Dream of the Red Chamber (pinyin: H髇g L髐 M鑞g; Wade-Giles: Hung Lou Meng); composed by Cao Xueqin; is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of classical Chinese novels.

Red Chamber is believed to be semi-autobiographical; mirroring the fortunes of author Cao Xueqin's own family. As the author details in the first chapter; it is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth: friends; relatives and servants. The novel is remarkable not only for its huge cast of characters and psychological scope; but also for its precise and detailed observation of the life and social structures typical of 18th-century Chinese aristocracy.