The scene that I’d particularly like to discuss is the one pertaining to marriage. I found it to be quite amusing how the old lady firmly believed that marriage should be arranged by parents. In fact, some cultures continue to believe that to this day. Overall, this scene shows how a feudal system can be detrimental to life, which in turn creates a huge obstacle between two people whom genuinely love each other and desire to get married. Evidently, without a doubt, just as most forbidden love stories, a tragedy occurs. How would you react if something of this nature happened to you?

Through this portion of the reading, there is an emphasis on power and on how living up to expect ions is the route to take. It is clear that freedom wasn’t granted because the “authoritative figures” of these families seemed to live by a “my way or the highway” motto. I understand that rules have been established to keep some kind of order, but if we were all to live this way, with fear of doing things our own way and limit ourselves strictly to what our families think is the “right” way, life would be boring. The beauty in life is freedom. We are able to explore our own desires and create the story that we want to create, instead of a living through the predetermined one that was created by our elders.

The most intriguing part of The Story of The Stone is the envisioned entrance to the mortal world. The monk and the Taoist approached a gateway to the mortal world with the inscription “The Land of Illusion” that implies our mortal world is not the reality we percieve it to be. Although this is not a new idea we are introduced to, I still find it quite captivating. The monk and Taoist somehow managed to escape the world of illusion, I assume this is because of the nature of the Bhuddist faith; that those who are very close to their religion won’t be subjected to the tortures of mortal life. What I can’t seem to decipher though is the other inscription on the archway; “Truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true; real become not-real where the unreal’s real.” Why the use of different words for truth (truth/real) and deception (fiction/not-real/unreal)? Was it simply to keep the reader captivated by its mysticism? Or is there a seperate meaning for each of these phrases that is less obvious than what we take it as at face value?

If our world is made up entirely of illusions what is the purpose of continuing our existence? To seek the truth, to find enlightenment, could these goals really make it worthwhile to exist in a world full of falsehoods and deception? It seems quite humanitarian to want to seek out the truth behind all the falsehoods of humanity. Enlightenment for oneself can only benefit all those around you, since you will be able to remove the veil of deception from their eyes and help them on their own way to finding truth. The message I get from this story is one that still resonates today, and has resonated through most of the readings we have done in class so far. This is the message that one needs to take matters into their own hands because the ruling forces in our world are corrupt and decieving.

When people talk about Chinese literature, do not mention The story of the Stone is impossible. The influence of the novel is so great that many specialists spend their whole life on this book. I first read this book in Chinese when I was sixteen years old. The author lived in Qing dynasty, so the language of this book is ancient Chinese. Ancient Chinese has some difference with the Chinese which we speak right now. It is much harder to translate into another language. The language gap of translation cannot be avoided, but the story is still wonderful.

The story is about a big family Jia. It also includes love stories and reflects the social problem of the dynasty. In Chapter 1, the author introduced the origin of the stone. The stone was used by the goddess Nu-wa to repair the sky. Why did the author use the traditional Chinese folk tale to be the background of the story? Many specialists believe that the author was not satisfied with the society and hope the society can be fixed just like Nu-wa repaired the sky. Readers have their own understanding on the work. Furthermore, many people find that every time you read the story you can create new understanding of the novel. This is the reason why so many specialists spend their whole life on reading and studying this work. I believe the lecture of the work will be interesting because we can share different understanding of the novel. It may be hard to understand the traditional Chinese culture in the novel. So I attached the TV series of the novel, I hope you will enjoy it.

New link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hib6pl9sLgI&list=PL492F687D0FC34E90

      Caoxueqin’s “the story of stone” is one of the greatest long novel in China. It shows us exactly the best and worst of traditional China. I am interested in this novel because it begins with the mythology that shows me the magical stone was left by goodness Nv Wa when she repaired the damage of sky. The stone transported into mortal world as Jiabaoyu, in Jia household and began his flexural life.

       This novel consist different kinds of characters and represents their tragic love. For example, the relationship between the stone and Crimson Pearl Flower imply the love between main characters, Baoyu and his cousin Lindaiyu. Although Jiabayou and Lindaiyu loved each other very much, they were not accepted to get marriage in the cruel feudal society. Jiabaoyu was forced to marry Baochai because older members in the family thought baoyu’s jade matched baochai’s gold locket. Baoyu and Daiyu are tragic characters in the end of the story. This novel talk about other people‘s love such tangchun, yingchun and third sister you, who contributed her life for her love. I feel the different taste of love in the large family and feel their courage to love. They did not care about the level, money and power when they fell in love. For example Shiqi, Yinchun’s maid, and Panyou loved each other and tried their best to get together.

     People in Jia household always tried their best to love each other without caring the level and power. I feel that people right now care too much on power and money in their marriage. Some girls mention that they will not marry to their mate if they do not have own house and car. Although substances are very important in the marriage, they are not the key for two people to marry. I cannot imagine that couple only care about money and do not love each other. We should learn from these characters in “the story of stone” that we should know contribute to our love, not always get things from it.