New Story of the Stone

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New Story of the Stone

by
Wu Jianren

general information | our review | links | about the author

Title:	New Story of the Stone
Author:	Wu Jianren
Genre:	Novel
Written:	1908 (Eng. 2025)
Length:	559 pages
Original in:	Chinese
Availability:	New Story of the Stone - US
	New Story of the Stone - UK
	New Story of the Stone - Canada

	from: Bookshop.org (US)

An Early Chinese Science Fiction Novel
Chinese title: 新石頭記
Translated and with an Introduction by Liz Evans Weber
Presented as a sequel to Cao Xueqin's The Story of the Stone

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Our Assessment:

B : a fun oddity

See our review for fuller assessment.

The complete review's Review:

       New Story of the Stone is a sequel to Cao Xueqin's classic eighteenth-century novel, The Story of the Stone, arguably the greatest and most revered work of Chinese fiction. Author Wu Jianren is aware of the dangers of such an undertaking, opening the novel explaining himself -- admitting regarding the many previous sequels of The Story of the Stone that: "not a single person has ever claimed they were any good" (setting the bar nicely low for his own sequel-work ...). Wu does emphasize that he takes a different tack in his continuation of the novel than his predecessors have, as: "Every single person who has written a sequel to Story of the Stone uses this opportunity to bring Lin Daiyu back to life and writes endlessly of private affections between the sexes"; Wu leaves her dead and buried and instead *simply* continues the story, bringing Jia Baoyu -- the central figure in The Story of the Stone -- back to continue on a very much earth-bound path, albeit with a few leaps and twists (as this is indeed, as the subtitle to this English translation has it: An Early Chinese Science Fiction Novel).
       Only a few other characters from the original feature prominently in New Story of the Stone: Beiming -- familiar from the Hawkes/Minford Penguin Classics translation of The Story of the Stone as 'Tealeaf' --, "Baoyu's erstwhile page"; Baoyu's cousin (and Xue Baochai's brother), Xue Pan; and, in long unrecognized form, Baoyu's double, Zhen Baoyu. But Baoyu is the dominant figure again: these are his adventures. And his experiences also differ from the original markedly in that he is without romantic entanglements -- his two great loves, Daiyu and Baochai, are not on hand for him to be torn between; he has literally left them behind (as he already had at the conclusion of The Story of the Stone) -- and that he ventures much farther out into the world than he had in the original.
       There are essentially two parts to New Story of the Stone. The first finds Baoyu pulled back to the familiar mortal world: "He completely forgot what he had learned about the cycle of causality and wished to return home just once". He does return, at least to the vicinity -- and conveniently is almost immediately reünited with a somewhat confused Beiming right away --, but among the first things he comes across are newspapers, and they suggest the year is ... 1900; time sure has passed. No wonder: "Baoyu couldn't help but be alarmed".
       Still, at first he's fairly philosophical:

Looking at the date, it’s obvious that the reign name changed sometime after I left home. It makes me angry to think that while I was muddling along in my ‘self-cultivation’ I became so addled that I never bothered to keep track of the date ! And looking below the date there, what’s this ‘1900’ business ? That’s even further beyond me.”

Beyond him, and beyond everything he's familiar with ..... He and Beiming set out to return to the Jia family residences but soon find that's a tall order. When one stranger hears what they're looking for he's taken aback:

     "“But just now, it sounded like maybe you’re trying to find the home of Jia Baoyu from Dream of the Red Chamber ?”
     "“Exactly so !” Baoyu was elated. “But I don’t understand this Dream of the Red Chamber you mentioned.”
     "“Reading too many novels has turned your brain to mush,” the man laughed. “Did you just want to see the house ? Or were you hoping to meet Jia Baoyu ? Or maybe see Lin Daiyu ?”

       It's a bit bewildering, but Baoyu decides to go to the source, sending Beiming out to buy a copy of that novel and then reading it. It's unsettling to find his life recounted there -- "Even if I look to the events of the novel as confirmation of how I’ve ended up in this situation, it still feels as though I’m dreaming" -- but he actually gets over it pretty fast, and doesn't worry too much about his old life and what became of his family. (It's a shame Wu doesn't run more with the *real* Baoyu dealing with finding himself a character in a novel .....) It becomes clear to him that: "I'm a person from an era many years in the past who has once again emerged into the world !" even if he doesn't quite understand how he managed that -- much less how Beiming and Xue Pan also find themselves here -- but pushes aside those thoughts, figuring that, whatever the reason: "Now that I'm a man of this era, I have to know more about the times I'm living in". (Amusingly, at one point in his later adventures, when he finds himself imprisoned and possibly facing death he muses: "perhaps I’ll give death a try -- if I end up being a ghost, it will at least give me a chance to further expand my horizons !" (Spoiler: it doesn't come to that.))
       In plopping down Baoyu in (then near-)contemporary China, Wu can use the character to comment on the state of the nation and its recent history. Baoyu is a conveniently familiar figure -- not entirely a stranger in a strange land (and strange time), as most readers know 'where he's coming from', as it were. Still, Baoyu is primarily a figure of convenience for Wu: some of his traits are familiar, but in these new circumstances he can only be presented true-to-character so far. So also Wu does not try to echo significant aspects of The Story of the Stone: there's not much versifying going on here, for example, -- or, more obviously, there's not much romance here, as Baoyu is pretty much all business (and, unlike in The Story of the Stone, female characters get short shrift here).
       Still, there is quite a bit of adventure, as Baoyu explores and learns about China anno 1900. Baoyu sets out to get to Beijing -- which, however, requires a roundabout journey: he has to get to Shanghai, go to Tianjin from there, and only from there can he get to the capital.
       Among the first things that strike him is how much foreigners dominate business in this China, complaining to Xue Pan:

“Walking along the streets just now, nine shops out of ten were selling foreign goods. It’s as though we Chinese have no businesses of our own.”

Baoyu supports the idea of foreign trade -- but wonders about the foreigners' products: "if they can make such a thing, why can't we ?" What he sees, wherever he goes, confirms his initial impressions, and he can't help but wonder:

Why do Chinese go to such lengths to make themselves the slaves of foreigners ?

He's even more shocked to learn that foreigners have bought Chinese land ("outside of the concessions", no less) ..... On the other hand, the foreigners seem perfectly willing to share their technology, which baffles Baoyu as well:

These techniques are all foreign, and yet they are willing to teach them to us ? Making guns, making cannons—if we ever learn to make them on our own, against whom are we likely to use them ? If there ever is a day when the peace between us is no more, wouldn’t we turn around and use these weapons to attack the foreigners ?

Baoyu repeatedly turns to contemporary texts to inform himself, studying the writings that might help him understand this new age, including many banned works. He reads reformist periodicals of the time such as The Chinese Progress (时务报) and The China Discussion (清议报) -- finding the latter: "somewhat richer in thought than The Chinese Progress". It is also the time of the Boxer Rebellion, and Baoyu finds himself caught up in that conflict as well, with Xue Pan a disciple of the 'Militia of Righteous Harmony' (the Boxers) -- to which Baoyu can only shake his head and ask: "How did you get yourself into such an idiotic situation ?"
Baoyu has some adventures, and has reason to continue to be on the move -- visiting also the Tomb of Confucius in Qufu along the way. Wu then throws in another supernatural twist involving Beiming -- and steps to the fore to address the readers himself again, explaining:

Now, in such an enlightened and advanced age as ours, that I, the author of this book, should suddenly start speaking of such ridiculous things—well, how can this not be a case of reveling in barbarity ? How could I not be berated by my readers for this ? But you may not be aware that there is a logic at play in all of it, which is that it was my own secret intention to deliberately leave this episode in the text, in order that I might cause my readers to take this idea as a prompt for deep reflection.

Here the book takes a different turn, as Baoyu is again transported -- not through time, but to a co-existing alternate world, the 'Realm of Civilization'. Visitors from elsewhere are not unknown there, but they are, for example, subject to examination by a 'character-analyzing lens' to see if they are fit to enter the realm. Baoyu, too, is examined -- and:

When Doctor Huang Yuehuan examined his character at the hotel, he said Baoyu’s character was clear and crystalline as a looking glass. That’s never before happened with someone from outside !

This second part of New Story of the Stone then follows Baoyu as he explores this technologically and socially advanced utopia, a place where there is no crime and no religion (as Baoyu's guide explains: "How can there be a civilized country in this world that does have a religion ?’ You should know that ‘religion’ is only used to transmit teachings to the ignorant masses. If the people are already enlightened with regard to the most important principles, then what religion could they possibly need ?") There are no beggars (no one is in need), brothels (strict social mores are universally accepted and adhered to), -- or theaters or actors:

Our dictionaries do not contain the word ‘actor,’ either ! Who would be willing to do something so shameless as performing !

       (The idea of excluding terms from the 'civilized dictionary' of the Realm, as if simply pretending that there is no word to describe certain actions or actors is enough to exclude the very concept and possibility, is an interesting one -- slightly undermined here, of course, by the fact that the guide does use the (missing) words as examples.)
       Much of this second part of the novel reads much like a Jules Verne novel, especially regarding the technological advances. There are flying cars, which Baoyu travels in, as well as a submarine, in which Baoyu travels far across the oceans; the adventures -- hunting great creatures -- are also Verne-like. There are vast built-up and inhabited subterranean areas, and a great deal of automation of production. Much of this is reasonably fun, but it's also a bit of a weird turn to the novel.
       Besides being technologically advanced, the Realm is also a society without friction or real problems. Everyone knows their place and their duties, and there is no strife. The ideal is a Confucian one: "within the Realm of Civilization all things are done according to the way of Confucius", and Wu uses this to suggest how China itself could be 'set right' as it were, in his interesting mix of claims as to how society should function.
       The Realm has an authoritarian regime, and to his credit Wu does have Baoyu wonder:

But how can an authoritarian government actually be good ? I truly do not understand this.

Apparently, as long as everyone has gotten a proper moral education, it's all good. (The assumption presumably being also that the moral education takes, and that those inculcated with it will behave *properly*.)
So:

What official doesn’t emerge from among the common people ? If he received moral education while he was still a commoner, then when he becomes an official, how could he govern with poor principles ? When the commoners have such a good government, they are peaceful in their lives and content in their work, and everyone is free to pursue his own specialized field of learning. What need is there for the bother of having people constantly rushing off to parliament to debate things ?

       (Here as elsewhere, the similarities to contemporary Chinese conditions and claims are striking.)
       Among the more specific issues addressed are also ones such as that of public schooling, with Baoyu's guide explaining that, while the state once had free community school now all schools require a fee. The concern was apparently that: "if the children of the poor could attend without paying a cent, they might develop a dependent nature. If we were to establish community schools, it would teach these children to be dependent from a young age -- so how could we ever hope to inculcate a self-reliant spirit in them ?" Interestingly, the population was asked to weigh in, and it was the poor who were: "unanimously in favor of doing away with the community schools".
       In other ways, Wu proves disappointingly reactionary, too. Sure, girls get schooling too, but: "the women's studies will be completely different from the men's", -- though, hey, they're not short of great opportunities:

“Many different subjects ! In addition to needlework, many of the light industrial arts are primarily studied by women. And recently, in the area of medicine, we have designated the two disciplines of pediatrics and women’s health as female fields of specialization.”

(Already in the first part of the novel there had been some discussion of footbinding, which was seen as a barbaric, outdated custom -- but god forbid women would actually get some education, with Baoyu claiming: "to suddenly start teaching women about equality and self-determination would be like taking an ill person lying sick in bed and, before even helping him to stand up, trying to teach him to run ! How could it be made to work ?")
Worse yet is the racism on display. In the Realm they've developed a substance that enhances intelligence: "ones thinking is enriched" by it -- but: "one must first have subjects who are capable of thought if it is to produce any benefit". And, um:

The thinking of the red, black, and other races can be summed up in the word ‘lazy.’ If they were to use this formula, it would only increase their ability for thinking of new ways to be lazy.

Similarly, Wu accuses Abraham Lincoln of having advocated emancipation because: "All he wanted, and with all of his being, was to be president" and he thought that was the ticket -- but:

Who could have predicted that the freed black people were as simple-minded as animals, so that upon their emancipation, they were unable to support themselves, and contrary to expectations, they were worse off than when they had been slaves ?

So, yeah, this aspect of the novel is ... more than unfortunate, and shows the sad limits of Wu's vision and imagination.
Finally, Baoyu also gets to meet Dongfang Wenming, the benevolent leader -- now retired -- who shaped and guided the Realm into what it now is. Even those who have not read translator Liz Evans Weber's Introduction to the novel will not be surprised by the big reveal, that Dongfang Wenming is, in fact, the *other* Baoyu -- "the boy who shared my given name, and even looked like me", as Baoyu recalled early on. It nicely helps tie together the novel, with Baoyu feeling: "as though he had just woken from a dream" after learning how Dongfang Wenming has devoted his long, long life to: "the founding and oversight of this place". As Baoyu realizes:

I originally wished to fulfill the ambition of helping to mend the sky, and having only just reemerged into the world, I didn’t expect to find that he had already snatched both the task and the glory completely away from me ! Once again my aspirations have been in vain.

Baoyu is a vehicle for Wu to write about (then-contemporary) China and the issues it was facing, and offering an alternate vision. Wu gets some decent mileage out of the The Story of the Stone-connections, but it's more of a nod than a true attempt at continuing the story; still, the parts with the strongest connection -- when Baoyu reads The Story of the Stone, for example, or also then the novel's resolution -- are very good. The two-part structure of the novel, presenting very different halves, is a bit awkward, especially when Wu gets carried away for a while with Baoyu traversing the globe -- on high, as well as deep under water -- in search of trophies, even as these episodes do make for some fun, Jules Verne-like adventure. Wu's vision of a perfect society also disappoints some with its sexism and especially its racism -- beyond also being unrealistically too-good-to-be-true. The concept of the Realm is simply too dependent on the wishful thinking that moral education can actually make people moral.
As a didactic novel, wishing to show the errors of many of the ways of the times as well as suggesting the true path, New Story of the Stone lumbers along at times, and here also Wu's use of Baoyu doesn't help his cause nearly as much as it might, as he simply can't (re)create Cao Xueqin's character with the same richness the original author imbued him with. Nevertheless, New Story of the Stone is a quite fascinating work, especially for its time (and as an example of a Chinese approach to science fiction at the time) but also surprisingly resonant in this day and age.

- M.A.Orthofer, 31 May 2025

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Links:

New Story of the Stone:

Columbia University Press publicity page
新石頭記 - Chinese text

Reviews:

The Modern Novel

Other books of interest under review:

Cao Xueqin's The Story of the Stone
See Index of Chinese literature
See Index of Science Fiction and Fantasy books
See Index of Series and Sequels under review
See Index of Books Written Between 1900 and 1945

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About the Author:

Chinese author Wu Jianren (吳趼人) lived 1866 to 1910.

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