Artistic Achievement,Progressive Versus Feudal Forces & The Patriarchal Clan System of Dream of Red Chamber

Tsao Hsueh-chin expounds his principles of literary creation in the very first chapter of the novel. He is opposed to novels that use "the-beauty-and-the-talented-single-scholar" pattern; instead he upholds a literary convention which is based on facts and social reality. By "reality," however, Tsao Hsueh-chin did not mean that one should mechanically copy events and characters from real life; instead, he treats them artistically, raising them to a "literary reality." As a matter of fact, it took Tsao Hsueh-chin ten years to select painstakingly his materials and then turn them into a literary creation.

Owing to his rich experiences, keen observations, inherent genius, and the originality of artistic creation, A Dream of Red Mansions is deeply rooted in real life. Tsao Hsueh-chin depicts typical events and typical characters under typical circumstances, and, therefore, the decadence of the aristocrats in feudal society and the oppression of innocent and powerless young girls, boys, and slaves are vividly and typically presented.

With such a broad social scene as the novel's background, Tsao Hsueh-chin describes with great care and precision a great number of vivid and typical characters, both positive and negative, some primary and others secondary. Some characters, such as Pao-yu, Tai-yu, Hsi-feng , and Granny Liu have become popular characters for readers all over the world.

Tsao Hsueh-chin is very skillful in depicting characters who possess diverse individualities. For instance, Hsueh Pan and Hsueh Pao-chai are brother and sister, yet the former is a typical "stupid tyrant," while the latter is a standard feudal fair maiden. The author is also very successful in adopting various approaches to depict different characters according to their different social positions. The author makes a point of reinforcing the main facets of the characters through multiple plots and from different angles, such as Pao-yu's love for and sympathy for girls; Tai-yu's pride and aloofness, as well as her sentimental character; Pao-chai's hypocrisy, smoothness, and evasiveness; Wang Hsi-feng 's shrewdness, cunningness, and viciousness. All the features in their characters are described in impressive, conspicuous situations so as to leave unforgettable impressions on readers.

The author is also successful in his characterization because he places his characters in specific artistic atmospheres with suitable scenes for their settings. In this way, the characters' inner feelings can stand out, in contrast, and thereby affect the reader's feelings and sensibilities more profoundly. Few writers before Tsao Hsueh-chin gave much thought to describing their characters' inner emotions and psychological motivations. During his era, only Tsao Hsueh-chin achieved great success as a writer who recorded detailed descriptions of his characters' mental activities and secrets.

A Dream of Red Mansions has gained much praise because of its artistic structure. It is much more grand, more rigorous, and more complete than The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a novel of the middle of the fifteenth century, which is considered a very complete novel — as far as its artistic structure is concerned.

But in order to fully present the rich and complicated social life, meet the demands of the development of characterization, and serve the purpose of exposing the conflicts and struggles within the Chia family, Tsao Hsueh-chin's novel gives special attention to the plot of the love story between Pao-yu and Tai-yu and to the waning prosperity, as well as the moral decline, of the Chia family. All the other characters and all of the many intricate events hinge on, or are related to, these two main plot-lines.

In addition, all these characters and events are interwoven, influencing or controlling each other to form a grandiose artistic structure. And yet, within this huge literary structure, there is always a criss-cross network of independent but related passages; all of the details are arranged with such clarity, however, that readers can easily tell the primary characters and events from the secondary ones and react strongly to the characters and events described in the novel.

The language of the novel is mature and refined. Full of imagery, figurative speech, and folk tales, A Dream of Red Mansions is characterized by its accuracy and its vividness, as well as by its simplicity and colorfulness — thus attaining perfection in its artistic proficiency.

A Dream of Red Mansions offers us many varieties of conflicts and struggles but of all of them, the primary one is the conflict between the progressive forces (represented by the rebels) and the feudal forces (represented by Lady Dowager, Chia Chen, and Lady Wang). The conflict between these two forces is mainly reflected in the love affairs and marriage controversies among Chia Pao-yu, Lin Tai-yu, and Hsueh Pao-chai. Because of the vast differences in power between the two opposing forces, the feudal forces gain the upper hand, while the progressive forces end in failure. Thus, the love between Pao-yu and Tai-yu is destined to end in tragedy.

Chin Pao-yu, the hero of the novel, represents the progressive forces. He is a rebel living in a typically feudal, aristocratic family. Immediately after he was born, the path to fortune and fame was seemingly paved for him. But Pao-yu was spoiled by his Chia grandmother (Lady Dowager) and he spent most of time with the maids and his girl cousins. His life has never really been touched by the dissolute lives of Chia Cheng and Chia Lien. Also, Pao-yu didn't receive the usual feudal education. Accordingly, Pao-yu, because of his innocence and his strict sense of justice, is tired of all the endless disputes and the tit-for-tat struggles among the family members; he wants no part of them; he is fed up with the decadence and rottenness of the authoritative family members. In contrast to the people (the men, in particular) whom he sees around him, Pao-yu extends great sympathy for the tragic destinies of the young girls (and their maids) who live in Grand View Garden. Imperceptibly influenced by what he constantly sees and hears from these oppressed girls in Grand View Garden, Pao-yu's rebellious character develops and grows stronger. His love for Lin Tai-yu quickens his step on the road of rebellion against his patriarchal clan oppressors.

Accordingly, one day, Chin Chen, afraid that Pao-yu's defiance of family rules will ruin the family's reputation, almost kills Pao-yu. However, even after being savagely beaten, Pao-yu does not give in to his feudal family's strict code of behavior. From then on, his love for Tai-yu becomes even stronger and more unshakable. However, because Pao-yu and Tai-yu live in a feudal, aristocratic family, are more or less influenced by the feudalistic way of thinking, and, to some extent, have to show some respect for their aristocratic elders, their rebellion never achieves enormous power.

However, the two young people continue to love one another very much, even though they are isolated individuals. They can expect no help from any of the authoritative aristocrats; Lady Dowager and Lady Wang have their own criteria concerning whom Pao-yu shall marry. They want to choose a girl who can help Pao-yu deal with the many-sided, crumbling Chia family household affairs. Pao-chai seems the perfect candidate for these requirements. To them, Pao-chai will be an ideal mate for Pao-yu; she is from a royal family and has been tremendously indoctrinated by her feudal education. She is both intelligent and competent, capable of getting along well with everybody and coping with all affairs and situations.

The Chia authorities hope that by marrying Pao-chai, Pao-yu can be reformed sufficiently so that he will begin paying attention to his own personal fame and official rank, and that, in time, Pao-yu will become a qualified successor to the old and distinguished Chia family.

There is another aspect of this arranged marriage. If Pao-chai marries Pao-yu, the Chia, Wang, and Hsueh families can support each other for every one's mutual benefit. In that era, marriage was not a matter of personal happiness; it was directly related to the fate of a clan or an aristocratic class. Pao-chai is backed by a powerful feudal force, so the love between Pao-yu and Tai-yu is inevitably bound to end in tragedy.

The Chin family disapproves of Lin Tai-yu as Pao-yu's wife for many reasons. In their opinion, Tai-yu is, first of all, in delicate health, although beautiful; second, Tai-yu's aristocratic parents died early so she is now living under the auspices of the Chin family; third, Tai-yu is a willful and arrogant person, too sharp-tongued and narrow-minded to suit the old Lady Dowager. As a matter of fact, Tai-yu often criticizes the Chias in sham language, so it is no wonder that her unbridled behavior and speech offend and irritate these authoritative, evil people.

Lin Tai-yu despises these people's vulgarity and the hypocrisy of feudal officialdom, as well. Her contempt for feudal decadence in the Chin family isolates her; she is able to find some Common ground only with the understanding, upright Chia Pao-yu. Therefore, their love relationship is based on honest attraction, Common interests, and a Common understanding of family affairs.

Tai-yu's deep and sincere love for Chia Pao-yu is the only spiritual support that she has to live for. It is no wonder that when she hears the news of Pao-yu's upcoming marriage to Pao-chai, she loses all hope. The beam of her only possible happiness in this world will soon be extinguished. The weak and helpless Taiyu can do nothing but choose death. The tragedy is a powerful condemnation of the tyrannical feudal society and the hateful patriarchal clan system.

Among many things, A Dream of Red Mansions is an indictment and an exposure of the feudal patriarchal clan system, its enormous political clout, and the omnipotent authority of the husband.

The chapter introducing the Official Protective Charm is a key chapter to better understanding this concept. Here, we learn that local officials keep a secret list of the most powerful, wealthy, and high-ranking families in their provinces. Each province has such a list. If, unknowingly, a small county official offends one of these families, he might lose not only his post but his life as well. This situation is explained to Chia Yu-tsun, the new prefect of Yingtian, by an attendant. The four important families of Chin, Shih, Wang, and Hsueh are on the list. Therefore, the new prefect has to Protect these big families — even at the expense of the law and justice.

At one point in the novel, Hsueh Pan, the young master of the Hsueh family, knows that he has the power to ask his followers to beat Feng Yuan (the son of minor local gentry) to death in broad daylight — simply to possess a girl. Because of the Official Protective Charm, Hsueh Pan goes free — without being punished by the law.

Similar examples are found throughout the novel, proving that the four important families of Chin, Shih, Wang, and Hsueh are politically powerful and important landlords, businessmen, and bureaucrats. The officials have to flatter these families and protect their interests before they can expect to be promoted or make advances in their careers. Accordingly, knowing that they have protection from the courts, rich landlords and their family members know that they can do whatever they like; they can bully ordinary, weak people and satisfy their lusts and desires whenever they please.

A Dream of Red Mansions does not only denounce feudal patriarchal clan power, but in the declining fortunes of the four major families of Chia, Shih, Wang, and Hsueh, it also contains an indictment of feudal patriarchal power. The three patriarchal leaders of the Chin family are good-for-nothing parasites. Chin Sheh is a rotten, lecherous person; Chin Ching is a pitiable person, dreaming of being an angel after death; and Chin Chen is a vulgar, morally corrupt hypocrite. These facts are convincing indictments of the patriarchal clan system. According to the novel, Chin Cheng is the head of the clan and is supposed to take charge of the patriarchal clan affairs, yet he is arrogant and evil. He is an animal in man's clothing. The entire spectrum of the hypocrisy within the feudal patriarchal clan power is clearly revealed here. The indictment of the abusive authority of the husband can also be easily traced throughout this novel. What Chin Pao-yu says about the muddiness of men and the cleanliness of women is an early clue, a challenge to the traditional concept of men's superiority to women.

The condemnation of deity power is also part of the condemnation of the feudal patriarchal clan system and ideology. Quite a number of monks and nuns are portrayed in the novel, but none of them is virtuous — except Miao-yu, living in Grand View Garden.

In a word, the successful exposure and pungent indictment of the feudal patriarchal system enhances the effectiveness of the author's condemnation of the whole feudal system because these powers make up the basic social structure of the feudal society. These powers represent, in a concentrated manner, the interests of the feudal rulers and the aristocratic landlords.