* The Chinese Novels Dream

* Intro:


This dream was dreamt on the morning of November 21st 2003, and involves a series of drawings or paintings from within some Chinese classics. Of these paintings/drawings I have created my own versions of by hand.

Since drawing and posting these drawings, and mentioning that it was from a dream, there has been countless amounts of persons requesting to read the dream entry I wrote within my journal. I’d thought I’d written it within my blog, and discovered that I hadn’t. It is was only hand written within my leather bound paper journal.

The following texts are of the dream, yet have been edited for (English) literary correctness.


* Journal Entry, 11/21/2003:

I dreamt that I was talking with the Bamboo lady (An Asian business lady in the Mall whom sells “lucky bamboo”) whose cart was next to mine in the mall (because I sell pop art as a business in a local mall). But, it didn’t exactly take place within the mall. I was at home.

All space around me in a far sense was darkness, yet, around me specifically, wherever I was standing, was illuminated.

We spoke about the 2 Chinese Epics “Xi You Ji” (The Journey West) and “A Dream of Red Mansions”. Then, somehow it all changed, and I was no longer speaking with her but instead now it was someone else explaining Chinese cultural things to me. Somehow, now, it shifted again in this dreamscape storyline, and I had this urge to check the books themselves.

I went to the closet and saw the “Xi You Ji” (which is a 4 volume book set in a box case) within its book case box. But, then, I noticed there were more book box cases of that story (Xi You Ji). I put back the last book (#4) in the box, and found another set of 4 more book volumes.

It was of more stories of “The Journey west” (Xi You Ji) about their journey to go back East returning to China, which baffled me, as it seemed to make no sense. Yet, here it was. More stories of the Monkey king and all the disciple gods and the Tang monk traveling back to return to China.

I put all of the books in their boxes back in the closet. Then, I pulled out book #1 of the “Dream of red Mansions”. I began flipping through the pages and I noticed that there were now more drawings. (It’s normal too find woodcut pictures in the novels from the late Qing Dynasty even tho’ both books were written during the previous Ming Dynasty.)

I flipped through further more and found there were no more drawings. Then, Further flipping through pages and found a single drawing that looked far different in style than the other previous illustrations which were of the Qing Dynasty woodcut style.

No. This drawing was of a woman standing in a garden. She looked more like a Ming, Tang, or Han dynasty period person by her clothing, tho’ I’m not entirely sure and somewhat ignorant of the specifics. I just know she’s obviously not Qing period.

Altho’ it was obviously a black inked drawing of her standing among a garden, I began to have the impression of colors in the drawing, like watercolors. The drawing wasn’t the greatest in the world, as the structure and proportions were off, which was typical of the ancient art.

Yet, her face was stunningly beautiful. I was so drawn to looking at her face. I noticed that her eyes were white like blind eyes. Then, I turned the pages again, still flipping back to glance at her a few more times. Was she “The Goddess of Disenchantment” (like win the book)?

After a while, I began to notice other pages with drawings made in similar styles of this new modern looking style.

I saw a drawing with a girl & a boy (Chinese children) playing in a garden. Perhaps they were playing Chinese games like balls or shuttlecocks, and things like this. They were dressed in Period clothing. The girl was dressed in Ming style clothing, and the boy was dressed in Qing style clothing, and he had a very long braided tail of hair on his head with a cap on. Then, I turned the page and saw them playing with puppies and kittens which were very cute. There were a few drawings like this.

Turned more pages further finding a few like this theme of innocent playing inn a garden, but they the drawings became far more fanciful.

I saw the girl and the boy in a drawing within the garden playing with small bipedal dinosaurs. I looked at this and thought it interesting yet odd. I wondered what the story of this drawing was about. I yearned to read the texts. But, instead I flipped the page again.

There, I saw them again, but this time they were petting a small slender dragon. This dragon was so long and light. It had lots of sections with long flowing hair like a modern unicorn. It glittered and glistened. It was a white and golden dragon, with some silver in it.

Gazing at this picture was breathtaking. Yet, as beautiful as this picture was, I only glanced at it briefly as it so peaked my interests and stirred my curiosity. I began to flip for more drawings, as the trend seemed that it was becoming more and more fantastic. I yearned to see more. What could possibly follow this????

So, as I turned the pages, I realized all the pages of the texts seemed to lessen and the pages nearly all drawings now.

* Then, I came to a drawing of a Qilin:

The girl and the boy were turned so that the both of them showed their backs to me. In front of them was a garden of all plants, like cannas, corn stalks, sunflowers, and perhaps morning glories growing up the tall stalks. Yet, the garden its self was poorly rendered, and just indicated in somewhat.

The children stood on a stony of flat path, which was directly on the edge of this tall garden. Inside of the garden was the Qilin. Its head faced forward, looking at them from within the garden. It was a brownish Earth Qilin. Yet, despite its dull colors, it was absolutely beautiful, even tho’ it was so plain in color.

It seemed to be talking to the children whom looked up at it in awe. I could only see the head & neck. The rest of its body was covered behind the garden plants. For some reason, I think it was female.



I turned the pages, and saw more drawings of the Qilin. It was coming out of the garden, interacting with them, and walking or strolling with them. They petted it, and caressed it. Then, after that I saw many more Qilin individuals. Sometimes 2 or 3, and they were also Earth Qilin of coppers, browns, and dull colors.

Then, I began to notice differences in their horns. Sometimes, it was antlers; other times it was a single alicorn (Unicorn 1-horn).

Then, finally, on the last few drawings I’d looked at, the Qilin had a half way fleshy horn. That had 3 horn points (or spurs/barbs) like an antler. But, having only 1 in the center of its forehead. It sometimes reminded me of a clawed paw… sort of…
Of this last Qilin in the last few pages of drawings I looked at, I took special notice of this particular one, because of its unusual horn. Then, I closed the book.

The Qilin from the book began speaking to me inside of my mind, telepathically, and told me look over the books once more. As I did, I found extra stories written in the books in the front or the back, which weren’t written there before. The Qilin all tempted me to look and read them.

Then, the book opened to once story called something like “The Coming of the Storm”, and there was printed there a glossy, small, color picture of them. The clouds flashed with lightning as if alive. There were other stories as well, but I kept returning to this one.

I closed the book, and it was the “Dream of Red Mansions” Book, which was red. On the cover was now written that it had the extra stories and the small picture of “The Coming of the Storm” with a small caption telling of it.

I put the red book down, and then grabbed one of the “Xi You Ji” (Journey West) books which are green. On the cover it read the title “The Journey to the West” in English, and also the title in Chinese. Here were also captions of telling of extra fantasy stories including the unicorn story “The Coming of the Storm” with a small drawing of unicorns in a storm.

I realized it was a gift from the Qilin whom seemed to be hovering about me everywhere in spirit, tho’ I couldn’t see it.

Then, I began to contemplate how these books were made. I looked at them and recalled all I’d learned about graphic art and design, printing, and computer science.
Then I thought to myself: “Hey! I can do that!”
Then, with that, I recall little else other than the dream becoming dark and black like the fading out of a film, until I awoke.