《A Dream of Red Mansions(共4冊)》主要內容：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）清小說傢。名霑，字夢阮，號雪芹、芹圃、芹溪。為滿洲正白旗“包衣”人。自曾祖起，三代任江寜織造，其祖曹寅尤為康熙帝所信用。雍正初年，在統計階級內部政治鬥爭牽連下，雪芹傢受到重大打擊，其父免職，産業被抄，遂隨傢遷居北京。他早年經曆瞭一段封建大官僚地主傢庭的繁華生活，後因傢道衰落，趨於艱睏。晚期居北京西郊，貧病而卒，年未及五十。性情高傲，嗜酒健談。具有深厚的文化修養和卓越的藝術纔能。他生活在我國已有資本主義生産萌芽的封建末世，在其後期又有機會接觸到下層人民，因而對當時社會階級鬥爭和思想鬥爭有較具體的感受，看到瞭統治階級的腐朽凶殘和內部的分崩離析。曾以十年時間，從事《石頭記》（即《紅樓夢》）的創作。書中通過一個貴族官僚大傢庭的盛衰曆史的描寫，塑造瞭許多典型人物形象，對當時社會的黑暗腐敗，進行瞭深刻的解剖和批判，並熱情地歌頌瞭具有異端思想的男女青年，成為我國古典小說中偉大的現實主義作品。但其中也反映瞭作者為封建製度“補天”的幻想和找不到齣路的悲觀情緒。據稱先後曾增刪五次，但未成全書而卒；今流行本一百二十迴，後四十迴一般認為是高鶚所續。也能詩，又善畫石，但作品流傳絕少。