Authors: Cao Xueqin
XIA BING-ZHONG
eunuch Master of the Bedchamber in the Imperial Palace
XIA JIN-GUI
termagant wife of Xue Pan
XIANG-LIAN
see
LIU XIANG-LIAN
XIANG-TUN
see
SHI XIANG-TUN
XING DE-QUAN
Lady Xing's good-for-nothing brother; father of Xing Xiu-yan
XING XIU-YAN
niece of Lady Xing befriended by Adamantina, later betrothed to Bao-chai's cousin Xue Ke
XIU-YAN
see
XING XIU-YAN
XUE BAO-CHAI
daughter of Aunt Xue
XUE BAO-QIN
niece of Aunt Xue and younger sister of Xue Ke
XUE KE
Xue Bao-qin's elder brother
XUE PAN
the âOaf King',
al
. âCousin Oaf'; son of Aunt Xue and elder brother of Bao-chai
YELÃ HUNNI
see
PARFUMÃE
YING
see
JIA YING-CHUN
YING-CHUN
see
JIA YING-CHUN
YOU ER-JIE
elder of You-shi's two step-sisters
YOU SAN-JIE
younger of You-shi's two step-sisters
YOU-SHI
wife of Cousin Zhen and mother of Jia Rong
YU LU
junior steward at Ning-guo House
YUAN-CHUN
see
JIA YUAN-CHUN
YUN
see
SHI XIANG-YUN
ZHANG DE-HUI
manager of Xue Pan's shop
ZHANG HUA
dissolute young gambler betrothed since infancy to You Er-jie
ZHANGS, THE
destitute family of which Zhang Hua was a member
ZHAO GUO-JI
brother of Aunt Zhao
ZHEN
see
COUSIN ZHEN
ZHENG HUA | } | servants of Lady Wang orginally |
ZHENG HUA'S WIFE |
ZHENS, THE
powerful Nanking family having dose ties with the Jias
ZHOU RUI | } | trusted senior servants on the staff of Rong- |
ZHOU RUI'S WIFE |
ZHU-ER'S WIFE
daughter-in-law of Ying-chun's former wet-nurse
1
. Or however many chapters this last part of the novel was divided into. Xueqin's statement in chapter 1 and certain features of the Red Inkstone manuscripts suggest that the earliest versions may have had no chapter divisions at all.
1
. Curiously enough the text of the manuscript I call âGao E's draft' has got âSkybright' instead of âSandal' here. Gao E's eventual preference for âSandal', which he presumably found in other texts available to him, must have been based on a misunderstanding of what was wrong in the text of his draft: Skybright's mother. His published text â in the only editions that are available to me â besides reverting to âSandal', has also substituted âmother's illness' for âmother's birthday'. I am unable to assess the significance of this without access to more of the manuscript and printed editions than are at present available to me.