Dream of the Red Chamber

My Eastern Civilizations classes at KU are required to read the 18th century Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. The novel is over 300 pages long (in the abridged version) and includes hundreds of characters. Inevitably, there are a few students who connect with the tragic story of fate and (mis) fortune, but there are also some who struggle to understand the book and to find the main themes. On Thursday I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon outside, reviewing the novel and preparing for our Friday class discussion.