Hónglóu Fùmèng 紅樓複夢
Resuming the Dream of the Red Chamber by 陳少海
About the work
Hónglóu Fùmèng 紅樓複夢 is a 100-chapter Qīng-dynasty sequel novel (xùshū 續書) continuing the story of Hónglóu Mèng 紅樓夢 KR4k0131. It was composed by Chén Shǎohǎi 陳少海 (pen name Hónglóu Fùmèng Rén 紅樓複夢人) and dated in the author’s own preface to the Jiājìng 4th year (己未 / 1799), composed at the Rónggzhú Shānfáng 蓉竹山房 in Chūnzhōu (Canton region). A preface by Wǔlíng Nǚshǐ Yuèwén 武陵女史月文 (Chén Shīwén 陳詩雯) dated the same year 1799, and a further preface by “Hóngqiāng” 紅羽 (the author’s brother), are included in the text.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
Chén Shǎohǎi 陳少海 was apparently a native of Guǎngdōng (the preface places him at a “Chūnzhōu” retreat). His preface, dated the ninth month of Jiājìng 己未 (autumn 1799), explicitly positions the work as a “resumed dream” (fùmèng 複夢) in the sense that it continues the spiritual and emotional arc of Cáo Xuěqín’s 曹雪芹 original. The author argues by analogy with Confucius’s dream of the Duke of Zhōu that great dreams can indeed be continued: “余感其夢之可人，又複而成其一夢” (I was so moved by the dream as to continue it with another dream of my own). He is careful to distance the work from the erotic clichés of popular fiction, promising in his fánlì 凡例 (reader’s guide) that the book contains no scenes of illicit love, secret correspondence between lovers, or other “vulgar and intolerable” (èsú bùkān 惡俗不堪) conventions of the genre.
The fùmèng narrative brings back the characters of the Jiǎ household, reuniting them in a spirit of chéngquàn bàoyìng 懲勸報應 (moral retribution and reward) consonant with the Confucian ethical framework the author emphasizes. The table of contents in the Kanripo text shows 100 chapters organized in multiple parts (bù 部), concluding with “五枝花同歸榮國府 十二釵重會大觀園” (the twelve beauties reconvene at the Grand View Garden). The preface by the author’s acquaintance praises the fùmèng as surpassing the original in its sustained narrative craft.
The work is dated by the author’s own preface to Jiājìng 4 / 1799; notBefore and notAfter are therefore both set to 1799. No CBDB entry for Chén Shǎohǎi 陳少海 has been located.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- Wikipedia: Honglou fumeng (general article on Honglou meng sequels)