Cao Xueqin (Chinese: 曹雪芹; pinyin: Cáo Xuěqín) (? 1715 - c. 1763) is the author of famous Chinese work Dream of the Red Chamber. His given name was Cao Zhan (曹霑). Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... // Events July 24 - Spanish treasure fleet of ten ships under admiral Ubilla leave Havana, Cuba for Spain. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A Dream of the Red Chamber (Traditional Chinese: 紅樓夢; Simplified Chinese: 红楼梦; pinyin: hóng lóu mèng), also known as A Dream of Red Mansions, The Story of the Stone or Chronicles of the Stone (Chinese: 石頭記; pinyin: shí tóu jì) is one of the masterpieces of Chinese fiction and...

A Han Chinese clan assimilated into Manchurian ethnicity, Cao’s family had become so rich as to be able to play host four times to the Emperor Kangxi in his itinerant trips down south in Nanjing. For three generations the family held the office of Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Jiangning. In 1727 they suffered the first of a series of reversals to their fortunes that saw the family properties confiscated and the family moved to Beijing a year later. Han Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 汉族; Traditional Chinese: 漢族; Pinyin: hànzú) is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. ... Approximate extent Northeast China (Simplified Chinese: 东北; Traditional Chinese: 東北; pinyin: Dōngběi; literally east-north), historically known as Manchuria, is the name of a region (ca. ... This article needs cleanup, so as to conform to a higher standard. ... Nanjing (Chinese: 南京 [ ]; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin) , Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal System Pinyin) ) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Jiankang (建康城 in pinyin: Jiànkāng chéng), formerly known as Jianye (建業 Jiànyè) until Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 – 420), was an ancient city in China, located west of present-day Nanjing, in south Jiangning County (江寧縣 Jiāngníng Xiàn). ... Events 1727 to 1800 - Lt. ... Beijing (Chinese: ; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; ; IPA: ), a city in northern China (formerly spelled in English as Peking or Peiking), is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ...

Most of what we know about Cao was passed down from his contemporaries and friends. Cao himself eventually settled in Western Beijing where he lived through the larger part of his late years in poverty selling off his paintings. Friends and acquaintances reported an intelligent, highly talented man who spent a decade working diligently on a work that must have been Dream of the Red Chamber. Extant handwritten copies of this work—some 80 chapters—had been in circulation in Beijing shortly after Cao’s death before Chen Weiyuan and Gao E, who claimed to have access to the former’s working papers, published a complete 120-chapter version in 1791. The 120-chapter version is the most printed version. Beijing (Chinese: ; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; ; IPA: ), a city in northern China (formerly spelled in English as Peking or Peiking), is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... A Dream of the Red Chamber (Traditional Chinese: 紅樓夢; Simplified Chinese: 红楼梦; pinyin: hóng lóu mèng), also known as A Dream of Red Mansions, The Story of the Stone or Chronicles of the Stone (Chinese: 石頭記; pinyin: shí tóu jì) is one of the masterpieces of Chinese fiction and... Beijing (Chinese: ; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; ; IPA: ), a city in northern China (formerly spelled in English as Peking or Peiking), is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

See also

• Chinese literature
• List of Chinese authors

// Classical texts Main article: Chinese classic texts China has a wealth of classical literature, both poetry and prose, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 B.C.) and including the Classics attributed to Confucius. ... // Chronological list Antiquity, Qin, Han and pre-Tang dynasties 屈原 Qu Yuan (340 ? -278 ? BC) 宋玉 Song Yu (3rd century BC) 司馬遷 Sima Qian (145- ? BC) 司馬相如 Sima Xiangru (179-117 BC) 班固 Ban Gu (32-92) 張衡 Zhang Heng (78-139) 曹操 Cao Cao (155-220) 曹丕 Cao Pi (187-226) 曹植 Cao Zhi (192-232) 嵇康 Xi Kang...

External links

• Works by Cao Xueqin at Project Gutenberg