This celebrated Chinese classical novel is a masterpiece of realism written in the middle of the eighteen century during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. It takes as its background the decline of four great noble families and deals with the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. the novel provides a comprehensive and faithful picture of the social reality of the time, exposes the corrupt and iniquitous nature of feudal society and wrathfully denounces the crimes of the feudal autocratic system.