My Love for the Dream of the Red Chamber

     The beauty has departed, and Chen Xiaoxu's passing has cemented her place in the classic world of *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

    One was a celestial flower from a fairy garden, the other a flawless jade; in the poignant lyrics, Chen Xiaoxu's image always lingers. She is my eternal Lin Daiyu.

    *Dream of the Red Chamber* is a tragedy, an elegy for a large family, and also a tragedy of the love between Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu. What is tragedy? Lu Xun said, tragedy is the destruction of something beautiful. Comedies make you laugh and then you remember nothing. Tragedies, however, leave a deep impression.

    The first eighty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber* depict a scene of bustling prosperity, which makes the later sorrow all the more poignant. Who could have known that the Grand View Garden would later become overgrown with weeds? Who could have imagined that such a beautiful love story would end so tragically? The devoted Baoyu became a widow, and Lin Daiyu, the love of Baoyu's life, was ultimately buried in the cold moonlight. Only extreme joy can express extreme sorrow. This is the power of tragedy. *

    Dream of the Red Chamber*, *Dream of the Red Chamber*'s sentiment. The 1987 TV series *Dream of the Red Chamber* has become a classic in the eyes of the Chinese people. Chen Xiaoxu, with her portrayal of Lin Daiyu, lives forever in my heart.

    Some say that if Lin Daiyu hadn't died, she would have gone mad watching the Jia family crumble and be destroyed. Indeed, early death would have been a relief for her; she came into this world pure and returned pure, far removed from worldly turmoil. Death, in a way, is a kind of liberation.

    Chen Xiaoxu and the character she portrayed share a striking similarity: a pursuit of perfection, even in death, she couldn't bear the slightest imperfection. People say she had a problem; what difference would a physical disability make if it could be exchanged for life? But what do they know about Chen Xiaoxu, such a perfectionist? Her belief was: better to be shattered jade than whole tile.

    Perhaps in my eyes, Chen Xiaoxu is Lin Daiyu, and Lin Daiyu is Chen Xiaoxu. Chen Xiaoxu is forever Lin Daiyu. Perhaps since ancient times, heroes and beauties have never allowed anyone to see them grow old. They lived as brilliantly as summer flowers and died as serenely as autumn leaves.

    A hundred years of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, ten years of *Dream of the Red Chamber* sentiment. If we could travel a hundred years, how many more people would be captivated by *Dream of the Red Chamber*? To live a life without reading *Dream of the Red Chamber* is to have read all the classics in vain

    . In the Grand View Garden, that gentle and wealthy place, a land of bright flowers and willows, a group of young girls admired flowers, recited poems, and flew kites, carefree, enjoying the most beautiful time of their lives. Even the melancholic Lin Daiyu sometimes smiled. Her smile was so fleeting, yet it warmed the time she spent with Jia Baoyu. They read together, watched the snow together, and commemorated the deceased Qingwen together.

    I don't particularly like how the sequel damaged Lin Daiyu's image. Lin Daiyu was intelligent; how could she not see the ending for her and Jia Baoyu? How could she die unjustly like a fool? She was devoted to Jia Baoyu, but she was certainly not so foolish as to be unable to see the situation. What a mere Zijuan could see, Lin Daiyu certainly could too. She could die of despair, but she would never die from being fooled.

    Lin Daiyu's life can be described as a poem of burying flowers, where petals fall and fade, leaving only the sorrow of lost beauty. She came into this world pure and returned to it pure; to her, the mortal realm was nothing but a disturbance. Jia Baoyu was merely a glimpse before the Three-Life Stone; having repaid her debts of tears and gratitude, she would eventually return to her own world. The mortal realm was too filthy for her.

    If Lin Daiyu hadn't died, would *Dream of the Red Chamber* still be worth reading? The tragic love story of the two jades (Baochai and Baoyu) is also a roar of youth in that great era.

    Baochai was good, but unfortunately, she wasn't the one he loved. When the Grand View Garden was destroyed, Baoyu's love was destroyed. Besides becoming a monk, what other path could he take?

    His family was dead, his lover was dead; was he left alone to suffer in this mortal world? So he too left, leaving behind a vast, clean, white expanse.

    This is my understanding of *Dream of the Red Chamber*. It is also the sentiment I've cherished for ten years. I love *Dream of the Red Chamber*.