How did Cao Xueqin die?

Died due to poverty and illness without medical treatment.

In his early years, Cao Xueqin experienced a life of dandyism, wealth and romance in Jiangning Zhizao Mansion, Nanjing. In the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign (1728), the Cao family was confiscated and their home was confiscated. Cao Xueqin moved back to his old home in Beijing with his family. Later, he moved to the western suburbs of Beijing and made a living by selling calligraphy and paintings and providing charity to friends.

Cao Xueqin has an open-minded nature and a wide range of hobbies. He has studied epigraphy, poetry, painting, gardening, traditional Chinese medicine, darning, crafts, and diet. With perseverance and many years of hardship, he finally created a great work of great ideological and artistic quality - "A Dream of Red Mansions".

In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (Renwu 1762), Cao Xueqin was forty-eight years old. Due to the death of his youngest son, he fell into excessive sadness and grief and became bedridden. He died of illness in Beijing on New Year's Eve of this year. Duncheng wrote "Bringing Cao Xueqin", Dunmin wrote "Hegan Gathering Drinks and Hanging Xueqin on the Wall", and Zhang Yiquan wrote "Shang Qinxi layman".

In the forty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1779), seventeen years after Cao Xueqin's death, Duncheng wrote a "Letter to Eldest Brother (Dun Min)" in memory of Cao Xueqin.

Extended information:

Cao Xueqin’s greatest contribution lies in literary creation. His "A Dream of Red Mansions" is grand in scale, rigorous in structure, complex in plot, and vivid in description. It has created many artistic images with typical characters. It can be regarded as the peak of ancient Chinese novels and occupies an important position in the history of world literature.

Cao Xueqin left precious cultural heritage and spiritual wealth for the Chinese nation and the people of the world. He not only had a profound influence on the creations of later generations of writers, but also produced a large number of outstanding talents in the fields of painting, film and television, animation, and online games. Derivative works, research and discussion in academia and society around the author, version, text, and skills of "Dream of Red Mansions" have even formed a specialized knowledge - Redology.

Baidu Encyclopedia——Cao Xueqin