Redology () is the academic study of

Cao Xueqin Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...

's ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...

'', one of the

Four Great Classical Novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known works of literary fiction across pre-modern Chinese literature. The group usually includes the following works: Ming dynasty novels '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', '' Water Margin'', ''Journey to t ...

of China. There are numerous researchers in this field; most can be divided into four general groups: the first group are the commentators, such as Zhou Chun, Xu Fengyi, Chen Yupi, and others; the second group is the index group, which includes Wang Mengruan and

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Peki ...

; the third group are the textual critics, including

Hu Shih Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He part ...

and

Yu Pingbo Yu Pingbo (; January 8, 1900 – October 15, 1990), original name Yu Mingheng () and courtesy name Pingbo (), was a Chinese essayist, poet, historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authorit ...

; the final group are the

literary critics A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

, including

Zhou Ruchang Zhou Ruchang (; April 14, 1918 – May 31, 2012), was a Chinese writer noted for his study of the novel '' Dream of the Red Chamber'' by Cao Xueqin. He is regarded as among the most renowned and influential redologists of the 20th century. In ...

and

Li Xifan Li Xifan (; 11 December 1927 – 29 October 2018) was a Chinese Marxist literary scholar and Redology, redologist. He became nationally famous in 1954, when his critique of the revered redologist Yu Pingbo was praised by Mao Zedong, who seized the ...

History

A 1976 essay by Joey Bonner split the Chinese critical reception of the novel into five phases: *;Pre-1791: Commentators on the pre-publication manuscripts, such as Rouge Inkstone and Odd Tablet, who mainly provide literary analysis of the first 80 chapters. *;1791–1900: Post-publication questions over authorship of the addendum, speculation upon esoteric aspects of the book. After 1875 using the term "Redology" for the studies. *;1900–1922: Political interpretations. *;1922–1953: "New Redology" led by

, approach questions of textual authenticity, documentation, dating, and a strong autobiographical focus. The labelling of previous periods as "Old Redology". *;1954–current

975 Year 975 ( CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor John I raids Mesopotamia and invades Syria, using the Byzantine base at Antioch to pres ...

Marxist literary criticism Marxist literary criticism is a theory of literary criticism based on the historical materialism developed by philosopher and economist Karl Marx. Marxist critics argue that even art and literature themselves form social institutions and have s ...

, the book seen as a criticism of society's failures.

's criticism of both Old Redology and Neo-Redologists such as Hu Shih and

Academic research institutes

There are many Redology academic institutions, especially university affiliated ones: * The Society of the Dream of the Red Chamber (中国红楼梦学会) in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

* The Cao Xueqin Society of Beijing (北京曹雪芹学会) in Beijing * The Cao Xueqin Center for Aesthetics and Art (北京大学曹雪芹美学艺术研究中心) at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, Beijing * The Weiming Society for ''Hongloumeng'' Studies at

, Beijing * International Research Center of the Dream of the Red Chamber (RDRC),

National Dong Hwa University College of Humanities and Social Sciences NDHU College of Humanities and Social Sciences (NDHU CHASS; ) is an interdisciplinary school of Humanities and Social Sciences of National Dong Hwa University (NDHU). Founded in 1995, with Professor Yang Mu, the Founding Dean of HKUST, HKUST Scho ...

, Taiwan * Dream of the Red Chamber Research Centre,

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

, Malaysia

References

External links

Redology: the study of a classic Chinese masterpiece
by Joyce Cheng, ''GB Times'', July 24, 2013 Chinese literary schools Chinese culture Dream of the Red Chamber Literary criticism {{lit-criticism-stub

History

Academic research institutes

References

Further reading

External links