This epic novel is so expansive and detailed that a full exploration of the book would become a life's project. Beyond the interesting variations that translation has evoked from the text, there are internal considerations that are well worth commenting on. For instance, there seems to be an artistic statement in the Jia Baoyu narrative, where we see a portrait of the author's own experience as an artist. Perhaps he is like the magical hero who cannot marry, but who is married to the entire culture of the time.
In that case, a question could be asked, what is the connection between that artistic passion, expressed as a marriage to culture and appreciation, and what remains as perhaps the most obvious and poignant symbol of the text, the transfiguring talking stone. The stone is described as a character in the text. It is a sacred rock which is magical and can speak. The religious nature of the image is clear from its arbiter—it is a priest who is able to hear the rock and fulfill its desires.
By explaining the meaning of the rock, perhaps a metaphor could be drawn for the artistic purpose of Jia's magical union to culture. One obvious interpretation is that the story is playing on Chinese alchemy and the transformation of the soul. This interpretation is likely, considering the ultimate fate of the rock. By traveling with the priest and experiencing the world through travel and philosophy, the stone is transformed into a man. Jung would call this a symbol of individuation, the journey from unconscious processes, which are natural but spiritually inorganic, into a full-blown experience of human nature. The process is also the goal of the magical heir of the Jia clan, Baoyu.
