Hung Lou Meng, or, The Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book II

Cao XueqinProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.6
Word count
1.4M words
Chapters
144

Tags

English Originals Classical Literature Fate and FortuneFamily Rise and FallStreet LifeLove EntanglementsComplex HumanityTraditional Aesthetics

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book II by CaoAuthor: Cao, Xueqin, 1717?-1763,Language: English, Class: PL: Language and Literatures: Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania, Release Date: Jan 1, 2006

Editor's review

This is the English e-book of Book II of the English translation of Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, continuing the translated content of Book I and likewise from Project Gutenberg. Its core value lies in pairing with Book I to form a relatively complete English reading sequence, allowing readers to follow the story's development continuously. As a public-domain electronic resource, it is easy to obtain and search, suitable for cross-language reading against the Chinese original, and also suitable for translation learners to observe the consistency of translated names and expressions across different volumes of the same work. It should be noted that this edition has an English main text, the translation style bears the marks of its time, and the electronic text is not a scholarly collated edition; readers should not expect detailed annotations or a modern standard translation. In terms of reading context, it is more suitable for readers who have already read Book I and wish to continue reading in English, or for learners who need free English text for lengthy reading practice. It is recommended to regard it as an openly accessible supplementary reading rather than a close-reading edition replacing the Chinese original; if used for research, it should be cross-referenced with authoritative translations or annotated editions.

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Reading tips

  1. Read Book I first and then this volume to maintain continuity of characters and plot.
  2. While reading, refer to the chapter titles of the Chinese original to locate the content being read.
  3. Record the English renderings of the same character or appellation to observe consistency.
  4. You may read through both books together, then return to closely read key chapters.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
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  25. 25
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  31. 31
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  34. 34
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  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
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  98. 98
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  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120
  121. 121
  122. 122
  123. 123
  124. 124
  125. 125
  126. 126
  127. 127
  128. 128
  129. 129
  130. 130
  131. 131
  132. 132
  133. 133
  134. 134
  135. 135
  136. 136
  137. 137
  138. 138
  139. 139
  140. 140
  141. 141
  142. 142
  143. 143
  144. 144

FAQ

Can Book II be read alone without Book I? It can be read, but it is not recommended. Book II continues the plot and character relationships of Book I; without reading Book I, it is easy to feel confused about characters' identities and the sequence of events. It is best to read continuously in the order of Book I and Book II to understand the story's progression and changes in characters' fates.
Does this English translation match the content of the Chinese original? It is an English translation of Hung Lou Meng and generally corresponds to the original content, but the translation involves choices due to the translator's approach and the linguistic conventions of the time, and is not a word-for-word correspondence. Readers may use it as parallel reading material; for precise understanding of the original, the Chinese original or an authoritative annotated edition should still be the standard.
What are the usage restrictions of Project Gutenberg e-books? Project Gutenberg provides public-domain e-books that are generally free to download and read, convenient for personal study and research use. Specific usage conditions are subject to the instructions on its release page. This text is not a scholarly collated edition; for citation, it is advisable to check authoritative published editions.

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About the author

Cao Xueqin Author · Chinese

Cao Xueqin was a Qing dynasty novelist and the author of the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou Meng). Public information about his life is limited, and few records survive; even the dates of his birth and death cannot be firmly established, though he is generally thought to have lived in the first half of the eighteenth century. His masterpiece is set against the rise and decline of the four great families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue, and revolves around the loves and fates of Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and others. Its large cast of characters are vividly individualized, and its subtle, understated language conveys deep insight into human nature and worldly affairs through the depiction of everyday life. The novel is regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction and has had a profound influence on later literature and scholarship. The library holds Books I and II of its English translation, which show how this masterpiece has been presented to English-language readers.