Cao Xueqin, as quoted in his younger brother's introduction to the first chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber, as reported and translated by David Hawkes in The Story of the Stone: The Golden Days (Penguin, 1973), p. 21
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The memorial to my beloved girls could at one and the same time serve as a source of harmless entertainment and as a warning to those who were in the same predicament as myself but who were still in need of awakening.
— Cao Xueqin on Dream of the Red Chamber
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The memorial to my beloved girls could at one and the same time serve as a source of harmless entertainment and as a warning to those who were in the same predicament as myself but who were still in need of awakening." in the context of "Cao Xueqin, as quoted in his younger brother's introduction to the first chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber, as reported and translated by David Hawkes in The Story of the Stone: The Golden Days (Penguin, 1973), p. 21" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Dream of the Red Chamber" (Quotations about Dream of the Red Chamber: (arranged in chronological order))
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Cao Xueqin
Cáo Xuěqín (Chinese: 曹雪芹; 4 June 1715 or 1724 – 12 February 1763 or 1 February 1764) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
About Cao Xueqin
Cáo Xuěqín (Chinese: 曹雪芹; 4 June 1715 or 1724 – 12 February 1763 or 1 February 1764) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
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