A Study Of The "Flower Metaphor" In A Dream Of Red Mansions

It is a tradition of Chinese classical literature to compare people to flowers,i.e.the “flower metaphor”.From the Pre-Qin period The Book of Songs and The Songs of Chu to nowadays,“flower metaphor” was constantly used by scholars.However,it developed to the extreme in A Dream in Red Mansions written by Cao Xueqin.In this book,the “flower metaphor” was endowed many connotations such as appearance,virtue,and life.Besides,in order to coordinate the theme,Cao Xueqin took “the flowers fall and the maiden die” as the objective of the “flower metaphor”,symbolizing the destruction of females.But the existing researches on the “flower metaphor” of A Dream in Red Mansions are not many and much more can be dug.Therefore,the author is going to analyze the “flower metaphor” technique in A Dream in Red Mansions.After analyzing the text,the author expounds the literary tradition and development of the “flower metaphor” and analyzes its literary origin and historical background.Then the author discusses the original intention of the “flower metaphor” and the flower image system in A Dream in Red Mansions.Next,the author analyzes the formation of the “flower metaphor”,the combination of the “flower metaphor” and image as well as the influence of the “flower metaphor” to characterization.Finally,the author takes the two poems “Lotus Eulogy” and “Funeral Flowers Chant” as models to explore the objective of “the flowers fall and the maiden die”.