Dream of the Red Chamber 253better to conclude that forms of suffering in the
novel are, to a large extent, gender-linked. Gender
mediates each character’s individual experience, ulti-
mately determining their quality of life.
Edwina Quek
sOcial class in Dream of the Red Chamber
With more than 400 characters from different walks
of life filling its pages, Dream of the Red Cham-
ber offers a panoramic view of the Chinese social
class system during the Qing dynasty. Aristocratic
families like the Jias who have been decorated by
the emperor hail from the upper class. The lower
classes are occupied by the family’s maids, pages, and
poorer relations.
While socioeconomic status and kinship rela-
tions are both important determinants of social
class, the former plays a more important role than
the latter. Despite being from the same clan register
as the aristocratic Jias, the recent palace graduate,
Jia Yu-cun, is reluctant to claim this familial con-
nection as the Jias rank far above him on the social
ladder. Poorer relations like Grannie Liu and Qin
Zhong, who depend on the goodwill of the Jias, are
also careful to defer to them, kinship ties notwith-
standing. Grannie Liu makes several kowtows to
the young Xi-feng on their first meeting to dem-
onstrate respect for the latter’s higher social station.
An unassuming Qin Zhong expresses discomfiture
at Bao-yu’s suggestion that they address each other
as equals since he comes from a poor family. Lower-
class members are more conscientious about follow-
ing proper codes of conduct in the presence of their
upper-class relations.
Conversely, the upper class tends to abuse its
power and influence. When a destitute Stony refuses
to part with his beloved set of antique fans, a greedy
Jia She takes advantage of his political connections
in the government to seize Stony’s fans for himself.
The rich and bad-tempered Xue Pan is another
example of one who abuses his privileged social
station. He gathers his henchmen to severely beat
a poor country squire’s son, Feng Yuan, when both
men enter into an ownership dispute over the pretty
Caltrop. Leaving Feng Yuan to die from his wounds,
Xue Pan whisks Caltrop away, only to abuse her
when he grows tired of her later. In another incident,
an impatient Xue Pan hits a poor waiter on the head
with a wine bowl, killing him. When the force of the
law bears down on him, he avoids exile by bribing a
magistrate to pass him a lighter sentence. Evidence
of Xi-feng’s usury is also discovered during the
imperial raid. Illegal promissory notes bearing exor-
bitant rates of interest to the poor are found in her
apartments, and her husband, Jia Lian, is eventually
punished for them. By including many incidents of
lower-class oppression in his narrative, Cao’s novel
exposes upper-class corruption of that era and may
be read as a scathing indictment of this aspect of
Chinese society.
Social hierarchies also exist within the micro-
cosm of the aristocratic Jia household. Elder siblings
rank above younger ones in the Chinese family
structure. Bao-yu’s father, Jia Zheng, continues to
pay Jia She the respect due to an older brother
even after the latter is disgraced and sent to exile.
An exception occurs in the case of Yuan-chun,
who is deemed royalty through her marriage to
the emperor. Grandmother Jia, the older ladies,
her father, and uncles arrive to pay their respects
to her when she takes ill in the palace. Although
legitimately married into the family, concubines and
their children occupy a lower social station than
first wives and their children. Jia Zheng’s concubine,
Aunt Zhao, and her son, Jia Huan, do not have as
much clout in the family as his wife, Lady Wang,
and her son, Bao-yu. As such, Jia Huan’s conniv-
ing acts against Bao-yu often arise from jealousy
of his better fortune. Hierarchies exist among the
Jias’ servants as well. Maids are differentiated into
senior and junior maids and wealthier servants have
servants of their own.
The genius of Cao Xueqin’s novel lies not so
much in his complex portrayal of Chinese social
structures as in his ability to show how these struc-
tures were reinforced and perpetuated in that era.
Power is kept in the hands of the powerful through
oppression and reward. When the maid Chess’s sex-
ual indiscretions are discovered, she is immediately
banished from the mansions as a negative example
to keep the rest of the maids in line. The same goes
for the maids Golden and Skybright, who do not
actually deserve their employers’ harsh treatment
of them. Thus oppressed, the lower classes are less