The discussion about where the prototype of the Grand View Garden is started from the reign of Qing Qianlong. Academic circles still maintain a reasonable state on this issue. In addition to Jing, Ning and Xi 'an, some people think that the Grand View Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions is only Cao Xueqin's fiction, and there is no prototype to test. In a word, this question has not been decided.

Relevant statements about the original site of Grand View Garden

It was pointed out in "On the South" that the original site of the Grand View Garden was in Xixi, Hangzhou, and Xixi Theory originated from the mystery of the author. Some people think that A Dream of Red Mansions was not written by Cao Xueqin, but by Hong Sheng, the author of The Palace of Eternal Life. According to Hong Sheng's hometown in Xixi, Hangzhou, and through other arguments, it is concluded that the prototype of Grand View Garden is located in Xixi, Hangzhou, with picturesque scenery.

In addition to the south, disputes over the original site of the Grand View Garden have also flooded into northern cities, such as Beijing and Xi 'an, two ancient imperial capitals. Grandma Liu once said "in Chang 'an City today" when she visited the Grand View Garden, which made many redologists think that the prototype of the Grand View Garden should be in the ancient city of An.

Many scholars determine the location of the Grand View Garden in the south of China according to the landscape and architectural modeling features in the novel. For example, there are several places in Nanjing called the prototype of Grand View Garden by Redology scholars, such as Xiaocang and Huapailou in Nanjing.