Author: Jiang Chunlin

In Chapter 63, Baochai's flower lot is:

“

Picture: A peony

Words: Beauty unparalleled among all flowers

Poem: Even without feeling, still captivating

Note: Everyone at the feast drinks a cup in celebration; this is the queen of all flowers. She may command anyone at will, and whether it be poetry or elegant jesting, whoever speaks must do so to accompany the wine.

”

Baochai was the first to draw a flower lot.

The peony is a woody flowering plant. Among all flowers, the peony holds a special place and is called the king of flowers. At the very mention of the peony, one senses a regal aura that looks down upon all other blossoms. The peony's bearing is innately dignified and luxurious; "National beauty drunk in morning dew, heavenly fragrance dyed at night" gave rise to the idiom "national beauty and heavenly fragrance," and together with the plum blossom it is one of the two great candidate flowers for our national flower. The peony is plump and gorgeously beautiful, its wealth and nobility irresistible, yet it inevitably also has a vulgar and coquettish side, which fits perfectly with Baochai's background in a imperial-merchant family where "pearls are like dirt and gold like iron."

The peony is closely connected with one of the Four Great Beauties, the imperial consort Yang Yuhuan. During the Kaiyuan era, Emperor Ming of Tang and Consort Yang admired peonies before the Chenxiang Pavilion, and the great poet Li Bai presented three pieces of "Qingping Diao," in which "the famous flower and the beauty who overturns a nation delight each other," comparing the peony to Consort Yang, flower shadow and human face hard to tell apart, romantic and refined, spring feeling boundless. In Chapter 77, Baoyu in his lament to Xiren mentions "in small subjects for comparison, there is Yang Taizhen's tree peony at the Chenxiang Pavilion, the acacia tree at the Duanzheng Tower, the grass on Wang Zhaojun's tomb - do these not also have their efficacy?" Yang Taizhen's tree peony at the Chenxiang Pavilion refers to this very allusion.

The author compares Baochai to Consort Yang. Baochai is bright and charming, with plump and lustrous flesh and bone, a round and radiant, wealthy and dignified plump beauty. In addition, Baochai's skin is white as snow, her face like a silver basin, her eyes like water apricots - her face white and tender as a silver basin, her eyes lively as water apricots. Chinese people have an old saying, "one white covers a hundred uglinesses." Daughters are made of water, and her surname Xue is a homophone for "snow," appearing as the solid form of water; moreover her skin surpasses snow, and when Xing'er introduces her he says she "was simply piled out of snow." He exaggeratedly says he does not dare breathe out, for fear the warmth of his breath would melt the one surnamed Xue. In "Song of Everlasting Sorrow," Consort Yang is likewise described with the line "snow-white skin and flower-like face, she seems to match."

To be both plump and white and still rank among the beauties is surely to be a beauty of extraordinary power, because plumpness gives a feeling of insufficient lightness, and whiteness makes one look plumper still; only with bones concealing elegance and dignity without being bloated, along with outstanding beauty, can one be the most beautiful of all flowers. With such astonishing natural gifts, of course she has no need for expensive cosmetics or elaborate jewelry, because such piles of flowers and powders would be superfluous for her - she dislikes how rouge and powder defile her complexion. Baochai is full of reserve and confidence in both her inner and outer beauty; thus although in daily life she wears clothes of one color, half-new and half-old, appearing not at all luxurious, in fact it is understated luxury, her bearing composed, and she dares to say"Only when the pale is extreme does one know the flower is more brilliant"”。

Baochai is plump and dislikes exercise; occasionally chasing a butterfly once leaves her drenched in fragrant sweat and panting softly. In Chapter 30, because it is summer and she fears the heat, she is too lazy to go out and listen to opera. Baoyu, making conversation, says to Baochai, "No wonder they compare you to Consort Yang - it turns out you too are plump and fear the heat." This enrages Baochai. To say such a thing to a girl's face about being fat is practically mockery. Moreover, in orthodox thinking Consort Yang belongs to the category of "beauties who bring disaster," which of course Baochai, who always guards her maiden reputation, cannot tolerate. So she, who generally does not lose her temper, retorts with a cold smile, "I may resemble Consort Yang, only I have no good brother or good cousin to play the role of Yang Guozhong!" This greatly astonishes Baoyu, who had always thought Sister Bao was modest and gentle. Although she does not want others to call her fat, comparing her to Consort Yang's rich beauty is indeed quite apt and worthy of note; if she entered the imperial palace, with her insight and social skills she might well become an imperial consort.

Beauties are divided into plump and slender types. The plump type is typified by Consort Yang, the slender type by Zhao Feiyan, empress of Emperor Cheng of Han. "Huan plump, Yan slender," each represents a different model of beauty. In Dream of the Red Chamber the representative plump beauty is Baochai, the representative slender beauty is Lin Daiyu, one might say they share the honors equally. The chapter title of Chapter 27 is "In the Dripping Emerald Pavilion, Yang the Consort Plays with Painted Butterflies; By the Fragrant Tomb, Feiyan Weeps over Fallen Blossoms," clearly comparing Baochai to Yang Yuhuan and Daiyu to Zhao Feiyan. Very interestingly, poets often compare the voluptuous Consort Yang with the slim and light Zhao Feiyan. For example, the second of Li Bai's three "Qingping Diao" has the line: "May I ask, in the Han palace who could compare? Only the lovely Feiyan leaning on her new makeup." In Dream of the Red Chamber there is a person, Keqing, who, like her childhood name Jianmei ("combining beauties"), is bright and charming like Baochai, and elegant and graceful like Daiyu, harmoniously fusing the beauty of both; she is a figure of the immortal realm. Only by today, the world belongs to slender beauties; delicate, light, slim, youthful, bony beauties are far more popular, so beauty-loving girls are constantly saying they want to lose weight.

Eileen Chang in "On Writing" mentions the opera lyrics "At the fifth watch, the third point, one gazes at the morning star; civil and military officials go up to the court. Through the East Hua Dragon Gate the civil officials walk, through the West Hua Dragon Gate the military officers march. Civil officials wield the brush to pacify the realm, military officers mount horses to settle the cosmos..." After quoting this, Eileen Chang says, "They possess the same kind of cosmology - what a naive and pure, luminous and orderly social order: 'Civil officials wield the brush to pacify the realm, military officers mount horses to settle the cosmos!' To think of it moves one to tears."A luminous and orderly society is also what Baochai affirms and upholds. Baochai strictly observes feudal norms, is strict with herself, and becomes a feudal gentlewoman under standard norms. She also hopes that men will strive likewise. In Chapter 42, Baochai has a heart-to-heart talk with Daiyu: "So it is better that we girls do not know how to read. If men read books without understanding principle, they are worse than if they had not read at all, let alone you and me. Even composing poems and writing characters is originally not our proper business, nor is it really a man's proper business either. If men read books and understand principle, aiding the state and governing the people, that is good. But nowadays one does not hear of such men; having read books, they are worse instead. It is the books that have misled them, but alas, they have also ruined the books. So it is better to farm or trade, which at least does no great harm. You and I should only do needlework and weaving; yet we happen to know how to read. Since we do know how to read, it would be enough to read only the proper works, but the most fearful thing is to encounter miscellaneous books, which shift one's temperament beyond saving." "If men read books and understand principle, aiding the state and governing the people, that is good." This is the order for men who read: her ideal reading man reads books, understands principle, aids the state, and governs the people. "But nowadays one does not hear of such men; having read books, they are worse instead. It is the books that have misled them, but alas, they have also ruined the books. So it is better to farm or trade, which at least does no great harm." This is the order for men who do not read: content themselves with farming or trade. "Even composing poems and writing characters is originally not our proper business" and "You and I should only do needlework and weaving" - this is the order for women. Baochai has a whole system in her heart. When she sees Xiren say, "There should be some sense of propriety and etiquette among sisters; one cannot carry on day and night like that! No matter how people advise, it goes in one ear and out the other," she looks at Xiren with new eyes, feeling Xiren has some discernment, because Xiren's thinking on this point accords with hers. The intimate quarrels and emotional entanglements between Baoyu and Daiyu seem to her inappropriate; her reminder to Daiyu not to let miscellaneous books shift her temperament is also heartfelt.

Yet worldly affairs are complex. Even if she brings human understanding to its best and most extreme, and keeps herself far from the vortex of right and wrong, she remains only a weak maiden deep in the inner chambers, unable to shake society in the slightest. She clearly recognizes that "nowadays one does not hear of such men; having read books, they are worse instead." "Before one's eyes the road has no lines of warp and weft; within the skin, spring and autumn are vainly black and yellow." Baoyu only says this Sister Bao "can only request these operas." But he does not know that Baochai understood before he did; she had long since experienced the desolation of life: "No destiny, in a blink we part. Bare and naked we come and go, with nothing to hold." She too is one whose song is lofty and whose company is scant, with no one to truly know her. She can, while entertaining Grandmother Jia, take her own pleasure in savoring the deeper meaning in the songs - who else could reach such a realm?

Baoyu's behavior does not meet with her approval. He is a wealthy idler with no interest in fame or profit, believing he is born to enjoy without giving anything: "Just don't listen to those vulgar sayings or think those vulgar thoughts; just enjoy your wealth and honor in peace." "If I can spend one day with the sisters, that is one day; when I die, it is over. What after-affairs? What after-affairs?" "No matter how he fails to provide for the future, he cannot leave the two of us short." Baochai knows that a person like Baoyu will find it hard to stand in the world. She agrees with Xiangyun that Baoyu should often meet those who hold office and discuss the learning of official career and worldly economy, so that in the future he may handle social affairs and have friends. She never forgets to admonish him, wanting to draw him onto the proper path; she even uses Xiangling's diligence in learning poetry to spur him on. Later there is also the story of Xue Baochai using words to admonish by indirection. She stands high and sees far, with great foresight; the principles she states are, even in modern society, mainstream thinking. Most of her persuasion of Baoyu is what most women expect of their husbands.

Baochai's flower-lot poem comes from Luo Yin of Tang, "Peony Flower":

"As if sharing the east wind with a special cause, crimson silk high-rolled cannot bear the spring. If it could speak, it should overturn a nation; even without feeling, it is still captivating.

The herbaceous peony serves as your attendant; where can the hibiscus avoid your fragrant dust? Pitiful that after Lord Han's achievement, the lush bloom was betrayed and this life passed!"

In this poem there is a line: "The herbaceous peony serves as your attendant; where can the hibiscus avoid your fragrant dust?"

The herbaceous peony and the tree peony are very similar in flower shape and leaves. The tree peony is woody, the herbaceous peony is herbaceous. The tree peony is also called "woody herbaceous peony," and the herbaceous peony is also called "grass peony." The ancients judged flowers: tree peony first, herbaceous peony second, calling the tree peony the king of flowers and the herbaceous peony the minister of flowers. Planting tree peonies and herbaceous peonies together can markedly promote the growth of the tree peony. In flowering period, the tree peony comes first and the herbaceous peony after: "When the peony has fallen, it is truly desolate; when the red herbaceous peony blooms, one gets drunk." The herbaceous peony is also called "the one that closes spring."

This connects with the fact that Daiyu draws the hibiscus, while the herbaceous peony is everywhere associated with Xiangyun: in the daytime Xiangyun drinks too much wine and uses herbaceous peonies as a pillow and as a mattress, forming a veritable picture of a spring sleep among herbaceous peonies. "The herbaceous peony serves as your attendant" - in Daiyu's eyes, Baochai and Xiangyun are very close to Baoyu, already reaching the level of attending on him, making Daiyu sigh that this Brother Bao forgets his sister when he sees an elder sister. Baoyu has possible marital ties and hints with both Baochai and Xiangyun - one is the gold-and-jade marriage, the other the white-haired twin stars brought together by the qilin. Because of the comparison with Baochai, Daiyu's love suffers torment; because of Xiangyun's existence, Daiyu is constantly anxious and sorrowful. And Daiyu's lot is the hibiscus - one can only marvel at the coincidence of such an arrangement: truly, "where can the hibiscus avoid your fragrant dust?"

Yet the flower lot is on the surface an auspicious saying, but in reality it is not entirely so. Look at the last line of this poem: "Pitiful that after Lord Han's achievement, the lush bloom was betrayed and this life passed." Lord Han refers to Han Hong, who once served as Secretariat Director. It happened that in the capital both the powerful and the common people all admired peonies, and carriages and horses went mad as the whole city admired peonies. But Lord Han cut down the peonies in his home: "How could I imitate the ways of boys and girls?" Even if the peony is of national beauty and wealth, in the end not everyone is fanatical about it, not everyone loves it; in the end there are still those who betray its lush bloom. Just like Baochai's fate: even if everyone praises her and she is captivating everywhere, unfortunately she meets Baoyu. Baochai's snowy-white arm, set off by the red agate beads, is fine, white, and tender; even Baoyu, who grew up among beauties and has seen many, is stunned, his heart swaying. Yet that is all. He respects and reveres her, but does not love her. Though he once possesses Baochai's person, he cannot possess Baoyu's heart; though they may respect each other as husband and wife, in the end his feelings are unsettled. Baoyu faces in vain the "crystalline snow of the lofty recluse in the mountains"; to the end he cannot forget "the lonely lin of the immortal maiden beyond the world." In the end Baoyu betrays the nation-toppling peony; the most feeling of the feelingless becomes the most feelingless of all.

Daily Guess

To catch the bandits, first catch their leader

--Who said this in Dream of the Red Chamber?

Last issue's answer: Sheyue