“Pages full of idle words
Penned with hot and bitter tears:
All men call the author fool;
None his secret message hears.”

—  Cao Xueqin , book Dream of the Red Chamber

Source: Dream of the Red Chamber (c. 1760), Chapter 1

Original

满纸荒唐言，一把辛酸泪！ 都云作者痴，谁解其中味？

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Cao Xueqin photo
Cao Xueqin 11
Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty 1724–1763

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