Dream of the Red Chamber or Hong Lou Meng is a celebrated Chinese classical novel noted for its noble ideas and aesthetic values. This literary masterpiece has generated significant intellectual interest and research, with a new discipline created, namely, “Redology”, devoted solely to its study. In 2016, alumnus Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy donated his 40 years of worldwide collection of the novel in order to establish a “Dream of the Red Chamber Research Collection” in the library of his alma mater University of Malaya.
This is a rich compilation of Dream of the Red Chamber with many types of manuscripts, representing more than 10 different languages and 20 various translations. Since the inception of “Redology” many works related to Dream of the Red Chamber have been published and produced, including research materials related to Cao Xueqin and academic dissertations. The age of this collection spans over 200 years, from as early as the Jia Qing period (Qing Dynasty, 1796-1820) to the present times.