Hung Lou Meng; or the Dream of the Red Chamber (Complete)

The novel's tone is both metaphysical and realistic, and was constructed in a way that reality and illusion are often hinted side by side and difficult to differentiate. It has been hailed as one of the most complex and psychologically penetrating works in all of world literature. The novel also provides great insight in its depiction of the Chinese culture of the time, including description of the era's "manners, expectations, and consequences." Many aspects of Chinese culture, such as medicine, cuisine, tea culture, proverbs, mythology, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, filial piety, opera, music, painting, classic literature, the Four Books, are vividly portrayed. Among these, the novel is particularly notable for its grand use of poetry. Two major themes that are prevalent throughout the novel are the nature of "reality" and of the "truth."