蘇州 李鼎과 <石頭記> - 脂硯齋에 대한 고찰을 중심으로

Abstract

Historical research not only on the question whether the prototype for protagonist Jiabaoyu[賈寶玉] of Honglou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) was Jiabaoyu or not but also on who the early critic Zhiyanzhai[脂硯齋] was that commented and was involved in editing and proofreading when the transcribed novel was distributed and popularized in the title of Shitouji still remains a difficult problem. Taiwanese Pishumin[皮述民] has studied SuzhouLijia[蘇州 李家] for nearly 20 years suspecting that he might have been Liding[李鼎], the eldest son of Lixu[李煦] who was Suzhouzhizao[蘇州織造]. This study organized assumptions how Liding, the eldest son of Lixu who was Suzhouzhizao, and the work Honglou Meng could be related to each other after reading Pishumin's book and referring to other studies which support his argument. Caojia[曹家] who was Jiangningzhizao[江寧織造] and Lijia[李家] who was Suzhouzhizao were very close relatives and they were rich and influential families who enjoyed emperor's favor and received Emperor Kangxi[康熙]'s Southern rounds as many as 4 times. Implicated in rebellion of Imperial prince, Lijia[李家] in Suzhou[蘇州] had their properties confiscated in the first year of Emperor Yongzheng[雍正] and Caojia[曹家] in Jinling[金陵] had their properties also confiscated in the fifth year of Emperor Yongzheng and both families were relegated to Beijing and experienced suffering and hardships in life for the first time. Around the time when political pressure became loose in Qianlong[乾隆] period, Liding, who had been already an adult when his family had properties confiscated, handed over the draft of several parts of Shitouji which he was writing based on his own experience to his cousin Caoxueqin[曹雪芹] who was younger but had better writing skills and supported him to finish the work. This took around 10 years but Caoxueqin wrote 80 parts and died without completing the novel. Although there are still controversies among scholars on such assumption that prototype of Jiabaoyu was Liding, Pishumin's argument that Jiabaoyu = Zhiyanzhai = Liding is not totally groundless and thus, this study introduce it in not so voluminous thesis.