The Dream of the Red Chamber is a long Chinese novel set among the Jia family, a large and prosperous clan living in two grand adjoining mansions in the capital. At its centre is Jia Baoyu, a sensitive young heir, and his close bonds with his delicate cousin Lin Daiyu and the poised, sensible Xue Baochai. Around them move hundreds of relatives, servants, and visitors, whose daily lives are filled with banquets, poetry gatherings, festivals, quarrels, and quiet kindnesses.
The book is a love story, a family chronicle, and a portrait of a whole society, shown in rich and affectionate detail. Beneath its beauty runs a sense that worldly splendour is fragile and passing. It is widely loved as the supreme novel of Chinese literature, and an entire field of study, known as Redology, is devoted to it.