[Explanation] "A Dream of Red Mansions", one of the four famous Chinese novels, is the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels.
In 1982, the school-annotated version "Dream of Red Mansions" signed by the "Dream of Red Mansions Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts" was officially published by the People's Literature Publishing House (hereinafter referred to as "Humanshe"), and became a popular reader of "Dream of Red Mansions" distributed to the whole country, referred to as "Red Mansions". School Notes".
[Explanation] Recently, the revised version of "Dream of Red Mansions" in 2022 has been officially published.
The convener of the revision work is Zhang Qingshan, president of the Chinese Society of Dreams of Red Mansions.
[Concurrent period] Zhang Qingshan, convener of the revision work in 2022, president of the Chinese Academy of Red Mansions
In the publication history of this book, it happened to be revised once every 14 years.
Published in 1982, revised once in 1996, revised once in 2008, this time for the fourth time.
In fact, the principle of revision is basically the same.
First, be faithful to the original; second, absorb the latest academic achievements as much as possible and correct mistakes.
[Explanation] Due to the complex and controversial version of "Dream of Red Mansions", it is very difficult to correct it.
This revision mainly corrects the omissions and corruptions of the previous edition.
Sometimes, changing just one punctuation mark can make a big difference in semantics.
[Concurrent period] Zhang Qingshan, convener of the revision work in 2022, president of the Chinese Academy of Red Mansions
There is a passage in "A Dream of Red Mansions", "The first-born purple river car, humanoid with leaf ginseng, three hundred and sixty-two less than tortoises, large Polygonum multiflorum, thousand-year-old pine roots, and Poria gallbladder." Everyone always feels that this is awkward and difficult to understand, especially What is "three hundred and sixty-two less than turtles"?
can not say it clearly.
When we revised the punctuation in the fourth edition, what did we change after discussion?
The first-born purple river car, comma, humanoid with leaf ginseng, comma, there is a dash below, three hundred and sixty taels is insufficient, another dash, turtle big Polygonum multiflorum, comma, thousand-year-old pine root Poria bile... In this case, It's clear at once.
The original point (punctuation) is wrong.
What does "three hundred and sixty taels are insufficient" mean?
In fact, when we were researching, we felt that this was a critique that was mistakenly entered into the text, but it was our analysis after all.
In order to respect the original text, we still keep it, but use dashes before and after, which provides a new thinking for readers to read and understand.
[Explanation] Under the principle of respecting the original text and correcting mistakes, experts from the original school annotation group, relevant scholars from the Chinese Society of Dreams of Red Mansions, the Institute of Dreams of Red Mansions, and the editor of the Humanities Society completed the revision work together for 2 years.
Hu Wenjun is also one of the participants, mainly responsible for contacting experts and compiling revision opinions.
[Concurrent] Hu Wenjun, Deputy Director of the Classics Department of People's Literature Publishing House
What I have in my hand is actually the third edition of our Red Institute's annotated version of "Dream of Red Mansions".
The places where these stickers are filled are where we make changes.
Sometimes a word or a punctuation will be changed, and sometimes a note will be changed, and our editor will transcribe it on it.
The punctuation of He Shouwu is the longest discussion in my mind.
After checking a lot of other people's punctuation methods, including the explanations in some ancient books, including some punctuation methods on manuscripts and photocopies, I then determined the current punctuation method.
It may still be controversial, but we all feel that it should be the most reasonable way of punctuation.
There are more than 400 places (modifications) in the main text, punctuation, notes, and proofreading, among which there are more notes (modifications), and there are more than 200 changes in the notes.
[Explanation] Among the more than 400 revisions, nearly 10 were proposed by readers.
[Concurrent] Hu Wenjun, Deputy Director of the Classics Department of People's Literature Publishing House
It really means that readers call or send emails, such as feedback to our distribution department customer service, this word may be wrong, I really want to change it after checking.
I gave feedback to experts and teachers, and they felt that it should be changed.
It is their attention that keeps pushing this book forward.
There will definitely be suggestions for us to give back to us, and I am looking forward to these feedbacks. If there is, we will improve it, or accumulate it for the next revision.
Perhaps in ten years, it will be revised again on a large scale.
[Explanation] In the future, the revision team will continue to absorb the new research results of Red Mansions, so that the school-annotated version of "Dream of Red Mansions" will keep pace with the times and improve day by day, so as to spread the "Dream of Red Mansions" culture to readers in a better way.
[Concurrent period] Zhang Qingshan, convener of the revision work in 2022, president of the Chinese Academy of Red Mansions
This time, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the publication of the new school book of (Red Research Institute), the new school book was revised for the fourth time, which is indeed a report and explanation to the history and the predecessors.
If some new problems are found, it is normal to revise it again in a few years.
I hope to keep improving, this new school will be better and more liked by readers, so that Cao Xueqin's original work can be more realistically displayed in front of readers.
Reporter Lang Jiahui reports from Beijing
Responsible editor: [Bian Liqun]