Xi Yin Yu Shi as the Source Code: Discovering the Creative Blueprint for Dream of the Red Chamber and Founding the Discipline of Civilizational Generatics
当前活跃预印本版本:V5。本版本取代此前所有版本(V1、V2、V3、V4)。 永久概念 DOI:10.5281/zenodo.17780495。该 DOI 始终指向最新版本。请引用本版本;如需获取最新版本,请使用上述概念 DOI。 V5 新增内容: 明确《惜陰餘事》为世界级文明瑰宝,并确立其「元本」定位; 补入耿昭忠守护134件古代书画的全球分布及其中多件为世界各大博物馆镇馆之宝,作为本体文物价值的独立依据。 新增「仅此一部」专题论证:从康熙默许、朱彝尊所藏、曹雪芹所本,到闺阁原型研习,逐层锁定《惜陰餘事》唯一性; 新增「人进史,书出史」的制度性隐形论证,集中解释清初顶级圈层对《惜陰餘事》集体沉默的政治逻辑; 正式提出多学科系统实证收敛法,作为前半部分全部证据链的方法论基础; 正式纳入结论:朱彝尊所藏者,即曹雪芹所本者,即今日台北所存孤本; This is the current active preprint version (V5). It supersedes all earlier versions (V1, V2, V3, and V4). The permanent concept DOI (10.5281/zenodo.17780495) always points to the latest version. Please cite this version. For the latest version, always use the concept DOI above. New in V5: Formally introduced the multi-disciplinary systematic empirical convergence method as the methodological foundation of the entire Part One evidence chain. Added a dedicated argument on the uniqueness of Xi Yin Yu Shi, from Kangxi’s tacit approval and Zhu Yizun’s private collection to Cao Xueqin’s source use and the reading practices of the female prototypes; Added the concept of “institutional invisibility” under the formula “the person enters history; the book leaves history,” explaining the collective silence of the highest Qing literati circles; Formally incorporated the conclusion that the copy recorded by Zhu Yizun, the copy used by Cao Xueqin, and the copy now in Taipei are one and the same physical object; Explicitly positioned Xi Yin Yu Shi as a world-class civilizational treasure and confirmed its designation as the “Yuanben”; Added the global distribution and museum status of the 134 paintings and calligraphic works once guarded by Geng Zhaozhong as an independent basis for its intrinsic cultural relic value. Abstract The creative mechanism of Dream of the Red Chamber has remained a core enigma in the history of Chinese literature for nearly three centuries. Through a cumulative argument combining textual criticism and internal textual evidence, this study discovers and systematically demonstrates for the first time that Xi Yin Yu Shi, authored by the early Qing connoisseur Geng Zhaozhong (1640–1686), is in fact the long-lost core source text and creative blueprint of Dream of the Red Chamber. Geng Zhaozhong's sole surviving work had never been the subject of academic study for over three hundred years. This paper fills that scholarly void. As the first systematic study of this text, it reveals its major civilizational-historical value. For the first time, this paper: establishes the systematic connection between Xi Yin Yu Shi and Chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber; repositions Geng Zhaozhong as a preeminent connoisseur of painting and calligraphy in the early Qing period; demonstrates the unparalleled status of Xi Yin Yu Shi in the history of Chinese bibliography and the history of craftsmanship; reconstructs the transmission chain from Geng Zhaozhong through Zhu Yizun and Cao Yin to Cao Xueqin; and reveals that this text simultaneously satisfies the three conditions of "core source text of a world literary masterpiece, sole surviving copy in the world, and extant material artifact." This study constructs a full-scale chain of evidence spanning seven dimensions—textual fingerprint, systematic correspondence, rule internalization, logical paradox, macroscopic architecture, internal evidence from Zhiyanzhai's commentary, and historical silence—comprising eighteen independent items of evidence. At the micro level, it confirms the textual fingerprint of "日邊紅杏倚雲栽" and the graphological isomorphism of the character "牌"; at the meso level, it reveals the complete physical structural correspondence and mathematical homology of the seven sets of domino combinations, while demonstrating the full conformity of the poetic responses in the drinking game to the generative rules set forth in the Se Yang Ze Li of Xi Yin Yu Shi; at the macro level, it demonstrates the systematic transcoding from the "Twelve Golden Men" to the "Twelve Beauties of Jinling" as the core architectonic framework; at the logical level, the internal rule consensus and error diagnosis within the text constitute a narrative constraint that, under available material conditions, rules out the possibility of Cao Xueqin's independent invention. The study further pinpoints an extremely narrow "genesis site" (pp. 13–29) within Xi Yin Yu Shi, where decisive elements such as "Red Chamber," "Dream," the "Twelve Golden Men," the seven core character symbols, and the naming of the "Four Springs" co-occur with unprecedented density, forming an evidentiary matrix that exceeds any explanation attributable to chance. On this empirical foundation, this study achieves three theoretical advances. First, it proposes a "civilizational symbol transcoding" mechanism, demonstrating that canonical works can be generated through the pathway of "high-energy symbol system → recognition → internalization → transcoding." Second, it lays the foundation for "Civilizational Generatics" as a new research paradigm, shifting the trajectory of inquiry from static "hermeneutics" toward dynamic "generatics." Third, it repositions Xi Yin Yu Shi as an irreproducible, singular civilizational artifact in the history of human book civilization, whose "Principle–Form" philosophy, symbolic lexicon, and dynamic procedural repertoire of Shi together constitute an observable generative model of civilizational aesthetics. Accordingly, this study not only provides unprecedented interpretive possibilities for understanding the creative mechanism of Dream of the Red Chamber, but also reveals a long-obscured systematic and structured mode of creative thinking within Chinese civilization, thereby providing an indispensable historical paradigm and operational civilizational grammar for cultural computation in the age of artificial intelligence.