“Hung-lou Meng, or Dream of the Red Chamber, stands as China’s greatest contribution to the world’s vast store of prose fiction. The eighteenth-century work, attributed to Cao Xue Qin is remarkable not only for its sheer volume but for the insight it affords into the intricacies of the old Chinese family structure, as well as into the way of life of a wealthy family having connections with the imperial court. Cao Xue Qin provides a detailed, expansive description of events within the two linked, great households of the extended Jia family, introduction hundreds of characters and chronicling the eventual falling away of the family fortunes…”