Dream of the Red Chamber and Late Imperial China

The eighteenth-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber occupies an unparalleled place in Chinese literary culture. This story of a peculiar boy born into a wealthy family in decline was an instant hit when first published and remains the subject of innumerable studies and adaptations to this day. A novel of philosophical complexity, emotional richness, and lush materiality, Dream of the Red Chamber offers an affecting portrait of the psyche of a young misfit, a reflection on memory and the act of writing, and a sprawling, encyclopedic view of Qing dynasty society. Our reading of the novel will pay close attention to the text itself while also situating it within the social, cultural, and intellectual history of late imperial China.