Dream of the Red Chamber Dream of the Red Chamber (simplified Chinese: 红楼梦; traditional Chinese: 紅樓夢; pinyin: Hóng Lóu Mèng; Wade–Giles: Hung Lou Meng), composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was written in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese literature and is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of Chinese fiction. "Redology" is the field of study devoted exclusively to this work.[1] 红楼梦 《红楼梦》，中国古代四大名著之一，章回体长篇小说，成书于1784年(清乾隆四十九年)，梦觉主人序本正式题为《红楼梦》。其原名有《石头记》、《情僧录》、《风月宝鉴》、《金陵十二钗》等。前80回曹雪芹著，后40回高鹗续(一说是无名氏续)，程伟元、高鹗整理。本书是一部具有高度思想性和高度艺术性的伟大作品，作者具有初步的民主主义思想，他对现实社会、宫廷、官场的黑暗，封建贵族阶级及其家族的腐朽，对封建的科举、婚姻、奴婢、等级制度及社会统治思想等都进行了深刻的批判，并且提出了朦胧的带有初步民主主义性质的理想和主张。
