In 1971, Hawkes resigned his position to focus entirely on his translation of the famous Chinese novel The Story of the Stone (also known as Dream of the Red Chamber), which was published in three volumes between 1973 and 1980.
[1] After the war's end in 1945, Hawkes returned to Oxford, where he transferred from Classics into the newly established Honours School of Chinese, whose only teacher was the former missionary E. R. Hughes (1883–1956).
in 1955 with a dissertation entitled "The Problem of Date and Authorship of Ch'u Tz'u", a study of the 3rd century BC anthology Verses of Chu (楚辭; Chǔ Cí).
[1] The remaining 40 chapters, which appeared after Cao's death and whose authenticity has long been debated, were later translated by Hawkes' son-in-law, the British sinologist John Minford.
He and his wife cultivated a large garden and raised goats, while Hawkes focused his personal studies on the history of religion and learning the Welsh language.
Hawkes was a severe critic of organized religion in his later life, and in 2004 edited a series of his essays into a small volume entitled Letters from a Godless Grandfather, which was published privately in Hong Kong.
[2] He was a vocal critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and of British and American military involvement in the Middle East, and participated in several protest marches.