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In Chapter 47 of Hongloumeng (Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢, Story of the Stone 石頭記) Grandmother Jia dresses down Lady Xing for her egregious meddling, and Xianglian plans to avenge Xue Pan for his presumptuous advances. This is our 100th episode! An exciting milestone! Thanks everyone for joining us this far on this exciting literary journey. Support the show

The exciting conclusion to Yuanyang’s heroic proto-feminist refusal! Big scissors are wielded. The truth is revealed, and the stakes are nothing short of life, death, and hair most lustrous. Grandmother Jia reemerges to assert her juridical authority, and Faithful reaffirms her fidelity unto death. Support the show

Yuanyang 鴛鴦 (Faithful in the Hawkes translation) emerges as an iconic proto-feminist heroine! One of the most important and memorable subplots of Hongloumeng 紅樓夢 (Dream of the Red Chamber), Yuanyang’s refusal of Jia She’s marriage proposal. Is she “faithful,” and, if so, to what or whom? Support the show

It’s a poetry-pilled installment of Rereading the Stone! We compare Zhang Ruoxu’s 張若虛 (660 – ca. 720) “Spring River in the Flower Moon Night《春江花月夜》,” featuring a new draft translation, with Lin Daiyu’s 《秋窗風雨夕》, “Autumn Window: A Night of Wind and Rain” in David Hawke’s translation of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 (Story of the Stone.) Support the show

Xifeng (and her purse) is invited into the Crabflower Club. Meanwhile we review the family relations of lesser characters like Lai Da’s wife and discuss her “don’t spare the rod” 不打不成才 philosophy. Support the show

Xifeng is shaking with anger. Is there meaning in the madness? What are the real and imagined consequences of Jia Lian’s transgressions? We try to conceive a contemporary framework for interpreting a tumultuous series of events in Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢. Support the show

It’s Xifeng birthday, so everyone is having a good time, even if labor relations in the Jia household leave room for improvement. Support the show

It’s time for part 2 (earth 土) of Chapter 43 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng 紅樓夢), where Baoyu performs a non-performative ritual observance of the death of Golden. We discuss Baoyuean theories of language as use, while also discussing the poetry of Cao Zhi 曹植 (192 – 232), including one “cutting edge” translation. Support the show

This chapter (of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢) admits of dualities? So here in part 1 we cover the first half (gold 金), which involves some extensive bickering over money (including an eyebrow-raising subscription scheme to collect funds for Xifeng’s birthday…) Next episode will cover the second half of the chapter (earth 土).  Support the show

Daiyu and Baochai exchange literary intimacies, and meta-literary musings! Is reading bad, actually? Or, is it Baochai who is kind of a fascist? Would Baochai reframe from reading her own book? Or is it Daiyu who should be “called out” for her classist joke? “Grannie Liu, more like Grannie Locust?, amirite?” 他是那一門子的姥姥？直叫他是個『母蝗蟲』就是了！ -Daiyu Support the show

Suppose your child were born on the seventh day of the seventh month, what would you do? If you saw an immortal soul falling into the well of mortal existence, would you intervene and save them? Suppose you were facing a lifetime of strangely illiquid “tear debt,” would you seek solace in historical novels and plays that serve no clear moral or dogmatic purpose? These and other questions are all addressed in this installment of Rereading the Stone, a podcast dedicated to historical Chinese literature, poetry, and philosophy.  Support the show

One of our favorite sections of the text — Grannie Liu takes Baoyu’s bed for a spin, dreaming her own dream of red chambers! A full sensory experience, we compare it to Bayou’s dream from Qin Keqing’s bed. Support the show

Granny Liu’s choice of cups (wood is good!) figures prominently in this installment. A wide-ranging discussion of social class and constructed value, as the real and unreal reveal themselves to be deeply interwoven. Support the show

This part of chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng) is a lot of poetic fun, but is it purely fun and games? What kind of symbolism and foreshadowing lie within, and will illicit references catch the censor’s gaze? How will Baochai escape the dialectical logic of “takes one to know one”? Is gaming a kind of waking dream? What kind of displacements might be occurring? All these questions, and more, are addressed in this installment* of Rereading the Stone. Support the show

More excellent Granny Liu content, as we travel deeper into the garden, soon by means of pleasure craft, with Xifeng at the helm. When withered lotus petals are observed on the surface of the water, Daiyu famously discusses the poetry of Tang poet Li Shangyin. Support the show