Baoyu and Daiyu try to work through mutual misunderstanding, and matters of medicine reemerge. At Feng Ziying’s party, verses are improvised on the subject of female joys and sorrows, yet another poetic opportunity for red chamber dream projections.  

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In this episode we broach one of the most central questions of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 — why bury fallen flowers? Attempting to answer this question, we discuss cuckoos, mottled bamboo, the end of spring, cold pillows, inner chambers, and tears of blood. We also touch upon the relationship between interpretative spaces and values to live by.

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Baoyu seeks Daiyu, who is notably absent bemoaning the season. Baochai chases butterflies, and Crimson enumerates a bewildering array of ladies.

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A scion of great wealth demonstrates a dearth of erudition, while a legendary worrier transcends nature’s limits.

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Real affections between Crimson and Jia Yun are ornamented by dream and fantasy, while the Name of the Father is appropriated for idle pleasures.  Daiyu’s feelings of social exclusion are accentuated by the proximity of desire.

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Things get weird when Mother Ma throws down a surprisingly efficacious curse. Xifeng starts slaughtering miscellaneous animals, and Baoyu is consumed by suicidal ideation. We discuss the fortuitous, surprising reappearance of the Daoist priest and Buddhist monk, and Baoyu’s relationship to, and identity with, his magical, metafictional jade. 

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A time of danger, with molten wax and curses raining down on Baoyu! We discuss Aunt Zhao’s resentment, Mother Ma’s sesame oil subscription service, and the sublime, surprising role of the supernatural in this chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢.

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Our second twelve-chapter review episode, chapters 13-24. A great chance to review one's rereading, with some fresh takes thrown in for good measure. 

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We continue discussing Jia Yun’s perilous navigation of our constellation of stars, while Baoyu from an empty center thirsts for tea and attention.

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Let’s talk Jia Yun, a distant and poorer member of the extended Jia universe. How does this peripheral player navigate our constellation of stars? Would you take a loan from a drunken, violence-prone moneylender in order to bribe Wang Xifeng? Likewise, we observe the maids attending Baoyu viciously vying for the most favorable orbits. 

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