Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber By Liu Zaifu

Introductory Notes

1.

When I left Beijing on a misty morning more than ten years ago, I hurriedly grabbed two favorite books and put them in my bag. One of them was Dream of the Red Chamber and the other was Poems of Sanyisheng by Nie Gannu.

I have been wandering around the world carrying Dream of the Red Chamber with me. With Dream of the Red Chamber nearby, my old country stays with me, the most innocent, most beautiful boys and girls such as Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu stay with me, and the laughter and tears of my fellow compatriots stay with me. On my journey people often ask me: “Where is your homeland?” I take Dream of the Red Chamber out of the bag and reply: “My homeland is in my bag.”

2.

“Homeland” is sometimes very small and sometimes very big. Faulkner is right to say that homeland has the size of a postage stamp. Camus is also right to say that homeland is as vast as an ocean.