Dream of the Red Chamber

Dream of the Red Chamber

Translation

Politeness

Lin Daiyu minds her manners

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Daniel Evensen
May 27, 2025
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Politeness

I know that today’s post has kind of an odd title, but I couldn’t think of any other way to describe what happens. Lin Daiyu strictly observes protocol when she finally meets with her aunt, Lady Wang. Interestingly enough, in the Chinese original Daiyu’s language is a lot more refined and educated than Lady Wang’s — something that I think is almost impossible to translate adequately into English.

Today’s section is kind of long, and might strike you as a tad boring. However, there are some really interesting details here, particularly about the layout of things in the Jia household.


My Translation

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