Chen Yuanyuan
Chen Yuanyuan | |
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Yiji |
Chen Yuanyuan | |
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Hanyu Pinyin | Wǎnfēn |
Chen Yuanyuan (1624–1681)
In one story popularized during the
Biography
Chen Yuanyuan was born to a peasant family in Jiangsu province, and on the death of her father, she became a Yiji. Chen became a leading figure in the Suzhou kunqu scene.[2] An account praised her performance as the maid Hongniang in Romance of the Western Chamber.[3] In 1642, she became the lover of the scholar and poet Mao Xiang,[4] who became infatuated with her after watching her in The Story of the Red Plum, sung in the yiyangqiang style.[5] Subsequently, Chen was bought by the family of Tian Hongyu, father of one of the Chongzhen Emperor's favorite concubine Tian Xiuying. She was then either purchased for Wu Sangui by his father,[6] or given to Wu as a gift by Tian.[7]
She is one of the
, andAfter failing to deter Wu Sangui's rebellion, Chen asked General Ma Bao to escort her and her son with Wu Sangui, Wu Qihua, to what is now known as the Majia Zhai village in Guizhou, where they would hide amongst the ethnic minorities who were hostile to Qing rule.[4] Seen as a connection to a failed uprising, this knowledge was subsequently only passed down by oral history until the 20th century, when it was published by historian Huang Tousong.[4] The inscription on the tombstones were intentionally cryptic to deter detection throughout the years but has been confirmed by government historians in 2005.[4] Locals believe that she retired as a nun later in life.[4]
In fiction
In April 1644, the rebel army of
In popular lore, however, Chen Yuanyuan takes a more dramatic and romanticized role in these pivotal events. According to stories that emerged in the Kangxi era, Wu Sangui's motivation for joining forces with the Qing to attack Li Zicheng was that Li had abducted and (by some accounts) raped Chen, Wu's beloved concubine. This version of the tale was made famous by Wu Weiye's qu, the Song of Yuanyuan:[11]
In that time when the emperor abandoned the human world,
Wu crushed the enemy and captured the capital, bearing down from Jade Pass.
The six armies, wailing and grieving, were uniformly clad in the white of mourning,
One wave of headgear-lifting anger propelled him, all for the sake of the fair-faced one.
The fair-faced one, drifting, and fallen, was not what I longed for.
The offending bandits, smote by heaven, wallowed in wanton pleasures.
Lightning swept the Yellow Turbans, the Black Mountain troops were quelled.
Having wailed for ruler and kin, I met her again.
Although such stories tying the downfall of the dynasty to the relationship between Wu and Chen proved popular, some historians regard them as products of popular fiction.[13][14][15][16] By some accounts, Chen Yuanyuan was raped and killed in the fall of Beijing. But, by other accounts, it is believed that she was subsequently reunited with Wu Sangui. One story claims that later in life, she changed her name and became a nun in Kunming after Wu Sangui's failed rebellion against the Qing.[17] This story may also be a later fabrication, or popular folklore.[18][19]
References
- ^ Peterson 2000
- ^ Lee & Stephanowska 1998
- Brill. p. 95.
- ^ a b c d e "The Chinese village that kept a courtesan's secret for centuries". South China Morning Post. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
- ^ Lee & Stephanowska 1998
- ^ Lee & Stephanowska 1998
- ^ Peterson 2000
- ^ Xie & Shi (2014), p. 181.
- ^ Wakeman 1986, pp. 291, 295
- ^ Wakeman 1986, p. 300
- ^ Wakeman 1986, pp. 292–294
- ^ Chang & Owen 2010, p. 179
- ^ Wakeman 1986, pp. 292–294
- ^ Spence 1990, p. 33
- ^ Huang 1997, p. 205
- ^ Lovell 2006, p. 252
- ^ Peterson 2000
- ^ Lee & Stephanowska 1998, p. 25
- ^ Wakeman 2009, p. 123
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-521-85559-4, retrieved 2015-05-14
- ISBN 978-1-56324-731-6
- Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Stephanowska, A.D. (1998), Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Qing Period, 1644-1911, East Gate, pp. 21–26, ISBN 0-7656-0043-9, retrieved 2015-05-14
- ISBN 9781843542124
- Peterson, Barbara Bennett (2000), Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century, East Gate, pp. 330–334, ISBN 0-7656-0504-X, retrieved 2015-05-14
- ISBN 9780393307801
- ISBN 0520048040
- ISBN 9780520256064
- Xie 谢, Yongfang 永芳; Shi 施, Qin 琴 (2014). "像传题咏与经典重构———以《秦淮八艳图咏》为中心" [Acclaim for portraits and classical reconstruction: 'Qinhuai bayan tuyong' as the centre]. Zhongguo Wenhua Yanjiu (2): 180–188.
See also
- The Deer and the Cauldron, a wuxia novel by Jin Yong in which Chen appears.
- The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-made Asia, Empress Xiaozhuang, a historical novel by Alice Poonin which Chen has a minor role.
- Tales of Ming Courtesans, a historical novel by Alice Poon in which Chen is one of the three protagonists, the other two being Liu Rushi and Li Xiangjun.