When the false is taken for the true, the true becomes false;
Where nothing is treated as something, something becomes nothing.
English titles, text, and notes are AI-assisted for reading only; for scholarship cite the Chinese and authoritative editions.
Annotation
This couplet appears on the archway of the Land of Illusion in Chapter 1 and again in Chapter 5 when Baoyu dreams his way there. It serves as the novel's philosophical thesis, revealing the dialectical relationship between truth and falsehood, being and nothingness. The names 'Zhen Shiyin' (True Things Hidden) and 'Jia Yucun' (False Words Exist) also reflect this theme.
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