Studies of Hong Lou Meng online course

Studies of Hong Lou Meng online course

Date: 18th March to 24th June 2022 (14 sessions)

Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. every Friday

Venue: ZOOM 93828581369

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Duan Jiangli & Zhang Yun

Organizer:

1.The Department of Chinese Studies, UM

2.Hong Lou Meng Research Centre, UM

3.Persatuan Siswazah Jabatan Pengajian Tionghoa, UM

4.The Institute of Chinese Cultural Studies of Beijing Language and Culture University

Last year, the Traditional Chinese Fiction online course was well received by the public. This year, by popular demand, the very same parties organized another online course i.e. Studies of Hong Lou Meng. The course attracted 42 Hong Lou Meng’s lovers to register their name paid RM50 for the certificate, made the total number of participants 100. The first four lessons were conducted by Madam Zhang Yun, and the remaining 10 lessons by Professor Dr. Duan Jiangli

Mdm. Zhang Yun explained in detail the process of making the book as well as a comprehensive and objective summary of the lost manuscripts. Next, she described the textual features the book and summed up Cao Xueqin's six writing purposes and the corresponding six writing strategies.

Finally, Mdm. Zhang Yun introduced the research on the sequel and the last forty chapters in the Qing Dynasty. And concluded that it is a book that can never be continued.

The four lessons were rich in content, and the students benefited a lot. They thanked Mr. Zhang Yun for his teaching and deepened their understanding of "Dream of Red Mansions". They also hope to have the opportunity to meet with the teacher in the future.

The fifth lesson was conducted by Professor Duan Jiangli. She started with the versions of the book, and also provided some reading suggestions for the students.

Next, Prof. Duan listed the evidence of Cao Xueqin as the author,, examples of other suggestions, and the issue of Cao Xueqin's birth and death years. In these disputes about the author.

In last year's the Traditional Chinese Fiction online course, Prof. Duan has already described a brief history of redology. This year, again she introduced some notable redologists and their theories.

During the students' presentations, Prof. Duan detailed the narrative perspectives of Chinese and Western novels, citing vivid examples to illustrate each category. Later, the narrative art of "A Dream of Red Mansions" was introduced, allowing students to see the author's innovation and brilliance in narrative mode and techniques.

In terms of character analysis, Mr. Duan first interpreted Zhen Shiyin and Jia Yucun from multiple dimensions, such as their typical images, their conceptual carriers, and narratology theories. Then I selected the most realistic character in the book i.e. Wang Xifeng, to deeply analyze her image building from inside and outside the text,as a wife, a daughter-in-law, a mother and a housekeeper.