Rereading the Stone
Rereading the Stone is a weekly discussion of historical Chinese literature, philosophy, and poetry, currently focusing on the Qing dynastic Classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng 紅樓夢) also known as Story of the Stone (Shitou ji 石頭記).
Ep. 84: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Chapter 39 part 2
In this episode, we puzzle over Grannie Liu’s arithmetic while questioning how age and social class more broadly inform her interactions with Grandmother Jia. A continuation of our discussion of chapter 39 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone), a classic work of historical Chinese literature.
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Support the showEp. 83: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 chapter 39 part 1/2
We treat the first part of Chapter 39 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng), as Li Wan and friends wax philosophical on the importance of having good servants to dissipate loneliness... our discussion turns toward issues of social value, and the paradoxes of hierarchy and intimacy.
Ep. 82: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Chapter 38 part 4
The end (or is it beginning?) of our Chapter 38 review! (This was originally intended to be the first episode we’d release, but it was the last to be recorded, and we forgot to rearrange them.) The final part of our foray into this dense and rich chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone).
Episode 81: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Chapter 38 part 3
The Chapter 38 poetry review continues! No poetic stone left unturned!
Ep. 80: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Chapter 38 part 2
The Chapter 38 poetry review of Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber, Story of the Stone) continues!
Note: as indicated in the episode, some “creative” post-production editing was performed in order to improve upon and to correct elements of our original commentary.
Also note: The Greek painter whose name escapes Kevin in the episode is Parrhasius!
Final note: The Leonard Cohen song briefly in question is "Tower of Song."
Episode 79: Rereading Hong lou meng Chapter 紅樓夢 Chapter 38 part 1
After a brief but productive hiatus, in which considerable Hong lou meng’ing was happening “behind the scenes,” Rereading returns, with a poetry-pilled perusal of Chapter 38! This is the first part of our exploration of this chapter.
Ep 78: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 chapter 37 part 2/2
New poetry club “The Crab-flower Club” 海棠社 just dropped, and Daiyu is sweeping up sunsets. Meanwhile Baoyu can’t seem to keep on-prompt…
Ep. 77: Hong lou meng chapter 37 part 1/2
“Why should the founding of poetry clubs be the sole prerogative of the whiskered male, and female versificators allowed a voice in the tunable concert of the muses only when some enlightened patriarch sees fit to invite them? Will you come, then, and rhyme with us?”
New poetry club “The Crab-flower Club” 海棠社 just dropped!
The latest installation of our exploration of Dream of the Red Chamber ( Hongloumeng, 紅樓夢, 红楼梦).
Ep. 76: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 36 part 2/2
Baoyu expounds upon one of his favorite topics, his notion of the ideal death, linking it to idle visions shared by his soulmate. He then goes off in search of a song, only to find the baleful laments of a caged bird in a hall of mirrors.
Ep. 75: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 36 part 1/2
Time to choose: do you believe in the marriage of gold and jade, or do you believe in the marriage of stone and flower? Check out part 1 of our discussion of chapter 36 of Dream of the Red Chamber, or The Story of the Stone.