title: The Story of Stone: Intertextuality, Ancient Chinese Stone Lore, and the Stone Symbolism in Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin, and The Journey to the West (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
author:  Jing Wang 
description: "This is a pathbreaking study of stone symbolism in three Chinese novels. . . . A thought-provoking piece of work and a major contribution to scholarship on "Dream of the Red Chamber,"" <br />--Andrew Lo, "The China Quarterly"
zlib_text: **Crystal Wedding**
  
  XU XIAOBIN
  
   **Crystal Wedding**
  
  Translated from the Chinese  
  by Nicky Harman
  
  ![](Images/image00151.jpeg)
  
  balestierpress
  
  Balestier Press
  
  71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ
  
  [www.balestier.com](http://www.balestier.com)
  
   _Crystal Wedding_
  
  First published in English by Balestier Press in 2016
  
  Original title: 水晶婚
  
  Copyright © Xu Xiaobin, 2012
  
  English translation copyright © Nicky Harman, 2016
  
  Preface translation copyright © Nicky Harman and Natascha Bruce, 2016
  
  Cover illustration by Xu Xiaobin
  
  Quotes from _The Story of the Stone_ (also known as _The Red Chamber Dream_ )
  are taken from the translation by David Hawkes and John Minford, published by
  Penguin Classics, and are reproduced with their kind permission.
  
  A version of excerpts from Chapters 21, 22 and 23 of _Crystal Wedding_
  appeared in the magazine _Chutzpah_ , Issue 6, February 2012.
  
  This book has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN’s
  PEN Translates programme, suppor