Hello, and welcome to The Story of The Stone, I’m Tom. Today, we will listen to the part B of Chapter one The Origin of the Book and the Sacred Debt of Tears Eons passed. A Daoist known as Vanitas (Kongkong Daoren), in his search for immortality, passed by the foot of Green Ridge Peak on the Great Wilderness Mountain. He noticed a large stone with clearly legible inscriptions detailing its history. Vanitas read it from the beginning and realized it was the very stone that had been deemed useless for repairing the sky, had assumed human form to enter the world, and had been brought into the mortal realm by the Buddhist and Daoist masters. The inscription recorded its birthplace, its family matters, the trivialities of the inner chambers, as well as poems and riddles. However, the exact dynasty and dates were missing. At the end, there was a verse: Lacking the grace to mend the azure sky, In vain I spent my mortal years on high. This is the tale of lives both past and new, Who will record it for a chronicle true? Vanitas said to the stone, "Brother Stone, your story possesses some interest, which is why it is engraved here for the world to see. However, first, there is no dynasty or era to verify; second, there are no great sages or loyal ministers governing the court or reforming customs. It contains nothing but a few unusual women, some amorous, some foolish, with minor talents and small virtues. Even if I were to copy it down, it could hardly be considered an extraordinary book." The stone replied, "Master, why must you be so stubborn? The unofficial histories of old always borrow the names of the Han or Tang dynasties. It is far better for my record to avoid such cliches and simply follow the facts and human reason, which makes it fresh and unique. Furthermore, those wild histories are often full of slander against ministers or defamation of women, depicting endless violence and vice. Then there are the erotic writings that corrupt young minds. As for the stories of 'talented scholars and beautiful ladies,' they are filled with repetitive tropes, always borrowing the names of Zhuo Wenjun or Cao Zijian, a thousand books sharing one face, and inevitably sliding into vulgarity. The authors merely wish to display their own love poems, so they invent a couple and add a villain to cause trouble like a clown in a play. What is worse, their language is stiff, unnatural, and self-contradictory. "They cannot compare to the women I personally witnessed in my half-lifetime. Though I dare not say they surpass the characters in ancient books, looking at their lives is enough to dispel boredom and anxiety. The few clumsy verses included may also serve as amusement over wine. The joys, separations, ups, and downs are all based on real tracks, without a shred of forced fabrication. My only wish is that when people are waking from wine or seeking refuge from sorrow, they might read this to refresh their eyes and save their energy, rather than chasing illusions. What do you think, Master?" Vanitas pondered for a long while and reviewed The Story of the Stone once more. Seeing that its main theme was love and that it was a faithful record of events free from political slander or obscenity, he copied it from beginning to end to publish to the world. Because of this, Vanitas, "from emptiness saw form; from form conceived passion; transmitted passion into form; and from form awakened to emptiness," changed his name to the Monk of Passion (Qingseng), and retitled the book The Chronicle of the Monk of Passion (Qingseng Lu). Kong Meixi of Eastern Lu titled it The Precious Mirror of Romance (Fengyue Baojian). Later, Cao Xueqin in his Studio of Mourning Red (Diaohong Xuan) studied it for ten years and revised it five times, creating the index and dividing it into chapters, giving it the title The Twelve Beauties of Jinling (Jinling Ershicha), accompanied by a quatrain. This is the origin of The Story of the Stone.
