Realism
Yesterday’s translation segment reminded me of another thing that really sets Dream of the Red Chamber apart from other literature.
It’s one of those things that might feel kind of hard to define - something that you can feel is different, but something that there isn’t a great word for.
As you probably know by now, most of chapter 9 is filled up with a big fight that takes place between factions of boys. You’ve got Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong on one side, Jin Rong and people closer to Xue Pan on the other, and a number of characters that find themselves somewhere in the middle.
The fight itself might seem a little bit exaggerated to those of us with modern sensibilities. However, the aftermath of the fight feels a lot more down to earth.
