Story Timeline

In a nap Zhen Shiyin is led by a monk and a Taoist to the Land of Illusion; he sees the main and supplementary registers of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling and hears the twelve songs of the "Dream of Red Mansions." The karma of wood and stone is revealed here—a symbolic prologue to the novel's themes.

Characters

Zhen ShiyinProtagonist

On Mid-Autumn night Zhen Shiyin meets the down-and-out scholar Jia Yucun and gives him fifty taels of silver and two suits for the capital examinations. Jia Yucun leaves without farewell the next day; his failure to repay this kindness foreshadows his later climb through powerful connections.

Characters

Jia YucunProtagonist

Zhen ShiyinParticipant

At the Lantern Festival the servant Huo Qi loses three-year-old Yinglian among the lights; she is kidnapped and sold. She later becomes Xue Pan's concubine, renamed Xiangling—the seed of the verdict "fated but not favored, harming father and mother."

Characters

Zhen YinglianProtagonist

A young acolyte at Gourd Temple mishandles lamp oil and starts a fire that spreads to the Zhen home, destroying their property. Zhen Shiyin and his wife take refuge with her father Feng Su but are coldly used; the family's ruin foreshadows "suddenly the great hall collapses."

Characters

Zhen ShiyinProtagonist

Broken by poverty and illness, Zhen Shiyin hears the lame Taoist sing "The Song of 'All Is Well'" in the street, grasps that wealth and rank are empty, adds his commentary, and follows the Taoist away—the emblem of "true matters hidden" that titles the novel.

Characters

Zhen ShiyinProtagonist

Jia Yuanchun enters the palace for talent and virtue as a female historian, serving at the Phoenix Palace. The Jias stake their political fortunes on her; the palace is both glory and a cage, matching the sigh "twenty years to tell right from wrong."

Characters

Jia YuanchunProtagonist

After dismissal Jia Yucun travels and is recommended as tutor to Salt Commissioner Lin Ruhai in Yangzhou, teaching young Lin Daiyu. That post becomes the bridge for his later reinstatement through the Lin and Jia families.

Characters

Jia YucunProtagonist

Lin RuhaiParticipant

Jia MinParticipant

Leng Zixing tells Jia Yucun about the rise and fall of the four great families, sketching the Jia family's background for the reader.

Characters

Leng ZixingProtagonist

Jia YucunParticipant

Jia Min, Lady Jia's daughter and Lin Ruhai's wife, dies of illness. Six-year-old Daiyu loses her mother and is frail; Lin Ruhai and Grandmother Jia agree to send her to the capital—her life as a dependent guest begins.

Characters

Jia MinProtagonist

Lin DaiyuParticipant

Lin RuhaiParticipant

On the way to the capital Xue Pan seizes the kidnapped Yinglian from buyer Feng Yuan and has Feng beaten to death; he takes her as concubine Xiangling. Magistrate Jia Yucun buries the case—the "guardian charm" of the four great clans opens the theme of unchecked power.

Characters

Xue PanProtagonist

XianglingParticipant

After her mother's death, Lin Daiyu comes to live with her grandmother; she meets Baoyu for the first time and they feel an instant connection.

Characters

Lin DaiyuProtagonist

Grand Lady JiaParticipant

Jia BaoyuParticipant

Wang XifengParticipant

Lady WangParticipant

The Xues come to the capital for the imperial selection; Baochai stays with Aunt Xue and Xue Pan at Pear Fragrance Court in the Jia mansion. Her poise and virtue win everyone; talk of a gold-and-jade match spreads against the wood-and-stone bond.

Characters

Xue BaochaiProtagonist

Aunt XueParticipant

Xue PanParticipant

Baoyu dreams of the Land of Illusion; he sees the fates of the Twelve Beauties, hears the "Dream of Red Mansions" songs, and is guided by the Goddess of Disenchantment.

Characters

Jia BaoyuProtagonist

Qin KeqingParticipant

Countrywoman Granny Liu, in need, visits Rongguo Mansion, claims distant kinship, sees Wang Xifeng, and receives twenty taels. Her plain perspective contrasts with the mansion's splendor and foreshadows her later visits to the garden.

Characters

Granny LiuProtagonist

Wang XifengParticipant

Jiao Da, drunk, curses his masters, revealing scandals about the family.

Characters

Jiao DaProtagonist

Jia RongParticipant