1. Cao Xueqin was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty.
13 Facts About Cao Xueqin
1. 2.
Cao Xueqin is best known as the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
3.
Cao Xueqin's given name was Cao Zhan and his courtesy name was Mengruan.
4.
Cao Xueqin was born to a Han Chinese clan that was brought into personal service to the Manchu royalty in the late 1610s.
5.
Cao Xueqin's ancestors distinguished themselves through military service in the Plain White Banner of the Eight Banners and subsequently held posts as officials which brought both prestige and wealth.
6.
When Cao Xueqin Xi died in 1684, Cao Xueqin Yin, as Kangxi's personal confidant, took over the post.
7.
Cao Xueqin Yin was one of the era's most prominent men of letters and a keen book collector.
8.
Yongzheng severely attacked the family and in 1727 confiscated their properties, while Cao Xueqin Fu was thrown in jail.
9.
When Cao Xueqin Fu was released a year later, the impoverished family was forced to relocate to Beijing.
10.
Cao Xueqin was the son of either Cao Fu or Cao Yong.
11.
Cao Xueqin eventually settled in the countryside west of Beijing, where he lived the larger part of his later years in poverty selling off his paintings.
12.
Cao Xueqin died some time in 1763 or 1764, leaving his novel in a very advanced stage of completion.
13.
In 1791, Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E, who claimed to have access to Cao Xueqin's working papers, edited and published a "complete" 120-chapter version.