Everyone must have heard of A Dream of Red Mansions. For me, it is not just a classical novel. It is a peaceful and wonderful journey of the mind that I have traveled many times.
I first read A Dream of Red Mansions when I was in the third grade of primary school. I was too young at that time and could not understand many words in the book. I even thought the word “maid”（丫鬟） was the name of one character in the story. Up to now, I have read this book three or four times. Recently, I am reading it again slowly and carefully, hoping to understand more details that I did not notice in my previous reading.
At first, I only thought this book was simply a love story, and that was the reason why I started reading it. I have also read the other three‘ Four Great Classical Novels’（四大名著）. However, no other book has given me such amazing and deep feelings as ‘A Dream of Red Mansions’. Gradually, I truly feel the charm of Cao Xueqin’s（the author of this book) writing and the beauty of traditional classic literature. I finally understand why this book is regarded as the greatest one among the Four Great Classical Novels.
Many people have the same first impression of Lin Daiyu (林黛玉,the leading woman）———— They think she only knows how to cry and she is too sensitive and sentimental. It is true that these are parts of her personality, but I never see her as a weak girl who only lives in sadness. In my opinion, her sensitivity is because she sees through the cold reality and the complicated human world earlier than everyone else. She lost her parents when she was very young. She had no family to depend on and had to live alone in the Jia Mansion（贾府）. She lived a life of relying on others and had to watch other people’s moods all the time. Behind her quiet, sad and delicate appearance, she has a very strong and clear mind. In my opinion , Lin Daiyu is a very powerful and admirable woman.
The whole book describes the true human relationships in society and records the whole story of a big family. It shows the whole process from great prosperity to gradual decline. This contrast deeply touches my heart. After reading the book many times, I realize that everything in this world follows certain rules. All rise and fall, joy and sorrow, do not happen without reasons.
Most people think A Dream of Red Mansions is only a story about love and romance. It cannot be denied that love is an important theme in this novel. But after reading it over and over again, I deeply realize that Cao Xueqin has very advanced thoughts about love, （sex ）desire, human nature and society. His ideas were far ahead of the people living in his time.
In one scene of the book（in chapter 15？）, Jia Baoyu（贾宝玉，the leading man)accidentally sees Qin Zhong(秦钟，a supporting character ) staying with the young nun Zhineng(智能儿，a supporting character）. Qin Zhong only follows his own physical desire and does not care about Zhineng’s feelings at all. Because of her low social status, Zhineng is helpless and has no way to refuse. In the feudal society of that time, women had almost no rights. The laws were also extremely unfair to women.
Some readers misunderstand Jia Baoyu in this scene. In the noble class of that age, many wealthy men only wanted to satisfy their own desires and never respected others. Jia Baoyu is actually different from them. Although he is still a young boy and has made some mistakes when he was young, he can control his desire and always show respect to others. This kind of self-control and kindness is really precious in that old society.
Nowadays, people often talk about heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality. I always hold one opinion: the core of true love is sincere affection and heartfelt care（love）, not only physical desire.
Xue Pan（薛蟠，a supporting charater） is a typical example in the novel. He is attracted to good-looking people, but what he pursues is never true love. He only wants to satisfy his own desire and possession. This kind of feeling has nothing to do with real love.
On the contrary, Jia Baoyu treats people in a totally different way. He once exchanged silk sashes with Jiang Yuhan（蒋玉菡，a supporting character） as a sign of sincere friendship. Xue Pan was also attracted to Jiang Yuhan’s appearance, but he only wanted to control and own him. Jia Baoyu treats everyone around him with honesty and kindness. He appreciates the beauty of others with a pure heart, no matter the person is male or female.
At that time, almost all marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers. Young people were not allowed to develop feelings before marriage. People could only build affection after they got married. Even if a girl had feelings for her future husband in advance, it would be seen as immoral and against social rules. But Cao Xueqin did not agree with this old-fashioned tradition. He believed in true feelings and free love between people.（This kind of idea is all in his book, and you can deeply feel it）
My people said that‘ if a book can be read many times, and different people can get new ideas from it in different ages, this book must be a perfect classic.’ A Dream of Red Mansions fully proves this sentence. There is even a special major called Redology（红学）, which focuses on researching and analysing this novel. This fully shows how valuable and meaningful this book is.
This journey between pages has greatly changed my thoughts and views. It makes me become more interested in traditional Chinese culture and intangible cultural heritage. I am willing to learn more about our traditional culture, and I also hope to spread the beauty of Chinese culture to more people in the future.
This book shows me a world that I can never experience in my real life. It is full of complicated human nature, warm and sad emotions, and the ups and downs of life. It is meaningful, thought-provoking, and always worth reading again and again.
Reading is indeed a special and relaxing way of travelling. When I open this book, I start my quiet spiritual journey. The travel in ‘A Dream of Red Mansions’ will always be the most unforgettable and precious journey in my whole life.
（The blog I wrote are all my feelings after reading this book and some searching on the internet. Everything I said is only a very small part of my feelings.This book has a great influence on me. （This is also my favorite book)Of course, what I wrote may be biased or even wrong. So,welcome everyone to discuss with me.）
The following are some people I found mentioned in my blog. These are the appearance of the characters in the play, for reference only.
From top to bottom are Qin Zhong, Zhineng, Jiang Yuhan, Lin Daiyu, Jia Baoyu and Xue Pan.
I liked the interesting takes you had on this Classic Chinese novel, for example you talked about how differently Lin Daiyu’s character could be interpreted when seen from a different point of view, I kind of like wished it would’ve been a bit shorter so it’s easier to finish but in a way it also shows just how much you love the book and a deep understanding you developed for it after reading it multiple times.