大红猩猩毡与羽毛缎斗篷”，而林黛玉则“罩了一件大红羽纱面白狐狸里的鹤氅 ”。
10.10
Second, there is a auspicious pattern, the abstract geometric patterns ,such as Character pattern, are the representatives of foreign elements.(1) Character pattern: that is, 10,000-character pattern, which is one of the traditional embroidery patterns. It was originally a talisman, after being used as a symbol of Indian Buddhism auspicious. The pattern "卍" is often used as a symbol of "fire" or "sun," and means "good luck" in Sanskrit. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was widely used as decorative patterns. The word is a cross, radiating towards the four directions, implying "amplification of light, auspicious virtue." In the period of Wu Zetian , the pronunciation is "wan"(which is in chinese pinyin), meaning "blessing and noble." Chapter 19 of A Dream of Red Mansions explains the origin of Wan 'er's name: "When his mother was cultivating him, she had a dream and dreamed that she had a piece of brocade, on which there was a pattern of five-colored swastika characters with rich and noble heads, so his name was called 卍 er." (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
其次是吉祥纹样，抽象几何纹样则是外来元素的代表，比如字纹。1.字纹：即万字纹，为传统织绣纹样之一。原为一种符咒、护符，后被用作印度佛教的吉祥标志 。“卍”读作“万”通常被认为“太阳”或“火”的象征，梵文意为“吉祥万德之所吉”。 佛教传入中国后，被广泛采用为装饰纹样。因其字为十字交叉，朝向四方辐射，寓意为“放大光明、吉祥万德 ”，唐武则天时期，将其读音定为“万”，寓意为“福贵不断 ”。小说《红楼梦》第19回，解释说万儿名字的来历时，“他母亲养他的时节做了个梦，梦见得了一匹锦，上面是五色富贵不断头卍字的花样，所以他的名字叫作卍儿。”
10.11
There are many kinds and styles of western ware in the Red Chamber Dreams. As an abstract symbol that can be conveyed and interpreted, western ware such as "glass" in eighty editions of the Red Chamber Dreams contains the cultural code of a specific class, which has obvious symbolic function and implicit differentiation function.(Tang 2018:220)
10.12
Qing dynasty glass was generally imported from Europe, and only a small part of it was produced by the "glass factory" of the manufacturing office in imitation of European technology, while complete, large transparent glass was almost entirely imported. However, in Cao Xueqin's Red Chamber Dreams various kinds of glass ornaments, containers, ornaments and other glassware appear repeatedly, which are of various types and styles. It seems that glass products are quite common. In Representation, Hall (2003) once pointed out that "culture first involves the production and exchange of meaning among members of a society or group", which "depends on its participants making meaningful interpretations of what is happening around them in roughly similar ways and 'understanding the world'". This shows that the meaning of things is not fixed, but produced. The meaning of an object that appears to have been shaped is certain, but the meaning will change when its location, the person concerned, and the way of description change. Thus, it can be seen that the novel has endowed glass with new meaning and cultural connotation. It is no longer just a western object used for storing objects or hanging decorations, but transformed into an abstract symbol, symbolizing unusual wealth and power, and becoming a symbol to distinguish different classes.(Meng 2009:50)(Hall 2003:2)
10.13
According to the eighty back to the statistics, foreign goods more than 60 pieces of a dream of red mansions, and these western artifacts throughout all aspects of life, in addition to the upper class popular pendulum clock, watch, western fabrics, western wine, glasses, and rare glass HangBing, sugar (in the) and western medicine, western own ship, western painting, etc., to name but a few. A Dream of Red Mansions is the best novel in qing Dynasty for its variety and variety of western wares. (Tang 2018:222, 224, 225, 229)
10.14
The scholars Zhang Huiqin and Xu Jun described in the passage called On the Translation strategies of Costume Culture in A Dream of Red Mansions. This article selects two versions of the translation of A Dream of Red Mansions(YY's translation and HM's translation) about the dress description, from the perspective of cultural coordination, to explore how to follow a timely, moderate, modest cultural coordinate translation principles, coordinate clothing cultural contradictions in translation, realize the harmony of costume culture translation, Strengthen understanding, respect and mutual learning between different cultures.(Zhang, Xu 20#:#-#?)
10.15
本文选取《红楼梦》两个全译本（杨宪益和戴乃迭夫妇译本与霍克斯先生译本）中关于王熙凤服饰描写的片段，从文化协调的角度，探究如何遵循适时、适量、适度的文化协调翻译原则，把握分寸，协调服饰翻译中的文化矛盾，实现服饰文化的和谐翻译，加强不同文化之间的了解、尊重与借鉴。
10.16
There are also some other foreign elements in this famous novel. Firstly, Buddhism culture in Dreams of Red Chamber. Some characteristic expressions，for example，"Xingluo" was originally a piece of decoration around the neck of Buddha statues in ancient India. Later, it was introduced into China along with Buddhism. The shape was larger, the most showy in the collar. (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.17
“璎珞”原为古代印度佛像颈间的一种装饰，后随佛教一并传入我国，唐代时被爱美求新的女性所模仿和改进，变成珠玉串成的项饰。形制较大，在项饰中最显华贵。
10.18
Secondly，foreign culture in Dreams of Red Chamber.For example, "jadeite flowery foreign crepe skirt" is the description of the quality, color and picture of the dress of Wang Xifeng. For the interpretation of "foreign crepe" in this sentence, academic views are different. One of the opinions is warp and weft with pure raw silk after refining dyed fabrics, because warp and weft silk twist to different, natural wrinkles, so the name "foreign crepe". Because during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong ruling periods, there was basically no so-called imported "crepe material", and it was probably just the "Wo satin" that imitated the imported satins from Japan, which was imported in patterns and colors. And that the foreign crepe is modified by "foreign" is because during the Daoguang period, all the most valuable things are called "foreign". In the north and south of the Yangtze River, imported goods are considered as the fashion. Therefore, "foreign crepe" actually belongs to the first-class silk, which is only used for the clothing of the nobility, not really imported products. Another of the opinions is, in the 16th chapter of the novel, Wang Xifeng said that her grandfather was only in charge of tribute and congratulations from various countries, and all the goods of foreign ships in Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Zhejiang belong to her family, which is completely consistent with HM's translation of "Imported Silk". Perhaps what the novel wanted to reflect at that time was the value of the fabric. Even in today, we would agree to some extent that imported fabrics are high-end. Yang used the word crepe. But from the perspective of cultural transmission and development, I think adding "rare silk crepe" is better able to coordinate various contradictions.(Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.19
“翡翠撒花洋绉裙”是对 凤 姐 裙 装 质 地、颜 色 和 图 案 的 描 述，该句中对于“洋绉”的解释，学界观点不一。一则认为是经纬用纯生丝经炼染后的面料，因为经纬丝线捻向不同，产生自然皱纹，故得此名“洋绉”。因为康雍乾时期，基本没有所谓的进口“绉料”，可能只是仿制日本进口缎匹的“倭缎”，属于是图案和花色上的舶来品。而洋皱之所以称“洋”，是因为道光年间，凡物之极贵重的，皆谓之洋。大江南北，莫不以洋为尚。因此“洋绉”实际属于上等丝绸，只被贵族服装专用，并非真正进口产品。再则认为小说第十六回里王熙凤说自己的爷爷单管各国进贡朝贺的事，粤闽滇浙各地所有洋船货物都是她们家的，这与霍译的“imported silk”完全吻合。或许小说当时要体现的是该面料之贵重，虽然在今天，我们也会在一定程度上认同进口的就是高档的，但是还原历史，杨译虽用了crepe 一词，但是从文化传播和发展角度剖析，补加rare silk crepe 的协调翻译，相对而言是协调各种矛盾的和谐译文。(page 114)
10.20
Cao Yin in the age of 17 was a bodyguard of the emperor and in April 1690 became a weaver in Suzhou and later in Jiangning. He secretly reported to Kangxi about the situation in Jiangnan. (Zeng 20#:14-15?)
10.21
A lasting impression is created by the description of the blond girl of the same age as Baoyu referred to in person (combining different origins and cultures, including European, Japanese, Chinese) or several times on paintings, one time shown with wings as an angel. The playful combination of different traditions we can see also when a religious dress is described, which carries characteristics of different religions. Similarly, the Daoist monk and the Confucian priest appear together. Cao Xueqin wanted to show the richness and diversity, also with the many topics and societal levels of the novel. Even a variety of Christian motifs can be found, like when Jia Baoyu is not recognized by his father in chapter 120 and when he disappears, all parallel to Jesus Christ.(Zeng 20#:14-15?)
11. Clothes and Fashion
In 1837 and in all following editions, the famous author Oliver Goldsmith integrated a shortened part of J. Davis’ translation of the introduction of Jia Baoyu in a footnote to the second volume of his “Chinese Letters,” a famous variation of the Lettres Persanes: His letters appeared originally in the newspaper Public Ledger in 1760-1762; there, he often refers to Davis’ competence on China. He collected them and published them in two volumes, e.g. 1825 vol. I. The extract by Davis is quoted also in the editions following the edition of 1837 (1850, 1854, 1856, 1857, 1880, 1885, 2005). In 1837, it is found in vol. 2 p. 158, fn. 2. Oliver Goldsmith, The miscellaneous works of Oliver Goldsmith, London: John Murray 1837, vol. II, 551 S., here p. 158. In an earlier version, e.g. 1790, the footnote read: “Before the Tartar conquest, the men prided themselves on nothing more than the luxuriance, blackness, and length of their hair. All this, however, was changed at the conquest of the empire, for the Tartars holding in abhorrence long hair on the head of a man, ordered the Chinese to cut theirs off; and the tyrannical law was the cause of insurrections and bloodshed. The men now shave their heads, leaving only a small circle near the crown, whence some hair descends in a long tail or queue.” (Woesler To amuse…:#)
Once more, he published this excerpt not for its own sake, but as proof that his own, imaginary description of a Chinese male, being “very fat” and “very short,” wearing colourful clothes, staring at a wall during his visit to his girlfriend and having his hair grown down to his heels, bound by yellow flowers, was actually the ideal of beauty of contemporary China. (Woesler To amuse…:#)
The original reads: “Oh! but he looked most charmingly; he is reckoned the best-shaped man in the whole province, for he is very fat and very short; but even those natural advantages are improved by his dress, which is fashionable past description. His head was close shaven, all but the crown, and the hair of that was braided into a most beautiful tail, that reached down to his heels, and was terminated by a bunch of yellow roses.” (Woesler To amuse…:#)
For this purpose, he introduced Jia Baoyu’s description with the words: “In The Red Chamber Dreams [wording of J. Davis] […] is the following description of a Chinese dandy.”: (Woesler To amuse…:#)
The footnote reads: “In a Chinese novel called Hung-low-Mung, or ‘The Red Chamber Dreams,’ translated by Mr. Davis, is the following description of a Chinese dandy : ‘His beautiful nose was full, like the gall-bladder of a quadruped ; and he had a face like the moon in the midst of autumn : […] from his head to the end of his tail, which dangled to the ankles, hung four strings of precious stones set in gold. His upper tunic was pink spangled with flowers; his trowsers and stockings were embroidered, and his shoes were of a deep red colour, with thick white soles: ten thousand thoughts of love collected in the corner of his eye.’” (Woesler To amuse…:#)
The novel seems to be abused here for a very ethnocentric approach. (Woesler To amuse…:#)
11.1
"Red Chamber Dreams" describes the materials and patterns of the characters' costumes, and points out that the costume patterns are the manifestation of the national aesthetic psychology and the hierarchical culture of "differentiating the noble and the lowly, and not the prestige". It is rich in cultural connotations, such as the status of the characters , cultural integration, social system and traditional customs, etc., and expounds the reference role of the red mansion clothing pattern on the research and design of modern clothing pattern.(Chen 2007: 89)
11.2
For example, in the Red Chamber Dreams, Cao Xueqin gave detailed descriptions on the styles and patterns of the clothings , which serves as a showcase deplaying its rich cultural connotations, say its related changes throughout the history, social systems, social status, customs as well as lending itself into the other cutlures and etc. (Chen 2007: 89)+Comment
11.3
The author Cao Xueqin lived in the Kang and Qian era, and was in a period of cultural fusion between the Manchu and Han nationalities. Manchu and Han costumes merged in styles and patterns. For example: Han women's coats are becoming longer and longer, similar to robes, and Manchu clothing is increasingly drawing on the form and content of Han clothing in the application of patterns; The patterns and patterns of the "Yahhai Five-clawed Dragon and White Python Robe" are the result of learning from the costumes of the Han nationality in Qing Dynasty costumes; in terms of decorative styles and techniques, the boundaries between costumes of the two ethnic groups are no longer so clear. For example, the cheongsams and vests of Manchu women's clothing all adopt the auspicious decorations and embroidery techniques of the Han nationality. Manchu and Han costumes moved from opposition in the early stage to fusion in the late Qing Dynasty.(Chen 2007: 89-90)
11.4
The styless and patterns of clothing in the Qing Dynasty are based on the solid traditional culture, which timely reflects the pace of the times in human history. In the mid-19th century, European clothing was influenced by neoclassicism, and complex decorations such as "Bassel skirts" appeared. The Qing Dynasty clothing at the same time was also carrying out gorgeous construction of decorative patterns. The clothing patterns of the Qing Dynasty have many characteristics similar to the neoclassicalism of the Western contemporary era, which is reflected in the combination of traditional decorative style and the style of the times, and the combination of various unique flower sashes, independent patterns, all over the ground patterns and auspicious patterns on the clothing. For a specific style, the whole set of clothing appears to be Manchu style at first glance, but if you taste carefully, there are Han nationality decoration themes, as well as Mongolian and other ethnic minorities' gorgeous decoration methods.(Chen 2007: 90)
11.5
The geometric pattern in Red Chamber Dreams is a swastika pattern, which was originally a spell, amulet or religious symbol in ancient times. The "Flowering Clouds and Wanfu Pattern" mentioned in Chapter 40 of Red Chamber Dreams is the harmonious configuration of the cloud pattern, the blessing pattern, and the swastika pattern, which means "longevity without borders". (Chen 2007: 90)
11.6
Chinese traditional culture is full of subtle beauty with unique artistic charm. This kind of beauty has a strong oriental sentiment, so it attracts more and more design masters to study traditional Chinese culture, mainly in the design of clothing patterns and colors. The latest work by French designer Cui Buya shows a strong traditional Chinese style - brocade with large tulle pattern, which is a reference to the "tuanhua" pattern in Red Chamber Dreams. , which not only reflects the charm of the times, but also reveals a strong Chinese complex. The world-renowned fashion designers such as Christian LaRocco, Pierre Balmain and Givenchy have all drawn inspiration from traditional Chinese art, and used a lot of exquisite flower embroidery and beading in traditional Chinese costumes in their works. The form of decoration and the patterns of the clothing draw on the style of clothing patterns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China, which are both graceful and luxurious, and refined and elegant.(Chen 2007: 91) Reference? (it is listed there)
11.7
Also for foreign readers, the description of the dressing of Jia Baoyu and Wang Xifeng at the beginning of the novel is one of the earliest passages translated into English and presented by Goldstein# as a proof of the exquisite dressing, to "amuse the 'Beaux and Belles'". (Goldstein#, cf. Woesler#)
World Documentary Heritage
The World Documentary Heritage contains a number of immaterial cultural goods which are considered worth being kept.
The variety of cultures in the Red Chamber Dreams is paralleled with the variety of elements of different dynasties, which makes it timeless and therefore even more a masterpiece of Chinese art and a masterpiece of human art. Therefore I would like to nominate the Red Chamber Dreams as “World Documentary Heritage”.
References
Anthony, C. Yu. (2001). Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber. Princeton University Press.
Aristotle. (1971). Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. Ed. Hazard Adams. Critical Theory since Plato. ew York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 48-66.
Chen Dongsheng, Gan Yingjin, Zhou Liyan, Qin Rui陈东生，甘应进, 周丽艳，覃蕊.(2007). Research on the patterns of clothing in Red Chamber Dreams 《红楼梦》服饰纹样探究. Advances in Textile Science and Technology纺织科技进展, 2: 89-91.
Feng Quangong (2017) Introduction and acceptance of the Opera Red Chamber Dream in San Francisco based on relevant network resources missing rest#
Stuart Hall斯图尔特·霍尔(2003). Representation — Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices表征 —— 文化表象与意指实践. Translated by Xu Liang and Lu Xinghua徐亮、陆兴华译. Commercial Press商务印书馆. 2.
Meng Hui孟晖.(2009). The Wealth of Glass玻璃的富贵. History of Ming and Qing Dynasties明清史事. 3: 50-53.
Shi Ye 施晔（2021）18 世纪中西小说瘟疫叙事比较研究*———以《红楼梦》和《瘟疫年纪事》为中心（A Comparative Study of Plague Narratives in Chinese and Western Novels in the 18th Century——Focusing on "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "A Journal of the Plague Year"） 红楼梦学刊（Studies on "A Dream of Red Mansions"）154-174
Proß, Wolfgang (1992). "Historische Methodik und philologischer Kommentar." Lutz Danneberg et al. (eds.) Vom Umgang mit Literatur und Literaturgeschichte. Positionen und Perspektiven nach der "Theoriedebatte", Stuttgart: Metzler-Verlag, 269-291
Steinmetz, Horst (2003). "Interkulturelle Rezeption und Interpretation" Bogner, Andrea; Wierlacher, Alois (Hrsg.): Handbuch interkulturelle Germanistik, Stuttgart Weimar, 461-467
Tang Yan 唐妍.(2018), Cultural Coding of Western Ware in Red Chamber Dreams《红楼梦》中西器的文化编码. Journal of Red Chamber Dreams《红楼梦学刊》, 3: 221-235.
Woesler, Martin, ed., Cao Xueqin, Gao E et al. (2016). Der Traum der Roten Kammer oder Die Geschichte vom Stein [Red Chamber Dreams or The Story of the Stone], Peking: Foreign Languages Press, ISBN 9787119094120, 4813 pages, 6 vols., hardcover, transl. by Rainer Schwarz and Martin Woesler; Chinese-German bilingual edition
Woesler, Martin. (2011). “Being Explicit About the Implicit – John Minford’s Translation of the last Forty Chapters of The Story of the Stone with a Field Study on two Sexually Arousing Scenes”. Hong lou meng xue kan 6: 274-289
Woesler, Martin. (2010). “ ’To Amuse the Beaux and Belles’ The Early Western Reception of the Hongloumeng”. Journal of Sino-Western Communications 2 (2010.12) 2:81-107
Zeng Hui. (20#) Costume Research on the Novel Dream of Red Mansions (Middle)（小说《红楼梦》服饰研究（中）） , #
Zhuang, Xiuhua. (2011). Self, Ideal and Salvation: A Comparative Study of Jane Austen’s Elizabeth and Cao Xueqin’s Lin Daiyu. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 420-423, March 2011. Fulltext: http://www.academypublication.com/issues/past/jltr/vol02/02/19.pdf.
Notes
10. Wit and strategic thinking of protagonists
Harro v. Senger: Traum und Nibelungenlied (Kontrast): Siegfried und Krimhild waren unintelligent, ja dumm, da sie kein Bewusstsein für die Gefährlichkeit ihrer Feinde hatten, anders als Wang Xifeng. S. a. die lange Bekanntheit und die lange Anwendung der chinesischen Stratageme im chinesischen Volk.
11. Society novels
Dream and Kazuo Ishiguro’s „Was vom Tage übrig blieb“ are both society novels.
13 Trials and Tribulations of young people
The Dream and Goethe’s Elective Affinities are both love novels, describing the trials and tribulations of young people.
Kommentar Woesler: Traum und Roman „Jenny" von Fanny Lewald. Wenn man Wu, Yenna folgt in der Deutung der Traum-Frauenfiguren: “The Virago: A Literary Theme", Cambridge UP 1995. Wu geht jedoch nicht auf Lewald ein.
16. Buddhism and Daoism
The German-language reader is not unfamiliar with Buddhist and Daoist thoughts, Richard Wilhelm has early translated the Yijing and Herrmann Hesse’s is Siddharta. An Indian Tale, is significantly influenced by Buddhist and Taoist thoughts.
18.
Farben und Farbsymbolismus sehr wichtig (wie auch generell bei Chaucer, Shakespeare und Poe; in den Shakespeare'schen Gedichten und Schauspielen ist grün manchmal die Frabe der Eifersucht usw.)
19. 红楼梦在英国的流传和研究
The spread and study of the Dream of Red Mansions in Britain 中英文化交流的历程 The course of Cultural exchange between China and Britain
十七世纪，中英文化交流开始了。英国的诗歌和戏剧中出现了描写中国的作品。 十八世纪，欧洲刮起了一股“中国风”。中国的哲学、艺术，特别是中国的工艺美术、园林设计、室内装饰、陶瓷、纺织品、建筑、绘画，引起了西方人尤其是英国人的极浓厚的兴趣。这一时期有中国的小说和戏剧传入英国，如《好逑传》和《赵氏孤儿》。 十九世纪是中英两国文化交流迅速发展的时期。基督教传教士在中国建立学校和印刷厂，中国出现了一大批西方社会科学和文学作品的翻译家及翻译著作。1876年，中国正式派遣外交使节郭嵩寿出使英国。在中英文化交流日益发展的大背景下，曹雪芹的《红楼梦》开始流传到了英国。当时的英国学者只摘译了《红楼梦》的片段，当时其主要目的是为英国人学习中国官话提供教科书，并非是为了从文学上阅读欣赏《红楼梦》。 从1830年到二十世纪七十年代，《红楼梦》的英译本都是摘译本和节译本。1973年，英国企鹅出版社出版了前牛津大学讲座教授大卫·霍克斯翻译的八十回全译本《红楼梦》。
In the 17th century, cultural exchanges between China and Britain began. In English poetry and plays, works describing China appeared.（从东方来的巨著——《红楼梦》在英国的流传与研究，胡文彬 Hu Wenbin，95）Reference?
In the 18th century, there was a "China fever" in Europe. Chinese philosophy and art, especially Chinese arts and crafts, garden design, interior decoration, ceramics, textiles, architecture and painting, have aroused great interest from westerners, especially the British. During this period, Chinese novels and plays, such as Hao Qiu Zhuan and The Orphan of Zhao, were introduced to England.（从东方来的巨著——《红楼梦》在英国的流传与研究，胡文彬 Hu Wenbin，96）Reference?
The 19th century witnessed the rapid development of cultural exchanges between China and Britain. Christian missionaries established schools and printing houses in China, and a large number of translators and translated works of western social sciences and literature appeared in China. In 1876, China officially sent guo Songshou as a diplomatic envoy to Britain. Cao Xueqin's A Dream of Red Mansions began to spread to Britain under the background of the growing cultural exchanges between China and Britain. At that time, British scholars only extracted and translated fragments of a Dream of Red Mansions, and its main purpose was to provide textbooks for the English to learn Chinese mandarin, not to read and appreciate the dream of Red Mansions from the literary perspective.（从东方来的巨著——《红楼梦》在英国的流传与研究，胡文彬 Hu Wenbin，96-97）Reference?
From 1830 to the 1970s, the English versions of a Dream of Red Mansions were all excerpts. In 1973, Penguin published the full translation of A Dream of Red Mansions by former Oxford University professor David Hawkes.（从东方来的巨著——《红楼梦》在英国的流传与研究，胡文彬 Hu Wenbin，98）Reference?
英国人眼里的《红楼梦》 A Dream of Red Mansions in British Eyes
自十九世纪三十年代《红楼梦》传入英国开始，英国的汉学家中有人写文章介绍《红楼梦》，例如1842年卡尔·居茨拉夫认为“《红楼梦》不过是一部妇女闺阁琐事杂录，情节毫无兴味可言，叙述又冗长，令人生厌。”二十世纪初开始，英国汉学家写的《红楼梦》评论文章多起来了，虽然难以了解其具体内容，但是从二十世纪以来英国出版的各种大百科全书对《红楼梦》的评价，可以看出英国汉学家对《红楼梦》的认识和研究水平。如第11版“《红楼梦》是一部非常高级的作品。、、、、、、小说包含的事件，使人想起菲尔丁小说，往往表露无遗，而不像现代心理小说只作隐晦的暗示。”第14版：“十八世纪小说《红楼梦》，讲的是一个伤感的有着深刻的心理描写的故事，背景是一个大家庭和它的逐渐衰败的命运。曹霑逝世时，小说尚未结束，由高鹗续成。小说两主角之一伤逝时赚人的眼泪，至少不亚于前此塞谬尔·理查逊所写的《帕美拉》”。七十年代英国出版的《大条目百科全书》：“中国十八世纪的小说，其题材与技巧的丰富多彩，不亚于欧洲，既有社会讽刺，骑士的罗曼史，也有冒险故事。曹雪芹所写的《红楼梦》的特色，相似于高尔斯华妥的《福尔赛世家》和托马斯·曼的《布登勃洛克一家》。这是一个大家庭衰败的故事，并夹杂着爱情的纠纷，充满着悲凉的情调。”
Since A Dream of Red Mansions was introduced to Britain in the 1830s, Some British Sinologists wrote articles to introduce it. For example, In 1842, Carl Gutzlaff thought that "A Dream of Red Mansions is nothing more than a miscellany of women's trifles, with no interesting plot and tedious narration. Since the beginning of the 20th century, British Sinologists have written more critical articles on it. Although it is difficult to know the specific contents, the evaluation of A Dream of Red Mansions by various encyclopedias published in the UK since the 20th century shows the understanding and research level of British Sinologists on the dream of Red Mansions. The 11th edition wrote "A Dream of Red Mansions is a very advanced work. 、、、、、、 novels contain events that are reminiscent of Fielding novels and tend to be explicit rather than implicit, as modern psychological novels do." The 14th edition: "A Dream of red Mansions, an eighteenth-century novel, is a sad and deeply psychological story set against the backdrop of a large family and its declining fortunes. When Cao Jame died, the novel was completed by Gao E. When one of the two main characters dies, it brings tears to our eyes at least as much as Samuel Richardson's Pamela. Encyclopedia of Big Entries, published in the UK in the 1970s: "Chinese eighteen-century novels are no less varied in subject matter and technique than those of Europe, ranging from social satire, chivalric romance to adventure stories. Cao Xueqin's A Dream of Red Mansions has characteristics similar to Galswalt's The Forsyte Family and Thomas Mann's The Budenbrock Family. It is a story of the decline of a large family, mixed with love disputes, and full of sad sentiment."（从东方来的巨著——《红楼梦》在英国的流传与研究，胡文彬 Hu Wenbin，100-101）reference, pages
20. 瘟疫叙事的不同Plague casts a lingering shadow on human creative activities, which is the background of literature, the metaphor of art, and the warning of religion. However, there were few Chinese and Western narrative literary works in the 18th century involving the plague, the Red Chamber Dreams and A Journal of the Plague Year (hereinafter referred to as "Journal") are the most concentrated and successful two works, both in terms of material selection, narrative strategies and religious implications, which have set a valuable model for the plague narrative of later generations.Reference? Because of the differences in cultural background, aesthetic taste and political environment, the two novels are quite different in narrative technique, plot structure and allegory strategy, which reflects the great influence of cultural tradition on literary creation. (Shi 2021:156) - to tell the truth, I don't think Hongloumeng is a plague narrative. Any opinions on that?
Different strategies
The narrative feature of the Red Chamber Dreams is "empty and illusory." Plague writing is an important tool for Cao Xueqin to use in forming virtual reality and shaping characters. In contrast to Cao, Defoe is mainly documentary, supplemented by fiction. Walter Scott (1771-1832), the author of the United Kingdom Chronicle, called Defoe "immortal for his genius in A Journal of Plague Year and the Knight's Memoirs." (Shi 2021:1...)
Different narrative way
China classical novels are accustomed to narrating in chronological order and the narrative time and the storytime are basically synchronous, so there is clear internal logic among the plots. Although there is no heavy ink in the plague narrative of the Red Chamber Dreams, the plague is an important key to the characterization and plot development. In contrast, the two time series of narration and story in Journal have some overlap and are separated. Although the novel starts from the plague to the end, the layout is messy and repeated. There are also many off-topic and inconsistent phenomena. (Shi 2021:161)
Reference: Shi Ye 施晔（2021）18 世纪中西小说瘟疫叙事比较研究*———以《红楼梦》和《瘟疫年纪事》为中心（A Comparative Study of Plague Narratives in Chinese and Western Novels in the 18th Century——Focusing on "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "A Journal of the Plague Year"） 红楼梦学刊（Studies on "A Dream of Red Mansions"）154-174 Page 161
21. 《红楼梦》人物服饰--中国古代服饰文化的缩影 Costumes of Characters in "Red Chamber Dreams" -- the Epitome of Chinese Ancient Costume Culture
摘要：中国著名的古典小说《红楼梦》蕴藏了大量有关服饰文化方面的内容，是我们研究中国古代明末清初服饰特征、 形制及文化内涵的重要素材，具有很好的历史价值和现代审美价值。为此，本文通过对《红楼梦》中主要人物服饰的分 析，探索传统服饰文化的特有的文化内涵和艺术魅力。 关键词：《红楼梦》；人物服饰；文化内涵
Abstract: "Red Chamber Dreams" , a famous Chinese classical novel, contains a great deal of content about costume culture, which is an important material for us to study the characteristics, shape and cultural connotation of costume in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties of ancient China. It has great historical value and modern aesthetic value. Therefore, this paper explores the unique cultural connotation and artistic charm of traditional costume culture by analyzing the costumes of the main characters in A Dream of Red Mansions .Reference?
Key words: "Red Chamber Dreams"; Character costumes; Cultural connotation
1.《红楼梦》人物服饰体现了当时的人物个性审美特征 《红楼梦》中人物多达400多人，仅以织品和绣品为例就多达50种、1949件。服饰形态更是丰富多彩、 各富个性、鲜艳而有趣又有情的色彩、精美繁复的制作工艺、逼真详实的图案纹样，并且从中体味出浓浓的视覚审美的意境，从”金陵十二钗各自不同的美貌和神韵的自然美与妆饰美的对比统一、从长裙短袄的 形式美观念、从"红袄绿裙”的色彩匹配观等发掘出原本深深地蕴藏在小说字里行间的传统服饰的美学理念，进 而充分地理解古老的中国服饰文化的博大精深和源流关系。
1. The Costumes of the Characters in "Red Chamber Dreams"; reflect the Individual Aesthetic Characteristics of the Characters at that Time (Cui 2004:11...)
There are more than 400 characters in "Red Chamber Dreams", and there are 1,949 pieces in 50 kinds of textiles and embroideries alone. The costume form is more colorful, individual, bright and interesting and affectionate colors, the exquisite and complicated production process, the lifelike and detailed pattern. From "Jinling twelve women of different natural beauty of the beauty and charm" 'compared with ornaments of beautiful unity, from' skirt short coat 'aesthetic concept, from the "green dress" red coat color matching and unearthed originally is deeply in the novel between the lines of traditional costume aesthetic concept, in the full understanding of ancient Chinese costume culture and profound and origin relations. (Cui 2004:11...)
2.《红楼梦》人物服饰传达着一种情绪
《红楼梦》人物服饰文化内涵是和中国传统哲学和美学思想文化一脉相承的，其中服饰衣冠文化是汉民族 和满族交融的一种折射符号，具有某种哲学因素和艺术审美方面的代表意义，其寓意是很丰富的。《红楼梦》 中的人物形态同样在向我们传递着这样的信息和符号，贾宝玉”翩翩"公子的风度、王熙凤”神仙妃子”的高 贵气质、林黛玉的柔弱美、薛宝钗的典雅美等各种不同审美形态融入小说描写的特定的事件发展过程中，自 然贴切。这种符号成为审美氛围中不可分割的组成部分且在向人们传达一种富有哲理的信息，使得《红楼梦》服 饰审美渗入了古典哲学和传统艺术的”意境”学说，表现于人物服饰的描写十分周详，造型、色彩、线条、图案、 装饰方面符合传统形式美规律的运用，并能够注重材质本身的结构美、肌理美和功能美，而这些外在形式所抒发 或隐喻或折射出某种朦胧的情感、情趣或传达的一种情绪，这种情感和情绪进一步深化了服饰文化的内涵。
2.The Costumes of the Characters in A Dream of Red Mansions Convey a Mood
The cultural connotation of costume of characters in "Red Chamber Dreams" is consistent with traditional Chinese philosophy and aesthetic culture, among which costume culture is a reflection symbol of the integration of Han and Manchu, which has some philosophical factors and artistic aesthetic representative significance, and its implication is very rich. Form of characters in a dream of red mansions is convey to us the same information and symbol, jia baoyu "and" childe manner, high search "fairy princess" your temperament, soft beauty of Lin daiyu, xue baochai is the elegant beauty of various aesthetic forms into the novel depicts the development of specific events, the since the apt. This symbol aesthetic atmosphere in which shall form an integral part of and in a philosophical message to people, make a dream of red mansions clothing aesthetic infiltration of classical philosophy and traditional art act the role of "artistic conception" theory, performance in the description of the garments is very thorough, modelling, colour, line, pattern, decoration aspects in accordance with the use of traditional law of formal beauty, Besides, it can pay attention to the structural beauty, texture beauty and functional beauty of the material itself, while these external forms express or metaphorically reflect some vague emotion, interest or a mood conveyed, which further deepens the connotation of clothing culture. (Cui 2004:11...)
Reference: Cui Rongrong. Costume of Characters in "Red Chamber Dreams" -- the Epitome of Chinese Ancient Costume Culture[J]. Journal of Wuhan University of Science and Engineering,2004,(06):111-113+116.(崔荣荣.《红楼梦》人物服饰--中国古代服饰文化的缩影[J]. 武汉科技学院学报，2004,(06):111-113+116.)