Man pieces together true 'Red Chamber'
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 2, 2013
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Tang Guoming, 40, has pieced together what he believes to be the true edition of the 18th century classic novel - "Dream of the Red Chamber." [China.org.cn] |
A man, living on the slope of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, Hunan Province, has pieced together what he believes to be the true edition of the 18th century classic novel - "Dream of the Red Chamber."
Tang Guoming, 40, has no money, does not own a house and has no girlfriend. He has hidden himself away from the outside world in a small rented room on the mountain slope. Rather than trying to find a well-paid job, he has dedicated himself to writing for the past 11 year, since his college graduation.
"What I have done is not to write a sequel to the 'Dream of the Red Chamber,'" Tang said, " I have pieced together the true version from fragments."
"Dream of the Red Chamber," also known as the " Story of the Stone, " is one of China's Four Great Classic Novels. It was written in the middle of the 18th century, during the Qing Dynasty. Since the novel circulated in manuscript copies, its authorship has always been under question.
After years of research by "redologists" -- the experts who study "Red Chamber" -- the first 80 chapters were believed to be written by Cao Xueqin while Gao E, who put together the first and second printed editions with his partner Cheng Weiyuan, added 40 additional chapters to complete the novel.
" I have repeatedly read the 120-chapter 'Red Chamber' since I was14, and I feel that the last 40 chapters are less tight than the previous 80, " Tang said, , "but I don't believe that none of it was written by Cao Xueqin."
"What I'm trying to do, is like squeezing a sponge; I will take the redundant pieces out. It is like restoring a broken antique vase, I have to piece the last half of it together from debris."
"I'm trying to find out what parts of the last 40 chapters were really written by Cao and piece them together, because I believe that Cao's writing is scattered among the text of the last 40 chapters. I know his writing style. Based on my research, I think that the novel should only have 100 chapters."
Despite his literary achievement, Tang lives a life of poverty. After his story was reported by the media, he said he refused all offers from institutions and other people.
"I'm a writer, I have to maintain my independence and dignity," he said, adding he wrote for magazines to earn his living.
"Piecing together 'Red Chamber' is not my major work, I spent 2010 to 2012 working on it, after my friends encouraged me to do it."
His work was published on Fuyu Magazine in Hangzhou this year, while the Chinese newspaper International Daily News published in the United States is also serializing his "Red Chamber."
But Tang said his real achievement is a novel he has just finished. The novel is a total of 800,000 words. It is called " No Hometown".
"A great writer can only write one great work during his lifetime," he said, "This is it. This novel is all that I am."
Although his novel has yet to be published, several publishers have already approached him, and he continues to write.
Wang Guohua, a student of Zhou Ruchang, one of the most renowned redologists of the 20th century, said of Tang's work, "In terms of style, Tang's work is amazing. It's even better than what ['Red Chamber' scholar] Liu Xinwu did with the novel. If Tang eventually publishes his 100-chapter 'Red Chamber,' then I believe that it will go down in history."
This may be the greatest compliment that Tang has received so far. He said that he sometimes suffers from his life decision, but he does not regret it, "in the hardest period, I lived on only 3.5 yuan (US$0.57) a day. But I got through it. I am delighted that my family understands and supports me now. "
Tang says that he was once unable to tell his family what he was doing.
"I may have been just a nobody or just a farmer in the fields if I had not dared to dream and keep on going. I trust in myself and there's no turning back."
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