Rereading the Stone

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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In this episode, we finish our read-through of Baoyu’s seasonal poems, empathizing common themes and images. Meanwhile Baoyu has newly procured scandalous romantic literature and has snuck a few texts into the garden, including the famous Xixiang ji 西廂記 Romance of the Western Chamber. Join us for one of the most iconic moments of Dream of the Red Chamber, Baoyu and Daiyu comparing different methods for taking care of fallen flowers. What undercurrents can be traced? What explosions of love and life are here represented and sublimated?

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An imperial injunction — to enjoy? Baoyu and the young ladies of the compound receive orders from the Imperial Concubine Yuanchun to move into the garden and reside in its various small houses. Will a life lived aesthetically affect the soul? Baoyu during the late nights transcribes improvisational visions of his waking dream, each poem dedicated to a season of the passing year. 

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In this episode, we explore the enigmatic, prophetic riddles in the second half of Chapter 22 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone). What controversies exist due to there being divergent versions of the text? What branching fates and vicissitudinous fortunes are posited in these gloomy lines? And why is Jia Zheng especially affected by the riddles? Is a riddle likely to make a rectifier of rites uneasy, or is paradox a realm where those accustomed to judgment are apt to excel? 

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‘Can’t you be a bit quieter and attend to the play? This is Zhi-shen at the Monastery Gate we’re supposed to be listening to, not Jing-de Acts the Madman!’ Baoyu expresses in poetic verse, following a performance during Baochai’s birthday festivities, his thoughts on Buddhist enlightenment, but Daiyu and Baochai promptly burst his bubble. Are they actively discouraging him from indulging monastic fantasies?

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In our coverage of the second half of Chapter 21 of Dream of the Red Chamber, we focus on the infidelities of Jia Lian and the dynamics of his marriage with Xifeng. Observing a ritually-prescribed separation from Xifeng on account of his daughter’s recovery from smallpox, Jia Lian has the opportunity to bed another occupant of the Jia compound known for her promiscuity. Patience’s discovery of an artifact of this affair places her in a difficult situation, facing suspicions and aggression both from a mistress and her excitable husband. 

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Chapter 21’s quotidian garden affairs prompt a discussion of desire, identity, naming, and boundaries. Passive aggressive feuding between Baoyu and Xiren is displaced onto Baoyu’s interaction with other maids in the household; fed up with all these flagrantly fragrant designations, Baoyu on a whim re-renames a younger maid “Number 4.” His discontent is further expressed in impromptu Daoist, in particular Zhuangzian, poetic rumination, which we outline and begin to discuss.

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Enter the garden Shi Xiangyun, one of the most beloved characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. Meanwhile the status anxieties of Jia Huan and Aunt Zhao are explored, and Baoyu and Daiyu continue perfecting the art of verbal escalation and “maybe I should just die” provocation.

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Enter the garden Shi Xiangyun, one of the most beloved characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. Meanwhile Nanny Li exchanges bitter words with Aroma, Jia Huan lets reveal his resentment toward Baoyu, and Daiyu is jealous of Baoyu’s time with Baochai. In this idle transitional moment, partly enforced by cultural prohibitions on labor, the garden and its occupants appear as floating constellations in orbits complementary and otherwise.

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Baoyu, the idle subject, subjects Aroma to surprise visitation. Aroma engages Baoyu with artful artifice, as characters and readers alike question the fantasy and reality of these social roles and relations. Later on Baoyu visits Daiyu and has aromatic memories of the Land of Illusion. Plus, we break down the “Sweet Potato” story Baoyu improvises. 

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