Cao Xueqin ( [tsʰa ̌ ʊ ɕɥe ̀ tɕʰi ̌ n] tsow sh'weh-chin ; 4 April 1710 – 10 June 1765) was a Chinese writer and poet who lived during the Qing dynasty. He is most famous for writing Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the four most important classic novels in Chinese literature. His real name was Cao Zhan ( 曹霑 ), and his formal name was Mengruan.
Family
The exact dates of Cao Xueqin's birth and death are not certain. His birth is believed to have occurred between 1715 and 1724. This range is supported by sad poems written by his friends, Duncheng and Zhang Yiquan, who mentioned that Cao Xueqin was forty and nearly fifty years old when he died. He was born into a Han Chinese family that became servants to the Manchu royal family in the late 1610s. His ancestors served in the military for the Plain White Banner of the Eight Banners and later held official positions that brought wealth and influence.
After the Plain White Banner came under the direct control of the Qing emperor, Cao's family began working in civil roles within the Imperial Household Department. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the family's status and power grew significantly. Cao Xueqin's grandfather, Cao Yin, was a childhood friend of Kangxi, and his mother, Lady Sun, was Kangxi's wet nurse. In 1684, Kangxi appointed Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather, Cao Xi, as the Commissioner of Imperial Textiles in Jiangning (modern-day Nanjing), and the family moved there.
When Cao Xi died in 1684, Cao Yin, who was close to Kangxi, took over the role. Cao Yin was a well-known writer and loved collecting books. Jonathan Spence notes that these servants had strong connections to Manchu culture. They balanced both traditions: Cao Yin enjoyed activities like horseback riding and hunting, which were part of Manchu military life, while also sharing Chinese culture with the Manchus. By the early 1700s, the Cao family had become so wealthy and influential that they hosted the Kangxi Emperor four times during his six trips to the Nanjing area. In 1705, Kangxi asked Cao Yin to compile all surviving Tang dynasty poems, which led to the creation of The Complete Poems of the Tang.
After Cao Yin died in 1712, Kangxi passed the role to Cao Yin's son, Cao Yong. Cao Yong died in 1715, and Kangxi allowed the family to adopt Cao Fu, Cao Yin's nephew, as his posthumous son to continue the position. This way, the family held the role of Imperial Textile Commissioner in Jiangning for three generations.
The family's success ended after Kangxi's death and the rise of the Yongzheng Emperor. Yongzheng punished the family, seizing their property in 1727 and imprisoning Cao Fu. This was claimed to be due to mismanagement, though some believe it was politically motivated. After Cao Fu was released a year later, the family moved to Beijing and lived in poverty. Cao Xueqin, still a child, grew up in difficult conditions.
Life
Very few records about Cao Xueqin’s early life or adult years remain. Scholars who study the novel Dream of the Red Chamber are still unsure of his exact birth date, though he was likely between forty and fifty years old when he died. Cao Xueqin was the son of either Cao Fu or Cao Yong. It is certain that Cao Yong’s only son was born after his death in 1715; some scholars believe this son may have been Cao Xueqin. However, in the family records (Wuqing Tang Cao Shi Zongpu), Cao Yong’s only son was listed as Cao Tianyou. This adds confusion, as the names Cao Zhan and Cao Xueqin—names his contemporaries used—do not appear in the records.
Most information about Cao comes from people who knew him. He later lived in the countryside west of Beijing, where he spent much of his later life in poverty by selling his paintings. He was known to drink heavily. Friends described him as intelligent and talented, and he worked for ten years on a book that was likely Dream of the Red Chamber. His family’s fortune changed from wealth to decline, which deeply affected him and made him understand life’s hardships and the world’s harshness. He also moved beyond the narrow views of his social class. His experiences, emotions, and creativity are reflected in Dream of the Red Chamber. His paintings of cliffs and rocks, as well as his original poetry, were praised by others for their style and similarity to the poet Li He. Cao died between 1763 and 1764, leaving his novel nearly finished. Some parts of the manuscript were lost after friends or family borrowed them. He was survived by his wife after the death of his son.
After his death, Cao gained recognition for his work. Dream of the Red Chamber tells the story of a wealthy family’s rise and fall and is partly based on Cao’s own life. When Cao died suddenly in 1763–4, likely from grief over his son’s death, a small group of family and friends copied his manuscript. These copies, containing 80 chapters, became valuable items in Beijing.
In 1791, Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E claimed to have access to Cao’s notes and published a 120-chapter version of the novel. This was the first printed edition and was revised and reprinted the following year. This version is the most widely printed edition today. Many modern scholars question whether the last 40 chapters were actually written by Cao Xueqin.
Today, Cao continues to influence new generations of Chinese writers and poets, such as An Qi of the Middle Generation, who honored him in her poem To Cao Xueqin.