Peach Blossom Fan

Chinese drama

Chinese opera, from the Southern opera, Yuan drama, to the legend of the Ming and Qing dynasties, modern local opera, experienced nearly a thousand years of development, the emergence of a large number of outstanding writers and works, Yuan drama Guan Hanqing（关汉卿）, Wang Shifu（王实甫）, etc., Ming and Qing dynasty legend Tang Xianzu（汤显祖）, Kong Shangren（孔尚任）, Hong Sheng（洪昇）, etc.. All they can be ranked among the world's outstanding playwrights: the Romance of the Western Chamber, the Injustice to Dou E, the Orphan of the Zhao Family, the Peony Pavilion, the Peach Blossom Fan and the Palace of Eternal Life have become world classics.

Backgroud of Story

At the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), political turbulence spread throughout China. Li Zicheng (李自成) led a peasant uprising, and the rebels won victory after victory, and eventually, they approached the capital - Beijing. The Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. But Nanjing was relatively peaceful and quiet. It had been built as a capital during the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was called Taizu reverently after death.) at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. 

And it was still considered a capital city even when the official capital moved to Beijing. So Nanjing was well developed both in terms of culture and economy. The city was a great meeting place and the market for merchants. There was row upon row of golden towers along the Qinhuai River bank where restaurants, showrooms, and brothels swarmed. Learned men often held party or gatherings here, either talking about history and current affairs or else writing poems and painting. Among the many groups and organizations involved in these activities, the Fu She was the most influential group. Its members were eminent intellectuals who were concerned about current political affairs.

Hou Fangyu (侯方域) - Actor

One of the Fu She’s members was named Hou Fangyu, also known as Chaozong. He was born in Henan Province into a well- known family. He was noble and dignified in appearance and wrote very respected poems and lyrics. He had come to Nanjing the previous year for the imperial exams.

However, chaos had since broken out in the country, and he had had hardly any contact with his family. He had to find a place to stay along the bank of the Mochou Lake. Later, he got to know some friends from the Fu She, and soon he joined the group.

There was a memorial ceremony for Confucius held every year in the Confucian Temple (Fuzi Miao) in Nanjing. It was at once a lively and solemn occasion. Most of the local scholars would come to kowtow to Confucius, on the day the ceremony was held, the scholars of Fu She came to pay homage to Confucius. As the crowds stood in line waiting to go in, Wu Yingji, a friend of Hou’s, shouted to someone who was kowtowing beside him.

”Whisker Ruan! What makes you think you can come here to join us? Your presence is truly an offense to Confucius and an insult to another intellectual!”

This “Whisker Ruan” was named Ruan Dacheng. He got this nickname from his whiskers. At this time there was an intelligence agency called Dongchang employed by the Ming imperial court which sought to identify, capture and punish dissidents against the state. It was led by a eunuch Wei Zhongxian who was the most powerful and cruel man. Many appalling cases of injustice were committed under his leadership. However, Wei was highly thought of and was very influential. Ruan gained rapid promotion in the Dongchang after he flattered Wei and became his adopted son. When Wei fell from power, Ruan lost his patron. He was dismissed from office. But, he had managed to embezzle a lot of money when he was in office. With this money, he built a splendid house and garden and maintained a theatrical troupe that only played romantic plays written by himself. He invited well-known people to feast with him and enjoy the plays. He hoped to become a man of prestige in society; to be respected as a man of culture. However, he had a bad reputation among certain intellectual circles. For one thing, he had bartered away his honor for influence and high position. Many of the intellectuals looked down upon him for this.

At the Confucian Temple, Ruan Dacheng was enraged to be so insulted. He immediately rebutted, “I am a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations. Why should I feel guilty? What makes you think I should not come to pay my respects?”

”Your sins are known to everybody. What you and Wei Zhongxian’ s other cronies have done is well known to all!” Other intellectuals soon joined in the condemnation. They crowded around him and began to kick him and beat him. It was all Ruan could do to escape from this desperate situation.

Back home, Ruan was depressed for days. He was ashamed and angry every time when he remembered what happened that day. He decided that he would take revenge on those people when he got the chance.

Li Xiangjun (李香君) - Actress

One day, a man came to see him. This man was named Yang Wencong and was a friend of Ruan. Yang had come to see Ruan’s new play. However, he was told it was not a good time - the theatrical troupe was away performing a play for some nobles. He felt disappointed. Ruan ordered his servants to prepare food and drink, and they ate together. Right at this moment, one of his performers came back and said their play - written of course by Ruan - had gained much praise from audiences. Ruan was proud. However, the messenger continued, that some young nobles had also spoken ill of him. They had said that Ruan had literary talent but had no integrity as a person because he had thrown his lot in with the ruthless eunuch party. They believed Ruan was no better than a pig or a dog. Ruan was flushed, and he flew into a rage, striking the table repeatedly with his fist.

Yang was greatly surprised, “My dear friend, have you done so much to offend people?”

Ruan answered, “Well, it is a little embarrassing to talk about it. I went to kowtow to Confucius in the Confucian Temple the other day. But I was beaten by some other scholars. Today, I lent my theatrical troupe out but have been humiliated in return. If it goes on like this, what can an upright person do! “ Yang thought it for a while, “I have an idea. I don’t know if you want to give it a try.” “What is it? Tell me right away.”

”Those scholars you were just talking about being led by Wu Yingji and Chen Zhenhui. As long as they agree to establish good relations with us, the others will follow their lead. Those two are cousins of Hou Fangyu who comes from Henan Province. I heard that Hou lives here by himself and has been feeling bored recently. He hopes to fix himself up with a Qinhuai beauty. I have chosen one for him already. She is a singer from Meixiang Lou named Li Xiangjun. This singer is a woman of outstanding cultural attainment as well as being drop-dead gorgeous. I believe Hou would be more than satisfied with her. If you are willing to offer some money to make this happen, Hou would surely be then in your debt. He would surely agree to argue your case before Wu and Chen. In that way, the other young nobles would never embarrass you again.”

Hearing this, Ruan laughed, “Excellent! It’s a great idea!”

Next day, Yang found Hou and talked about this famous Qinhuai singer. Li was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai and was famous for her beauty and great talent. Yang encouraged him to buy her and marry her. Hou was as a lonely young noble living alone in Nanjing. He was captivated by the thought of this peerlessly beautiful singer.

Several days later, Hou came looking for Li at the place where the famous singers of Qinhuai were having a party. When he arrived, he heard melodious singing from upstairs and could not help but be greatly moved at the beauty of the singing. He was told it was Li, who was singing. To show his appreciation, he threw up his valuable jade fan. Soon, something was thrown down in response - several cherries wrapped in a white silk handkerchief. Yang said it was from Li. At this moment, two beauties descended the stairs like fairies coming from heaven. They were Li Xiangjun and Li Zhenli, Meixiang Lou’s landlady and Xiangjun's foster mother.

Li really deserved her reputations. She was graceful and charming. Hou was attracted by her beauty and talent and in love with her at once. Li was also quite taken with this unconventional and handsome young man. Yang made the introductions. After they greeted each other, everyone sat down and started to drink. In their first meeting, Hou and Li didn’t talk much. But they exchanged many glances. Their short talk was filled with tenderness and love.

In the middle of the feast, Yang spoke, “We are so lucky to have both a gifted scholar and a beautiful lady here. I propose Hou and Li drink a cross-cupped wine toast.”

Li was embarrassed as she was quite shy. Yang began to discuss their marriage. Hou knew that he would need a huge sum of money to buy a famous singer like Li from Meixiang Lou. He told Yang he had little money in his purse. Yang answered, “You don’t need to worry about that. I will prepare the feast and the bridal fee for you. And I have chosen a day already. March 15 is a propitious day for perfect conjugal bliss. Why not get married on that day!”

Get Married

On the 15th day of the 3rd lunar month, Meixiang Lou was decorated with lanterns and streamers and filled with bustling crowds. Yang brought a huge trunk of clothing and ornaments to Meixiang as the betrothal gift from Hou. Yang suggested that since Hou was a gifted scholar and Li was a peerless beauty; he had prepared a court fan made of white gauze for them. He asked Hou to write a poem on it for Li and to make it their love-promise. Everybody thought this was a great idea. After pleasant dinner, the bride and groom were escorted to their bridal chamber.

On the second morning, Yang came to compliment Hou and Li at Meixiang Lou. Hou also expressed his appreciation. When Li heard that her costly trousseaux had been provided by Yang, she asked, “Milord, I believe that you are not a man who often spends money like water. Why did you spend so much on us? It is shameful for us to accept such generosity.”

“I agree. You and I meet only by chance. I was now so indebted to you for your generous gifts yesterday. It disturbs me.” Hou added.

Yang answered, “Since you ask for my reasons, I have to tell you the truth. All the expenses for the trousseau and feast amounted to 15 jin of silver. It was paid by Ruan Dacheng.”

Hou almost jumped out of his skin, “Ruan Dacheng? Why should he do this for me?” “Maybe he wants to make friends with you.”

“Ruan was one of the successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations at the same time as my father. In that way, he is my elder. However, I do not respect the choices he has made in his career, and indeed I have a lot of contempt for him. Now, he wants to make friends with me for no reason at all. I find this really difficult to understand.”

”Ruan has had his difficulties, and that is true. He worked for Wei Zhongxian for the purpose of rescuing colleagues from the Donglin Party in the first place. However, the Donglin Party members felt no gratitude at all after Wei fell from power. Instead, they took him as their enemy. Recently, the Fu She members defamed him by distributing pamphlets speaking against him. They even physically beat him up. Ruan had many friends, but now no one will speak for him. He has great respect for your learning and your integrity. So he asked me to arrange all this for you and hoped to be able to study with you.” Hearing these, Hou nodded, “I see. In many ways, Ruan has been misunderstood. Even if he worked for Wei for his own interests, we should forgive him as long as he is willing to repent and start over. Furthermore, he has had his difficulties. Chen and Wu are my best friends. I will intercede with them on his behalf when I meet them tomorrow.”

”Ruan would greatly appreciate that,” Yang was delighted.

Their conversation greatly enraged Li, “How can you talk like that? Ruan curried favor with evil powers and lost all sense of honor. He is cursed even by women and children. Do you want to rehabilitate a man so justly reviled? Who do you think you are? Do you think he is a saint now just because he paid for my trousseau? You should know that I place no value on such things at all!”

With that, Li took off her expensive jewelry and hair clasps and clothes and threw them to the ground.

Everybody was shocked.

”I didn’t realize she had such a temper,” Yang exclaimed.

Hou signed with emotion, “Li has really put me to shame!” He turned to Yang, “My friend, I’m really sorry. Even a singer sometimes can show us the path of righteousness. How can we neglect moral integrity and confuse loyalty and betrayal? Colleagues from the Fu She regard me highly for my personal loyalty. If I make friends with traitors, they will condemn me also. If I can’t even defend myself, how can I save anybody else? These clothes and jewelry ate from Ruan. I ask you to return them to him.”

Yang had no other choice but to leave. When Ruan saw his gifts returned, he was outraged. He thought Li and Hou had completely disrespected his kindness. He vowed to take revenge on them too one day.

Escaping

Before long, the rebels led by Li Zicheng had captured Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen was forced to commit suicide. Ruan colluded with Ma Shiying, the bandit leader of Fengyang County, and supported Prince Fu as the new emperor in Nanjing. With direct power and influence now in his hands, Ruan launched a massive crackdown on Fu She members. Hou was forced to flee, and Li also had to take refuge.

One of Ma’s associates named Tianyang was promoted to the position of water transport inspector for Huaiyang County. Tian led a debauched life and was always seeking pleasure and diversion. He had heard that many beauties lived on the banks of the Qinhuai River. He desired a beautiful performer to have as his concubine. Seeing the possibility of getting some revenge, Ruan recommended Li Xiangjun immediately.

Tian asked Yang Wencong to find Li and tell her he was willing to take her as his concubine and to offer her 300 taels of silver. Li turned it down without a thought, “I am married to Hou already. I will wait for him for the rest of my life.”

Tian got very angry when he was told about Li’s decision. He thought, as a high- ranking court official, it was shameful for him to be refused by a mere singer. He couldn’t take it. If he couldn’t get what he wanted by persuasion, he determined to take it by force.

Tian sent several men led by his chamberlain to Meixiang Lou with Yang. Li Zhenli - the foster mother of Li Xiangjun - was afraid of courting trouble if she offended Tian. She didn’t know what to do. Yang went upstairs to look for Xiangjun. He tried to persuade her to come quietly. He pointed out that she didn’t even know when or indeed if Hou would come back. She replied, “Was it not you who arranged our meeting, and affianced me to Hou? I still have the court fan with the love poem on it. Have you forgotten about it? I am determined to wait for Hou. I would rather go cold and hungry and barefoot than marry Tian.”

The Chamberlain kept pressing Yang to force Xiangjun to get on to the sedan chair. Yang and Zhenli had to compel her to get dressed. Xiangjun cried out, “I’d rather die, I will never go with them!” Then she broke free from Yang’s grasp and bumped her head against the wall. At once, blood-spattered onto the wall and the white gauze court fan which lay beside her.

Seeing this, Li Zhenli fell into a panic. She helped Xiangjun up and bound up her cuts. At this moment, the Chamberlain was still hurrying them from downstairs. Zhenli had no way out. Yang told her, “A singer gets married, which is good for her. With Tian, she will be set up for life. She refuses to take the opportunity, so why don’t you take her place. You are only a couple of years older than her，, and you look very young. Ruan and Tian have never met Xiangjun. If I tell them you are Li Xiangjun, nobody will doubt it. But if you won’t go with them, they will send someone to hunt her and maybe you also. No one will escape.”

Zhenli signed, “Well, it does seem the only way out. I have to go with them.” She dressed up and said to her daughter, “Take care of yourself, what I do, I do for you.”

Peach Blossom Fan

After some time, Li Xiangjun recovered. She lay on the bed gazing at her court fan which was spattered with her own blood. She was sorely grieved when she saw the poem which had been written on the fan by Hou. One day, Yang came to see her. He went upstairs and saw that Li was sleeping. By her side, that fan was still spattered with red spots. Yang couldn’t help sighing with emotion: it was a token of the love between Li and Hou. With Li’s blood on it, it now had extra significance. An idea flashed into his mind: “that red color is so striking. Adding a few strokes might turn it into a beautiful painting.” Then, he took up his brush pen and added some branches and leaves between the red spots. He made the blood look like some delicate and charming peach blossoms.

When Li woke up, Yang passed her newly painted peach blossom fan to her. Seeing the blossoms, she felt even more sad about her cruel circumstances. At this time, Su Kunsheng, who had taught her to sing Kunqu back to his hometown in Henan Province. He planned to visit Hou on the way. Now he had come to ask Li if she’d like to send any message. Li thought it over and handed her fan to him, “All my regards and sadness go with this fan. Master, please bring it to him.” Su rode away on his donkey and went straight to his hometown. By the banks of the Yellow River, some bandits attacked him, stole his donkey and pushed him into the water. He cried out for help. A boat came by, and the boatman saved him. There was a woman on board. He took a close look and found to his surprise that it was Li Zhenli. He was amazed to meet her here. She told him her story. Tian，s wife was a very tough woman. After her arrival, that woman had gone into the bridal chamber, pulled her out and beat her almost to death. Tian offered her no support. Later, she was sent as a gift to one of Tian’s soldiers. That day, the veteran had sent her out on an errand by boat. This was how she had come to meet Su on board the boat.

They talked about what had happened since their last meeting. Their conversation drew the attention of someone else on the boat beside them. It was none other than Hou Fangyu. He recognized that the speakers were Li Zhenli and Su Kunsheng and yelled out to them. All of them were overjoyed. Hou asked them about Li Xiangjun first. Li told him what had happened to Xiangjun, and Su gave him the peach blossom fan and told him how the blossoms had come into being. Holding the fan, Hou burst into tears of frustrated desolation.

After they parted, Hou went back to Nanjing to rejoin Li. But he couldn’t find her in Meixiang Lou. He didn’t know that Li and some other famous singers had been brought to rehearse a new play in the imperial palace. He went to the Fu She to see his old friends just as RuanJs men were setting a trap for them. Finally, Hou and his friends were all captured.

Soon, Manchu troops crossed the Huaihe River and approached the Yangtze River. Nanjing fell into disorder. Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng fled from the city. Yang fled back to his hometown in Guizhou Province. Li escaped from the palace by pure luck. She went back to Meixiang Lou and met Su Kunsheng. Su told her Hou had been put in prison. But now all prisoners had been released so Hou should be free. But nobody knew where he was.

The Manchu troops were stationed in town. So Meixiang Lou was not a safe place to stay either. Li and Su went to Qixia Mountain to the east of the town and tried to find shelter there. By this time, Hou by chance was hiding here too after escaping from jail.

No country No home

One day, Baiyun Nunnery on Qixia Mountain held a memorial ceremony for its faithful officials and martyrs. Many people came from the temples and nunneries including monks, Taoists, and refugees. Hou came to Baiyun Nunnery too carrying the peach blossom fan. When he stepped into the nunnery, he saw a familiar figure. It was none other than Li his love who he was thinking about day and night. He went to her and caught her arm. She turned around and saw Hou, the man she yearned for day and night standing next to her. She was overjoyed. He gave her the fan and said, “Look at these peach blossoms, what can I do to make it up to you for the pain you have suffered?”

At this moment, the head of Baiyun Nunnery seized the fan and inquired angrily, “At a time when the country has been defeated and our homeland lost, all you two can think about is your personal feeling. Have you forgotten loyalty and righteousness? What about our country?”

These words shamed the lovers, and they bowed their heads in respect to the head of the nunnery. They studied the Taoist ways, and Taoist meditation and their lives were filled with regret for their lost country.