In the dead of night, Yu Wangran, the old curater of the Archives, sees a female ghost dressed in red, and dies of a heart attack. The next day, his grandson Yu Hui recieves a book called "History of the Red Chamber" from the new curator. The book was read by his grandfather in the last moments of his life. The book contains a photo of a beautiful woman during the Republic of China, and he is instantly taken to the distant Peiping.