Lai Da
赖大
“The Keys of the House”
His Story
Chief steward of the Rongguo mansion and son of Grandmother Lai, Grandmother Jia’s old nurse. He runs the outside business of the house — the building works, the buying, the men at the gates — and is among the managers when the Garden is built for Yuanchun’s visit. His family has done very well out of the Jias: his son Lai Shangrong is released from bond service and given an official post, and in Chapter 45 the Lais entertain the whole household in a garden of their own.
In Xiang Li's Hands
The only man in this group, standing square in a grey-mauve robe, blue skullcap, thin goatee, the face lined and watchful. In one raised hand a small bunch of keys; below it a green jade plaque on a yellow tassel. She paints him as his office — the man who holds what opens the house.
The Calligraphy
Inscribed 赖大 — surname plus 大, the household’s shorthand for the senior man, brushed in a heavier and more upright hand than the women’s sheets receive.
Connections
- Grandmother Lai 赖嬷嬷 — his mother, Grandmother Jia’s former nurse.
- Lai Shangrong 赖尚荣 — his son, freed from bond service and made an official.
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — who manages the household he serves from the inside.
Others of the same kind · steward / manager Lai Er 赖二 · Lai Sheng 赖升 · Lai Shangrong 赖尚荣 · Lai Mama 赖嬷嬷 · Lin Zhixiao 林之孝 · Zhou Rui 周瑞 · Dai Liang 戴良 · Yu Lu 俞禄 · Wang Xin 王信 · Laiwang 来旺 · Jin Cai 金彩 · Jin Wenxiang 金文翔 · Jiao Da 焦大 · Li Shi'er 李十儿 and 8 more
Named on these pages Lai Da jia de 赖大家的 · Lai Er 赖二 · Lai Shangrong 赖尚荣 · Lai Mama 赖嬷嬷 · Dai Liang 戴良
Dream of the Red Chamber
Xiang Li painted all 413 characters of the novel between 1975 and 1985, the first person to complete the entire cast. See the whole collection · Chinese Empresses
