Dream of the Red Chamber , also called
The Story of the Stone , composed by
Cao Xueqin, is one of China's
Four Great Classical Novels. It was written sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the
Qing Dynasty. It is considered a masterpiece of
Chinese literature and is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of Chinese fiction. "
Redology" is the field of study devoted exclusively to this work.