The Story of the Stone: The Debt of Tears

The Story of the Stone: The Debt of Tears
ISBN-10
0141968915
ISBN-13
9780141968919
Series
The Story of the Stone
Category
Fiction
Pages
400
Language
English
Published
2012-08-30
Publisher
Penguin UK
Author
Cao Xueqin

Description

The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is the great novel of manners in Chinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which The Debt of Tears is the fourth, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.

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