Reading Notes W5: The Story of the Stone, Part B


Introduction: the creation of a magical stone that is quickly deemed unworthy/ reshaped into something of value by the Taoist and Buddhist monk. ( redemption) could the stone represent the author?

Vanitas the Taoist realizes the stone carries some consequence but is not sure that its worthy enough to be shared because it has no dynastic period/no social message/no valid accreditation.

The stone gives validation of why the story should be published, insisting that the events and characters in the story are of true account. This caused Vanitas to take another look and realized that the stone spoke of nothing but truth and ventured off to look for a publisher. (this could be how the manuscript of Cao Xueqin after his death was viewed and how it was finally published) 

The land of illusion – “Truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true; real becomes not-real where the unreal’s real (528).  (truth is something that is accepted by an individual/individuals than what really is).  The stone is unreal (magical) but the story itself is of true events.

Shiyin is an honorable man. He has the means to send Yucun to take the examination to the civil service and to make something of himself. He had the qualification, but not the means. Yucun is not only intelligent but confident.

Yucun learns of his ancestors, whom he does not associate with, undertakings.  Despite, their current hardships they refuse to live within their current means. They want to keep up appearances. Not to mention, they are not producing notable men to carry on the family’s affairs. The two living heirs of the Ning’s, Jia Zhen, who has turned from Confucianism to Taoism and has relinquished his responsibilities and his son who is wild and insubordinate. The Rong family, Jia She is small not fit to rule. Jia Zheng was capable, and more suitable to run the family, but emperor interfered in the opportunity to do so. At this point of the story, based off the introduction to the author, it appears that Cao Xueqin intertwines his own family history within the story.

The child born with the Coloured Jade is the Stone Jade from the inception of the story.  Having been created by a goddess, Baoyu exemplifies feminine characteristics which is father does not approve of.

Yucun goes into an intellectual rant of why Baoyu is the way he is and that he is misunderstood. He explains that goodness and corruptness is inherited.  He defends his thesis by listing the history of virtuous and corrupt figures in history (540).  

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