At the beginning of time, the goddess Nuwa melted down thirty-six thousand five hundred and one stones to repair the vault of heaven. One stone remained unused, cast aside at the foot of Greensickness Peak.

This rejected stone, having been touched by the goddess, developed spiritual awareness. It spent eons lamenting its fate — destined for greatness, yet abandoned. One day, a Daoist priest and a Buddhist monk passed by.

'The world of mortals is full of splendor,' they told the stone. 'Do you wish to experience it?' The stone begged to go. The monk inscribed characters on it and carried it down into the Red Dust.

This stone is the narrator of the story. Everything that follows — the glory of the Jia family, the tragic love of Bao-yu and Dai-yu, the slow decay of an aristocratic world — is recorded on its surface.