浅谈《红楼梦》人物的“痴”Chi (Enchantment) in the characters of A Dream of Red Mansions开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

Literature ReviewCao Xueqin is one of the most famous novelists and poets in the history of Chinese literature. He has a good knowledge of the feudal society and is dedicated to writing his novel -- A Dream of Red Mansions, which is known as one of the four Chinese literature classics.A Dream of Red Mansions is based on the social life of China in the 18th century. Cao Xueqin uses Jia family as an epitome to radiate the ups and downs of Jia, Shi, Wang, Xue four families so as to reveal the sharp contradictions and struggle of all strata in the feudal society and expose the inevitable fate of collapse of feudal ruling class because of its decadence. This novel is not only the product of Chinese literature but also the carrier of Chinese literature. It contains all kinds of knowledge of Chinese feudal society such as ancient architecture, eating habits, folk customs, patriarchal concepts and so on. Therefore, A Dream of Red Mansions is considered as the encyclopedia of Chinese feudal society. A Dream of Red Mansions is undoubtedly an excellent work and there are many researches on Chi(Enchantment) in it. Chi has three meanings--Doing things against nature, Being infatuated with temporal affairs in the Buddhist sense and being foolishin the general sense. (Liang, 2011)Baoyu's Chi not only reflects in his attitude towards fame and wealth but also reflects in dealing with things and treating people. In the view of the world, Baoyu is stupid because he loves all things, such as people around him especially the female, strangers that he is not familiar with and even the plants and trees. (Zhang, 2018) He thinks all the beautiful things and people should be treated well and he especially respects and cares for women.Chi(Enchantment) in the novel has two levels--Enchantment in seductive feelings and enchantment in love. (Mu, 2015) The superficial connotation of Chi is that someone is enchanted with love between male and female and and the deep meaning is that someone is faithful and sincere to others, regardless of sex, class or age. It is pure affection among people. For example, the feelings between the Lady Dowager and her servant Yuanyang. (Ding, 2019)Zhou (2009) has explained Chi(Enchanted) person that ordinary secular people can not understand him so they call him a monster... Because he refuses to be blinded by worldly standards and he is honest and frank enough. He dares to speak freely, to say what he thinks, to do what he wants. According to Qiu (2018), when people try to use Chi(Enchanted) to describe someone, this person is more inclined to be unaccepted by the secular people because of his enchantment which is deviated from mainstream values. That is to say, although this person is born in the world, his spirit is far away from the secular mainstream values. He adhere to his own belief so that his affections are unacceptable . In general, in A Dream of Red Mansions Chi not only shows foolishness but also contains other two aspects--love and true feelings. It refers to the love between male and female as well as the true and pure affections. Chi can be divided into several levels. On the one hand, the lowest level is Chia Ruis infatuation in beauty of His-feng, and then is love between Pao-yu and Tai-yu and so on. On the other hand, Chi includes Xianglings obsession with poetry, the servant Yuanyangs loyalty to Lady Dowager. All these are rebellion against the traditional Confucian values of merit and ethics. Chi in A Dream of Red Mansions is immersed in love and forced by the world. The thesis intends to discuss different meanings of Chi in A Dream of Red Mansions. It also attempts to reflect the situation of feudal society and describe different personalities and destinies of different characters through Chi so that to find the rebellion against the traditional Confucian values of merit and ethics.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

The thesis attempts to find the rebellion against the traditional Confucian values of merit and ethics and reflect the situation of feudal society. Furthermore, it intends to discuss different meanings of Chi in A Dream of Red Mansions, in particular study the various personalities of characters presented by Chi. It not only shows foolishness but also contains other two aspects--love and true feelings. I come up with the primary outline of my thesis. It consists of five parts. The first chapter will be the introduction of research background and need of the study. The second one will be literature review. The third chapter will study the various personalities of characters presented by Chi and the fourth one will discuss different meanings of Chi in A Dream of Red Mansions. The last one is conclusion of the whole paper.I will use the following methods:Note-taking Method: During the process of detailed reading, I take down significant sentences which will be of help to quote as proofs, write notes in shorthand about the analysis of main characters.Textual Analysis Method: I will reading the novel again and again to better understand the theme of the novel.Exemplification: To better demonstrate the different meanings of Chi, I will give some illustrations of several characters.Literature research method: I find several related dissertations and data then I am informed with the previous findings on the novel.Discussion Method: I will discuss with my supervisor and then determine the research topic.