Cao Xueqin's grandfather is Cao Yin. But who is his biological father? There are different views in the red circle: one is Cao Qing, and the other is Cao Fu. Cao Yin worked as a weaver in Jiangning for 28 years. During this period, Kangxi visited Jiangnan six times, and Cao Jiasi took over, which was extremely prosperous. In the 31st year of Kangxi (1693), Cao Yin died and his only son, Cao Qing, succeeded him. Cao Qing died three years later. Under the personal questioning of Emperor Kangxi, the fourth son of Yin's brother (Quan) adopted a new name and still served as Jiangning Weaving. In the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), the Cao family was copied. Accordingly, Cao Yin has two sons: one is father and son Cao Qing, and the other is adopted son Cao Fu. Yin is Xueqin's father. Who is Xueqin's father? Hu Shi, the founder of A New Dream of Red Mansions, thinks it is Cao Fu. Zhou, the successor of Hu Yibo, calculated that copying Cao Cao was only four years old according to Duncheng's poem "Forty years flies". Cao Yong said, "It almost started in the 1930s. It is mainly based on the "reasonable inference" made by "the slave's sister-in-law Ma Shi is pregnant for seven months" in "Jiangning Weaving Cao Fu Surrogate Mother Chen Qingzhe". Cao Fu ascended the throne in the 54th year of Kangxi (17 15) and died in Qing dynasty. If the "Cao Yong Theory" is established, it will be a posthumous child, and Cao's family affairs will also decline when he was fourteen. The appearance of "Cao Yong Shuo" basically solved two puzzles in "A Dream of Red Mansions": First, Cao Xueqin did not lead a romantic aristocratic life, and lacked the life experience he should have when writing "A Dream of Red Mansions"; Second, I was too young when I started writing A Dream of Red Mansions-less than twenty years old. But can "Cao Yong said" hold water? I don't think so. The reason comes from a recognized and reliable criticism: "Qin Xue's old book" Yue Feng Baojian "is a preface written by his brother Tang Cun. Today, Tangcun has passed away, and I see a new nostalgia, so it is still because of it ... "This comment on writing should be added to the abnormality. Judging from the comment on writing, Qin Xue tasted a younger brother named Tang Cun who died young. Tang Cun once commented on A Dream of Red Mansions, and also wrote a preface to Qin Xue's early work "A Treasure Mirror of Yue Feng" (now lost). If this is the case, "Cao Yong said" would fall apart-since it is a "posthumous child", how can it be a "younger brother"? Not only have no brothers, but also no brothers. " Chen Qingzhe, the surrogate mother of Jiangning Weaving, clearly wrote: "If you are lucky enough to have a boy in the future, then the slave's brother and heir will be there." Obviously, this "posthumous child" is an only child even if it is really a man. Did your wife Ma Shi give birth to twins three months later? This small probability event can be basically ruled out. Or is this younger brother not his own brother, but Cao Fu's son and Qin Xue's younger brother (cousin)? Unlikely. Because in the old days, when the title of a book was put on paper, it was always marked "by my younger brother". Since he was called "his brother", he thought he was a fellow nurse. Abnormal water is the elder, and everything about Cao's family is "clear". How can you not know the argument between relatives and friends? Judging from the above inference, Hu Shi's view seems more reliable: Cao Fu is Qin Xue's biological father, and Cao Qing is only his uncle.