Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Duncheng () and Zhang Yiquan ()which stated Cao was forty and nearly fifty respectively when he died. A much fuller discussion can be found under the relevant sections in Chen Weizhao's ''Hongxue Tongshi'' ("A History of Redology"), Shanghai People's Publishing Press, 2005, pp. 194–197; 348–349; 657–662.}}) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. His given name was Cao Zhan () and his courtesy name was Mengruan.
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