This part of chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng) is a lot of poetic fun, but is it purely fun and games? What kind of symbolism and foreshadowing lie within, and will illicit references catch the censor’s gaze? How will Baochai escape the dialectical logic of “takes one to know one”? Is gaming a kind of waking dream? What kind of displacements might be occurring? All these questions, and more, are addressed in this installment* of Rereading the Stone.

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More excellent Granny Liu content, as we travel deeper into the garden, soon by means of pleasure craft, with Xifeng at the helm. When withered lotus petals are observed on the surface of the water, Daiyu famously discusses the poetry of Tang poet Li Shangyin.

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It's Chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng), and we're accompanying Grannie Liu on her tour of Prospect Garden. In what ways is the garden reflective of, and in dialogue with, Grannie’s Liu’s dreams and desires? What does Grannie Liu accurately perceive on her tour, and where does she project? And what about the “country bumpkin” role that Grannie Liu is compelled to occupy? Is there any method to the maddening interplay of truth and fiction in the garden?

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