Cao Xueqin (1715.6.4 - 1764.2.1)

On February 1, 1764, Cao Xueqin passed away.

Cao Xueqin, the author of "A Dream of Red Mansions", is widely regarded as one of the greatest Chinese writers in the world. Unfortunately, he was lonely and unknown for a considerable period of time before and after his death. There is no biographical material left, so today only sporadic fragments of his life are known.

Cao Xueqin's ancestors were Han Chinese, but a long time ago, he joined the flag of Manchuria and became the royal "coat" (slave) of the Aixinjue Luo family. After entering the customs with the Qing people, he gradually promoted to the official of the royal crony. Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather, Cao Xi's wife, was the nanny of Emperor Kangxi. After Kangxi ascended the throne, Cao Xi served as a weaver in Jiangning (specializing in things for the royal family) until his death. Kangxi also ordered his son Cao Yin (Cao Xueqin's grandfather) to weave in Suzhou, and later succeeded Jiangning in weaving. Cao Yin was a companion to Kangxi when he was young. He was not only a servant of Kangxi, but also a friend, and won the trust of Kangxi. Cao Yin was extremely prominent. Kangxi made six southern tours and used the Cao family as his palace four times. At this time, the Cao family developed to its peak. It is precisely because of the close relationship between the ancestors of the Cao family and the political economy of the Qing Dynasty, as well as the deep family history in literature, that these have deeply influenced and edified Cao Xueqin, providing conditions for his creation of A Dream of Red Mansions.

Cao Xueqin was born on the eve of the decline of the Cao family. In his youth, Emperor Yongzheng, who inherited the Kangxi throne, dismissed Cao Zhao, the fourth weaving agent of the Cao family, from Jiangning, and sent him back to Beijing. During the Qianlong period, the Cao family may have suffered from natural and man-made disasters, completely ending Cao Xueqin's carefree life as a noble son. Cao Xueqin's unusual experience had an important impact on his creation of "Dream of the Red Chamber". Therefore, he cast the description of the noble lives of Rong and Ning in the profound artistic image creation of "Dream of the Red Chamber".

In her down-and-down life, Cao Xueqin has always stubbornly persisted in writing "Dream of the Red Chamber". What has become a pity for the ages is that Cao Xueqin was prematurely deprived of his talented life by poverty and failed to complete his painstaking masterpiece. Cao Xueqin died in his forties, leaving behind a newly married wife and several bundles of manuscripts. Even the burial expenses were funded by several of his friends. However, the "Dream of the Red Chamber" he created was published thirty years after his death, typography came out and became popular across the country.

Portrait of Cao Xueqin

Reference: The official website of the Four Famous Books http://www.sdmz.net