Misplaced Pages

Qin Zhong (Chinese: 秦鐘; pinyin: Qín Zhōng) is a secondary character in Cao Xueqin's classic 18th century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. He is Qin Keqing's younger brother and Jia Baoyu's handsome best friend and schoolmate. One interpretation is that his name, Qin Zhong, is a pun for qingzhong (passion incarnate), and that as his sister Qinshi initiates Baoyu into heterosexual relations in his dream, Qin Zong initiates him into homosexual ones.

Qin Zhong is around 12 when he first meets Baoyu and only survives for a few years. His (adoptive) elder sister is Qin Keqing, Baoyu's nephew Jia Rong's wife, and so he is technically a generation younger than Baoyu. The two boys get along marvelously well and decide to enroll in the Jia clan's school together and become study-mates. He becomes Baoyu's best friend and perhaps lover, mocked by schoolmates for their closeness.

Qin Zhong and the little novice bhikkhuni Zhineng (智能, "Intelligent", called "Sapientia" in the Hawkes translation), who grew up visiting the Jia household, eventually fall in love. Zhineng absconds from the Water-Moon Priory and makes her way into the city to find Qin Zhong, but is chased away at the door by his father. After giving Qin Zhong a severe beating, Qin Ye succumbs to anger and shock. Qin Zhong, already just recovering from illness, dies from a combination of the severe beating, and overwhelming grief and remorse.

Notes

1. Egan, Susan Chan; Bai, Xianyong, eds. (2021). A Companion to the Story of the Stone: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 16. ISBN 9780231199445.
2. The Story of the Stone, Vol I The Golden Days, translated by David Hawkes, pp. 206-209, 300. See also Jonathan Spence, "Ch'ing," in K.C. Chang, ed., Food in Chinese Culture (Yale University Press, 1977), p. 279.
3. The Story of the Stone, Vol I pp. 320-323.

v t e Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber
Redology
Text and commentaries	Zhiyanzhai Odd Tablet Cheng-Gao versions Gao E
Characters	Jia Zheng's nuclear family Jia Baoyu Hua Xiren Jia Tanchun Li Wan Jia Zheng Lady Wang (Jia Yuanchun) Xue family Xue Baochai Xue Pan Xiangling Jia She's nuclear family Wang Xifeng Ping'er Jia Yingchun Jia Qiaojie Jia Lian Jia Zhen's nuclear family Jia Xichun Qin Keqing Other characters Lin Daiyu Shi Xiangyun Miaoyu Grandmother Jia Granny Liu Qin Zhong Jiang Yuhan Lingguan
Places	Daguanyuan
Sequels	The New Story of the Stone (1905)
Adaptations	Dream of the Red Chamber (1944 film) Dream of the Red Chamber (1987 TV series) A Dream of Red Mansions (1988 film series) Dream of the Red Chamber (1996 TV series) The Dream of Red Mansions (2010 TV series) Dream of the Red Chamber (opera)
Category

This article about a fictional character from a novel is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

• v
• t
• e

• Dream of the Red Chamber characters
• Fictional characters from Jiangsu
• Novel character stubs