# The Story of the Stone (Volume I)

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/cao-xueqin/the-story-of-the-stone-volume-i/9780140442939

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- Book: [The Story of the Stone (Volume I)](https://www.bookquiver.com/cao-xueqin/the-story-of-the-stone-volume-i) ([The Story of the Stone (Volume I).md](https://www.bookquiver.com/cao-xueqin/the-story-of-the-stone-volume-i.md))
- Authors: [Cao Xueqin](https://www.bookquiver.com/cao-xueqin)
- Publisher: penguin_classics
- ISBN: 978-01-4044-293-9
- Pages: 544
- Published: 2006-03-30
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

The Story of the Stone (c.1760) is one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature. The first part of the story, The Golden Days, begins the tale of Bao-yu, a gentle young boy who prefers girls to Confucian studies, and his two cousins: Bao-chai, his parents' choice of a wife for him, and the ethereal beauty Dai-yu. Through the changing fortunes of the Jia family, this rich, magical work sets worldly events - love affairs, sibling rivalries, political intrigues, even murder - within the context of the Buddhist understanding that earthly existence is an illusion and karma determines the shape of our lives.