In his later years, he moved to the western suburb of Beijing. Although life became more difficult, he still concentrated on the writing and revision of Hong Lou Meng. In 1762, his youngest son died, which made him sink into excessive sorrow and grief, and he was bedridden after that. And finally he passed away because of the bad sickness.
Cao Xueqin's greatest contribution is his creation of the novels, which is the peak of ancient Chinese novels. With structured and complicated plot, vivid and lively description, he created many typical characters. He occupies a very important position in literature history.源/自:751:;论-文'网www.751com.cn
3.1.2 Zang Hua Yin and Its Characteristics
Zang Hua Yin is a poem recited by Lin Daiyu, who is the leading lady in Hong Lou Meng. The poem superficially describes the beautiful flower, but in fact it reflects the feeling of Lin. The poem, full of tears and anger, filled with rich and strange imagination, presents Lin’s sentimental character, inner contradictions and complex mental activities. The poem expresses her attitudes towards life and death, love and hate in the process of a kind of complicated struggle to herself. The poem also shows her confusion about life, her sad and lonely mood. The fate of the flowers is linked to the fate of Lin, which criticizes those who abuse flowers of nature and satirizes the social evil force powerfully.
The poem creates a rich and vivid image, which associates Lin’s encounter, fate, thoughts and feelings with flowers. The whole poem is a mirror of Lin's life concept and life value. Every word, full of tears and anger, reflects Lin’s sufferings from her life vividly. It shows Lin’s firm character that she is unwilling to yield and do not want to be insulted by unclean behaviors. She looks forward to having a kind of free and happy life. This poem provides the readers with important clues to explore the tragedy of Lin.
The negative emotions in this poem are extremely dense and should not be ignored. It has a bad influence on some readers who lack analytical thinking ability. Although the mood accords with the Lin's character and her social status, it to some extent expresses Cao’s negative attitude towards his life, and exposes the weaknesses in his own thoughts.