Fairbank Center

No Ordinary Mortal and No Ordinary Shade:
The Esthetic Image of Lin Dai-yu
Chunying Liu, Jinan University

The characterization of Lin Dai-yu features an individual’s struggle against the constant conflict between the true and the false, the good and the evil, and the beautiful and the ugly. The charm of Cao Xueqin’s esthetics in creating the unique image of Lin Dai-yu lies in his revelation of the deliverance from the uttermost defeat in the individual’s endless pursuit of freedom. Written by Cao Xueqin, the Dream of the Red Chamber, also known as The Story of the Stone, is considered to be the peak of Chinese fiction. It is an endless source of enchantment and new discovery to artists and Redology scholars.

Chunying Liu 刘春英 is associate professor of English and Chinese. She has taught at Jinan University since 1984. She pursues research in Chinese and American literature, cross-cultural studies, literary translation, and esthetics, with particular interest in the Dream of the Red Chamber, the study of Emerson and Thoreau and Gao Xingjian. She has published several books and numerous articles, the most acclaimed of which is her Chinese translation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

Location: CGIS South, Room S153, 1730 Cambridge Street, Harvard University