Abstract:                   

Focusing on the receptions and transformations of Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng) in late Qing and modern China, this dissertation examines the ways in which this eighteenth-century literary canon was constantly being re-conceived, rewritten and reinvented during this momentous era. Through the delineation of the transformative role that Dream of the Red Chamber played in modern cultural production, this dissertation explores the intertwined critical issues concerning literary modernity, emotion, gender and modern culture. At a time of drastic cultural changes, Dream of the Red Chamber was not a static repertory, but rather it functioned as a dynamic discursive space that interacts with modern people’s feelings, thoughts, psychology, and the complexity of their historical situations. Through detailed analyses of the first-hand, original materials covering a range of literary and visual genres, this dissertation sheds new light on the roles of the canon and tradition in the formation of Chinese literary modernity.