Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Key to Recurring Characters
1. The Origin of the Stone and the Vicissitudes of Life
2. The Jia Family’s Fortune Coldly Appraised by an Antique Dealer
3. Dai-yu’s Arrival at the Jia Household
4. A Manslaughter Cover-Up and the Xue Family’s Arrival
5. The Girls’ Destinies Revealed to a Bewildered Bao-yu
6. Bao-yu’s First Sexual Experience; Grannie Liu’s First Visit to the Jias
7. The Perspectives of Two Old Servants; Bao-yu Is Smitten by a Bashful Boy
8. Bao-yu and Bao-chai Locked in Fate
9. A Schoolhouse Brawl
10. Qin-shi’s Illness Heads Off an Accusation Against Her Brother
11. Xi-feng Visits Qin-shi; Jia Rui Flirts with Xi-feng
12. Xi-feng Sets a Trap for the Amorous Jia Rui; Dai-yu Travels South to See Her Ailing Father
13. Qin-shi’s Warning and Her Lavish Funeral
14. Xi-feng Imposes Order on the Ning Household; the Funeral Procession Is Greeted by a Prince
15. Qin Zhong Fools Around with a Nun and with Bao-yu; Xi-feng Takes a Bribe
16. Yuan-chun’s Promotion at Court; Dai-yu’s Return and Qin Zhong’s Death
17. Bao-yu’s Poetic Skills Are Tested by His Father; the Household Prepares for the Visitation
18. The Imperial Concubine’s Visit to Prospect Garden
19. Bao-yu’s Grand Bargain with Aroma and His Growing Intimacy with Dai-yu
20. Bao-yu Tries Unsuccessfully to Please Everyone; Shi Xiang-yun’s Arrival Leads to a Declaration
21. Aroma Finds an Ally in Bao-chai; Patience Seizes Evidence of Jia Lian’s Misconduct
22. An Opera Piques Bao-yu’s Interest in Monkhood; Gloomy Riddles Distress His Father
23. Bao-yu Moves with the Girls Into Prospect Garden; the Lovers Bury Fallen Flowers
24. Two Ambitious Social Climbers: Jia Yun and Crimson
25. Jia Huan and Aunt Zhao Exact Their Revenge; the Monk and the Taoist Come to the Rescue
26. Crimson Sends Jia Yun a Message; Skybright Carelessly Shuts Out Dai-yu
27. Tan-chun Repudiates Her Mother; Dai-yu Ponders Her Fate Seen in Fallen Flowers
28. Bao-yu Gives Aroma’s Sash to Jiang Yu-han; Yuan-chun, in Her Gifts, Favors Bao-chai Over Dai-yu
29. Grandmother Jia Shows Her Compassionate Side; a Matchmaking Abbot Provokes a Lovers’ Rift
30. Bao-yu Is Chastened by Bao-chai for Being Rude; He Causes Golden to Be Dismissed
31. Bao-yu Lets Skybright Rip Up Two Fans for Fun; Shi Xiang-yun Finds the Kylin Meant for Her
32. Criticism of Dai-yu Prompts Bao-yu to Avow His Love; Golden Commits Suicide
33. Bao-yu Is Savagely Beaten by His Father Due to Jiang Yu-han’s Disappearance
34. Aroma Confides Her Worries to Lady Wang; Bao-yu Sends Dai-yu Two Used Handkerchiefs
35. Grandmother Jia Indicates Her Preference for Bao-chai; Bao-yu Makes Golden’s Sister Laugh
36. Aroma Receives an Informal Promotion; Bao-chai Hears Bao-yu Reveal He Prefers Dai-yu
37. The Founding of the Crab-Flower Club
38. A Crab-Eating Feast Is Hosted by Shi Xiang-yun
39. Li Wan Laments Her Lack of an Able Assistant; Grannie Liu Is Enlisted for Entertainment
40. Grannie Liu Is Given a Tour of Prospect Garden and Made the Butt of Practical Jokes
41. The Finicky Adamantina Serves Tea; Grannie Liu Passes Out on Bao-yu’s Bed
42. Grannie Liu Names Xi-feng’s Daughter Before Departing; Bao-chai Befriends Dai-yu
43. Xi-feng Squeezes Aunt Zhou and Aunt Zhao for Her Party; Bao-yu Makes an Offering to Golden
44. Xi-feng Catches Jia Lian with a Servant’s Wife; Patience Is Struck and a Woman Hangs Herself
45. The Steward’s Son Is Made a Magistrate; Bao-chai Supplies Dai-yu with Edible Bird’s Nest
46. Jia She Tries to Take Faithful as His Concubine
47. Grandmother Jia Gives Lady Xing a Scolding; Xue Pan Is Thrashed by Liu Xiang-lian
48. Jia Lian Is Beaten by His Father for Criticizing Him; Caltrop Becomes Obsessed with Poetry
49. The Arrival of Xue Bao-qin, Xue Ke, Xing Xiu-yan, and the Li Sisters
50. Grandmother Jia Invites Herself to a Merry Gathering in a Garden Blanketed by Snow
51. Aroma Makes a Trip Home in Style; Skybright Catches a Cold
52. Xue Bao-qin Recites a Poem by a Blonde Girl; an Ailing Skybright Mends a Cloak for Bao-yu
53. Solemn Ancestral Rites Are Performed on New Year’s Eve; the Festivities Last Half a Month
54. Grandmother Jia Holds Forth at Her Banquet
55. Tan-chun Takes Charge of the Household; Xi-feng Shares Her Views of the Cousins with Patience
56. The Girls Put the Garden to Work; Jia Bao-yu Learns That He Has a Double in Zhen Bao-yu
57. Nightingale Forces Bao-yu to Declare His Love for Dai-yu; Xing Xiu-yan Is Betrothed to Xue Ke
58. A Dowager Consort’s Death Disrupts the Jia Household; the Child Actresses Stay On as Maidservants
59. Conflicts Break Out Between the Ex-Actresses and Their Foster Mothers
60. The Ex-Actresses Gang Up to Assault Aunt Zhao; Parfumée Tries to Help Fivey Join Bao-yu’s Staff
61. Fivey Is Accused of Theft; Chess Tries to Replace Cook Liu with Her Own Aunt
62. A Garden Party Is Held to Celebrate Bao-yu, Xue Bao-qin, Xing Xiu-yan, and Patience’s Birthdays
63. The Party Continues Into the Night; Jia Rong, in Mourning, Flirts with the You Sisters
64. Dai-yu Writes About Beauties in History; Jia Lian Is Urged to Take Er-jie as His Second Wife
65. Jia Lian Secretly Installs You Er-jie in a Second Household; You San-jie Enthralls Cousin Zhen
66. You San-jie Kills Herself with a Sword; Liu Xiang-lian Goes Off with a Crippled Taoist
67. Bao-chai Gives Away the Presents from Her Brother; Xi-feng Discovers Jia Lian’s Second Marriage
68. Xi-feng Lures You Er-jie into the Rong Compound and Humiliates Jia Rong with a Bogus Lawsuit
69. Xi-feng, Feigning Kindness, Drives Er-jie to Her Death
70. The Cousins Release Their Kites; Bao-yu, Though Deeply Troubled, Catches Up on His Studies
71. Jia Zheng Comes Home for Grandmother Jia’s Birthday; Faithful Catches Chess in Flagrante
72. Jia Lian Is Driven to Pawning Grandmother Jia’s Valuables; Sunset Is Promised to a Wastrel
73. A Maidservant Shows Lady Xing a Piece of Erotica; Ying-chun Refuses to Discipline Her Staff
74. Lady Wang Turns Against Skybright; a Raid Is Conducted on Prospect Garden
75. The Zhen Clan of Nanking Is Disgraced; the Jia Men Take to Gambling
76. Grandmother Jia Resists Ending the Mid Autumn Party; Shi Xiang-yun Commiserates with Dai-yu
77. Chess and the Ex-Actresses Are Expelled; Bao-yu and Skybright Bid Their Final Farewell
78. Lady Wang Lies About Skybright; Bao-yu Writes an Elegy to the Hibiscus Spirit
79. Jia She Arranges a Hasty Marriage for Ying-chun; Xue Pan Weds a Conceited Girl
80. Xia Jin-gui Turns the Xue Family Upside Down; Ying-chun’s Husband Treats Her Like a Slave
81. Bao-yu Learns the Limits of the Matriarch’s Power; He Is Sent Back to the Clan School
82. Aroma Probes Dai-yu on Concubines; Dai-yu Coughs Up Blood on Waking from a Nightmare
83. The Matriarch Is Told of Dai-yu’s Condition; Yuan-chun’s Illness Alarms the Jia Elders
84. Jia Zheng Considers a Bride for Bao-yu; tthe Matriarch Is Pleased When Bao-chai Is Suggested
85. Bao-yu Is Kept in the Dark About His Betrothal; Jia Zheng Receives a Promotion
86. Xue Pan’s Murder Charge Is Reduced; Dai-yu Teaches Bao-yu About Music
87. Dai-yu Plays a Tune That Snaps Her Qin String; Adamantina Has a Horrific Dream Vision
88. Li Wan Is Consoled by Jia Lan’s Achievement; Zhou Rui Is Kicked and Jia Yun Is Humiliated
89. The Snapped String Unnerves Bao-yu; Hearing He Is Betrothed, Dai-yu Stops Eating
90. Hearing the Bride Is to Be a Cousin, Dai-yu Rallies; the Matriarch Bans Talk of the Betrothal
91. A Timetable Is Set for Bao-yu’s Wedding; Dai-yu and Bao-yu Communicate by Talking Zen
92. Bao-yu Discusses Noble Women with Qiao-Jie; Chess and Her Cousin Commit Double Suicide
93. Bao-yu Identifies with Jiang Yu-han; Jia Qin Is Caught Seducing the Young Novices
94. Crab-Flower Trees Bloom Out of Season; Bao-yu’s Jade Mysteriously Disappears
95. Yuan-chun Passes Away in the Palace; Bao-yu Turns Into a Simpleton
96. Wang Zi-teng Dies on His Way to the Capital; a Hasty Wedding Is Set Before Jia Zheng Departs
97. Bao-yu Is Tricked Into Marrying Bao-chai; Dai-yu Burns Her Poems and Dies
98. Bao-chai Tells Bao-yu That Dai-yu Is Dead; Bao-yu Improves After Mourning for Dai-yu
99. Bao-yu Is Reconciled to Accepting Bao-chai; Jia Zheng Turns a Blind Eye to Misdeeds
100. Tan-chun Is Betrothed to Be Married Afar; Efforts to Save Xue Pan Bankrupt His Family
101. Wang Zi-teng’s Debt Strains the Wang Clan; Anxious, Xi-feng Entrusts Qiao-jie to Patience
102. An Exorcism is Performed in the Garden; Jia Zheng Is Demoted for His Underlings’ Abuses
103. Xia Jin-gui Mistakenly Poisons Herself; Jia Yu-cun Happens on Zhen Shi-yin at a Derelict Temple
104. Jia Yun and Ni Er Vow Revenge on the Jias; Bao-yu Wants Nightingale to Know He Was Tricked
105. The Secret Police Conduct a Raid of the Jia Compound; Four Jia Men Are Arrested
106. Jia Zheng Realizes His Family Faces Financial Ruin; the Matriarch Begs Heaven to Punish Her
107. Jia She and Cousin Zhen Go Into Exile; Grandmother Jia Distributes Her Possessions
108. The Matriarch Hosts a Surprise Birthday Party; Bao-yu Wails for Dai-yu in the Desolate Garden
109. Bao-yu’s Attempt at Intimacy Is Rebuffed by Fivey; Guilt Stricken, He Makes It Up to Bao-chai
110. The Matriarch Dies with a Smile on Her Face; Lady Xing Makes Life Difficult for Xi-feng
111. A Ghost Shows Faithful How to Hang Herself; the Matriarch’s Apartment Is Looted
112. Adamantina Is Abducted by Pirates; Xi-chun Resolves to Become a Nun
113. Grannie Liu Playfully Offers to Be Qiao-jie’s Matchmaker; Nightingale Takes Pity on Bao-yu
114. Xi-feng Dies Babbling of the Register; Wang Ren and Qiao-jie Antagonize Each Other
115. Xi-chun Declares She Intends to Take the Vows; Bao-yu Relapses After Meeting His Look-Alike
116. Bao-yu Has a Second Dream of Revelations; His Father Takes the Coffins to the South for Burial
117. Bao-yu Reaches an Agreement with the Monk; Jia Lian Leaves Jia Qiang and Jia Yun in Charge
118. Qiao-jie Is Offered to a “Mongol” Prince; Bao-yu Studies to Discharge His Filial Obligations
119. Bao-yu Is Missing After the Examinations; the Emperor Declares a General Amnesty
120. Bao-yu Bids His Father Farewell and Vanishes in the Snow; Aroma Marries the Actor Jiang Yu-han
Selected Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Susan Chan Egan is an independent scholar. She is the author of A Latterday Confucian: Reminiscences of William Hung (1893–1980) (1987), coauthor of A Pragmatist and His Free Spirit: The Half-Century Romance of Hu Shi and Edith Clifford Williams (2009), and cotranslator of Wang Anyi’s The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai (Columbia, 2008), among other books.

Pai Hsien-yung (Bai Xianyong) is an acclaimed fiction writer and a professor emeritus of East Asian languages and cultural studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include Taipei People (1971) and Crystal Boys (1983). He has taught The Story of the Stone for decades and is the author of a popular three-volume guide in Chinese on which this book is based.

Reviews

Readers of Cao's novel will find the commentary invaluable because it allows them to join in the epic sweep of the Jia family as it navigates Chinese society in the 18th century. Highly recommended.
*Choice Reviews*

Brave readers embarking on The Story of the Stone—China’s grandest, most complex, and most inspiring work of literature—will be greatly assisted by this welcome guide, both for its admirably succinct summary of the novel’s plot and for its thought-provoking commentary, by lifelong Stone aficionados Susan Chan Egan and Kenneth Pai Hsien-yung.
*John Minford, translator of The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, volumes 4 and 5*

A Companion to The Story of the Stone ushers us into a world in which mythical fantasies engender realist indulgences and passionate romances induce philosophical awakenings. Historian Susan Egan Chan and writer Pai Hsien-yung have formed a dream team in producing a most succinct guidebook for anyone interested in a journey into classic China at its most mesmerizing.
*David Der-wei Wang, author of The Lyrical in Epic Time: Modern Chinese Intellectuals and Artists Through the 1949 Crisis*

Approachable and authoritative, Egan and Pai’s Companion will be welcomed by novices and connoisseurs alike. Far more than just a guide to plot and characters, the book offers a wealth of information on eighteenth-century Chinese society—everything from politics, history, and religion to medicine, sexuality, and theater—that greatly enriches any encounter with The Story of the Stone.
*Mark Elliott, author of Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World*

With chapter-by-chapter summaries and commentary, this book offers a useful and most needed English guide to The Story of the Stone, a mid-eighteenth century masterpiece that arguably remains the greatest novel ever produced in China.
*Wei Shang, author of Rulin Waishi and Cultural Transformation in Late Imperial China*

A Companion to The Story of the Stone is a field guide to support every reader, not just the uninitiated, through this long and fearsomely complex book. This guide is as necessary as Blamires’s The Bloomsday Book or Puette’s Guide to the Tale of Genji to bring China’s greatest novel into the mainstream of world literature.
*Dore J. Levy, author of Ideal and Actual in "The Story of the Stone"*

[A] Companion to the Story of the Stone, with its infectious enthusiasm for the story and its characters, is a welcome corrective for those of us who sometimes lose the forest for the trees. It is written for readers with no prior knowledge of Chinese culture or language, but even literary scholars and seasoned readers of Stone will find in it all kinds of interesting insights.
*Journal of the American Oriental Society*

The explanations of the material and social culture of premodern China and the slow and gentle pace with which Egan and Pai introduce literary and philosophical themes make Companion ideal for general readers who want to take on the project of reading The Story of the Stone in its entirety.
*Nan Nu*