Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall in Beijing

　　The Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall is located in Zhengbaiqi Village, Sijiqing Township, Haidian District. It was the residence of the great Qing Dynasty realist writer Cao Xueqin in his later years. The hall opened to the public on April 22, 1983. The plaque inscribed with "Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall" was written by Fu Jie.

　　Located at No. 39, Zhengbaiqi Village, Fragrant Hills, it is a small rural memorial hall. Cao Xueqin (1715–1764) was a novelist of China’s Qing Dynasty, best known for his masterpiece Dream of the Red Chamber. With its profound themes and exceptional artistic craftsmanship, Dream of the Red Chamber has been widely loved by readers both in China and abroad. Literary circles in China and internationally have established research institutions known as the Cao Xueqin Research Societies.

　　The Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall was built in 1984. The building is a row of traditional Qing-style single-story houses facing south, covering an area of about 3,000 square meters, with a construction area of 300 square meters. The collection mainly includes cultural relics related to Cao Xueqin’s life, artifacts associated with his family and Zhengbaiqi Village, as well as replicas of items described in the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber.

　　Exhibition rooms of the memorial hall

　　The museum is divided into five exhibition rooms, displaying the place where Cao Xueqin lived, his study where he wrote Dream of the Red Chamber, the inspiration the beautiful natural environment of Fragrant Hills provided the writer, major discoveries about Cao Xueqin’s life over the past two hundred years, and materials related to his former residence. In addition, there are stone inscriptions on display that reflect the connection between the Cao family and the Fragrant Hills area. The museum was originally a small rural museum built around the old house at No. 39, Zhengbaiqi, Fragrant Hills, Beijing. In 1971, a wall poem was discovered on the west wall of the old house. One of the poems is largely consistent with the legendary couplet said to have been given to Cao Xueqin by E Bi, leading some scholars of Dream of the Red Chamber to conclude that this building was where Cao Xueqin lived and wrote in his later years.

　　Inside the exhibition room

　　To commemorate the great literary figure Cao Xueqin, and based on poetic descriptions that refer to his later years “writing books in the yellow leaf village of the Western Hills,” as well as other accounts, a site of 8 hectares was set aside within Beijing Botanical Garden (the former site of Zhengbaiqi) to establish the Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall, named after the “Yellow Leaf Village.” The entrance of the memorial hall features a plaque inscribed by the renowned scholar and calligrapher Qi Gong. The exhibition rooms not only introduce Cao Xueqin’s life but also display many physical objects and materials related to him and Dream of the Red Chamber. The original wall poems have been copied and displayed in their original layout. Yellow Leaf Village is lush with trees and green grass, offering a serene and picturesque rural setting that is truly enchanting. Within the village, there are attractions such as “Willows by the River Wall,” “Hedges Entwined with Vines,” “Bamboo Fences and Thatched Cottages,” and “Evening Smoke from the Wooden Gate,” as well as a teahouse, tavern, ancient stumps, stone mills, a well, and vegetable plots behind the houses—painting a picture of idyllic countryside life that is deeply captivating.

　　Location of the memorial hall

　　Located in the courtyard of Wu Mansion (the former residence of Wu Enpei) on the east side of Xiaoshizi Street, Old City, Liaoyang. The site includes 21 rooms enclosed by high walls, forming a small quadrangle courtyard. It covers an area of 1,300 square meters, with a construction area of 630 square meters. In August 1997, it was established to commemorate Cao Xueqin’s ancestral roots in Liaoyang. The name of the hall was inscribed by the famous Redology scholar Feng Qiyong. It is the only newly built memorial hall in the northeast following similar institutions in Beijing, Nanjing, and elsewhere. The Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall in Liaoyang has an exhibition area of 480 square meters, featuring four exhibition rooms. The exhibits focus on Cao Xueqin’s ancestral home in Liaoyang, centered around three stone tablets found in Liaoyang. These include the “Da Jin – Dharma Master’s Precious Record” tablet from 1630, the fourth year of the Tiancong era of the Later Jin, which mentions “Teaching Official Cao Zhenyan” on the back of the June stele in the -Yuan Garden; the September 1630 stele from the Jade Emperor Temple mentioning “Retired Official Cao Zhenyan”; and the 1641, sixth year of the Chongde era of the Qing Dynasty, stele from the Mituo Temple in Xincheng mentioning “Cao Shijue, Cao Dexuan, and Cao Dexian.” The first two tablets refer to Cao Zhenyan, Cao Xueqin’s great-grandfather, while the third lists three individuals who were part of the third branch of the Cao family. Through rubbings of these name-inscribed tablets, combined with historical literature from the Liaodong Cao Family Genealogy, the displays are presented using sand table models. A seated statue of Cao Xueqin is also featured in the memorial hall.

　　Cao Xueqin (1715~1763)　　Cao Xueqin (c. 1715–c. 1763) was the greatest novelist of China’s Qing Dynasty. His given name was Zhan, courtesy name Mengruan, and his art name was Xueqin, though he also went by the names Qinpǔ and Qinxī. He was a native of Liaoyang. His ancestors were originally Han Chinese but later became “Booi” (bondservants) of the Manchu Plain White Banner, thus becoming part of the Banner system. He is the author of China’s epic novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Written during Cao Xueqin’s later years of hardship and poverty, the novel was originally titled The Story of the Stone. The first 80 chapters were essentially finalized and circulated in manuscript form. In 1791, Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E published the first movable-type edition, expanding the book to 120 chapters under the new title Dream of the Red Chamber. Biography In the 54th year of the Kangxi reign (17...... Details+