Why did Cao Xueqin write "Dream of the Red Chamber" and why did she "approve it for ten years, adding and deleting it five times"

In 1621, Nurhaci captured Shenyang, and the Ming army lost as many as 70,000 people in this battle, of course, not all of them were killed, and some people chose to surrender.

Among those who surrendered was a man named Cao Xiyuan. Cao Xi was far from an ordinary soldier but a general, and he was a shogun family. According to legend, his ancestor was Cao Bin, the founding father of the Song Dynasty, but relevant experts have verified that the Cao family at most traced back to the Huaiyuan general Cao Jun in the early Ming Dynasty. Since Cao Jun, the Cao family has been stationed in Liaodong as a hereditary military post.

After Cao Xiyuan surrendered, he "disappeared", and his son Cao Zhenyan quickly stood out because he had a general's family and knew how to read red-clad cannons. At that time, the female real captives were generally assigned to each flag as a coat. Cao Zhenyan's family was assigned to the Zhengbai Banner, which at that time had the final say in the familiar Dolgun.

Friends familiar with history know that the female zhen can enter the Central Plains, dorgon's credit is great, and later even rumors spread that empress dowager Xiaozhuang married Dorgon, and Dorgon did not have the legend of hard grabbing the throne. Cao Zhenyan, as a subordinate of Dorgon, was naturally mixed up. By the time Dorgon, the great patron, died, Cao Zhenyan had already become a high-ranking official from Sanpin.

What really made the Cao family go to glory was that after the death of Dolgun, the zhengbai banner, like the two yellow flags, became the direct administration of the emperor, and the Cao family began to approach the imperial power. Cao Zhenyan's next generation was cao eryu, and his wife Sun Shi was the nanny of the Kangxi Emperor, because Kangxi wrote ligatures, and Cao Eryu later changed his name to Cao Xi.

Because Cao Xi was "his own person" and very capable, after the Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne, he gave him Jiangning weaving this fat gap. Of course, Kangxi did not just want to take care of his own people, but the Jiangnan area at that time was not so recognized by the Qing court, so Kangxi needed a person of his own to act as an eye and ear there.

Kangxi's mind naturally could not hide from the people below, so the locals naturally had special respect for Cao Xi, and Jiangning weaving was originally a fat difference, so the Cao family began to become famous and wealthy. After Cao Xi, he was succeeded by his son Cao Yin. Cao Yin grew up with Kangxi since he was a child, and there was a bond between the Cao family and Kangxi itself, coupled with his extraordinary ability, so the Cao family reached its peak in his generation, Kangxi went south six times, and four times lived in Cao Yin's house.

Cao Yin was not only good at handling government affairs, but also had extensive contacts with local people from all walks of life under Kangxi's arrangement, coupled with his relationship with Kangxi and his own position, it can be said that the Cao family at that time really wanted money and money, power and power, and fame, which was a real eminence.

However, once some things reach their peak, they will naturally fall back, and the Cao family is no exception. Although Cao Yin received Kangxi on the surface, he actually fell into a big deficit, and after the death of Kangxi, an "old good man", he was succeeded by the Yongzheng Emperor, who was known for his harshness.

Cao Yin's next generation was Cao Yan, but when he died early, the Jiangning weaving of the Cao family fell to Cao Yan's cousin Cao Fu. When Cao Yan died, he left a widow, and this child was Cao Xueqin. Because Cao Fu's seat was obtained from Cao Xueqin's father, he had special feelings for Cao Xueqin, hoping that he could become a talent, and on the other hand, he was really too harsh.

The male master of the family did not dare to strictly control Cao Xueqin, and others naturally would not strictly discipline him, and although the Cao family at that time had declined, the skinny camel was bigger than Ma, and the Cao family was still a rich family. Therefore, Cao Xueqin, a rich family, "thrived" in an environment that lacked discipline and lived a good life.

After more than ten years of beautiful life, the Cao family was completely destroyed because of the accountability of Yongzheng, and the Cao family belonged to the "business trip" in Jiangning, and after the errand was broken, the family had to "go home" and return to Beijing. Without the rich fat difference of oil and water, and not being welcomed by the emperor of the dynasty, and still owing so much deficit, so the Cao family naturally could not live well after "going home".

Cao Xueqin has eaten and seen since childhood, and her family is also a family of poetry and book heirlooms, so although his family has fallen, Cao Xueqin is not willing, and he wants to make a career to revitalize the lintel. Therefore, after Cao Fu "lost his fighting spirit", Cao Xueqin stood up, according to some records, Cao Xueqin when he was young was very acquainted with some people, and the purpose of his acquaintance with people should be very likely to find a way out.

However, after Cao Xueqin was a criminal official, plus he did not like the knowledge of the Eight Strands of Literature before, he had not been able to make progress in his career. After the road of "learning and excellence" does not work, there are not many opportunities left for Cao Xueqin. Some people may say, is it not okay to go into business without becoming an official?

Although the merchants in the Qing Dynasty could enjoy life to the fullest, it was by no means the "right way" in the eyes of the children of the family, so This road Cao Xueqin was "disdainful" to go, and even if he left, he could not reach the goal of the guangyao lintel. Then, if he can't enter the DPRK as an official, how can he show his ambitions?

Then only the book was written. According to some experts, the predecessor of "Dream of the Red Chamber" was the "Treasure Book of the Wind and Moon" written by Cao Xueqin when she was young, and later after Cao Xueqin made up her mind to write a book, he began to re-improve the "Treasure Book of the Wind and Moon".

Friends who have watched "Dream of the Red Chamber" may ask that in the first episode of "Dream of the Red Chamber", Cao Xueqin once wrote her own book, because "all the women of the day" did not let their eyebrows be raised, and Cao Xueqin "falsely spoke village words" in order not to let the deeds of the people in the boudoir disappear.

It seems that on the surface, the purpose of Cao Xueqin's writing is not to reminisce about the past and "show the legend" for the strange women in the boudoir?

There is a certain truth to this understanding, and Cao Xueqin's purpose in writing the Dream of the Red Chamber is actually quite a variety of theories. However, some people may overlook a detail.

Cao Xueqin said that his book had been "reviewed for ten years, and added and deleted five times." Why would he devote so much effort to a book? Just to miss the warblers and swallows you met during adolescence? Just to reminisce about the glorious old days?

The answer, I'm afraid, is no. The purpose of his painstaking efforts to write this book is most likely to pass on the name, when a literati can not use the merits of the history of the name, what better than writing a book to leave a name for eternity?

Without this book, would we have gotten to know a fallen family? Without this book, would we remember that there was once a Cao family in the Qing Dynasty?

Today, there are several people who do not know "Dream of the Red Chamber", and how many people have learned about Cao Xueqin and the rise and fall of the Cao family through this book. In the future, this book will continue to circulate, there will be more people who want to understand the story behind this book, Cao Xueqin will never be forgotten, and the Cao family will naturally not disappear into the old paper pile...

Advise the king not to bomb the diners,

Advise the king not to knock on the door of Fu'er.

The residue is cold and virtuous,

It is better to write a book about Yellow Leaf Village.