The Peach Blossom Fan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Peach-Blossom Fan is a musical play and historical drama in 44 scenes that was completed in 1699 by the early Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

playwright Kong Shangren

Kong Shangren

Kong Shangren was a Qing Dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his chuanqi play The Peach Blossom Fan about the last days of the Ming dynasty....

(孔尚任) after more than 10 years of effort. The play recounts the dying of the Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

through the love story of its two main characters, young scholar Hou Fangyu (侯方域) and courtesan Li Xiangjun (李香君). The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature has called it "China's greatest historical drama."

Background

In the early Qing dynasty, the rise and fall of the country touched many poets and playwrights, especially intellectuals, which pushed them into thinking of the historical lessons taught by the downfall. These writers, including Kong Shangren, expressed hatred and regret to the collaps of Ming dynasty through their works with sense of historical responsibility. Kong said he wanted to make clear what had made the decay happen.
Kong heard plenty of stories about the period of Hong Guang (弘光) from his cousin Kong Fangxun (孔方训), where the Li Xiangjun's tale inspired him of creating the script. But at that time, it was only a draft because Kong wanted to collect historical details. So during his 3-year dalay in the south district of the Yangtze River, where the story happened, he got acquainted with Ming loyalists like Mao Xiang (冒襄), Deng Hanyi (邓汉仪), Xu Shuxue (许漱雪), Zong Yuanding (宗元鼎), She Chacun (社茶村) and masters of art like Shitao

Shitao

Shi Tao ; , born Zhu Ruoji was a Chinese landscape painter and poet during the early Qing Dynasty .Born in Quanzhou County in Guangxi province, Shi Tao was a member of the Ming royal house. He narrowly avoided catastrophe in 1644 when the Ming Dynasty fell to invading Manchurians and civil rebellion...

(石涛), Gong Xian

Gong Xian

Gong Xian was a Chinese painter, the most important of the Eight Masters of Nanjing and the leading painter of the Nanjing school....

(龚贤), Cha Shibiao (查士标). He also visited historical sites such as Plum Blossom Mountain (梅花岭), Qin Huai River (秦淮河), Swallow Rock

Swallow Rock

Swallow Rock is a small scenic area in the northwest part of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. It's one of the three most famous rocks in Nanjing. Swallow Rock is 36 meters high. The rock stands in the Yangzi river, shaped like a flying swallow, so it's called The Swallow Rock.Swallow Rock is also...

(燕子矶), Imperial Palace, and the Mausoleum of the Ming Emperor (明孝陵).

Plot

In the late Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty

, the reformist Donglin movement

Donglin movement

The Donglin movement was an ideological and philosophical movement of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties of China.The movement was established in 1604, during the Wanli era, when Gu Xiancheng , a Ming Grand Secretary, and Gao Panlong , a scholar, restored the Donglin Academy in Wuxi with the...

(东林党) reinstituted the "Restoration Society" (Fushe 复社) in Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

to fight corrupt officials. Hou Fangyu (侯方域), one of the Society's members, fell in love with courtesan Li Xiangjun (李香君) beside Qinhuai River

Qinhuai River

-Brief Introductions:The Qinhuai River is the biggest river in Nanjing. It's also the birthplace of the age-old Nanjing culture. As such, it's called "Nanjing's mother river". It is the "life blood" of the city. Qinhuai River is so fascinating that it captures the imaginations of people both at...

. He sent Li a fan as a gift and became engaged to her. An official called Ruan Dacheng (阮大铖), delivered trousseau through celebrity Yang Longyou (杨龙友) for Hou in order not to be isolated from the royal court. Hou was persuaded into acception, but Li rejected the gift firmly, which won Hou's respect.

Because he lacked military provisions, the commander of Wuchang Zuo Liangyu (左良玉) intended to move his army south to Nanjing, which terrified the court. Considering Hou's father had once been Zuo's superior, Nanjing officials sent Yang to ask Hou for help as a substitute. Hou wrote a letter to discourage Zuo from moving, but was slandered by Ruan for betraying the country, forcing him to find shelter with Shi Kefa

Shi Kefa

Shi Kefa , style names Xianzhi and Daolin , was a government official and calligrapher of the late Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. Shi Kefa was born in Xiangfu and claimed ancestry from Daxing County, Shuntianfu . He was mentored by Zuo Guangdou...

in Yangzhou

Yangzhou

Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...

. Li and Hou were separated.

At that time, the political situation run out of control. News came that Li Zicheng, the leader of peasant rebellion, had captured the capital Beijing, and that the Chongzhen Emperor

Chongzhen Emperor

The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...

had hanged himself. Ruan and Ma Shiying (马士英), the local governor of Fengyang (凤阳督抚), crowned the Prince of Fu (福王) Zhu Yousong as new Emperor and changed the title of the reign into Hongguang 弘光. They persecuted Reformists and indulged the Emperor with lust. Governor of Cao (曹抚) Tian Yang (田仰) coveted Li's beauty and wanted to take her as concubine. At the marrying ceremony, Li resisted with death. She knocked her head on a pillar, leaving blood spots on the fan, which was given by Hou. After that, Yang drew a branch of peach blossoms with Li's blood on the fan, and it was sent to Hou to show Li's determination.

The Qing's army continued to go south, threatening the Ming government. However, the internal conflicts among four generals, who was in charge of strategic posts in north of the Yangtze River, were fierce, and Shi Kefa himself couldn't retrieve the defeat. Meanwhile, the new Emperor never cared about politics, only lost himself in song and dance. Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng sent Li into the court as a gift, catering to the Emperor. Li scolded the evil officials to their face and was beaten cruelly. Hou fled to Nanjing during the chaotic war but was caught and sent into prison by Ruan.

Yangzhou fell and Shi drowned himself into the river. The new Emperor was captured by the Qing army. Hou and Li met each other occasionally at Qixia Mountain

Qixia Mountain

Qixia Mountain is a mountain in the northeast part of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.In the Southern Dynasties, there was a Qixia cottage in the mountain, so the mountain’s name Qixia derived from it...

. When they were telling their affection, the Taoist Zhang Yaoxing (张瑶星)'s saying "How could you still be indulged in your little affection after the devastation of your country?" struck them both. Li thus became a nun, while Hou followed her step to become a Taoist priest.

Characters

The play involves in 30 main characters which are divided into "Se Bu" (Colour department 色部), "Qi Bu" (Energy department 气部) and "Zong Bu" (Overall department 总部).

14 roles in "Se Bu" play the story line, expressing the sentiment of separation and reunion. It consists of two parts, male characters, led by Hou Fangyu in "Zuo Bu" (left department 左部), and female characters, led by Li Xiangjun in "You Bu"(right department 右部). And both of the two parts are divided into "Zheng Se" (Main Colour正色), "Jian Se" (Neutral Colour 间色), "He Se" (Combinative Colour 合色), and "Run Se" (Supporting Colour 润色) four sections.

"Qi Bu", with a total of 12 characters, perform mostly on the rise and fall of history. It has two parts, the "Ji Bu" (Odd department 奇部) and the "Ou Bu" (Even department 偶部), where the later one consists of "Zhong Qi" (Neutural energy 中气), "Li Qi" (Criminal energy 戾气), "Yu Qi" (Residual energy 余气) and "Sha Qi" (Evil energy 煞气).

The other 2 characters in "Zong Bu", Taoist warp star (经星) Zhang Yaoxing (张瑶星) and weft star (纬星) who is the master of ceremonies in Nanjing Tai Chang Temple, runs through the whole play intending to introduce the backgrounds and other complements.

Character List

(in order of appearance)

The Master of Ceremonies of the Imperial Temple in Nanjing

Hou Fangyu, a young scholar of distinction

Chen Zhenhui, fellow member of the Revival Club

Wu Yingji, fellow member of the Revival Club

Liu Jingting, a veteran minstrel of renown

Li Zhenli, proprietress of an elegant house of pleasure and foster mother of the heroine

Yang Wencong, painter, poet, and official

Li Xiangjun, the heroine courtesan

Su Kunsheng, Li's singing teacher

Ruan Dacheng, corrupt politician, dramatist and poet

Ding Jizhi, poet-musician

Shen Gongxian, poet-musician

Zhang Yanzhu, poet-musician

Bian Yujing, professional singing-girl

Kou Baimen, professional singing-girl

Zhen Tuoniang, professional singing-girl

General Zuo Liangyu, commander of the Wu Chang garrison

General Shi Kefa, President of the Board of War at Nanjing

Ma Shiying, Governor of Feng Yang and Grand Secretary

General Yuan Jixian

General Huang Degong

Emperor Hong Guang

General Liu Zeqing

General Gao Jie

General Liu Liangzuo

Lan Ying, a famous painter

Cai Yisuo, a Nanjing bookseller

Zhang Wei (Zhang the Taoist), former commander of the Imperial Guard in Peking

Huang Shu, Inspector General

Tian Xiong, adjutant to General Huang Degong

Han Zanzhou, a magistrate's runner

Stage Performance and Adaptations

As soon as Kong finished the script of The Peach Blossom Fan, it was lent out and spread quickly among scholars and aristocrats. In the Autumn of the year Jimao, even the the emperor sent servant to Kong's house, asking in haste for the complete script. In the next year, General Li Muan set up a therical troupe called Jin Dou to perform the play, which gained huge fame immediately. Each time the troupe performed, actors and actresses were given considerable tips.

Emperor Kangxi loves this play in particular. Every time he watched the Act She Chao and Xuan You, he sighed with emotion.

Merchants in Yang Zhou once raised 160 thousand gold for the costume in the play.

During the World War Two, the famous Chinese playwright OuYang Yuqian(欧阳予倩) adapted the endding of the play into "Having cut his hair, Hou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and served its royal court.", satiring the traitor Wang Jingwei

Wang Jingwei

Wang Jingwei , alternate name Wang Zhaoming, was a Chinese politician. He was initially known as a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang , but later became increasingly anti-Communist after his efforts to collaborate with the CCP ended in political failure...

of that time.

In 1964, playwright Mei Qian(梅阡) and Sun Jing(孙敬), using Ou's endding, put the drama into a movie script, starring famous actress Wang Fengdan and actor Feng Jie.

Reception

Liang Qichao

Liang Qichao |Styled]] Zhuoru, ; Pseudonym: Rengong) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty , who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements...

(1873–1929) wrote that this play was "a book of utmost desolation, poignant splendor, and utmost turmoil." He further wrote: "With the refined strictness of its structure, the magnificence of its style, and the depth of its sentiments, I would venture that Kong Shangren's Peach Blossom Fan surpasses the works of all epochs!"

Scholar Wang Guowei

Wang Guowei

Wang Guowei , courtesy name Jing'an or Baiyu , was a Chinese scholar, writer and poet...