In the study of the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, the Cheng-Gao versions or Cheng-Gao editions (程高本) refer to two illustrated, woodblock print editions of the book published in 1791 and 1792. The 1791 version, produced at the year's end, is the novel's earliest print edition. It was entitled The Illustrated Dream of the Red Chamber (绣像红楼梦). In early 1792 a revised edition was published less than eighty days after. It differed in minor details from the 1791 edition. Both versions were edited by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E and published by Suzhou's Cuiwen Book House (萃文书屋).
The Cheng-Gao versions mark a departure from early, scribal copies of Dream of the Red Chamber. Cheng and Gao removed commentaries made by Rouge Inkstone, added illustrations, and changed the title (previously known as The Story of the Stone 石头记). They made extensive edits as well as added a 40-chapter continuation to the novel, now known as the Cheng-Gao continuation, which they claimed to be authorial. This 40-chapter ending is now the continuation read by most readers.
Hu Shih in the 1920s referred to the 1791 version as the Chengjia edition (程甲本, "Cheng-A book") and the 1792 version as the Chengyi edition (程乙本, "Cheng-B book"). These are the names by which they are known in the field of Redology. In the mid-20th century until the 1980s the Chengyi edition is the most read, studied and reprinted Dream version in Taiwan owing to Hu Shih's influence. In 1982, the People's Republic of China's People's Literature Publishing House (人民出版社) printed an annotated edition based on the Rouge versions, effectively ending the era where the Cheng-Gao versions were used extensively in China. The edition was edited by a team of scholars including Redologist Feng Qiyong, under the auspices of the "Red Chamber Dream Academy" (红楼梦研究所).
Extant editions of the original Cheng-Gao editions are now very rare and are highly prized collector's items. It is estimated that less than twenty copies are presently in existence.
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Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E both wrote short prefaces in Classical Chinese to the 1791 Chengjia edition (程甲本). The two prefaces were short and because of the brevity of Classical Chinese, can be reproduced in full:
Cheng Weiyuan's 1791 preface is reproduced in full as follows:
In short, Cheng stated in the 1791 preface that the novel, which he renamed Dream of the Red Chamber, was originally entitled the Chronicle of/on the Stone. The author was not known, and it had been ascribed to "different people", but "Mr" Cao Xueqin (now believed to be the book's true author) edited and revised it several times. as was stated in the novel. Contemporaneous market scribes made copies and sold them for high prices (for about several taels of gold). But the book's incomplete, 80-chapter nature disappointed readers. Cheng searched extensively for the remaining chapters, from renowned book collector's libraries to spare paper piles, and in the process collected over "twenty more (ie. new) scrolls (ie. chapters)" of the book. Cheng then claimed, after several years, to have chanced on "ten more scrolls" of the final version from a book vendor (鼓擔), paying a hefty price for them. Being the working manuscript, however, it was unedited and in great disarray. Cheng Weiyuan edited this version with a friend (Gao E), consulting existing versions, then printed the "complete" edition to satiate appetites of fellow fans.
Later Qing Dynasty editions reprinting the Cheng-Gao versions removed Cheng's preface, using Gao's preface solely.[1]
Gao E's 1791 preface is even shorter:
Gao's preface was penned in 1791 winter, five days after the winter solstice, in Tieling. He revealed the overwhelming popularity of the novel, although there was no final version after "over twenty years". He first read the book at a friend's place since he could not have a share of it (ie. purchase it). In spring 1791 Cheng Weiyuan approached Gao to co-edit a "complete" version he bought; Cheng mentioned that he himself was then quite idle but the editing task arduous. Gao said that although the novel concerned "unofficial stray anecdotes" (稗官野史) of the past, it did not slander the "orthodox" Confucian classics. Hence Gao gladly agreed and assisted the editing. He wrote this preface in appreciation of Cheng's offer of collaboration.
The 1791 preface was replaced with a more impersonal foreword worded by both. Also reproduced in full, in Classical Chinese:
The foreword was dated March 5, 1792 (壬子花朝後一日). This foreword is longer and full translation is possibly not necessary, but the gist of it is that both editors, Cheng and Gao, felt the 1791 edition was marred by misprints and sloppy edits. They took more time this time, collating and comparing further versions to refine the 1792 edition, which they considered superior. They found a superior edited manuscript of the last 40 chapters (善本; this caused a lot of suspicions that Cheng and Gao were lying; the 1792 print edition was printed less than three months after the 1791 edition) and based this 1792 newer edition on the superior manuscript. Finally, Cheng and Gao apologized for not adding annotations, owing to the massive work involved in printing, and stated that the print editions have to be priced higher to offset printing costs. They also wrote that their 1791 prefaces were written not to steal the author's thunder, but because they were so elated after discovering the original manuscript that they indiscretely disclosed their full names (the 1792 edition was signed using their style names 號, which were pseudonyms).
In 1921, Hu Shih published Proofs on A Dream of the Red Chamber 《红楼梦考证》. In it, he proposed "beyond a shred of a doubt" (自无可疑) that the last forty chapters was not written by Cao Xueqin himself, but was written by Gao E, based on four pieces of "evidence". (Admittedly, three of them were circumstantial and Hu Shih himself was uncertain about his own second proof.) Hu accused Cheng and Gao of lying in their 1791 prefaces, stating direct evidence from a contemporary, Zhang Wentao (张问陶), that Gao wrote the continuation.[2] His stand is supported by Zhou Ruchang and Liu Xinwu. Another Redologist, Yu Pingbo, originally supported this proposition, but later retracted it (however, Yu is adamant that the last forty chapters were a later addition).[3]
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