《A Dream of Red Mansions(共4册)》主要内容：This celebrated Chinese classic novel is a masterpiece of realism written in themiddle of the 18th century. Taking as its background the decline of several relatedbig families and drawing much from his own experiences, the author Can Xueqin(？-c.1763)focused on the tragic love between Jia Baoyou and Lin Daiyu and,inthe meantime, provided a panorama of the lives of people of various levels in thedegenerating empire. But he left the work unfinished (or the last 40 chapterswere lost). Gao E (c.1738-cA815) completed the work some years later in muchof Gao's spirit and also put in his own evelations, which aroused protractedcontroversy throughout the centuries. Exposing social evils, the book cries outits denunciation against the feudal system. All techniques of literal' merit developedin previous periods were incorporated into the great work with much originality. Itstands out in world literature, ranking with Hamlet and War and Peace. Illustratedwith woodblock prints.

曹雪芹,（？-1763，一作1764）清小说家。名霑，字梦阮，号雪芹、芹圃、芹溪。为满洲正白旗“包衣”人。自曾祖起，三代任江宁织造，其祖曹寅尤为康熙帝所信用。雍正初年，在统计阶级内部政治斗争牵连下，雪芹家受到重大打击，其父免职，产业被抄，遂随家迁居北京。他早年经历了一段封建大官僚地主家庭的繁华生活，后因家道衰落，趋于艰困。晚期居北京西郊，贫病而卒，年未及五十。性情高傲，嗜酒健谈。具有深厚的文化修养和卓越的艺术才能。他生活在我国已有资本主义生产萌芽的封建末世，在其后期又有机会接触到下层人民，因而对当时社会阶级斗争和思想斗争有较具体的感受，看到了统治阶级的腐朽凶残和内部的分崩离析。曾以十年时间，从事《石头记》（即《红楼梦》）的创作。书中通过一个贵族官僚大家庭的盛衰历史的描写，塑造了许多典型人物形象，对当时社会的黑暗腐败，进行了深刻的解剖和批判，并热情地歌颂了具有异端思想的男女青年，成为我国古典小说中伟大的现实主义作品。但其中也反映了作者为封建制度“补天”的幻想和找不到出路的悲观情绪。据称先后曾增删五次，但未成全书而卒；今流行本一百二十回，后四十回一般认为是高鹗所续。也能诗，又善画石，但作品流传绝少。