The Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou is a comprehensive cultural venue built to commemorate Tang Xianzu, one of the world’s hundred great cultural figures and a master of Ming‑dynasty drama in China. It is also one of Jiangxi Province’s ten major memorial halls dedicated to historical luminaries.

News | Beijing Discusses “Dreams,” with the Tang–Cao Legacy Passing Down Through Generations — The Fuzhou Tang Xianzu International Research Center was invited to attend the 2025 Academic Annual Conference of the Beijing Cao Xueqin Society.

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2025-12-28

From December 19 to 21, the Beijing Cao Xueqin Society’s academic annual conference for the Yisi year (2025) was successfully held in Langfang, Hebei. Centered on the theme “From Tang Xianzu to Cao Xueqin,” the conference continued the intellectual lineage established at the 16th Cao Xueqin Cultural and Art Festival—“From The Peony Pavilion to Dream of the Red Chamber.” With the Fuzhou Tang Xianzu International Research Center serving as a key supporting institution, scholars from China and abroad gathered for a literary rendezvous that spanned the Ming and Qing dynasties, decoding the spiritual legacy shared by The Four Dreams of Linchuan and Dream of the Red Chamber.

Following the opening ceremony, the keynote address session emerged as the academic highlight. Wu Fengchu, Director of the Nanchang Tang Xianzu International Research Center; Professor Zou Zizhen, a specially appointed researcher at the Center and a member of the Fujian Provincial Institute of Literature and History; and Professor Zhou Xishan, a specially appointed researcher at the Center and a researcher at the Shanghai Art Research Center—these three experts took to the stage on behalf of the Center to present their arguments, drawing on their profound scholarly expertise to delineate the spiritual lineages of two literary giants.

Director Wu Fengchu, under the title “An Attempt to Analyze Tang Xianzu and Cao Xueqin: The Inheritance of Emotion, the Transformation of Dreams, and the Awakening of Humanity,” directly addresses the core resonances shared by these two masterpieces. He points out that Tang Xianzu’s “Four Dreams of Linchuan” breaks through “rational doctrine” with the primacy of emotion, while the line “to be born is to die, to die is to be reborn” in The Peony Pavilion represents an ultimate celebration of genuine feeling. By contrast, Cao Xueqin’s Dream of the Red Chamber situates this very “emotion” within a far more intricate tapestry of social and human experience—moving from the purity of Baoyu and Daiyu’s love to the vicissitudes of the Jia family’s rise and fall—and thereby accomplishes a spiritual progression marked by “the inheritance of emotion, the transformation of dreams, and the awakening of humanity.” In doing so, it elevates the themes of “emotion” and “dream” in Chinese literature, transforming them from romantic ideals into profound reflections on reality.

Zou Zizhen, a visiting researcher and professor at the School of Humanities of Minjiang University, has devoted himself to intertextual studies of The Four Dreams of Linchuan and Dream of the Red Chamber. His paper, “From Tang Xianzu to Cao Xueqin,” is remarkably persuasive in its textual analysis. He meticulously traces the quotations and allusions to The Peony Pavilion within Dream of the Red Chamber, demonstrating that Tang Xianzu’s conception of “the primacy of emotion” not only catalyzed the tender, nascent feelings between Baoyu and Daiyu at their first encounter, but also—through his dreamlike narrative—inspired the ingenious construction of thirty-two dream sequences in the novel. From the plays performed during Yuanchun’s visit to the subtle foreshadowing embedded in the characters’ fates, Professor Zou Zizhen dissects layer by layer, revealing how the literary DNA of The Four Dreams of Linchuan has been woven into the very fabric of Dream of the Red Chamber’s narrative.

Professor Zhou Xishan, a distinguished research fellow at the Shanghai Art Research Center, broadened the contemporary resonance of classical culture with his paper, “Madame Ha Tong, Luo Jialing: The Patriotic Sentiments and Monumental Contributions of the Creator of the ‘Grand Garden on the Sea.’” He explained that the legendary modern woman Luo Jialing, inspired by *Dream of the Red Chamber*, modeled her own “Grand Garden on the Sea,” the Aili Garden, after the famed Grand View Garden. This physical garden not only stands as a vivid testament to the cultural influence of *Dream of the Red Chamber* but also embodies its creator’s deep sense of national devotion. His study bridges literary classics and cultural practice, demonstrating the enduring vitality of *Dream of the Red Chamber* and the *Four Dreams of Linchuan*, which transcends the confines of their texts.

This year’s annual conference featured three parallel sessions, with 121 scholars and experts submitting 96 papers. Discussions delved deeply into topics such as the genealogical and textual sources related to Cao Xueqin, textual criticism of the “Dream of the Red Chamber,” and cross-cultural communication. Chen Weiming, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Tang Xianzu International Research Center in Fuzhou, participated throughout the proceedings; the Center’s robust support lent greater scholarly depth to the intergenerational dialogue between “The Four Dreams of Linchuan” and “The Dream of the Red Chamber.” The inclusion of 33 emerging scholars further revitalized the event, injecting fresh momentum into the study of these two literary masterpieces and ensuring that the literary tradition spanning centuries continues to thrive in the present day.

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Editor: Deng Chao | Source: Fuzhou Tang Xianzu International Research Center

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