Rereading the Stone
Rereading the Stone is a weekly discussion of historical Chinese literature, philosophy, and poetry, currently focusing on the Qing dynastic Classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng 紅樓夢) also known as Story of the Stone (Shitou ji 石頭記).
Rereading the Stone
Ep 1: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Chapter 1, part 1
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Kevin Wilson, William Jones
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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In this very first pilot episode, Kevin Wilson and William Jones give a general introduction to Qing dynastic history and the famous Chinese author Cao Xueqin (1715 or 1724 – 1763 or 1764) before delving into the first part of Chapter 1 of this world-famous novel. Topics discussed include Chinese mythology, the Chinese language and naming systems, Chinese characters and their semantics, parallels between Hong lou meng and Xi you ji (a.k.a., Journey to the West), Buddhist thinking and its influence on this novel, and much more.