#ReadingTheStone

Welcome to our NotAPodcast NotAClass Saturday chats on #ReadingTheStone - an experiment in collectively reading the 18th century Chinese masterwork Story of the Stone, aka Dream of The Red Chamber 紅樓夢 (Hongloumeng). Episodes are unedited and recorded live on TwitterSpaces or Zoom - follow Twitter account @ReadingTheStone or hashtag #ReadingTheStone to participate. To listen in chronological order, please take note of 'season' and 'episode' number. Additional materials housed at readingthestone.com. With Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, Wai-Yee Li, Ann Waltner, and friends.

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#ReadingTheStone

#ReadingTheStone S2 Episode 6: On the Postlapsarian, and also surprisingly, Jia Zheng

February 26, 2023 • ReadingTheStone • Season 2 • Episode 6

[Originally recorded on 2-18-23]

As #ReadingTheStone enters its final dozen chapters, we find ourselves ruminating over the postlapsarian state of things: the scattering and banishment of most everyone from Grand Prospect Garden, Xifeng's decline and Baochai seemingly being groomed to be the next Xifeng, the ethics of appeasement in a large social structure, and the desultory state of the Jias after Daiyu's death and Baoyu and Baochai's coerced union. We also finally give the paterfamilias Jia Zheng 賈政 his due - and the group has a lively discussion about all things Jia Zheng, and ponder the story from his point of view.

Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.