China's Great Classical Novels 1

Dream of the Red Chamber (---), also known as Story of the Stone (---), written in the mid-18th century by the Qing Dynasty (--) writer Cao Xueqin (---), is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature (----). The novel, essentially an art fiction, narrates the rise and fall of the four big families Jia (-), Shi (-), Wang (-) and Xue (-). In the background, the novel portrays love triangle of the wealthy son Jia Baoyu (---) with his female cousin Lin Daiyu (---) and wife Xue Baochai (---). The romance and love tragedy between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu forms one of the main threads of the book. The novel is often regarded as the greatest novels of Chinese literature. In fact, "Redology" is the term used to describe studies devoted to this novel. As such, understanding this masterpiece is indispensable for learning Chinese language and culture.
The book has 23 chapters, including:Chapter 1: Daiyu's First Visit to Jiafu (---: ---------)Chapter 2: Xue Pan's Abuse and Impunity (---: ---------)Chapter 3: Baoyu and Daiyu (---: -------- ---------)Chapter 4: Qin Keqing's Poor Health (---: ------- -----)Chapter 5: Lin Ruhai and Daiyu (---: --------- -----------)Chapter 6: Qin Zhong's Death (---: ---- ----)Chapter 7: Bao Dai's Love (---: ------ --------)Chapter 8: Angry Baoyu (---: --------- ----)Chapter 9: Punishing Baoyu (---: ----)Chapter 10: Poetry Club (---: ---- ------)Chapter 11: Grandma Liu (----: -------- ----)Chapter 12: Memorial Ceremony (----: ------- ------)Chapter 13: Yuanyang Refuses to Marry (----: ------ ----)Chapter 14: Writing Poetry (----: ----- -------) The current book volume, China's Great Classical Novels 1, is a Level 6 Chinese reading practice book. It would introduce you to the famous Chinese story of the Dream of the Red Chamber/Mansion. The 1st volume in the Classical Novels of Chinese Literature (------) series includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin Romanization. With about over 1300 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 3-6). Overall, the reading series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3/4/5/6) to understand China as well as practice Chinese reading fast.