"A Dream of Red Mansions" takes the rise and fall of the four major families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue as the background, and takes the tragedy of love and marriage between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai as the main line. It depicts the life of China's feudal society in the first half of the 18th century from multiple angles.
1. The rise and fall of the family: The four major families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue are closely connected through marriage and enjoy prosperity and wealth. There is a strict hierarchy in the Jia family. As the elder of the family, Jia's mother has a respected status and everyone respects her. However, corruption gradually emerged within the family. The masters lived extravagantly and the slaves fought openly and secretly for power and interests. Wang Xifeng was in charge of the affairs of the Jia family, and she was tough, smart and capable but greedy and selfish. She controlled the Tiejian Temple, accepted bribes, and created hidden dangers for the family. Jia She, Jia Zhen and others were extravagant. Although Jia Zheng was a decent person, he was not good at management. The family could not make ends meet, and the economy gradually declined.
2. Love tragedy: Jia Baoyu has a rebellious character, hates feudal ethics and career economy, and pursues freedom and equality. He and Lin Daiyu have a soul-matching connection and have pure love. The two read "The Romance of the West Chamber" together, showing their yearning for free love. However, this relationship was not accepted by the family. Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang and others chose Xue Baochai for Baoyu, who was in the interests of the family. Under the arrangement of the family, Baoyu and Baochai got married, Lin Daiyu passed away with regret, Baoyu finally became a monk, and their love ended in tragedy.
3. Group portraits: The work creates many characters with distinctive personalities. For example, Lin Daiyu is sensitive, delicate, intelligent and versatile; Xue Baochai is dignified, steady and sophisticated; Shi Xiangyun is outspoken, cheerful and forthright; Qingwen's heart is higher than the sky, her life is thinner than paper, she has a strong personality and dares to resist; Xiren is gentle and obedient, and wholeheartedly upholds feudal ethics, etc. These characters play out their respective destinies in the complex environment of Jia Mansion.
4. Social style: comprehensively demonstrates the etiquette system, cultural education, customs and habits of feudal society. The book describes the food, daily life, festival celebrations, weddings and funerals of aristocratic families in detail, reflecting the lifestyle of the feudal aristocracy; through the interactions between the Jia family and the officialdom, it reveals the dark corruption of the feudal officialdom; it also describes the life of the people, such as Grandma Liu's entry into the Grand View Garden, showing the huge difference between the lives of the aristocrats and civilians from her perspective.
Concept: "A Dream of Red Mansions" has a profound concept. Through the depiction of feudal family life and the fate of characters, it reflects social reality, is full of thoughts on human nature, love, and society, and has a profound spirit of criticism and reflection.