Modern Media Studies

MMS, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2025, pp.285-292.

Print ISSN: 3078-3151; Online ISSN: 3104-5049

Journal homepage: https://www.mmsjournal.com

 DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/MMS.25.2.12

A “Typological” Perspective Returning to the Cultural Matrix: A Review of  Wang Huaiyi’s The Iconic Origin of the Text of A Dream of Red Mansions

Li Zhangyi

Abstract: Wang Huaiyi’s The Iconic Origin of the Text of A Dream of Red Mansions （《〈红楼梦〉文本图像渊源考论》） examines the relationship between Dream of the Red Mansions （《红楼梦》） and painting from a “typological” perspective. It places the novel back into its cultural matrix, revealing how this matrix nurtured the work and how the work reflects it. The author analyzes three different levels of typological relationships, including the typology between scenes in the work and corresponding theme paintings, the typology between the work's visual grammar and the aotu （凹凸， concave-convex） technique of Western painting, and the typology between paintings mentioned in the work and other textual elements. These three typologies progressively deepen, uncovering a stable and intrinsic homologous and interpenetrating relationship between the text of Dream of the Red Mansions and images. Classifying the novel's plots, scenes, events, and imagery as typological patterns not only facilitates its return to the cultural matrix to achieve its own integrity but also helps its unique qualities to be highlighted through interconnection with other art forms. This approach prompts fresh contemplation and assessment of the novel’s aesthetic implications, visual grammar, and internal structure.

Keywords: Dream of the Red Mansions; Typological; Pattern; Visual Grammar; Cultural Matrix

Author Biography: Li Zhangyi, Doctoral candidate, School of Chinese Language and

Literature, Wuhan University, research direction: Chinese aesthetics. E-mail: smshcngg@163.com.

标题：回归文化母体的“类型化”视角——评王怀义《〈红楼梦〉文本图像渊源考论》

摘要：《〈红楼梦〉文本图像渊源考论》一书以“类型化”视角考察《红楼梦》与绘画艺术之间的渊源关系，将《红楼梦》放回至它所诞生的文化母体中，呈现文化母体对它的熏陶以及它对文化母体的反映。作者剖析了三种不同层次的类型化关系，包括《红楼梦》中场景与相应题材画作的类型化、《红楼梦》视觉语法与西洋画凹凸技法的类型化、《红楼梦》中画作与文本中其他要件的类型化，这三种类型化逐层递进，揭示出《红楼梦》文本与图像间稳定且固有的同源互渗关系。将《红楼梦》中的情节、场景、事件、意象等归为类型化模式，不仅有助于它向文化母体回归以获得自身完整性，也有助于它的独特品质在与其他艺术形式的互联互通中得到彰显，促使人们对其审美意蕴、视觉语法、内在结构等进行新的思考与衡量。

关键词：《红楼梦》；类型化；范型；视觉语法；文化母体

作者简介：李张怡，武汉大学文学院博士研究生，研究方向：中国美学。电子邮箱：smshcngg@163.com。

Received: 18 Jul 2025 / Revised: 01 Nov 2025 / Accepted: 05 Nov 2025 / Published online: 30 Nov 2025 / Print published: 30 Dec 2025