This chapter (of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢) admits of dualities? So here in part 1 we cover the first half (gold 金), which involves some extensive bickering over money (including an eyebrow-raising subscription scheme to collect funds for Xifeng’s birthday…) Next episode will cover the second half of the chapter (earth 土).

Support the show

Daiyu and Baochai exchange literary intimacies, and meta-literary musings! Is reading bad, actually? Or, is it Baochai who is kind of a fascist? Would Baochai reframe from reading her own book? Or is it Daiyu who should be “called out” for her classist joke? “Grannie Liu, more like Grannie Locust?, amirite?” 他是那一門子的姥姥？直叫他是個『母蝗蟲』就是了！ -Daiyu

Support the show

Suppose your child were born on the seventh day of the seventh month, what would you do? If you saw an immortal soul falling into the well of mortal existence, would you intervene and save them? Suppose you were facing a lifetime of strangely illiquid “tear debt,” would you seek solace in historical novels and plays that serve no clear moral or dogmatic purpose? These and other questions are all addressed in this installment of Rereading the Stone, a podcast dedicated to historical Chinese literature, poetry, and philosophy.

Support the show