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《红楼梦》的作者不是曹雪芹，而是顺治年间杭州人洪昇；《红楼梦》故事发生地在杭州的西溪一带。这一石破天惊的新说，是“土默热红学”创始人土默热最先提出的。今天，这个新说正在杭州乃至国内外悄然热传。异端真伪有待科学考证，而它只能以事实来证明。
2012年6月17日，父亲节。一位蒙古族老学者，从北国来到杭州西溪，见证了“杭州西溪红学陈列馆”和“杭州土默热红学研究中心”揭牌。
这位老学者，就是“土默热红学”的创始人—土默热先生。
而他致力半生研究的成果，正是扎根于西溪、扎根于洪园的事业—《红楼梦》作者不是众所周知的曹雪芹与高鹗，而是杭州人洪昇，洪昇曾经居住生活过的西溪洪园，正是《红楼梦》的原型地。
说起西溪洪园，可能很多杭州人也有点搞不清楚。
今天已经建成的西溪湿地国家公园分东、西两个园区。东区所在地为西湖区，2005年开园，是第一期工程和第二期工程。西区所在地为余杭五常，2008年开园，为第三期工程，主打洪氏文化，于是也叫洪园。以前以一期、二期、三期来区分的；后来，也叫过西溪国家湿地公园东区（西湖区）、西区（余杭区）；但最终，大家都觉得，后者还是直接叫西溪洪园最好，因为，洪园本就是西溪三期工程最大的亮点。
洪园有两个入口：沿天目山路向西，右拐转入五常大道，不到300米，是西溪洪园的龙舌嘴入口。“杭州绕城高速”五常出口下来之后，沿访溪路进来，便是西溪洪园的洪园入口。
日前，我走进洪园，满目皆绿。湿地内，随处是溪流、河荡、泽地。荡中有岛，岛中有塘，港汊纵横。堤岸上的池杉、垂柳、翠竹、桑树、香樟、枇杷树、柿树、桂花树，水边的草已经长得很高，偶有野鸭白鹭出没，还来不及惊呼，便已从水边掠过。在这里，有300亩芦苇、4000棵柿子树……
可是，这样一片充满了原生态自然风光的地方，土默热先生为何会把它与《红楼梦》的创作联系起来呢？带着这样的疑问，我请教了与土默热先生相熟的中国作家协会会员、杭州土默热红学研究中心顾问桑士达老师。
土默热与“土默热红学”
对于土默热先生踏上研究西溪与红学道路的生平，桑士达娓娓道来：“土默热1951年10月出生于吉林扶余，1973年8月入吉林师范大学地理系学习，1976年9月进吉林省扶余县教师进修学校工作。其后进入政界，现为吉林省总工会主要负责人。”
土默热最早接触红学，是在文革期间。当时，毛泽东主席号召读《红》评《红》，土默热积极地投入了活动，研读中却得出了与众不同的结论—《红楼梦》是杭州人洪昇原创，故事发生地就在杭州西溪！为了印证自己的研究，30多年来，他数次南下杭州实地考察，寻踪搜古、查典求籍，登山踏水、筚路蓝缕，终于对杭州的历史文化了如指掌，讲起来头头是道，比我们许多杭州人更熟悉杭州！
“土默热红学”，是土默热积30余年之功创立的红学新说，可谓是对一直以来定论的“离经叛道”之说！概而言之，“土默热红学”对《红楼梦》产生的时代背景、思想源流、文化传承、民俗宗教等，进行了全新的探索；对作品的创作缘起、故事素材、人物原型、审美建构等，做出了最新的诠释。
土默热积多年研究之功，早在2003年，就开始在“红楼艺苑”网站发表阐述其研究成果的系列论文。2006年，《土默热红学》一书由吉林人民出版社出版。
其后，土默热依然笔耕不辍，先后出版了《土默热红学》及其续补三卷、“土默热红楼文化丛书”五卷、《〈红楼梦〉与西溪文化》、《土默热红学新突破》等专著。台湾出版界出版发行了《土默热：红学大突破》一书。专著文字总量达600余万字，在港台和海外引起了较大反响。
洪氏文化 洪园之魂
在桑士达老师的指点下，笔者在西溪洪园里，除了看到原生态的自然风光，更体验到了独特的洪氏文化。
在西溪洪园，在庄严肃穆的“钱塘望族”、“洪氏宗祠”里，在展品丰富的“洪氏家族文化展览馆”中，在园林般的洪园里，人们可以深深感受悠远的家族文化带来的历史厚重感。
洪氏家族，相传始于远古时代的共工氏，姓姜，是炎帝的后裔，生活在河南辉县一带，后人奉为水神。约至东汉，后裔避仇居敦煌，改姓洪。后支系繁衍，多籍东南。
唐时洪家移居盱眙（今属江苏）、徽州、江西鄱阳等地。洪士良的先祖“世世业耕桑”，靠农耕为业。到了洪士良时，他则“志操不群”，立志于发家致富，要由农耕渐变为农商兼做。
到了南宋，洪皓立功，封为魏国忠宣公，赐第杭州葛岭，赐田西溪，称为钱塘洪氏之始。洪皓三子，都官至宰执大臣，始成钱塘望族，明王守仁《谥襄惠两峰洪公墓志铭》称：“自宋太祖忠宣公皓赐第于钱塘西湖之葛岭，三子景伯、景严、景庐皆以名德相承，遂为钱塘望族。”
自南宋洪皓始由江西鄱阳迁居杭州开始，历经宋、明、清三代，几百年来人才辈出，有“宋朝父子公侯三宰相，明纪祖孙太保五尚书”之说（西溪洪园所在地五常的由来也是取自五尚的谐音），在中国历史上有着很高的文化价值和影响。自南宋起，洪氏家族出了三位宰相、五位尚书。
晚年归隐于西溪五常的明尚书洪钟，建了洪园，作为休憩吟咏之所。以诗书礼家，传承优秀家族文化，为官清廉而传世，为民重教重德而扬名，洪氏家族在此繁衍生息数百年，涌现了洪楩、洪昇等一批历史文化名人，被誉为“钱塘望族”。
桑士达老师告诉笔者，现在的洪园，按明代尚书洪钟晚年归隐西溪所建“洪园”复建而成。走进园内，有一种柳暗花明、豁然开朗之感。碧水幽幽，绿影婆娑，白墙黛瓦，亭阁石桥，安静而恬淡，体现西溪湿地的一种归隐文化。
值得一提的是，洪园以私家园林的面貌出现，布局遵从“前府后院”格局，由洪府、三瑞堂、书院、园林等部分组成。建筑为明末风格，面积3000平方米，让人仿佛看到了洪家在宋、明、清时期数百年的辉煌家史。
“土默热红学”与杭州西溪
桑士达告诉我，“土默热红学”以为《红楼梦》与杭州、与西溪是根脉联结关系，主要论据是《红楼梦》的作者是杭州人洪昇（1645—1704），他字昉思，号稗村、稗畦，又号南屏樵者，顺治二年出生于杭州一个名门望族。洪昇10岁即师从杭州著名诗人陆繁弨学诗，后又在毛先舒、朱之京门下受教，15岁即“诗鸣钱塘”，19岁已为浙中诗坛的领袖，有诗集《啸月楼集》《稗畦集》和《稗畦续集》传世，后来以一部《长生殿》名满京师。 《红楼梦》故事的发生地就在杭州，至今，洪园里和洪昇的生平中，都能找到不少关于红楼梦细节的凤毛麟爪：
书中“金陵十二钗”的原型就是清初活跃于杭州西湖、西溪、西泠这“三西”名山胜水间的蕉园诗社十二金钗，也是洪昇的一干亲姐妹和表姐妹；书中描写的“贾史王薛”四大家族衰败的过程，其原型就是杭州的洪、顾、黄、钱四大家族在明末清初式微的过程；书中“大观园结社吟诗”的原型就是杭州的前后两期“蕉园诗社”—“蕉园五子社”和“蕉园七子社”；书中“大观园”的原型就在杭州西溪流香溪畔的贵族园林，其中怡红院、潇湘馆、蘅芜苑、稻香村的原型便是洪钟别业、蕉园、花坞钱氏竹树产业、沈氏九间楼；书中太虚幻境的原型则在天柱山下的洞霄宫……
如此等等，《红楼梦》中所描写的大多数人物、景致都可以在杭州、在西溪找到其原型和踪迹。可以说《红楼梦》与杭州、与西溪有着千丝万缕撇不清、掰不开的联系。如今，全国第一个“土默热红学研究中心”在杭州西溪成立，使土默热红学研究接上了杭州西溪的地气。
而杭州市、西湖区大力支持这项研究，建立了“西溪红学陈列馆”，成立了“杭州土默热红学研究中心”，集聚了一批有志于“土红”研究的专家、学者和基层红学爱好者，编纂了首册本土的《土默热红学研究论文集》。
当然，这还远远不够，“土默热红学”研究还需要不断深入，要进一步拿出切实可信的证据，使这个学说得到全国乃至世界的专家、读者的认同。
杭州市领导对土默热红学这张新名片高度重视，市政协主席叶明说：“我觉得这是一种责任，我这里要引用一下丘吉尔的一句话，他说英国宁愿放弃澳大利亚，也不放弃莎士比亚，因为莎士比亚代表了英国的文化高度和精神高度。一个国家的强大不在国土面积多大，而在于精神，在于品质。我套用这句话，杭州宁愿少建一座水泥高楼，也绝不放弃这座文化古堡。”
Scholar Identifies Hangzhou Native as Novel Author
By Xiao Jie
Though “Dream of Red Mansions” is merely one of the four major ancient Chinese novels and though many scholars may argue that the other three are equally valuable in terms of culture and literature, the novel is unique in a sense. When it comes to studies of the great novel of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), nothing is clear and cut. Since it first appeared, people have talked about who actually wrote it, who the commentator who read and commented on a manuscript was, who actually wrote the 40-chapter sequel. The novel is a complexity itself. Scholars disagree almost about everything. They do not even agree who wrote the novel, let alone whose biographical story it really was. Hundreds of theories exist. Though scholars agree that the first 80 chapters of the novel were by one person and that the next 40 chapter were by another person, many have believed they knew better by creating the last 40 chapters themselves.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the study of the “Dream of Red Mansions” is a cultural phenomenon and the discipline is abridged into a concise term: Red Studies. No other novel in the history of Chinese literature has attracted so widespread attention and has been so thrilling for so long a time.
On June 17, 2012, a scholar named Tu Mo’re attended an opening ceremony in Hangzhou. The ceremony unveiled a Red Study gallery in the West Brook, Hangzhou. The gallery doubles as the center of Tu Mo’re Red Study.
The venue is called Hong Garden, the previous residence of the Hong family. According to Tu Mo’re, Hong Sheng (1645-1704) is the author of the great novel and the novel is based on the Hong Garden in West Brook, now a scenic wetland area in the western suburb of Hangzhou. Tu Mo’re was born in October 1951. He studied as a major of geography at Jilin Teachers University in the early 1970s and began to work at a teachers’ academy at county level after his graduation. Now he is a major director of Jilin Federation of Trade Unions.
Though he cannot be considered seriously by some as a scholar of literature, he has spent the past three decades reading the novel and conducting his studies and searching evidence for his theory. He began to read “Dream of Red Mansions” during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in response to Mao Zedong’s call for reading the novel. Tu read the novel and concluded that it was originally written by Hong Sheng, a Hangzhou native.
Over the past 30 years, he has visited Hangzhou many times trying to find solid evidence for his theory. His knowledge of the history and culture of Hangzhou is more than that of many local residents.
He began to publish his study results in 2003. In 2006, a collection of his Red Study papers came out and he called it “The Red Study of Tu Mo’re”, followed by more books on the subject. A Taiwan publisher noticed his breakthrough in the study of the novel and published his work. Altogether, he has published articles and books of 6 million characters.
It was by no accident that Hong Sheng became a big scholar and playwright, even though whether he penned the novel remains controversial and Tu’s theory is competing with dozens of other theories.
The Hong clan went back to the very beginning of the Chinese civilization. The Hong ancestors were then worshipped as river gods. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Hong clan moved southward to Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Hong Hao (1088-1155) honored his country when he served as a royal envoy to visit the Jin kingdom. He was detained there before he was finally released. The emperor conferred dukedom upon him and gave him farmland in West Brook. Each of his three sons served as prime minister in the Southern Song Dynasty. The family was one of the most prominent families in Hangzhou. Five descendants served as ministers during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was in the Ming Dynasty that Hong Zhong, a retired minister, built a garden in West Brook as a retreat. The family established itself there and prospered. Hong Sheng was one of the brilliant descendants of the Hong clan in Hangzhou.
The Hong Garden in the West Brook today is a replica of the prototype built in the late period of the Ming Dynasty. The garden measures 3,000 square meters, composed of houses in the front and a large garden in the back. It is ideal for a reclusive life.
Hong Sheng made his reputation as a poet at the age of 15 and he established himself as one of the best poets of Zhejiang Province when he turned 19. As a playwright, he is remembered forever for “Longevity Hall”, a romance he created about a Tang emperor and his concubine.
According to Tu, the characters and scenes in the “Dream of Red Mansions” were all based on the people of the Hong Garden and the scenic places that can be found around West Brook.
The West Lake District Government seems to like the idea that Hong Sheng, a native of Hangzhou, wrote the great novel. Tying Hong Sheng to the novel would certainly promote tourism and considering Hong Sheng as the author would be innocuous academically.
2012年6月17日，父亲节。一位蒙古族老学者，从北国来到杭州西溪，见证了“杭州西溪红学陈列馆”和“杭州土默热红学研究中心”揭牌。
这位老学者，就是“土默热红学”的创始人—土默热先生。
而他致力半生研究的成果，正是扎根于西溪、扎根于洪园的事业—《红楼梦》作者不是众所周知的曹雪芹与高鹗，而是杭州人洪昇，洪昇曾经居住生活过的西溪洪园，正是《红楼梦》的原型地。
说起西溪洪园，可能很多杭州人也有点搞不清楚。
今天已经建成的西溪湿地国家公园分东、西两个园区。东区所在地为西湖区，2005年开园，是第一期工程和第二期工程。西区所在地为余杭五常，2008年开园，为第三期工程，主打洪氏文化，于是也叫洪园。以前以一期、二期、三期来区分的；后来，也叫过西溪国家湿地公园东区（西湖区）、西区（余杭区）；但最终，大家都觉得，后者还是直接叫西溪洪园最好，因为，洪园本就是西溪三期工程最大的亮点。
洪园有两个入口：沿天目山路向西，右拐转入五常大道，不到300米，是西溪洪园的龙舌嘴入口。“杭州绕城高速”五常出口下来之后，沿访溪路进来，便是西溪洪园的洪园入口。
日前，我走进洪园，满目皆绿。湿地内，随处是溪流、河荡、泽地。荡中有岛，岛中有塘，港汊纵横。堤岸上的池杉、垂柳、翠竹、桑树、香樟、枇杷树、柿树、桂花树，水边的草已经长得很高，偶有野鸭白鹭出没，还来不及惊呼，便已从水边掠过。在这里，有300亩芦苇、4000棵柿子树……
可是，这样一片充满了原生态自然风光的地方，土默热先生为何会把它与《红楼梦》的创作联系起来呢？带着这样的疑问，我请教了与土默热先生相熟的中国作家协会会员、杭州土默热红学研究中心顾问桑士达老师。
土默热与“土默热红学”
对于土默热先生踏上研究西溪与红学道路的生平，桑士达娓娓道来：“土默热1951年10月出生于吉林扶余，1973年8月入吉林师范大学地理系学习，1976年9月进吉林省扶余县教师进修学校工作。其后进入政界，现为吉林省总工会主要负责人。”
土默热最早接触红学，是在文革期间。当时，毛泽东主席号召读《红》评《红》，土默热积极地投入了活动，研读中却得出了与众不同的结论—《红楼梦》是杭州人洪昇原创，故事发生地就在杭州西溪！为了印证自己的研究，30多年来，他数次南下杭州实地考察，寻踪搜古、查典求籍，登山踏水、筚路蓝缕，终于对杭州的历史文化了如指掌，讲起来头头是道，比我们许多杭州人更熟悉杭州！
“土默热红学”，是土默热积30余年之功创立的红学新说，可谓是对一直以来定论的“离经叛道”之说！概而言之，“土默热红学”对《红楼梦》产生的时代背景、思想源流、文化传承、民俗宗教等，进行了全新的探索；对作品的创作缘起、故事素材、人物原型、审美建构等，做出了最新的诠释。
土默热积多年研究之功，早在2003年，就开始在“红楼艺苑”网站发表阐述其研究成果的系列论文。2006年，《土默热红学》一书由吉林人民出版社出版。
其后，土默热依然笔耕不辍，先后出版了《土默热红学》及其续补三卷、“土默热红楼文化丛书”五卷、《〈红楼梦〉与西溪文化》、《土默热红学新突破》等专著。台湾出版界出版发行了《土默热：红学大突破》一书。专著文字总量达600余万字，在港台和海外引起了较大反响。
洪氏文化 洪园之魂
在桑士达老师的指点下，笔者在西溪洪园里，除了看到原生态的自然风光，更体验到了独特的洪氏文化。
在西溪洪园，在庄严肃穆的“钱塘望族”、“洪氏宗祠”里，在展品丰富的“洪氏家族文化展览馆”中，在园林般的洪园里，人们可以深深感受悠远的家族文化带来的历史厚重感。
洪氏家族，相传始于远古时代的共工氏，姓姜，是炎帝的后裔，生活在河南辉县一带，后人奉为水神。约至东汉，后裔避仇居敦煌，改姓洪。后支系繁衍，多籍东南。
唐时洪家移居盱眙（今属江苏）、徽州、江西鄱阳等地。洪士良的先祖“世世业耕桑”，靠农耕为业。到了洪士良时，他则“志操不群”，立志于发家致富，要由农耕渐变为农商兼做。
到了南宋，洪皓立功，封为魏国忠宣公，赐第杭州葛岭，赐田西溪，称为钱塘洪氏之始。洪皓三子，都官至宰执大臣，始成钱塘望族，明王守仁《谥襄惠两峰洪公墓志铭》称：“自宋太祖忠宣公皓赐第于钱塘西湖之葛岭，三子景伯、景严、景庐皆以名德相承，遂为钱塘望族。”
自南宋洪皓始由江西鄱阳迁居杭州开始，历经宋、明、清三代，几百年来人才辈出，有“宋朝父子公侯三宰相，明纪祖孙太保五尚书”之说（西溪洪园所在地五常的由来也是取自五尚的谐音），在中国历史上有着很高的文化价值和影响。自南宋起，洪氏家族出了三位宰相、五位尚书。
晚年归隐于西溪五常的明尚书洪钟，建了洪园，作为休憩吟咏之所。以诗书礼家，传承优秀家族文化，为官清廉而传世，为民重教重德而扬名，洪氏家族在此繁衍生息数百年，涌现了洪楩、洪昇等一批历史文化名人，被誉为“钱塘望族”。
桑士达老师告诉笔者，现在的洪园，按明代尚书洪钟晚年归隐西溪所建“洪园”复建而成。走进园内，有一种柳暗花明、豁然开朗之感。碧水幽幽，绿影婆娑，白墙黛瓦，亭阁石桥，安静而恬淡，体现西溪湿地的一种归隐文化。
值得一提的是，洪园以私家园林的面貌出现，布局遵从“前府后院”格局，由洪府、三瑞堂、书院、园林等部分组成。建筑为明末风格，面积3000平方米，让人仿佛看到了洪家在宋、明、清时期数百年的辉煌家史。
“土默热红学”与杭州西溪
桑士达告诉我，“土默热红学”以为《红楼梦》与杭州、与西溪是根脉联结关系，主要论据是《红楼梦》的作者是杭州人洪昇（1645—1704），他字昉思，号稗村、稗畦，又号南屏樵者，顺治二年出生于杭州一个名门望族。洪昇10岁即师从杭州著名诗人陆繁弨学诗，后又在毛先舒、朱之京门下受教，15岁即“诗鸣钱塘”，19岁已为浙中诗坛的领袖，有诗集《啸月楼集》《稗畦集》和《稗畦续集》传世，后来以一部《长生殿》名满京师。 《红楼梦》故事的发生地就在杭州，至今，洪园里和洪昇的生平中，都能找到不少关于红楼梦细节的凤毛麟爪：
书中“金陵十二钗”的原型就是清初活跃于杭州西湖、西溪、西泠这“三西”名山胜水间的蕉园诗社十二金钗，也是洪昇的一干亲姐妹和表姐妹；书中描写的“贾史王薛”四大家族衰败的过程，其原型就是杭州的洪、顾、黄、钱四大家族在明末清初式微的过程；书中“大观园结社吟诗”的原型就是杭州的前后两期“蕉园诗社”—“蕉园五子社”和“蕉园七子社”；书中“大观园”的原型就在杭州西溪流香溪畔的贵族园林，其中怡红院、潇湘馆、蘅芜苑、稻香村的原型便是洪钟别业、蕉园、花坞钱氏竹树产业、沈氏九间楼；书中太虚幻境的原型则在天柱山下的洞霄宫……
如此等等，《红楼梦》中所描写的大多数人物、景致都可以在杭州、在西溪找到其原型和踪迹。可以说《红楼梦》与杭州、与西溪有着千丝万缕撇不清、掰不开的联系。如今，全国第一个“土默热红学研究中心”在杭州西溪成立，使土默热红学研究接上了杭州西溪的地气。
而杭州市、西湖区大力支持这项研究，建立了“西溪红学陈列馆”，成立了“杭州土默热红学研究中心”，集聚了一批有志于“土红”研究的专家、学者和基层红学爱好者，编纂了首册本土的《土默热红学研究论文集》。
当然，这还远远不够，“土默热红学”研究还需要不断深入，要进一步拿出切实可信的证据，使这个学说得到全国乃至世界的专家、读者的认同。
杭州市领导对土默热红学这张新名片高度重视，市政协主席叶明说：“我觉得这是一种责任，我这里要引用一下丘吉尔的一句话，他说英国宁愿放弃澳大利亚，也不放弃莎士比亚，因为莎士比亚代表了英国的文化高度和精神高度。一个国家的强大不在国土面积多大，而在于精神，在于品质。我套用这句话，杭州宁愿少建一座水泥高楼，也绝不放弃这座文化古堡。”
Scholar Identifies Hangzhou Native as Novel Author
By Xiao Jie
Though “Dream of Red Mansions” is merely one of the four major ancient Chinese novels and though many scholars may argue that the other three are equally valuable in terms of culture and literature, the novel is unique in a sense. When it comes to studies of the great novel of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), nothing is clear and cut. Since it first appeared, people have talked about who actually wrote it, who the commentator who read and commented on a manuscript was, who actually wrote the 40-chapter sequel. The novel is a complexity itself. Scholars disagree almost about everything. They do not even agree who wrote the novel, let alone whose biographical story it really was. Hundreds of theories exist. Though scholars agree that the first 80 chapters of the novel were by one person and that the next 40 chapter were by another person, many have believed they knew better by creating the last 40 chapters themselves.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the study of the “Dream of Red Mansions” is a cultural phenomenon and the discipline is abridged into a concise term: Red Studies. No other novel in the history of Chinese literature has attracted so widespread attention and has been so thrilling for so long a time.
On June 17, 2012, a scholar named Tu Mo’re attended an opening ceremony in Hangzhou. The ceremony unveiled a Red Study gallery in the West Brook, Hangzhou. The gallery doubles as the center of Tu Mo’re Red Study.
The venue is called Hong Garden, the previous residence of the Hong family. According to Tu Mo’re, Hong Sheng (1645-1704) is the author of the great novel and the novel is based on the Hong Garden in West Brook, now a scenic wetland area in the western suburb of Hangzhou. Tu Mo’re was born in October 1951. He studied as a major of geography at Jilin Teachers University in the early 1970s and began to work at a teachers’ academy at county level after his graduation. Now he is a major director of Jilin Federation of Trade Unions.
Though he cannot be considered seriously by some as a scholar of literature, he has spent the past three decades reading the novel and conducting his studies and searching evidence for his theory. He began to read “Dream of Red Mansions” during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in response to Mao Zedong’s call for reading the novel. Tu read the novel and concluded that it was originally written by Hong Sheng, a Hangzhou native.
Over the past 30 years, he has visited Hangzhou many times trying to find solid evidence for his theory. His knowledge of the history and culture of Hangzhou is more than that of many local residents.
He began to publish his study results in 2003. In 2006, a collection of his Red Study papers came out and he called it “The Red Study of Tu Mo’re”, followed by more books on the subject. A Taiwan publisher noticed his breakthrough in the study of the novel and published his work. Altogether, he has published articles and books of 6 million characters.
It was by no accident that Hong Sheng became a big scholar and playwright, even though whether he penned the novel remains controversial and Tu’s theory is competing with dozens of other theories.
The Hong clan went back to the very beginning of the Chinese civilization. The Hong ancestors were then worshipped as river gods. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Hong clan moved southward to Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Hong Hao (1088-1155) honored his country when he served as a royal envoy to visit the Jin kingdom. He was detained there before he was finally released. The emperor conferred dukedom upon him and gave him farmland in West Brook. Each of his three sons served as prime minister in the Southern Song Dynasty. The family was one of the most prominent families in Hangzhou. Five descendants served as ministers during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was in the Ming Dynasty that Hong Zhong, a retired minister, built a garden in West Brook as a retreat. The family established itself there and prospered. Hong Sheng was one of the brilliant descendants of the Hong clan in Hangzhou.
The Hong Garden in the West Brook today is a replica of the prototype built in the late period of the Ming Dynasty. The garden measures 3,000 square meters, composed of houses in the front and a large garden in the back. It is ideal for a reclusive life.
Hong Sheng made his reputation as a poet at the age of 15 and he established himself as one of the best poets of Zhejiang Province when he turned 19. As a playwright, he is remembered forever for “Longevity Hall”, a romance he created about a Tang emperor and his concubine.
According to Tu, the characters and scenes in the “Dream of Red Mansions” were all based on the people of the Hong Garden and the scenic places that can be found around West Brook.
The West Lake District Government seems to like the idea that Hong Sheng, a native of Hangzhou, wrote the great novel. Tying Hong Sheng to the novel would certainly promote tourism and considering Hong Sheng as the author would be innocuous academically.