Episode 21 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 12 part 1/2

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12/28/20 • 38 min

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Jia Rui learns a lot — all too much — about fantasy and the reality of fantasy in this chapter of Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Dream of the Red Chamber. We trace the series of events that lead to Jia Rui’s receiving the magical precious mirror of the romantics (風月寶鑑 fengyue baojian). Is Jia Rui wholly to blame, or does his cousin Xifeng exact her revenge with excessive zealousness? In what ways is or is not Xifeng’s soul implicated in the fantasy space in which this mirror originates? One of the most fun chapters we’ve covered so far!

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Episode 20 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 11 part 2/2

When you pass through a garden, something is going to happen. Snake-in-the-grass Jia Rui shows interest in his cousin Xifeng, who has plans of her own. In a special second part of this episode, Kevin previews a talk he gave, trying to understand how to understand color and color symbolism in Hong lou meng Dream of the Red Chamber, in the process giving our most-detailed explanation to-date for what it means to be wuxing 五行-pilled from a secular, scientific perspective!

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Episode 22 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 12 part 2/2

Jia Rui and Rereading the Stone plunge head first into the alluring yet vacuous realm of fantasy in this chapter of Hong lou meng 紅樓夢 Dream of the Red Chamber. We trace the series of events that lead to Jia Rui’s receiving the magical precious mirror of the romantics (風月寶鑑 fengyue baojian). This second and final part of the Jia Rui saga is an eye-opening, darkly humorous episode not to be missed. Along the way, Kevin discusses the vagaries of the modern ginseng procurement, and Will draws parallel to Infinite Jest.

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