The novel The Story of the Stone is based on the Buddhist concept of the karmic birth and existence of a person. The soul must outlive the “dream of life” with all its sorrows and anguish, then renounce everything earthly and embark on a new enlightened path. The author often declares: “Never suffer, never learn”; this demonstrates his point on the matter of life and experience (Damrosch & Pike). The image of the stone and Chinese folklore play a massive symbolic role. The protagonist Bao-yu (“Precious Jade”) is a metaphor for a stone thrown behind by the goddess and ended up on the earth, where was destined to experience the “dream of life” before enlightenment. The stone in the novel has a sacred part, and Bao-yu is its embodiment. The stone’s involvement in nature, and its ability to sense and think comes from the Daoist philosophy about the close connection between animate and inanimate nature, life, and death.
Daoist philosophy describes the process of enlightenment through the lens of mysticism; Buddhism focuses on gradual suffering before purification. The narrative also includes Confucian ideas based mainly on ethics and morality. It can be observed in the connection between the main character and his father. Jia Bao-yu’s worldview is deeply influenced by the philosophy of Buddhism, which is at odds with the Confucian pedagogy that his father strives to offer. Bao-yu reacts: “Who demands too much from others, can lose everything. (Damrosch & Pike)” He experiences boredom and disgust from listening to his father’s notations, happily accepting such doctrines as a rescue to naturalness, indifference to wealth, and occupation.
The connection between reality, truth, and illusions runs like a red thread through the entire book. The narration is conducted on several levels: realistic, with a thorough description of story scenes and daily rituals, and allegorical. The mixture of unpretentious affairs, folklore, and fundamental philosophies gives a surreal narrative with numerous metaphors and visions. It can be perceived as an attempt by the author to describe global ideas and reflections through the prism of human lives.
Work Cited
Damrosch, David, and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Pearson, 2009.