Brief introduction to life
Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Xi was a weaver in Jiangning. Great-grandmother Sun Shi was the nanny of Emperor Kangxi Michelle Ye. Grandfather Cao Yin worked as a squad leader and bodyguard in Michelle Ye, and later as a weaver in Jiangning, who also served as an inspector of salt affairs in two Huai provinces, winning the favor of Michelle Ye. Michelle Ye visited the south of the Yangtze River six times, was taken back four times, and lived in Cao's home. After Cao Yin's death, his sons Cao Qing and Cao Fuxian succeeded him as Jiangning Weaving. Their three generations and four grandchildren have held this position for 60 years. Cao Xueqin grew up in the "prosperous" life of this "romantic place of Qinhuai" since childhood. In the early years of Yongzheng, the Cao family suffered a series of blows because of the political struggle within the feudal ruling class. Cao Fu was dismissed on charges of "misconduct", "harassing the Post" and "deficit", and his property was confiscated. Cao Fu was imprisoned and punished, and the "cangue" lasted for more than a year. At this time, Cao Xueqin's family moved back to Beijing. Since then, the Cao family has been devastated and declining. After a major turning point in his life, Cao Xueqin felt that the world was cold and had a clearer and deeper understanding of feudal society. He despised powerful people, stayed away from officialdom and lived a poor and hard life. In his later years, Cao Xueqin moved to the western suburbs of Beijing. Life is even poorer, "covered in wormwood" and "porridge for the whole family". He devoted himself to the writing and revision of A Dream of Red Mansions.
In the twenty-eighth year of Qianlong (1763), Cao Xueqin's youngest son died prematurely, and he fell into excessive sadness and grief and was bedridden. On New Year's Eve of this year (1764 February 12), he finally died of poverty due to illness at the age of 50. Cao Xueqin is "fat, with a wide head and black color". He is arrogant, cynical and unrestrained. Alcoholic, talented and talkative. Cao Xueqin is a poet. His poems are novel in conception and close in style to Li He, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. His friend Duncheng once praised him and said, "Love your poem is wonderful, and you can catch up with the long valley broken fence fan." He added, "I know that your poems are as bold as iron and as cold as the Taoist camp." However, there are only two lines in his sincere poem Pipa Xing: "The White Fuji Mausoleum should be very happy and will teach barbarians to put on airs." Cao Xueqin is also a painter and likes to paint abrupt and steep stones. Dunmin's "Painting Stone in Qinyuan" said: "Proud as a strange monarch, more jagged. I was drunk and swept away like a pen, writing a piece of thunder in my chest. " It can be seen that when he painted stones, he put his chest on the grievances. Cao Xueqin's greatest contribution lies in his novel creation.
His novel A Dream of Red Mansions is rich in content, profound in thought and exquisite in art, which pushes China's classical novel creation to a peak and occupies a very important position in the history of world literature development. A Dream of Red Mansions is the product of his "reading for ten years, adding and deleting five times" and "every word is like blood, and ten years of hard work is extraordinary". He has written A Dream of Red Mansions 80 times, but it has not been handed down for various reasons. Gao E (or just the reviser) continued the book. [Edit this paragraph] Cao Xueqin's biography was born on April 26th in the second year of Yongzheng (Chen Jia 1724).
In the third year of Yongzheng (Yisi 1725), on April 26th, Mangzhong was one year old, so it was the symbol of his birth.
In the first year of Qianlong (Chen Bing 1736), Cao Xueqin was thirteen years old and it happened on April 26th.
In the second year of Qianlong (D 4 1737), in the first month, Kangxi City fell. Chen is the biological mother of Wang Yinxi in the county (the "old princess" in the book has passed away).
In the fifth year of Qianlong (Geng Shen 1740), Hongxi, the eldest son of Prince Kangxi Yinwa, sought to establish a court, and stabbed Qianlong in the back, but failed. Qin Xue's family was dragged down again, and it was stolen, so the family broke up. Xueqin is poor and wandering. He used to be an office boy in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the 19th year of Qianlong (Jiaxu 1754), the final version of Re-evaluating the Stone Story in Red Flame Zhai was copied (unfinished).
Twenty years after Qianlong (Yihai 1755), the story of the stone continues.
In the twenty-first year of Qianlong (Bingzi 1756), the fat batch before the seventy-fifth session recorded: "In the twenty-first year of Qianlong, Bingzi was cleared on the seventh day of May. Lack of Mid-Autumn Festival poetry, as soon as Xueqin. " It was for the progress of the manuscript at that time. Red inkstone was written by Tamanosuke.
In the 22nd year of Qianlong (Ding Chou 1757), my friend Duncheng wrote a poem in memory of Cao Xueqin. Looking back at the night talk of the right-wing religion, I advised not to be a rich foodie. "It is better to write a book in Huangye Village." At this point, Xueqin has arrived in Xishan and left a good family in Dunhuibo House (Shihu Hutong in Xicheng).
In the twenty-third year of Qianlong (Wuyin 1758), his friend Dunmin often recited Xueqin from Xia Cun poetry to Guiwei teenagers.
In the 24th year of Qianlong (Mao Yi 1759), there is a copy of the Mao Yi edition and The Story of the Stone, only the date of "Yan Zhi's comment on writing".
In the twenty-five years of Qianlong (Chen Geng 1760), there were Chen Geng Edition and Stone, both of which were read and commented by Zhifuzhai.
After twenty-six years of Qianlong (Xinsi 176 1), he returned to Jinling and Beijing. Every time in a friend's poem, he said that "the old dream of Qinhuai still exists" and "the dream of abolishing officials and returning to their hometown" implied the writing of A Dream of Red Mansions.
In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (Renwu 1762), Dunmin wrote "Drinking Songs with Sword", and Ji Xueqin visited * * * in late autumn. Fat man criticized "Double Ninth Festival at Noon" for saying that "it's very urgent to ask for books", and there was no comment after Double Ninth Festival. When there is a story.
Twenty-eight years of Qianlong (imperial concubine 1763), late spring and February. Dunmin Poetry invited Xueqin to get together in early March (for Duncheng's birthday). Not yet. In autumn, I got acne and became sentimental. Fat criticism: "... Qin cried to death before the book was finished;" I tried to cry Qin, but my tears stayed ... "I remembered that I died at noon on New Year's Eve. After examination, I knew it was a mistake on New Year's Eve and died at the age of 50.
In the twenty-ninth year of Qianlong (Shen Jia 1764), Duncheng wrote a poem at the beginning of the year: "Xiao Feng brushed yesterday and was quiet" and "forty years old and thin", all of which are historical evidences. (The two poems quoted by Zhou Lao are wrong. The original sentence should be: "forty is too thin, Xiaofeng was famous yesterday." )
The whole poem is as follows
Forty years old is too thin, Xiaofeng brushed the inscription yesterday. When I returned home, the orphan cried (a few months ago, Ziyi died, and Xueqin was sick because of sentimentality), and the tears became the voice of a widow. Ghosts and monsters mourn Li He, and Liu Ling is buried in a deer cart. If an old friend wants to have a life, where can he be called out and endowed with Chu Heng? The opening is still ice and snow, so the old friends are scattered like clouds. For the first time in three years, he took pity on me, and there was no doctor when he was ill. Talented people should hate, but Yang Shan's flute can't be smelled. Just when he was thin, Sue's cigarette fell to the ground on Maxizhou Road.