Just as one cannot cross the same river twice, one cannot repeat the act of literary creation or pass it on to someone else. The creation of Dream of the Red Chamber, an act that resulted from Cao Xueqin's unrepeatable personal and aesthetic experiences, happens only once. Hence, it is, strictly speaking, impossible to write a sequel to Dream of the Red Chamber. As Gao E knowingly tries to perform an impossible task, he shows an admirable spirit. As he works against all odds and completes his sequel on the basis of the predictions provided in the first few chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, he can be considered a talented sequel writer. However, though he writes many outstanding chapters in his sequel, he also produces quite a few flawed episodes. Among them the most flawed episode is Jia Baoyu's decision to take the civil service examination with Jia Lan and his success as a candidate. It is possible that Jia Baoyu might make some compromises, but for him the compromise described in the sequel is out of character. Gao E, as he imposes an ordinary person's desires on Jia Baoyu and makes Jia Baoyu betray his true self, damages the purity of this innocent character.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Just as one cannot cross the same river twice, one cannot repeat the act of literary creation or pass it on to someone else. The creation of Dream of the Red Chamber, an act that resulted from Cao Xueqin's unrepeatable personal and aesthetic experiences, happens only once. Hence, it is, strictly speaking, impossible to write a sequel to Dream of the Red Chamber. As Gao E knowingly tries to perform an impossible task, he shows an admirable spirit. As he works against all odds and completes his sequel on the basis of the predictions provided in the first few chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, he can be considered a talented sequel writer. However, though he writes many outstanding chapters in his sequel, he also produces quite a few flawed episodes. Among them the most flawed episode is Jia Baoyu's decision to take the civil service examination with Jia Lan and his success as a candidate. It is possible that Jia Baoyu might make some compromises, but for him the compromise described in the sequel is out of character. Gao E, as he imposes an ordinary person's desires on Jia Baoyu and makes Jia Baoyu betray his true self, damages the purity of this innocent character." in the context of "Liu Zaifu, Reflections on "Dream of the Red Chamber" (written in 2005), trans. Shu Yunzhong (Cambria Press, 2008), pp. 132–133" to mean that wisdom is timeless.