Summary of "The Broken Lantern·Chapter 1: Encountering Qinpu on a snowy night in the western suburbs"
In the twelfth lunar month of the 25th year of Qianlong's reign, "I" braved the snow to deliver food to Mr. Cao (Cao Xueqin) who made a living by painting fans in a dilapidated temple in Xiangshan, western Beijing. In the snowy night, I listened to him tell his original intention of writing "The Story of the Stone". He recalled the past prosperity of Jiangning Zhizao Mansion and the tragic backwardness of his family. He said that writing the book was to preserve the memories of living people such as his grandmother, sister and maids, rather than to criticize or praise. He also talked about the character prototypes and creative ideas such as Baoyu and Daiyu. Although he did not expect the work to be passed down to the world, he insisted on polishing the manuscript.
