This celebrated Chinese classic novel is a masterpiece of realism written in the middle of the 18th century. Taking as its background the decline of several related big families and drawing much from his own experiences, the author Cao Zueqin (?-c.1763) focused on the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Dairu and, in the meantime, provided a panorama of the lives of people of various levels in the degenerating empire. But he left the work unfinished (or the last 40 chapters were lost). Gao E (c.1738- c.1815) completed the work some years later in much of Gao’s spirit and also put in his own revelations, which aroused protracted controversy throughout the centuries. Exposing social evils, the book cries out its denunciation against the feudal system. All techniques of literary merit developed in previous periods were incorporated into the great work with much originality. It stands out in world literature, ranking with Hamlet and War and Peace. Illustrated with woodblock prints.
