ItisoneofChina鈥檚fourgreatclassicnovelsandahouseholdnameformostseasonedexpatsinthecountry,alongwithRomanceoftheThreeKingdoms,JourneytotheWestandWaterMargin.IloveDavidHawkes鈥檓asterfultranslationofDreamoftheRedChamberandhavewatchedthe1987TVseries.
TheplotrevolvesaroundalovetrianglebetweenJiaBaoyu,theJiafamily鈥檚adolescentsonwhowasbornwithapieceofjadeinhismouth,andhistwocousins.HeformsaspecialbondwithLinDaiyu,whoisphysicallyfrailbutwithwhomhesharesalotofinterests.ButheisfatedtomarryanothercousinnamedXueBaochai,awell-temperedandsensible鈥淢s.Right鈥漮fthetimesandafoiltoLinDaiyu.Thefamily鈥檚decliningfortunesformthebackdropofthislovetriangle.
TheTVseriesrevivedinterestintheclassic,andmanyvisitorsflockedtoRongguofuaftertheTVseriesdebuted31yearsago.Inthevisitors鈥檆enterIsawanintroductoryfilmfeaturingsomeoftheactorsreminiscingabouttheirexperiencesonset.Oneactressrecalledhowascenehadtobeshotmultipletimesbecausetheoillampsattractedbugswhichflewacrossthescreen.Thewholefilmingprocesstookseveralmonths,buttheactorshadtoundergoextensivepriortrainingtoadjustthemselvestothemannerismsofthecharacters.
RongguofuissimilartoBeijing鈥檚GrandViewGarden,whereinthepastIhavehadphotostakenwithactorsportrayingmatriarchGrannyJiaandBaoyu(truetocharacter,theactorwasplayingonhiscellphoneinhissparetime)duringaSpringFestivalpageant.
Rongguofufeaturesstonelandscapes,heavywoodenfurnitureandcanopybeds.Therearewaxdollsofthenovel鈥檚charactersreenactingsomeofthescenesfromthebook.YoucanseeBaoyubeingdisciplinedbyhisfatherfornotstudyinghardandplayingaround,orbeingintroducedtoLinDaiyuunderGrannyJia鈥檚jovialgaze.AnotherwaxfigureofLinDaiyuhasmovingeyes,whichstartledme.
Inparticular,thecharacterofLinDaiyuintheTVseriesleftadeepimpressiononmewithhergraceful,measuredstepsandtragicflair.Icouldn鈥檛believeshemanagedtolooksoelegantevenwhenflushinghermouthafteramealwithtea(antiquity鈥檚equivalenttomouthwash).IwasoncetoldbysomeoneinChinathatIlooklikeherbecauseofmywillowyfigure,althoughIwouldprefertobecomparedtoXueBaochaisinceshehasaluckierfate!Ialsorecently鈥渆ncountered鈥滾inDaiyuinfamousChinesewriterLinYutang(1895-1976)鈥檚MomentinPeking,whereoneofthecharacters,Hongyu,isanadmirerofhers.
AtRongguofutherewasalsoanexhibithonoring鈥渞edologists,鈥漵cholarswhospecializeinthestudyofthenovel,andabustwithbackgroundinformationonCaoXueqin,thebook鈥檚authorwhosenoblefamilyenjoyedclosetiestotheimperialhousehold.
Althoughthe1987TVserieswasmadelessthanadecadeafterthestartofChina鈥檚reformandopeningup,itsadvancedtechniques,credibilityandthewayitconveysatmosphereareatriumphofChineseTVprogramsanditisatrueclassicthathasleftitsmarkonChineseculture.
Iwasamazedatthesheeramountofclothes,food,propsandpeopleusedintheTVseriesthatwerecombinedintoaharmoniouswhole.Afterall,thenovelitselffeaturesalargecastofcharacterswith30protagonistsandover400minorroles.OnecouldsaythatDreamoftheRedChamberprovidesapanoramaofQingDynastylife.Althoughthestoryisnoteasilyaccessibletoforeignersbecauseoftheremoteculturalreferencesandcomplexcastofcharacters,itconveysemotionsthatareuniversalandtimeless:happiness,sorrow,unrequitedloveand,ultimately,submissiontoforcesbeyondone鈥檚control.
TheauthorisanAmericanlivinginBeijingCopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto