"The Twelve Golden Rings"

…While the story has the flavor of a historical novel, the main focus of the story is the tragic love between the protagonist, Jia Baoyu, a young prince of the Jia family, and his cousin Lin Daiyu. As 12 beautiful women whose home town is Jinling play an active role in the story, it is also known as the “Twelve Pairs of Princesses of Jinling.” After Lin Daiyu dies of illness, Jia Baoyu marries one of the twelve, his cousin Xue Baochai, but eventually abandons his wife and children and becomes a nun…

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "The Twelve Golden Chains" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…大河小説の趣もあるなかで，主人公格の賈家の若君賈宝玉と従妹林黛玉（りんたいぎよく）との悲恋が物語の主流をなす。賈宝玉をめぐり，金陵を本籍とする12人の佳人が活躍するので《金陵十二釵（さ）》の別名もつけられた。林黛玉の病死後，賈宝玉は十二釵のひとり従姉の薛宝釵と結婚するが，やがて妻子を捨てて出家する……。…

※「《金陵十二釵》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報