The Guiyou Version of Dream of the Red Chamber: The Public Record, Theories, and What This Project Adopted
癸酉本：公开记录、诸说与本项目的采择

Notes on the text

1. This is the English version of a paper first published in Chinese (癸酉本：公开记录、诸说与本项目的采择, same concept DOI); it corresponds to the Chinese version 0.3. It is a rewriting for English-speaking readers, not a line-by-line translation: background has been added where an English reader needs it (item 8 below, and short glosses in the text), while the argument, the tables, the counts and the item-by-item entries are unchanged. Where the two differ in substance, the Chinese is authoritative.
2. This is a pre-release. Material will be added; items awaiting verification are listed in Appendix 5 and will be revised as they are checked.
3. This paper is one of the supporting papers of the overview, People Have Qing (concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22985375; cited here as "the overview"), and a companion to An Audit of Forward References in the Zhiyan Zhai Commentary on the First Eighty Chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber: What Is Adopted and What Is Not (10.5281/zenodo.23007235; "paper 1") and The Layered Composition of Dream of the Red Chamber: Evidence and Theories (10.5281/zenodo.23025674; "paper 2"). Section 4.6 of the overview left the representative arguments about the Guiyou version, and a direct engagement with them, to this paper. Where this paper differs from the overview, this paper is authoritative, and the next version of the overview will be revised accordingly (Appendix 6). The earlier English papers of the series call the text "the Guiyou manuscript"; this paper calls it a "version," because no manuscript has ever been made public (§2.3; Appendix 6, item 1).
4. Quotations from the Guiyou version follow a 108-chapter edited text that the project actually used, called here "the working text." It is collated against a digitized text of the 2017 "third draft," made by an internet user and called here "the third-draft text." No printed copy of either has been seen, and both are cited at the level of "reprint." The copyright status of the Guiyou version is unclear; quotations from it are limited to the short passages the discussion needs.
5. Notes are numbered as in paper 1, "chapter.sequence": 41.14 is the fourteenth bracketed passage 【】 in chapter 41 of the project base text. A note number is to be read as text, not as a decimal. Manuscript attributions and quotations of the Zhiyan Zhai commentary follow the project base text unless otherwise stated. The Jing note on chapter 41 is always quoted with the character 瓜州, as in the base text; in narration and in quoting other texts, each text's own character is kept. The working text uses both 瓜州 and 瓜洲; the third-draft text uses only 瓜洲; quotations follow each text. (Both forms are read Guazhou, the ferry town on the north bank of the Yangzi.)
6. Sources are graded by what was actually seen: "first-hand," where the original book, the original periodical page, the page of a formal publication, or a participant's original post was seen; "reprint," where the author's own words were seen in an online reprint; "second-hand," where only someone else's account was seen; "catalogue," where only a catalogue record was seen; "not found," where nothing could be found.
7. "The reconstruction" means chapters 81–110 as written by the project, cited as "Rec. ch. n." It is revised round by round; wherever this paper refers to it, it means the "current draft" at the time of writing. Broad matters of plot and choice are not tied to the wording of any one round; conclusions about matching wording, numbers of persons, registers and the like hold only for the drafts listed in the table below. The project's internal working records (called here "the working records") are cited only to show where a borrowing came from.
8. Background for readers new to the field. Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng, also known as The Story of the Stone, Shitou ji) is conventionally held to have circulated in manuscript from the 1750s, in about eighty chapters, with a running commentary signed Zhiyan Zhai ("Red Inkstone Studio") and other names; the commentary often points to events in a later part of the book that does not survive. The commentary manuscripts are named by a cyclical year recorded in them, by a former owner or by a preface (Jiaxu, Gengchen, Mengfu and others); the notes of the Jing manuscript are known only from a transcription, and their authenticity is disputed (§5.2, §7.5). In 1791 and 1792 Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E printed a 120-chapter version, whose last forty chapters (here "the Cheng–Gao edition") have travelled with the book ever since. Many readers since have tried to trace or rewrite the lost ending; this "tracing of what is lost" (tanyi) is a field of its own. The Guiyou version takes its name from a cyclical year, guiyou, which on the two counts proposed for it falls in 1753 or 1693 (§3.1, §3.2). Wu Meicun 吴梅村 (Wu Weiye, 1609–1672) was a poet of the late Ming who afterwards held office under the Qing; the claim that the book is his underlies the "Wu" in its printed title. Readers who take the book as mourning for the Ming read its chaos and its foreign invaders, the Rong Qiang 戎羌, as figures for the Manchu conquest (§4.3). All translations are the author's own: of the novel, of the commentary, of the Guiyou version and of the reports and studies quoted. Hawkes's published translation is not used, because the argument often turns on wording; Chinese is given where it does. Chapter titles and matching sentences, where the comparison turns on single characters, are given in Chinese with a translation. Personal names are in pinyin, except for scholars known in English by another form (Wu Shih-ch'ang, Chao Kang). Works in Chinese are referred to in the text by an English rendering or a pinyin title; original titles are in the References.

What this paper relies on

Object	Basis	Remarks
Working text	An edited text, Guiyou ben Wu shi Shitou ji (quan 108 hui) 癸酉本吴氏石头记（全108回）, as an MD file; md5 c92d93c1f61fe5018debeeb3ba030e94	Base for quotations
Third-draft text	GitHub vicalloy/the-guiyou-version-of-dream-of-the-red-chamber, commit d8af079	Collation text
Blog text	Posts on the Sina blog "Guiyou ben Shitou ji" 癸酉本石头记	Read in September 2026
Rec. chs. 81–88	r54, sealed volume
Rec. chs. 89–95	r54, sealed drafts	All seven chapters sealed; the volume not yet sealed
Rec. chs. 96–103	r54, sealed volume	Volume sealed 2026-10-01
Rec. chs. 104–110	r53, sealed drafts (with Rec. chs. 108 and 110 supplemented)	r54 not yet complete; the items concerned to be rechecked when it is (Appendix 5)
First eighty chapters and commentary	Project base text; note numbers from paper 1's audit data v0.4
Working records	The project's internal working records (r52 and others)	Used only to show where a borrowing came from

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1 Introduction

In reconstructing the last thirty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, the project relies on the text of the first eighty chapters and the Zhiyan Zhai commentary. Yet at many junctures in the writing another book lay open at the project's elbow: the "Guiyou version," which claims to come from an old manuscript and runs to 108 chapters. It writes out many of the things the first eighty chapters foreshadow, but mostly in a direction opposite to the project's: the realm falls into chaos, roving bandits break into the capital, characters die wretched deaths in batches, and the tragedy is scored to a lament for the fallen Ming. The project borrowed from it and, at the same time, went the other way. Section 4.6 of the overview set out the discipline for this, and left the representative arguments and a direct engagement with them to the present paper.

The public record weighs heavily on where this book came from. It appeared online; the original has never been made public; its versions differ from one another; and according to a 2018 report in Guangming Daily, the holder admitted to the reporter that two notes mentioning Wu Meicun were his own forgeries, and said that the text circulating online had been restored from memory and revised by several people. The mainstream of scholarly opinion regards it as a modern work. This project takes no part in the dispute over its authenticity. That is not evasion. The project chooses to hold, with paper 2, that Dream of the Red Chamber was built up in layers and that its drafts existed in several versions, and for the work of reconstruction a binary of genuine or forged does not help. This is the project's working position, not a verdict on the forgery view; the evidence the forgery view gives about the book's origins is set out in full in §3.4. More importantly, the way the project uses the Guiyou version never presupposed, in the first place, either that it is genuine or that it is forged. What this paper does is lay that out so that readers can check it.

So the question of this paper is not "Is the Guiyou version genuine or forged?" but three plainer questions: What did the project borrow from the Guiyou version? Does what was borrowed still stand without it? And if the forgery view is right, what in the project has to change?

To answer them, the materials must first be laid out. Section 2 says which texts the paper relies on; §3 registers the public record by provenance; §4 reports the theories; §5 states the project's own reading and its difficulties; §6 sets out the rules the project laid down for using the book; §7, the core of the paper, counts item by item what was borrowed; §8 says what was not taken; §9 answers the question the forgery view raises.

A few positions run through the whole paper and are settled here. The paper reports the forgery view, giving the representative arguments one by one with their sources; it neither cuts them nor rebuts them. The project's reading of the Guiyou version is only a reading: a working hypothesis, not load-bearing. A reader who does not accept it will find that the paper's list and conclusions stand just the same. This has the same structure as paper 2's "depends on one layer only." The project has considered several conjectures about who produced the Guiyou version; the paper records only that it considered them, rules on none of them, and rests nothing on any of them. "Cao Xueqin" is taken as a role in the text, meaning the one named in the chain of titles and in the commentary, who "read it over for ten years and revised it five times"; who this person was historically is not this paper's concern.

2 What the "Guiyou Version" Is

2.1 Names

The book has many names, and each has a history. When it first appeared online in 2008, an internet user, Zhao Zhendong, called it the "He Chu version" (He chu ben 何初本) for convenience. At the end of that year, on the strength of a chapter-end note reported by the holder, "Fair copy of the whole completed in the twelfth month of guiyou. Meicun" (癸酉腊月全部誊清　梅村), Jin Junjun, one of those who released it online, renamed it the "Guiyou version"; in later texts the note reads 癸酉腊月全书誊清, "fair copy of the whole book." Because the notes name Wu Meicun as the author, some have called it the "Wu version" or the "Wu ancestral version." In print it has had two titles, The Last 28 Chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone (癸酉本石头记后28回) and Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary (吴氏石头记增删试评本); the latter is said to be the title on the cover, but in 2018 the holder told a reporter that it was "a made-up title." This paper keeps the project's own name for it, "Guiyou version," as a name only, without implying that it was made in a guiyou year.

2.2 The texts

The book has no standard text. The texts this paper has seen, from the blog posts of 2008 to the printed edition of 2017, take at least six forms; there is also a branch that claims to hold four hundred new notes on the first eighty chapters, and a set of pages written in imitation of a manuscript. They are listed below.

Label	Text	Date	How this paper uses it	Grade
Blog text	Posts on the Sina blog "Guiyou ben Shitou ji": chapter titles, chapter-by-chapter text, extracts of notes; then called the "He Chu version"; the earliest surviving post is dated 2008-10-13	2008	Early wording of titles and notes	First-hand
Jiuzhou edition	Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, The Last 28 Chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone, Jiuzhou chubanshe, ISBN 9787510827310	2014	Variant chapter titles	Catalogue
Xianzhuang edition	He Lili and Wang Xiaofeng, Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary, Xianzhuang shuju, ISBN 9787512018860	2015	Text not seen	Catalogue
Dangdai Shijie edition	Ed. Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, Dangdai shijie chubanshe, ISBN 9787509012086, June 2017, 22+289 pp.	2017	No printed copy seen	Catalogue (from the supplementary search report; not rechecked)
Third-draft text	An internet user's digitization of the 2017 "third draft," with the twenty-eight later chapters, the 2017 foreword, two prefaces, and extracts of notes on the first eighty chapters	2017	Collation text	Reprint
Working text	The 108-chapter edited text the project actually used; for the first eighty chapters it has the text and about 430 notes, together with notes by an unnamed editor	Unknown	Base for quotations	Reprint
Wang Xiaofeng branch	Claims to have "nearly 400 entirely new notes" on the first eighty chapters	2017–2018	Reported only	First-hand (blog posts)
Imitation pages	Pages of chapter 108 written in imitation of a manuscript, held on Wikimedia Commons; 17 pages, uploaded 2016-08-20, described in the file record as an "abridged version"	2016	Their existence reported only	From the supplementary search report; not rechecked

The third-draft text and the Dangdai Shijie edition are very probably the same book, but no printed copy has been seen, and this paper does not treat it as settled.

2.3 The working text and the third-draft text

This paper takes the working text as its base for quotation because it is the text the project used in writing. More than ten of the Guiyou sentences the project quoted at the time are found only in the working text and not in the third-draft text: for example the cook's "corpses of the starved fill the roads" (殣尸盈道) in chapter 83; "great bandits surge, seize the moment to topple the court; the sovereign is alarmed and his ministers in disarray" (大盗势飙，乘衅倾朝，主惊臣乱) in chapter 89; and Baochai's "the shields and spears are put away" (载戢干戈) in chapter 102. Whichever text the project quoted at the time, the paper must quote; otherwise readers could not check it.

The chapter titles of the twenty-eight later chapters differ between the two texts in only three places. In chapter 83 the working text has 暮年哀聊发白头吟　金萱悲情洒儿女泪 ("In old age, grieving, she sings the White Hair lament; / the mother, sorrowing, sheds tears for her children"), and the third-draft text 史太君临终念子孙　王夫人膏肓托儿女 ("The Lady Dowager, dying, thinks of her descendants; / Lady Wang, mortally ill, entrusts her children"); in chapter 84, 霭烟缘 ("a match of haze") against 金玉缘 ("the match of gold and jade"); in chapter 105, 藉词 against 借词, two written forms of the same word (jieci, "using words"). These three places, together with the chapter-head note on chapter 81 that speaks of the text "needing collation and revision" (须校雠酌改) and the opening poem of chapter 83, agree with a 108-chapter complete text found online. The working text is very probably that text, or comes from the same source.

The two texts differ considerably in length. Leaving out notes, editorial remarks and punctuation, the twenty-eight later chapters run to about 214,000 characters in the working text and about 189,000 in the third-draft text. Most of the third-draft text can be found in the longer working text; what the working text has in addition is concentrated in political commentary and chapter-end notes, in poems and prose mourning the Ming (most prominent is a set of pentasyllabic poems on late-Ming figures in the second half of the elegy in chapter 98), in passages on the supernatural and on bringing in bandits, and in places where, as its editor says, "the base copy and the polished copy both appear." The paper does not settle the direction of change from this: whether one text cut the other or one added to the other, it does not judge.

The two texts also differ in the narrative at several points; three of them bear on this paper. Lady Wang's death: in the working text she falls into the lake at the end of chapter 83 and dies in chapter 84; in the third-draft text she is already dead in chapter 83. The house to which Wang Ren sells Qiaojie is called the Hongxiang Court (红香院) in the working text and the Yanxiang Court (烟香院) in the third-draft text. The place name Guazhou: the working text uses both 瓜州 and 瓜洲, the third-draft text only 瓜洲. Wherever this paper mentions these points it follows the working text and notes the third-draft text.

The working text also carries remarks by an unnamed editor. After a note in chapter 1 attributed to Wu Meicun he writes, "whether this note is genuine is unknown" (此条批语真假未知). After the Ten Solitary Chants (Shi du yin 十独吟) in chapter 82 he writes, "in the base copy the eight poems were partly or wholly eaten by worms, and were afterwards written in by the copyist himself … genuine and false are hard to tell apart." In chapter 103 he writes, "this is the third place where the content of the base copy and of the polished copy unexpectedly both appear." These statements agree with what a 2015 post by the Sina blogger "Huzhu Tazhu" 护珠塔主 says: "two base copies were transcribed at the same time, and Wu Meicun's text and the polished draft developed in parallel." That post says its source is a "transcribed copy" collated by Wu Xuesong (first-hand, extracted with a tool; whether the blogger is Wu Xuesong is unproven). The working text most likely comes from this line; the paper has not established it. The editor's remarks are treated here only as editorial remarks, not as text belonging to the copy itself.

Two lines of commentary coexist in the working text's notes. Chapter 1 has both "This book was originally an old work of Mr Wu Meicun" (此书本系吴氏梅村旧作), as collected by the Jin Junjun–He Xuanhe branch, and "Xueqin formerly had a book, A Mirror for the Romantic, written by the late elder brother Xitang" (雪芹旧有风月宝鉴一书，乃西堂故兄所作), as claimed by the Wang Xiaofeng branch (§3.6). Two further notes are found only in the working text; §5.3 reports them.

Section 4.6 of the overview calls the Guiyou version "a … manuscript." According to the public record, only the holder claims to have read a manuscript, and the original has never been made public; what the public has seen is blog posts, printed editions, printouts, digitized texts and a set of imitation pages. The next version of the overview will say "text" (Appendix 6).

3 The Public Record

3.1 2008: appearance online

There are three accounts of when the Guiyou version first appeared. The blurb of the Jiuzhou edition and a 2016 blog post by Liu Junjun (that is, Jin Junjun), one of those who released it both say the end of August 2008; one account gives 31 August. A 2017 article by Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Ruixue says that it "first appeared in September 2008 on Mr Zhao Zhendong's blog (the post has since been deleted)" (reprint). Others say it circulated on the Tianya forum or "on the major Honglou meng forums."

The earliest original post that can still be opened is "The chapter titles of the latter half of the 'He Chu version' of the Story of the Stone," posted on 13 October 2008 on the Sina blog "Guiyou ben Shitou ji," which lists the titles of chapters 81 to 108; the same blog has a post with the text of chapter 81. The publication times shown on the two pages are 18:04:55 and 18:15:48 (first-hand). A post of the next day, "Record of an exchange with Miss He," preserves a QQ group chat in which Zhao Zhendong, He Lili and Junjun all took part (first-hand). On 17 October the blog posted "He Chu version: selected Zhiyan Zhai notes on chapter 81" and "The state and provenance of the He Chu Story of the Stone." On 5 December, on the strength of the chapter-end note reported by He Lili, the blogger renamed it the "Guiyou version," took guiyou to be 1753, and said that this copy was "a year earlier even than the Jiaxu manuscript." On 21 December the post with the text of chapter 108 went up, and the twenty-eight chapters had all been posted online.

These original posts survive today and are the earliest checkable form of the book. They show one thing: from its first appearance the book existed in more than one wording. In the post of chapter titles of 13 October, the second line of the chapter 81 title reads 承辱怀怨以身试墙 ("bearing disgrace and nursing resentment: throwing oneself against a wall"); the post with the text, whose displayed time is about eleven minutes later, has the title 承辱怀怨蓄恶结党 ("bearing disgrace and nursing resentment: harbouring malice and forming a gang"). Whether the page text was later edited, and when this difference arose, the paper has not checked; §3.5 returns to it.

3.2 Publication and naming

In 2014 Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe published The Last 28 Chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone with Jiuzhou chubanshe; its blurb says that "a few modern expressions in the text have been replaced." In 2015 He Lili and Wang Xiaofeng published Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary with Xianzhuang shuju; according to Guangming Daily, its cover reads "by Cao Xueqin," while the same article records that the original text of the transcribed copy that Wu Xuesong had printed and bound reads "original author: Wu Meicun." In the same year Wu Xuesong wrote a preface for the "second edition" of the Jin–He branch, saying he had obtained "photocopied material of the transcribed copy." In the 2017 "third draft," the first preface, by Xiao Wenlin, says that "guiyou means 1693, and 'Meicun' means Wu Meicun"; the foreword, by Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, admits that the book is "an edited text made from image material of the transcribed copy, not the original text of the true copy, and its authenticity awaits expert appraisal" (reprint).

Over ten years the claims about title and author changed several times. In December 2008 the official blog dated guiyou to 1753 by Cao Xueqin's lifetime (posts of 5 and 15 December), while a post of 17 October that year records He Lili's words: "She says she has never claimed that this latter half was certainly written by Cao Xueqin." By 2015 to 2017 the claim that Wu Meicun was the author had become the position of the Jin–He branch that released it, and guiyou was moved to 1693; the cover of the Xianzhuang edition, meanwhile, read "by Cao Xueqin." And according to Guangming Daily, He Lili maintained that the title on the cover of the manuscript was the three characters 红楼梦, Honglou meng. For one and the same book, the title, the author and the guiyou year each have more than one account.

3.3 The holder and the original

The holder goes by the online name "He Lili." Accounts of this person disagree. A post on the official blog of 17 October 2008, "The state and provenance of the He Chu Story of the Stone," uses "she" and says "He Lili is 23 this year" (first-hand); Liu Junjun in 2016 calls the holder "Miss He Lili," from Fuyang in Anhui; Guangming Daily in 2018 says "a pseudonym; male; junior-middle-school education"; the 2017 foreword says "a collector surnamed Zhao in Fuyang, Anhui." The account of how the book was obtained also varies. The 2008 post says only that "her grandmother was the wife of a Nationalist army doctor" and that there were "twelve volumes, nine chapters each"; Liu Junjun in 2016 says that the grandfather was an army doctor on the Shanxi front, and that a wounded soldier gave the book to the grandmother, who was a nurse; Guangming Daily records the holder's side as saying that the grandparents came by it by chance, twelve volumes of nine chapters each; a 2019 report on The Paper's account platform (Pengpai hao) records that the director of the county cultural centre wanted to borrow it, so it was copied into notebooks and lent out. The copyist is said to have been a younger female cousin, or an elder sister, or a sister and brother.

The original has never been made public. There are three accounts of what became of it: it was sold as waste paper by the holder's mother; it may have been stolen by an outsider; it was sent to relatives in Taiwan for safekeeping. The releasing side says it obtained a photograph of the cover and, in 2015, "a photocopy of the whole of the transcribed copy." The 2019 report on Pengpai hao carried a picture captioned "the only image of the base copy's cover the releaser has published to date"; neither the object nor a complete photocopy has been verified.

On 25 February 2009 a post titled "Miss He Lili's apology to fans of the Red Chamber" appeared on the Baidu Tieba forum, containing the words "by some strange compulsion I fabricated the last 28 chapters of the He Chu version and deceived everyone" (as recorded in the article by Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Ruixue; this paper has checked the sentence against the reprint; the original forum post has not been seen; second-hand). Guangming Daily later recorded that such a text did exist online, and that He Lili denied its content. Whether the apology came from He Lili, this paper cannot determine.

3.4 The 2018 investigation

On 27 February 2018, page 7 of Guangming Daily carried an investigative report by its reporter Liu Jian, "The collapse of Wu's Story of the Stone." This is the most important public record of the Guiyou version's origins. The paper uses the page of the newspaper's digital edition, and each sentence quoted from it was checked against that page at the time of writing (first-hand).

The report turns on two commentary notes: one in chapter 1, beginning "This book was originally an old work of Mr Wu Meicun"; and one at the end of chapter 108, beginning "Here the book ends. Fair copy of the whole book completed in the twelfth month of guiyou. Meicun's long-held wish is fulfilled" (本书至此告终，癸酉腊月全书誊清。梅村夙愿得偿). The claim that Wu Meicun was the author rests mainly on these two notes. The report says: "But when the reporter sought confirmation, He Lili said several times that both notes were his forgeries, and that he deeply regretted it." He said that "'Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary' is a made-up title; at the time Wu Xuesong, Liu Junjun and others said that 'Wu Meicun wrote Dream of the Red Chamber' was fairly plausible, so he himself forged those two notes connected with Wu Meicun." The report also summarizes a 2014 text by He Lili, saying that "the content of the last 28 chapters circulating online is not the original text of the 'transcribed copy' but a plot he restored from memory, which had been revised many times by himself and others." That Wang Xiaofeng and He Lili still used that title for the 2017 reissue was "for reasons to do with the book number" (the ISBN).

The report also records voices on the other side. Wu Xuesong insisted that He Lili's words were not to be trusted. Du Chungeng of the Chinese Society of Honglou meng told the reporter that the twenty-eight chapters circulating online "ought to have a base copy in existence; if it is entirely an invention, then the forger is of some ability"; at the same time he said that in the manuscript He Lili recalled, "part of the plot of the first 80 chapters comes from a text created by Wu Keqi in the late Qing." These two points of Du Chungeng's are so far found only in this report; the paper has found no earlier article that makes them.

3.5 Changes between versions

The text of the Guiyou version was unstable from the start. The clearest example is chapter 81. The post of chapter titles of 13 October 2008 gives 避祸念旧凭带为媒　承辱怀怨以身试墙 ("Avoiding disaster and mindful of old ties, a sash serves as go-between; / bearing disgrace and nursing resentment: throwing oneself against a wall"); the post with the text of the same day has as its second line 承辱怀怨蓄恶结党, and in the text Siqi is beaten and dismissed, and does not die. But the extract of notes four days later contains a sentence, "seeing Siqi dash herself against the wall and die, … was startled too," followed by a note: "Xueqin has made a great mistake! Siqi has already left in an earlier chapter. Where would this passage in the Jia household come from? Most improper; cut it out entirely and redraft." That is to say, the draft with "dash herself against the wall and die" survives only as a fragment in the extract of notes, accompanied by a note demanding its deletion (all first-hand). In the later working text and third-draft text, the title reads 惜昵近公子做良媒　讳笞罚丫鬟结恶党 ("Cherishing intimacy, the young master acts as a good go-between; / shunning punishment, the maid forms an evil gang"): after her dismissal Siqi forms a gang with Pan You'an, and the note "Xueqin has made a great mistake" is gone.

There are many changes of the same kind. The first line of the chapter 82 title was 贾宝玉佯捧万章经 ("Jia Baoyu makes a show of poring over the 'Wan Zhang' scripture") in 2008; both later texts have 王熙凤病求千翼方 ("Wang Xifeng, ill, seeks the Qianyi prescription"), and Baoyu's reading of the "Wan Zhang" chapter of the Mencius survives only in the text of the chapter. For chapter 84, "a match of mist and haze" (雾烟缘, 2008) appears in the working text as "a match of haze" (霭烟缘), with an editorial remark that "two characters in the base copy were eaten by worms" and were supplied by the copyist; the third-draft text has "the match of gold and jade" (金玉缘), with its own remark: "two characters in the base copy were eaten by worms; the two characters 'gold and jade' were supplied later during collation." Both texts say worms ate the characters, and they supply different characters. In chapter 92, according to the 2019 report on Pengpai hao, the 2008 online version had a magistrate who "has already kicked the bucket" (已经死翘翘了, a modern colloquialism), where the third-draft text has "is already dead" (已经死了). The chapter-end note of chapter 108 was reported in 2008 as 癸酉腊月全部誊清　梅村; in the post with the text of 21 December 2008 the name "Meicun" does not appear; the two texts read "Here this book comes for now to a pause … Meicun's long-held wish is fulfilled" (是书至此暂告一段落……梅村夙愿得偿), and the working text adds "this note not collated"; Guangming Daily quotes it as "Here the book ends" (本书至此告终). Which version each of these three wordings belongs to, the paper has not been able to assign. As for the Ten Solitary Chants, the editorial remark in chapter 82 of the third-draft text says that only two, by Zhu Shuzhen and Li Qingzhao, survive complete, while the working text contains twelve, noted by its editor as written in by the copyist; both texts say in chapter 104 that the cycle "takes ten women, Zhu Shuzhen, Liu Rushi, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun and others, as its subjects."

The forgery view and the authenticity view read these changes in opposite ways: one side sees the traces of a fabricator revising step by step; the other sees the traces of deletions and changes in transcription and of characters supplied in collation. The paper registers only the changes themselves.

3.6 Two lines of commentary, and "the late elder brother Xitang"

On 28 August 2017 the Sina blog "Honglou meng duan sanbai nian" 红楼梦断三百年 published a commentary note said to come from chapter 1 of a "new transcription": "Xueqin formerly had a book, A Mirror for the Romantic, written by the late elder brother Xitang (西堂故兄); it covered only the affairs of Jia Rui, Qin Keqing and Qin Zhong, and was somewhat thin" (first-hand). In another post the blogger connects this "new transcription" with Wang Xiaofeng; whether the blogger is Wang Xiaofeng, the paper has not established. In the working text this note is longer, going on: "Xueqin vowed to write a great work to hand down to later ages … Xueqin would not put his name to it, and answered: why not borrow the names Meicun, Zuicha, Xicun, Tuo'an and Shilin to string onto it? … Xueqin's polishing stopped at chapter eighty."

This note and the Jin–He branch's "an old work of Mr Wu Meicun" occupy the same position: one says the original was by Xitang, the other by Wu Meicun. Its sentence pattern is the same as that of the Jiaxu upper-margin note "Xueqin formerly had a book, A Mirror for the Romantic, prefaced by his younger brother Tangcun" (雪芹旧有《风月宝鉴》之书，乃其弟棠村序也; 1.61); and its last words, "somewhat thin" (稍嫌枯索), also appear in that "old work of Mr Wu Meicun" note, one of the two the holder admitted forging. The paper simply sets these textual facts side by side and draws no inference. The paper has found no scholarship that discusses this note specifically. With this, the lead left by paper 2 has now been largely accounted for; what remains open is listed in Appendix 5.

4 Theories

4.1 The forgery view

That the Guiyou version is a modern work is the mainstream view in published scholarship. The representative writings this paper has seen are: Liu Jian's 2018 investigation in Guangming Daily, which quotes Du Chungeng, Duan Jiangli, Ren Xiaohui and Zhang Hui; Yin Jing's 2019 report on Pengpai hao, which quotes the president of the Jiangsu Honglou meng Society, a professor in the School of Liberal Arts of Nanjing University, given in the report as "Miao Weiming" (whether this is Miao Huaiming remains to be confirmed); Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Ruixue, "New means of forging ancient books in the internet environment: three online forgeries concerning Dream of the Red Chamber" (reprint, 2017; original place of publication to be traced); Zhao Jianzhong, "Exposing the Guiyou Story of the Stone as a forgery" (search results show a title record in the VIP database, but the page could not be opened, and the full text has not been seen); Kong Degang's 2023 commentary on The Paper; Yang Yifei 杨依菲's 2024 article in Guandong xuekan; an English article in Sixth Tone, July 2025, under the byline Yang Yifei; and a December 2025 report in Beijing News on the annual conference of the Beijing Cao Xueqin Society, quoting Hu Deping (reporter He Anan).

The arguments in these writings fall into five groups.

The first concerns provenance. According to Guangming Daily, even the holder's side said that "only He Lili has ever read this set of books"; Kong Degang says that "He Lili has never been able to produce the original manuscript for scholars and enthusiasts to examine"; Hu Deping says that "this version has not produced its base copy." The holder's admission that two notes were forged (§3.4) also belongs to this group.

The second concerns the claim of authorship. Guangming Daily records that Du Chungeng, Duan Jiangli, Ren Xiaohui and others call the claim that Wu Meicun wrote Dream of the Red Chamber "groundless talk, not worth refuting." Its opponents cite an argument of Zhao Jianzhong's (second-hand): Daiyu's continuation of a poem in chapter 21 contains the line 作践南华庄子因, alluding to the Zhuangzi yin 庄子因, a commentary on the Zhuangzi completed in the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi (1688), whereas Wu Meicun died in the eleventh year of Kangxi (1672). Du Chungeng further says that part of the first eighty chapters of that manuscript comes from Wu Keqi's late-Qing text.

The third concerns the text itself. The 2008 online version of chapter 92 has the phrase "has already kicked the bucket," and the blurb of the Jiuzhou edition itself says that "a few modern expressions" were replaced. The "Miao Weiming" quoted in the report says: "First, as to plot, it is random fabrication, with nothing of Master Cao's direction. Second, its expression is very clumsy. Third, it has no talent at all." Kong Degang says it has "crude writing, poems that break the rhyme scheme, far below the level of the first eighty chapters." Zhang Hui joked on a social-media account that the episodes in which the Grand View Garden is sacked "were not written by Wu Meicun; they must have been written by Shi Nai'an," the author of The Water Margin (second-hand). Others point to contradictions with the settings of the first eighty chapters: its Roster of Feeling lists men such as the "twelve young masters," which disagrees with chapter 5, where the departments of the Land of Illusion "all hold the registers of the past and future of all the women under heaven" (the pen name 詹姆斯旁, "James Pang," 2022, reprint).

The fourth concerns its agreement with the results of tanyi. The number 108 agrees with the view of Zhou Ruchang and others (zh.wikipedia, second-hand); much of what the commentary on the first eighty chapters foreshadows is "fulfilled" in the twenty-eight later chapters. Supporters cite this as evidence of authenticity (§4.3); opponents cite it as evidence that the text was written to the notes. Of dedicated pieces by the opponents, this paper has seen only the title of a Zhihu post, "Three ironclad proofs that the fake Guiyou version (the fake Wu's Story of the Stone) is plagiarized and forged," and has not been able to read its text.

The fifth concerns the inconsistency of the versions and the many changes made to them (§3.5). He Lili himself said in 2014 that the text circulating online had "been revised many times by himself and others."

The overall judgement of scholars is stated most directly in the Sixth Tone article: "experts unanimously agree that the Guiyou version is a 21st-century forgery." Yang Yifei says that it "has been shown false by scholars, yet the more it is 'debunked,' the hotter it gets." Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Ruixue say: "the so-called 'He Chu version' is a typical forgery" (reprint).

One point must be stated. Whether Honglou meng xuekan (Journal of Studies of Dream of the Red Chamber) or Cao Xueqin yanjiu (Cao Xueqin Studies) has published any article on the Guiyou version, neither this paper nor the supplementary search it commissioned was able to obtain auditable search pages from CNKI, Wanfang or VIP. "Not found" does not mean "does not exist."

4.2 More lenient views

Besides the negative opinions there are more lenient ones, but they are all cautious. Du Chungeng says that the twenty-eight chapters circulating online "ought to have a base copy in existence," yet in the same report he rejects the Wu Meicun claim and says that part of the first eighty chapters of the manuscript comes from Wu Keqi's text. In the report this "base copy" is not said to be Cao Xueqin's original draft, nor an eighteenth-century draft. Zhao Zhendong, one of those who first posted it, held, according to Liu Junjun's 2016 blog post, that "this text is a fairly good continuation by someone else, of considerable value for tanyi, but it is not the true text" (second-hand). Even the releasing side's own 2017 foreword says that "its authenticity awaits expert appraisal." The paper has not found any professional scholar who has publicly maintained that it preserves elements of Cao Xueqin's drafts.

4.3 The authenticity view, the Wu Meicun view, and the mourning-the-Ming reading

On the evidence seen, those who maintain that the Guiyou version is genuine, or the original work of Wu Meicun, do not publish as members of academic institutions. Their claims are only reported here.

When the official blog dated the guiyou year by Cao Xueqin's lifetime in December 2008, it already proposed another reading: a post of 15 December says that "the last 28 chapters contain much that is anti-Qing and mourns the Ming, anti-Manchu and pro-Han," and a post of 10 March 2009 says that the names Jia Rong and Jia Qiang "are homophones of Rong Qiang" (first-hand). Wu Xuesong's 2015 preface says: "from the notes in the book it can be known that A Mirror for the Romantic is a work of Wu Meicun," and that the twenty-eight later chapters "are, beyond doubt, lost chapters of the Story of the Stone" (reprint). Xiao Wenlin's 2017 preface reads the wars of the twenty-eight later chapters as "a miniature of the struggle between the late-Ming peasant armies and the Qing armies for the realm of the Great Ming" (reprint). A 2016 blog post by He Xuanhe says that, comparing the notes on the first eighty chapters, he "sorted out 59 notes that secretly foreshadow the content of the lost draft … of which 48 are confirmed" (reprint; posted on the blog "Shensuanzi Qin Yigua," signed "author: He Xuanhe; revised and edited by Qin Zhaoyan"). The 2017 foreword by Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe likewise says that the scenes foreshadowed by the notes on the first eighty chapters are "confirmed one by one" in the twenty-eight later chapters, and that "this is strong evidence that this text is the true, complete draft of Dream of the Red Chamber"; the same foreword says that its authenticity awaits appraisal.

The mourning-the-Ming reading has a continuous textual basis in the twenty-eight later chapters: the overseas "Yuhu Island" 玉户岛 raids the border, and the Rong Qiang covet the realm; Yuanchun is put to death by slicing on a charge of "colluding with the Rong Qiang"; roving bandits break into the capital, and the Rong Qiang seize power and ascend the throne; in chapter 100 the sons of disgraced officials cry together, "We swear to wipe out the barbarians and take back our rivers and mountains" (誓灭胡虏，还我河山); in chapter 102 Chen Yejun gives Miaoyu three poems, titled in the working text Song of Jiangdong (江东行), with the line "the leftover subjects, in tears of blood, long for the state's restoration." The project takes none of this (§6, §8).

4.4 Popular Redology

The Guiyou version became really popular on video platforms. Kong Degang regards the explanatory videos of "Muyu Shuixin" and others from 2019 on as the point at which it entered public view, and criticizes the way this phenomenon let "feelings for family and nation" and the "mourning-the-Ming theory" crowd out attention to feeling and human nature. Yang Yifei, taking Bilibili as an example, discusses the Guiyou version in connection with the revival of the suoyin ("hidden-meaning") school and the gap between the academy and the public. This section is written because most of this project's readers are likely to have met the Guiyou version here.

5 The Project's Reading

5.1 One version of the draft

The project reads the Guiyou version as "a later re-creation based on one version of Cao Xueqin's draft."

The words "one version" follow from the position of paper 2. Dream of the Red Chamber is layered, and its drafts existed in several versions; each later event the commentary refers to belongs to some version, and Cao Xueqin very probably had more than one design for the second half of the book. If the Guiyou version does descend from a draft, it descends from only one of those versions, not necessarily the one the commentators saw. So where it disagrees with the commentary, there is no need to force agreement; and its running against the direction of the project does not prevent the project from borrowing from it.

What the project relies on in borrowing from it is one judgement within this reading: whatever in the Guiyou version agrees with the temperaments of the characters as established in the first eighty chapters may, the project holds, preserve something of Cao Xueqin's original intention, and is worth borrowing; whatever does not agree with them is not taken (rule 7 in §6). This is the author's reading, not a finding of textual scholarship. If the Guiyou version is a modern work, the judgement falls back to a literary standard: writing that agrees with the temperaments of the characters in the first eighty chapters is worth borrowing, whoever wrote it (§9).

This reading is the reading and the basis for writing that the project used in handling the Guiyou version. It is a working hypothesis and is not load-bearing (overview §1.4). It does not rebut the forgery view, nor does it need the forgery view to give way. The weight of the public record has been set down as it is (§3), and readers may decline this reading; the list in §7 and the conclusions in §9 do not depend on it. In the course of writing, the project also considered several conjectures about who produced the Guiyou version and when. They are not consistent with one another, and none has public evidence behind it; the paper rules on none of them and rests nothing on any of them.

5.2 A note on chapter 42: the reason, and its difficulties

The author has given one reason for holding this reading. Chapter 42 has a note (42.6) that begins, "'If only these words come true, that would be good': how could the commentator's heart not ache?" and goes on: "Only on the day of the meeting at the Prison Temple does one know that 'meeting disaster she finds good fortune, meeting ill she turns it to good' was a line laid a thousand li ahead. Alas, alas! The writing that follows is too painful to read through. Winter of xinmao." This note links Qiaojie's "meeting disaster she finds good fortune" with a "meeting at the Prison Temple" (狱庙相逢). In the Guiyou version, Qiaojie's misfortune is followed directly by the episode in which Pinger and Qiaojie are taken under guard to the Yue Temple (嶽神庙) and meet Baoyu there; the author holds that this fulfils the note.

This reason is recorded here as given; so are its difficulties, of which there are four.

First, this fulfilment can be explained on either view. On the reading of it as a re-creation from a draft, it is a trace the draft left behind; on the forgery view, it was written to the note: the continuator had read the commentary and simply followed it. The modern editor of the third-draft text even attached this note as a footnote directly to the sentence "quickly take them to the Yue Temple and hold them there" in chapter 94. So this fulfilment cannot be used to decide between the two views.

Second, the provenance of the note itself is disputed, and three accounts have been seen. The project base text labels it 该批 ("this note"); paper 1, item T1-18, records that "a reviewer recalls that it is usually given as a Jing upper-margin note; if so, it is reference-weight; to be checked against facsimiles"; the footnote in chapter 94 of the third-draft text calls it "a Mengfu side note on chapter 42," and the wording it gives is identical, character for character, with the project base text. If the note belongs to the Jing manuscript, the authenticity of the Jing manuscript is itself disputed: Gao Shuwei's Exposing the Jing Manuscript of Dream of the Red Chamber as a Forgery (Zhonghua shuju, 2024) argues that it is forged, as paper 2 has reported.

Third come the limits of the project's own choices. Paper 1's audit records this note as "half fulfilled": the layer that links the "meeting at the Prison Temple" with Qiaojie is not taken by the reconstruction, and is recorded as N5. In the reconstruction, those who meet at the Prison Temple are Baoyu, Qianxue and Xiaohong, and Qiaojie's "meeting disaster she finds good fortune" falls in Rec. chs. 99 and 100. In other words, the reason the project gives for its reading is precisely the layer the project itself did not follow in the reconstruction. To be prompted by a note and then, by an openly stated criterion, not to write it as the note says, is not self-contradiction; if the Guiyou version descends from one version, that version and this one choice of reconstruction can differ. The real limit lies elsewhere: this fulfilment cannot tell an inherited old draft from a modern continuation written to the note (the first difficulty). Readers should know this.

The fourth is a single character. The Guiyou version writes 嶽神庙, the Yue Temple (the temple of the god of the Sacred Peak), throughout, fourteen times in the twenty-eight later chapters of the working text and three more times in the notes on the first eighty chapters; the commentary writes 狱神庙, the Prison Temple (20.20, 26.24 and others). In 1982 Wu Shih-ch'ang criticized Chao Kang for "writing an article about the Prison Temple while picturing in his mind the Yue Temple" (reprint). This shows that something close to the "Yue Temple" had been imagined in tanyi writing long before. The paper only records the fact, and does not use it to decide which came first.

5.3 Two self-accounts in the working text

The working text has two notes that are found only in it. They share one voice, and they bear on the account the book gives of itself, so the paper reports them.

The first is an unsigned passage before chapter 81, set in square brackets rather than in the 【】 used for the other notes; in form it resembles a note, and below it is called "the long note." Its author and the date at which it was added have not been checked; it speaks in the first person and mentions Xueqin and relatives and friends, but the paper does not, on that account, treat it as the testimony of an old commentator. The third-draft text does not have it, nor does the 2008 post with the text of chapter 81 (checked first-hand). It begins: "The last chapter said that 'in the end one never knew the whole story'; does the whole book then end at chapter eighty? Xueqin's original design had twenty-eight more chapters, roughly outlined as follows." There follows a summary of later events, including Tanchun married far away to Yuhu Island, Baoyu losing the jade, Zhen Baoyu becoming a monk and coming to return the jade, and Baochai marrying Yucun. It then says: "Xueqin's original intention was that the Jia house was ruined and its people scattered because Jia Qin and others brought in bandits and wasted the gifts of heaven, not that the state fell and families were thrown into chaos; but on reflection this was as tasteless as chewing wax, the story flat, and we did not adopt it." It further says that the twenty-eight later chapters were, "relatives and friends earnestly urging, filled out into a finished draft," "setting aside Xueqin's original plan, to tell directly of the national calamities and bandit disasters of Han and Tang." It ends: "A Mr Liu has remarkable ideas and a fine design; he wishes, with colleagues, to continue the Red Chamber again, removing every offending word and attending only to the affairs of Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai; I have consented." The second is the second chapter-end note of chapter 108: "I hope that the forty chapters being continued by relatives and friends will soon be completed and circulate in the capital."

Taken together, the two make up a self-contained account: the twenty-eight later chapters were completed by "relatives and friends," setting aside Xueqin's original plan; and there is a further continuation by a "Mr Liu" that writes only of Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai, apparently meaning the Cheng–Gao edition. In its own notes, then, the Guiyou version calls its twenty-eight later chapters a continuation, which on its face is close to the project's reading. But these two notes are also the narrowest in provenance in the whole system, found only in the working text. The paper reports them, and does not use them as evidence for the project's reading.

6 Rules of Use

The project read the Guiyou version mainly as a negative mirror, showing the way not to go. The Guiyou version scores its tragedy to the chaos of the realm, writing the second half as bandits breaking into the capital and most of the characters dying wretched deaths; the project lets the tragedy happen quietly in a world going on as usual, because if the times are in chaos, guilt is diluted by the chaos. As the project sees it, whenever the Guiyou version turns to politics, the characters' voices often become mouthpieces for political commentary; the project takes only the characters' own voices. Each step it takes forces the project to say clearly why it does not take that step itself.

Within this general direction the project laid down, over time, ten rules, listed below. These are the rules that can continue to be applied now; the list does not claim that every step in the past kept to them. The last column of each row says whether the rule still holds once any assumption about the author is removed from it. This column matters: some rules were laid down with assumptions about the author built in, and since this paper does not rule on the author, the rules must make sense without ruling on the author.

#	Rule	First case	With the assumption about the author removed
1	Not load-bearing: any lead adopted must be independently checked against the first eighty chapters and the commentary; the Guiyou version never carries a conclusion alone	Overview §4.6	Unchanged
2	Symmetry between the two texts: from the Guiyou version the mourning for the Ming is removed, from the Cheng–Gao edition the bent toward zhao'an (submission to the throne in return for its pardon and favour); from each, what does not stray is adopted	Ch. 81	Unchanged
3	At the level of plot summary only the skeleton of events is adopted; at the level of text everything must be rewritten in the project's own manner	Ch. 83, the Lady Dowager's mortal illness	Unchanged; for gaps in practice see §7.4
4	Zones: details may be borrowed; key plot is not adopted directly	Dian'er assigned to Xichun's rooms	Borrowing a detail is only a writing choice
5	Where both texts (Guiyou and Cheng–Gao) have something: adopt what fits the first eighty chapters, remove what runs against them and cannot be pulled back, pull back what can be	Ch. 82: Daiyu urging Baoyu to study, pulled back to urging him to read the Zhuangzi	That both texts have something no longer counts as corroboration of a base draft; it is only a prompt
6	Two answers to one question: when the two texts each give a solution to the same problem, this shows there is a problem to be solved here	Ch. 84, Xiangyun's wedding date and the mourning rules	As above
7	Out of character, not adopted: where a character's voice does not fit the temperament established in the first eighty chapters, remove it, pull it back, or take its content and discard its writing	Yuanyang's "it would serve them right if they all died"	Says only that what is out of character is not adopted
8	The realm not in chaos: the Guiyou version scatters into chaos, the Cheng–Gao edition dissolves things in leisure; the project scatters, but in order	Ch. 92	Unchanged
9	Architecture: no 108 chapters, no 108-person Roster; the whole book has 110 chapters; the Roster does not list the full ranking	The Roster of Feeling	Unchanged
10	For punctuating and emending a damaged commentary note, the text transmitted in the Guiyou line may be drawn on, but only for emendation, and the argument's weight is lowered by one step	The Jing note on ch. 41 (this rule comes from overview §4.6 and audit item T1-24)	Unchanged. The borrowed punctuation is used only to judge whether the damaged note is fulfilled, and that fulfilment is recorded only as selection by the criterion (the overview's Grade C); the plot is set by the criterion (§7.5)

Of the ten, rules 2, 7 and 8 best show the project's attitude. Rule 2 puts the Guiyou version and the Cheng–Gao edition in symmetrical positions: the one leans toward mourning the Ming, the other toward zhao'an; both depart from what the project reads as Cao Xueqin's intention, so from each the leaning is removed and what does not lean is adopted. Rule 7 is a sieve: when a character in the Guiyou version says something that character in the first eighty chapters would not say, it is not taken. Rule 8 sets the climate of the whole book.

Besides these, the project has a criterion that runs through the whole book and does not apply to the Guiyou version alone: Cao Xueqin does not steer the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Qin Keqing included, toward lust; what he writes is the person; sexual humiliation is not his way of writing. Its anchor in the text is the goddess Jinghuan's distinction in chapter 5 between "lust of the mind" (yiyin 意淫) and "the lust of the skin" (overview §1.2); for Qin Keqing, the Roster of Feeling in the reconstruction writes, "her sin was not beauty but politics" (然其孽非色，乃政; overview §3.5; paper 2). In the current draft, Miaoyu is set to menial labour but is not violated, and Qiaojie, in the Hongxiang Court, "is beaten every day and will not give in"; both are where this criterion lands (§7.5). Many of the items removed from the Guiyou version also bear on it (§8).

Between the rules and the practice there is one gap, recorded here as it is: under rule 3, a few sentences in the text of the current draft are near-identical to the working text: not everything was rewritten (§7.4).

7 What Was Borrowed

7.1 How the count was made

This paper lists, item by item, the places in the current draft that relate to the Guiyou version, seventy-two in all, and does three things for each: it checks in the working text which chapter of the Guiyou version the item is in, and which chapter of the current draft; it searches the text of the first eighty chapters (including the verdicts and songs) and the commentary for independent support; and it states how the item should be handled if the Guiyou version is a modern work. The full table is in Appendix 3.

"Independent support" is judged strictly. It must be a foreshadowing of a later event, or a direct cause from which the event follows, and it must agree with the item in at least two of persons, events and things. Evidence that provides only the origin of a character or an object, or only a similar temperament or atmosphere, counts only as "tangential," not as support. An item with several layers is classed by its main line. Where the main line comes only from the Guiyou version, the item is class G, even if one of its layers has support elsewhere: for example #7, the reality of servants' skimming, in which the layer of the rotted ginseng can follow from Lady Wang's search for ginseng in chapter 77. Where the main line has support and one attached layer is borrowed from the Guiyou version, the item is class I, marked with an asterisk, and the borrowed layer is noted (#1, #2, #23). The classes are only summary labels and do not replace the columns of Appendix 3: an item with independent support may in fact have been borrowed, and matching wording does not by itself show the direction of transmission.

In the Chinese version the classes are named 甲, 乙, 丙, 同 and 注. The English uses the letters I, G, W, S and N, which are meant to be remembered by what they stand for, and are not to be confused with the overview's Grades A–D or with paper 1's Tiers 1–3.

On this method the seventy-two items are classed as follows:

Class	Meaning	Items
I	The main line has independent support that points directly to this event; the Guiyou version serves only as corroboration or prompt (those marked * also contain a borrowed layer)	14
G	No independent support, or only tangential; the main line comes only from the Guiyou version; a writing choice	33
W	Matching or near-matching wording: chapter titles, epithets in the Roster of Feeling, and sentences of the text that keep near-matching Guiyou wording	17
S	Both texts have it, but the project has its own source, or took it from another text (#72 from the Cheng–Gao edition); not borrowed from the Guiyou version	7
N	A note outside the text written by the project itself, commenting on the Guiyou version; not content taken from it (#70)	1

Of the seventy-two items, one (#26) is still to be checked, and the other seventy-one have been checked. Among these seventy-one, #70 is a note outside the text written by the project, commenting on the Guiyou version, not content taken from it, and it is listed separately. Of the remaining seventy: fourteen have independent support for their main line and seven have the project's own sources, twenty-one in all, whose main line does not depend on the Guiyou version, three of them with a borrowed layer; thirty-two come only from the Guiyou version and seventeen have matching or near-matching wording, forty-nine in all, which come from the Guiyou version. If #26 does carry on a core from the Guiyou version, the figure is fifty.

This result does not favour the project. Most of what the project really borrowed from the Guiyou version is writing material: plot outlines, details, scenes and wording. Only a minority can be held up by the first eighty chapters and the commentary alone. The classes are taken in turn below.

7.2 Items with independent support

In this class the Guiyou version acts as a prompt. It had already written out events that the first eighty chapters and the commentary foreshadow; the project used it to locate and shape them, while the support was in the first eighty chapters and the commentary all along.

Xiren marries Jiang Yuhan, leaving Sheyue behind as she goes (Rec. ch. 81): there is the Gengchen note 20.45, "hence Xiren's words after she is married, 'whatever happens, keep Sheyue,'" and 28.1, on the actor Qiguan, "in a later chapter he and Xiren serve Brother Jade and Sister Bao, to stay with them to the end." That the match is made with the crimson sweat-sash as its token also rests on 28.1; but the layer in which "Baoyu himself acts as go-between" has no support, and is borrowed from the 2008 post of chapter titles, "a sash serves as go-between" (凭带为媒). Tanchun takes leave of the ancestral hall at Qingming and is married far away (Rec. ch. 85): there is her verdict, "At Qingming, in tears, she is seen off, gazing from the riverbank; / a thousand li on the east wind, a dream far away," and 22.103, "this is an omen of Tanchun's marrying far away"; the rite of leave-taking at the ancestral hall and the layer of her adoption as a daughter are borrowed from the Guiyou version. Pinger is raised to be the principal wife (Rec. ch. 90): in chapter 44 Bao Er's wife tells Jia Lian, "when she dies, you can just raise Pinger to be your proper wife." Grannie Liu rescues Qiaojie (Rec. ch. 100): there is the verdict, "By chance, having once helped a woman named Liu, / by good fortune she meets one who repays her." Xichun's painting of the Grand View Garden goes with Grannie Liu to the country (Rec. ch. 101): in chapter 40 Grannie Liu says, "If only someone would paint this garden for me, so I could take it home." Baochai dies in the snow (Rec. ch. 108): her verdict has "the golden hairpin buried in the snow"; in the same item, that Yucun does not die is the project's own ruling, made by turning round the Guiyou version's "Yucun dies of illness"; it has no support in the commentary, and it is not borrowed either.

If the Guiyou version is a modern work, the main line of this class is unchanged; the borrowed layers of #1, #2 and #23 have their source relabelled, as for class G.

7.3 Items that come only from the Guiyou version

Class G has thirty-three items, one of which (#26) is still to be checked. They are writing choices the project borrowed from the Guiyou version, and no direct support for them can be found in the first eighty chapters or the commentary. Examples from the household affairs of the Jia mansion: the reality of servants' skimming (Rec. ch. 82); the proposed match for Miaoyu, with Jia Huan in Baoyu's place, and the old friendship between the Lady Dowager and Miaoyu's grandmother (Rec. ch. 85; for the friendship the author confirms the source as chapter 82 of the working text, "the old lady and her grandmother were close friends too"); Aunt Zhao's complaint as the trigger for the audit of the accounts (Rec. ch. 86). From the Qiaojie line: her weeping a second time in the Grand View Garden and choosing for herself to leave (Rec. ch. 101); Xifeng appearing to Qiaojie in a dream and saying "I came too late" (Rec. ch. 101). From the Miaoyu line: Chen Yejun's suit, which she rejects (Rec. ch. 99); her dream in which she debates "what is purity" with Daiyu (Rec. ch. 105). Around Baoyu: Jiang Yuhan answering his wife with the words of a play (Rec. ch. 106); Xiangyun mourning Daiyu (Rec. ch. 106). From the life of the streets: Yinjie's fierce temper and Bu Shiren selling his daughter (Rec. chs. 107 and 108); Second Girl (Er yatou; Rec. ch. 104); the Prince of Beijing returning a gift unopened (Rec. ch. 108). Details and names of things: Dian'er assigned to Xichun's rooms; the name Ningguta.

The commonest technique in this class is "inversion": taking the form of a scene in the Guiyou version and replacing its meaning. Xifeng's ghost returning to take revenge is inverted into her appearing in a dream to bless her daughter's marriage to Banr; Miaoyu's dream in which Baoyu urges marriage is inverted into her dream debating purity with Daiyu; Jiang Yuhan's "for a man to have three wives and four concubines is only right" is inverted into the words of a play about keeping faith with one person; Yucun bribing the Prince of Beijing to gain office is inverted into the Prince returning the gift unopened. The project calls this technique "the form taken, the meaning inverted" (形采义翻). In what is inverted, the meaning is the project's and the form is the Guiyou version's; so these items belong to class G, and their source must be stated.

There is also a case in which one scene in a group is borrowed while the meaning of the group as a whole is the project's own. Wandering on the road, Baoyu is awakened three times: Liu Xianglian saves him from robbers on the road (Rec. ch. 102), which is the Daoist teaching; the old monk at the Temple of Wisdom Understood makes him gather firewood and light the fire (Rec. ch. 102), which is the Buddhist; Second Girl gives him a bowl of taro and treats him as a person (Rec. ch. 104), which is the Confucian "benevolence is loving others" made real. This awakening through the three teachings is the project's own conception (author's statement). Only the scene in which Second Girl is met again and gives him taro comes from chapter 106 of the working text (#64); the stroke of Liu Xianglian's rescue follows chapter 66, where Liu Xianglian drives off robbers on the border of Ping'an Prefecture and saves Xue Pan; the Temple of Wisdom Understood comes from chapter 2.

Two items need separate mention. The personal name Chen Yejun does not appear in the list of mourners in chapter 14 of the project base text, which reads "Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan and other young gentlemen of noble houses"; the working text has it, and so does the standard edition; this is to be checked against facsimiles. As between the two texts this project used, even the name in this item is found only in the working text. For the Miaoyu item (#56), the layers of Guazhou and of sinking into the mire have support in the commentary and in her verdict; that she is not violated comes from the project's criterion, while the reading "did not submit" is borrowed from the Guiyou line; see §7.5.

If the Guiyou version is a modern work, class G can be used just the same, since it consists of writing choices in the first place; only the source must be relabelled as "borrowed from a modern continuation."

7.4 Matching and near-matching wording

This class is what the paper most needs to set down as it is.

First, chapter titles. Several titles of the reconstruction match or nearly match titles in the Guiyou version:

Title in the current draft	Title in the Guiyou version	Relation
Rec. ch. 101: 刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐二哭大观园 ("Grannie Liu enters the Rong mansion a third time; / Jia Qiaojie weeps a second time in the Grand View Garden")	Ch. 103: the whole couplet identical	"A third time" (三进) comes from the Jiaxu note on chapter 6 (6.1); "weeps a second time in the Grand View Garden" is found only in the Guiyou version
Rec. ch. 106, second line: 花袭人信有始有终 ("Hua Xiren proves constant to the end")	Ch. 96, second line: identical	"Hua Xiren constant to the end" (花袭人有始有终) comes from the Gengchen note 20.20; the character 信 is taken from the Guiyou version
Rec. ch. 89, second line: 警天伦元春诉幽梦 ("to warn her own flesh and blood, Yuanchun tells a dark dream")	Ch. 90: 贾元春托梦警天伦 ("Jia Yuanchun, in a dream, warns her own flesh and blood")	The three characters 警天伦 ("to warn her own flesh and blood"); the dream itself has support in the song Hen wuchang ("Grief at Impermanence")
Rec. ch. 91, first line: 锦衣军查抄宁荣府 ("The Embroidered Guard raid the Ning and Rong mansions")	Ch. 91: 锦衣卫查抄荣宁府; also the Cheng–Gao edition, ch. 105: 锦衣军查抄宁国府	Differs from the Guiyou line by one character, with two characters transposed; from the Cheng–Gao line by one character only (国 replaced by 荣). Both were drawn on
Rec. ch. 82, first line: 贾宝玉佯捧万章篇 ("Jia Baoyu makes a show of poring over the 'Wan Zhang' chapter")	2008 post of chapter titles: 贾宝玉佯捧万章经	The first seven characters identical; later texts changed this title
Rec. ch. 95, first line: 绛珠仙泪尽完夙债 ("The Crimson Pearl fairy, her tears spent, pays off her old debt")	Ch. 97: 绛珠仙泪尽抛全生	The first five characters identical

The first five rows are counted in class W (Appendix 3: #60, #49, #33, #39, #4). The line for Rec. ch. 91 draws on both texts: in wording it is closer to chapter 105 of the Cheng–Gao edition, differing by one character, while naming the two mansions together, Ning and Rong, follows the Guiyou version. The author states that both were drawn on, so #39 stays in class W, with the source noted as both. The row for Rec. ch. 95 is not counted: "Crimson Pearl fairy" comes from chapter 1, and "her tears spent" from the Gengchen interlinear note 22.48, "in time, her tears spent, she will die young"; all five characters have sources in the first eighty chapters and the commentary, a case close to that of Rec. ch. 90 below; and the author states that this couplet did not draw on the Guiyou version. It should also be said that the title of Rec. ch. 90, 薛宝钗借词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄 ("Xue Baochai uses words to veil her admonition; / Wang Xifeng, knowing her fate, forces herself to be heroic"), is identical with that of chapter 105 of the Guiyou version, but both come from the Mengfu chapter-head note on chapter 21 (21.3; audit item T1-21); it is not borrowed from the Guiyou version.

Next, the Roster of Feeling. In Rec. ch. 110, eighteen people on the Roster are given an epithet and a comment, and twenty-one more are listed by name only, without an epithet. Of the eighteen, all except Qing'er, seventeen, appear in the Roster in chapter 108 of the working text; for sixteen of them the two-character epithet "qing X" is identical with the working text: in the Principal Register, qingqing 情情, wuqing 无情, qingzun 情尊, qingmin 情敏, qinghan 情憨, qingyin 情隐, qingnuo 情懦, qingxiong 情雄, qingyuan 情缘, qinggao 情槁 and nieqing 孽情; in the Secondary Register and below, Xiangling's qingdai 情呆, Qingwen's qingyong 情勇, Xiren's qingzhen 情箴, Baoqin's (抱琴, Yuanchun's maid) qingzhong 情忠 and Cuimo's qinghuo 情豁. Only Xichun's epithet was changed, from the working text's qingleng 情冷 ("qing cold") to qinghui 情慧 ("qing wise"). In the commentary only two epithets are seen, qingqing and qing bu qing (19.80). There is matching wording in the comments too: "a cliff ten thousand fathoms high" (壁立万仞) in Miaoyu's entry; "cold heart, cold face" (冷心冷面) in Xichun's entry (the current draft introduces it with "some say" and at once turns it round; and You Sanjie has already said these four characters in chapter 66, so they belong to the vocabulary of the first eighty chapters); and the pattern of "capable in an age of order" (治世之能) in Xifeng's entry (the pattern comes from Xu Shao's judgement of Cao Cao, "a capable minister in an age of order, a treacherous hero in an age of disorder," in Pei Songzhi's commentary on the "Annals of Emperor Wu" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, quoting Sun Sheng's Yitong zayu, so the weight of the match is very slight). So in the project's Roster, the registers and the epithets qingqing and qing bu qing have support in the commentary, while most of the other epithets come from the Guiyou version and were kept after the project checked each one; the way each comment is written is the project's own. This layer is left to paper 5.

Finally, sentences of the text. The overview says that at the level of text everything "must be rewritten in the project's own manner," and on the whole this was done, but a few sentences are close to the working text. The paper first applies a screening threshold: five or more consecutive identical characters, or a whole sentence only trimmed, altered or reordered, excluding set phrases and vocabulary already found in the first eighty chapters. Whatever passes the threshold is then confirmed against the record of borrowings in the working records. Similarity of wording does not in itself settle the direction of transmission. There are nine such items, concentrated in a few places. Everything quoted below is the wording of the current draft (Rec. chs. 81–103 from r54, later chapters from r53); the working-text originals and the item-by-item comparison are in the table in Appendix 3, part 2. In the passage on the Lady Dowager's mortal illness in Rec. ch. 83: Imperial Physician Wang's "the heart's breath is already failing … it has its fixed term" (心气已衰……止有定数); the Lady Dowager's "I'm afraid I won't last out this year" (只怕熬不过今年了) and "who knows whether I'll get through the next time" (还不知下一回，过得过不得了); Jia Zheng ordering Jia Lian to draw up a list, "pawn what should be pawned, sell what should be sold" (该当的当，该卖的卖), and the goods hauled "to Caishikou and laid out for sale" (菜市口摆开卖了). In Rec. ch. 84, Xue Pan tells Baochai that the one Baoyu is to marry is surnamed Lin, and "there's long been no share in it for you" (早没有你的份了). In Rec. ch. 88, when Mother Ma's case comes to light, "demon kings, male and female, carved in ivory" (象牙刻的男女魔王) are dug up, eight characters identical with chapter 89 of the working text; the case coming to light is also in chapter 81 of the Cheng–Gao edition, where the wording, "a man and a woman carved in ivory … two demon kings" (像牙刻的一男一女……两个魔王), is different. In Rec. ch. 90, Xifeng says, "outside they all say our house has mountains of gold and silver" (外头都传咱们府里金山银山). In Rec. ch. 99 the passage in which Wang Ren sells Qiaojie is close to chapter 94 of the working text, for example "Now Wang Ren, taking Qiaojie with him" (且说王仁带着巧姐), "the tide ebbing and the moon rising" (潮落月起), and the bawd who "rubbed her chin and said with a smile, 'Top quality'" (摸了摸下巴，笑道：'是个上品'). In Rec. ch. 107, Baoyu, holding the lamp Daiyu once gave him, says, "it'll be as if I've seen her again" (就当又看见他了). These sentences have all been reworked, by cutting, reordering or a change of words, but the closeness can still be seen. The Lady Dowager's "you needn't try to set my mind at ease" (你不用虚宽我的心) in Rec. ch. 83 is also identical with the working text, but in chapter 77 of the first eighty chapters Baoyu has already said "you needn't just try to set my mind at ease" (你不必虚宽我的心); it belongs to the vocabulary of the first eighty chapters and is not counted.

The sources of this class are stated now; the paper does not wait for the forgery view to be proved before stating them. The paper's handling is this. The characters of the chapter titles and of the epithets in the Roster are not changed: the author long ago ruled that titles of the reconstruction that have a source are not changed because of reviewers' comments. A line will be added to the conventions of the reconstruction, stating that chapter titles, Roster epithets and a few sentences are borrowed from the Guiyou version. The few near-matching sentences of the text will be rewritten in the next round of revision as the case requires. If the Guiyou version is a modern work, titles and epithets, being few characters, need only an acknowledgement; for near-matching sentences of the text, rewriting is preferable (§9).

7.5 One punctuation of the note on chapter 41

The Jing upper-margin note on chapter 41 recorded in the project base text (41.14) is garbled as transmitted: "……他日瓜州渡口劝惩不哀哉屈从红颜固能不枯骨各示□". There are three ways of punctuating it. Zhou Ruchang reads it as 他日瓜州渡口，红颜固［？］屈从枯骨，不能各示劝惩，［岂］不哀哉！ ("Another day at the Guazhou ferry, the rosy-cheeked one indeed [?] submits to withered bones, and they cannot each show admonition and warning; [is it] not lamentable!"); Dai Bufan reads it as 他日瓜州渡口屈从，各示劝惩，［岂］不哀哉 ("Another day at the Guazhou ferry she submits; each shows admonition and warning; [is it] not lamentable"). Both read "submits" (屈从; this paper relies on transcriptions found online; the original books and page numbers are still to be checked). The third reading comes from the Guiyou line: in the text of chapter 41 of the working text there is a note reading 妙玉偏辟处，此所谓过洁世同嫌也，他日瓜州渡口，客示劝惩，红颜固能不屈从枯骨，不哀哉？ ("Where Miaoyu is eccentric: this is what is meant by 'too pure, she is resented by all the world.' Another day, at the Guazhou ferry, a guest shows admonition and warning: the rosy-cheeked one was indeed able not to submit to withered bones. Is it not lamentable?").

The overview chose the third by its criterion, reading "did not submit," classed it as Grade C in the sense of overview §4.2 (selection by the criterion), and stated that this borrowing "touches only emendation, not plot." Two things must be separated here: that Miaoyu is not violated is the project's own judgement; the reading "did not submit" is borrowed. Both are laid out in full below.

The provenance of this reading is that it came into public view as the Guiyou version's own note on chapter 41; the earliest public citation this paper has seen is a blog post of 12 January 2016. It is not any scholar's collated reading, and it belongs to the same system of commentary as the two notes the holder admitted forging. The original note, moreover, comes from the Jing manuscript, whose authenticity is disputed. So two things are unsettled here: whether the original note is reliable, and where the punctuation comes from.

More striking still, the Guiyou version's own plot has her "submit." In chapter 102 of both the working text and the third-draft text, Miaoyu, after being abducted, is "receiving clients every day"; and the 2017 foreword lists "Miaoyu submits at the Guazhou ferry" among the scenes foreshadowed by the commentary and confirmed. However, the 2016 blog post listed in this paper explains the phrase differently: it takes "able not to submit" (能不屈从) to describe a possibility that could have been avoided but was not: the visitor admonished her, and she did not listen, which then leads on to what befalls Miaoyu later. So, in the source's own explanation, the literal "not submit" and the submission in the plot do not conflict. The project took the word order of this reading; it did not take its explanation, nor its plot.

The reason the project writes Miaoyu as not violated lies not in how this note is read but in the criterion: Cao Xueqin does not steer the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Qin Keqing included, toward lust; sexual humiliation is not his way of writing (§6). The reading "did not submit" only makes the damaged note compatible with this judgement.

Since the punctuation is borrowed, it is recorded as borrowed. If this text is stripped of its standing as a witness to an early variant, the project will still state that the punctuation is taken from the Guiyou line, only no longer using it to prove the ending of Cao's draft. The plot in which Miaoyu is not violated is unaffected, because it came from the criterion in the first place; what is affected is only whether the "did not submit" layer of 41.14 counts as fulfilled. On the readings of Zhou Ruchang and Dai Bufan, the reconstruction does not satisfy this layer, as paper 1 states at item T1-24: "on other readings, the reconstruction does not satisfy this note." To say on a borrowed punctuation that this layer is fulfilled counts, in argument, only as selection by the criterion, not as direct evidence from the commentary; what the overview calls "lowered by one step" is the lowering of this layer.

8 What Was Not Taken

Far more was removed than adopted. Chapter 93 is not taken at all; from chapter 92 only one core is taken, Daiyu seeing fireflies; nothing is taken from chapters 97, 100 and 107 (chapter numbers of the Guiyou version). By reason, what was removed falls roughly into six classes (Appendix 4).

The largest is chaos in the realm: bandits sacking the Grand View Garden, the county yamen seized, characters dying in batches, about sixty items. Next is mourning the Ming and politics: the Rong Qiang, Yuhu Island, Yuanchun put to death by slicing and the charge of "colluding with the Rong Qiang," Chen Yejun's three poems, the set of poems on late-Ming figures in the second half of the elegy, "we swear to wipe out the barbarians," the new dynasty, about forty items. Then come voices or fates of characters that do not fit what the first eighty chapters established: Daiyu beating Xiaohong to death, Baochai murdering Zhui'er, Yuanyang cursing the Jia family, Baoyu writing a letter to win Miaoyu's heart, about thirty items. The supernatural: the jade of spiritual understanding fleeing by itself, Xifeng's ghost taking revenge, the Land of Illusion crossing names off and returning them to their places, about twenty items. Things that do not connect, with the first eighty chapters or within the Guiyou version itself, about ten items: for example, the actresses coming back to the garden to settle scores with Xiren does not connect with where chapter 77 of the first eighty chapters sends them, "Ruiguan and Ouguan both went with Yuanxin of the Ksitigarbha Convent" (蕊官藕官二人跟了地藏庵的圆心; the working text has 圆信), and a reason for their return would have to be supplied. Architecture is the smallest class: 108 chapters, a 108-person Roster, men on the Roster, "the Passionate Monk," about six items. Across these classes runs one more criterion: sexual humiliation is not Cao Xueqin's way of writing (§6). Miaoyu sinking into prostitution until old age, the maids raped and killed, Baochai's secret meetings with Yucun, Jiang Yuhan consorting with boy favourites and betraying Xiren: these fall in different classes, and all run against this criterion. The numbers are only approximate; about eighty further items are choices of plot and are not classed.

This list is much longer than the list of what was adopted, and that is its meaning: the project borrowed from the Guiyou version more as a negative example. It wrote the second half as the realm in chaos and most of the characters dying wretched deaths; the question the project sets out to answer is how people, in a world going on as usual, come to their own ends.

9 If the Guiyou Version Is a Modern Work

The overview originally assigned this paper "a direct engagement with the forgery view." Under the author's later ruling, the paper does not decide authenticity, so this engagement answers only the bearing of the forgery view on the way the project uses its materials and on the standing of its arguments: if the forgery view is right, what in the project has to change?

This section works on the assumption least favourable to the project: the Guiyou version is not treated as an independent witness to any of Cao's drafts, and everything the paper borrowed is treated as text written or edited by a modern person. A modern writer might also have had access to old material, and modern composition does not in itself mean there can be no old source; this section does not rely on that. On this assumption, four questions are answered.

First: can the literary choices stay? Yes. The fourteen items whose main line has independent support, and the seven with the project's own sources, never depended on the Guiyou version; the thirty-three items that come only from it were writing choices from the start. The judgement in §5.1, that "content that agrees with the temperaments of the characters in the first eighty chapters is worth borrowing," then falls back to a literary standard: writing that agrees with the characters' temperaments may be borrowed, whoever wrote it. The episode in which Miaoyu is not violated also stays; it comes from the criterion (§7.5).

Second: is the standing of corroboration withdrawn? Yes. Wherever, in the writing, a plot element found in both texts was taken as corroboration of a base draft, that standing is withdrawn. The punctuation of the note on chapter 41 no longer serves as a witness to an early variant.

Third: must the disclosure of sources and wording change? The source of class G items is relabelled "borrowed from a modern continuation"; the same applies to the borrowed layer of the class I items marked with an asterisk. Of the seventeen items of matching and near-matching wording, chapter titles and Roster epithets, being few characters, need only an acknowledgement of their source; for near-matching sentences of the text, rewriting is preferable. These disclosures are made now, without waiting for the forgery view to be proved (§7.4). #70 is a note outside the text written by the project itself; it names the Guiyou version outright, and must be rewritten or annotated.

Fourth: where did the overview actually use this corroboration? In one place only: the punctuation of the note on chapter 41 in §4.6, which the overview had already classed as Grade C (selection by the criterion). Withdrawing it affects only whether the "did not submit" layer of 41.14 counts as fulfilled; the plot of the reconstruction does not move. Everywhere else the overview mentions the Guiyou version, it treats it only as a source of candidate leads, to be checked against the first eighty chapters and the commentary. The ten rules of use stand; rules 4, 5, 6 and 7 remain usable once their assumptions about the author are restated (§6). The list of what was removed is unchanged. The overview's main thesis and method are unchanged too, because overview §1.4 had already listed the claim about the Guiyou version as not load-bearing.

So the conclusion is a single sentence: the way the project uses the Guiyou version does not depend on whether it is genuine or forged. This is the paper's answer to the forgery view. The paper does not conclude from this that the forgery view is wrong, nor that the project's reading is right.

One thing must be said in the other direction as well. If the Guiyou version really did descend from one version of Cao Xueqin's draft, the project would gain nothing extra from it, because only the first eighty chapters and the commentary were ever accepted as grounds of argument. As re-examined in this paper, the place of the Guiyou version in the project is confined to three roles: a prompter, a negative mirror, and a source of writing material.

10 Conclusion

The paper argues for one thing only: the project used the Guiyou version with discipline and with a register, and without presupposing either that it is genuine or that it is forged. Everything else is reported as found.

Several of the things reported tell against the project, and the paper has written all of them down. Most of what was really borrowed from the Guiyou version is writing material; only a minority can be held up independently by the first eighty chapters and the commentary. Chapter titles, Roster epithets and a few sentences match or nearly match the Guiyou version. The punctuation of the note on chapter 41 is borrowed. The reason the project gives for reading the Guiyou version as a re-creation from a draft is precisely the layer the project did not follow in its own reconstruction. None of this changes the main thesis of the overview, because the overview never put the Guiyou version in a load-bearing position from the start; but readers ought to know it.

Dream of the Red Chamber is layered, and its drafts existed in several versions. In the project's reading, the Guiyou version is a re-creation built on one version of a draft; if that reading is not accepted, it is already, in any case, one of the texts in the history of how Dream of the Red Chamber has been transmitted and received. In what year and by whose hand it was made, the paper does not decide. The project read it, borrowed from it, and more often went the opposite way. That is what this paper has set down.

Appendix 1 Chapter Titles of Chapters 81–108 of the Guiyou Version Compared

Four texts: the 2008 blog text (the post of chapter titles on the Sina blog, 2008-10-13); the Jiuzhou edition (Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, The Last 28 Chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone, Jiuzhou chubanshe, 2014); the third-draft text (an internet user's digitization of the 2017 edition); the working text (the 108-chapter text the project actually used). The third-draft column is given in full; in the other three columns, "same" means the same as the third-draft text, and any difference is written out in full. Traditional characters in the working text (風, 強, 劉 and the like) are counted as their simplified forms and are not treated as variants. The last column is filled in only where a title of the reconstruction is identical with, close to, or shares words from the commentary with, the title here; titles of the reconstruction are those of the drafts listed in "What this paper relies on." The titles are given in Chinese because the comparison turns on single characters; the titles discussed in §7.4 are translated there.

Ch.	2008 blog text	Jiuzhou edition (2014)	Third-draft text (2017)	Working text	Relation to titles of the reconstruction
81	避祸念旧凭带为媒　承辱怀怨以身试墙	same	惜昵近公子做良媒　讳笞罚丫鬟结恶党	same
82	贾宝玉佯捧万章经，林黛玉闷作十独吟	same	王熙凤病求千翼方　林黛玉闷作十独吟	same	Rec. ch. 82, first line 贾宝玉佯捧万章篇, shares its first seven characters with the first line here in the 2008 blog text (经 replaced by 篇). The text of this chapter in the working text has a passage in which Baoyu reads the "Wan Zhang" chapter of the Mencius aloud in front of Jia Zheng and throws the book down as soon as his father has gone
83	same	same	史太君临终念子孙　王夫人膏肓托儿女	暮年哀聊发白头吟　金萱悲情洒儿女泪
84	薛宝钗弥望雾烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望雾烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望金玉缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望霭烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎
85	same	same	痴王孙传信牵奇缘　惭妙尼避情乘游槎	same
86	same	same	挑正庶风月断佳偶　祭祖祠清明泣远嫁	same
87	same	same	花柳质命断无情兽　绣户女自绝美韶华	same
88	same	same	邢夫人执意寻舛错　王熙凤聪明误此生	same
89	same	same	有情人欣遇赏心事　不良妾专煞良辰景	same
90	same	林黛玉嬉春待好姻　贾元春托梦警天伦	林黛玉嬉春待好音　贾元春托梦警天伦	same	Rec. ch. 89, second line 警天伦元春诉幽梦, shares the three characters 警天伦 with the second line here; both write Yuanchun appearing in a dream
91	same	same	锦衣卫查抄荣宁府　御林军戒严大观园	same	Rec. ch. 91, first line 锦衣军查抄宁荣府, is close to the first line here (卫 replaced by 军, 荣宁 by 宁荣); the first line of Cheng–Gao ch. 105, 锦衣军查抄宁国府, differs from the reconstruction's by one character only; the author states that both were drawn on
92	same	same	家宅乱恶子通强梁　世道艰道人连流寇	same
93	大厦倾公府逐末路　权势败豪门沦草芥	same	山雨近阊阖笼霭晦　风云喧末世漫尘烟	same
94	same	same	骨肉泯良女落风尘　贵贱失恶奴劫浮财	same
95	醉金刚风雨行侠义　痴丫鬟危难献忠贞	醉金刚风雨行侠义　痴丫鬟危难献忠贞	水月庵龄官挞贾蔷　嶽神庙茜雪慰宝玉	same	Rec. ch. 93, first line 烈茜雪带冤慰旧主, and Rec. ch. 94, first line 众义士计赚狱神庙, share with the second line here in the third-draft and working texts the words of the commentary 狱神庙慰宝玉 (Gengchen upper-margin note on ch. 20); the reconstruction writes 狱, the Guiyou version 嶽
96	same	same	贾宝玉参无知无识　花袭人信有始有终	same	Rec. ch. 106, second line 花袭人信有始有终, is identical with the second line here (花袭人有始有终 comes from the Gengchen upper-margin note on ch. 20; the character 信 is taken from the Guiyou version); its first line, 贾宝玉参无执无著, differs from the first line here by two characters
97	狗彘盗逞凶侵芳园　绛珠仙泪尽抛全生	same	鸳鸯女谮语泄天机　绛珠仙泪尽抛全生	same	Rec. ch. 95, first line 绛珠仙泪尽完夙债, shares its first five characters with the second line here
98	same	same	系新绦嗟慰失意人　拾旧帕悲悼寂寞骨	same
99	same	same	林黛玉还魂证前缘　贾宝玉展裘触旧情	same
100	same	same	邢岫烟魂断大庾岭　赵姨娘命丧平安州	same
101	same	same	呆霸王惹祸牵旧案　悍妒妇作歹设新谋	same
102	same	same	冷惜春甘伴青灯佛　洁妙玉泥陷瓜洲渡	same	Rec. ch. 100, second line 成窑钟瓜洲赎玉人, uses 瓜洲 as this second line does; both write of Miaoyu, and both follow the words 瓜州渡口 of the Jing upper-margin note on ch. 41
103	same	刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐两哭大观园	刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐二哭大观园	same	The title of Rec. ch. 101 is identical with this couplet as a whole (it differs from the Jiuzhou edition by one character, 二 against 两)
104	same	same	毒中毒薛姨妈添病　计上计夏金桂焚身	same
105	same	same	薛宝钗借词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄	薛宝钗藉词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄	The title of Rec. ch. 90 is identical with this (it differs from the working text by one character, 借 against 藉). Both come from the Mengfu chapter-head note on ch. 21 (21.3); not borrowed from the Guiyou version
106	same	same	孤倔王孙悬崖撒手　凄惶红袖秋千传情	same
107	same	same	史湘云诉前尘旧梦　贾宝玉淡后事今生	same
108	情不情僧遭逢穷途　幻之幻境展演情榜	same	情不情僧遭逢穷途　幻中幻境展演情榜	same	Rec. ch. 110, first line 情不情居士梦情榜, shares two terms with this title, 情不情 and 情榜, both found in the commentary

Notes on the check

1. The thirty titles of Rec. chs. 81–110 were each compared with the four texts in the table. Eleven chapters bear on the Guiyou titles: two are identical (Rec. ch. 101, the whole couplet identical with Guiyou ch. 103; Rec. ch. 90, the whole couplet identical with Guiyou ch. 105, both coming from the commentary); one has one line identical (Rec. ch. 106, second line identical with Guiyou ch. 96); two are near-matching (Rec. ch. 82, first line close to the 2008 blog text's ch. 82; Rec. ch. 91, first line close to Guiyou ch. 91 and also to Cheng–Gao ch. 105, drawing on both); two share three or more characters (Rec. ch. 89, 警天伦; Rec. ch. 95, 绛珠仙泪尽, the latter's five characters all having sources in the first eighty chapters and the commentary, so that it is not counted among the borrowings; see §7.4); four share words from the commentary (Rec. chs. 93 and 94 with Guiyou ch. 95; Rec. ch. 100 with Guiyou ch. 102; Rec. ch. 110 with Guiyou ch. 108). The other nineteen (81, 83–88, 92, 96–99, 102–105, 107–109) are unrelated.
2. The following are similar but not counted: the first line of Rec. ch. 86, 懦迎春命断中山狼, and the first line of Guiyou ch. 87, 花柳质命断无情兽, both use 命断 ("life ended"), each drawing on words of the verdicts and songs; the second line of Rec. ch. 84, 鸳鸯女终全鸳鸯誓, and the first line of Guiyou ch. 97 both begin 鸳鸯女 ("the maid Yuanyang"), both following the title of chapter 46, 鸳鸯女誓绝鸳鸯偶; the first line of Rec. ch. 83, 史太君含笑嘱心肝, shares only a personal name with the first line of the third-draft text's ch. 83; the second line of Rec. ch. 86, 执邢氏查账翻旧恶, and the first line of Guiyou ch. 88 both write of Lady Xing and both use the character 执.

Appendix 2 Chapters 81–108 of the Guiyou Version Compared, Chapter by Chapter (Summary Table)

Based on a chapter-by-chapter comparison of the working text with the current draft. The column "Adopted" gives the number of the item in Appendix 3, what was taken, and the chapter of the current draft; the column "Not taken" gives a selection, and the reasons are classified in Appendix 4. Short titles follow the working text, and chapter numbers are those of the working text, except the chapters of the current draft after →.

Guiyou ch.	Adopted (Appendix 3 item → chapter of the current draft)	Not taken (selection)
81 Good go-between, evil gang	#1 servants released, Xiren's marriage, Sheyue kept → 81; #2 the sash as go-between → 81; #3 the pretext "settle down to study" → 81	The actresses settling scores; Siqi's harsh punishment and gang; Pan You'an joining a robber band; Baoyu going to the Sun household to plead Yingchun's case
82 Qianyi prescription; Ten Solitary Chants	#4 first line of the title (from the 2008 blog text) → 82; #5 marriage proposals in both directions → 82; #6 urging study, pulled back to the Zhuangzi → 82; #7 servants' skimming, rotted ginseng → 82; #8 Baoyu's indignation on Xiangling's behalf → 82; #9 Xifeng's illness → 82; #21 the old friendship of the two grandmothers → 85	Jia Zheng favouring Miaoyu; gangs and horseplay in the family school; the Ten Solitary Chants placed in ch. 82; Baoyu turning down Xue Pan's invitation to practise archery; Xiaoque and Xiao Jixiang pretending to study
83 The White Hair lament	#10 the Lady Dowager's mortal illness → 83; #11 Hupo quietly passes on her wishes → 83; #12 few mourners → 83; #13 the Lady Dowager blames herself for the family's decline → 83; #14 the cook's complaints (background) → 83; #15 the Lady Dowager sees Jia Lan → 83	The jade flying off by itself and being returned; Lady Wang falling into the lake (dying in 84); Yuanyang cursing the Jia family; the passage on Jia Qin and Xue Pan bringing in bandits; Fangguan running to the Ksitigarbha Convent; Guanyin earth and the corpses of the starved
84 A match of haze	#16 selling the family property for the funeral → 83; #17 the Xue family's "four beats" (薛家四拍) → 84; #18 a brief mention of the marriage of Xiuyan and Xue Ke → 84; #19 Baochai visits Xue Ke (conclusion changed) → 84	Invasion by the Rong Qiang; the wording "the Xue family schemes"; Lady Wang dying of illness, and the jade returned; the mischief-making ghost; Baoyu sitting the examinations and the eight-legged essay; Zhang the half-immortal on gold and jade; Yuanyang's "it would serve them right if they all died"; Wei Ruolan's "drink the blood of the Rong Qiang"
85 A letter; riding the raft	#20 the proposed match for Miaoyu, with Jia Huan in Baoyu's place → 85; #22 Daiyu and Miaoyu meet over the qin, Yilan cao → 85	Miaoyu as wife and Daiyu as concubine; Miaoyu wrecking the match; Miaoyu's divination; the layer of her losing her mind in meditation; the character 槎 ("raft") in "riding a raft"; Baoyu writing to court Miaoyu; Yuanchun going to war; Tanchun's proposed marriage to young Master Qi; the burglary, and Qian Huai receiving the stolen goods; Lady Xing seizing control of the household; the Daoist from Lu'an
86 Weeping at the distant marriage	#23 leaving the ancestral hall at Qingming, adoption as a daughter → 85; #24 Aunt Zhao's complaint, Wu Xindeng → 86; #25 "make an example of one" → 86; #26 the core of Tanchun's indignation → 85	Young Master Qi breaking off a good match; the theft of the jade; a great defeat on the coast and the last age; the Ming-mourning ending of Tanchun's proclamation
87 Daughter of an embroidered house	#27 two questions at Caltrop Isle → 87; #28 Xichun's old painting → 101; #66 Dian'er assigned to Xichun → 99	The Sun family rising above the Jia; Xichun becoming a nun in a single step; Jia Zheng himself raiding Lai Da and Lai Sheng; refugees watching the gate, the river bursting its banks; Daiyu's "Sister Bao and I have become as one" (宝钗附一体)
88 Undone by cleverness	#29 Pinger visits Xifeng (Xiaohong removed) → 88; #30 Xifeng's defence of the household finances → 90; #31 Pinger raised to principal wife → 90; #32 Xifeng forgetting Keqing's charge → 105; #38 Zhang Hua and the old case of You Erjie → 86, 87	Reported to the authorities, imprisoned and hanging herself in prison; Aunt Zhao leaving home in anger; a relative of Mother Ma proposing a match; Baoyu breaking peach blossoms and forcing his way into a lodge; Yuanchun leading troops, and her death by slicing; Keqing receiving Xifeng and crossing her off the Roster; Xifeng beaten by servants; Jia Zheng really raiding Yu Lu
89 The bad concubine	#35 Mother Ma's case comes to light → 88; #36 Yuanchun's letter (used in reverse) → 92	Xiuyan and Xue Ke trading in illicit salt; Yuanchun urging the marriage and hoping Baoyu will win office; the framework of chaos, "great bandits surge"; everyone congratulating "the second Mrs Bao"; Baoyu breaking peach blossoms; Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan running away; "a hundred Baoyus' heads rolling"; Pinger already raised to principal wife
90 Warning her own flesh and blood	#33 the words 警天伦 in the title → 89	Yuanchun's death by slicing; homophone prophecies; the chapter-head note "loyal bones glowing in mist"; the jade foreseeing disaster and hiding; Lady You guessing the jade had flown to the Zhen family; the character 嬉; Yuanchun sending wedding gifts; Wei Ruolan coming to congratulate
91 The Embroidered Guard raid	#37 Jia Lian's crimes → 88, 90, 92; #39 锦衣 in the title → 91; #40 Xiren repaying kindness → 94	The charge of "colluding with the Rong Qiang"; Daiyu and Jia Zheng cursing Yucun; Jiao Da dashing himself against a pillar; Daiyu running the household; the Imperial Guard sealing off the garden; Jia Lian taken away and executed; the Xue family fleeing to Zitanbao; the Princes of Xiping and Beijing presiding at the trial; an inventory of furs
92 In league with brigands	#41 Daiyu seeing fireflies → 93	The county yamen seized and bandits entering the palace; the sacking of the Grand View Garden; Jia Huan leading bandits in the sack; the deaths of Mingyan, Wan'er and Zhou Rui's wife; Qian Huai killing Nanny Li; Xue Pan and Liu Xianglian as robbers; the maids raped and killed; Daiyu's speech that "the most precious thing is a person"; Jia Zheng dying in 92 (moved to 98 in the reconstruction)
93 Mountain rain; the last age	—	Jia Zheng's burial and a chain of sackings; Yuchuan and others joining the bandits; Daiyu seeking ways to resist the enemy; the lament of the Last Ruler of Southern Tang; Daiyu's dream at the Yue Temple of Aunt Zhao cutting out Baoyu's heart; the character 嶽; the form of Daiyu's political speeches; the lecture in the council hall
94 Fallen into the demimonde	#42 Daiyu adding a fourth quatrain to the handkerchief → 94; #43 casting the rescuers → 92, 94; #54 Wang Ren selling Qiaojie into the Hongxiang Court at Guazhou → 99, 100	Pinger killed at the Yue Temple; Jia Rong and Jia Qiang "rescuing" Qiaojie; Duo Guniang joining the bandits; Yanhong and Caiyun stabbed; Qian Huai asking for Daiyu's hand; rescue by government troops; Daiyu running the house and giving foolish orders; Yuanyang forming a faction; firearms and bullets
95 Qianxue consoles	#45 Yinjie's fierce temper, Bu Shiren selling his daughter → 107, 108; #46 Lingguan beating Jia Qiang (meaning changed) → 99	Qianxue stabbed to death by Qian Huai; Daiyu writing a long poem mourning the Ming; the Last Ruler's "ten thousand acres of waves"; "thinking of my parents at home"; Jia Huan forcing someone to write "base dog"; Bu Shiren blurting out the rescue plan; Liu Xianglian risking his life to save his friend; Yuanxin dead and the twelve actresses joining the bandits; the Xue family waiting on the hill to receive them
96 Constant to the end	#44 news of a feigned death → 94; #49 the character 信 in the second line of the title → 106	Daiyu alive and waiting through it all; a speech over Qianxue's body; the claim of Xia Jingui's self-injury ruse; Xue Ke fleeing and Xiuyan exiled; Feng Ziying dying for want of medicine; Baoyu crossing the sea by boat, the divine fire; Ying'er feigning alarm; the Xue family living at Zitanbao
97 Tears spent	—	The whole line of Yuanyang's slander; the switched-bride scheme; Daiyu beating Xiaohong to death; Jia Yun cutting his own throat; Xiaohong routing the bandits; Jia Chang and Jia Ling giving "tiger-and-wolf" drugs; the death poem "abandoning home and state"; Keqing receiving her and crossing her off; the thought of burning her manuscripts "in case they get burnt"
98 Picking up the old handkerchief	#50 first half of the elegy → 107	The set of poems on late-Ming figures in the second half of the elegy; Baochai as chief plotter of the scheme to sow discord; tying the new sash; Zijuan going mad and dying; Wei Ruolan shooting Qian Huai dead; Baochai imitating the jade; banquet in the Hall of Glorious Felicity and conferment of office; bandits fighting each other, and hauntings; the parrot reciting the Burial of Flowers; Baoyu believing Daiyu threw herself into a well
99 The soul returns; the cloak unfolded	#34 the peacock-feather cloak → 88, 96	Daiyu's soul returning and appearing; Daiyu buried in the Jia ancestral graves; Baoyu and Baochai married and the marriage consummated; a new emperor enthroned and the realm at peace; Li Wan and her son living as recluses in the hills; a storyteller mourning the Ming; Xue Ke fleeing and Xiuyan sent to the army; Baochai looking after Baoyu in the ruins
100 Dayu Ridge	—	Group deaths on the southern road into exile; "swear to wipe out the barbarians, take back our rivers and mountains"; the line of Aunt Zhao, Jia Huan and the bandits; Baochai's chain of frame-ups; Baochai forcing Zhui'er to steal the shrimp-whisker bracelet; Baoyu locked up to study; Xue Baoqin not remarrying; Yucun attacking the palace to seek office under the new dynasty; the new dynasty's proclamations; Jingui demanding a divorce
101 Trouble from an old case	#48 the name Ningguta → 92; #51 Xiangyun mourning Daiyu → 106	Leng Zixing hoarding goods; the Rong Qiang purging officials of the old dynasty and raiding the Wei family; the place of weeping at the grave; Xiaoque giving food in Jiangnan; Xue Baoqin keeping chaste and her son dying; Aunt Xue forcing Xue Baoqin to marry; Jingui's new scheme of arson; Li Wen and Li Qi sent into exile; Aunt Li wandering
102 The Guazhou ferry	#52 Miaoyu's dream debating purity with Daiyu → 105; #53 Jiang Yuhan answering his wife with words from a play → 106; #55 Chen Yejun's suit to Miaoyu rejected → 99; #56 Miaoyu sinking at Guazhou (changed to menial labour) → 99	Baochai letting Jia Rong and Jia Qiang take over the houses of the mansion; Liu Xianglian and Ni Er living in the Jia mansion; Miaoyu in prostitution until old age; the three poems Song of Jiangdong; Miaoyu dreaming of Baoyu urging marriage; Xichun on pilgrimage seeking the fruit of long life; Grannie Liu walking off; Jiang Yuhan betraying Xiren for boy favourites; the place name in "going to Changshu"; the three statements of "great chaos in the realm"
103 Third visit; second weeping	#57 Grannie Liu rescues Qiaojie → 100; #58 Qiaojie's second weeping, choosing to leave → 101; #59 Xichun's painting of the garden goes with Grannie Liu → 101; #60 the whole title couplet → 101	The line of Baoyu and Jiang Yuhan; Jiang Yuhan abandoning Xiren; "it's all the robbers' realm now"; villagers robbing the rich, a greenwood colouring; Baochai and Baoyu living at Zitanbao; Aunt Xue urging them to reconcile
104 Poison within poison	#65 Yucun bribing the Prince of Beijing (inverted into the gift returned) → 108; #72 Jingui's poison plot (taken from the Cheng–Gao edition) → 95	Poisoning Baochai and framing Aunt Xue; Aunt Xue poisoned to death; Baochan setting a fire and strangling Ao Xiaobai; the Prince of Beijing going over to the Rong Qiang; Yucun meeting the begging monk Zhen Baoyu; inscribing the handkerchief and hiding it in a tree hollow; the Ten Solitary Chants list of Qinhuai courtesans; Mencius's mother cutting her weaving to urge study; Jingui burnt to death
105 Admonition; heroism	#61 Xifeng's "I came too late" → 101	Crossing names off in the Land of Illusion, and the Department of Grudges; Xifeng's soul fleeing and turning beggar; the jade speaking in the snow; cursing the Rong Qiang in the ancestral hall; hanging Yuanyang, killing Wang Ren and others; trying to kill the new emperor and seized by heavenly soldiers; Baoyu refusing to sit the examinations for the Rong Qiang; Baochai's "everyone in the world dead"; Yucun levying grain by commutation (折收); the mystery of three bodies in the lake; the chapter-end note on the politics of the new dynasty
106 Letting go at the cliff	#62 the glass ball lamp → 107; #63 Jin Rong's revenge → 98; #64 Second Girl → 104	Baoyu shaving his head as a monk; Baoyu wandering, stealing, and returning to farm; Daiyu's grave moved; Xueyan dying a beggar; Baochai's secret meetings with Yucun; Jiaoxing's scheming, and the birth of a son, Jia Gui; Baochai's poems and the Song of the Wanderer
107 Old dreams of former dust	—	Baoyu wandering into old age; "white bones filling the earth"; the stone poem and the moon poem; Xiangyun dying a beggar by the river; two beggars depending on each other; Baochai and Yucun in love; Baochai raised to principal wife; Jia Lan and Jia Jun passing the examinations and winning merit on the frontier; Li Wan's memorial arch for chastity
108 The Roster displayed	#67 Roster epithets → 110; #68 Xichun's qingleng changed to qinghui → 110; #69 Xifeng's comment → 110; #71 Baochai's death in the snow → 108	Baoyu drowning himself in the sea; Xiangyun dying of illness by the river; 108 people crossed off in the Land of Illusion; Jinghuan's speech mourning the Ming; one great roster of 108; men and women listed together; comments framed by mourning for the Ming; Li Wan's arch and her sudden death; "the orchid and the cassia flourishing together"; Yucun dying of illness; Baochai bearing Jia Gui; the name "the Passionate Monk"

Notes

1. Nothing in the current draft is taken from chapters 93, 97, 100 and 107; from chapter 99 there is only the peacock-feather cloak, which is a parallel. As for Daiyu's death in chapter 97, both texts have her tears spent, but the manner and the scene of her death differ.
2. Two items of Appendix 3 are not in this table: #47, Duo Hunchong dying of drink, comes from chapter 64 of the working text, which belongs to the first eighty chapters; #70, Dazhi's note, was written by the project.
3. Lady Wang falling into the lake in chapter 83 and dying in chapter 84 is the working text; in the third-draft text she dies in chapter 83.

Appendix 3 Full List of What Was Adopted

Notes

1. This table lists, item by item, the places in the current draft that relate to the Guiyou version, seventy-two in all; the numbering is this paper's own, one item to a row. Three items, the title of Rec. ch. 101, Xifeng's Roster comment and Dazhi's note (#60, #69, #70), were added by this paper's comparison; #72 is taken from the Cheng–Gao edition.
2. "Guiyou position" is the chapter in the working text; "Current draft" is the chapter in the drafts listed in "What this paper relies on"; "in part" means that only part was taken, and "to be checked" that it cannot be determined. "Use": borrowed, its event, skeleton or detail taken; altered, its event taken but its object, outcome or conclusion changed; inverted, its form taken and its meaning replaced; pulled back, present in both texts but leaning one way, pulled back to the first eighty chapters; reversed, its opposite taken; parallel, present in both texts, the project having its own source; wording, matching or near-matching characters in titles, epithets or sentences; other edition, taken from the Cheng–Gao edition; own, written by the project.
3. "Independent support" draws only on the text of the first eighty chapters (including the verdicts and songs) and the commentary. Chapters of the first eighty are cited by number, following the project base text; commentary notes are cited by note number (chapter.sequence), following paper 1's audit data v0.4, with the audit item given where there is one (T1-nn). Quotations, given in the Chinese version verbatim within 「」, can all be found in the base text or the audit data; here they are translated. Support is judged strictly: it must be a foreshadowing of a later event, or a direct cause from which the event follows, and agree with the item in at least two of persons, events and things; where the first eighty chapters provide only the origin of a character or object, or only a similar temperament or atmosphere, it is recorded as "tangential" or "none." An item with several layers is classed by its main line: where the main line comes only from the Guiyou version the item is class G, and any layer with other support is noted in this column; where the main line has support and one attached layer is borrowed from the Guiyou version the item is class I, marked with an asterisk (#1, #2, #23), and the borrowed layer is noted in this column. Notes from the Jing manuscript (24.3, 41.14) are marked "Jing" and, as in paper 1, given reference weight.
4. "Class": I, the main line has independent support that points directly to this event, the Guiyou version serving only as corroboration or prompt; G, no independent support or only tangential, the main line coming only from the Guiyou version; W, matching or near-matching wording: besides chapter titles and Roster epithets, items of the text in which the current draft keeps near-matching sentences of the working text also belong here (for the screening threshold and the record of borrowings see part 2), and an item that has both support for its plot and near-matching wording is classed W; S, present in both texts with the project's own source, or taken from another edition, and not borrowed from the Guiyou version; N, a note outside the text written by the project itself, commenting on the Guiyou version, not content taken from it (#70). The classes are only summary labels and do not replace the columns: an item with independent support may in fact have been borrowed, and matching wording does not by itself show the direction of transmission. (In the Chinese version: 甲 = I, 乙 = G, 丙 = W, 同 = S, 注 = N.)

#	Item	Guiyou position (working text)	Current draft	Use	Independent support	Class	If the Guiyou version is a modern work
1	Servants released; Xiren's marriage; Sheyue kept	81	81	borrowed	20.45 (T1-22): "hence Xiren's words after she is married, 'whatever happens, keep Sheyue'"; 28.1 (T1-23): "in a later chapter he and Xiren serve Brother Jade and Sister Bao, to stay with them to the end"; the layer of releasing servants has none, borrowed from the Guiyou version	I*	Main line unchanged; source of the releasing layer relabelled
2	The sash as go-between	81 (title: "acts as a good go-between")	81	altered	28.1 (T1-23): "the crimson sweat-sash and the red musk-bead bracelet are written into one chapter," the note making clear that Qiguan will later be with Xiren to the end; the layer in which Baoyu himself makes the match has none, borrowed from the 2008 post of titles	I*	Main line unchanged; source of the match-making layer relabelled
3	The pretext for releasing servants, "settle down to study"	81	81 (in part)	borrowed	None	G	Source relabelled
4	First line of the Rec. ch. 82 title, "makes a show of poring over 'Wan Zhang'"	2008 blog text, title of ch. 82; the text of ch. 82 in the working text has a passage of pretended reading	82	wording	None	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (the first seven characters match the 2008 blog title)
5	Marriage proposals in both directions (Lady Wang for Baochai, Jia Zheng for Daiyu)	82 (Lady Wang for Daiyu, Jia Zheng for Miaoyu)	82	altered	Tangential: the festival gifts in ch. 28, "yours are the same as Sister Bao's," a trace on Baochai's side; Jia Zheng favouring Daiyu, none	G	Source relabelled
6	Daiyu urging Baoyu to read the Zhuangzi	82	82	pulled back	Tangential: in ch. 21 Daiyu writes a poem mocking Baoyu's continuation of the Zhuangzi; urging him to read it, none	G	Source relabelled (the Cheng–Gao ch. 82 strand remains)
7	Servants' skimming; rotted ginseng	82	82	borrowed	Layer of the ginseng: ch. 77, Lady Wang's search for ginseng, "though this hasn't turned to ash, it has already become rotten, crumbling wood" (direct cause); layer of the skimming, none	G	Source relabelled (the ginseng layer unchanged)
8	Baoyu's indignation on Xiangling's behalf	81–82	82	altered	Ch. 79: "when I hear this, somehow I find myself worrying for you about what is to come"; 79.23: "also an omen for Xiangling" (moved by paper 1 to paper 5)	I	Unchanged
9	Xifeng's illness	82	82	parallel	Ch. 72: "wouldn't that become a flooding of blood"	S	Unchanged
10	The passage on the Lady Dowager's mortal illness	83	83	wording	Tangential: 44.2, "this is what is called 'a feast hard to repeat'" (paper 1's fulfilment sites include 83); feeding gruel, taking the pulse, knowing she will not recover: none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
11	Hupo quietly passes on her wishes	83	83	parallel	None	S	Unchanged (the author states this was not drawn directly from the Guiyou version)
12	Few mourners	83	83	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 74, Tanchun on the Zhen family, "we too are gradually coming to it," supports the sequence; the stroke of a cold funeral, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (the sequence layer unchanged)
13	The Lady Dowager blames herself for the family's decline; the broken fishing rod	83	83	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 2, Leng Zixing, "the sons and grandsons nowadays are each generation worse than the last" (the speaker is not the Lady Dowager); fishing rod, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
14	The cook's complaints (locusts, dear grain)	83	83	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 53, Wu Jinxiao reports a bad year, drought and flood on the estates; locusts and the cook, none	G	Source relabelled
15	The Lady Dowager sees her great-grandson Jia Lan	83	83	borrowed	None	G	Source relabelled
16	Selling family property for the funeral	84	83	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 72, Jia Lian borrows valuables from Yuanyang to pawn (a precedent for pawning to tide over); selling for a funeral, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
17	The Xue family's "four beats" (薛家四拍)	84	84	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 34, Xue Pan's "your gold must find one with jade to make a proper match" reduces Baochai to tears (a precedent of the same type)	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
18	A brief mention of the marriage of Xiuyan and Xue Ke	84	84	borrowed	Ch. 57: "now, beyond all expectation, a wonderful match has brought about this marriage"	I	Unchanged
19	Baochai visits Xue Ke and urges him toward office	84	84	altered	None (Baochai urging study belongs to her temperament and is not counted)	G	Source relabelled
20	The proposed match for Miaoyu, with Jia Huan in Baoyu's place	85 (the idea from 82)	85	altered	None	G	Source relabelled
21	The old friendship between the Lady Dowager and Miaoyu's grandmother	82 (the two grandmothers close friends)	85	altered	Layer of the tea: ch. 41, "I don't drink Lu'an tea" — "I know. This is Old Gentleman's Eyebrows"; layer of the grandmothers' friendship, none	G	Source relabelled (only the friendship layer, which the author confirms was taken from ch. 82 of the working text; the tea layer unchanged)
22	Daiyu and Miaoyu meet over the qin; Yilan cao	85	85	parallel	Tangential: ch. 76, Miaoyu continues Daiyu and Xiangyun's linked verse; the qin meeting and the qin piece, none	S	Unchanged (the Cheng–Gao strand remains)
23	Leaving the ancestral hall at Qingming; kite; adoption as a daughter	86	85	borrowed	Verdict: "At Qingming, in tears, she is seen off, gazing from the riverbank; / a thousand li on the east wind, a dream far away"; 22.103: "this is an omen of Tanchun's marrying far away"; the layers of leave-taking at the hall and adoption borrowed from the Guiyou version (ch. 71, the Dowager Princess of Nan'an asks to see the Jia girls and the Lady Dowager has only Tanchun come out with them: tangential)	I*	Main line unchanged; source of the leave-taking and adoption layers relabelled
24	Aunt Zhao's complaint as trigger; Wu Xindeng	85–87	86	borrowed	Wu Xindeng: 8.21, "Wonderful! It means a scale with no marks"; building the garden: ch. 16, "there's a great deal hidden inside"; Aunt Zhao as trigger: none	G	Source relabelled (only the layer of Aunt Zhao as trigger)
25	Lady Xing's "make an example of one"	86	86	altered	Tangential: ch. 71, Lady Xing, "in front of everyone, smiling apologetically, pleaded with Xifeng" (a precedent for using an incident to attack)	G	Source relabelled
26	The core of Tanchun's indignation	86	85 (to be checked)	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 74, Tanchun, "it must first begin with killing and destroying one another within the family before it can be utterly ruined" (a foresighted remark, not at the time of her distant marriage)	G	Source relabelled (if the Song of Leaving the Net does carry on this core)
27	Two questions at Caltrop Isle	87	87	altered	Tangential: ch. 79, "so every day he went to the Caltrop Isle area to wander and gaze about" (a precedent of the same type); Yingchun's death has the verdict "within a year she goes to the Yellow Millet dream"	G	Source relabelled
28	Xichun's old painting (Yingchun's childhood portrait)	87	101	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 42, Xichun ordered to paint the garden; childhood portrait, none	G	Source relabelled
29	Pinger visits Xifeng	88 (Pinger and Xiaohong go together)	88	altered	Tangential: 16.60, "and foreshadows so much of what follows" (referent inferred)	G	Source relabelled
30	Xifeng's defence of the household finances	88	90	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 55, Xifeng, "if we don't work out ways of economizing soon, in a few more years it will all be spent"	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
31	Pinger raised to principal wife	88	90	borrowed	Ch. 44: "when she dies, you can just raise Pinger to be your proper wife"	I	Unchanged
32	Xifeng forgetting Keqing's charge	88	105	borrowed	13.89 (T1-20): "though the matters were not carried out, the words and the intent make one grieve and admire"	I	Unchanged
33	警天伦 in the title	90 (title)	89	wording	Hen wuchang: "and so she seeks out her parents in their dreams to tell them," "O my own flesh and blood, you must step back and withdraw in time"; the three characters 警天伦 together, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (the dream has support in the song)
34	The peacock-feather cloak	99	88, 96	parallel	Tangential: ch. 52, Qingwen mends the peacock-feather cloak while ill (same object, different event)	S	Unchanged
35	Mother Ma's case comes to light	89	88	altered	Ch. 25, the black magic itself (the direct cause of the case coming to light); Cheng–Gao ch. 81 also writes the case coming to light; the layer of the account book, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (the event has sources in the first eighty chapters and in Cheng–Gao; the eight characters 象牙刻的男女魔王 must be rewritten)
36	Baoyu dreams of Yuanchun	89 (Yuanchun's letter)	92 (in part)	reversed	Tangential: Hen wuchang, "and so she seeks out her parents in their dreams to tell them" (those told are her parents)	G	Source relabelled
37	Jia Lian's crimes	91 (touched on in 88)	88, 90, 92	borrowed	Ch. 68, Xifeng: "one crime against the state mourning, one crime against the family mourning"	I	Unchanged
38	Zhang Hua and the old case of You Erjie	88	86, 87	borrowed	Ch. 69: "or some day this pretext may be dug up again to reopen the case"	I	Unchanged
39	The Embroidered Guard (title and name)	91 (title)	91	wording	Tangential: confiscation in 27.81 (T1-16); the office name 锦衣, none	W	Acknowledge source (both strands); the first line of the title also borrows Cheng–Gao ch. 105, 锦衣军查抄宁国府 (author's statement), and that strand is unaffected
40	Xiren repaying kindness	91 (continued 95–96)	94	borrowed	28.1 (T1-23): "in a later chapter he and Xiren serve Brother Jade and Sister Bao, to stay with them to the end"	I	Unchanged
41	Daiyu seeing fireflies	92	93	altered	None	G	Source relabelled
42	Daiyu adds a fourth quatrain to the handkerchief	94	94	altered	Tangential: ch. 34, the three quatrains on the handkerchief (the object's origin); adding to them, none	G	Source relabelled
43	Casting the rescuers (Ni Er and others)	94–96	92, 94	parallel	24.3 (Jing): "the chapter on the Drunken Diamond foreshadows Brother Yun's chivalrous visit to the convent"; ch. 24: "first thing tomorrow go to the horse-dealer Wang Duantui's"	S	Unchanged
44	News of a feigned death	96	94	parallel	Tangential: ch. 57, Zijuan's false story that Daiyu is going back to Suzhou (a precedent for false news)	S	Unchanged (the author states this was not drawn directly from the Guiyou version)
45	Yinjie's fierce temper; Bu Shiren selling his daughter	95	107, 108	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 24, Bu Shiren's meanness, Yinjie appearing only as a name; fierce temper and the sale, none	G	Source relabelled
46	Lingguan beating Jia Qiang	95 (title)	99	altered	Tangential: ch. 30, Lingguan tracing the character 蔷, and the passage on Lingguan and Jia Qiang in ch. 36; the beating, none	G	Source relabelled
47	Duo Hunchong dying of drink	64 (in the first-eighty part of the working text)	98	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 21, "Duo Hunchong lay dead drunk on the kang"; cause of death, none	G	Source relabelled (this sentence is not in the project base text)
48	Ningguta	101 (also a note on ch. 50)	92	borrowed	None	G	Source relabelled
49	花袭人信有始有终 in the title	96 (title)	106	wording	20.20 (T1-09, T1-10, T1-11): "Xiren's heading in the main text reads 'Hua Xiren constant to the end'"; the character 信 and the first line, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (the seven characters 花袭人有始有终 have support in the commentary)
50	First half of the elegy → Lament for Xiaoxiang	98	107	borrowed	79.5: "one should also know that, though it is for Qingwen, it is in truth an elegy for Daiyu"	I	Unchanged
51	Xiangyun mourning Daiyu	101	106	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 38, the chrysanthemum poems, and ch. 76, the linked verse at Concave Crystal Lodge (the basis of Xiangyun and Daiyu's understanding); the mourning, none	G	Source relabelled
52	Miaoyu's dream debating purity with Daiyu	102 (dream of Baoyu)	105	inverted	Tangential: verdict, "she would be pure, but how could she be pure"; song, "too pure, she is resented by all the world" (the theme of purity); the dream, none	G	Source relabelled
53	Jiang Yuhan answering his wife with words from a play	102	106	inverted	None	G	Source relabelled
54	Qiaojie in the Hongxiang Court at Guazhou	94 (continued 102–103)	99, 100	borrowed	Tangential: Liu yuqing, "the cruel uncle and treacherous brother who loved silver and forgot their own flesh and blood," so the seller has support; Guazhou and the Hongxiang Court, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
55	Chen Yejun's suit to Miaoyu rejected	102	99	altered	None (the name is not in the first eighty chapters of the project base text)	G	Source relabelled
56	Miaoyu sinking at Guazhou (menial labour; not violated)	102	99	altered	41.14 (T1-24, Jing): "another day at the Guazhou ferry"; verdict: "alas, that substance of gold and jade / in the end sinks into the mire"; the plot in which she is not violated comes from the project's criterion; the reading "did not submit" is borrowed from the Guiyou line	G	Special: the plot unchanged (it comes from the criterion); the reading "did not submit" still acknowledged as taken from the Guiyou line, not used as an early witness; on the Zhou and Dai readings this layer of 41.14 does not count as fulfilled
57	Grannie Liu rescues Qiaojie	103	100	altered	Verdict: "By chance, having once helped a woman named Liu, / by good fortune she meets one who repays her"; 6.10 (T1-02, referent inferred): "somewhat connected; this is the main vein of what comes dozens of chapters later"	I	Unchanged
58	Qiaojie's second weeping; choosing of her own accord to leave	103	101	inverted	Tangential: 6.1, "and foreshadows the 'second visit,' the 'third visit' and where Qiaojie ends up"; the second weeping, none	G	Source relabelled
59	Xichun's painting of the garden goes with Grannie Liu	103	101	borrowed	Ch. 40, Grannie Liu: "If only someone would paint this garden for me, so I could take it home"	I	Unchanged
60	The title of Rec. ch. 101	103 (title)	101	wording	6.1: "and foreshadows the 'second visit,' the 'third visit' and where Qiaojie ends up," support for "a third time" in the first line; the second line, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
61	Xifeng's ghost → appearing to Qiaojie in a dream	105	101	inverted	Tangential: Liu yuqing, "happily her mother, happily her mother, laid up hidden merit"; the dream, none	G	Source relabelled
62	The glass ball lamp	106	107	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 45, Daiyu gives Baoyu the glass ball lamp (the object's origin); keeping it and passing it on, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (one sentence identical)
63	Jin Rong's revenge	106	98	borrowed	Tangential: chs. 9 and 10, Jin Rong's row at the school and the grudge it left; the revenge, none	G	Source relabelled
64	Second Girl	106	104	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 15, Second Girl spinning; 15.35, "and foreshadows another stretch of what follows" (paper 1 records it as answered within the first eighty chapters)	G	Source relabelled (only the layer of meeting again and the gift of taro; making Second Girl the embodiment of "benevolence is loving others" is the project's own conception)
65	Yucun bribes the Prince of Beijing → the gift returned	104 (continued 105, 107)	108	inverted	None	G	Source relabelled
66	Dian'er as Xichun's maid	87	99	borrowed	Tangential: ch. 30, Dian'er called only "a little maid," without saying whose maid she is	G	Source relabelled
67	Roster epithets	108	110	wording	18.19 (T1-06): "only at the end, with Jinghuan's Roster of Feeling, will one know the names of the principal, secondary, tertiary, and third and fourth secondary registers"; 19.80 (T1-08): "later the Roster of Feeling judges 'Baoyu: qing bu qing,' 'Daiyu: qingqing'"; the other "qing X" epithets, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite (qingqing, qing bu qing and the registers unchanged)
68	Xichun's qingleng changed to qinghui	108	110	altered	Tangential: ch. 74, Lady You, "so you're someone with a cold heart and a cold tongue, a hard heart and a hard will"	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite
69	Xifeng's comment	108	110	wording	16.14: "truly a pair with Yucun, treacherous heroes of an age of disorder"; the two characters 情雄, none	W	Acknowledge source or rewrite ("hero of an age of disorder" has support in 16.14)
70	Dazhi's note	—	110 (outside the text)	own	None	N	Special: the note names "Guiyou" outright, set in parallel with Cheng–Gao; it must be rewritten or annotated
71	Baochai's death in the snow; Yucun not dying	108	108	borrowed; altered	Death in the snow: verdict, "the jade belt hangs in the wood, / the golden hairpin buried in the snow"; that Yucun does not die is the project's own ruling, turning round the Guiyou version's "Yucun dies of illness": no support, and not a borrowing	I	Unchanged
72	Jingui's poison plot, taken from the Cheng–Gao edition	104 (its writing not taken)	95	other edition	Tangential: verdict, "ever since two lands grew a lone tree," "her fragrant soul returns to her native place"; the poison plot, none	S	Unchanged (taken from Cheng–Gao)

Part 1 Counts

• Classes: I, 14 items; G, 33; W, 17; S, 7; N, 1; 72 in all.

- I: 1, 2, 8, 18, 23, 31, 32, 37, 38, 40, 50, 57, 59, 71 ( also contains a borrowed layer). - G: 3, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 36, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66. - W: 4, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 30, 33, 35, 39, 49, 54, 60, 62, 67, 68, 69. - S: 9, 11, 22, 34, 43, 44, 72. - N: 70.

• Current draft: of the seventy-two items, two were taken only in part (3, 36), and one is still to be checked (26).
• The 71 checked items (excluding 26, still to be checked):

- N, 1 item (#70), not counted as a borrowing; - I, 14 items, main line with independent support, of which 1, 2 and 23 also contain a borrowed layer; - S, 7 items, not borrowed from the Guiyou version; but of these, 11, 22, 34, 44 and 72 have only tangential support or none in the first eighty chapters and the commentary (22 and 72 also have a Cheng–Gao strand; for 11 and 44 the author states that they were not drawn directly from the Guiyou version); - G, 32 items, and W, 17 items, 49 in all, come from the Guiyou version; if 26 does carry on a core from the Guiyou version, 50. - If the Guiyou version is a modern work, classes G and W and the borrowed layers in class I must have their source relabelled or be rewritten.

Part 2 Notes on checking and classification

(1) The working text

• 36, Baoyu dreams of Yuanchun: chapters 81–108 of the working text have no passage in which Baoyu dreams of Yuanchun. What is used in reverse is Jia Zheng's report, in chapter 89, of Yuanchun's letter, where he says, "Her Highness is so fond of Baoyu; after all she hopes he will have some real learning and gain an official career some day"; this sentence is Jia Zheng's, not the text of the letter.
• 70, Dazhi's note: a note outside the text written by the project, commenting on the Guiyou version; the working text does not have it. Class N; not counted as a borrowing.
• 4, the first line of the chapter 82 title: the title of chapter 82 in the working text is 王熙凤病求千翼方 林黛玉闷作十独吟, without 佯捧万章 ("makes a show of poring over 'Wan Zhang'"); it agrees only with the 2008 blog title 贾宝玉佯捧万章经, the first seven characters being the same. The text of the same chapter has "from outside the door he heard Baoyu reading aloud the 'Wan Zhang' chapter of the Mencius," and once Jia Zheng has gone Baoyu "flung the book down." Classed W as wording.
• 33: 警天伦 is in the title of chapter 90 of the working text, 贾元春托梦警天伦; chapter 89 has only Yuanchun's letter, and the dream at the Meridian Gate is in chapter 90.
• 54: Wang Ren taking Qiaojie to Guazhou (瓜州) and selling her into the Hongxiang Court (红香院) is in chapter 94 of the working text (the third-draft text has 瓜洲 and 烟香院, the Yanxiang Court); chapter 102 says only that Wang Ren "hurried to the brothel lanes at the Guazhou ferry," and in chapter 103 Grannie Liu redeems her.
• 47: "Later Duo Hunchong died of drink" is in chapter 64 of the working text, which belongs to the first eighty chapters; chapter 64 of the project base text does not have this sentence. In chapter 77 of the working text Duo Hunchong is still alive, and chapter 98 has "her husband Duo Hunchong had fled who knows where." The current draft takes the account in which he died of drink.
• 65: Yucun bribing the Prince of Beijing to gain office is written in chapter 104 of the working text; chapter 105, "Yucun asks the Prince of Beijing to help him to promotion," and chapter 107, "Lord Shui took the silver," continue it.
• 29: chapter 88 of the working text has "Pinger and Xiaohong came weeping to visit Xifeng in prison," the two going together; the current draft has only Pinger.
• 48: in the working text "Ningguta" appears in chapter 101 (Li Wen and Li Qi sent into exile), and there is also a note on chapter 50, "the prophecy points to the chapter on exile to Ningguta"; the current draft uses it for the exile of Jia She and Jia Lian (Rec. ch. 92).
• 22: the working text writes 《猗蘭操》, with the traditional form 蘭; the working text mixes traditional and simplified characters, and searches must cover both forms.

(2) Classifications that are not clear-cut

• Recognizing class W. The screening threshold is five or more consecutive identical characters, or a whole sentence only trimmed, altered or reordered, excluding set phrases and vocabulary already found in the first eighty chapters; whatever passes the threshold is then confirmed against the record of borrowings in the project's working records. Similarity of wording does not in itself settle the direction of transmission. Nine items are listed below, one by one. "Consecutive shared characters" does not count punctuation; "First eighty" says whether the shared characters occur in the text of the project base text; "Third-draft" says whether these sentences of the working text occur in the third-draft text. The sentences are given in Chinese because the comparison is character by character. Most of the current-draft sentences are translated in §7.4; those of #12 and #13 read: "the official families who came to offer condolences were far fewer than in former days"; "a perfectly good household, and in my hands it has grown worse day by day."

#	Working text (ch.)	Current draft (ch. · draft)	Consecutive shared characters	First eighty	Third-draft	Record of borrowing
10	83: Imperial Physician Wang, “心气已衰，脉气歇止，止有定数”; the Lady Dowager, “我忖度着自己熬不过今年了” “还不知下一次还过得过不得了”	83 · r54: “如今心气已衰，胃气又弱……止有定数了”; “只怕熬不过今年了”; “还不知下一回，过得过不得了”	4+4; 6; 5+6	No	Yes	Yes: the passage on the Lady Dowager's mortal illness was reworked with the working text as its base draft
12	83: “故此次来吊唁的官家少了好多”	83 · r54: “那来吊唁的官宦人家，却比往日少了好些”	5	No	Yes	Yes: the stroke "few mourners" taken
13	83: “好好的一个家被我弄的益发衰微了” “家境一日不如一日”	83 · r54: “如今好好的一个家，到了我手里，竟一日不如一日了”	6; 6 (一日不如一日 is a common phrase)	No	Yes	Yes: the Lady Dowager blaming herself for the decline taken
16	84: “该当的当，该卖的卖” “菜市口摆开卖了罢”	83 · r54: “该当的当·该卖的卖”; “拉到菜市口摆开卖了”	8; 7	No	No	Yes: moved from ch. 84 into ch. 83
17	84: “如今人人都传开了要娶的是姓林的，你早没有份了”	84 · r54: “如今外头都传遍了，说宝玉要娶的，是那姓林的病秧子……早没有你的份了”	3 (whole sentence altered and reordered)	No	Yes	Yes: based on the text of the working text
30	88: “外头都说府里金山银山，那知道里头早空竭了”	90 · r54: “外头都传咱们府里金山银山，谁知道里头早空了”	6; 6	No	No	Yes: moved into ch. 90
35	89: “象牙刻的男女魔王”	88 · r54: the same	8	No (Cheng–Gao ch. 81 has “像牙刻的一男一女……两个魔王”)	No	Yes: the case coming to light taken, and shifted onto the Prince of Zhongshun
54	94: “且说王仁带着巧姐” “潮落月起” “巧姐见状不妙，扎挣道” “又摸了摸下巴” “是个上品货”	99 · r54: “且说王仁带着巧姐” “潮落月起” “巧姐见这般光景，扎挣道” “摸了摸下巴” “是个上品”	8; 4; 3; 5; 4	No	Yes	Yes: the line of Wang Ren selling Qiaojie taken
62	106: “就当又看见他了”	107 · r53: the same	7	No	Yes	Yes: the glass ball lamp taken

Of these, #17 has only three consecutive shared characters and is classed W as "a whole sentence altered only by deletion or reordering"; in #13, 一日不如一日 ("each day worse than the last") is a common phrase, and the classing as W rests on the sentence with 好好的一个家 ("a perfectly good household") and on the record of borrowing; for #16, #30 and #35 the sentences compared are found only in the working text, not in the third-draft text, so readers can check them only against the working text. In #54, the sentence 巧姐见这般光景，扎挣道 shares only the three characters 扎挣道 with the working text's 巧姐见状不妙，扎挣道, and is not counted; the other four sentences remain near-matching. Item 15 (the working text's 李纨也推贾蘭上去, "Li Wan also pushed Jia Lan forward") is close but brief, and item 24 (吴新登管库银账目, "Wu Xindeng kept the accounts of the treasury silver"; the third-draft text's chapter 88 has 吴新登也被查出有克扣银两, "Wu Xindeng too was found to have embezzled silver") is narrative wording; both remain class G. The Lady Dowager's 你不用虚宽我的心了 in chapter 83 is not counted: Baoyu has already said 你不必虚宽我的心 in chapter 77, so it belongs to the vocabulary of the first eighty chapters.

• Where class I ends and "tangential" begins. Items 27, 42, 46, 51, 62, 63 and others have the origin of a character or object in the first eighty chapters, but no foreshadowing of later events, and are recorded as tangential. Taking only the letter of "agreement in two of persons, events and things," these items could be argued into class I; this table holds to the strict reading. Mixed items: 1, 2 and 23 have support for their main line and one attached layer borrowed from the Guiyou version, and are classed I*; in 7 the main line (servants' skimming) is borrowed from the Guiyou version, while the layer of the rotted ginseng can follow from chapter 77, so it is classed G. The black magic of chapter 25 cited for 35 is the direct cause of the case coming to light; 35 is classed W because of its near-matching wording.
• Recognizing class S. 9 (the flooding of blood in ch. 72 comes first) and 43 (Wang Duantui in ch. 24; 24.3, Brother Yun's visit to the convent) have clear sources. 11: the author states that this stroke was not drawn directly from the Guiyou version; there is no support in the first eighty chapters. 22: the Cheng–Gao edition also has this strand. 34: the object comes from chapter 52, and is used differently from the unfolding of the cloak in chapter 99 of the working text. 44: the author states that it was not drawn directly from the Guiyou version; the first eighty chapters have only a precedent of the kind, Zijuan's false news. 72: taken from the Cheng–Gao edition; the way chapter 104 of the working text writes it was not taken.
• 56: the layers of Guazhou and of sinking into the mire have support in 41.14 (T1-24, Jing) and the verdict. The current draft writes menial labour and no violation, which come from the project's criterion (§6, §7.5); the reading "did not submit" is borrowed from the Guiyou line. Overview §4.6 calls it "the punctuation transmitted in the Guiyou line," and records that Zhou Ruchang and Dai Bufan both read "submitted." On the strict principle it is classed G; if only "Miaoyu sinks at Guazhou" were at issue, it could be classed I.
• 67: in Rec. ch. 110 only the names of five registers are found, principal, secondary, tertiary, third secondary and fourth secondary (正、副、又副、三副、四副), agreeing with 18.19 (T1-06), "the principal, secondary, tertiary (再副), and third and fourth secondary (三四副) registers." Of the eighteen people given epithets and comments, all but Qing'er, seventeen, appear in the Roster in chapter 108 of the working text, and for sixteen of them the "qing X" epithet is identical with the working text: eleven in the Principal Register (情情、无情、情尊、情敏、情憨、情隐、情懦、情雄、情缘、情槁、孽情) and five in the registers below (Xiangling 情呆, Qingwen 情勇, Xiren 情箴, Baoqin 抱琴, Yuanchun's maid, 情忠, Cuimo 情豁); only Xichun's 情冷 was changed to 情慧. Miaoyu's comment 壁立万仞 and Xichun's 冷心冷面 are also identical with the working text; 冷心冷面 was already said by You Sanjie in chapter 66, belongs to the vocabulary of the first eighty chapters, and is not taken as evidence of matching. The commentary has only the two epithets qingqing and qing bu qing; so 67 is classed W.
• 69: the pattern 治世之能，乱世之雄 ("capable in an age of order, a hero in an age of disorder") in the current draft has two possible sources: chapter 108 of the working text, 治世之能臣，贪酷之奸雄也 ("a capable minister in an age of order, a greedy and cruel treacherous hero"), and 16.14, which calls Xifeng "a treacherous hero of an age of disorder." 治世之能臣 comes from Xu Shao's judgement of Cao Cao (Pei Songzhi's commentary on the "Annals of Emperor Wu" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, quoting Sun Sheng's Yitong zayu), so the matching pattern carries very little weight; the two characters 情雄 are identical with the working text, so it is classed W.
• 55: the name Chen Yejun is not in the project base text. The list of mourners in chapter 14 of the base text reads "Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan and other young gentlemen of noble houses," while chapter 14 of the working text reads "Chen Yejun, Wei Ruolan (卫若蘭) and other young gentlemen of noble houses." The standard edition also has the name Chen Yejun here; to be checked against facsimiles. As between the two texts this project used, the name is found only in the working text.
• 21: the old friendship between the Lady Dowager and Miaoyu's grandmother written in Rec. ch. 85 corresponds to chapter 82 of the working text, "the old lady and her grandmother were close friends too"; the layer of Lu'an tea and Old Gentleman's Eyebrows comes from chapter 41. The author confirms that the friendship layer was taken from chapter 82 of the working text; classed G.
• 12: the sequence in which the Zhen family is raided first and the Jia family later has separate support in chapters 74 and 75; this table classes the item W for the stroke of a cold funeral and the near-matching wording.
• 26: the Song of Leaving the Net (辞网歌) is in Rec. ch. 85; whether it carries on the core of Tanchun's indignant words in the working text, against treating the realm as a family estate, cannot be checked; recorded as "to be checked."

Appendix 4 Items of the Guiyou Version Not Taken, by Class

The items not taken are grouped by reason into six classes, with a selection in each. The "Item" column is mostly a summary, not a verbatim quotation. Chapter numbers are those of the working text. What is recorded here are the project's writing decisions not to take something; they involve no inference about the making of the book or its author. One more criterion runs across all the classes: sexual humiliation is not Cao Xueqin's way of writing (§6); Miaoyu sinking into prostitution until old age, the maids raped and killed, Baochai's secret meetings with Yucun, Jiang Yuhan betraying Xiren for boy favourites, all run against it.

Class	Guiyou ch.	Item	Main reason
1 Mourning the Ming and politics	83	Starving people eating Guanyin earth; the cook saying "corpses of the starved fill the roads" and "the local officials still won't remit the taxes"	The tone of mourning the Ming; in the project the realm is not in chaos
1	84	Invasion by the Rong Qiang	Ming-mourning motif
1	85	The background of the Daoist from Lu'an	Ming-mourning allusion; only the debate over tea and the old friendship of the two grandmothers taken
1	86	The prose form of Tanchun's proclamation, and its ending, "righteous armies gather from all sides / the royal house wiped out"	Only the core of her indignant words, against treating the realm as a family estate, taken; the Ming mourning removed
1	88	Yuanchun leading troops against the enemy; death by slicing	Ming mourning
1	90	The manner of Yuanchun's death by slicing; homophone prophecies; the chapter-head note "the age-old net of dust · loyal bones glowing in mist"	Ming mourning; from Yuanchun's dream only the core of urging withdrawal taken
1	91	The charge of "colluding with the Rong Qiang"	The Ming-mourning motif placed inside the charge; from 锦衣 only the name taken, written uniformly as 锦衣军, the Embroidered Guard
1	91	Jiao Da dashing himself against a pillar, with the interlinear note "another loyal minister wrongly killed"	The frame of loyal ministers in mourning for the Ming
1	98	The set of poems on late-Ming figures in the second half of the elegy	Politics put before persons; the core of the first half, mourning Daiyu, taken separately
1	100	"The emperor is dead … swear to wipe out the barbarians and take back our rivers and mountains"	Ming mourning, together with group deaths in exile
1	102	The three poems Song of Jiangdong	Ming mourning
1	105	The jade saying that the realm has passed to the Rong Qiang; Xifeng cursing the Rong Qiang in the ancestral hall	Ming mourning
1	108	Jinghuan's speech, "to help the barbarians found their dynasty … hoping the new dynasty's line may last long"	Ming mourning; the project takes neither the Ming mourning nor "the orchid and the cassia flourishing together"
2 Scattering into chaos	81	Pan You'an joining a robber gang to plot a raid on the mansion	Of the internal causes of the family's ruin only embezzlement and misappropriation are taken; no robbery at all
2	83	Jia Qin bringing in bandits at Water-Moon Convent; Xue Pan leading bandits in; Jia Huan among the bandits	As above
2	83	Lady Wang dying soon after the Lady Dowager (in the working text she falls into the lake at the end of 83 and dies of illness in 84)	Deaths in quick succession within one chapter; the scattering comes too fast
2	87	The Sun family rising above the Jia; refugees watching the gate; the river bursting its banks	An age of chaos forced on the story
2	89	"Outside, great bandits surge, seize the moment to topple the court; the sovereign is alarmed and his ministers in disarray"	In the project the world goes on as usual: the Jia mansion is raided, but the realm is not in chaos
2	92	Bandits entering the palace; the Grand View Garden sacked; the maids raped, killed and carried off	The frame of an age of chaos; also against the criterion on sexual humiliation
2	93	Jia Zheng's burial and a chain of sackings by bandits; many deaths	The whole chapter an age of chaos
2	94	Pinger killed at the Yue Temple; Yanhong and Caiyun stabbed	Chaos; only the core of casting the rescuers taken
2	97	Xiaohong leading the household servants to rout the bandits; Daiyu preserving her chastity by hiding from the bandits	The frame of an age of chaos; "if the times are in chaos, guilt is diluted by the chaos"
2	100	Group deaths on the southern road into exile	Group deaths
2	101	Li Wen and Li Qi sent into exile; Aunt Li wandering	Displacement and group deaths
2	103	"It's all the robbers' realm now"; villagers robbing the rich to help the poor	A greenwood colouring; only the core of neighbours helping one another taken
2	104	Aunt Xue poisoned to death; Baochan setting a fire; Jingui burnt to death	Misery piled on misery; Jingui's poison plot taken from the Cheng–Gao edition
3 The supernatural	83	The jade flying off to Jiangnan by itself and returned by Zhen Baoyu	The supernatural, with a will of its own; in Rec. ch. 96 the jade is in Qianxue's hands, and Qianxue asks Zhen Baoyu to return it
3	84	The mischief-making ghost; the scabby monk and the lame Daoist driving out evil with the jade; Zhang the half-immortal on gold and jade	The supernatural; the souls of the dead appear only in dreams
3	85	Miaoyu's divination; her losing her mind in meditation	The supernatural
3	88	Qin Keqing receiving Xifeng to head the "Department of Grudges"; crossing names off the Roster	Keqing not accepted as "Jinghuan's younger sister"; the souls of the dead appear only in dreams
3	90	The jade "knowing in advance that disaster would strike the house, and so hiding in the garden"	Only the jade's disturbance in the chapter before the raid taken; the supernatural removed
3	93	Daiyu dreaming, at the Yue Temple, of Aunt Zhao cutting out Baoyu's heart	The supernatural
3	96	Baoyu crossing the sea by boat; meeting a village girl; white bones; the divine fire	The supernatural
3	97	Qin Keqing receiving Daiyu back to the Land of Illusion and crossing her off	As in ch. 88
3	99	Daiyu's soul returning and appearing	The souls of the dead appear only in dreams
3	105	Xifeng's soul fleeing to the Land of Illusion, hanging Yuanyang, killing Wang Ren and Bu Shiren, and seized and brought back by heavenly soldiers	The supernatural, and Ming mourning as well; only the core "I came too late" taken, put into her appearance in a dream in Rec. ch. 101
3	108	108 people crossed off in the Land of Illusion, "exactly in accord with the numbers of the immortals"	Crossing off and returning to their places follows from the number 108 (see class 5)
4 Out of character (a character's voice or fate)	81	Baoyu going to the Sun household to plead Yingchun's case	Baoyu has no such standing
4	84	Yuanyang's "it would serve them right if they all died"	The character's voice does not fit the first eighty chapters
4	84	Wei Ruolan's "my only regret is that I can't drink the blood of the Rong Qiang and eat the flesh of the barbarians"	As above, and political as well
4	85	Jia Zheng forcing a match on Baoyu, with Miaoyu as wife and Daiyu as concubine	Absurd, and demeaning to the characters
4	85	Baoyu writing a letter to win Miaoyu's heart	Does not fit the Baoyu established in the first eighty chapters
4	85	Lady Xing driving Xifeng out and seizing control of the household	With Lady Wang present, Lady Xing would not do this
4	88	Xifeng beaten by servants	This is something that happens to her, not her voice; it does not fit the Xifeng established in the first eighty chapters
4	89	Xiuyan and Xue Ke trading in illicit salt; Fan Siyan	Does not fit the two as established in the first eighty chapters
4	93	Daiyu's political speeches; her lecture in the council hall	Daiyu makes no political speeches in the first eighty chapters; the core against treating the realm as a family estate is given instead to Tanchun, Baoyu and Xifeng
4	97	Daiyu believing slander and having Xiaohong hung up and beaten to death	To write the oppressed as people who harm one another misreads where the characters stand
4	98	Wei Ruolan shooting Qian Huai dead	As above
4	100	Baochai forcing Zhui'er to steal the shrimp-whisker bracelet; Zhui'er later hanging herself	As above; in the reconstruction it is still Xifeng who lays the trap, and Zhui'er is not made to die
4	105	Baochai's "if everyone in this world died, it would be worth it to gain you an official career"	Of a kind with Yuanyang's words in ch. 84
4	106–107	Baochai's secret meetings with Yucun and their mutual love; Jiaoxing's scheming	Does not fit the Baochai established in the first eighty chapters; also against the criterion on sexual humiliation
5 Architecture	108	The number of 108 chapters	The reconstruction has the first eighty chapters plus thirty, 110 in all
5	108	One great roster of 108; men and women listed together; villains on the roster	The reconstruction's Roster lists neither men nor villains
5	108	The whole ladder of comments listed in full	The Roster does not list the full ranking of principal, secondary, tertiary, and third and fourth secondary registers (paper 1, disclaimed item 1)
5	108	Comments ranking values by mourning for the Ming	Only the registers and qingqing and qing bu qing taken; the ranking removed
5	108	Everyone crossed off and returned to their places	Follows from the number 108
5	108	The name "the Passionate Monk"	The reconstruction uses "the lay disciple of feeling-for-the-unfeeling": the "white-headed pair of stars" of the chapter 31 title (a pair who grow old together), turning toward others, not tied to the line of The Record of the Passionate Monk
5	106	Baoyu shaving his head as a monk	"Letting go at the cliff" is a Chan expression, which a lay disciple can reach: "the letting go is in the heart, not in the form"
6 Not connecting	81	The actresses (Kuiguan and others) coming back to the garden to settle scores	Does not connect with where chapter 77 of the first eighty chapters sends them, "Ruiguan and Ouguan both went with Yuanxin of the Ksitigarbha Convent" (the working text has 圆信 for 圆心); a reason for their return would have to be supplied
6	83	Fangguan running to the Ksitigarbha Convent	As above
6	85–86	A proposed marriage of Tanchun to young Master Qi	Against the verdict of chapter 5 on her distant marriage
6	87	Jia Zheng himself raiding Lai Da and Lai Sheng	The exact opposite of Lady Xing's "make an example of one" (auditing Xifeng only) in ch. 86 of the working text
6	93, 95	"Yue Temple" (嶽神庙)	The reconstruction follows the commentary in writing "Prison Temple" (狱神庙)
6	95	Liu Xianglian, with a gang of roving bandits, fighting his way in with a sword to rescue Baoyu	His bandit identity and the sword-fighting not taken. In Rec. ch. 102 Liu Xianglian has already renounced the world, and saves Baoyu from robbers on the road; this stroke follows chapter 66, where Liu Xianglian drives off robbers on the border of Ping'an Prefecture and saves Xue Pan (author's statement); it does not come from the Guiyou version
6	102	Three statements in the book of "great chaos in the realm"	The working text is inconsistent with itself

Approximate number of items in each class (an item often contains several matters; the numbers are only approximate)

Class	Approx.
1 Mourning the Ming and politics	40
2 Scattering into chaos	60
3 The supernatural	20
4 Out of character (a character's voice or fate)	30
5 Architecture	6
6 Not connecting	10
Choices of plot, not classed (e.g. "Baoyu breaking peach blossoms," "the Xue family living at Zitanbao")	80
Total	about 250

Appendix 5 Items to Be Checked

The following could not be verified at the time of writing. Each will be revised as it is checked.

1. The chain of first postings: the deleted first post on Zhao Zhendong's blog, September 2008; Liu Junjun's posting record on QQ Space.
2. The original posts of two texts by He Lili:

- 何初本面临无妄之灾，何莉莉出面澄清真相 ("The He Chu version faces an undeserved disaster; He Lili comes forward to clarify the truth"), 2014; - 何莉莉小姐对红迷的道歉书 ("Miss He Lili's apology to fans of the Red Chamber"), 2009.

1. Images of the copyright pages and prefaces of the printed editions:

- the Jiuzhou, Xianzhuang and Dangdai Shijie editions; - whether the third-draft text and the Dangdai Shijie edition are the same book; - the original wording of the sentence "the author is not Wu Meicun" in the preface to the Xianzhuang edition.

1. Scholarship:

- the issue and the full arguments of Zhao Jianzhong's "Exposing the Guiyou Story of the Stone as a forgery"; - the original place of publication of the article by Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Ruixue; - whether CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Honglou meng xuekan and Cao Xueqin yanjiu contain articles on the subject; - whether the "Miao Weiming" named in the report is Miao Huaiming.

1. The reconstruction, r54: r54 of Rec. chs. 104–110 is not yet complete, and for these chapters this paper relies on r53. When r54 is complete, the fifteen items of Appendix 3 that concern these chapters (#32, #45, #49–#53, #62, #64, #65, #67–#71) will be rechecked and the table "What this paper relies on" updated; any differences will be corrected in the next version.
2. The Jing note on chapter 41: the original texts and page numbers of Zhou Ruchang's and Dai Bufan's readings; Mao Guoyao's original transcription and where it was first published; who first released this note in the Guiyou line.
3. The note on chapter 42 (42.6): whether it belongs to the Jing or the Mengfu manuscript, to be checked against facsimiles (already among paper 1's outstanding tasks; the footnote in the third-draft text calls it "a Mengfu side note").
4. Wu Shih-ch'ang's 1982 article: page numbers (the issue has been checked: Honglou meng xuekan 1982, no. 3); the edition and page numbers of Chao Kang's original text.
5. The working text:

- its editor and source; - the source of the bracketed long note on chapter 81 and of the second end note of chapter 108; - why the third-draft text lacks the set of poems in the second half of the elegy in chapter 98.

1. Chen Yejun: not in chapter 14 of the project base text; the standard edition has the name; to be checked against facsimiles.
2. Du Chungeng's claim about Wu Keqi: whether any earlier article made it; whether the variants recorded in Wu Keqi's Quanwo tan hong correspond to anything in the first eighty chapters of the Guiyou version.
3. People and accounts: whether the Yang Yifei of Sixth Tone is the same person as the Yang Yifei 杨依菲 of Guandong xuekan; whether the Sina blogger "Huzhu Tazhu" is Wu Xuesong; whether "Honglou meng duan sanbai nian" is Wang Xiaofeng, and whether the note on "the late elder brother Xitang" was printed in a formal publication of the Wang Xiaofeng branch.
4. Points raised by the supplementary search report and not rechecked by this paper: the library catalogue record of the Dangdai Shijie edition; the upload information of the imitation pages on Commons.

Appendix 6 Differences from the Overview v0.8

In the following places this paper is authoritative, and the next version of the overview will be revised accordingly, in Chinese and English together. Wording of the overview is quoted from its English version 0.8.

1. The first sentence of §4.6, "There is a manuscript known as the Guiyou manuscript": change to "a text." In the English version the name "the Guiyou manuscript" becomes "the Guiyou version" throughout. According to the public record, only the holder claims to have read a manuscript, and the original has never been made public (§2.3, §3.3).
2. §3.3 and §4.6, "a re-creation based on Cao Xueqin's drafts" and "a later re-creation based on Cao Xueqin's drafts": change to "a later re-creation based on one version of Cao Xueqin's draft" (§5.1).
3. The chapter 41 example in §4.6: the original wording, that the project "chooses 'did not submit' by its criterion," stays; add the wording of the criterion: Cao Xueqin does not steer the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Qin Keqing included, toward lust; sexual humiliation is not his way of writing. What settles Miaoyu's plot is the criterion; the borrowed punctuation bears only on whether the 41.14 layer counts as fulfilled (§7.5).
4. The comparison groups in §4.4, "the twenty-eight later chapters of the Guiyou manuscript, if a reliable text can be obtained, as an optional second comparison": rewrite to name the text actually used, the working text, collated against the third-draft text (§2).
5. The third row of the plan table in §1.5: title and content to follow this paper; content to read "public record, theories, rules of use, list of what was adopted; what would change if it is a modern work."
6. The "not load-bearing" column of the load-bearing table in §1.4: "The hypothesis that the Guiyou manuscript is a re-creation from Cao's drafts," to be changed as in item 2.
7. §4.6, "preserving some elements of those drafts": this has the tone of a factual judgement; change to "which the project reads as possibly preserving some elements of one version of the draft," or delete it.

Appendix 7 Acknowledgements and Use of AI

I thank Zesi Chen and Zhen Zhang for a great deal of analysis and help in the course of the project.

The project used AI assistance from several providers, including Claude (Anthropic), ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), DeepSeek, GLM (Zhipu), Meta AI and Grok (xAI).

The research, comparison and drafting for this paper were carried out by AI following criteria set by the author:

• Supplementary searches on the public record and the theories were also run once through ChatGPT Deep Research; its report served only as a record of where to look. Apart from what is marked as taken from the supplementary search report, every citation in this paper leads to the original post, newspaper page, catalogue record or text that was read.
• The chapter-by-chapter comparison of the working text with the third-draft text, and the item-by-item check of the current draft of the reconstruction, used scripts for literal searches.

The English version is a rewriting of the Chinese version for English-speaking readers, drafted with AI assistance and checked sentence by sentence against the Chinese; where the two differ in substance, the Chinese is authoritative.

All rulings were made by the author, who bears responsibility for the text.

References

Only works actually read, or whose records have been checked, are listed. For the grading of sources see Notes on the text, item 6.

This series and the base text

• Han Qin 秦汉. People Have Qing: Origins, Method and Conclusions of an Interpretive Reconstruction of the Last Thirty Chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber 人是有情的：《红楼梦》后三十回诠释性复原的缘起、方法与结论. Pre-release v0.8. Zenodo. Concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22985375.
• Han Qin 秦汉. An Audit of Forward References in the Zhiyan Zhai Commentary on the First Eighty Chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber: What Is Adopted and What Is Not 前八十回脂批前指审计：采与不采. Pre-release v0.4. Zenodo. Concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23007235.
• Han Qin 秦汉. The Layered Composition of Dream of the Red Chamber: Evidence and Theories 《红楼梦》的成书层累：证据与诸说. Pre-release v0.3. Zenodo. Concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23025674.
• Honglou meng 红楼梦, 120-chapter edition, chapter 81. Gushiwen web page, https://m.gushiwen.cn/guwen/bookv_7b68ad35c545.aspx (reprint; Cheng–Gao lineage; not checked against a facsimile of the Chengjia edition).
• Jiangshange Yin 江山阁隐, maker. Honglou meng zhipi ben wanmei ban 红楼梦脂批本完美版 (Honglou meng with the Zhiyan Zhai Commentary: The Perfect Edition). Electronic edition circulating online (PDF). The "project base text" of this series.

Texts of the Guiyou version

• Sina blog "Guiyou ben Shitou ji" 癸酉本石头记 (blog.sina.com.cn/u/1657802967), posts of 2008–2009 (first-hand). Among them:

- 石头记"何初本"后半部回目 (The chapter titles of the latter half of the "He Chu version" of the Story of the Stone), 2008-10-13, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he33.html; - 第81回 避祸念旧凭带为媒 承辱怀怨蓄恶结党 (Chapter 81), 2008-10-13, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he35.html; - 与何小姐交流记录 (Record of an exchange with Miss He), 2008-10-14, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he38.html; - 何初本—81回脂批摘选 (He Chu version: selected Zhiyan Zhai notes on chapter 81), 2008-10-17, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he3a.html; - 何初本石头记情况及来历 (The state and provenance of the He Chu Story of the Stone), 2008-10-17, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he3b.html; - 正名：何莉莉的本子应叫癸酉本 (Setting the name right: He Lili's copy should be called the Guiyou version), 2008-12-05, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he46.html; - 写在癸酉本石头记后28回即将发罄之际 (Written as the posting of the last 28 chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone nears its end), 2008-12-15, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he4f.html; - 总结：若干由癸酉本揭示的红楼梦人名的含义 (Summary: the meanings of some names in Dream of the Red Chamber revealed by the Guiyou version), 2009-03-10, https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he4x.html.

• Jin Junjun 金俊俊 and He Xuanhe 何玄鹤. Guiyou ben Shitou ji hou 28 hui 《癸酉本石头记》后28回 (The Last 28 Chapters of the Guiyou Story of the Stone). Beijing: Jiuzhou chubanshe, 2014. ISBN 9787510827310 (catalogue).
• He Lili 何莉莉 and Wang Xiaofeng 王晓丰. Wu shi Shitou ji zengshan shiping ben 吴氏石头记增删试评本 (Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary). Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju, 2015. ISBN 9787512018860 (catalogue).
• Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, eds. Guiyou ben Shitou ji hou 28 hui 癸酉本石头记后28回. Beijing: Dangdai shijie chubanshe, June 2017. 22+289 pp. ISBN 9787509012086 (library catalogue).
• Guiyou ben Shitou ji hou 28 hui 癸酉本石头记后28回, digitized text (the 2017 third draft). GitHub: vicalloy/the-guiyou-version-of-dream-of-the-red-chamber, commit d8af079 (reprint). This paper's "third-draft text"; the foreword (Jin Junjun and He Xuanhe, 2017-04-10), the first preface (Xiao Wenlin, 2017-04-08) and the second preface (Wu Xuesong, 2015-04-26) are quoted from it.
• Guiyou ben Wu shi Shitou ji (quan 108 hui) 癸酉本吴氏石头记（全108回）, edited text; source not stated; possibly from the same source as the online complete text at doosho.com/cn/433 (reprint). This paper's "working text."
• 吴氏石头记增删试评本 钞本【阅】108.pdf. Wikimedia Commons, uploaded 2016-08-20 (the file page is the original archive; this paper relies on the supplementary search report, has not checked it independently, and reports only its existence).

Reports and studies

• Liu Jian 刘剑. "'Wu shi Shitou ji' de daota" "吴氏石头记"的倒塌 (The collapse of Wu's Story of the Stone). Guangming ribao 光明日报 (Guangming Daily), 27 February 2018, p. 7. https://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2018-02/27/nw.D110000gmrb_20180227_2-07.htm (first-hand); reprinted the same day on China Writers Net (Zhongguo zuojia wang).
• Yin Jing 殷静. 网友全新解读吴氏石头记是"真"红楼局结局？学者：今人续作 (A new reading by internet users: is Wu's Story of the Stone the "true" ending of the Red Chamber? Scholars: a modern continuation). Pengpai hao · Meiti 澎湃号·媒体, 2019-05-08. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_3418423 (first-hand).
• Zhang Xiaojun 张霄军 and Zhang Ruixue 张瑞雪. 网络环境下古籍作伪新手段——以《红楼梦》三大网络作伪案为例 (New means of forging ancient books in the internet environment: three online forgeries concerning Dream of the Red Chamber). Reprinted on Artron News (Yachang xinwen), 2017-10-03, https://m-news.artron.net/20201222/n966458.html (authors' names from this page); reprinted on Sohu, 2017-09-02, https://www.sohu.com/a/169014387_523187 (no author named; quotations checked against this page). Reprint; original place of publication to be traced.
• Zhao Jianzhong 赵建忠. "癸酉本"《石头记》辨伪 (Exposing the Guiyou Story of the Stone as a forgery). VIP title record id 7100672936 (catalogue; page could not be opened; full text not seen).
• Kong Degang 孔德罡. 《红楼梦》"癸酉本"：大众"红学"盛开出的"恶之花" (The Guiyou version of Dream of the Red Chamber: a "flower of evil" in full bloom from popular Redology). The Paper, Sixiang shichang 澎湃新闻·思想市场, 2023-08-12. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_24140277 (first-hand).
• Yang Yifei 杨依菲. 大众红学的"原罪"及"解脱"的可能？——癸酉本《红楼梦》B站流行现象探析 (The "original sin" of popular Redology and the possibility of "deliverance": the popularity of the Guiyou Dream of the Red Chamber on Bilibili). Guandong xuekan 关东学刊 2024, no. 4. Reprinted on Cankao wang (reprint).
• Yang Yifei. "Is 'Dream of the Red Chamber' Just a Love Story? It Depends Who You Ask." Translated by David Ball. Sixth Tone, 18 July 2025. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017367 (first-hand).
• He Anan 何安安. 回应《红楼梦》"悼明"等争议，北京曹雪芹学会学术年会召开 (Responding to controversies such as "mourning the Ming" in Dream of the Red Chamber, the Beijing Cao Xueqin Society holds its annual conference). Xinjing bao 新京报 (Beijing News), 2025-12-22. https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1766379179168407.html (first-hand).
• Wu Shih-ch'ang 吴世昌. 《红楼梦》后半部的"狱神庙" (The "Prison Temple" in the second half of Dream of the Red Chamber). First published in Honglou meng xuekan 红楼梦学刊 1982, no. 3; dated at the end 18 February 1981. Reprinted on Aisixiang, https://www.aisixiang.com/data/96808.html (reprint).
• Gao Shuwei 高树伟. Honglou meng Jingcang ben bianwei 红楼梦靖藏本辨伪 (Exposing the Jing Manuscript of Dream of the Red Chamber as a Forgery). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2024. ISBN 9787101165395 (catalogue).

Participants, supporters and popular commentary

• Liu Junjun 刘俊俊 (Jin Junjun). Blog post, 2016-02-15. http://jinjunjun.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post_7.html (first-hand).
• Huzhu Tazhu 护珠塔主. 惊天解密靖本《红楼梦》批语 (A startling decoding of the Jing manuscript's notes on Dream of the Red Chamber). Sina blog, 2016-01-12. https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_13a1be4c00102w4of.html (first-hand).
• Honglou meng duan sanbai nian 红楼梦断三百年. 《红楼梦》的原作是"西堂居士"！ (The original author of Dream of the Red Chamber is "the Lay Disciple Xitang"!). Sina blog, 2017-08-28. https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53b6fb1f0102x758.html (first-hand).
• Zhizhen Zhaizhu 至真斋主 (Xiao Wenlin 肖文林). 从靖本批语看《吴氏石头记增删试评本》的真伪 (The authenticity of Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary in the light of the Jing notes). Sina blog, 2019-10-16. https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ef912550102ym3k.html (first-hand).
• He Xuanhe 何玄鹤 (author) and Qin Zhaoyan 秦昭言 (revision and editing). 《吴氏石头记增删试评本》被确认为《红楼梦》80回后真本 (Wu's Story of the Stone, Revised, with Trial Commentary confirmed as the true text after chapter 80 of Dream of the Red Chamber). Sina blog "Shensuanzi Qin Yigua" 神算子秦一卦, 2016-02-04. https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_13d55a59a0102wbyq.html (first-hand).
• 詹姆斯旁 (pen name, "James Pang"). 驳"吴氏石头记真本说"——癸酉本的几处硬伤 (Against the claim that Wu's Story of the Stone is genuine: some hard flaws in the Guiyou version). Reprinted on Independent Chinese PEN Center, 2022-12-16. https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188536 (reprint).

说明

1. 本文是预发布版，材料会续补，待核之处列在附录五，随核随改。
2. 本文是总篇《人是有情的》（concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22985375）的材料篇之一，与专题一《前八十回脂批前指审计：采与不采》（10.5281/zenodo.23007235）、专题二《〈红楼梦〉的成书层累：证据与诸说》（10.5281/zenodo.23025674）并行。总篇 4.6 节把癸酉本的代表论述与正面对话留给本文。与总篇有出入的，以本文为准，总篇下一版随改（附录六）。
3. 本文所引癸酉本文字，据本项目实际用过的一份一百零八回整理本，下称“工作本”；另以 2017 年“第三稿”的网友数字化本对校，下称“第三稿本”。两本都未见纸本，按转载级引用。癸酉本的著作权状况不明，引文只取讨论所需的短句。
4. 批号照专题一，记作“回.序”，如 41.14 是第四十一回第十四处【】。脂批本名与引文，除注明者外，都据项目底本。引第四十一回靖批一律作“瓜州”，照底本；叙述与引他本时照各本原字。工作本“瓜州”“瓜洲”混用，第三稿本只作“瓜洲”，引文各照原字。
5. 来源照实分级：见到原书、原刊、正式出版物页面或当事人首发原帖的，标“一手”；见到作者本人文字而经网络转载的，标“转载”；只见他人转述的，标“二手”；只见书目的，标“书目”；查不到的，标“未查到”。
6. “复原本”指本项目所写的第八十一至一一〇回。它逐轮修订，本文说到它，都指写作时的“现行稿”。宽泛的情节与取舍，不系于某一轮的字句；凡字句同文、人数、册次一类结论，只就下表所据之稿而言。本项目的内部工作记录（下称工作记录），本文只在交代取用来路时引用。

本文所据

对象	所据	备注
工作本	《癸酉本吴氏石头记（全108回）》整理本，MD 文件，md5 c92d93c1f61fe5018debeeb3ba030e94	引文底本
第三稿本	GitHub vicalloy/the-guiyou-version-of-dream-of-the-red-chamber，commit d8af079	对校本
网帖本	新浪博客“癸酉本石头记”各帖	2026 年 9 月读取
复原本第 81—88 回	r54 卷封合集
复原本第 89—95 回	r54 封稿合集	七回已封，全卷未卷封
复原本第 96—103 回	r54 卷封合集	2026-10-01 卷封
复原本第 104—110 回	r53 封稿合集（补第 108、110 回）	r54 尚未完成；完成后复核涉及各项（附录五）
前八十回与脂批	项目底本；批号据专题一审计数据 v0.4
工作记录	本项目内部工作记录（r52 等）	只用于交代取用来路

---

1 引言

本项目复原《红楼梦》后三十回，所凭的是前八十回正文与脂批。可是在写作的许多关口，项目手边还摊着另一部书：一种自称出自旧抄本、写到一百零八回的“癸酉本”。它把前八十回伏下的许多事都写了出来，写法却与本项目的走向大多相反：天下大乱，流寇破京，人物成批惨死，悲剧配着悼明的调子。本项目一面借它，一面与它相反而行。总篇 4.6 节交代过这件事的纪律，把代表论述与正面对话留给了本文。

这部书的来历，公开记录里分量很重。它从网上出现，原件从未公开；各版文字不一；据《光明日报》2018 年的报道，持有者对记者承认，其中两条提到吴梅村的批语是他伪造的，又说网传正文是凭记忆还原、经多人修改的。学界的主流意见视之为今人所作。本项目不参与这场真伪之争。这不是回避。本项目选择相信书有层累、稿有多版，对复原工作来说，非真即伪的二分帮不上忙。这是本项目的工作立场，不是对伪托说的评判；伪托说的来历证据，第 3.4 节照录。更要紧的是，本项目用它的方式，本来就不以它的真伪为前提。本文要做的，是把这一点摆出来，让读者可以核验。

所以本文的问题不是“癸酉本是真是假”，而是三个更朴素的问题：本项目从癸酉本借了什么；借来的东西，离开癸酉本还站不站得住；如果伪托说成立，本项目有哪些东西要变。

回答这三个问题，要先把材料摆清楚。第 2 节说本文所据的是哪些本子；第 3 节照来路登记公开记录；第 4 节照述诸说；第 5 节说本项目自己的读法及其难处；第 6 节是项目用它时立下的纪律；第 7 节是全文主体，逐项清点借来的东西；第 8 节说不取什么；第 9 节回答伪托说的问题。

有几条立场贯穿全文，先在这里说定。本文照述伪托说，代表论述逐条列出处，不删，也不驳。本项目对癸酉本的读法，只是读法，是工作假说，不承重；读者不接受它，本文的清单与结论照样成立。这与专题二“只依赖一层”构造相同。本项目对癸酉本出于谁手，思考过几种设想，本文只写明思考过，不判，也不作依据。“曹雪芹”取文本角色，指题名串与脂批所称、“披阅十载，增删五次”的那一位；此人历史上是谁，本文不涉。

2 何为“癸酉本”

2.1 名称

这部书名目很多，每个名字背后都有一段来历。2008 年它初在网上露面时，网友赵振东为称呼方便，拟名“何初本”。同年年底，据持有者转述的一条回末批“癸酉腊月全部誊清　梅村”，发布者金俊俊改称“癸酉本”；后来的本子里，这条批语作“癸酉腊月全书誊清”。又因批语自述作者为吴梅村，有人称“吴本”“吴祖本”。排印出版时用过《癸酉本石头记后28回》与《吴氏石头记增删试评本》两种书名；后一种据说是封面所题，但持有者 2018 年对记者说，这是“虚构的书名”。本文沿用项目的旧称“癸酉本”，只作称呼，不含“成于癸酉年”之意。

2.2 诸本

这部书没有一个定本。本文所见的文本，从 2008 年的网帖到 2017 年的排印本，前后至少有六种形态，另有一支自称握有前八十回四百条新批语，还有一组仿抄页。列表如下。

代号	文本	时间	本文怎样用	分级
网帖本	新浪博客“癸酉本石头记”的回目帖、逐回正文帖、批语摘录帖，当时称“何初本”；现存最早一帖为 2008-10-13	2008	回目与批语的早期文字	一手
九州本	金俊俊、何玄鹤《〈癸酉本石头记〉后28回》，九州出版社，ISBN 9787510827310	2014	回目异文	书目
线装本	何莉莉、王晓丰《吴氏石头记增删试评本》，线装书局，ISBN 9787512018860	2015	未见正文	书目
当代世界本	金俊俊、何玄鹤编，当代世界出版社，ISBN 9787509012086，2017 年 6 月，22+289 页	2017	未见纸本	书目（据补查报告，未复核）
第三稿本	2017 年“第三稿”的网友数字化本，含后二十八回、2017 年前言、两篇序、前八十回批语摘录	2017	对校本	转载
工作本	本项目实际用过的一百零八回整理本，前八十回有正文与批语约四百三十条，另有未署名整理者的按语	不明	引文底本	转载
王晓丰一支	称有前八十回“近 400 条全新的批语”	2017–2018	只述	一手（博文）
仿抄页	Wikimedia Commons 所存第一〇八回仿抄式页面，17 页，2016-08-20 上传，文件说明作“删减版”	2016	只述其存在	据补查报告，未复核

第三稿本与当代世界本很可能是同一部书，但未见纸本，本文不坐实。

2.3 工作本与第三稿本

本文以工作本为引文底本，是因为它就是本项目写作时用的本子：项目当时所引的癸酉原句，有十几条只见于工作本，第三稿本里没有。例如第八十三回厨役口中的“殣尸盈道”，第八十九回的“大盗势飙，乘衅倾朝，主惊臣乱”，第一〇二回宝钗的“载戢干戈”。项目当时引的是哪一本，论文就得引哪一本，不然读者核不上。

两本后二十八回的回目只有三处不同：第八十三回，工作本作“暮年哀聊发白头吟　金萱悲情洒儿女泪”，第三稿本作“史太君临终念子孙　王夫人膏肓托儿女”；第八十四回，“霭烟缘”与“金玉缘”；第一〇五回，“藉词”与“借词”。这三处，连同第八十一回回前批的“须校雠酌改”、第八十三回的开篇诗，都与网上流传的一种一百零八回在线全本相同。工作本很可能就是那一本，或出自同一来源。

两本的篇幅差得不少。去掉批语、按语与标点，工作本后二十八回约 21.4 万字，第三稿本约 18.9 万字。第三稿本的内容，大部分可在较长的工作本中找到；工作本多出的，集中在政论与回末批、悼明诗文（第九十八回诔文后半一组写明末人物的五言诗最显）、神怪与招匪的段落，以及整理者所说“底本与润色本重出”之处。增删的方向，本文不据此定：是一本删了另一本，还是一本补了另一本，本文不判。

正文也有几处两本不同，与本文相关的有三处。王夫人之死，工作本在第八十三回末落湖、第八十四回命绝，第三稿本在第八十三回已死。王仁卖巧姐的院子，工作本作“红香院”，第三稿本作“烟香院”。地名“瓜州”“瓜洲”，工作本混用，第三稿本只作“瓜洲”。本文凡说到这几处，都照工作本，另注第三稿本。

工作本还有一位未署名整理者的按语。第一回吴梅村一条批语后，他注“此条批语真假未知”；第八十二回《十独吟》后，他注“底本八首诗部分或全部蛀毁，后经过录人自己补写……真假难辨”；第一〇三回，他注“此第三处惊现底本与润色本内容”。这些说法，与新浪博客“护珠塔主”2015 年一文所说“两个底本同时被抄录，吴梅村文字与润色稿文字平行发展”相合；该文称所据是吴雪松勘校的“过录本”（一手，工具摘录；博主是否即吴雪松，未证）。工作本多半出自这一系，本文未坐实。整理者的按语，本文只当按语，不当作本子自带的文字。

工作本的批语里，两支并存：第一回既有金俊俊、何玄鹤一支所收的“此书本系吴氏梅村旧作”，也有王晓丰一支所称的“雪芹旧有风月宝鉴一书，乃西堂故兄所作”（第 3.6 节）。另有两条批语只见于工作本，第 5.3 节照述。

总篇 4.6 节称癸酉本为“一部……抄本”。据公开记录，只有持有者自称读过抄本，原件从未公开；公众所见，只有网帖、排印本、打印本、数字化本与一组仿抄页。总篇下一版改作“文本”（附录六）。

3 公开记录

3.1 2008 年：网上的出现

关于癸酉本最早何时出现，有三种说法。九州本简介与发布者刘俊俊（即金俊俊）2016 年的博文，都说是 2008 年 8 月底，一说 8 月 31 日。张霄军、张瑞雪 2017 年一文说，它“最早于2008年9月出现在赵振东先生的博客上(现在博文已删除)”（转载）。还有人说流传于“天涯论坛”或“各大红楼论坛”。

能直接打开的最早原帖，是 2008 年 10 月 13 日新浪博客“癸酉本石头记”上的《石头记“何初本”后半部回目》，列出第八十一至一〇八回的回目；同一博客另有第八十一回正文一帖。两帖页面标示的发布时间，分别是 18:04:55 与 18:15:48（一手）。次日一帖《与何小姐交流记录》保存了一段 QQ 群聊天，赵振东、何莉莉、俊俊三方都在场（一手）。10 月 17 日，博客又发《何初本—81回脂批摘选》与《何初本石头记情况及来历》。12 月 5 日，博主据何莉莉转述的回末批，把它改称“癸酉本”，推癸酉为 1753 年，说这个本子“比甲戌本还早一年”。12 月 21 日，第一〇八回正文帖发出，网上的二十八回至此发完。

这批原帖今天还在，是这部书最早的可核之形。它们显出一件事：这部书从露面起，文字就不止一种。10 月 13 日的回目帖里，第八十一回下句作“承辱怀怨以身试墙”；标示时间晚约十一分钟的正文帖，题目作“承辱怀怨蓄恶结党”。页面文字后来有无编辑、这一差异何时形成，本文未核；第 3.5 节再说。

3.2 出版与定名

2014 年，金俊俊、何玄鹤在九州出版社出版《〈癸酉本石头记〉后28回》，简介自称“对正文中的个别现代语进行了替换”。2015 年，何莉莉、王晓丰在线装书局出版《吴氏石头记增删试评本》，据《光明日报》，封面题“曹雪芹著”；同篇又记，吴雪松打印装订的过录本原文，则写着“原著：吴梅村”。同年，吴雪松为金、何一系的“第二版”作序，自称得到“过录本影印资料”。2017 年的“第三稿”，序一出自肖文林，称“癸酉是指1693年，‘梅村’是指吴梅村”；前言出自金俊俊、何玄鹤，自承本书是“过录本影像资料的整理稿，而非真本原文，真实性也有待专家鉴定”（转载）。

书名与作者之说，在十年里变了几次。2008 年 12 月，官方博客按曹雪芹的年代推癸酉为 1753 年（12 月 5 日、15 日两帖）；而同年 10 月 17 日一帖记何莉莉的话：“她说她从没有声称这后半部一定是曹雪芹写的。”到 2015 至 2017 年，吴梅村作者说成了金、何一系发布方的主张，癸酉也改推为 1693 年；线装本的封面则题“曹雪芹著”。而据《光明日报》，何莉莉认定抄本封面所题是“红楼梦”三字。同一部书，书名、作者与癸酉之年，都不止一说。

3.3 持有者与原件

持有者网名“何莉莉”。关于此人，各方说法互相出入：2008 年 10 月 17 日官方博客《何初本石头记情况及来历》一帖以“她”相称，说“何莉莉今年23岁”（一手）；刘俊俊 2016 年称“何莉莉小姐”，安徽阜阳人；《光明日报》2018 年称“化名，男，初中学历”；2017 年版前言称“安徽阜阳某赵姓藏家”。得书的经过也不止一说：2008 年那一帖只说“她的祖母是国民党军医的老婆”，书“有12本，每本九回”；刘俊俊 2016 年说，祖父在山西战场做军医时，一个伤员交给做护士的祖母；《光明日报》记持有一方之说，祖父母偶然得到，共十二册，每册九回；澎湃号 2019 年记，县文化馆主任想借阅，于是抄入笔记本借出。抄录者或说表妹，或说姐姐，或说姐弟。

原件从未公开。它的下落有三说：被母亲当废品卖掉，可能被外人偷走，送往台湾亲戚家收藏。发布方自述得到过一张封面照片，2015 年又得到“过录本全文影印资料”。2019 年澎湃号的报道配过一幅图，图注称“发布者至今唯一公布的底本封面图”；实物与完整影印本，都未获核验。

2009 年 2 月 25 日，百度贴吧出现一篇《何莉莉小姐对红迷的道歉书》，内有“本人鬼使神差编造了何初本后28回，欺骗了大家”等语（据张霄军、张瑞雪文所录，本文已对转载页核过这句；贴吧原帖未见，二手）。《光明日报》后来记下，网上确有此文，而何莉莉本人否认其内容。这份道歉书是否出自何莉莉本人，本文无从判定。

3.4 2018 年的调查

2018 年 2 月 27 日，《光明日报》第 07 版刊出记者刘剑的调查《“吴氏石头记”的倒塌》。这是关于癸酉本来历最重要的一份公开记录，本文据数字报原页，文中所引各句写作时已对原页核过（一手）。

报道的核心是两条批语：一条在第一回，以“此书本系吴氏梅村旧作”起；一条在第一〇八回回末，以“本书至此告终，癸酉腊月全书誊清。梅村夙愿得偿”起。吴梅村作者说主要就立在这两条上。报道写道：“而面对记者的求证，何莉莉多次表示，这两条批语都是他伪造的，而他本人对此也十分后悔。”他说，“‘吴氏石头记增删试评本’是虚构的书名，当时吴雪松、刘俊俊等说‘吴梅村作《红楼梦》’比较靠谱，所以自己伪造了那两条与吴梅村相关的批语”。报道又概述何莉莉 2014 年的一篇文字，说“网络传播的后28回内容并非‘过录本’原文，而是由他凭着记忆还原的情节，并经过了他本人及其他人的多次修改”。王晓丰与何莉莉 2017 年再版仍用那个书名，“是出于书号考虑”。

报道也记下了反面的声音。吴雪松坚称何莉莉的话不可信。中国红楼梦学会的杜春耕则对记者说，网传后二十八回“应当有一个底本存在，如果是完全创作，那么造假者还是有一定水平的”；同时他又说，何莉莉回忆的抄本，“前80回情节中有一部分来自清末吴克岐创作的本子”。杜春耕这两层意思，目前只见于这篇报道，此前有无文章提出，本文未查到。

3.5 各版的变动

癸酉本的文字，从头就不稳定。最清楚的例子在第八十一回。2008 年 10 月 13 日的回目帖作“避祸念旧凭带为媒　承辱怀怨以身试墙”；同日的正文帖，下句作“承辱怀怨蓄恶结党”，正文里司棋挨打被撵，并没有死。四天后的批语摘选，却有一句“见司棋撞墙而亡，也唬了一跳”，下接一条批：“雪芹大错矣！司棋前回已出。贾门何来此文，极不妥，删净重拟。”也就是说，“撞墙而亡”的那一稿，只以残句的形式留在批语摘选里，旁边还带着一条要它删掉的批语（均一手）。到了后来的工作本与第三稿本，回目作“惜昵近公子做良媒　讳笞罚丫鬟结恶党”，司棋被撵后与潘又安结党，“雪芹大错矣”那条批不见了。

同类的变动还有不少。第八十二回回目上句，2008 年作“贾宝玉佯捧万章经”，两本都改作“王熙凤病求千翼方”，宝玉读《孟子·万章》一节只存于正文。第八十四回的“雾烟缘”（2008），工作本作“霭烟缘”，按语说“底本两字蛀毁”，由过录人补；第三稿本作“金玉缘”，也有一条按语：“其中底本两字蛀毁，‘金玉’二字为校勘时后补。”两本都说蛀毁，补的字不同。第九十二回，据 2019 年澎湃号的报道，2008 年网络版有县令“已经死翘翘了”一句，第三稿本作“已经死了”。第一〇八回的回末批，2008 年转述为“癸酉腊月全部誊清　梅村”，2008 年 12 月 21 日的正文帖里不见“梅村”；两本作“是书至此暂告一段落……梅村夙愿得偿”，工作本注“此批未校”；《光明日报》所引，又作“本书至此告终”。这三种句式各属哪一版，本文未能分配。《十独吟》一题，第三稿本第八十二回的按语说只剩朱淑真、李清照两首完整，工作本则收了十二首，整理者注明是过录人补写的；两本第一〇四回都说它“以朱淑真、柳如是、卞玉京、李香君等十人为目”。

这些变动，伪托说与真本说读法相反：一方以为是编造者逐次修改的痕迹，一方以为是过录删改与校勘补字的痕迹。本文只登记变动本身。

3.6 两支批语与“西堂故兄”

2017 年 8 月 28 日，新浪博客“红楼梦断三百年”公布了一条批语，称出自一个“新钞本”的第一回：“雪芹旧有《风月宝鉴》一书，乃西堂故兄所作，仅贾瑞、秦可卿、秦钟事也，稍嫌枯索。”（一手）博主在另一文中，把这个“新钞本”与王晓丰联系在一起；博主是否即王晓丰，本文未证。工作本里这条批语更长，后接“雪芹立誓着一巨作传世……雪芹不肯署名，答曰：何妨假以梅村、醉茶、西村、箨庵、石林缀之乎……雪芹润色止于八十回”等语。

这条批语与金俊俊、何玄鹤一支的“吴氏梅村旧作”一条，占的是同一个位置，一说原作出于西堂，一说出于吴梅村。它的句式，与甲戌本眉批“雪芹旧有《风月宝鉴》之书，乃其弟棠村序也”（1.61）相同；末尾“稍嫌枯索”四字，也见于持有者自认伪造的那一条。本文只并列这几件文本事实，不作推论。学界有无专门讨论这一条，本文未查到。专题二留下的这条线索，到此大体交代，未了之处列入附录五。

4 诸说

4.1 伪托说

视癸酉本为今人所作，是公开研究里的主流意见。本文见到的代表文献，有 2018 年《光明日报》刘剑的调查，其中引杜春耕、段江丽、任晓辉、张惠诸家；2019 年澎湃号殷静的报道，引江苏省红楼梦学会会长、南京大学文学院教授的意见，报道署作“苗伟明”，是否即苗怀明，待证；张霄军、张瑞雪《网络环境下古籍作伪新手段——以〈红楼梦〉三大网络作伪案为例》（转载，2017，原刊待查）；赵建忠《“癸酉本”〈石头记〉辨伪》（搜索结果显示维普收有题录，页面未能打开，全文未见）；孔德罡 2023 年在澎湃新闻的评论；杨依菲 2024 年在《关东学刊》的论文；2025 年 7 月 Sixth Tone 上 Yang Yifei 的英文文章；以及同年 12 月《新京报》对北京曹雪芹学会学术年会的报道，其中引胡德平的意见（记者何安安）。

这些文字的论据，可以归成五组。

第一组是来历。据《光明日报》，连持有一方自己也说，“只有何莉莉曾经读过这套书”；孔德罡说，“何莉莉始终无法拿出原本书稿供学界和爱好者检阅”；胡德平说，“该版本并未拿出底本”。持有者自认伪造两条批语一事（第 3.4 节），也归在这一组。

第二组是作者说。《光明日报》记杜春耕、段江丽、任晓辉等认为吴梅村作《红楼梦》之说是“无稽之谈，不值一驳”。反驳者转引赵建忠之说（二手）：第二十一回黛玉续诗有“作践南华庄子因”一句，《庄子因》成书于康熙二十七年（1688），而吴梅村卒于康熙十一年（1672）。杜春耕又指前八十回有一部分来自清末吴克岐的本子。

第三组是文本本身。2008 年网络版第九十二回有“已经死翘翘了”一句，九州本简介也自称替换过“个别现代语”。报道所引“苗伟明”说：“第一从情节上讲是胡编乱造，全无曹公的情节走向。第二语言表达十分拙劣。第三毫无才气。”孔德罡说它“文字粗糙、诗歌不合韵脚，与前八十回文字水平相距甚远”。张惠在公众号里戏言，那些洗劫大观园的情节“不是吴梅村写的，一定是施耐庵写的”（二手）。还有人指出它与前八十回的设定抵牾：情榜列入“十二公子”等男子，与第五回所说太虚幻境各司“皆贮的是普天之下所有的女子过去未来的簿册”不合（詹姆斯旁，2022，转载）。

第四组是它与探佚成果的相合。一百零八回之数合于周汝昌等人之说（zh.wikipedia，二手）；前八十回脂批所伏之事，后二十八回多有“兑现”。支持者举此为真本之证（第 4.3 节），反对者举此为依批而写之证。反方的专文，本文只见知乎题名《伪癸酉本（伪吴氏石头记）抄袭造假的三大铁证》，未能读到正文。

第五组是各版文本不一，多次改动（第 3.5 节）。何莉莉 2014 年自己也说，网传正文“经过了他本人及其他人的多次修改”。

学界的总体判断，Sixth Tone 一文说得最直：“experts unanimously agree that the Guiyou version is a 21st-century forgery”。杨依菲说它“已被学界证伪，却越‘打假’越火”。张霄军、张瑞雪说：“那所谓的‘何初本’就是典型的造假。”（转载）

有一点须写明。《红楼梦学刊》《曹雪芹研究》上有无讨论癸酉本的专文，本文与所托的补查都没能取得知网、万方、维普可审计的检索页。“未查到”不等于没有。

4.2 较宽之说

在否定的意见之外，也有较宽的说法，但都很谨慎。杜春耕说网传后二十八回“应当有一个底本存在”，同一篇报道里却又否定吴梅村说，并说抄本前八十回有一部分来自吴克岐的本子。报道中这个“底本”，没有被指为曹雪芹原稿，也没有被指为十八世纪的旧稿。首发者之一赵振东，据刘俊俊 2016 年的博文转述，认为“这个本子是个比较好的他人续本，有较大的探佚学价值，但不是真本”（二手）。连发布方自己的 2017 年前言，也说“真实性也有待专家鉴定”。本文没有查到有专业学者公开主张，它保存了曹雪芹底稿的成分。

4.3 真本说、吴梅村说与悼明之读

主张真本或吴梅村原作的一方，据所见资料，都不以学术机构的身份发表。他们的主张，本文只照述。

官方博客 2008 年 12 月按曹雪芹的年代推定癸酉之年，同时已经提出另一种读法：12 月 15 日一帖说“后28回有很多反清悼明，反满拥汉的内容”，2009 年 3 月 10 日一帖说贾蓉、贾蔷“谐音‘戎羌’”（一手）。吴雪松 2015 年的序说：“据书中诸批语可知，《风月宝鉴》是吴梅村作品”，后二十八回“是不容置疑的《石头记》佚文”（转载）。肖文林 2017 年的序把后二十八回的战乱，读作“明末农民军、清军争夺大明江山的缩影”（转载）。何玄鹤 2016 年一篇博文说，他对比前八十回的批语，“整理出59条暗伏遗稿内容的批语……其中48条批语得到了印证”（转载；博文发在“神算子秦一卦”，署“作者：何玄鹤　增删整理：秦昭言”）。金俊俊、何玄鹤 2017 年的前言，也说前八十回批语所伏的场景在后二十八回“一一印证”，“这是该本作为《红楼梦》全本真稿的有力证据”，同一篇又说真实性有待鉴定。

悼明之读，在后二十八回里有贯穿的文本依据：海外“玉户岛”犯边，“戎羌”觊觎；元春以“与戎羌勾结”的罪名凌迟；流寇破京，戎羌夺权登基；第一〇〇回犯官子弟齐喊“誓灭胡虏，还我河山”；第一〇二回陈也俊赠妙玉三诗，工作本题作《江东行》，有“遗民血泪盼国复”之句。这些内容，本项目一律不取（第 6、8 节）。

4.4 大众红学

癸酉本真正流行，是在视频平台上。孔德罡把 2019 年起“木鱼水心”等人的讲解视频，看作它进入大众视野的节点，并批评这一现象以“家国情怀”“悼明说”压过了对情感与人性的关注。杨依菲以 B 站为例，讨论癸酉本与索隐派的复兴、学院与大众的隔阂。本文写这一节，是因为本项目的读者多半从这里接触癸酉本。

5 本项目的读法

5.1 某一版底稿

本项目把癸酉本读作“后人基于曹雪芹某一版底稿的再创作”。

“某一版”三个字，是接着专题二的立场说的。书有层累，稿有多版；脂批所指的后文，各指某一版，曹雪芹对后半部很可能有过不止一种设计。癸酉本若承自底稿，承的也只是其中一版，未必是脂批所见的那一版。所以它与脂批不合的地方，不必强求一致；它与本项目的走向相反，也不妨碍本项目从中借取。

本项目借它，凭的是这一读法里的一条判断：癸酉本中凡与前八十回所立人物性格相合的内容，本项目以为可能留有曹雪芹的原意，值得借鉴；与前八十回人物性格不合的，不取（第 6 节规则 7）。这是作者的读法，不是考证。若癸酉本出于今人，这条判断就退为一条文学上的标准：合于前八十回人物性格的写法，不论出自谁手，都值得借鉴（第 9 节）。

这一读法是本项目用它时的读法与写作依据。它是工作假说，不承重（总篇 1.4 节）。它不反驳伪托说，也不需要伪托说为它让路。公开记录的分量本文已经照实写了（第 3 节），读者可以不接受这一读法；本文第 7 节的清单与第 9 节的结论，都不靠它成立。本项目在写作中，对癸酉本出于谁手、成于何时，还思考过几种设想，彼此不一，都没有公开证据；本文不判，也不以任何一种作依据。

5.2 第四十二回一批：缘由与它的难处

作者持这一读法，举过一条缘由。第四十二回有一批（42.6），起首是“‘应了这话就好’，批书人焉能不心伤？”，下接：“狱庙相逢之日始知‘遇难成祥，逢凶化吉’实伏线于千里，哀哉伤哉！此后文字不忍卒读。辛卯冬日。”这条批把巧姐的“遇难成祥”，与一处“狱庙相逢”连在一起。癸酉本写巧姐遭难，紧接着就是平儿、巧姐被押进嶽神庙、与宝玉相见的一节；作者以为，这正兑现了这一批。

这一缘由，本文照录；它的难处，本文也照录，共有四层。

第一层，这一兑现两说都能解释。底稿之读以为，这是底稿留下的痕迹；伪托说以为，这是依批而写，续作者读过脂批，照着写就是。第三稿本的今人编者，还把这条批语作为脚注，直接挂在第九十四回“快带往嶽神庙看押”一句之下。所以这一兑现，不能用来判断两说谁是。

第二层，这条批语本身的来路也有争议，所见有三说。项目底本标作“该批”；专题一甲18 记，“审读者记得通行作靖本眉批；若是，即属参级，待影印本核”；第三稿本第九十四回的脚注，则称之为“第四十二回蒙本侧批”，所录文字与项目底本一字不差。若属靖本，靖本的真伪又有争，高树伟《红楼梦靖藏本辨伪》（中华书局，2024）主伪，专题二已述。

第三层，是项目自身取舍的限度。专题一审计把这条批登记为“半兑现”：其中“狱庙相逢”与巧姐相连的一层，复原本不取，记“不采五”。复原本在狱神庙相逢的是宝玉与茜雪、小红，巧姐的遇难成祥落在第九十九、一〇〇回。也就是说，本项目持这一读法的缘由，恰是本项目自己在复原中没有照走的那一层。受一条批的启发，又按公开的判准不照写，这不算自相矛盾；癸酉本若承某一版，那一版与本项目的这一种复原取舍，可以不同。真正的限度在别处：这一兑现分不出是旧稿承传，还是今人依批作续（第一层）。读者应当知道这一点。

第四层是一个字。癸酉本全书作“嶽神庙”，工作本后二十八回十四处，前八十回批语里另有三处；脂批作“狱神庙”（20.20、26.24 等）。吴世昌 1982 年批评过赵冈，说他“笔下写的是有关狱神庙的文章，脑中想的则是嶽神庙的形象”（转载）。可见探佚文字里，早就有过近于“嶽神庙”的想象。本文只记这一事实，不据以判先后。

5.3 工作本里的两条自述

工作本有两条批语，只见于这一本，口吻相同，关系到这部书对自己的交代，本文照述。

第一条是第八十一回回前的一段无署名文字，用方括号，不用其余批语的【】，体例像批语，下文仍称“长批”。它的作者与编入时间都未核；文中自称说到雪芹、亲朋，本文不因此把它当作旧批者的证词。第三稿本没有它，2008 年第八十一回的正文帖也没有（一手核过）。它先说：“上回表过‘终不知端的’，岂非全书终于八十回乎？雪芹本旨尚有廿八回，粗略概述如下”，下接一段后事梗概，有探春远适玉户岛、宝玉丢玉、甄宝玉做了和尚前来送玉、宝钗适雨村等。接着说：“雪芹本意贾府因贾芹等招接匪类暴殄天物而致家亡人散，非国破家乱，然思之味同嚼蜡，故事平淡，吾等不予采纳。”又说，后二十八回是“有亲朋苦劝补成完稿”，“舍雪芹原拟，直述汉唐国殇贼祸”。末了说：“刘氏有奇思佳构，欲与同僚再续红楼，别尽碍语，仅着意于宝黛钗事，余允之。”第二条是第一〇八回回末的第二条批语：“冀盼亲友所续四十回早日完稿，流传京都”。

两条合起来，自成一套交代：后二十八回是“亲朋”补成的，舍了雪芹原拟；另有“刘氏”再续一种，只写宝黛钗事，似指程高本。这在癸酉本自己的批语里，就把后二十八回说成了续作，与本项目的读法字面相近。但它们也是这一系统里来路最窄的两条，只见于工作本。本文照述，不借它们为本项目的读法作证。

6 采信纪律

本项目读癸酉本，主要是把它当作一面反面的镜子。癸酉本用天下大乱给悲剧配乐，把后半部写成流寇破京、多数人惨死；本项目让悲剧在如常的世道里无声发生，因为世道若乱，罪责就被乱世稀释了。在本项目看来，癸酉本一写到政治，人物的声口就常常变成政论的传声筒；本项目只取人物自己的声口。它走的每一步，都逼本项目说清楚，自己为什么不这样走。

在这个大方向下，项目陆续立过十条规则，下表列出。这是当前可以继续采用的规则，不是说历来每一步都照此遵守。每条的最后一栏说，把规则里关于作者的前提拿掉之后，它还成不成立。这一栏要紧：有几条规则立下时，带着关于作者的设想；本文不判作者，规则就必须在不判作者的情况下也讲得通。

#	规则	首例	去掉作者前提以后
1	非承重：被采的线索须回前八十回与脂批独立复核，癸酉本不单独承担结论	总篇 4.6 节	不变
2	双本采择对称：癸酉本剔悼明，程高本剔招安，两支各采其不偏离之处	第八十一回	不变
3	梗概层只采事件骨架；正文层须经本项目笔法重写	第八十三回贾母病笃	不变；实践中的出入见 7.4
4	分区域：细节层可借，关键剧情不直接采	靛儿归惜春房	细节借用只是写作选择
5	两支（癸酉、程高）同现：合前八十回者采，逆而无可扳者剔，可扳者扳正	第八十二回黛玉劝读，扳为劝读《庄子》	两支同现不再作底本旁证，只作提示
6	同题双解：两支对同一个问题各给解法，说明此处有题要解	第八十四回湘云婚期与服制	同上
7	违和不采：人物之声与前八十回所立性格不合者，或剔，或扳，或采其内容弃其文笔	鸳鸯“都死绝了也活该”	只说违和处不采
8	世道不乱：癸酉本散到乱，程高本以闲适冲散，本项目散而有序	第九十二回	不变
9	架构：一〇八回、一〇八人情榜不取；全书一一〇回；情榜不列全谱	情榜	不变
10	残损脂批的句读校字，可借其一系所传的文本，只及校字，论证分量降一格	第四十一回靖批（此条出总篇 4.6 节与审计表甲24）	不变。借来的句读只用于判断残批是否兑现，这一兑现只记判准择读（总篇丙级）；情节由判准定（第 7.5 节）

十条之中，第 2、7、8 条最能说明本项目的态度。第 2 条把癸酉本与程高本放在对称的位置：前者偏向悼明，后者偏向招安，两者都离开了本项目所读的曹雪芹本意，所以各剔其偏，各采其不偏。第 7 条是一把筛子：人物在癸酉本里说出前八十回里的他不会说的话，就不采。第 8 条定下了全书的气候。

此外，本项目有一条贯穿全书的判准，不只用于癸酉本：曹雪芹写金陵十二钗，连秦可卿在内，都不往淫上引，写的是人本身；性羞辱不是他的写法。它的文本锚是第五回警幻对“意淫”与“皮肤淫滥”的区分（总篇 1.2 节）；秦可卿一层，复原本情榜写“然其孽非色，乃政”（总篇 3.5 节，专题二）。现行稿里，妙玉苦役而不受辱，巧姐在红香院“成日挨打不肯就范”，都是这条判准的落处（第 7.5 节）；癸酉本的剔除项里，也有不少与它相关（第 8 节）。

规则与实践之间，有一处出入，本文照实写出：在规则 3，现行稿正文里有少数句子与工作本近同，不全是重写（第 7.4 节）。

7 借来了什么

7.1 清点的办法

本文把现行稿中与癸酉本有关的地方逐项列出，共七十二项，对每一项做三件事：到工作本里核它在癸酉本第几回，在现行稿第几回；到前八十回正文（含判词、曲文）与脂批里，查它有没有独立的依据；写明若癸酉本出于今人，这一项该怎样处置。全表见附录三。

“独立依据”的认定，本文从严。它须是对后事的预示，或是此事直接承接的前因，并与这一项的人、事、物至少两样相合。只提供了人物或物件的出处，只是性格、气氛相近的，都只算“旁及”，不算依据。一项分几层的，按主干定类。主干只来自癸酉本的，记乙，哪怕其中某一层另有依据，例如 #7 揩油实相，其中糟参一层可承第七十七回王夫人寻参。主干有依据、附带一层借自癸酉本的，记甲，类后加“＊”，借来的那一层另注（#1、#2、#23）。类只是摘要标签，不替代附录三的各栏：有独立依据的，也可能实际借过；字句近同，也不单独证明传播的方向。

照这个办法，七十二项分类如下：

类	意思	项数
甲	主干有独立依据，直指此事；癸酉本只作旁证或提示（标“＊”的另含借用层）	14
乙	无独立依据，或只能旁及；主干只来自癸酉本，属写作选择	33
丙	字句同文或近同：回目、情榜名号，以及保留了癸酉本近同句子的正文	17
同	两本同有而项目自有来路，或取自他本（#72 取程高本）；并非从癸酉本借来	7
注	本项目自撰的书外批语，评论癸酉本，不是从它取来的内容（#70）	1

七十二项中，一项待核（#26），其余七十一项检得。七十一项中，#70 是本项目自撰的书外批语，评论癸酉本，不是从它取来的内容，单列。其余七十项：主干有独立依据的十四项，项目自有来路的七项，合二十一项，主干不靠癸酉本，其中三项另含借用层；只来自癸酉本的三十二项，字句同文或近同的十七项，合四十九项，是从癸酉本来的。#26 若确实承接了癸酉本之核，则为五十项。

这个结果对本项目不算有利。本项目从癸酉本真正借来的，大半是写作上的东西：情节的骨架、细节、场面、字句。能单凭前八十回与脂批撑住的，是少数。下面分类说。

7.2 有独立依据的

这一类里，癸酉本的作用是提示。它把前八十回与脂批已经伏下的事，先写了一遍；本项目据以定位、定形，而依据本来就在前八十回与脂批里。

袭人嫁蒋玉菡、临走留下麝月（第八十一回），有 20.45 庚辰批“故袭人出嫁后云‘好歹留着麝月’一语”，又有 28.1 批琪官“后回与袭人供奉玉兄宝卿得同终始”。以茜香罗为凭作合，依据同为 28.1，但“宝玉亲为作合”一层没有依据，是借自 2008 年回目帖“避祸念旧凭带为媒”的。探春在清明辞祠远嫁（第八十五回），有判词“清明涕送江边望，千里东风一梦遥”与 22.103“此探春远适之谶也”；辞祠的仪式与认义女一层，则借自癸酉本。平儿扶正（第九十回），第四十四回鲍二家的对贾琏说过：“他死了，你倒是把平儿扶了正”。刘姥姥救巧姐（第一〇〇回），有判词“偶因济刘氏，巧得遇恩人”。惜春的大观园图随刘姥姥去了乡下（第一〇一回），第四十回刘姥姥说过：“怎么得有人也照着这个园子画一张，我带了家去”。宝钗死在雪里（第一〇八回），判词写着“金簪雪里埋”；同项的雨村不死，是本项目翻癸酉本“雨村病亡”而定，没有脂批依据，也不是借来的。

若癸酉本出于今人，这一类的主干不变；#1、#2、#23 借来的那一层，照乙类改注来路。

7.3 只来自癸酉本的

乙类三十三项，其中一项（#26）待核。它们是本项目从癸酉本借来的写作选择，前八十回与脂批里找不到直接的依据。例如贾府内务一线：下人揩油的实相（第八十二回），把妙玉配人而换作贾环、贾母与妙玉祖母的旧谊（第八十五回；旧谊一层，作者确认取自工作本第八十二回“老太太同他祖母亦是知交”），以赵姨娘告状作查账的扳机（第八十六回）。巧姐一线：二哭大观园而主动择走（第一〇一回），凤姐托梦巧姐说“我来迟了”（第一〇一回）。妙玉一线：陈也俊求她被拒（第九十九回），她梦中与黛玉论“何为洁”（第一〇五回）。宝玉身边：蒋玉菡以戏词答妻（第一〇六回），湘云悼黛玉（第一〇六回）。市井一线：银姐性烈、卜世仁鬻女（第一〇七、一〇八回），二丫头（第一〇四回），北静王退礼（第一〇八回）。细节与名物：靛儿归惜春房，宁古塔之名。

这一类里最常见的手法，是“翻”：取癸酉本一个场面的形，换掉它的义。凤姐的鬼魂回阳复仇，翻为托梦祝女儿嫁板儿；妙玉梦宝玉劝婚，翻为梦黛玉论洁；蒋玉菡“男人三妻四妾也是正理”，翻为戏词里的守一人；雨村贿赂北静王得官，翻为北静王原封退礼。本项目把这种手法叫作“形采义翻”。翻过来的东西，义是本项目的，形是癸酉本的；所以它们归乙，来路要写明。

还有一种情形，场面有一处借来，整组的意思却是本项目自己立的。宝玉流落途中三次得点醒：柳湘莲在路劫中相救（第一〇二回），是道；智通寺老僧叫他拾柴生火（第一〇二回），是佛；二丫头一碗芋头，当他是一个人（第一〇四回），是儒家“仁者爱人”之实。这一组三教之悟，是本项目自己的构思（作者说明）。其中只有二丫头重逢、赠芋的场面出自工作本第一〇六回（#64）；柳湘莲救人一笔，承第六十六回柳湘莲在平安州界赶散强盗、救下薛蟠；智通寺出第二回。

有两项要单说。陈也俊这个人名，项目底本第十四回的送殡名单里没有，那里作“冯紫英，卫若兰等诸王孙公子”；工作本有，通行本也有，待对影印本。就本项目所用的两本而言，这一项连人名都只见于工作本。妙玉一项（#56），瓜州、陷泥两层有脂批与判词为据；她不受辱，出自本项目的判准，“不屈从”一读则借自癸酉本一系，见第 7.5 节。

若癸酉本出于今人，乙类照样可以用，它们本来就是写作选择；只是来路要改注为“借自一部今人续书”。

7.4 同文与近同

这一类，是本文最要照实交代的。

先说回目。复原本有几条回目，与癸酉本同文或近同：

现行稿回目	癸酉本回目	关系
第一百一回　刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐二哭大观园	第一〇三回，全联同文	“三进”出自第六回甲戌批（6.1）；“二哭大观园”只见癸酉本
第一百六回下句　花袭人信有始有终	第九十六回下句，同文	“花袭人有始有终”出自 20.20 庚辰批，“信”字取自癸酉本
第八十九回下句　警天伦元春诉幽梦	第九十回“贾元春托梦警天伦”	“警天伦”三字；托梦之事有《恨无常》为据
第九十一回上句　锦衣军查抄宁荣府	第九十一回“锦衣卫查抄荣宁府”；另有程高本第一〇五回“锦衣军查抄宁国府”	与癸酉本差一字，二字互倒；与程高本只差一字（“国”作“荣”）。两支都借鉴了
第八十二回上句　贾宝玉佯捧万章篇	2008 年回目帖“贾宝玉佯捧万章经”	前七字同；后来的本子回目已改
第九十五回上句　绛珠仙泪尽完夙债	第九十七回“绛珠仙泪尽抛全生”	前五字同

前五行计入丙类（附录三 #60、#49、#33、#39、#4）。其中第九十一回一句是两支合用：字面更近程高本第一〇五回，只差一字；“宁荣”两府并举，则同癸酉本。作者说明两支都借鉴了，所以 #39 仍记丙，来路注两支。第九十五回一行不计：“绛珠仙”出第一回，“泪尽”出 22.48 庚辰夹批“将来泪尽夭亡”，五字都有前八十回与脂批的来路，与下面第九十回之例相近；作者也说明，这一联没有借鉴癸酉本。另外要说明，复原本第九十回“薛宝钗借词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄”与癸酉本第一〇五回同文，但两家都出自第二十一回蒙府回前批（21.3，甲21），不是借自癸酉本。

再说情榜。现行稿第一一〇回，榜上写出名号与考语的有十八人，另有二十一人只列名，不写名号。这十八人里，除青儿外，十七人见于工作本第一〇八回的情榜；其中十六人的“情某”二字与工作本同文，正册的情情、无情、情尊、情敏、情憨、情隐、情懦、情雄、情缘、情槁、孽情，副册以下的香菱情呆、晴雯情勇、袭人情箴、抱琴情忠、翠墨情豁，都是。只有惜春，由工作本的“情冷”改作“情慧”。脂批里所见，只有“情情”“情不情”两词（19.80）。考语里也有同文之处：妙玉条的“壁立万仞”，惜春条的“冷心冷面”（现行稿以“或谓”引入，随即翻转；这四字第六十六回尤三姐已说过，是前八十回语汇），凤姐条“治世之能”的句式（此句式出许劭评曹操“治世之能臣，乱世之奸雄”，见《三国志·武帝纪》裴注引孙盛《异同杂语》，同文的分量很轻）。所以本项目的情榜，册次与“情情”“情不情”有脂批为据，其余名号大多出自癸酉本，经本项目逐一复核后保留；每一条考语的写法，则是本项目自己的。这一层留给专题五细论。

最后是正文字句。总篇说正文层“须经本项目笔法重写”，大体是这样做的，但有少数句子与工作本近同。本文先用一道筛查门槛：连续五字以上相同，或整句只作删改、换序，并除去套语与前八十回已有的语汇；过了门槛的，再以工作记录中的取用记录确认。字面相近本身，不定传播的方向。这样的句子共九项，集中在几处。下面所引都是现行稿的字句（第八十一至一〇三回据 r54，以后据 r53），工作本原句与逐项比对，见附录三附二的对照表。第八十三回贾母病笃一段，王太医的“心气已衰……止有定数”，贾母的“只怕熬不过今年了”“还不知下一回，过得过不得了”，贾政命贾琏开单子，“该当的当，该卖的卖”，什物拉到“菜市口摆开卖了”。第八十四回，薛蟠对宝钗说宝玉要娶的是姓林的，“早没有你的份了”。第八十八回马道婆案发，挖出“象牙刻的男女魔王”，八字与工作本第八十九回全同；案发一事，程高本第八十一回也有，作“像牙刻的一男一女……两个魔王”，字面不同。第九十回，凤姐说“外头都传咱们府里金山银山”。第九十九回，王仁卖巧姐一段与工作本第九十四回近同，如“且说王仁带着巧姐”“潮落月起”，鸨母“摸了摸下巴，笑道：‘是个上品’”。第一〇七回，宝玉捧着黛玉当年给的灯，说“就当又看见他了”。这些句子都经过改写，或删，或换语序，或改用词，但近同是看得出来的。第八十三回贾母“你不用虚宽我的心”一句也与工作本同，但前八十回第七十七回宝玉已说过“你不必虚宽我的心”，是前八十回的语汇，不计。

这一类的来源，现在就注明，不等伪托成立才注。本文的处置是：回目与情榜名号不改字，作者对复原本回目早有裁定，凡有来源的，不因审读意见而改；复原本的凡例里加一行，说明回目、情榜名号与少数字句借自癸酉本；正文近同的几句，下一轮修订时视情况重写。若癸酉本出于今人，回目与名号字少，注明即可；正文近同的句子，以改拟为宜（第 9 节）。

7.5 第四十一回的一条句读

项目底本所录第四十一回靖眉批（41.14），传文残乱：“……他日瓜州渡口劝惩不哀哉屈从红颜固能不枯骨各示□”。怎样句读，有三种读法。周汝昌读作“他日瓜州渡口，红颜固［？］屈从枯骨，不能各示劝惩，［岂］不哀哉！”，戴不凡读作“他日瓜州渡口屈从，各示劝惩，［岂］不哀哉”，两家都作“屈从”（本文据网上转录，原书与页码待核）。第三种出自癸酉本一系：工作本第四十一回正文里有一条批语，作“妙玉偏辟处，此所谓过洁世同嫌也，他日瓜州渡口，客示劝惩，红颜固能不屈从枯骨，不哀哉？”

总篇依判准选了第三种，读作“不屈从”，归总篇 4.2 节的丙级（判准择读），并说明这一借用“只及校字，不及情节”。这里有两件事要分开：妙玉不受辱，是本项目自己的判断；“不屈从”这一读，是借来的。下面把两件事的底细都摆出来。

这条读法的来路，是它作为癸酉本自己的第四十一回批语面世；本文所见最早的公开引用，是 2016 年 1 月 12 日的一篇博客。它不是哪位学者的校读，而且与持有者自认伪造的两条批语，同属一个批语系统。原批又出自靖本，靖本的真伪有争。所以这里是两重未定：原批是否可靠，句读又从何而来。

更有意思的是，癸酉本自己的情节反而是“屈从”。工作本与第三稿本的第一〇二回，妙玉被劫后“日日接客”；2017 年版前言也把“妙玉瓜洲渡口屈从”列为脂批所伏、已得印证的场景。不过，本文所列 2016 年博文对这句另有解释：它把“能不屈从”读作本可避免、却没有避免的一种可能，访客劝过，她没有听，并以此接上后文妙玉的遭遇。所以在来源自己的解释里，字面的“不屈从”与情节里的屈从并不相悖。本项目取了这一读的字序，没有取它的解释，也没有取它的情节。

本项目写妙玉不受辱，理由不在这条批怎么读，而在判准：曹雪芹写金陵十二钗，连秦可卿在内，都不往淫上引，性羞辱不是他的写法（第 6 节）。“不屈从”这一读，只是让残批与这一判断相容。

句读既是借来的，就照借来的写。若撤去这条文字作为早期异文见证的资格，本项目仍注明这一句读取自癸酉本一系，只是不再用它证明曹稿的结局。妙玉不受辱的情节不受影响，因为它本来出自判准；受影响的，只是 41.14 “不屈从”一层算不算兑现。依周汝昌、戴不凡的读法，复原本不满足这一层，专题一甲24 已经写明：“依别的读法，复原本不满足此批。”凭借来的句读说这一层兑现，论证上只算判准择读，不作脂批的直证；总篇所谓“降一格”，降的就是这一层。

8 不取什么

剔的远多于采。第九十三回整回不取，第九十二回只取了黛玉见流萤一核；第九十七、一〇〇、一〇七回没有取用（回次照癸酉本）。按理由，剔除的内容大致归为六类（附录四）。

最多的是天下大乱的一类，流寇洗劫大观园、县衙被占、人物成批死去，约六十项。其次是悼明与涉政，戎羌、玉户岛、元春凌迟与“勾结戎羌”的罪名、陈也俊三诗、诔文后半的明末人物组诗、“誓灭胡虏”、新朝，约四十项。再次是人物之声或遭遇与前八十回所立不合的，黛玉打死小红、宝钗谋杀坠儿、鸳鸯诅咒贾家、宝玉写信讨妙玉芳心，约三十项。神怪一类，通灵玉自逃、凤姐鬼魂复仇、太虚销号归位，约二十项。与前八十回或癸酉本自身前后不接的，约十项，例如戏子回园向袭人算账，与前八十回第七十七回“蕊官藕官二人跟了地藏庵的圆心”（工作本作“圆信”）所写的去向不接，须补出回园的缘由。架构一类最少，一〇八回、一〇八人情榜、男子入榜、“情僧”，约六项。这几类之外，还有一条判准横贯其中：性羞辱不是曹雪芹的写法（第 6 节）。妙玉沦落风尘至老、众丫鬟被奸杀、宝钗与雨村私会、蒋玉菡与娈童厮混而负袭人，分在不同的类里，也都与这条判准相违。项数只是大约，另有约八十项属情节取舍，未归类。

这张清单比采择清单长得多，意思也在这里：本项目借癸酉本，更多是借它当反面。它把后半部写成了天下大乱、多数人惨死；本项目要回答的，正是人在如常的世道里，怎样走到各自的结局。

9 若癸酉本出于今人

总篇原把本文定为“与伪托说的正面对话”。照作者后来的裁定，本文不辨真伪，所以这场对话只回答伪托说对本项目用材方式与论证资格的影响：若伪托说成立，本项目有哪些东西要变。

本节按最不利于本项目的条件处理：不把癸酉本当作任何曹稿的独立见证，本文所借的内容，一律当作今人续写或整理的文字。今人写作也可能接触旧材料，现代成书本身不等于必无旧源；本节不靠这一层。在这一条件下，分四问作答。

第一问，文学上的选择能不能留。能。主干有独立依据的十四项，与项目自有来路的七项，本来不靠癸酉本；只来自癸酉本的三十三项，本来就是写作选择。第 5.1 节“合于前八十回人物性格的内容值得借鉴”那条判断，此时退为一条文学标准：合于人物性格的写法，不论出自谁手，都可以借。妙玉不受辱一节也不变，它出自判准（第 7.5 节）。

第二问，原先作旁证的资格撤不撤。撤。写作中凡把两本同有的情节当作底稿旁证的，一律撤去。第四十一回的句读，不再作早期异文的见证。

第三问，来路与字句的披露要不要改。乙类的来路，改注为“借自今人续书”；甲类标“＊”的各项，借来的那一层同此。同文与近同的十七项，回目与情榜名号字少，注明来源即可；正文近同的句子，以改拟为宜。这些披露现在就做，不等伪托成立（第 7.4 节）。#70 是本项目自撰的书外批语，直举“癸酉”之名，须改拟或加注。

第四问，总篇哪里实际用过这一旁证。只有 4.6 节第四十一回的句读一处，总篇已把它归入丙级（判准择读）；撤去之后，受影响的只是 41.14 “不屈从”一层算不算兑现，复原本的情节不动。总篇其余说到癸酉本的地方，都只当作候选线索，须回前八十回与脂批复核。采信纪律的十条不变，其中第 4、5、6、7 条把关于作者的前提改述之后，照样可用（第 6 节）。剔除的清单不变。总篇的主论点与方法也不变，因为总篇 1.4 节早已把癸酉本之说列为非承重。

所以结论只有一句：本项目用癸酉本的方式，不以它的真伪为前提。这是本文对伪托说的回应。本文不据此说伪托说错，也不据此说本项目的读法对。

反过来也要说一句。若癸酉本真承自曹雪芹的某一版底稿，本项目也不会因此多得什么，因为凡要作论据的，本来就只认前八十回与脂批。经本篇复核，癸酉本在本项目里的位置，限定为一个提示者，一面反面的镜子，和一个写作素材的来源。

10 结语

本文只主张一件事：本项目用癸酉本，有纪律，有登记，不以它的真伪为前提。其余都是照述。

照述的结果，有几处对本项目不利，本文都写了。从癸酉本真正借来的，大半是写作上的东西，能用前八十回与脂批独立撑住的是少数。回目、情榜名号与少数字句，与癸酉本同文或近同。第四十一回的句读是借来的。本项目持“底稿再创作”之读的缘由，恰是本项目在复原中没有照走的那一层。这些都不改变总篇的主论点，因为总篇从一开始就没有把癸酉本放在承重的位置上；但它们应当让读者知道。

书有层累，稿有多版。在本项目的读法里，癸酉本是某一版底稿之上的再创作；不取这一读法，它也已是这部书流传与接受中的一种文本。它出于哪一年、哪一人之手，本文不判。本项目读过它，借过它，更多时候是与它相反而行。这一层，本文照实记下。

附录一　癸酉本第八十一至一百八回回目对照

四种本子：2008 网帖本（2008-10-13 新浪博客回目帖）、九州本（金俊俊、何玄鹤《〈癸酉本石头记〉后28回》，九州出版社，2014）、第三稿本（2017 年版网友数字化本）、工作本（项目实际用过的 108 回本）。 第三稿本一栏全录；其余三栏凡与第三稿本相同的写"同"，不同的写出全文。工作本的繁体字（風、強、劉等）按简体计，不算异文。 末栏只在复原本某回回目与此同文、近同，或共用出自脂批的字句时填写；复原本回目据说明 6 所据之稿。

回	2008 网帖本	九州本（2014）	第三稿本（2017）	工作本	与复原本回目的关系
81	避祸念旧凭带为媒　承辱怀怨以身试墙	同	惜昵近公子做良媒　讳笞罚丫鬟结恶党	同
82	贾宝玉佯捧万章经，林黛玉闷作十独吟	同	王熙凤病求千翼方　林黛玉闷作十独吟	同	复原本 82 上句"贾宝玉佯捧万章篇"与 2008 网帖本此回上句前七字同（"经"作"篇"）。工作本此回正文有宝玉当着贾政高声朗读《孟子·万章》、父去即掷书一段
83	同	同	史太君临终念子孙　王夫人膏肓托儿女	暮年哀聊发白头吟　金萱悲情洒儿女泪
84	薛宝钗弥望雾烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望雾烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望金玉缘　史湘云喜得如意郎	薛宝钗弥望霭烟缘　史湘云喜得如意郎
85	同	同	痴王孙传信牵奇缘　惭妙尼避情乘游槎	同
86	同	同	挑正庶风月断佳偶　祭祖祠清明泣远嫁	同
87	同	同	花柳质命断无情兽　绣户女自绝美韶华	同
88	同	同	邢夫人执意寻舛错　王熙凤聪明误此生	同
89	同	同	有情人欣遇赏心事　不良妾专煞良辰景	同
90	同	林黛玉嬉春待好姻　贾元春托梦警天伦	林黛玉嬉春待好音　贾元春托梦警天伦	同	复原本 89 下句"警天伦元春诉幽梦"与此下句共"警天伦"三字，同写元春托梦
91	同	同	锦衣卫查抄荣宁府　御林军戒严大观园	同	复原本 91 上句"锦衣军查抄宁荣府"与此上句近同（"卫"作"军"，"荣宁"作"宁荣"）；程高本第一〇五回上句"锦衣军查抄宁国府"与复原本只异一字；作者说明两支都借鉴了
92	同	同	家宅乱恶子通强梁　世道艰道人连流寇	同
93	大厦倾公府逐末路　权势败豪门沦草芥	同	山雨近阊阖笼霭晦　风云喧末世漫尘烟	同
94	同	同	骨肉泯良女落风尘　贵贱失恶奴劫浮财	同
95	醉金刚风雨行侠义　痴丫鬟危难献忠贞	醉金刚风雨行侠义　痴丫鬟危难献忠贞	水月庵龄官挞贾蔷　嶽神庙茜雪慰宝玉	同	复原本 93 上句"烈茜雪带冤慰旧主"、94 上句"众义士计赚狱神庙"，与第三稿本、工作本此回下句共用脂批"狱神庙慰宝玉"（第二十回庚辰眉批）的字眼；复原本作"狱"，癸酉作"嶽"
96	同	同	贾宝玉参无知无识　花袭人信有始有终	同	复原本 106 下句"花袭人信有始有终"与此下句同文（"花袭人有始有终"出第二十回庚辰眉批，"信"字取自癸酉）；上句"贾宝玉参无执无著"与此上句异二字
97	狗彘盗逞凶侵芳园　绛珠仙泪尽抛全生	同	鸳鸯女谮语泄天机　绛珠仙泪尽抛全生	同	复原本 95 上句"绛珠仙泪尽完夙债"与此下句前五字同
98	同	同	系新绦嗟慰失意人　拾旧帕悲悼寂寞骨	同
99	同	同	林黛玉还魂证前缘　贾宝玉展裘触旧情	同
100	同	同	邢岫烟魂断大庾岭　赵姨娘命丧平安州	同
101	同	同	呆霸王惹祸牵旧案　悍妒妇作歹设新谋	同
102	同	同	冷惜春甘伴青灯佛　洁妙玉泥陷瓜洲渡	同	复原本 100 下句"成窑钟瓜洲赎玉人"与此下句同用"瓜洲"，都写妙玉，都承靖本第四十一回眉批“瓜州渡口”一语
103	同	刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐两哭大观园	刘姥姥三进荣国府　贾巧姐二哭大观园	同	复原本 101 回目与此全联同文（与九州本异"二""两"一字）
104	同	同	毒中毒薛姨妈添病　计上计夏金桂焚身	同
105	同	同	薛宝钗借词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄	薛宝钗藉词含讽谏　王熙凤知命强英雄	复原本 90 回目与此同文（与工作本异"借""藉"一字）。两家都出自第二十一回蒙府回前批（21.3），不是借自癸酉
106	同	同	孤倔王孙悬崖撒手　凄惶红袖秋千传情	同
107	同	同	史湘云诉前尘旧梦　贾宝玉淡后事今生	同
108	情不情僧遭逢穷途　幻之幻境展演情榜	同	情不情僧遭逢穷途　幻中幻境展演情榜	同	复原本 110 上句"情不情居士梦情榜"与此回目共"情不情""情榜"二语，二语都见于脂批

核对记

1. 复原本 81 至 110 回三十条回目逐条与上表四本对过。与癸酉回目有关的共十一回：同文两回（101 全联同癸酉 103；90 全联同癸酉 105，两家同出脂批）；一联同文一回（106 下句同癸酉 96）；近同两回（82 上句近 2008 网帖本 82；91 上句近癸酉 91，又近程高本 105，两支都借鉴）；共三字以上两回（89"警天伦"；95"绛珠仙泪尽"，后者五字都有前八十回与脂批的来路，不计入采择，见第 7.4 节）；共用脂批字眼四回（93、94 对癸酉 95；100 对癸酉 102；110 对癸酉 108）。其余十九回（81、83—88、92、96—99、102—105、107—109）无关。
2. 以下几处相近但不计入：复原本 86 上句"懦迎春命断中山狼"与癸酉 87 上句"花柳质命断无情兽"同用"命断"，各取判词、曲文字眼；复原本 84 下句"鸳鸯女终全鸳鸯誓"与癸酉 97 上句同起"鸳鸯女"，二者都承第四十六回回目"鸳鸯女誓绝鸳鸯偶"；复原本 83 上句"史太君含笑嘱心肝"与第三稿本 83 上句只同人名；复原本 86 下句"执邢氏查账翻旧恶"与癸酉 88 上句同写邢夫人、同用"执"字。

附录二　癸酉本第八十一至一百八回逐回比对（简表）

据工作本逐回与现行稿比对。“采”栏列附录三的编号、所取之事与现行稿回次；“不取”栏择要，理由分类见附录四。回目简称据工作本，回次为工作本回次。

癸酉回	采（附录三编号 → 现行稿回）	不取（择要）
81 良媒恶党	#1 放人、袭人嫁、留麝月→81；#2 凭带为媒→81；#3 “安心读书”说辞→81	戏子算账、司棋严罚结党、潘又安结贼党、宝玉赴孙家评理
82 千翼十独	#4 回目上句（据 2008 网帖本）→82；#5 议婚双向→82；#6 劝读扳为《庄子》→82；#7 下人揩油·糟参→82；#8 宝玉义愤香菱→82；#9 凤姐之病→82；#21 两家祖母旧谊→85	贾政属意妙玉、私塾结党群戏、十独吟置于82回、拒薛蟠习弓箭、小鹊小吉祥装读书
83 白头吟	#10 贾母病笃→83；#11 琥珀静传→83；#12 吊唁者少→83；#13 贾母自责家衰→83；#14 厨役诉苦（背景）→83；#15 贾母见贾兰→83	通灵玉自飞与送玉、王夫人落湖（死在84）、鸳鸯诅咒贾家、贾芹薛蟠招匪段、芳官投地藏庵、观音土与殣尸
84 霭烟缘	#16 变卖家产→83；#17 薛家四拍→84；#18 岫烟薛蝌婚一笔→84；#19 宝钗探薛蝌（改结论）→84	戎羌入侵、薛家"施计"字面、王夫人病死与送玉、促狭鬼、宝玉赴考与八股、张半仙金玉论、鸳鸯"死绝活该"、卫若兰"食戎羌血"
85 传信乘槎	#20 配妙玉换作贾环→85；#22 黛妙琴会、《猗兰操》→85	配妙玉为妻黛玉为妾、妙玉破坏婚事、妙玉占卜、走火入魔层、"乘游槎"槎字、宝玉写信求妙玉、元春上战场、探春议嫁戚公子、遭贼与钱槐接赃、邢夫人夺权、六安道士
86 泣远嫁	#23 清明辞祠、认义女→85；#24 赵姨娘告状、吴新登→86；#25 “拿一个作筏子”→86；#26 探春愤言之核→85	戚公子断佳偶、通灵玉失窃、海疆大败与末世、探春檄文悼明尾
87 绣户女	#27 紫菱洲两问→87；#28 惜春旧画→101；#66 靛儿归惜春→99	孙家升迁超贾家、惜春一步出家、贾政亲查赖大来升、流民盯门河决、宝钗附一体
88 聪明误	#29 平儿探凤姐（去小红）→88；#30 凤姐为府财政之辩→90；#31 平儿扶正→90；#32 忘可卿之托→105；#38 张华、尤二姐旧案→86、87	报官入狱狱中自缢、赵姨娘怒而离家、马道婆亲戚提亲、宝玉折桃花闯馆、元春带兵凌迟、可卿接引情榜销号、凤姐被下人打、贾政真查抄俞禄
89 不良妾	#35 马道婆案发→88；#36 元春来信（反用）→92	岫烟薛蝌贩私盐、元春催婚望功名、"大盗势飙"乱世框、众贺宝二奶奶、宝玉折桃花、赵姨娘贾环出走、百个宝玉人头落地、平儿已扶正
90 警天伦	#33 回目“警天伦”→89	元春凌迟死法、谐音谶语、"忠骨焕烟霞"回前批、玉预知大祸而藏、尤氏猜玉飞甄家、"嬉"字、元春送贺礼、卫若兰来贺
91 锦衣查抄	#37 贾琏罪状→88、90、92；#39 回目“锦衣”→91；#40 袭人知恩图报→94	"勾结戎羌"罪名、黛玉贾政骂雨村、焦大撞柱死、黛玉当家持家、御林军戒严、贾琏押走处死、薛家逃紫檀堡、西平北静主审、毛皮细目
92 通强梁	#41 黛玉见流萤→93	县衙被占流寇进宫、洗劫大观园、贾环领流寇洗劫、茗烟卍儿周瑞家死、钱槐杀李嬷嬷、薛蟠柳湘莲为盗、众丫鬟被奸杀、黛玉"最尊贵是人"演说、贾政死于92（复原迁98）
93 山雨末世	——	葬贾政与连环洗劫、玉钏等投流寇、黛玉寻御敌之法、李后主之叹、梦嶽神庙剜宝玉心、"嶽"字、黛玉政论之形、议事厅训话
94 落风尘	#42 黛玉续帕第四绝→94；#43 救援选角→92、94；#54 王仁卖巧姐入瓜洲红香院→99、100	平儿在嶽神庙被杀、蓉蔷"救"巧姐、多姑娘投流寇、嫣红彩云被刺、钱槐求娶黛玉、官军援救、黛玉当家瞎指挥、鸳鸯拉帮结派、火器枪弹
95 茜雪慰	#45 银姐性烈、卜世仁鬻女→107、108；#46 龄官挞贾蔷（改意）→99	茜雪被钱槐捅死、黛玉题悼明长诗、李后主"万顷波中"、"想家乡父母"、贾环逼写"贱狗"、卜世仁喊破救援、柳湘莲拚死救友、圆信死十二官投寇、薛家山上接应
96 有始有终	#44 诈死之讯→94；#49 回目下句“信”字→106	黛玉活着等候诸事、茜雪尸前演说、夏金桂苦肉计说、薛蝌跑岫烟发配、冯紫英无药而死、宝玉驾船度海神火、莺儿装失惊、薛家住紫檀堡
97 泪尽	——	鸳鸯谮语整线、掉包计、黛玉打死小红、贾芸自刎、小红击溃流寇、贾菖贾菱下虎狼药、"抛家弃国"绝笔诗、可卿接引销号、"万一烧毁"焚稿念
98 拾旧帕	#50 诔文前半→107	诔文后半明末人物组诗、宝钗为反间计主谋、系新绦、紫鹃疯死、卫若兰射杀钱槐、宝钗仿玉、荣禧堂宴封职、流寇互攻与闹鬼、鹦鹉诵葬花吟、宝玉信黛玉投井
99 还魂展裘	#34 雀金裘→88、96	黛玉还魂现身、葬黛玉于贾氏祖茔、宝玉宝钗成婚圆房、新帝登基天下太平、李纨母子山中隐居、说书人悼明、薛蝌跑岫烟充军、宝钗照顾废墟宝玉
100 大庾岭	——	流放南路群死、"誓灭胡虏还我河山"、赵姨娘贾环流寇线、宝钗连环陷害、宝钗逼坠儿偷镯、宝玉被锁读书、宝琴不再嫁、雨村攻宫谋新朝官、新朝告示、金桂闹休
101 惹祸旧案	#48 宁古塔之名→92；#51 湘云悼黛玉→106	冷子兴趸货、戎羌清旧朝官抄卫家、哭坟地点、小鹊江南给食、宝琴守节子死、薛姨妈逼宝琴嫁、金桂新谋放火、李纹李绮发配、李婶漂泊
102 瓜洲渡	#52 妙玉梦黛玉论洁→105；#53 蒋玉菡戏词答妻→106；#55 陈也俊求妙玉被拒→99；#56 妙玉陷瓜洲（改苦役）→99	宝钗散房与蓉蔷、柳湘莲倪二住贾府、妙玉沦风尘至老、《江东行》三诗、妙玉梦宝玉劝联姻、惜春行脚求长生果、刘姥姥走开、蒋玉菡负袭人娈童、"往常熟"地名、"天下大乱"三说
103 三进二哭	#57 刘姥姥救巧姐→100；#58 巧姐二哭择走→101；#59 惜春园图随刘姥姥去→101；#60 回目全联→101	宝玉蒋玉菡线、蒋玉菡弃袭人、"都是强盗的天下"、村民劫富绿林底色、宝钗宝玉住紫檀堡、薛姨妈劝合
104 毒中毒	#65 雨村贿北静王（翻为退礼）→108；#72 金桂毒计（取程高本）→95	毒宝钗嫁祸薛姨妈、薛姨妈被毒死、宝蟾放火扼死敖小白、北静王降戎羌、雨村遇乞僧甄宝玉、题帕藏树洞、十独吟秦淮名妓名单、孟母断织劝学、金桂焚身
105 讽谏英雄	#61 凤姐“我来迟了”→101	太虚销号结怨司、凤姐魂逃变乞丐、通灵玉雪中人言、祠堂骂戎羌、缢鸳鸯杀王仁等、欲杀新帝天兵擒、宝玉拒为戎羌应试、宝钗"世人死绝"、雨村折收粮米、湖中三尸疑案、新朝政论回末批
106 悬崖撒手	#62 玻璃绣球灯→107；#63 金荣报仇→98；#64 二丫头→104	宝玉剃度为僧、宝玉流浪偷盗归农、黛玉坟被迁、雪雁乞丐病亡、宝钗雨村私会、娇杏谋画生子贾桂、宝钗诗词与《游子行》
107 前尘旧梦	——	宝玉流浪至暮年、"白骨堆满大地"、石头诗吟月诗、湘云乞丐江畔死、双乞丐相依、宝钗雨村情投意合、宝钗升正妻、兰菌中举立边功、李纨贞节牌坊
108 展演情榜	#67 情榜名号→110；#68 惜春情冷改情慧→110；#69 凤姐考语→110；#71 宝钗雪里死→108	宝玉投海自尽、湘云江畔病死、太虚108人销号、警幻悼明之论、108人一大榜、男女混列、悼明框考语、李纨牌坊倏忽死、兰桂齐芳、雨村病亡、宝钗生贾桂、"情僧"之号

说明

1. 第九十三、九十七、一〇〇、一〇七回，现行稿没有从中取用；第九十九回只有雀金裘一项，属同位。第九十七回黛玉之死，两本都写泪尽，死法与场面不同。
2. 附录三 #47 多浑虫酒痨死，出工作本第六十四回，属前八十回部分；#70 大知批语是本项目自撰。两项不入本表。
3. 第八十三回王夫人落湖、第八十四回命绝，是工作本；第三稿本死在第八十三回。

附录三　采择清单全表

说明

1. 本表逐项列出现行稿中与癸酉本有关的地方，共七十二项，编号为本文所定，一项一行。其中第 101 回回目、凤姐考语、大知批语三项（#60、#69、#70）是本文比对补出的；#72 取的是程高本。
2. “癸酉位”指工作本中的回次；“现行稿位”指说明 6 所据之稿中的回次，注“部分”的只取了一部分，注“待核”的无从确定。“用法”：借，取其事、骨架或细节；改，取其事而改其对象、结局或结论；翻，取其形，换其义；扳，两本同有而有偏，扳回前八十回；反用，取其反面；同位，两本同有，项目自有来路；字句，回目、名号或正文字句同文近同；他本，取程高本；自撰，本项目自写。
3. “独立依据”只取前八十回正文（含判词、曲文）与脂批。前八十回写回次，据项目底本；脂批写批号（回.序），据专题一审计数据 v0.4，有审计号的一并注出。「」内均逐字照录，皆可在底本或审计数据中检得。认定从严：须是对后事的预示，或是此事直接承接的前因，并与本项的人、事、物至少两样相合；只提供人物、物件出处，或只是性格、气氛相近的，记“旁及”或“无”。一项分几层的，按主干定类：主干只来自癸酉本的记乙，另有依据的层次在本栏注明；主干有依据、附带一层借自癸酉本的记甲，类后加“＊”（#1、#2、#23），借来的那一层在本栏注明。引靖本之批（24.3、41.14）标“靖”，照专题一的分级记作参级。
4. “类”：甲，主干有独立依据，直指此事，癸酉只作旁证或提示；乙，无独立依据或只能旁及，主干只来自癸酉；丙，字句层同文或近同，回目、情榜名号之外，现行稿保留工作本近同句子的正文项也归此类，筛查门槛与取用记录见附二，一项既有情节之依据又有字句近同时归丙；同，两本同有而项目自有来路，或取自他本，并非从癸酉借来；注，本项目自撰的书外批语，评论癸酉本，不是从它取来的内容（#70）。类只是摘要标签，不替代各栏：有独立依据的，也可能实际借过；字句近同，也不单独证明传播的方向。

#	项	癸酉位（工作本回次）	现行稿位	用法	独立依据	类	若癸酉出于今人
1	放人·袭人嫁·留麝月	81	81	借	20.45（甲22）「故袭人出嫁后云“好歹留着麝月”一语」；28.1（甲23）「后回与袭人供奉玉兄宝卿得同终始者」；放人一层无，借自癸酉	甲＊	主干不变；放人一层来路改注
2	凭带为媒	81（回目“做良媒”）	81	改	28.1（甲23）「茜香罗、红麝串写于一回」，批明琪官后与袭人同终始；宝玉亲为作合一层无，借自 2008 年回目帖	甲＊	主干不变；作合一层来路改注
3	放人说辞“安心读书”	81	81（部分）	借	无	乙	来路改注
4	第82回回目上句“佯捧万章”	2008 网帖本 82 回目；工作本 82 正文有佯读一节	82	字句	无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（前七字同 2008 网帖本回目）
5	议婚双向（王钗、政黛）	82（王属黛、政属妙玉）	82	改	旁及：第28回节礼「你的同宝姑娘的一样」，属钗一方有迹；政属黛无	乙	来路改注
6	黛玉劝读《庄子》	82	82	扳	旁及：第21回黛玉题诗讥宝玉续《庄子》；劝读无	乙	来路改注（程高 82 一支仍在）
7	下人揩油·糟参	82	82	借	糟参一层：第77回王夫人寻参，「如今这个虽未成灰，然已成了朽糟烂木」（承接）；揩油一层无	乙	来路改注（糟参一层不变）
8	宝玉义愤香菱	81–82	82	改	第79回「我听这话不知怎么倒替你耽心虑后呢」；79.23「又为香菱之谶」（专题一移专题五）	甲	不变
9	凤姐之病	82	82	同位	第72回「这可不成了血山崩了」	同	不变
10	贾母病笃一段	83	83	字句	旁及：44.2「所谓“盛筵难再”」（专题一兑现位含 83）；喂粥、诊脉、自知不起诸节无	丙	须注明来路或改拟
11	琥珀静传	83	83	同位	无	同	不变（作者说明未直接参考癸酉本）
12	吊唁者少	83	83	借	旁及：第74回探春论甄家「咱们也渐渐的来了」，梯次有据；吊唁冷清一笔无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（梯次一层不变）
13	贾母自责家衰·钓竿折	83	83	借	旁及：第2回冷子兴「如今的儿孙，竟一代不如一代了」（说者非贾母）；钓竿无	丙	须注明来路或改拟
14	厨役诉苦（蝗、粮贵）	83	83	借	旁及：第53回乌进孝报年成不好、庄上旱涝；蝗、厨役无	乙	来路改注
15	贾母见重孙贾兰	83	83	借	无	乙	来路改注
16	变卖家产办丧事	84	83	借	旁及：第72回贾琏向鸳鸯借当（典当周转之前例）；丧事变卖无	丙	须注明来路或改拟
17	薛家四拍	84	84	借	旁及：第34回薛蟠「你这金要拣有玉的才可正配」气哭宝钗（同型前例）	丙	须注明来路或改拟
18	岫烟薛蝌婚一笔	84	84	借	第57回「如今却出人意料之外奇缘作成这门亲事」	甲	不变
19	宝钗探薛蝌劝功名	84	84	改	无（宝钗劝学属性格，不计）	乙	来路改注
20	配妙玉换作贾环	85（82 起意）	85	改	无	乙	来路改注
21	贾母与妙玉祖母的旧谊	82（两家祖母知交）	85	改	茶一层：第41回「我不吃六安茶」「知道。这是老君眉」；两家祖母旧谊一层无	乙	来路改注（限旧谊一层，作者确认取自工作本第82回；茶一层不变）
22	黛妙琴会·《猗兰操》	85	85	同位	旁及：第76回妙玉续黛湘联句；琴会、琴曲无	同	不变（程高本一支仍在）
23	辞祠清明·风筝·认义女	86	85	借	判词「清明涕送江边望，千里东风一梦遥」；22.103「此探春远适之谶也」；辞祠仪式与认义女两层借自癸酉（第71回南安太妃要见贾家姊妹，贾母只叫探春陪着，旁及）	甲＊	主干不变；辞祠、认义女两层来路改注
24	赵姨娘告状扳机；吴新登	85–87	86	借	吴新登：8.21「妙！盖云无星戥也」；盖园子：第16回「里头大有藏掖的」；赵姨娘作扳机：无	乙	来路改注（限赵姨娘作扳机一层）
25	邢夫人“作筏子”	86	86	改	旁及：第71回邢夫人「当着许多人陪笑和凤姐求情」（借事发难之前例）	乙	来路改注
26	探春愤慨之核	86	85（待核）	借	旁及：第74回探春「必须先从家里自杀自灭起来，才能一败涂地」（先见之论，非远嫁时事）	乙	来路改注（若辞网歌确承此核）
27	紫菱洲两问	87	87	改	旁及：第79回「因此天天到紫菱洲一带地方徘徊瞻顾」（同型前例）；迎春之死有判词「一载赴黄粱」	乙	来路改注
28	惜春旧画（迎春幼像）	87	101	借	旁及：第42回惜春奉命画园子；迎春幼像无	乙	来路改注
29	平儿探凤姐	88（平儿、小红同往）	88	改	旁及：16.60「又伏下多少后文」（所指推定）	乙	来路改注
30	凤姐为府财政之辩	88	90	借	旁及：第55回凤姐「若不趁早儿料理省俭之计，再几年就都赔尽了」	丙	须注明来路或改拟
31	平儿扶正	88	90	借	第44回「他死了，你倒是把平儿扶了正」	甲	不变
32	凤姐忘可卿之托	88	105	借	13.89（甲20）「其事虽未行，其言其意则令人悲切感服」	甲	不变
33	回目“警天伦”	90（回目）	89	字句	《恨无常》「故向爹娘梦里相寻告」「天伦呵，须要退步抽身早」；“警天伦”三字连用无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（托梦之事有曲文为据）
34	雀金裘	99	88、96	同位	旁及：第52回晴雯病补雀金裘（物同事异）	同	不变
35	马道婆案发	89	88	改	第25回魇魔本事（案发的直接前因）；程高本第81回亦写案发；账册一层无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（事有前八十回与程高来路；“象牙刻的男女魔王”八字须改拟）
36	宝玉梦元春	89（元春来信）	92（部分）	反用	旁及：《恨无常》「故向爹娘梦里相寻告」（所告为爹娘）	乙	来路改注
37	贾琏罪状	91（88 已及）	88、90、92	借	第68回凤姐「国孝一层罪，家孝一层罪」	甲	不变
38	张华、尤二姐旧案	88	86、87	借	第69回「或日后再寻出这由头来翻案」	甲	不变
39	锦衣军（回目与名物）	91（回目）	91	字句	旁及：抄没有 27.81（甲16）；“锦衣”官名无	丙	须注明来路（两支）；回目上句另借程高本第105回“锦衣军查抄宁国府”（作者说明），这一支不受影响
40	袭人知恩图报	91（95–96 续）	94	借	28.1（甲23）「后回与袭人供奉玉兄宝卿得同终始者」	甲	不变
41	黛玉见流萤	92	93	改	无	乙	来路改注
42	黛玉续帕第四绝	94	94	改	旁及：第34回题帕三绝（物之所本）；续题无	乙	来路改注
43	救援选角（倪二等）	94–96	92、94	同位	24.3（靖）「“醉金刚”一回文字，伏芸哥仗义探庵」；第24回「明儿一早到马贩子王短腿家」	同	不变
44	诈死之讯	96	94	同位	旁及：第57回紫鹃假说黛玉回苏州（假讯之前例）	同	不变（作者说明未直接参考癸酉本）
45	银姐性烈·卜世仁鬻女	95	107、108	借	旁及：第24回卜世仁吝啬，银姐只现一名；性烈、鬻女无	乙	来路改注
46	龄官挞贾蔷	95（回目）	99	改	旁及：第30回划蔷、第36回龄官贾蔷一段；挞无	乙	来路改注
47	多浑虫酒痨死	64（工作本前八十回部分）	98	借	旁及：第21回「多浑虫醉昏在炕」；死因无	乙	来路改注（此句不在项目底本）
48	宁古塔	101（另 50 回批语）	92	借	无	乙	来路改注
49	回目“花袭人信有始有终”	96（回目）	106	字句	20.20（甲09·甲10·甲11）「袭人正文标目曰“花袭人有始有终”」；“信”字与上句无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（“花袭人有始有终”七字有脂批）
50	诔文前半→《潇湘哀辞》	98	107	借	79.5「又当知虽晴雯而又实诔黛玉也」	甲	不变
51	湘云悼黛玉	101	106	借	旁及：第38回菊花诗、第76回凹晶馆联句（湘黛相知之所本）；悼无	乙	来路改注
52	妙玉梦黛玉论洁	102（梦宝玉）	105	翻	旁及：判词「欲洁何曾洁」、曲「过洁世同嫌」（论洁之题）；梦无	乙	来路改注
53	蒋玉菡戏词答妻	102	106	翻	无	乙	来路改注
54	巧姐入瓜洲红香院	94（102–103 续）	99、100	借	旁及：《留余庆》「爱银钱忘骨肉的狠舅奸兄」，卖者有据；瓜洲、红香院无	丙	须注明来路或改拟
55	陈也俊追妙玉被拒	102	99	改	无（项目底本前八十回无此名）	乙	来路改注
56	妙玉陷瓜洲（苦役，不受辱）	102	99	改	41.14（甲24，靖）「他日瓜州渡口」；判词「可怜金玉质，终陷淖泥中」；不受辱的情节出自本项目判准；“不屈从”一读借自癸酉本一系	乙	特殊：情节不变（出自判准）；“不屈从”一读仍注明取自癸酉本一系，不作早期见证；依周、戴读法，41.14 此层不算兑现
57	刘姥姥救巧姐	103	100	改	判词「偶因济刘氏，巧得遇恩人」；6.10（甲02，所指推定）「略有些瓜葛，是数十回后之正脉也」	甲	不变
58	巧姐二哭·主动择走	103	101	翻	旁及：6.1「且伏“二进”“三进”及巧姐之归着」；二哭无	乙	来路改注
59	惜春园图随刘姥姥去	103	101	借	第40回刘姥姥「怎么得有人也照着这个园子画一张，我带了家去」	甲	不变
60	第101回回目	103（回目）	101	字句	6.1「且伏“二进”“三进”及巧姐之归着」，上句“三进”有据；下句无	丙	须注明来路或改拟
61	凤姐鬼魂→托梦巧姐	105	101	翻	旁及：《留余庆》「幸娘亲，幸娘亲，积得阴功」；托梦无	乙	来路改注
62	玻璃绣球灯	106	107	借	旁及：第45回黛玉以玻璃绣球灯递与宝玉（物之所本）；珍存转交无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（一句同文）
63	金荣报仇	106	98	借	旁及：第9、10回金荣闹学结怨；报仇无	乙	来路改注
64	二丫头	106	104	借	旁及：第15回二丫头纺线；15.35「又伏下一段后文」（专题一记前八十回内已应）	乙	来路改注（限重逢、赠芋一层；以二丫头为“仁者爱人”之实，是本项目的构思）
65	雨村贿北静王→退礼	104（105、107 续及）	108	翻	无	乙	来路改注
66	靛儿为惜春丫鬟	87	99	借	旁及：第30回靛儿只称“小丫头”，未言归属	乙	来路改注
67	情榜名号	108	110	字句	18.19（甲06）「至回末警幻情榜方知正、副、再副及三四副芳讳」；19.80（甲08）「后观《情榜》评曰“宝玉情不情”，“黛玉情情”」；其余“情X”考词无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（情情、情不情与册次不变）
68	惜春“情冷”改“情慧”	108	110	改	旁及：第74回尤氏「可知你是个心冷口冷心狠意狠的人」	丙	须注明来路或改拟
69	凤姐考语	108	110	字句	16.14「真与雨村是一对乱世之奸雄」；“情雄”二字无	丙	须注明来路或改拟（“乱世之雄”有 16.14 为据）
70	大知批语	——	110（书外）	自撰	无	注	特殊：批语直举“癸酉”与程高对仗，须改拟或加注
71	宝钗雪里死·雨村不死	108	108	借；改	宝钗雪里死：判词「玉带林中挂，金簪雪里埋」；雨村不死是本项目翻癸酉“雨村病亡”所定，无依据，非借用	甲	不变
72	金桂毒计取程高版	104（未取其写法）	95	他本	旁及：判词「自从两地生孤木」「致使香魂返故乡」；毒计无	同	不变（取自程高）

附一　统计

• 类：甲 14 项，乙 33 项，丙 17 项，同 7 项，注 1 项，合 72 项。

- 甲：1＊、2＊、8、18、23＊、31、32、37、38、40、50、57、59、71（＊另含借用层）。 - 乙：3、5、6、7、14、15、19、20、21、24、25、26、27、28、29、36、41、42、45、46、47、48、51、52、53、55、56、58、61、63、64、65、66。 - 丙：4、10、12、13、16、17、30、33、35、39、49、54、60、62、67、68、69。 - 同：9、11、22、34、43、44、72。 - 注：70。

• 现行稿：七十二项中，两项只取了一部分（3、36），一项待核（26）。
• 检得的 71 项（除去待核的 26）：

- 注 1 项（#70），不计入借用； - 甲 14 项，主干有独立依据，其中 1、2、23 三项另含借用层； - 同 7 项，并非从癸酉借来，但其中 11、22、34、44、72 在前八十回与脂批中只有旁及或无依据（22、72 另有程高一支；11、44 作者说明未直接参考癸酉本）； - 乙 32 项、丙 17 项，合 49 项，是从癸酉本来的；26 若确承癸酉之核，为 50 项。 - 若癸酉出于今人，乙、丙两类与甲类的借用层，须改注来路或改拟。

附二　核对与分类的说明

（一）工作本的情况

• 36 宝玉梦元春：工作本第八十一至一百八回无宝玉梦见元春一段。所反用的，是第八十九回贾政转述元春来信，并说“娘娘这样疼宝玉，毕竟望他有些实学，日后取得功名”；这一句是贾政的话，不是信文。
• 70 大知批语：本项目自撰的书外批语，评论癸酉本，工作本无此文。类记“注”，不计入借用。
• 4 第八十二回回目上句：工作本第八十二回回目作“王熙凤病求千翼方 林黛玉闷作十独吟”，无“佯捧万章”；只合 2008 网帖本回目“贾宝玉佯捧万章经”，前七字同。同回正文有“在门外就听见宝玉在高声朗读孟子《万章》篇”，贾政走后宝玉“把书一掷”。类按字句记丙。
• 33：“警天伦”在工作本第九十回回目“贾元春托梦警天伦”；第八十九回只有元春来信，午门托梦在第九十回。
• 54：王仁带巧姐到瓜州、卖入红香院，在工作本第九十四回（第三稿本作“瓜洲”“烟香院”）；第一〇二回只写王仁“赶往瓜州渡口的烟花巷”，第一〇三回刘姥姥赎出。
• 47：“后来多浑虫酒痨死了”在工作本第六十四回，属前八十回部分，项目底本第六十四回无此句；工作本第七十七回多浑虫仍在，第九十八回又有“其夫多浑虫亦不知逃往何处去了”。现行稿取酒痨死之说。
• 65：雨村贿赂北静王得官，工作本第一〇四回写成；第一〇五回“雨村托北静王相助升官加职”、第一〇七回“水大人收了银两”续及。
• 29：工作本第八十八回为“平儿小红哭着来牢里探望凤姐”，二人同往；现行稿只写平儿。
• 48：工作本“宁古塔”见第一〇一回（李纹、李绮发配），另第五十回有批“谶语指发配宁古塔一回也”；现行稿用于贾赦、贾琏发配（第 92 回）。
• 22：工作本作“《猗蘭操》”，用繁体“蘭”；工作本繁简混用，检索须兼查两体。

（二）分类拿不准的

• 丙的认定。筛查门槛是连续五字以上相同，或整句只作删改、换序，并除去套语与前八十回已有的语汇；过了门槛的，再以项目工作记录中的取用记录确认。字面相近本身，不定传播的方向。九项逐一列下。“连续共字”不计标点；“前八十回”指该段共字在项目底本正文中有无；“第三稿本”指工作本这几句在第三稿本中有无。

#	工作本（回）	现行稿（回 · 稿次）	连续共字	前八十回	第三稿本	取用记录
10	83：王太医“心气已衰，脉气歇止，止有定数”；贾母“我忖度着自己熬不过今年了”“还不知下一次还过得过不得了”	83 · r54：“如今心气已衰，胃气又弱……止有定数了”；“只怕熬不过今年了”；“还不知下一回，过得过不得了”	四＋四；六；五＋六	无	有	有：贾母病笃一段以工作本为底稿润写
12	83：“故此次来吊唁的官家少了好多”	83 · r54：“那来吊唁的官宦人家，却比往日少了好些”	五	无	有	有：取“吊唁者少”一笔
13	83：“好好的一个家被我弄的益发衰微了”“家境一日不如一日”	83 · r54：“如今好好的一个家，到了我手里，竟一日不如一日了”	六；六（“一日不如一日”系常语）	无	有	有：取贾母自责家衰
16	84：“该当的当，该卖的卖”“菜市口摆开卖了罢”	83 · r54：“该当的当·该卖的卖”；“拉到菜市口摆开卖了”	八；七	无	无	有：自第八十四回移入第八十三回
17	84：“如今人人都传开了要娶的是姓林的，你早没有份了”	84 · r54：“如今外头都传遍了，说宝玉要娶的，是那姓林的病秧子……早没有你的份了”	三（整句删改、换序）	无	有	有：以工作本正文为底
30	88：“外头都说府里金山银山，那知道里头早空竭了”	90 · r54：“外头都传咱们府里金山银山，谁知道里头早空了”	六；六	无	无	有：移入第九十回
35	89：“象牙刻的男女魔王”	88 · r54：同	八	无（程高本第八十一回作“像牙刻的一男一女……两个魔王”）	无	有：取案发，改挂忠顺
54	94：“且说王仁带着巧姐”“潮落月起”“巧姐见状不妙，扎挣道”“又摸了摸下巴”“是个上品货”	99 · r54：“且说王仁带着巧姐”“潮落月起”“巧姐见这般光景，扎挣道”“摸了摸下巴”“是个上品”	八；四；三；五；四	无	有	有：取王仁卖巧姐一线
62	106：“就当又看见他了”	107 · r53：同	七	无	有	有：取玻璃绣球灯

其中 #17 连续共字只有三字，是按“整句只作删改、换序”归丙；#13 的“一日不如一日”是常语，归丙靠的是“好好的一个家”一句与取用记录；#16、#30、#35 三项所比字句只见于工作本，第三稿本无，读者只能凭工作本核。#54 的“巧姐见这般光景，扎挣道”一句，与工作本“巧姐见状不妙，扎挣道”只共“扎挣道”三字，不计；其余四句仍近同。15（工作本“李纨也推贾蘭上去”）近而简短，24（“吴新登管库银账目”，第三稿本第八十八回作“吴新登也被查出有克扣银两”）属叙述语，均仍记乙。第八十三回贾母“你不用虚宽我的心了”一句，第七十七回宝玉已说过“你不必虚宽我的心”，是前八十回语汇，不计。

• 甲与旁及的界线。27、42、46、51、62、63 等项，前八十回有人物或物件的出处，但没有预示后事，记旁及。若只按“人、事、物两样相合”的字面，这几项可以争为甲；本表从严。混合项：1、2、23 三项主干有依据，附带一层借自癸酉，记甲＊；7 的主干（下人揩油）借自癸酉，糟参一层可承第七十七回，记乙。35 所引第二十五回魇魔，是案发的直接前因，35 因字句近同归丙。
• 同的认定。9（第七十二回血山崩在前）、43（第二十四回王短腿、24.3 芸哥探庵）来路清楚。11：作者说明这一笔未直接参考癸酉本；前八十回无依据。22：程高本也有这一支。34：物出第五十二回，用法与工作本第九十九回展裘不同。44：作者说明未直接参考癸酉本；前八十回只有紫鹃假讯一类前例。72：取程高本，未取工作本第一〇四回的写法。
• 56：瓜州、陷泥两层有 41.14（甲24，靖）与判词为据。现行稿写苦役、不受辱，出自本项目判准（第 6、7.5 节）；“不屈从”一读借自癸酉本一系，总篇 4.6 节称“从癸酉本一系的句读”，并记周汝昌、戴不凡两家读作“屈从”。按从严原则记乙；若只论“妙玉陷于瓜州”，可记甲。
• 67：现行稿第一一〇回只检得正、副、又副、三副、四副五册之名，与 18.19（甲06）“正、副、再副及三四副”相合。榜上写出名号与考语的十八人，除青儿外，十七人见于工作本第一〇八回榜，其中十六人的“情X”考词与工作本同文：正册十一（情情、无情、情尊、情敏、情憨、情隐、情懦、情雄、情缘、情槁、孽情），副册以下五（香菱情呆、晴雯情勇、袭人情箴、抱琴情忠、翠墨情豁）；只惜春由“情冷”改“情慧”。妙玉考语“壁立万仞”、惜春考语“冷心冷面”亦与工作本同文；“冷心冷面”第六十六回尤三姐已说过，是前八十回语汇，不作同文的证据。脂批所见只有“情情”“情不情”两词，故 67 归丙。
• 69：现行稿“治世之能，乱世之雄”的句式可有两个来路：工作本第一〇八回“治世之能臣，贪酷之奸雄也”，以及 16.14 称凤姐“乱世之奸雄”。“治世之能臣”出许劭评曹操（《三国志·武帝纪》裴注引孙盛《异同杂语》），句式同文分量很轻；“情雄”二字与工作本同文，故归丙。
• 55：陈也俊之名不见于项目底本。底本第十四回送殡名单作“冯紫英，卫若兰等诸王孙公子”，工作本第十四回作“陈也俊、卫若蘭等诸王孙公子”。通行本此处也有陈也俊之名，待对影印本；就本项目所用的两本而言，此名只见于工作本。
• 21：现行稿第八十五回所写贾母与妙玉祖母的旧谊，与工作本第八十二回“老太太同他祖母亦是知交”相应；六安茶、老君眉一层出第四十一回。作者确认旧谊一层取自工作本第八十二回，记乙。
• 12：“甄家先抄、贾家在后”的梯次结构另有第七十四、七十五回为据；本表按“吊唁冷清”一笔与近同字句归丙。
• 26：辞网歌在现行稿第八十五回，是否承接工作本探春愤慨之言的反家天下之核，无从核，记“待核”。

附录四　癸酉本不取之项分类表

按不取的理由归为六类，每类择要。“项”一栏多为撮述，不是逐字引文。回次为工作本回次。这里记的是本项目不取的写作决定，不涉成书与作者的推断。另有一条判准横贯各类：性羞辱不是曹雪芹的写法（第 6 节）；妙玉沦风尘至老、众丫鬟被奸杀、宝钗与雨村私会、蒋玉菡娈童负袭人诸项，都与之相违。

类	癸酉回	项	理由要点
一 悼明与涉政	83	饥民吃观音土，厨役说“殣尸盈道”“地方官还不肯蠲免租税”	悼明之调；本项目世道不乱
一	84	戎羌入侵	悼明母题
一	85	六安道士背景	悼明影射；只取茶辩与两家祖母旧谊
一	86	探春檄文的散文形式与“义兵四合／王室尽灭”之尾	只取愤慨之言的反家天下之核，去其悼明
一	88	元春带兵御敌、凌迟	悼明
一	90	元春凌迟死法、谐音谶语、“千古尘网·忠骨焕烟霞”回前批	悼明；元春托梦只取劝抽身之核
一	91	“勾结戎羌”罪名	悼明母题坐进罪名；“锦衣”只取名物，统一作“锦衣军”
一	91	焦大撞柱死，夹批“又一个冤死的忠臣”	悼明忠臣之框
一	98	诔文后半的明末人物组诗	重政轻人；前半悼黛之核另取
一	100	“皇帝已死……誓灭胡虏还我河山”	悼明，兼流放群死
一	102	《江东行》三诗	悼明
一	105	通灵玉言天下归戎羌，凤姐祠堂骂戎羌	悼明
一	108	警幻“促助胡虏开国……望新朝延祚久长”之论	悼明；本项目不取悼明，也不取兰桂齐芳
二 散到乱	81	潘又安结贼党谋抢府	家亡内因只取中饱与挪用，盗抢一概不取
二	83	水月庵贾芹招匪、薛蟠引匪、贾环与匪类	同上
二	83	王夫人随贾母而亡（工作本 83 回末落湖，84 回病死）	一回之内连死，散得太快
二	87	孙家升迁超过贾家，流民盯门，河决	硬造乱世
二	89	“外面大盗势飙，乘衅倾朝，主惊臣乱”	本项目世道如常：贾府被抄，世道不乱
二	92	流寇进宫、洗劫大观园、众丫鬟被奸杀掳掠	乱世框；兼违性羞辱之判准
二	93	葬贾政与流寇连环洗劫、众人死	整回乱世
二	94	平儿在嶽神庙被杀，嫣红、彩云被刺	乱局；只取救援选角之核
二	97	小红统家仆击溃流寇，黛玉全节避流寇	乱世框；“若世道乱，罪责就被乱世稀释了”
二	100	流放南路群死	群死
二	101	李纹李绮发配、李婶漂泊	流离群死
二	103	“都是强盗的天下了”，村民劫富济贫	绿林底色；只取乡邻互助之核
二	104	薛姨妈被毒死、宝蟾放火、金桂焚身	惨上加惨；金桂毒计取程高本
三 神怪	83	通灵玉自飞江南，由甄宝玉送回	神怪自主意志；复原本第 96 回，玉在茜雪手里，由茜雪托甄宝玉送回
三	84	促狭鬼、癞僧跛道以玉驱邪、张半仙论金玉	神怪；亡魂只在梦中
三	85	妙玉占卜、走火入魔	神怪
三	88	秦可卿接引凤姐掌“结怨司”、情榜销号	不认可卿为“警幻之妹”；亡魂只在梦中
三	90	通灵玉“事先获知家中将有大祸，故藏在园中”	只取抄家前一回玉有异动，去其神怪
三	93	黛玉梦嶽神庙赵姨娘剜宝玉心	神怪
三	96	宝玉驾船度海、遇村姑、白骨、神火	神怪
三	97	秦可卿接黛玉回太虚、销号	同 88 回
三	99	黛玉还魂现身	亡魂只在梦中
三	105	凤姐魂逃幻境，缢鸳鸯，杀王仁、卜世仁，被天兵擒回	神怪兼悼明；只取“我来迟了”之核，入复原本第 101 回托梦
三	108	太虚 108 人销号，“正合仙家术数”	销号归位随一〇八之数而来（见第五类）
四 违和（人物之声或遭遇）	81	宝玉赴孙家为迎春评理	宝玉无此地位
四	84	鸳鸯“都死绝了也活该”	人物之声与前八十回不合
四	84	卫若兰“只恨不能食戎羌血，餐胡虏肉”	同上，兼涉政
四	85	贾政强配宝玉，以妙玉为妻、黛玉为妾	荒诞，贬损人物
四	85	宝玉写信讨妙玉芳心	与前八十回所立宝玉不合
四	85	邢夫人撵凤姐夺管家权	有王夫人在，邢夫人不会这么做
四	88	凤姐被下人打	这是她的遭遇，不是声口；与前八十回所立的凤姐不合
四	89	岫烟、薛蝌贩私盐，范思言	与前八十回所立二人不合
四	93	黛玉政论、议事厅训话	黛玉前八十回不作政论；反家天下之核改分给探春、宝玉、凤姐
四	97	黛玉听谮，吊打小红至死	把受压者写成互害者，是对人物立场的误读
四	98	卫若兰射杀钱槐	同上
四	100	宝钗逼坠儿偷虾须镯，坠儿后吊死	同上；复原本仍为凤姐设局，坠儿不写死
四	105	宝钗“这世上的人都死绝了，若能换来你的功名也值”	与 84 回鸳鸯之语同类
四	106—107	宝钗与雨村私会、情投意合，娇杏谋画	与前八十回所立宝钗不合，兼违性羞辱之判准
五 架构	108	108 回之数	复原本作前八十回加后三十回，共 110 回
五	108	108 人一大榜、男女混列、恶人入榜	复原本情榜不列男子与恶人
五	108	考语全谱罗列	情榜不列正、副、再副及三四副全谱（专题一“不承”第一条）
五	108	悼明价值排序的考语	只取册次与情情、情不情，去其排序
五	108	众人销号归位	随一〇八之数而来
五	108	“情僧”之号	复原本用“情不情居士”：白首双星、转向他者、不扣“情僧录”一线
五	106	宝玉剃度为僧	“悬崖撒手”是禅宗语，居士可达，“撒手在心不在形”
六 不接	81	戏子（葵官等）回园算账	与前八十回第七十七回“蕊官藕官二人跟了地藏庵的圆心”（工作本作“圆信”）所写的去向不接，须补出回园的缘由
六	83	芳官跑地藏庵	同上
六	85—86	探春议嫁戚公子	违背第五回远嫁的判词
六	87	贾政亲查抄赖大、来升	与工作本 86 回邢夫人“拿一个作筏子”（只查凤姐）正相反
六	93、95	“嶽神庙”	复原本从脂批作“狱神庙”
六	95	柳湘莲随流寇一伙，持刀拚杀，救出宝玉	不取其流寇身份与拚杀。复原本第 102 回柳湘莲已出家，于路劫中救宝玉，这一笔承第六十六回柳湘莲在平安州界赶散强盗、救下薛蟠（作者说明），不出于癸酉本
六	102	书中“天下大乱”三种说法	工作本自身前后不一

各类大约项数（一项常含数事，只是约数）

类	约数
一 悼明与涉政	40
二 散到乱	60
三 神怪	20
四 违和（人物之声或遭遇）	30
五 架构	6
六 不接	10
情节取舍，未归类（如“宝玉折桃花”“薛家住紫檀堡”）	80
合计	约 250

附录五　待核清单

以下各项，本文写作时未能核实。能核一项，改一项。

1. 首发链：2008 年 9 月赵振东博客的已删首帖；刘俊俊 QQ 空间的发布记录。
2. 何莉莉两文的原帖：

- 2014 年《何初本面临无妄之灾，何莉莉出面澄清真相》； - 2009 年《何莉莉小姐对红迷的道歉书》。

1. 各纸本的版权页与序言影像：

- 九州本、线装本、当代世界本； - 第三稿本与当代世界本是否同一书； - 线装本序言“作者不是吴梅村”一句的原文。

1. 学界文献：

- 赵建忠《“癸酉本”〈石头记〉辨伪》的刊期与全部论据； - 张霄军、张瑞雪一文的原刊； - 知网、万方、维普与《红楼梦学刊》《曹雪芹研究》有无专文； - 报道所署“苗伟明”是否即苗怀明。

1. 复原本 r54：第一〇四至一一〇回的 r54 尚未完成，本文这几回据 r53。r54 完成后，复核附录三涉及这几回的十五项（#32、#45、#49—#53、#62、#64、#65、#67—#71），更新说明 6 的所据表；有出入的，下一版订正。
2. 第四十一回靖批：周汝昌、戴不凡的校读原文与页码；毛国瑶原录的文字与首次刊布处；癸酉本一系这条批语的最早发布者。
3. 第四十二回批（42.6）：本名是靖本还是蒙府本，待对影印本（专题一已列入待办；第三稿本脚注称“蒙本侧批”）。
4. 吴世昌 1982 年一文：页码（刊期已核，《红楼梦学刊》1982 年第三辑）；赵冈原文的版次与页码。
5. 工作本：

- 整理者与来源； - 第八十一回方括号长批与第一〇八回第二条末批的来路； - 第九十八回诔文后半的组诗，第三稿本为何没有。

1. 陈也俊：项目底本第十四回无此名；通行本有，待对影印本。
2. 杜春耕“吴克岐”一说：此前有无文章；吴克岐《犬窝谭红》所记异文与癸酉本前八十回有无对应。
3. 人与账号：Sixth Tone 的 Yang Yifei 与杨依菲是否同一人；新浪博客“护珠塔主”是否即吴雪松；“红楼梦断三百年”是否即王晓丰，“西堂故兄”一条是否印入王晓丰一支的正式出版物。
4. 补查报告所提、本文未复核的：当代世界本的馆藏著录；Commons 仿抄页的上传信息。

附录六　与总篇 v0.8 的出入

以下几处，以本文为准，总篇下一版随改（中英同步）：

1. 4.6 节首句“有一部称为癸酉本的抄本”：改作“文本”。据公开记录，只有持有者自称读过抄本，原件从未公开（第 2.3、3.3 节）。
2. 3.3 节与 4.6 节“基于曹雪芹底稿的再创作”：改作“后人基于曹雪芹某一版底稿的再创作”（第 5.1 节）。
3. 4.6 节第四十一回一例：原文“本项目依判准择‘不屈从’”不改，补出判准原话：曹雪芹写金陵十二钗，连秦可卿在内，都不往淫上引，性羞辱不是他的写法。定下妙玉情节的是判准，借来的句读只关系到 41.14 一层算不算兑现（第 7.5 节）。
4. 4.4 节对照组“癸酉本后二十八回，若能取得可靠文本，作可选的第二对照组”：改写实际所用的文本，即工作本，以第三稿本对校（第 2 节）。
5. 1.5 节规划表第三行：篇名与内容照本文改。内容改作“公开记录、诸说、采信纪律、采择清单；若出于今人，何者要变”。
6. 1.4 节承重表“非承重”一栏：“癸酉本为‘底稿再创作’之说”，照第 2 条改。
7. 4.6 节“保存了底稿的部分成分”：是事实判断的口气，改作“本项目读作可能保存了某一版底稿的部分成分”，或删去。

附录七　致谢与 AI 使用说明

感谢 Zesi Chen、Zhen Zhang 在项目中给予的大量分析与帮助。

本项目使用了多家 AI 辅助，包括 Claude（Anthropic）、ChatGPT（OpenAI）、Gemini（Google）、DeepSeek、GLM（智谱）、Meta AI、Grok（xAI）。

本文的调研、比对与起草，由 AI 按作者所立的口径执行：

• 公开记录与诸说的补查，另用 ChatGPT Deep Research 做过一轮，其报告只作寻源记录；除注明据补查报告者外，本文的引证都通向所读的原帖、报刊页、书目或文本。
• 工作本与第三稿本的逐回比对、复原本现行稿的逐项核对，用脚本做过字面检索。

所有裁定由作者作出，文责由作者自负。

参考文献

只列本文实际读过或核过记录的。分级见正文说明第 5 条。

本系列与底本

• 秦汉（Han Qin）《人是有情的：〈红楼梦〉后三十回诠释性复原的缘起、方法与结论》，预发布版 v0.8，Zenodo，concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22985375。
• 秦汉（Han Qin）《前八十回脂批前指审计：采与不采》，预发布版 v0.4，Zenodo，concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23007235。
• 秦汉（Han Qin）《〈红楼梦〉的成书层累：证据与诸说》，预发布版 v0.3，Zenodo，concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23025674。
• 《红楼梦》一百二十回本第八十一回，古文岛网页，https://m.gushiwen.cn/guwen/bookv_7b68ad35c545.aspx（转载；程高本系，未对程甲本影印）。
• 江山阁隐制作《红楼梦脂批本完美版》，网络流传电子本（PDF）。本系列所称项目底本。

癸酉本诸本

• 新浪博客“癸酉本石头记”（blog.sina.com.cn/u/1657802967），2008—2009 年各帖（一手）。其中：

- 《石头记“何初本”后半部回目》，2008-10-13，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he33.html； - 《第81回 避祸念旧凭带为媒 承辱怀怨蓄恶结党》，2008-10-13，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he35.html； - 《与何小姐交流记录》，2008-10-14，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he38.html； - 《何初本—81回脂批摘选》，2008-10-17，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he3a.html； - 《何初本石头记情况及来历》，2008-10-17，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he3b.html； - 《正名：何莉莉的本子应叫癸酉本》，2008-12-05，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he46.html； - 《写在癸酉本石头记后28回即将发罄之际》，2008-12-15，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he4f.html； - 《总结：若干由癸酉本揭示的红楼梦人名的含义》，2009-03-10，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_62d010d70100he4x.html。

• 金俊俊、何玄鹤《〈癸酉本石头记〉后28回》，北京：九州出版社，2014，ISBN 9787510827310（书目）。
• 何莉莉、王晓丰《吴氏石头记增删试评本》，北京：线装书局，2015，ISBN 9787512018860（书目）。
• 金俊俊、何玄鹤编《癸酉本石头记后28回》，北京：当代世界出版社，2017.6，22+289 页，ISBN 9787509012086（馆藏书目）。
• 《癸酉本石头记后28回》数字化本（2017 年第三稿录入），GitHub: vicalloy/the-guiyou-version-of-dream-of-the-red-chamber，commit d8af079（转载）。本文所称第三稿本；所收前言（金俊俊、何玄鹤，2017-04-10）、序一（肖文林，2017-04-08）、序二（吴雪松，2015-04-26）据此引。
• 《癸酉本吴氏石头记（全108回）》整理本，来源未注，疑与 doosho.com/cn/433 在线全本同源（转载）。本文所称工作本。
• 《吴氏石头记增删试评本 钞本【阅】108.pdf》，Wikimedia Commons，2016-08-20 上传（文件页为原始存档；本文据补查报告，未独立复核，只述其存在）。

报道与论文

• 刘剑《“吴氏石头记”的倒塌》，《光明日报》2018 年 2 月 27 日第 07 版，https://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2018-02/27/nw.D110000gmrb_20180227_2-07.htm（一手）；中国作家网同日转载。
• 殷静《网友全新解读吴氏石头记是“真”红楼局结局？学者：今人续作》，澎湃号·媒体，2019-05-08，https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_3418423（一手）。
• 张霄军、张瑞雪《网络环境下古籍作伪新手段——以〈红楼梦〉三大网络作伪案为例》，雅昌新闻转载，2017-10-03，https://m-news.artron.net/20201222/n966458.html（作者署名据此页）；搜狐 2017-09-02 转载，https://www.sohu.com/a/169014387_523187（无署名，引文据此核）。转载；原刊待查。
• 赵建忠《“癸酉本”〈石头记〉辨伪》，维普题录 id 7100672936（书目；页面未能打开，全文未见）。
• 孔德罡《〈红楼梦〉“癸酉本”：大众“红学”盛开出的“恶之花”》，澎湃新闻·思想市场，2023-08-12，https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_24140277（一手）。
• 杨依菲《大众红学的“原罪”及“解脱”的可能？——癸酉本〈红楼梦〉B站流行现象探析》，《关东学刊》2024 年第 4 期，参考网转载（转载）。
• Yang Yifei. “Is ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ Just a Love Story? It Depends Who You Ask.” Translated by David Ball. Sixth Tone, 18 July 2025. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017367（一手）。
• 何安安《回应〈红楼梦〉“悼明”等争议，北京曹雪芹学会学术年会召开》，《新京报》2025-12-22，https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1766379179168407.html（一手）。
• 吴世昌《〈红楼梦〉后半部的“狱神庙”》，原载《红楼梦学刊》1982 年第三辑，文末署 1981 年 2 月 18 日；爱思想转载，https://www.aisixiang.com/data/96808.html（转载）。
• 高树伟《红楼梦靖藏本辨伪》，北京：中华书局，2024，ISBN 9787101165395（书目）。

当事人、支持者与民间评论

• 刘俊俊（金俊俊）博文，2016-02-15，http://jinjunjun.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post_7.html（一手）。
• 护珠塔主《惊天解密靖本〈红楼梦〉批语》，新浪博客，2016-01-12，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_13a1be4c00102w4of.html（一手）。
• 红楼梦断三百年《〈红楼梦〉的原作是“西堂居士”！》，新浪博客，2017-08-28，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53b6fb1f0102x758.html（一手）。
• 至真斋主（肖文林）《从靖本批语看〈吴氏石头记增删试评本〉的真伪》，新浪博客，2019-10-16，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ef912550102ym3k.html（一手）。
• 何玄鹤（作者）、秦昭言（增删整理）《〈吴氏石头记增删试评本〉被确认为〈红楼梦〉80回后真本》，新浪博客“神算子秦一卦”，2016-02-04，https://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_13d55a59a0102wbyq.html（一手）。
• 詹姆斯旁《驳“吴氏石头记真本说”——癸酉本的几处硬伤》，独立中文笔会转载，2022-12-16，https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188536（转载）。