THE TANel FENG SHUANGFEl: A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE ON THE GENDER
AND SEXUAL POLITICS OF LATE-QING CHINA
by
WENJIA LIU
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Department of East Asian
Languages and Literatures
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
September 2010
ii
University of Oregon Graduate School
Confirmation of Approval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by:
Wenjia Liu
Title:
"The Tanci Fengshuangfei: A Female Perspective on the Gender and Sexual Politics of late-Qing
China"
This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree in the Department of East Asian Languages & Literature by:
Maram Epstein, Chairperson, East Asian Languages & Literature
Yugen Wang, Member, East Asian Languages & Literature
Tze-lan Sang, Member, East Asian Languages & Literature
Ina Asim, Outside Member, History
and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies/Dean of the Graduate
School for the University of Oregon.
September 4,2010
Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of Oregon
Libraries.
© 2010 Wenjia Liu
111
Wenjia Liu
An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of
for the degree of
iv
Doctor ofPhilosophy
in the Department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures
to be taken September 201 0
Title: THE TANCI FENGSHUANGFEI: A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE ON THE
GENDER AND SEXUAL POLITICS OF LATE-QING CHINA
Approved: _
Maram Epstein
The late-Qing fanci "A Pair of Male Phoenixes Flying Together" (Feng shuangfei
l1l1f.:m:; preface dated 1899) is unusual for its depiction of a wide variety ofgender
issues and sexual relationships. Because the 52-chapter work is credibly attributed to the
female poet Cheng Huiying, who is known to have written the poetry collection
Beichuang yin 'gao, the fand gives scholars a unique opportunity to see how a gentry
woman thought ofthe gender roles and sexual politics of the late Qing.
My dissertation contains two major sections. Chapters I and II look at Cheng
Huiying and her work as part ofthe "talented women" (cainii :;t3c) culture. These two
chapters demonstrate how Cheng Huiying deliberately establishes herself as a unique
vfemale writing subject and advocates women's agency in determining their own marriage
arrangements, one ofwomen's biggest concerns in premodern China.
Chapters III to VI put Feng shuangfei into the larger context ofmale-authored
fiction and examine how it adopts and rewrites the conventions and motifs common to
xiaoshuo fiction from a female writer's perspective. I first argue that Feng shuangfei can
be considered a serious literary work due to its sophisticated structural design and
characterization, although tanci are usually considered as more popular literature. I then
evaluate how the female author of this tanci subtly reinvents three gendered motifs that
commonly appear in male-authored xiaoshuo fiction. The three motifs are male same-sex
eroticism and homosociality, female same-sex desires, and the stereotypes of shrew and
ideal wife. Through subtle twists in the plot, the tanci suggests the possibility ofthe
expression of female subjectivity and agency within patriarchal Confucian society even
while it follows and supports the normative Confucian order.
The perspectives on gender norms and sexual practices offered in this tanci both
display how a gentry woman thought about these issues in late imperial China and
suggest how the rapid and vast social and ideological changes occurring during the tum
ofthe century opened new spaces for Cheng Huiying to imagine increased agency and
autonomy for women within the domestic sphere.
VI
CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Wenjia Liu
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Fudan University, Shanghai, China
DEGREES AWARDED:
Doctor of Philosophy, East Asian Languages and Literatures, 2010, University of
Oregon.
Master of Arts, East Asian Languages and Literatures, 2006, University of
Oregon.
Bachelor ofArts, Chinese Languages and Literatures, 2003, Fudan University
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Ming-Qing Fiction in Chinese Literature
Gender Studies
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Teaching Assistant, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures,
University of Oregon, Eugene, 2003-2010
VB
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Maram Epstein for her
endless and patient advice and help in the preparation of this manuscript. In addition,
special thanks are due to Professor YugenWang, who always provided me with helpful
input with his knowledge of the classical Chinese. I also thank all my committee
members for their insightful comments and suggestions.
I wish to thank my parents who have been unconditionally supportive to me in my
life, study and career. I also wish to express my deepest appreciation to my husband who
has always been by my side.
To my beloved parents and husband.
Vlll
IX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
1. INTRODUCTION 1
Women's Learning and Writings during the Qing 6
Feng shuangfei: The Author and the Text 12
Multiple Layers of Voices: Constructing the Gendered Subject 24
Issues of Allegory: Self-Referential Characters and Metaphorical Social
and Political Criticism 39
Conclusion 46
II. THE DAWN OF "FREE LOVE": THE NEGOTIATION OF
WOMEN'S ROLES OF HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS 49
Introduction 49
Zhen Daya: The Pursuit of an Individual Identity 51
Zhen Xiaoya: A Follower of the Cult of Chastity 69
Bao Xiang'er: Going against the Cult of Chastity 81
Conclusion 87
III. SELF-CONSCIOUS WRITING: THE AESTHETICS OF
FENG SHUANGFEI 90
Introduction 90
The Magic Numbers: Structure and Numerology in Feng shuangfei 91
The Relational Characters: The Aesthetic Design of Characterization 106
Conclusion 122
IV. HOMOSOCIAL YANG: A NEW TWIST ON CITY-TOPPLING
BEAUTY AND MALE FRIENDSHIP 124
Introduction 124
Male Same-sex Eroticism and Practice: Disastrous Beauty, Corrupted
Scholars, and Disordered Country 129
Male Homosociality: Upright Friends and Ambiguous Brothers 149
Conclusion 172
Chapter Page
x
V. YIN RULES: FEMALE SAME-SEX DESIRE AND AGENCY 174
Introduction 174
Cross-dressing, Fake Marriage and Beyond: The Ambiguous Boundary
between Female Same-sex Desires and Homosociality 177
Qing and Women's Agency: The Desire to Stay Together Forever 193
Conclusion 205
VI. VIRTUOUS WIFE AND SHREWS: RE-ESTABLISHING A
NORMATIVE ORDER 207
The Desirable Shrews 207
Lovely Virtuous Women 228
Conclusion 246
VII. CONCLUSION 249
BIBLIOGRAPHY 260
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
My dissertation focuses on a lanci (51ft iiiJ), Feng shuangfei (~X)(~, Two Male
Phoenixes Flying Together), authored by Cheng Huiying ~!fl{~, a female writer, in
the late nineteenth century. I will look closely at this single lanci work to explore the
female author's perspectives on desire, sexuality, gender politics, and women's
subjectivity.
Tanci is a genre of fiction which includes vernacular and rhymed prosimetrical
narratives and usually serves as an oral performance. Tanci developed from laozhen
(~Jt), a performing art of storytelling accompanied by pipa (f~ ~), a lute popular
during the Tang and Song period. The term lanci appeared during the Ming but was
generally called cihua (iPJiti). In the late Ming, cihua divided into two subgenres,
lanci (plucked rhymes) and guci Ci'IxiPJ, drum songs), depending on the length of verse,
performance dialect and accompanying musical instruments. While guci uses
10-syllable verse, northern dialects, and drums, lanci uses southern dialects, basically
the Wu dialect, in 7-syllable verse, and is performed with pipa lute and sanxian (=~£:,
three-string guitar); it is therefore also called nanci (P?0iPJ, southern verse).
During the mid-Ming, the literati started composing lanci and changed lanci
into a literary genre of higher register. Yang Shen's ,j%t~ (1488-1559) Ershiyi shi
lanci (=+~1:g!(!iiiJ) was based on the twenty-one dynasties' histories and brought
2land into the literati's world of composition, Thereafter, land bifurcated into two
lines: one remained as a performance genre of oral storytelling, and the other was
adopted by literati to become a written form of scholar land novels. I Literary women
also began to write land and their land works have been termed land novels by
recent scholars,2 Although she rejects the nomenclature as xiaoshuo novels, Ellen
Widmer explains that this term distinguishes these works from lanci in general,
including oral performance and the ones written by men, in that "their authorship,
narrating voice, and intended readership were all female,") In my dissertation, r try to
avoid the term "land novels" but instead will directly use the term "land,"
Following the popu larity of Tian yu hua (~~ ft, The Heavens Rain Flowers)
during the late Ming and the early Qing, a number of female-authored land appeared,
including Yuchuan yuan (3S.l)II~, The Destiny of the Jade Bracelet), Anbang zhi (~
*~;t, The Records of Pacification), Zaisheng yuan (W:~±:Jffi, The Destiny of Rebirth),
Zaizao lian (W;@~, Rebuilding Heaven), Liuhua meng Cfmft~, The Dream of the
Pomegranate Flower), Meng ying yuan (~~~, The Destiny of Dream and Shadow),
Bi sheng hua (~j:ft, Flowers Growing from Writing Brushes), and Feng shuangfei,4
I See details of the history of tanci in Bao Zhenpei f!@fI!if, Qingdai nu ::uojia tanci xioshuo lungao m1-t5<:fF~~
ii(J/J'w'W;f/i;'i (Tianjin: Tianjin shehui kexueyuan, 2002), 66-73.
2 See Hu Siao-chen RljI!?tJt, Cainu cheye weimian :t5<:WJl1l:*~~ (Taibei: Maitian chuban, 2003) and Ellen
Widmer, The Beauty and the Book: Women and Fiction in Nineteenth-Century China (Cambridge and London:
Published by Harvard University Asia Center; Distributed by Harvard University Press, 2006).
3 Widmer, The Beauty and the Book, 14.
4 The preface of Tian yu hua is dated Shunzhi 8 (1651), so scholars deduce that the book was finished and
circulated during the late Ming and the early Qing. The earliest extant printed edition is the Yiyin zhai Jliifjffl'
edition, dated Jiaqing 9 (1804). It is presumable that it circulated in manuscript form before the printed version
came out. For details, see Li Ping's~.>jZ preface to Tian yu hua, in Tao Zhenhuai jlIij JiHf, Tian yu hua 7\: ffift, ed.
Zhao Jingshen Jf2(~~, (Henan: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1984), 1-29. Given the thematic similarity to
eighteenth-century fiction, some scholars question the reliability of this date. See W. L. ldema, The Red Brush:
3JiangRuizao ~Jffijrl (1891-1929) quoted Yang Rongshang 1%t1i\t (1754-1816)
who paralleled Tian yu hua with Honglou meng (ng~, The Dream of Red Chamber;
also known as Shitouji :fi ~12, The Story of the Stone) calling them "nanhua
beimeng"(l¥Jft:~t1f, The Flower of the south and The Dream of the north),5 Chen
Yinke ~*J&"lZr (1890-1969) and Guo Moruo :$[51*ii (1892-1978) first reevaluated
Zaisheng yuan as an important piece ofliterature after the May Fourth Movement
advocated against "old fictions." Bi sheng hua, together with Zaisheng yuan and Tian
yu hua, are now considered the "three major works of land' (Bifl iPJ -' A). These
Writing Women ofImperial China (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2004).
These (anci are listed in the order of presumable time of circulation. For more bibliographic information, see Tan
Zhengbi ~iE:!I and Tan Xun ~-B-, ranci xulu 5Ifli;1J~VR(Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1981), and Bao,
Qingdai nii zuojia (anci xioshuo lungao t1HI:::9:W*5Ifli;1J!}llhQ:ffi, 229-300.
The author and the date of Yuchuan yuan are unknown, but it is believed to be the earliest (anci xiaoshuo, which
circulated during the late Ming; the earliest extant edition is the Jingguan zhai ~j(.m iii;' edition, dated Daoguang 22
(1842).
The author and the date of Anbang ::hi are also unknown; the earliest extant edition is dated Daoguang 29 (1849).
Because of its immature form (there are only volumes, but it is not divided into chapters), it is believed to be an
early text.
The authors of Zaisheng yuan are Chen Duansheng Il*~j:, (1751-1790117967) and Liang Desheng w:tw~1l\
(1771-1847); according to Chen Yinke Il*Jirft and Guo Moruo's $~i** research, Chen wrote it from the I760s
to 1780s and Liang continued it during the 1820s until the 1840s; the earliest extant edition is Baoren tang 3I:1=,&
edition, dated Daoguang 2 (1822).
The author of Zai::ao (ian is Hou Zhi 1~~ (1768?-1830); its preface is dated Daoguang 6 (1826); the earliest
extant edition is the Xiangye ge :j!j:rttfllJ edition, dated Daoguang 8 (1828). It is a sequel to Zaishengyuan.
The authors of Liuhua meng are Li Guiyu '${£:IT. and Huanmei nushi m~:9:~; its preface is dated Daoguang
21 (1841); it had been circulated in manuscript form, but was not printed until 1998.
The author of Mengying yuan is Zheng Danruo 1$¥t* (1811 ?-1860); the self-authored preface is dated
Daoguang guimao (1843); the earliest extant edition is the Zhujian zhai rtfaJiIi;' edition, dated Guangxu 21 (1895).
The author of Bi sheng hua is Qiu Xinru .~~IG':izQ (] 8057-?): its preface is dated Xianfeng 7 (I R57); the earliest
extant edition is dated Guangxu 20 (1894).
The author of Feng shuangfei is Cheng Huiying ~j!;\!J~; its preface is dated Guangxu 25 (1899); but oddly, the
earliest extant edition is the Yiyi xuan fflfflff edition, dated Guangxu ershisi nian (1898).
5 Jiang Ruizao ~Jifil~, Xiaoshuo kao::heng !}i5I.olfiiE (Taibei: Wannianqing shudian, 1972), 309. The quoted book,
Guiyuan congtan iJJlllM i&t by Yang Rongshang, is no longer extant.
4works of, for, and by women provide a platform for scholars to directly study the
perspectives of literary women during the Qing.
My research object, Feng shuangfei, consists of fifty-two chapters and is about
the political achievements and romantic lives of the talented and loyal Guo Lingyun
!'f1.\iR;'· and Zhang Yishao ~*j2'§y, who are nicknamed "two male phoenixes flying
together (xJJA.* ~)." Through close readings, I will analyze how the author used
descriptions of sexual behaviors, including heterosexuality, male same-sex practices,
and female same-sex desire, as important thematic components in plot and character
development. By the late nineteenth century, an elite woman could include sexual
content in her discursive world, given the appropriate genre. By comparing Feng
shuangfei to vernacular xiaoshuo fiction, I want to focus on how Cheng Huiying
viewed and used questions of desire and sexuality differently from mainstream male
writers. I hope to uncover Cheng's own voice, under the male "orthodox" ideology, on
these issues as well as to delineate the influence by those major mainstream
male-authored works on lanci authored by this female writer.
While female poetry flourished, lanci also began to appear as a literary genre
primarily of, for and by women, although men were obviously reading them as well,
since they were commenting on them. It was the major and most popular fictional
genre among women, although women also wrote dramas during the Ming and Qing.
Qiu lin 1X:rW. chose the lanci form in her work Jingwei shi (tlIJ2::fd, The Stone of
lingwei) in the 1900s to educate women about equality between men and women.
5Although scholarly attention has lagged behind that given to xiaoshuo fiction, the
genre is slowly being given a place in China's literary history. There were quite a few
articles published about Zaisheng yuan after Chen Yinke recognized its value during
the 1930s, as well as articles on Tian yu hua and Bi sheng hua, the other two of the
"three major works of lanci." In addition to Ellen Widmer's research, Bao Zhenpei ~i'I
~:f:# from mainland China and Hu Siao-chen ~)jB)t0 from Taiwan have published
their research on lanci fiction, arguing the existence of lanci as an important aspect of
a women's literary tradition during the Qing. With the rise of gender studies and
feminism, more and more scholars have started studying this special genre of
women's literature.
It is the norm in xiaoshuo studies to have scores of lengthy and detailed
monographs dedicated to a mainstream masterwork such as Honglou meng. Although
some articles have looked closely at Zaisheng yuan and Tian yu hua, there is no
book-length study that focuses on a specific lanci. I believe the field of literary studies
has matured to the point that literary lanci fiction can be an object of the same level of
scrutiny as xiaoshuo fiction. Current research on female-authored lanci mostly
focuses on tracing a women's literary tradition. There has been no discussion of
women's perspectives on desire and sexuality so far, while there is a lot of research on
Golden Vase, also known as Golden Lotus) and Yesou puyan (IJSIlai J§, A Country
6Codger's Words of Exposure).6 J believe my study on Feng shuangfei will contribute
to the research area in terms of gradually remapping female writers' works and
perspectives during the Qing.
Women's Learning and Writings during the Qing
During the Ming and Qing, growing numbers of women got involved in
intellectual and literary pursuits. While courtesans inherited and developed a tradition
of literary production, gentry women also created their own cuJture of literary creation.
The guixiu (If.] J!§), or talented gentlewomen, tradition expanded rapidly thanks to the
literary production of the elite guixiu women. They, as a new literary circle, shared the
same background of literary education and training, which modern scholars, such as
Dorothy Ko, Susan Mann and Ellen Widmer, have started to rediscover and reveal.
The flourishing of women poets during the Ming and Qing probably was
largely thanks to support by the leading culture figures. Scholars, such as Li Zhi *t~
(1527-1602), Yuan Mei ~;fJ: (1716-1797), and Chen Wenshu ~*Jt:i:f (1771-1843),
encouraged women to learn reading and writing, and their controversial actions,
including taking female disciples, resulted in enormous changes in the opportunities
for women's literary education and publication. Hu Wenkai's i'iJ1 Jt*~ Lidailuna
zhuzuo kao (JJ51-\::5z:t9:~ff5!5) recorded over 3000 female \vriters during the Qing,
(, See Ding Naifei, Obscene things: the sexual politics in Jin Ping Mei (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002),
Keith Mc Mahon, Causality and Containment in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Fiction (Leiden; New York: E.J.
Brill, 1988), etc.
7who produced shi poetry and ci lyrics. 7 There gradually developed a cainii (71'=9:",
talented women) or guixiu (1'fJ%, gentlewomen) tradition. In the Qing, led by Yuan
Mei, who was famous for his patronage of his female disciples who were called
Suiyuan nU dizi(llftI/7tl=9:"313 j", female disciples of the Sui Garden), intellectuals
advocated for women's cai (/t, talent), along with de (i!, virtue). Parallel to the
cainii tradition, there was also a mingji (~9iL famous courtesan) tradition during the
late Ming and early Qing. These courtesans were usually both beautiful and literary.
The most famous among them were Liu Rushi ~91J~~~ (1618-1664) and Dong
Xiaowan w.: IJ\ 1i!: (1624-1651).
Unlike the famous educated women in the past, literary women during the
Ming and Qing also produced literary works other than poetry. Women writers
consciously compiled anthologies of both male and female poets, among which the
most well-known ones were Wang Duan's tFftffil (1793-1839) Ming sans'hi jia shixuan
(t:!jj -- +%i'if~, Selected poems of thirty Ming authors) and Yun Zhu's 'I~f£*
(1771-1833) Guochao guixiu zhengshiji (~4!flIIJ*iE~f.l1t:, Correct Beginnings:
Women's Poetry of Our Dynasty).8 Meanwhile, female-authored plays, such as Ye
Xiaowan's 1Jt-/J\tA (1613-1657) Yuanyuan meng(~~~, Dream of the Mandarin
Ducks), and Wu Zao's *~ (1799-1863) Qiaoying (n:JJ, Silhouette in Disguise),
marked their contribution in drama. Similar to Zhen Daya in Feng shuangfei, Liang
7 Hu Wenkai's bJJ)[·t~, Lidaifunii zhuzuo kao ))j1~~=J3ze;~1t'%' (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008).
8 See details in Ellen Widmer, The Beauty and the Book: Women and Fiction in Nineteenth-Century China
(Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006).
8Xiaoyu */j"<E (Ming, date unknown) wrote a history of women, Gujin nilshi Ctl~
3z"~, A History of Women From Ancient Times to the Present). The first involvement
of female writers in fiction was in their prefaces to novels, such as the four female
endorsers of Li Ruzhen's *lYJ~ (1763-1830) Jinghua yuan (l!+t:~%c, Flowers in the
Mirror). Later on, women writers stepped into the field ofxiaoshuo fiction-Wang
Duan's Yitan Ming yishi (j[;B)HJ(9:, Lost History of the Yuan and Ming) and Chen
Yichen's ~*5(J';{ (1873-1890) Zhexian lou (l1~Hillt~, Tower of the Descended
Immortal) are not extant, but we are still lucky enough to have Yuncha Waishi'sA't&
(lr se (penname ofGu Taiqing li1.m*iw, 1799-1877) Honglou meng ying (ITt~~~,
Shadows ofDream ofthe Red Chamber), Last but not least is the tand fiction
introduced at the very beginning of this chapter.
Women's literary tradition during the Ming and Qing was also marked by
these female authors' connections and networks with each other. From the Ming on,
elite families increasingly supported and promoted the literary culture of their
daughters and wives. During the late Ming, several families of female poets emerged
in the cainil tradition, including Liang Desheng and Wang Duan who were aunt and
niece, the Zhang 5~ family from Wujin lIti!t the Shen-Ye ~:t-l1t family led by Shen
Yixiu ttH1~ (1590-1635) from Wujiang ~ll, the Shang-Qi jf,1-*~ family led by
Shang Jinglan IBJ::-;: 'C:!;; (1605-1676?) from Shanyin w~)j, and the Fang (JJ) family
(1580s-1670s) from Tongcheng (,fjjlj#&). Not only were women writers connected by
blood and marriage, they were also related by certain famous figures, like the
9interchanging relationships among Wang Duan, the daughter-in-law of Chen Wenshu,
and the disciples of Chen Wenshu including Wu Zao and Gui Maoyi U~f~1x. Even
though some of the talented women never met, they still considered themselves in the
same literary circle because of their shared interests in some literary works. For
example, female writers respond to Zaishengyuan by rewriting the land and to
Hong/au meng by writing poems on it.9
With the support of some leading intellectuals and their families, it was no
longer exceptional for women to publish their works. [n order to support the talented
women as a social capital for their families, private and family publishing houses
were the first to publish literary women's works, including the writings of Wang
Qiong, Jin Ruolan, Wang Duan, and Yun Zhu. Seeing the commercial value of
'J Susan Mann has recently published a book, The Talented lI'omen of the Zhang Family (Berkeley, Los Angeles,
London: University of Califomia, 2007), exclusively on the Zhang family, Ellen Widmer also did detailed research
on women writers' connections in her The Beauty and the Book Baa Zhenpei also briefly reviewed the familial
tradition of female writers in her Qingdai nii zuojia ranci xioshuo lungao (57-58),
Also see Chinese research on these family traditions: Wang Airong IZ:'l~, Duan Xiaohua P1U)t$, "Lun Zhangshi
siyingji ci ji yu Changzhou cipai de guanxi j,t51HI;; ~_4*i,;JZk. "'iJi\' l'I'li,Jj¥JiRi't''1**:' Nanchang daxue xuebao 1¥J~
j;,:"¥:$::rli(Renwen shehui kexue ban A:5CH~H,+)\Ii)40, no.3 (May, 2009): 117-21; Zu Xiaomin THBftRJ&,
Qingdai Tongcheng niL:o:ing wenxue chuangzuo de wenhua neihan ij1j'1-~,fji1J#iXJz'tj:)[,*BIJY~8~:5C1tp;Jiffi, Anhui
daxue shuoshi xuewei lunwen 3Z:tl&:k~rJ9j±~1.tr.j,t:5C(May_ 2006): Nie Zuyu JHtik Shen Yixiu de decaise yu
re Shaoyuan de niixing sanbuxiu-WanMing xinxing cainUji cainiiguan ge 'an yanjiu tt'§:f~tr''11i!\;j-e~rlj-m%i:
1't''1.Y:n'-:'::/f',f'j--IltF~nifilJ'i;j:9.'&;j-:9.'xJl.l1<~1i}t'fG,Shoudu shiran daxue shuoshi xuewei lunwen I'rllllyrjJ1U::k
*,l,i)j± $:11): it)[(May, 2007); Zhang Qinghe *miilJ, J,VanAIing J,Vujiang reshi niLxing wenxue yanjiu 1Jfk, RJ] 31: i..I 111-
~I;; /,cY/::5C"¥:1ijfJi, Wuhan daxue shuoshi xuewei lunwen JlWz. k''f:{iIjj±~{\Lit:5C(May, 2005); Cai Jingping ~rr{f
if, MingQing zhiji Fenhu Yeshi wenxue shijia yanjiu HJ1i~Z piG i5titJJnl' l1;:5C~ti:/J~';::ti}fj-(;. Fudan daxue boshi
xuewei lunwen MJ3Jc"t:lw±"f:-&j,i';:5C(April, 2003); Chen Shuiyun p)j;7.K-E, WangZhuo ::Em, "Wenxue nUxing
cong guinea dao guiwai-yi Shanyin Qishijiazu nUxing wenxue qunti weili :5C~:y:tf)AI*-JfkJ3'IJI'fIH--~lLI~fj
33, noA (July, 2008): 1-6; Hao Lixia JJ;[;NNiYk:, Wujiang Shenshi wenxue shijia yanjiu *iD;tl1;Jt¥tli~rtlJfj-(;,
Hnadong shifan daxue boshi xuewei lunwen $jj~~ijJ1U:A¥tt't+,+:{iLjll2;:5C(April, 2004); Shi Min ;p-~, "Luanli
zhong de yunU-Mingmo cainii Shang Jinglan jiqi hunyin yu jiating I5UiVl=' 1¥L1:d,(--8Jj ;j{;j- :9.'1i1j ~~&;lc1;t.llJ
yr~[~*&t" Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua c-POO!l\!-%If~:5C1t, no.38: 118-124: Chen Shulu ~)j;.:p~*, '''De, cai, se'
zhuti yishi de fusu yu nUxing qunti wenxue de xingsheng-Mingdai Wujiang Yeshi jiazu nilxing wenxue
yanjiu't~, ;j-, fl',' 3=:i*;~i-J(i¥J~1$-"'i:y:'i':UjHt:5C¥8<j~Jlli--8Jj 1~'kiDli-l1;*jj-*:9:tt:5C,-¥':1i}fj-(;," Nanjing
shijan daxue xuebao f¥i*YijJ1'i1:;I;:~~1R(shehuikexue ban f±Q:t4~t&), no,S (Sept., 2001): 132-37,
10
women's writings, commercial publishers soon joined the market. The Jiangnan
region had been a cultural center and therefore a publishing center which contained
major private and commercial publishers, and Shanghai gradually became the heart of
the commercial publishing market. These private and commercial publishers
published various genres of women's writings, including poetry, xiaoshuo fiction,
lanci. 10 It was in this context that the Shanghai shuju published the complete version
ofFeng shuangfei in 1899.
This rich literary context inspired and informed the writings of many women
who wrote poetry, land and critical works. Moreover, from the ideology in their
works, it is safe to assume that the talented and well-educated women who wrote
land were trained within the so-called niljiao (--.9:.:¥t the curriculum for the education
of women) tradition. In addition to some basic classics, such as the Lunyu (1:'8+13-,
Analects) and the Xiao jing (~~, Classic of Filial Piety), other common texts
include the Nil sishu (--.9:.lmt;, Four Books for Women), composed of Ban Zhao's ]j£BB
(45-125) Niljie (frim, Admonitions for Women), Song Ruoshen's *if~ (71-820)
Nillunyun (--.9:.i{:;l'\3-, Analects for Women), Empress Xu's 1~¥J§ (1362-1407)
Neixun (i*J 1)11, Domestic Lessons), and Lady Liu's)i:1j f\; (late Ming, ??-71) Niljanjielu
(--.9:. mV!~, Sketch of a Model for Women). The standard curriculum for women
would likely also contain the famous Van Zhitui's ~1Jlz.* (53 ]-591) Yanshijiaxun
(~f\;%1)11, The Family Instructions of Master Van), Lady Zheng's 1$ f\; (Tang, 71-71)
10 For more details, see Widmer, The Beauty and the Book, 161-73.
II
Nil xiaojing (:9:4tl', Classic of Filial Piety for Women), Empress Zhangsun's *f'J\~
JEi (60 J ~636) Niize (frmlJ, Examples for Women), etc. As suggested by the two of
these texts that date from the Ming, the curriculum for women was still evolving
during the Qing. Qing additions include Lan Dingyuan 'silliilff, JC (1680- J733) Nilx:ue
(::~(',¥:, Women's Scholarship) and Chen Hongmou's ~*~W (J 696-1771) Jiaonii yigui
(1Jfrill~~, Endurius Principles for Teaching Daughters). The continuing composition
of instructional manuals for women during the Qing was dedicated to women's
education. This indicates that teaching daughters orthodox values was an important
source of social and cultural capital for scholars and their families during the Qing.
In addition, women who wrote tand would likely have been familiar with the
masterpieces and values of the dominant male-authored literary traditions of poetry,
drama and fiction. Ellen Widmer's recently published book, The Beauty and the Book:
vVomen and Fiction in Nineteenth-Century China, has convincingly shown scholars
that after the mid-eighteenth century literary women were all acquainted with
Honglou meng and earlier tand works and many were inspired to write poems or
sequels in response to them. It is presumable that women writers having read Honglou
meng and perhaps other xiaoshuo novels were influenced by the major thematic and
aesthetic concepts in these works of fiction. The important intellectual and cultural
trends in fiction include: the cult of qing '1~, a notion that includes, but is not limited
to passions, emotions, sentiments, and feelings, and also contains the idea of
authenticity, aesthetics and so on; an interest in thinking about new roles for women,
12
in marriage, society and the world of letters; connoissseurship (as opposed to
academic success in the examination system) as a basis for social prestige. I J These
themes appeared in male-dominated literature so frequently that it is assumable that
literary women's tastes were shaped by this larger context.
Feng shuang[ei: The Author and the Text
Feng shuangfei is a land fiction by the female writer Cheng Huiying from
Changzhou (M'1'/'I). Although we know very Iittle about the author and the text
because female writers and their writings were outside the mainstream literature and
have received little scholarly attention, everyone who mentions this land, including
the preface writers and Cheng's contemporaries, claims Cheng Huiying's authorship.
Despite the paucity of information about Cheng, we can still try to perceive a general
picture of the author's life and the background of the land from some scattered
records and Cheng's own works.
First of all, her birth place, Changzhou, actually gives us some clues about her
likely literary training. Cheng was heir to the golden age ofChangzhou's inteJJectual
and literary importance during the Qianglong and Jiaq ing reign periods (1736-1820).
II Analyzing Mudan ting, Honglou meng and Xiaoqing, Judith Zetlin, Li Wai-yee, Maram Epstein and Ellen
Widmer all argue that qing (ti'J, emotions), rather than Ii (fL, rituals), was appreciated and pursued by literati and
there appeared the cuit of qing during the Mmg and the Qing. See Li Wai-yee, Enchantment and Disenchantment:
Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); Maram Epstein, Competing
Discourses: Orthodoxy, Authenticity and Engendered Meanings in Late Imperial Chinese Fiction (Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Asia Center, 2001); Judith Zeitlin, "Shared Dreams: the Story of the Three Wives Commentary
on the Peony Pavilion," Harvard Journal ofAsiatic Studies 54 (1994): 127-79; Ellen Widmer, "Xiaoqing's Literary
Legacy and the Place of the Woman Writer in Late Imperial China," in Late Imperial China 13, no. I (1992):
I t I-55.
13
We can assume that that must have given Cheng Huiying a luxuriant legacy of literary
training and pride. As Susan Mann has demonstrated in her studies, Changzhou
produced a dazzlingly large group of male scholars and "was second only to Suzhou
as a home to female writers: Changzhou boasted 281 women writers and listed 330
separate works by women in its various gazetteers, catalogues and literary
coliections.,,12 Changzhou is also the area that developed an emphasis on women's
family-centered learning, the so-called "mujiao" (-ffJ:?'.)(, instruction by the mother) and
''jiaxue'' (*,+, family learning) tradition. 13 Although Cheng Huiying lived after
Changzhou's greatest days, we can still assume that this rich history and culture of
women's literary learning provided an encouraging environment for her as a talented
woman to become part of the historical and cultural tradition. Her works demonstrate
her confidence as a female writer, as well as her literary tastes, skills and ambitions to
differentiate herself from others and pass down her words.
Some of Cheng Huiying's contemporary scholars did realize the literary value
of her works. From the preface dated 1899, it can be deduced that Cheng finished this
book during the Guangxu reign (1875-1908). Xu Ke's T*'lpJ (1869-1928) Qinghai
leichao o-f!Jf.$~~j;) records briefly her life and works. Since Feng shuangfei was first
printed in 1898, Xu Ke can be considered a contemporary of Cheng Huiyin, and his
book can be taken as a reliable source on Cheng and her works. "She wrote Feng
12 Mann, The Talented Women a/the Zhang Family, 45.
Also see the research works mentioned in footnote NO.9.
13 Mann, The Talented Women a/the Zhang Family, 47.
14
shuangfei lanci. Her talent was so overflowing that paper became expensive at the
time" (~ff. «ffil,)(X~)) 5!fJ.iilj, ;;f"'l.f~~irii., t~~-a-1 0 ).14 Although claims of the
scarceness and high price of the paper were a standard exaggerated expression, Xu's
comment still successfully conveys the idea of how popular the lanci was. Deng
Zhicheng x~Z i!Jx (1887-1960), a younger contemporary of Cheng, also ranked Feng
shuangfei highly for its literary merit in his Gudong suo)i UhtlY1iG, first edition
published in 1926), "Its structure and wording are much better than Tian yu hua and
Zaisheng yuan" (~;ft]Jiiilj~:fr:71::.j~GJfL ¥J::'ttffizl:.).15 In comparing Feng
shuangfei to the most famous and valued lanci, Deng's comments point to the literary
quality of this work, a feature which has been overlooked for more than a century.
In the tradition of introducing authors and their works, scholars also talked
about Cheng Huiying's life. One of the preface writers, Huanzhishi zhuren ~%z:¥:±
.A (Master of the Ganoderma-Washing Study), writes about her, "The lady is from a
famous family and loves writing" (3z,-±*tfj~ n, ttItt@~).16 This short line
established a typical image of a talented woman during the Qing. Xu Ke's records are
more detailed, "Cheng Huiying, whose style is Chenchou, from Yanghu, wrote
Beichuang yingao (Draft Chantings From the North Window). Her family was poor
and she worked as a teacher in a private school for girls" (~Sm.J l!fl(~rg[%, :lif1f (d t
14 Xu Ke ~fiiJ, Qingbai feichao ~f.ll!5iHJ); (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuju, 1966), vol.8, \60-61.
15 Deng Zhicheng x~Z~, Gudong suoji1f'IJgj i.e in Minguo congshu ~ oo.lt, 4S diwu bian ~.lit,1ffl 84 (Shanghai:
Shanghai shudian, 1996), vol. 5, 15.
16 Cheng Huiying l'l11C9t Xinbian Feng shuangfei !1iIit,1fflpq,)(X~ (Beijing: Renming wenxue chubanshe, 1996),
preface.
15
iflltff"J» 0 *~, 7;;1~~{~ljfjL ).17 Xu Ke revealed that Cheng was first a female poet,
as most talented women were, and a teacher of the inner chambers. This reveals her
multiple roles as a female intellectual and leads us to expect that she had more life
experiences than standard guixiu writers. As suggested by Dorothy Ko, Grace Fong
and Susan Mann in their respective works on the lives of some female poets and
teachers of the inner chambers, Cheng Huiying probably also had opportunities to
travel, to struggle for a living and to deal with different kinds of relationships outside
the women's quarters -- to express her own agency in figuring out how to survive on
her own. 18 These experiences presumably gave her inspiration for her writings.
These writers also paint a concise picture of the person of Cheng Huiying and
of her style of writing. Another preface writer, Yongshang yedaoren Wi J.:.!l!fmA
(Wild Daoist Priest from Ningbo) comments on Cheng's literary training and talents,
"When young, the lady had extraordinary ambitions. She is also good at writing. She
has long read the books by Ban Gu and Fan Ye, and her writings have become more
comment create an image of a talented woman, but also of an unusual female scholar
by referring to her "extraordinary ambitions." Instead of reading the typical
17 Xu Ke t%fO], Qingbai leichao ¥i1t~~~y (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuju, 1966), vol.8, 160-61.
IR See Dorothy Ko, Teachers of Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-Century China (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1994); Grace S. Fong, _Herselfan Author: Gender, Agency, and Hlriting in Late Ilnpeiiaf
China (Honolulu: University ofHawai'i Press, 2008); Mann, The Talented Women ofthe Zhang Family.
19 Cheng Huiying, Feng shuangfei, (Yiyixuan edition, 1898), preserved in the National Library of China tp 00 OO~
00 -t5tl'!.
Ban Zhao and Fan Ye are two of the most famous historians who wrote the Book of Han & -t5 (Hanshu) and the
History and the Later Han J§& -t5 (Houhan shu) respectively.
16
scholar-beauty romances that we assume women liked to read, the preface emphasizes
that Cheng Huiying liked to read historical works. The preface further stresses
Cheng's interest in historical works, "Every time when the moon rose in her boudoir,
[Cheng] lit a candle and read history books. When she read that deceptive ministers
bewitched emperors and trapped the loyal and the good, she could not help stopping
I§!.~, /f.,;~J2t-t;*~J(o ).1° From the commentator's descriptions, Cheng's
"extraordinary ambitions" and her interest in history and justice make a perfect link to
her interests in the protagonists' political achievements in her land. Xu Ke, who had
apparently read Cheng's poetry collection, comments on Cheng's poetry, "The poems
she writes are purely the words from one who has seen through the world (yueshi
zhiyan). It is also not what a common guixiu is capable of writing" ()'iff J~ i#, M1 f IJ?J
tltz.1"i, ?J)\~~D· 'ffi I*J~ )'iff~~ 0 ).1 1 The yueshi zhiyan in Cheng's poetry is poss·ibly
related to her personal experiences and might also remind readers of the acute
problems she raises in her land, such as male homoeroticism and women's poverty.
In addition to these succinct records, Cheng Huiying's works also tell us
something about her readings and personal traits. Her poetry collection, Beichuang
20 Ibid.
The reference to Lian Po ElltBi:9l and Lin Xiangru iii;flJPD in Feng shuangfei ( 2! 94) also suggests that she reads
history books like Shiji ~ ic(The Records of the Grand Historian).
21 Xu Ke, Qingbai leichao, 161.
Jiang Ruizao W.li'fflrJ1i(l891-1929) also has the same comment on Cheng Huiying in his Xiaoshuo kao::heng JJ\"l$I.~
i.iE(Taipei: Wannianqing shudian, 1972), 182. As he references, his quote should be from Queming biji {fj)(1'5~ic
(This book is not available in any major library in China, so I believe it is not extant).
17
yingao, is likely no longer extant. However, one poem is preserved in these records
about her. Given that poetry is typically read as more self-referential in comparison to
land and xiaoshuo, it seems reasonable to read this poem as related to her writing of
Feng shuangfei:
t~X :!J~-_. tic1} ,
l)1] :!:-tpJE; 5{Jc~ Jl Zi 0
*~{§ {]t3;Q Dm,
Personal Inscription at the back of
Feng shuangfei, to Yang Xiangwan
Who can I talk to about the traces of my heart in my life?
I would like to tell you with my brush.
Laughter and crying are not necessarily all appropriate,
[But] The courage to speak and criticize in anger can also
become literature.
Heaven-surprising achievements are a dream of three years.
Earth-shaking sorrow and happiness are wisps of cloud.
The opened volume is only for friends who understand me
to read.
Let alone the mundane people who have never heard of it. 22
Similar to Zaisheng yuan, Cheng Huiying stresses in her poem that her work is for
zhiyin/zhiji (3;Q{f/3;Q D, friends who understand her).23 This seems to be a common
point that female lanci writers mention in their works. However, Cheng Huiying
demonstrates an unusual pride in her work. Claiming the trope of madness from
Chinese literary history, she does not care whether subei ({B-~, mundane people) like
her work or even hear of it.24 Her "madness" echoes that of the great Song scholar
writer, Su Shi ~$.J:" who is famous for his "merry laughter and angry criticism can
22 This quoted poem can be found in all the records mentioned above, including Qingbai leichao, Xiaoshuo
kaozheng, and Gudong suoji. We can see how these compilers of records of fiction consider this an important
poem that reveals Cheng Huiying's talent, personality, and \vriting style.
23 Zhiyin and zhiji actually mean the same thing in this case. While zhiji is used here, Chen Duansheng seems to
prefer the word zh!yin. See Chen Duansheng 1l*~1-:. and Liang Desheng f;Il:tWl~, Zaisheng yuan 1'l1-:.~, ed. Zhao
.Iingshen ~:Jlh,* (Henan: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1982), 1,976, etc.
24 The madman from Chu is a very famous literary image in Chinese literary history and a frequent point of
reference in literate writings. Also see footnote 41.
]8
both be writings (YI*:?5.Q;, ~JJJG)(~).,,25 Unlike most female tanci writers who
eagerly try to claim a position of their propriety to legitimate their writings, Cheng
Huiying boldly declares that her writings "are not necessarily all appropriate."
Apparently she also seems very proud of her capability ofturning her angry criticism
into literature. Moreover, though cliched and as unreal as a dream or cloud, the story
she is interested in telling tells of "heaven-surprising achievements" and
"earth-shaking sorrow and happiness," momentous passions that are not expected to
be the topic of a female writer, who, instead is supposed to focus on the trivia of daily
life. In this poem, Cheng Huiying establishes herself as a different female writer, one
who desires to write according to the standards of mainstream male literature.
In addition to her training in poetry, which is not only revealed in her poetry
collection but also in the opening and ending poems in some chapters in Feng
shuangfei, Cheng Huiying also displays her familiarity with popular literature in her
tanci.26 First, she is very fami liar with the writing conventions of drama. Some of the
characters, especially negative ones such as Zhang Cai *~ and Zhang Qihu jK@ ~~,
interrupt the narrative flow to introduce themselves in a monologue. They give their
names, family backgrounds, jobs, personal traits, bad habits and even evil conducts,
25 The phrase is from Huang Tingjian .£g~, "Dongpo xiansheng zhen zan *:l:ffi:5\:;1:1{~," in Huang Tingjian
quanji .£g~~~, ed. Liu Lin ;:<1jJ$j;, Li Yongxian *ffJ 5\:;, Wang Ronggui £~Dll: (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue
chubanshe, 200 1),557-558.
Lu Xun, one of the greatest writers later, is also famous for ~~"!B ~, ~ jjjl;::lI:1\[. As we all know, Lu Xun is also
very famous for his portrayal of the image of a "madman" in his literary debut, "Kuangren riji ftA B lc(The
Diary of a Madman)." And later scholars also comment on his works as "merry laughter and angry criticism can
both be writings ~~"!B~, ~jjjtJt1\[."
2<, For examples of opening and ending poems, see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 115, 165, 258, 35 I, 395, 487, 757,
1277,1382,1481,1532,1719,1856,2339,2436, etc.
19
etc.27 Moreover, the lanci contains direct references to Xixiangji ([§Jf~'-j,c.,Romance
of the West Chamber) and Mudan ling (tift?, Peony PaviJion).28 Second, Cheng
Huiying seems to have been familiar with the convention of xiaoshuo fiction.
Characters and plots drawn from Sanguo yanyi are mentioned frequently in the
lanci.29 Furthermore, the narrator mentions the legendary characters Longgong san
taizi :ftTI.-..:.i;:r (the third princess from the Dragon Palace) and ErIang shen =~1$1tjl,
so presumably the author knows Xiyouji ([§WJ.-j,c., Journey to the West) and possibly
Fengshen yanyi (!ifif1~5(,The Investiture of the Gods). Although these mythical
characters are also common in traditional oral storytelling and drama, it is very likely
that Cheng learned of these characters from novels, considering her familiarity with
the writing techniques, aesthetics and common motifs in xiaoshuo novels.3D Last but
not least, from the fact that Cheng Huiying used the form of lanci to write fiction, we
can assume that she knew the genre and the works very well.
Little is known about the production of the text. The earliest edition was
published in 1898 by Yiyi xuan ('~'~H) and contains 42 chapters. A second edition
was published in 1899, the very next year, by Shanghai shuju (J:~15fijj) and it
contains 52 chapters. The commentator of the Yiyi xuan edition was aware of the
27 For examples, see Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 9\,167,247,488,818,954,1956, etc.
2X Reference to Xixiang}i, Cui Yingying and Hongniang, see Cheng, Feng shuangfel, 247, 1120; reference to Du
Liniang, see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2318.
29 It is haru to teli whether she is famiiiar with Sanguo and other fIction mentIoned from the books or from the
plays. Considering that she is a literary woman, there is a good chance that she had read the books.
For reference to Sanguo characters and plots, see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 664, 999, 1505, 1640, 1652, 1784, 1945,
2146,2194,2319, etc.
30 Chapter 1I1 to VI of my dissertation are devoted to Cheng's adoption and recreation of writing techniques,
aesthetics and common motifs in xiaoshuo fiction.
------------
20
52-chapter edition and wrote in the preface, "Some recent bookshop edition extended
it to 52 chapters. This is a crude version augmented by some busybody" (ilia-1Jjr~IJQX:
these two versions were published in such quick succession, we cannot help
pondering the motivation for such a claim. It is likely that Yiyi xuan got an
incomplete manuscript of Feng shuangfei through some means, such as stealing it
from the other publisher, and rushed it to market in order to make fast money
although they were fully aware that their version was incomplete. Since the Yiyi xuan
edition came out first, the commentator should not have known about the future
52-chapter edition unless he was intentionally trying to defend his version in advance.
This assumption is made plausible because we know that the commercial publication
market was already mature and competitive in the 1890s. My study ofFeng shuangfei
is based on the complete 52-chapter edition, edited and republished by Zhongzhou
guji chubanshe (9=Jj+IJ5JfH±lAAH.) in 1988.32
The land Feng shuangfti is about the political achievements and romantic
lives of the talented and loyal Guo Lingyun 'IH&~ and Zhang Yishao ~id~Y, who
have the nicknames of "two male phoenixes flying together (XX~ftlS)." The lanci is
set during the Ming dynasty. As is common in many land authored by women, the
two heroes are the reincarnations of two immortals, who are sent down to earth to
31 Cheng Huiying, Feng shuangfei (Yiyixuan edition, (898), preserved in 9=' 00 00* 00 15m the National Library
of China.
32 A comparison of the two editions will not be possible until I can get access to the manuscript editions in the
National Library of China.
21
reestablish morality among humans. The fathers of Guo and Zhang are friends, and
they therefore grow up together and become best friends. Since Lingyun is born with
two pupils in each eye, an auspicious sign usually said to be only found in princes and
sages, the Ming emperor eagerly adopts him as a son. After the death of Lingyun's
parents and the completion of his mourning period, the emperor summons him to the
capital to be the crown prince's study companion. Lingyun, as a loyal minister,
repeatedly admonishes the prince for his addiction to sex, especially his attraction to
beautiful boys. The evil eunuch, Liu lin .x1jJj'l'i, makes the prince believe that Lingyun's
motivation behind his critique is to take the beautiful boy Bai Ruyu fr~llL for
himself. The prince turns against Lingyun, and when he becomes emperor he sends
Lingyun away from the capital to Guizhou ~j+1 as a general.
In the meantime, Yishao, after studying with the kungfu master He Shiwei {PJ
tltE&., earns the title of wu zhuangyuan (Jit~*5C, the number one in the national
examination of martial arts), comes to the capital and becomes a good friend of the
heir apparent. He too believes, mistakenly, that Lingyun is obsessed with Ruyu and
male same-sex practices, and the two friends drift apart. In reality, it is Yishao's father,
Zhang ling *~, who indulges in sex with Ruyu. Zhang ling is so indulgent of Ruyu
that Ruyu's "practical joke" causes him to be demoted to Yunnanz:,:·~. In Yunnan,
Zhang ling encounters a rebellion of the Tufan ~±11 and is captured. His friend
General Mu Lei yAc1t and son Yishao lead an army from the capital to pacify the
rebellion and rescue ling. However, their troops meet a monk who uses black magic,
22
and Yishao and the Chinese army are badly defeated and seriously hurt. They have to
call for help from Lingyun, who is a master of heavenly magic. In this way, the two
friends reunite, rescue Zhang .Ting and together win the war.
Back at Beijing, the emperor awards both Lingyun and Yishao for their
glorious achievements. However, they discover the huge changes at the capital that
occurred in their absence. The evil eunuch Liu .Tin rules the court and the emperor
follows his leadership. At home, Zhang Feixiang"*ISW, Yishao's elder sister and
Lingyun's fiancee, is lost when she and her adopted sister He Danyan 1i:iJ;ifJUlEl try to
escape from the malevolent scholar and minister Zhang Cai. Failing to get rid of
either the evil eunuchs or Zhang Cai, Guo Lingyun is again sent out of the capital to
Shandong LlJ*. On his way, while he is searching for Feixiang, Lingyun meets and
helps a poor but talented girl, Zhen Daya Jltj;::ft, who later is officially titled "nu
boshi (:.9:"tw±, female scholar/erudite)" and marries Lingyun as one of his concubines.
In the capital, Yishao marries General Mu's daughter, Qionghua ~fE, and falls in
love with Zhen Xiaoya Jlt/J\:ff£, Daya's younger sister. Meanwhile, Bao Xiang'er f#!.w
JL, Liu .Tin's adopted daughter, falls in love with Yishao. Knowing how dissolute
Yishao is, Qionghua, loving Xiaoya, arranges for Xiaoya to become Yishao's
concubine and rejects Xiang'er's entry into the household. Yishao, who is attracted to
Xiang'er, hides her in General Mu's garden and secretly marries her.
Five years later, Lingyun's subordinates finally find Feixiang and Danyan on
the island kingdom, Three Immortal Island (--1L1J S:U). Feixiang and Danyan,
23
cross-dressing as men, have been living as, respectively, the son-in-law and the
adopted son of the king, Murong Tao ~$t1J. In order not to hurt the feelings of
Murong Zhu ~$J~, her "wife," Feixiang asks Tao to become a vassal state of the
Ming. In response to Lingyun's request, the emperor sends an envoy to establ ish a
relationship between the two kingdoms. However, Liu lin secretly bribes the envoy
and destroys any hope of a diplomatic relationship by having the island king
murdered. After the death of her father, Zhu declares war against the Ming empire.
Zhu allies with the queen of Double Peak Island (X~~.%), who happens to be a
dragon spirit. The villain Zhang Qihu, the husband of the dragon spirit, another
student of He Shiwei and sworn enemy of Zhang ling and Yishao, believes that this
war against the Ming is his best chance to achieve his military and political ambitions.
Although Murong Zhu even surrenders to Lingyun because of her feelings for
Feixiang, Lingyun has to defeat Qihu and the dragon spirit to defend the Ming empire.
When Lingyun returns to the capital to report his victory, Liu lin frames
Lingyun as a usurper. The story reaches its climax when Yishao, who still enjoys the
emperor's favor, stabs his own heart to prove Lingyun's innocence. With He Shiwei's
help, Yishao finally uncovers evidence of Liu lin's many plots and crimes. The
emperor has Lingyun called back to the court and has Liu lin executed. Meanwhile,
Danyan, Shiwei's daughter, and Murong Zhu chase down the remaining confederates
led by lin's adopted son, winning for themselves the military title of"nii guanjun (-.9:.
Ja$, female champions)."
---------- - -------
24
The story ends with domestic harmony in both the Guo and Zhang households.
After discovering that she gets along with Lingyun, Murong Zhu agrees to marry
Lingyun as his concubine in order to stay together with Feixiang. Although Qionghua
is furious about Yishao's secret marriage to Bao Xiang'er, her father resolves the
problem. Lingyun ends up with four wives and Yishao ends up with three wives and
plenty of maids. The families live side by side, their men and womenfolk maintain
close relationships, and both families produce many sons and daughters. At the end,
the two immortals ascend back to the heavens.
Multiple Layers of Yoices: Constructing the Gendered Subject
Female writers during late imperial China were self-conscious writers because,
first and foremost, they constructed the image of a female self, who stands apart from
the male writers in a male tradition ofliterature, by using multiple layers of voices. As
Maureen Robertson argues, "spoken for" by men for so many centuries, female poets
during the Ming and Qing periods established their own female literary subjects, who
were eager to express themselves and pass down their words, through rewriting some
image codes, marking new topical territory, etc.33 Female lanci writers made the
same effort. As Hu Siao-chen has demonstrated, female lanci writers contrived a
tradition of incorporating the authors' own lives and writing experiences into the text
33 See Maureen Robertson, "Changing the Subject: Gender and Self-inscription in Authors' Prefaces and 'Shi'
Poetry," in Writing Women in Late Imperial China, ed, Ellen Widmer and Kang-i Sun Chang (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1997), 171-217; and "Voicing the Feminine: Constructions of the Gendered Subject in Lyric
Poetry by Women of Medieval and Late Imperial China," in Late Imperial China 13, no, I (1992): pp, 63-110,
2S
of the tand in order to build an image of female writers who enjoyed reading and
writing and who worked very hard although they were frequently disturbed by
women's obi igatory duties. 34
Cheng Huiying is no exception to this tradition of constructing a female
subject. In the male-dominated literary world, Cheng not only inherited the male
mainstream fiction conventions of storytelling, but also continued the self-referential
custom of female tand writers. By adopting both traditions, Cheng managed to create
multiple layers of voices in Feng shuangfei. Applying Maureen Robertson's theories
and model of three subjects, the existential (or historical) subject, the authorial (or
writing) subject, and the textual (or speaking) subject, I will argue that the multiple
layers of voices in the tand are all dedicated to constructing the female subjectivity of
the author or the authorial subject that the existential subject, to whom the readers can
never have access in hislher texts, chose to present.35 Because ofthe "traditional,
shared beliefin 'self'-expression through texts in which the 'I' who speaks is in some
sense autobiographical or non-fictional," the constructed image of a literary,
hardworking and proud female author may also serve as circumstantial evidence to
suggest the female authorship of the tanci.36
The very first layer to be constructed is the fictional author's voice, or the
authorial/writing subject's voice. This gendered voice in Feng shuangfei is in many
34 Hu, Cainil cheye weimian.
35 Robertson, "Changing the Subject: Gender and Self-inscription in Authors' Prefaces and 'Shi' Poetry," 177-79
36 Ibid, 177. This belief also explains the modern editors' interpretation of Zhen Daya as a self-referential
character of Cheng Huiying herself in the postscript of the book. See Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2499-2500.
26
ways consistent with other lanci writers or writing subjects. Like other lanci writers,
the fictional author indicates that the story she writes is fictive, "The language mostly
has no base, talking nonsense like a mirage" CZiR):.7,Jkl:.3C}tWL ;'4jfmJEtf~~~~o ).37
But all the fictional authors in female-authored lanci, including the one in Feng
shuangfei, also have a strong motivation to pass down their writings, an act which is
considered one of three routes to immortality.38 The fictional author of Feng
shuangfei writes, "I am suffering by myself during ten years of writing. Who can pass
it down for tens of thousands of years?" (+$J(;~1=5 EJ '2r-, f·tk:h jj i1H#? )39 As a
female writer who values her own work as the equivalent of that by male writers,
Cheng Huiying here not only displays her ambition to reach immortality through
writing, but also adopts the concept that writing is associated with bitterness which
will lead to great works, a concept first expressed by Sima Qian.40
Moreover, similar to other female lanci writers who ascribe a didactic function
to their works, the fictional author claims that this lanci is allegorical: "The characters
37 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2495.
3R This ideology is embedded in the thought of both male and female writers of the premodern period. This
concept is first expressed in the Confucian classic, Zuo:::huan 1r. iii (The Zuo Commentary on Annals of Spring
and Autumn) which every literary person had to read as their basic reading. See Zuo Qiuming 1r.JiIJJ:l, Chunqiu
Zuo:::huan lftk1r.tt in Wenbai dui:::hao shisan jing)c BmJffi-t=t~, ed. Li Hanwen '$tH)c (Beijing: Jiuzhou
chubanshe, 2001), 485, "The great sages established virtues, people next to them established meritorious deeds,
then people next to them established words. These will not be abandoned for a long time, so they are called
immortality. j;:i.1DLtfj, JtiJ\1LlLJ}]. Jti?\1L1Llf, JD.7-.:Il'J2t, Jltz.i~:Il'f5o "
39 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 933.
4D SIma Qian, in his Taishigong :::ixu (Self-Narration of the Gentleman Grand Astrologer) and Bao Ren Shaoqin
shu (Letter in Response to Ren An), built the famous theory of fafen ;;hushu(:&~~45),which can be interpreted
as great writings derived from great frustration.
A detailed discussion of these two texts and the idea offafen, translated as "expressing frustration," can be found
in Stephen Durrant, The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian (Albany: State
University of New York, 1995), 1-29.
27
in my mind and the events in my heart are lighthearted fun constructed into allegory"
(;@';r:p A!jo/JIL.\r:p~, WJxl<;)jJGxij9~fir8 0 ).41 It is very important to note that the author,
similar to other tanci writers, also mentions that her writing is playful, not serious.
This statement conforms to the Confucian standards for women's work, which
prioritizes household chores, so that writing can in no way be serious, but something
women do in their leisure time. In order to legitimate their writings, the fictional
authors in female-authored tanci usually declare a didactic function no matter how
unorthodox or transgressive their works are or tend to be. This is especially true in the
case of Feng shuangfei, since it deals with various forms of sexuality and desires,
topics which were never considered appropriate for women to talk or writer about in
late imperial China.
However, the constructed image of the author in Feng shuangfei is also
presented very differently from those in other female-authored tanci. Instead of
establishing an image of an appropriately modest and meek woman, who only writes
to entertain and caution her own female community, Cheng Huiying produces an
image of her author as a scholar with typical attributes: she is emotionally sad,
psychologically mad (kuang), and proud of her own literary work. In terms ofliterary
composition, the constructed author, compared to other authors presented in other
female tanci, identifies herself more with famous great writers in Chinese literary
history. Just as she alludes to Sima Qian, the authorial subject also identifies herself
41 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, p. 2495.
28
with the classic image of the madman from Chu %!HA, which is also referred to by
Li Bai.42 The fictional author presents such an image of herself at the very beginning
of the fanei, "I am so happy that 1 shout madly to please myself, not caring if others
are laughing at me" OH'¥ EJ Jl:tl~"9.qfi:l1, ~~%' A~Jx.o ),43 Like these "mad" great
writers, the fictional author is very proud of her own work, "I have revised my
manuscript three times, and this has been the best. The dried hair from my writing
brush fell out, gradually becoming a mound. This manuscript should encounter an
auspicious place to be its bookcase, in order to recognize my twenty years of
tic 0 ).44 From these two couplets in the final poem which concludes the fanei, Cheng
Huiying boldly creates an image of a female writer who, no longer modest, is proud
of her own work and suggests that her work should be recognized and valued.
These unusual claims for her writing may be related to the brief self-referential
sections in the fanei. As the fictional author states in the opening poem of the fand, "I
have tried to choose extraordinary (qi) events to compose a new (xin) song of flowers
and the moon" (iAf~t1~:~f~:,~7'1:rr:jj if®\o).45 The key words of this couplet are
qi and xin, as they express the author's literary ambitions. Although Cheng Huiying
42 The madman from Chu refers to the famous recluse ofChu, lie Yu ~~, who pretends to be mad in order to
avoid service in court. Li Bai identifies himself with the madman from Chu in his poem, "Lushanyao ji Lu shiyu
Xuzhou Jli LlJillHIs: p f.Hllllmf.r" (in Qu Tuiyuan M!l!ltI2Q, lhu lincheng *3i:~ comments, Li Baijijiaozhu*S~
fj(/:E (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1980),863), whIch starts with the famous couplet, "I was originally a
madman ofChu, singing the song of phoenixes to laugh at Kong Qiu ('fJt*:JlllA,pq,JlJX~1LE:)."
43 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1.
44 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2495.
45 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, I.
29
continues the tradition of talking about her own writing experience, she does not
spend as much time on it as earlier female land writers, such as Chen Duansheng and
Qiu Xinru, do. The only place where she briefly mentions her own life is in the ending
poem of Chapter 20 after she had already spent ten years writing but was still
suffering poverty:
The last flicker of the candle faintly shed light on my disheveled hair. I have
completed half of my work, but I am ashamed of its lack of delicacy. Having
made everything up, I freely think of pursuing richness and nobleness, in
order to ignore my poverty for the moment. You can decorate your bookcase
with hawksbill; I don't have coral to make a brush-holder.
[~n~~~~~, ¥OO~~~*To ~~~~*.m, ~~~~~
~51 0 ;ft~~IftJffll~-t;tff, Jx;zlJJJU"JJ~u~f~J 0 ~'rEZ1fr::m:+f.$~, H'11m±m
L~§:Y~o t 6
The only clue to the author's life from the poem is that she is very poor and wishes to
have more money in order to support her writing. After ten years, the fictional author
both complains about her poverty and associates her act of writing with Sima Qian's
literary legacy. There are only three passages of any length that are in the voice of the
author, although there are also scattered short passages of one or two sentences
presented by the authorial subject.47 This rejection of completely following her
forerunners is probably accordant to her claim of being new and different.
Although her self-depiction of madness and suffering follows the topoi found
in the tradition of male literati, the sorrow, which is usually the origin of madness in
male-authored works, is exclusively feminine. At the very beginning of the opening
4(, Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 932
47 For example, see the end couplets of Chapter 16 and pp, 35, 756, 1673, where the fictional author states that she
has to end the chapter because she is too tired to continue,
30
poem, the fictional author explains her sorrow, "Days always pass by without return,
and my youth will not last long in the future. A slim waist and slender wrist are easily
worn out, so how can you blame me for frowning sadly?" (8 EI *i:/f~Jl3., wo§':**
usually due to their political failure, the constructed author, like the pretty and
sensitive women in xiaoshuo fiction and shi poetry, is concerned about the
evanescence of youth. While male writers, in their sorrow, complain about their
frustrations and bad luck in their official career, the authorial subject, in her chou or
worries, writes to entertain herself, "I want to expel my anxiety and amuse myself, so
this new land [that 1write] will perform a story of old and new" (BX1J&:;f~Jm7f* 0,
%ifitP]1~ t±:l1.l.BJX 0 ).49 Giving a different reason for being sad, the fictional author
establishes a literary female subject who is so devoted to writing that she takes it as
entertainment and also shows some of the concerns common to the ideal literary
women that are constructed by male and female writers.
Like the authorial subject, the textual/speaking subjects, who can be both male
and female characters in the land, also indicate the legacy ofthe male-dominated
literary tradition and Cheng Huiying's endeavor to speak for women. The very first
voice above all other textual subjects is the one ofthe storyteller, which sometimes is
indistinct from the one of authorial subject in the text. Earlier female-authored land,
such as Tianyuhua, also use this form of storytelling to organize the story and involve
4K Cheng, Feng shuangfei, p. I.
49 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, p. l.
31
the audience. It can be presumed that female lanci writers adopt the medium of
storyteller from mainstream male-authored fiction. It is very common to see an
omniscient storyteller in long novels, such as Sanguo yanyi, Shuihu zhuan, and
Honglou meng, and in short stories, such as the ones by Feng Menglong, Li Yu and
Ling Mengchu. However, the gender of the storyteller is obscure. Although there was
a male storyteller tradition on the street and in taverns, there was also the tradition of
blind girl land performers. Since Feng shuangfei is written as a land only for reading,
instead of performance, by a woman, we are unclear with which tradition the author
most identifies her storyteller.
Frequently used, the voice of a storyteller developed multiple functions in
written texts. The storyteller in Feng shuangfei fulfills all the functions. First of all,
the storyteller propels the storyline, especially serving to make transitions between
two characters, events, and chapters. Each chapter starts with a typical imitation of
oral lead-in phrases, such as huashuo i:/tj-iJt or queshuo tPiJt (both mean "talking
about"), and ends with suspense in order to keep the audience reading/listening. Once
in a while, similar to short stories, there will be an opening poem to a chapter to
foretell the content ofthat chapter.5o
Secondly, the storyteller guides the readers on how to morally interpret the
events by commenting on the plot. This aspect of narrator's voice often appears in Li
Yu and Feng Menglong's stories and sometimes creates an intriguing conflict to the
50 The opening poems of this function can be found in Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 115, 165, 258, 351,395, 487, 757,
1277,1382,1481,1532,1719,1856.2339,2436.
32
values presented by the plot itself, leaving space for the readers to think independently.
In Feng shuangfei, some comments explicitly use allegorical means to refer to the
author's contemporary time. For example, the storyteller comments on the lascivious
fashion of male same-sex practices, "1¥ JX\.:X1T, JfJtl:J *~JJ7C=,,,51 and on Lingyun,
"This is exactly a minister who would not betray the emperor's order. I'm afraid there
is none like him in our contemporary world" (Jt1l:~/1~:fu;fi$S<.J:Xb:J:, fUEl ~4-z
Another important function for the storyteller's comments in this lanci is to
point out the unfair treatment that women were receiving at the time. One of the hot
topics among and about female writers was whether cai, or talent, was as important as
virtue for a woman during the Ming and Qing periods when talented women became a
phenomenon. The storyteller extends the idea of cai:;f into women's domestic roles
and its utility in a family. When Feixiang governs the servants and maids in the inner
chambers with generosity, Murong Zhu helps her with discipline. The storyteller
comments, "This is exactly so-called the cooperation of power and virtue ... Don't say
that women only call for virtue, but after all their talent and skills have to be strong
literati, men and women, who promoted women's literary talents, Cheng Huiying,
using the voice of the storyteller, argues that even if women work only within the
51 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 4.
52 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1939.
53 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2367.
33
family, they need talent, skill and power, too. This subverts the traditional idea that a
woman only needs to be virtuous to be successful as the head ofa household and may
positively defend Wang Xifeng, the powerful and skillful household manager of
Hong/au meng.
Moreover, the storyteller relates women's talent and beauty to their lives,
arguing that neither talents nor beauty should cause an unfortunate destiny for women.
The following comments seem to leave the question open to debate by the readers on
this issue:
There is such a saying, "As long as a woman in this world is ugly and stupid,
she can entrust herself to be stable for her whole life; if she has some talents
and beauty, it is misfortune. Those who have achieved their ambitions are able
to destroy their country and family; those who have not achieved their
ambition will end up adrift, having no one to rely on. This is an absolute rule."
Others say, "That is not true! According to what you have said, were all those
ladies, mistresses, queens, imperial consorts, from ancient times to present,
ugly and stupid? There were plenty of them with talent and beauty. It all
depends on their late established previous lives! Those who had a sound fate
naturally enjoy prosperity in this life; those who did not will end up in
oblivion." This point of view makes sense too. However, in my perspective,
there is a flexible way. [People] should not just stick only to one opinion.
[~-~iJtJii~: "tttrB]3z:~R~B,~~~,~, 1l:1E:~t~*~~l¥Jf~t§: i:f~@
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~~~ili~~m~o~rm~~~m*,~~-~m~Z~,~~m~~~
__ -",;;~ ]54
IIU f=1 a
This comment refers specifically to Feixiang since she, as a beautiful and talented girl,
first experiences misfortune but then ends up with a happy marriage. But it also refers
more generally to the relationship between women's destiny and their talent and
54 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 762.
34
beauty. Although the storyteller is heavily influenced by the Buddhist theory of
reincarnation, s/he also strives to argue against the common sayings of "Women
without talent are virtuous" (3(T1G::;fWJjU!) and "Beauty brings disastrous water"
(~IWHI*J;J<.). The storyteller, as the speaking subject, suggests that women's beauty
and talent have nothing to do with their fate, nor is it necessarily determined by their
previous life. The narrator holds up Feixiang's example to disprove these two theories.
It is interesting that the storyteller only indirectly suggests "a flexible way" to make
sense of the difference in viewpoint between these two sayings, since it forces readers
to think about the problem by themselves. As a talented literary woman, Cheng
Huiying not only rejects common beliefs, but encourages her assumed female readers
to consider the validity of these common but unfair and wrong judgments on women,
by utilizing the speaking subject, the storyteller, to raise the issue.
Marriage is another topic that all people care about. Although both the male
protagonists live in a polygamous arrangement, the narrator still expresses her
preference for monogamy. Describing the marriage between Chu Lingxiao and He
Danyan, the storyteller cannot help eulogizing it as an ideal one:
This is so called a relationship between one husband and one wife. When
young, they can completely enjoy the good days. Women are not jealous by
nature, and men are originally not henpecked either. As long as my heart is not
distracted, even if Xi Shi and Wang Qiang appeared, they would seem
unrelated to me in any way. In this, [the couple] can stay harmonious for long.
[Chu Lingxiao] did not take any maid or concubine as partnci dUiing his life
time, much better than the two busy noblemen.
35
[?JT ij'j -:JOf- ~=1, y~ YP3~M~7't 0 II]Ali /f~Jt dJ tlf!, x~ Jj ~~~~=1 ~£ 0
1El.£.lltlL.\x=m, }t1tBTffiT~IP&L ~*~'%x:!k:JJt, ~!~~:fQiW3i f.J *0
~tlt*~L&~~, J¥£~I~~1JM1*=Io ]55
In this passage, the storyteller tells the readers that it is polygamy that causes the
problems, such as jealousy and henpecked husbands, in the Guo and Zhang families
and all families in general. If there were only one husband and one wife, such as
Lingxiao and Danyan, there would be no cause ofjealousy or fear of one's wife. The
storyteller also points out that the solution to the problem lies with men. If they could
be loyal to their wives and not distracted by other beautiful women, a harmonious
family would not be hard to get. In this sense, the storyteller is establishing
monogamy as the ideal form of marriage and promoting it to women to achieve
family harmony, instead of the modern conception of gender equality.
One last function undertaken by the storyteller is to explain the moral logic of
the story. This is a very common feature in Ming-Qing fiction which adopts the
rhetorical address of the readers as "Dear readers" (~'§) from the storytelling
tradition. When something unlikely happens to a character or goes against common
logic, the omniscient storyteller will jump in to explain. For example, when it does
not make sense that an orthodox man like Lingyun may have feelings for Ruyu, the
storyteller explains that Prince lin, Lingyun's previous life as an immortal, had made
a sympathetic promise to rescue Shui Bailian, Ruyu's previous incarnation, from his
mistakes.
55 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2260,
36
Another layer of speaking subject is created through the characters in the (and.
It was not uncommon that women were constructed as individual subjects in
male-authored xiaoshuo fiction. For example, Cao Xueqin successfully portrays all
the female characters as individuals who speak, act and write with their own subjects
in Hong/ou meng. As is discussed, female writers tend to take a more conservative
point of view in their works. Although the main ideology expressed in Feng shuangfei
conforms to the traditional patriarchal ideology, certain female characters in many
places also speak from women's perspectives. The female speaking subject, Feixiang,
points out that women are treated like objects by men. When Lingyun suggests that
Feixiang should marry Yishao, Feixiang complains, "Do you know that women are so
pitiable because [people] send them as gifts and take it for granted [that they will
accept the marriage proposal]" CpJ)!;~~=i:9:Jt±~'f4-, t§:i!1i.:p.~:flllP-~o ).56 In another
example, a female character comments on the marginal and inferior status of wives.
When Qionghua, Yishao's wife, discovers that Yishao has secretly taken Bao Xiang'er
as his concubine, she becomes enraged and leaves the household. Her refusal to
forgive Yishao or return to the Zhang household appears to be more inappropriate and
a larger problem than Yishao's transgression. Qionghua is very aware of her moral
disadvantage: "No matter whether relative or friend, everyone helps him as if they
were a single person. They are just taking advantage of a woman who is on her own"
% Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2036.
37
standard for men and women is so obvious that even Yishao's mother "thinks, 'All
men are the same. Everyone is biased and helps Yishao, and after all the one who
It is not odd that the female characters should stand up for themselves, but it is
striking that even the main proponent for orthodoxy, Lingyun, speaks for women.59
Commenting on Yishao's behavior, Lingyun warns his wives, "But men are mostly
dissolute-flowers at home are not as fresh as wild ones. Even though Lady Mu, my
sister-in-law, is ferocious and jealous, she cannot restrain her wild husband. You peers,
watching this, should understand that it is hard for couples in the world to keep their
llil 0 g~~~*)(~:§:'ttf~', tltrB]:'A:!EI1f't~x1L ).60 Reading this passage without a context,
readers would assume that the speaker is an old woman who has experienced and seen
many unhappy women in unfortunate marriages and is therefore warning the younger
generations not to indulge in or expect too much in their marital life. The speaking
subject, Lingyun, apparently steps out of his role as an exemplar of Confucian
orthodox men and becomes a vehicle to caution women readers of the lanci.
57 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2400.
5R Cht:ng, Feng shuangfei, 2397.
59 Although in some male-authored fiction men also valued women, it mostly originated from the cult of qing, in
which it is believed that women have purer and more authentic passions than men do. Hong/au meng is one of the
best examples, but Baoyu values women mostly on an aesthetic level, never fighting for their practical needs. This
level is never as realistic as the problems raised in female-authored tane;'
60 Cheng, Feng huangfti, 24 I7.
38
By employing Lingyun as a speaking subject, the author not only comments
on women's disadvantages in marriage, but also on the reasons for their lot being
worse than that of men. When Lingyun sees Daya's unfortunate life, he thinks to
himself:
Men's lives are in the world of offices, where there are many opportunities for
pleasure and ambition. Even if their marriage is unhappy, it can only be
counted as one loss among everything else, so it is still tolerable. Women stay
only in the inner chambers. If they meet a terrible husband, they will suffer.
Their extraordinary talents will be useless, and they have to end up dying full
of regrets. Moreover, her marriage is not her own wi II. If she is forced to get
married, she is all the more pitiful. How can she right this injustice as deep as
the sea? Don't say that only women help women. Thinking of this, even I, as a
man, am furious.
[~)L~R'B:f:}h, *$$ ftffijit Q]:Jj, th\1f~~~~/l~~~, H~~Tr:p-~MJ
~~; fr.AR~~m~,-~.~~~~,~M~~~ffl~,~R~~~
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Using a male character, the author thoroughly describes the "injustice" that women
are experiencing and directly points out that the origin lies in the unfair social roles
and status enforced on women. As Lingyun suggests, the ultimate reason for women's
tragedy is the social norm that women belong to the inner chambers and have no right
to decide their own marriages. This double restriction results in misfortune for women,
especially when they are talented. At least men have options for happiness other than
marriage. Having the most orthodox man tell this truth and feel sympathy for and
anger on behalf of women, the author possibly suggests that women's problems
should be seriously considered when evaluating mainstream practices and that
women's social roles need to be changed.
(d Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1114_
39
Issues of Allegory:
Self-Referential Characters and Metaphorical Social and Political Criticism
There are two major traditions of interpreting Chinese literature: the tradition
of autobiography and the tradition of political allegory. Therefore, when a scholar has
a Iiterary text in his/her hand, he/she has to ask two questions: First, is this text
autobiographical and are there any self-referential characters in this text? Second,
does this text allude to any political issues in the author's time? The same questions
must also be asked of Feng shuangfei. Although there is no strong internal evidence
for a positive answer to either of the questions, both are worth exploring.
Since the association between writing and self expression in the Chinese
literary tradition is strong, it is a fair assumption that long works of fiction may reflect
something about the authors, even ifthe text is in no direct way autobiographical. In
the Chinese literary tradition, scholars can assume poetry is an expression of the real
feelings of the poet. Since the literati had been trying to elevate xiaoshuo fiction as
serious literature during the Ming and Qing, it became normative to read lengthy
works of fiction as autobiographical or self-referential. Thus Honglou meng is
commonly read as a fictionalized autobiography and some scholars suggest that Shen
Fu's Fusheng tiuji is also read as an autobiographical novel. The scholar novels
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Yesou puyan, Qilu deng,
Rutin waishi and Jinghua yuan, are also read as self-referential.
40
Although not autobiographical, the depiction of female characters in Feng
shuangfei may reflect some aspects of Cheng Huiying's life and ambitions. Based on
our limited knowledge of the author, one of the most possible self-referential
characters is Zhen Daya. Daya, like Cheng Huiying, is born into a scholar family and
loves reading and writing. However, the Zhen family becomes impoverished, and
Daya's father, who sojourns away from home as a scribe for local officials, cannot
support the household. The descriptions of Daya and her mother worrying about food
are so vivid and realistic that they call to mind Cheng's own background, "Her family
was poor and she worked as a teacher in a private school for girls." Daya is also very
talented, famous for her poetry, calligraphy and painting. She is a morally proper girl
who keeps her virginity until marriage, and in an echo of Ban Zhao, composes a
History ofWomen (-9:. 5::).
Daya is also a dignified girl who keeps her moral integrity. When the Yu
family, which is locally rich and powerful, forces Daya to marry Yu Bocai (~1tl~),
whose given name is a pun on bucai (/f~~, no talent), Daya fights back with a dagger
even though she knows nothing about martial arts. Daya's morality can be considered
an ideal that Cheng creates. In appreciation for Lingyun's help, Daya falls in love with
him and swears to be his wife and stay chaste for him even though more powerful
men, including the emperor and his brother-in-law, wish to marry her. The emperor
rewards her with the title of a "female erudite," and gives her a house and farms in
appreciation of her extraordinary talents and knowledge, so she is thus able to support
41
herself without having to get married. The character Chu Lingxiao (~{&~)
comments, "Although she is a girl, it is exceptional in the world that she can even
establish her own family and glorify her ancestors. She really does not waste her
talents in this life. What need is there for her to be someone's wife?" (mr!t)~/i"':9JJ<
Speaking though this male voice, the narrative suggests that marriage is the only way
for women to support themselves. If a woman could be financially independent, she
would not need to marry or depend on a man. In this sense, the narrator is consciously
pointing out a key to gender inequality at the time.
However, we should keep it in mind that Daya is a concubine. We do not
know whether Cheng Huiying herself or any of her relatives were concubines. If that
was the case, this piece of work can also be considered a rectification of concubines.
It is also possible that women, following the expression of modesty expected from
them, might have projected themselves into secondary characters, instead of heroines,
in lanci. This may be the reason why Cheng Huiying created Daya, instead of
Feixiang, as a self-referential character.63 Although neither of these assumptions can
be proved right or wrong, it is definitely safe to say that Daya is a self-referential
character in the sense that Cheng interweaves some of her own experiences into the
lanci.
(,2 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 1455.
(,3 In her play, Qiaoying, Wu Zao distances herself from her fictional representation by splitting self-referential
elementals into different self-identities and the twist of genders in the play.
42
In addition to being self-referential, the lanci can also be read as a political
allegory. It is a common literary trope to criticize current political problems with
comparisons of similar events from previous dynasties.64 Feng shuangfei fits this
tradition in that the narrative is set during the Ming. While the fictional Ming
government is corrupt because it was under the control of eunuchs, depicted as an evil
yin force, the actual late Qing government was controlled by the Empress Dowager
Cixi, who was also depicted as an evil yin force. The protagonist Lingyun's persistent
call and fight for a political cleansing of corrupt yin powers coincides with the
contemporary needs of the author's times.
Furthermore, the lanci depicts a fictional Ming government under attack by
foreign forces, ranging from the Tufan in the southwest to the island kingdoms from
the eastern sea. Again, Cheng Huiying's China was also under attack from a variety of
foreign and local forces. The Taiping assault on Changzhou and the devastating fight
between the Qing army and the rebels during the 1860s must have been part of
Cheng's collective historical memory, even though we are unclear of the date of her
birth. Despite the total absence of Westerners or foreign technologies in the lanci,
Cheng is very likely to have heard of the wars in which the Qing had been defeated by
the British, the French and the Japanese. In these wars, the Qing government ceded
Hong Kong to Britain, the Yunnan border with Vietnam to France, and the Penghu
islands, Taiwan and the eastern portion of the bay of Liaodong Peninsula to the
64 During the spring and autumn, it was already a court tradition to give suggestions to the king on contemporary
political situations by means of Shying or its stories, which were much older.
43
Japanese. Geographically, the Tufan rebellions at the Yunnan border echo the French
challenge there, and the naval battles against the rebellions on Hainan Island, literally
Qiongzhou and Danzhou in Feng shuangfti, parallel the late nineteenth -century
battles with the Japanese for control of Taiwan and the Penghu islands.
Due to the historical background of China's military engagements and the
time in which Feng shuangfti was written, it is noteworthy that among the
outstanding features of the heroes in Feng shuangfti are their skills in martial arts and
military strategies. Yishao studies under the best master of martial arts and becomes
the wu zhuangyuan, or first in the national examination of marital arts, of the country,
and Lingyun is born with martial abilities. They establish their careers by repeatedly
defeating border rebellions and as a result are rewarded with the most important
governmental ministers. Although they are acquainted with the classics and poetry,
they never spend much time developing their literary interests or skills. They, together
with other wu (martial/military) figures such as Mu Lei and Chu Lingxiao, ensure that
the empire is safe, peaceful and morally in order. In contrast, the scholar figures in the
tanci all show some degree of defect or flaw and never become powerful or reliable
sources to imperial support.65 It is possible that Cheng Huiying, facing national crises
during her life time, creates these ideal wu figures as her projected solution to her the
problems ofChina at the time.
1\5 I will discuss this specific issue in detail in Chapter IV.
44
The main body of my dissertation contains five chapters. Chapter II, "The
Dawning of ' Free Love': Women's Role in Marriages," studies various means by
which female characters determine their own marriages. This chapter centers on case
studies of the concubines in the Guo and Zhang families. Zhen Daya, who marries
Lingyun, builds an individual identity as a chaste, talented and determined "career
woman" through her pursuit of a self-determined marriage. Zhen Xiaoya, Yishao's
concubine, establishes her subjectivity by following the cult of chastity, mocking the
conventions of scholar-beauty romances and rethinking the author's contemporary
tradition of romance and marriage. The last case is the author's strikingly sympathetic
treatment of an unchaste girl, Bao Xiang'er. Although the multiple layers of voices all
agree that Xiang'er is totally inappropriate and immoral according to traditional
Confucian values, she, instead of being punished, still ends up incorporated into
Yishao's family and is granted a son. These cases allow us to reevaluate Cheng
Huiying, a female writer, and her views of women's autonomy in determining their
own marriages. They anticipate, either through fantasy or some level of reality, the
concept of "free love"(ziyou !ian 'ai) so central to the May Fourth conceptions of
modern women.
Chapter III, "Self-Conscious Writing: The Aesthetics ofFeng shuangfei," lays
out the aesthetics of the Feng shuangfei from three aspects as a serious work of fiction.
I will study the structural techniques borrowed from traditional xiaoshuo narratives
used in this tanci to argue that the author treats the aesthetic value of her work as an
45
organic whole. Last but not least, rwill analyze characterization in the tanci.
Comparing it to xiaoshuo novels, I will argue that the writer intentionally creates
relational characters for readers' appreciation on an aesthetic level. This chapter is a
"defense" of tanci, showing that Feng shuangfei deserves to be taken seriously as a
literary composition.
Chapter IV, "Disastrous Beauty and Upright Friend: Male Same-Sex Eroticism
and Homosociality," focuses on the relationships between the men in Feng shuangfei.
Depicting "the Incomparable" Bai Ruyu as the embodiment of male same-sex
eroticism, the author suggests that the practice of male same-sex eroticism may be the
most toxic relationship in its abi Iity to jeopardize orthodox Confucian relationships.
By contrast, Guo Lingyun's relationships with men in which he is an upright friend
who gives forthright admonitions are highly advocated. Ruyu's fall and Lingyun's
achievements symbolize the overall victory of healthy and sound male homosociality
over unhealthy and deleterious male same-sex desire.
Chapter V, "Lover-Sister: Female Same-Sex Desire and Agency," deals with
the ambiguous female same-sex desire and the female agency in this tanci fiction.
Studying the common tanci themes of cross-dressing and fake marriage as developed
in Feng shuangfei, I argue that the same-sex relationship between Zhang Feixiang and
Murong Zhu exceeds the boundary of female friendship. Consciously or not, the
author depicts a lively picture of ambiguous female relationships. With qing or
46
passions highly valued in female same-sex relationships, the text reveals women's
desires and agency for staying together forever through their limited sphere of power.
Chapter VI, "Virtuous Women and Shrews: The Negotiation of Desirabte
Women," looks at two stereotypes of women, virtuous women and shrews. Feixiang is
a virtuous girl and generous wife, a perfect match for the orthodox man, Lingyun. But
Feng shuangfei indicates that it is the unconventional and unrestrained side of
Feixiang that makes her an ideal wife. In comparison to Feixiang, Qionghua fulfills
most of the standards of the stereotype of shrews in xiaoshuo fiction, but the tand
suggests that it is exactly her shrewish values that shape her as an ideal match for a
dissolute husband like Yishao. Through a close reading, I demonstrate how a female
writer conceives of and reassesses the standards of ideal women established by
classics and male writers.
Conclusion
This introductory chapter lays out the background ofthe dissertation, which
looks at Cheng Huiying and her Feng shuangfei as part ofthe "talented women"
culture and part of the female-authored rand tradition. It also provides the
background ofthe author as an individual, who strived to distinguish herself within a
larger background. In her writing, Cheng Huiying established an image of a female
writer who is different from her peers, fully aware of her female gender identity but
having male ambitions literarily and politically. Meanwhile, the constructed female
47
author is sti II conscious of gender inequality. By creating multiple layers of subjects in
the text, the constructed female author actually speaks for women from a female
perspective. The Introduction ends with an attempt to interpret the text with two
methodologies, reading the piece as political allegory or self-referential text, the
traditions which have been commonly used to read mainstream male-authored literary
works. Whi Ie not the main concern of my dissertation, this attempt offers an
alternative view for reading this lanci.
Not only does this chapter introduce the background, but it also grounds the
methodologies of my dissertation. The methodologies I use in this dissertation are a
combination of gender studies and traditional interpretation of mainstream male-
authored xiaoshuo fiction. This chapter has established the foundation of using both
methodologies because the text is a production influenced by mainstream ideology
and aesthetics in xiaoshuo fiction and the author's gendered self-awareness. Therefore,
the major task in my dissertation is to discover how Cheng Huiying adopts and
reinterprets the mainstream ideologies and literary conventions from her perspective
as a female writer.
This dissertation is the first extended work of research on a single lanci
authored by a woman. I hope that my dissertation will pique the interest of readers in
this work of fiction by a previously unknown female writer and in the whole
understudied genre of female-authored lanci. Although most of these works are
extremely long, I hope my research may bring this individual example of a
48
female-authored lanci, as well as the entire genre, into the sight of academia in the
twenty-first century. I want to demonstrate with my research that although Zaisheng
yuan is well-known thanks to Chen Yinke's studies and recognition, that work is only
one single example of a lanci while many other val id but unrecognized pieces of lanci
exist, which may have even greater meanings to convey.
49
CHAPTER II
THE DAWN OF "FREE LOVE":
THE NEGOTIATION OF WOMEN'S ROLES IN HETEROSEXUAL
RELATIONSHIPS
Introduction
About fifteen years after Feng shuangfei was published,jree love became a
popular concept supported and promoted by mainstream intellectuals, male and
female, during the New Culture Movement. The termjree love broadly referred to
such concepts as free courtship, free marriage, free divorce, and free remarriage. It
changed the whole ideology of heterosexual relationships and marriages in China.
Since then, the ideals ofjree love gradually replaced the traditional norms of arranged
marriage and have become the standard mechanism for pursuing sexual or romantic
relationships. The concepts of self-determination associated withjree love not only
benefited men, but, more importantly, freed women from having no control over their
own destiny.
Although the notion ofjree love in China is usually associated with the
translation of the concept of individual rights from the European west, Feng shuangfei
demonstrated that the concept was already rooted deeply in women's thought by the
late Qing. The tand depicts a variety of female characters who use different means to
try to take control of their own lives, especially their marriage destinies. This chapter
---------------
50
wi II look at the concubines of Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao as a form of case study
to analyze how the female author and readership were imagining forms of
self-empowerment. This case study includes three female characters, Zhen Daya,
Zhen Xiaoya and Bao Xiang'er, in this land because of their different means to
achieve autonomy. Daya, who appears to be a ritually appropriate talented woman, in
fact manipulates the ritual codes to serve her own wi II and needs. In contrast, her
younger sister, Xiaoya, establishes her self-esteem and identity by willingly following
the rituals, especially the cult of chastity. The most extreme case is Bao Xiang'er who
totally goes against the rituals to pursue her own marriage and happiness. As we can
see, these three women have different levels of identification with the traditional ritual
codes, probably representing various women's opinions on rituals in reality. However,
the narrator emphasizes that no matter what attitudes women hold, they are all able to
find their own way to empower themselves, instead of following the restraints that
men subject them to, within the system.
It is noteworthy that the women granted the highest degree of agency in their
marriages are the concubines. In this way, the land avoids a direct challenge to the
orthodox emphasis on women's compliance with chastity and filial piety during the
Qing, while allowing guixiu women a safe outlet to imagine other possibilities. As a
form of fantasy, Feng shuangfei introduces multiple yet plausible alternatives to
arranged marriage, showing how the female protagonists in the lanci gain a high
degree of autonomy when making decisions for themselves. Regardless of whether
51
the female characters choose to follow or go against orthodox values, the narrator
emphasizes that it is their own choice and does not blame them either way. In this
sense, the celebration of the characters' personal choices in the tand can be
considered a precursor of the concept of free love.
Zhen Daya: The Pursuit of an Individual Identity
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the characterization of Zhen Daya Jt.::k~1£ has
drawn critical attention because of the possibility that it might be self-referential.
Although all of the female characters in Feng shuangfei are compelling, Daya stands
out. Through various sufferings, Daya proves her abilities as a female individual and
builds her own identity as a female scholar. Daya's identity combines aspects of the
typical talented girl, which stresses literary talents, and female Confucian scholar,
which highlights feminine virtues. In this sense, Daya encompasses both cai (/t,
talents) and de (1,W, virtues), the controversially essential features of an intellectual
woman. Her painstaking pursuit of an individual identity and her fruitful
achievements in both the public and private spheres set a model for the female
audience.
Although Daya is also depicted as a beauty, the narrator, when introducing her,
highlights her literary talents as her most outstanding characteristic. As the narrator
indicates to the readers, the family name Zhen, with its literal meaning "truly,"
emphasizes that the literal meanings in her given name are "true." Her given name,
52
Daya, refers to the "Daya" or "Greater Odes" section of the Shijing (i~~~, Book of
Songs), which is sung at solemn court ceremonies, thus suggesting her decorous
personality. Her style, Miaocai 9'):;;1-, literally meaning "wonderful talents,"
foreshadows her outstanding literary talents that are revealed later in the story.
Similar to other important characters in the lanci, Daya is given her own
biography when she is introduced; hers stands out due to its mythic framing. Because
her parents had not been able to give birth to a child for ten years before she and her
sister Xiaoya were born, the girls are treated "like sons" (J]i l=J)LT- f,N).66 This
detail ensures their interest in literary studies and production. Moreover, the
omniscient narrator cedes her place to the goddess Magu J#~ti, who informs the
readers that in their previous lives the sisters were arrogant scholars. Magu not only
explains to the girls the reason for their unusual interests and talents, but also
promises them that despite what they will suffer she will help them find husbands and
instructs them not to give up their literary training. It would not be odd if the goddess
who appears in their dreams had been Guanyin )(~-s, the popular and benevolent
Bodhisattva patronized by women and non-elites, but Magu is not known for a
connection with women or girls, especiaJJy in terms of marriage destinies. Magu is a
goddess associated with longevity, and she is often portrayed carrying peaches,
another symbol of longevity, to the birthday party of the Queen Mother of the West.
This strange and inappropriate representation of the goddess in this scene strongly
r,r, Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1069.
53
suggests that she is being used as a narrative tool to legitimate the improper and
willful behavior of the two sisters. In this sense, I read Magu as a mask, or alter ego,
of the Zhen sisters' subjectivity. The first indication of the sisters' strong will is their
improper preference for literary studies, a male occupation, over women's work:
At that time they were still young, not doing women's work. And they still had
servants work for them, so they did not need to make tea, cook, or enter the
kitchen. Leisurely sitting in their boudoir, they took only reading and writing
as their primary occupation.
[JtBi~~GMJ/J\, +i~:Y;T; ill~1fJLl'TA~~~, Jf::'F~~~~t1ll., 1:
1±~ lUJo 1*1*IlJ 9=J, }·HEiKw·t;~"f i~J 7 1I*0 r
Due to the goddess's instructions and promises, their absence from engaging in
women's domestic chores seems excusable. As a result, Daya ends up the equal of any
talented scholar: "[She] often read the various schools of thought, her poetry was
dignified when she first learned writing, her calligraphy was as good as that of Zhong
Yao'f~lf,* and Wang Xizhi :£*2... She was also good at painting. (D*mTiJ;Ni~I'ffl,
As a female scholar, Daya initially distinguishes herself from others with
"relaxed style in the mode of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove" (**TZ.
JA,).69 The term, linxia zhijeng, was used to describe the famous talented woman, Xie
Daoyun i~jmt~ in Shishuo xinyu (t!ti)~J'iJT~!, A New Account ofTales of the World):
Xie E valued his elder sister [Xie Daoyun] highly. Zhang Xuan often praised
his younger sister [Zhang Tongyun 5{UJ~~], wanting to compare the two
women. There was a nun from Ji who had visited both the Zhang and Xie
families, People asked her who between the two '''las better. She answered,
(,7 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1069-70.
(,K Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1071.
(,9 Cheng, FengShuangfei, 1071, 1393,
54
"The look of Mrs. Wang [Xie] is leisurely and carefree, so she thus has the
syle of the Seven Worthies of the bamboo grove. Mrs. Gu [Zhang] has a pure
heart which can be reflected by jade, so she naturally is a flower in a boudoir."
[W~~m~~, *~~~~~, ~~~~o~mm~, *~*,W=*
, A 1'r:iJ~1ft:r;, ~ EJ : "::ExA~$ '\~~M, 1i!x:~~*r JX\4. ; miJ1*9~ lI!;HYJS:
~, §~llJm~~Q "fo
By connecting Daya to Xie Daoyun, who is famous for her "talents of eulogizing
catkin"(IJJ.k~~/t),the narrator conspicuously attempts to give the audience a first
general impression of Daya as a talented girl. 7! Moreover, in the original anecdote,
after comparing the two prominent talented women, the nun's conclusion contrasts
one as natural and free, linxia (under the woods), while the other is constrained and
proper within the boudoir guifang. Linxia is a reference to the seven well-known
scholars, the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove (tt~*-tN)of the Wei and Jin,
who are famous for their "abandoning the classics and upholding (the philosophy of)
Laozi and Zhuangzi, despising rituals and advocating unconventionality" (*~WTID
lJ!6~ff, ~fU!TID *JJJOis:).72 In this sense, while Zhang Tongyun is characterized by
her typical feminine virtues, Xie Daoyun is singled out for her unrestrained
temperament. This comparison in Feng shuangfei suggests that Daya's nature is not
confined by the rituals, foreshadowing her later invitation to Lingyun to enter her
70 Liu Yiqing )tU)(J7;:, Shishuo xinyu yi;;hu tt!iJHi1ri€ff\l:tt (Shanghai Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1996),588.
71 The story is trom the Lienu ;;huan in Pang Xuanling J.%~~, Book ofJin 1&1='; (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974,
volA), 2516. When Daoyun's uncle Xie An asked the children to describe the snow, Daoyun's cousin thought it
like salt. When Daoyun made metaphors to catkin, An was very pleased. Later, "the talent of singing catkin" was
used to describe girls' literal) talents. Olle ur ih\: ramuus \:xampies is in the Hongiou meng. in Chapter Five, the
quatrain in the Main Register referring to Baochai and Daiyu reads, "It is deplorable about the one's virtues of stop
weaving machine; it is adorable of the other's talents of eulogizing catkin" (PT l!J( 'Pt;fJltt!. :t~H~·!9j(l\::;t). See CaD
Xueqin ff~1f and Zhiyan zhai ~~1ill!*f, Zhiyan ;;hai chongping Shitou ji genchenjiaoben Rfl1i\\.\*f.m:W:t'i~1,d2.~~
fll:2fs: (Beijing: Zuojia chubanshe, 2006), J54.
72 Gu Yanwu J®j~JEt, Ri;;hilu B~Q:iR (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1963), vol.l3, 306 .
55
house. Additionally, Xie Daoyun is also known for her honor and courage when
confronting dangers and emergencies, qualities that Daya also shares when
confronting extreme situations.
The comparison between Daya and Xie highlights Daya's outstanding yet
unconventional qualities. Within the fictional world of Feng shuangfei, Daya is
famous for her extraordinary literary talent. Lingyun, the perfect man who excels at
everything, including the aesthetic appreciation of good poetry, cannot resist trying to
lure Daya to appear in order to check out her appearance after he has admired her
painting and poetry.73 While it is ironic that the ultimate orthodox man is here doing
something inappropriate, the scene indicates how excellent Daya's talent is if it makes
even the most orthodox man forget about ritual propriety. Her literary talents are not
only refined, but also quick. She can write a good responsive ci lyric right after she
sees one and can write a spontaneous poem on a given topic at parties.74 Both the
exquisiteness and speed of her writings help her fame spread quickly, particularly
after she finishes writing and compi Iing the Niishi Jz:1: (History of Women) and
earns the official title of nil boshi (Jz:t~±, female erudite), "As for today, her
reputation grows even higher. The ministers in court fight for a piece of work from her,
which determines their honor and disgrace" (&~4-B, F1f1~~, Ji!J1fEz..bi $1m#
73 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, chapter 25,
74 For examples, see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1166-67, 1393-94.
75 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1408,
56
It is noteworthy that it is Daya who actively practices and improves her literary
skills in order to gain and keep a high reputation, a practice which solidifies her public
identity. Magu, who as I mentioned can be read as her alter ego, gives her a piece of
important advice when she is twelve, "Since you love reading, you should not give it
up. Instead, you should study harder wholeheartedly and make sure your talents and
skills are outstanding. Do not consider it vain because you are a girl. You will have
Daya is young, it can be interpreted as Daya's resolution to herself. As we read later,
her hard work pays off. After she becomes famous for her literary talents, she keeps
polishing her skills in order to retain her status as a female scholar. Other women,
including Feixiang admire Daya's exceptional skills in calligraphy and painting, "[Her]
calligraphy and painting are both without women's style, having clear spirit and
further explains to Fexiang, who is by now his wife, "[Her] reputation is high as an
erudite. She knows by herselfthat she cannot change the situation, so she must work
harder, afraid of losing face. Therefore, her recent calligraphy and painting are learned
to be adept, washing away her immaturity. Her style is amazingly like that of a
7(, Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1070.
77 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999,
57
and Lingyun's admiring comments, we are informed that Daya's self-driven hard
work has resulted in her outstanding reputation and has solidified her identity as a
talented woman.
Furthermore, Daya does not let herself be restrained by rituals when pursuing
her marriage. Lingyun chooses to rent Daya's house, trying to find the talented girl
whose painting has so impressed him. After failing to entice Daya to show up by
working through Sai Ruyu Elj(p~ and Hanmei ~,fi¥, who are Daya's maids, or by
playing qin (~, zither), Lingyun decides to play sheng (~), the wind musical
instrument at which he is best. Daya is, as expected, attracted and thinks to herself,
"Let me open the window to take a look, so that I know whether he is good or bad"
(1g.JJt*if*-~, 7J9;PA.r:JI=lr:JiitJ2E9J 0 ).79 This decision contradicts her original
thought that she should not meet the male guests as is dictated by the rituals. Once
again, the immortal Magu, her alter ego, gives her a perfect reason to meet
him-Daya receives a prophecy in a dream that she believes is from Magu. "Once
you meet the guest playing the sheng under the moon, do not consider him as a
stranger to avoid suspicion. Your cursed fate will dissolve and the injustices you have
suffered will be redressed. Remember my words; they will determine your marriage"
7R Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999.
79 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, J 130.
NO Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1J02.
58
immediately takes these words as Goddess Magu's instructions even though she does
not even see the goddess or verify the identity of the voice in her dream. Although
premodern Chinese did believe in dream prophecy and direct communication from the
gods, it is possible to think of this voice in Daya's dream as an expression of her own
desires. Equally concerned with the difficulties she is experiencing and her future
marriage, Daya gives herself a seemingly legitimate excuse to meet the man to whom
she is attracted. Furthermore, she invites Lingyun into the guest hall to thank him for
his part in driving away the local bully who wants to trick her into marriage. Then,
when Lingyun offers to save Daya's mother who is seriously sick, she invites him into
the private area of the bedroom. Both of the situations seem to be extreme, but she
could have avoided directly meeting this stranger by going through her male and
female servants. She turns the pressing circumstances and the advice of the goddess
Magu into excuses for her to meet this man to whom she is attracted.
In meeting and communicating with Lingyun, a total stranger to her family,
Daya is actually choosing a husband for herself. What is amazing about Daya is that
she alone in the lanci has total determination of her marriage fate. The narrator creates
the perfect conditions for Daya's legitimate expression of agency: her father is away
from home and is not even able to support the family financially; her mother is
physically and mentally weak and relies on Daya's advice. Hearing from her uncle
that Yu Bocai misT is actually a local bully, Daya is the one who strongly disagrees
59
when her mother arranges the marriage between him and herself. 81 When the Yu
family tries to take advantage of the Zhens in their poverty and force the marriage,
Daya bravely wields a sword to protect herself and her family.82 After meeting
Lingyun who is morally outstanding and generous in helping her through these trying
times, it is Daya who decides to marry him. This is later shown when she rejects the
offers from both the Princess Heyang OPJ~S -0.3:.) and the emperor to marry into their
families as a concubine/ consort, although she is fully aware that she will also be a
concubine if she marries Lingyun. It is worth noting that in both these cases, the
"matchmakers" go directly to Daya for her approval. These actions strongly confirm
Daya's love for Lingyun to a modern reader. When refusing the Princess Heyang,
Daya stresses her subjective agency in the decision: "This zhujian (opinion) is
originally a si (private/selfish one) of my own ... I will repay him by maintaining my
jade-like chastity" 03:~.3:.YllJJj~Ji:~~~DZ;fA ...... § *§ ~~~:tHtM~).83 She states
that her actions are si (in this case, meaning both private and selfish), never a
legitimate reason during the Ming-Qing period. When explaining her decision to her
younger sister, Daya is more sincere about her si, "Not thinking of marriage is a sign
of righteousness; Being sad when thinking of[Lingyun] is a sign of passion" (/G}ilH~
wc1!f, JetE.; ~!ll~~'1:;W1!f, '~¥Hg). 84 Parallel to how Lingyun frames his relationships
H! The given name of Yu is [{en {=, a pun onyuren (!.!!lA, stupid person); the style, Bocai, is a pun on bucai (:>1';1',
untal ented). Therefore puns indicate his personal traits and suggest that he is not a good match for Daya.
82 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, chapter 24.
83 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1426.
84 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 2019.
-----~----
60
with Yishao, Daya also frames her feelings for Lingyun with qing and yi. Both qing
and yi are considered in the si spheres.85 Daya then introduces the excuse of serving
her old mother because there is no son in the family, as Princess reveals, "[You] are
willing to forgo marriage for your whole life, so that you and your mother can depend
on each other" OIT~~~~/f-';~~C -BJ:3ct§11Xo ).86 Here Daya uses the seemingly
orthodox excuse of filial piety in order to take control of her own marriage.
Daya's honor, principles and courage to fight in extreme situations actually
reinforce her identity as a female scholar in the mode of the Seven Worthies of the
Bamboo Grove and Xie Daoyun. As we know, Ji Kang ftfill, one of the best known
figures among the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, is not only famous for his
literary talents but also for his martyrdom when he refused to serve the illegitimate
Sima government. Xie Daoyun, inspired by their unconventional ways, also has a
similar story recorded in the History ofJin:
Encountering the disaster of Sun En, [Daoyun] behaved naturally. Not until
hearing that her husband and sons had been killed by the bandits then did she
ask the maids to carry the sedan chair and bring along several swords as they
were leaving. When the rebel army came, she killed several people and then
was captured. Her grandson, Liu Tao, was only several years old at the time.
The bandits wanted to kill him as well. Daoyun said, 'This concerns the Wang
family and has nothing to do with other families! If you have to kill him, I'd
rather be killed first.' Although En was extremely cruel, he was taken aback by
this and so did not kill Tao.
[(m~)&.#~Z*, ~m~~, ~~~&~~B~Mm~, ~$~
m~1mYJ t±Hl, iliL:J~f~~, -¥*~A, lHJlm 0 ;t=t:!JH/J\)(Ij1J,fB14~3Y, mJX
H5 For a more detailed definition of and discussion on qing and yi, see Chapter IV on male homosocial
relationships,
H6 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1424,
61
X~~Z, mtEltEl: '~:tE.=En, 1PJ*1iEJjjcl ~,;t:t:~IU~~, r5t!R.*, ° '}~Un
.~, TJZe&?i1, JJ/G~~o ]87
Following the model of her literary predecessors, Daya is also willing to sacrifice her
life for her own beliefs and ambitions, in this case her determination to marry
Lingyun, the man with whom she is in love. When the emperor, the highest power in
late imperial China, asks her to be an imperial consort, an honor which would have
been impossible for women in late imperial China to reject, Daya responds, "The sage
(emperor) is of course vastly compassionate. Ifhe understands my na'ive and foolish
sincerity, he will issue a benign edict to stop this ... If, in the end, however, his
majesty does not understand, how could my life be any more substantial from a tuft of
grass, I would prefer to die with my three chi body to repay his years of kindness" (?:£
her desire to wait for Lingyun, Daya's speech, with its moving excuse of filial piety,
reads as very honorable. She even presents the same argument for rejecting an
imperial marriage to the empress, the emperor's mother, and resolutely wins freedom
for herself
Moreover, Daya is also distinguished for her "air of being a Confucian scholar"
(1jffl1!fz~), a quality related to Ban Zhao VUE, who is famous for both her cai and
de. 89 Although in Xie Daoyun's case, cai mainly refers to her literary talents, Ban
X7 Pang, Jinshu, 2516.
XR Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1520.
R9 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1301, "[Daya] is really worthy of the wind/style of a scholar, exactly like Ban Zhao
from the Han who continued writing the History of Han" (1I~z..)X1.1{/f~,1?~€':'tt~JYH1L).Also see Cheng,
62
Zhao's cai refers to her knowledge of history and classics, the quality she shared with
Confucian scholars. Amazingly, Ban Zhao was one of the writers and compi lers ofthe
Hanshu Ux .=p;, History of Han). After her elder brother Ban Gu :lj)I@I died, Ban Zhao
continued and finished his work of writing and compiling the Hanshu. Ban Zhao also
wrote the Niljie (::Sz.-iM, Admonitions for Women), the first instructional manual on
feminine behavior and virtue. She also served as an adviser on state matters to
Empress Deng and served as an imperial teacher to the princesses. As a female scholar,
Ban Zhao set a model for later female Confucian scholars: she had vast knowledge of
the classics and histories and, at the same time, emphasized feminine virtues.
Daya follows Ban Zhao's model in that she writes and compiles a History of
Women (Nilshi ::Sz.- j:). This act of compiling a Nilshi demonstrates Daya's interest in
women's education and lives. Moreover, since the empress initiates the project,
readers are assured of the work's orthodox value. Both Daya's personal interest and
the state's interest, symbolized by the Empress, in compiling a History ofWomen
indicate the author's attention to and interest in women's Jives as a different and
separate category from the lives of men. As we know, Chinese histories are written by,
for, and about men, so women only occupy a small section in them called "Lienti
zhuan" (JIJ::Sz.-1tz, Bibliography of Exemplary Women). Due to the rise of the cainil
culture in the Ming and Qing, female intellectuals started to be aware of themselves as
Feng shuangfei, 1393, the phrase is slightly altered with the same meanmg, "[Her] clothes and behaviors are both
different [from other girls], with a whole style of Confucian standards" (:t<:~$l!:~~fF, -i*1Trll~f;$tJ(::JC ).
63
a distinct group.90 I believe that Cheng Huiying, as a successor of the cainii tradition,
also inherited a consciousness of women's intellectual and historical agency as the
writers and subjects of history. Her design of the subplot of writing an individual
history of women suggests her concern for women as a category of being/subjects in
history that is separate from men and worth recording and being known.
To reinforce her identity as a female scholar, Daya intentionally exhibits her
concern for the welfare of the emperor and the country as if she were a scholar official.
Although it was not required for male and female literati to be concerned about the
state of the empire or people, it was definitely appropriate for scholar officials to
worry about tianxia (};:r), "all under Heaven.',9] When Princess Heyang invites
local women to a celebration at her palace to give thanks for the clear good weather,
Daya says, "How can you face Heaven with these words? It is considered fortunate to
90 The fact that women started to compose anthologies of female poets can be considered a sign. See my detailed
discussion on the female literary tradition and cainii culture in Chapter 1.
91 It is a long tradition that Confucian scholars take tianxia ~T as their responsibility.
Early in the Daxue J\.i!¥:- chapter in the Liji tL1e which was compiled from the Warring States period to the
Eastern Han, there is already the famous line, "Through the investigation of things, one's knowledge is extended;
once one's knowledge is extended, his will can be stabilized; once one's will has been stabilized, his mind can be
rectified; once one's mind has been rectified, one's self can be cultivated; once one's selfhas been cultivated, one's
family can be ordered; once one's family has been ordered, the state can be properly ruled; once the state is
properly ruled, the entire world can be kept in harmony." (4?1mjjijJ§j;Q~, j;Q~jjijJ§~~, ~~jjijJ§,I:,'lE, ,1:,'lE
jjijJ§:!1H~, ~~jjijJ§*1r, *1rjjijJ§~itl, ~itljjijJ§~T5jZ) See lhu Xi *~, Sishuji=hu 12!I~~tt (Changsha:
Yuelu shushe, 1997), 2. The translation is from Andrew Plaks's book, Four Masterworks of Ming Novel: Ssu ta
ch'i shu (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 158. For Confucian scholars, Daxue has been one of the
Sishu 12!1~, the basic Confucian classics since the Song Dynasty.
Fan lhongyan from the Song writes in his famous essay, "Yueyanglouji ffi ~B~1e," in Fan Zhongyan yanjiu ::iliao
huibian m 1~ ~ li)f 3i: ~ N y[ ~, ed. Wang Xinjun .3::'l:,d$], lhu Gui *;jf, Ke Jiliang tiIJ i!I!i ~ (Taipei:
Xingzhengyuan wenhuajianshe weiyuanhui, 1989), 209-210, "5t~TZ.tJtjjij'l:It, J§~TZ)l'jjij*, "
During the Ming, Gu Xiancheng ji!jiBi5M wrote the famous duilian xtJl* (antithetical couplet) for the private
school he opened, "The sound of the wind, the sound of the rain and the sound of reading books all come into my
ears; The events of the family, the events of the country and the events of the world all under my care. ()X1,F'l'IUF
"W';1'5FF'FA:Ej:; **~$~T$$$:!k'I:,,)"
The famous Qing scholar, Gu Yanwu, says in his Ri~hi lu, 307, "Even as negligible as an ordinary person shares
the responsibilities to protect the world!" (1JI!;~Ttlf, I21xZ.~, ~1f~~:Ej:~!)
64
have seasonable weather. If there is no rain in the autumn, there will be a famine. If
you asked the opinion of someone ignorant like me, I would wish that there were no
famines caused by excessive water or drought" (JJ:~i:g.{i'iJ±ft:xt1".11 0 ~Jllm~ imJ7J ~fi'ii,
unconstrained temperaments ofXie Daoyun and the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo,
Daya's abrupt and heartfelt criticism of the princess reinforce her identity in this tanci
as a nil boshi, a female erud ite.
Not only does Daya show concern for tianxia, she also behaves like a loyal
minister who admonishes the emperor without thinking of her own safety. Later, when
his favorite consort dies, the emperor summons Daya to the palace to paint a spirit
portrait ofthe consort to be used in calling her spirit back. However, instead of doing
what the emperor orders, Daya sends the emperor a written reply in which she
suggests that neither practicing shamanism nor taking a girl into his palace are
appropriate for the emperor. Even Hanmei, Daya's maid, knows that the report will
only irritate the emperor, but Daya defends herself as an officer of the government:
Now that the government is paying me a salary, I can be considered an official.
The emperor has made mistakes now. IfI were not aware of this, I would have
done nothing; however, since I am aware of it, how can I not admonish him?
[f.z~JG)'tT~JJM{'f*, -lliiYJtJf.1-Efffl, A~1f:tt. /f~~3;Qm-lliiYJt~T; ~JG
B3;Qm, ;'&/f~1.mi-*? ]93
Apparently, Daya considers herself as a true official, given her official title of
"Female Erudite;; and her salary from the government. So, as do other loyal ministers,
92 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1412.
93 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1516.
65
she considers it her responsibility to point out the emperor's mistakes. Not only does
Daya give advice concerning propriety as is done by other loyal ministers in history,
but, in the mode of all famous loyal ministers, she also risks her life to admonish the
emperor, "I risk my life to show my stupid loyalty, not afraid of death" (b:ifJt%~~
With an official title of nil boshi and having established identities as a talented
woman and a female scholar, Daya gains much more autonomy for herselfthan other
women. She is the only woman who obtains an income from the court and owns land
and properties in her own name:
Miss Zhen stayed in the imperial palace for two months and completed the
History o/Women. The Empress highly praised her, considering her as good as
Ban Zhao and better than Xie Daoyun, and so granted her the title of "Female
Erudite" ... [The emperor] bestowed her a thousand mu of farmland and a
house from the government. This had never happened in ancient or present
times.
[~J't/J\~iltrTIM )=j, :k~~ PX:, ::t\)§=*:1JIJ 'W:'fft, 12U'>] /f~ili.f)I~I2:, :JtJ¥1*
tll, i!&~ -%:9; tw ± ..... J~ frt!rE1f eFf1£f, tr!:f:S - [2L ~ ill1i:J54'*1fZ ~jL t 5
Apparently, the fictional empress and the emperor value Daya's talents and virtues
over those of Ban Zhao and Xie Daoyun, although these two highest authorities
consider feminine virtues and classic training more important than literary talent. In
94 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1517.
There are many famous stories in Chinese history about loyal ministers who admonish emperors, such as Bi Gan
~~-T (who is famous partially due to the novel, Fengshen yanyi Mfljl:/J1J<.) during the Shang and Wei Zheng tttiE
during the Tang. Even though they know that they will irritate the emperor to the point that the emperor may kill
them in his fury, they consider it their responsibilities to point out the emperors' problems and help him back to the
right track.
On the other hand; it is also an emperor's job to be able to take appropriate advice. i\n emperor \vho can tak~
suggestions is usually considered a good one, such as Tang Taizong Jl!f:t:* who takes Wei Zheng's advice; and an
emperor who punishes or even kills the officials who give admonishments is often considered corrupt, such as
King Zhou ~.:E who executes Bi Gan.
The author of Feng shuangfei here is obviously referring to these conventions and ideals.
95 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1296.
66
this way, Daya officially has a job title, properties and land, and therefore steady
income from her official post and lands. With this power and money, Daya is able to
do what she wants. First, she frequently invites her younger sister, Xiaoya who had
been adopted by their uncle as a chi Id, to her house so that the sisters can often stay
together. Second, despite her fame and wealth, Daya establishes herself as a
calligrapher and painter to serve the ladies in the capital. This job role keeps her so
busy that she hires her uncle to repair the family tombs and then work as her assistant
in order to repay his kindness for helping her in her poverty.
Moreover, she is very good at using existing moral standards to ensure her
agency. As has been mentioned, she wisely makes use of the concept of filial piety,
one of the basic Confucian virtues in late imperial China, to avoid marriages she does
not want. However, when she is finally able to marry Guo Lingyun, the man she loves,
she does not want to give up her career as a well-networked artist and her properties,
as would be expected ofa married woman. Again, when talking to the empress, Daya
uses serving her mother as a legitimate excuse to reject marrying into the Guo
household:
My widowed mother is old, but with no son. She actually depends on me to
support her; I serve her medicine in the morning and at night as a son. If!
marry into another family, I really cannot be master of my own affairs ... Filial
piety ranks at the top of the hundred good deeds, so we need to judge the
priority among the five relationships.
r11r -m. iE '"~ [~Ll(' "'" 1liffi /\%- E5 'i ~ -* I~HSl fq=: th ili, ill II ,(f.I:', hR- L.!-J h3 +.lth hI!-
l-.-'-.I-: ~ I r=a ../ Jl:.J,.mJ iJ ~,.)~1/'}.-.1-.-J-/V '---r '/1" H ..'<.,. ~ ~:;."'..J .. ·-1.../.) / U 0 JlHJ f'l' U~ Y.~\ J 1l..!J)l-.T.'
*i)] ~xi Et:t t~ ...... -8 ffz. r:p 'ft1t -~-, 11it:tEJf:mr'B11r£ 0 t 6
96 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2176.
67
In this short passage in which Daya defends of her decision not to marry into the Guo
household, the key point is that she will not be able to zi zhuchi §:j ±1~ (be master of
herself) if she enters a traditional marriage. She emphasizes the importance offilial
piety, which is above the husband-wife relationship according to her rankings of
moral obligations. During the Ming and Qing, some girls who did not get married in
order to serve their parents were recorded in some local gazetteers as filial
daughters. 97 Despite this, their legitimacy as unmarried women was still questionable
in late imperial China according to traditional Confucian standards, which define
women's social roles as subordinate to men, father, husband and son, according to the
"Three Obedience (sancong -_. fA)". Although "filial piety is the first one among the
hundred good deeds" Co ~q: 7'15t) was a popular idiom during the Qing, it does not
contradict the basic Confucian feminine virtue, sancong -- settled in the early
Confucian classic, Liji fl~c (Book of Rites), and developed by all later women's
teachings -- that a woman's filial piety should be directed to her parents-in-law after
her marriage.98 In this sense, normative Qing expectations still required a woman to
marry into her husband's house, taking the job of serving her parents-in-law as her
priority, while still allowing her to take care of her mother if she were widowed and
97 Maram Epstein, Orthodox Passions: Narratives ofFilial Piety in Eighteenth-Century China, forthcoming_
98 The idea of "filial piety is the first one among the hundred good deeds" (S~q:1iJ5t) can be found inWang
Yongbin _:bM~, Weilu yehua lEif':g[i;l5 (Tianjin: Baihua wenyi chubanshe, 2007),
Janet M, Theiss also talks about the contradiction between women's relationships to natal and marital families in
her book, Disgraceful Matters: The Politics of Chastity in Eighteenth-Century China (Berkeley, Los Angeles,
London: University of California Press, 2004), 84, As she points out, late imperial morality hand books and fiction
"all reiterated and elaborated on the notion that filiality to parents-in-law was the heart of the 'wifely way'
(fudao),"
68
without a son. In this passage, we can see Daya playing with the relative status of
moral values in order to gain full autonomy.
Since tand is a form of fantasy for women, Daya becomes an exception to the
traditional marriage system. Her cunning strategy is totally successful, and her
not-so-Iegitimate excuse is officially legitimized. It is worth noting that it is again the
empress, a woman as well as the matriarch of the country, who exempts Daya from
traditional marital duties:
[You] can be considered extremely filial among women ... I will grant you [the
exception] of returning to your own house after you get married for a month ...
This first fulfills your filial piety, second, allows you to consummate your
marriage, and third lets you keep your own household, freeing you from the
worry of being limited by others. It really attains three objectives in a single
move.
[PJ i~!x.r:p~~ :t~1JP:Y!liJ1$TV31~)=j z)5, 1JJV3*~ L~~FJ~·1t~
m, {jz~~t-~, jfR£L 00 if § %nr, +'~}t'3l:f'I1IJTA, '!J;;;7v~~·1JtJ·zJJfL r
In this tand, the women seem to help each other to enhance each other's agency and
autonomy. Princess Heyang, who suggested a similar arrangement when she earlier
asked Daya to be her husband's concubine, also fosters this opinion, "Just say that
[the emperor] bestows both the property and the person to Yongzhong as his external
demonstrate her full understanding of Daya's insistence on autonomy. Although the
three objectives here are listed in the order offilial piety, marriage and keeping her
own household, the most important objective is probably the last one. The true
purpose is "freeing yourself from the worry of being limited by others." It means that
~~ Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2 J76.
\00 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2 J76.
69
Daya is both financially and physically independent, unrestrained by her husband or
domestic duties, and that her husband needs to go to her home to consummate their
marriage. This can be considered the highest level of autonomy a woman could
imagine gaining during late imperial China.
Daya, as the very first exemplary female character the narrator establishes,
achieves true agency and autonomy by establishing her own identity as a talented
woman and female scholar. Although the process of achieving autonomy is difficult,
the narrator seems to suggest its worthiness by the fruitful outcomes. Reading this
land as a women's fantasy, we actually see the female writer's imagination of an ideal
of women's autonomy within the social and ideological limitations of her time.
Zhen Xiaoya: A Follower of the Cult of Chastity
If Daya is characterized by her talents as her style Miaocai suggests (literally
"wonderful talents"), Xiaoya is also distinguished by her style, Miaorong ~y:@:
(literally "wonderful appearance"). Although Zhang Yishao, the dissolute protagonist,
is crazy for her beauty, she is portrayed as a persistent follower of the cult of chastity.
As scholars have argued, chastity was not only a gender norm for women in late
imperial China, but also a component of women's identities. 101 It is also true that in
JOI See Janet M. Theiss" Disgracefu1 Moflers: The Politics a/Chastity in Eighteenth-Century China; Susan t\.1ann,
Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century (Stanford, Calf.: Stanford University Press, 1997),
and "Widows in the Kinship, Class, and Community Structures of Qing Dynasty China," in Journal of Asian
Studies 46, no. 1 (\ 987): 37-56; Weijing Lu, True to Her Word: the Faithful Maiden Cult in Late Imperial China
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008); Katherine Carlitz, "Shrines, Governing-Class Identity, and the Cult of
Widow Fidelity in Mid-Ming Jiangnan," Journal ofAsian Studies 56, no. 3 (1997): 612-40, and "The Daughters,
the Singing Girl, and the Seduction of Suicide," in Passionate Women: Female Suicide in Late Imperial China, ed.
Paul S. Ropp, Paola Zamperini, and Harriet T. Zurndorfer (Leiden: E.l Brill, 2001), 22-46; Dorothy Ko, Teachers
70
this story although the cliched subplot follows the conventions of male-authored
scholar-beauty romances, the emphasis on Xiaoya's willing choice to keep her
chastity indicates both a respect and celebration of her subjectivity.
Unlike her elder sister, Xiaoya's beauty is distinguished by her charm, which
refers not only to her beauty but also her enchanting air, so that everyone is
immediately attracted to her when seeing her. As Daya's younger sister, Xiaoya is
always compared to Daya in the lanci. The fairest judge would be their mother, "Her
graceful and charming spirit is even harder to portray on a painting. Sometimes when
an unearthly breeze blows, she tends to fly to the heavens" C~1fjj~)x\A+§¥t'Jlf!1jWi)(tL
also agree that "she is more ethereal than her elder sister" (ftl?J~:1Jt$t$~JJX\lIiJXl).103
When talking about a girl who can be blown away by wind, the very first image that
comes to mind is Lin Daiyu, an immortally beautiful girl in Honglou meng, who is
described as "a fairy from the other world" (titjHIIJ~) and "When [Daiyu] comes out,
if the wind blows, she will fall" (t±1*)x\')l-n~gJt1fIJ7).104 The connection between
the two here definitely emphasizes Xiaoya's beauty. Xiaoya is so attractive that even a
woman, Qionghua, falls in love with her beauty, "What is wonderful is that [she is]
gentle and serene, with a different kind of dashing, and that [she is] charm ing and
ofInner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-Century China (Stanford. Calif.: Stanford University Press,
1994); T'ien Ju-k'ang, Male Anxiety and Female Chastity: A Comparative Study of Chinese Ethical Values in
Ming-Ch'ing Times (Leiden E. 1. Brill, 1988).
102 Cheng, Feng shuanglei, 1306.
103 Cheng, Feng shuanglei, 1306.
104 Cheng, CaD, Honglou meng, Chapter 5, 65.
71
Again, she is marked by her fengliu, another distinguishing quality ofDaiyu, "having
Then the narrator turns to directly depict Xiaoya's qing, making a strong and
explicit reference to Lin Daiyu. As many scholars have pointed out, Lin Daiyu is the
highest embodiment of qing in Honglou meng, so it is safe to say that Xiaoya is also
an incarnation of qing in this land. Daiyu, a girl fuJi of qing, is often related to
sickness and sorrows. 107 Likewise, when Xiaoya is adopted by her uncle and aunt,
she is also sad and sick, "Her feelings are blue, harming the spleen more. Who knows
that [she] has many sorrows and eats little? A sickness of the heart surely cannot be
Her reasons for being sorrowful chou (~) and being sick at heart xinbing ({.'JiJTI) are
that she lives in someone else's house, another resemblance to Lin Daiyu. Moreover,
like Daiyu, Xiaoya is physically weak and easily gets sick. When there is a shower on
a summer night, Xiaoya "felt hot all over her body like she was on fire. She was also
thirsty, had a headache and asthma ... The rain was pattering on the plantains ... The
environment evoked her sadness. Weeping, she did not know the reason herself' (:)@
W:' Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1391.
10(, Cao, Honglou meng, Chapter 3.
107 See Footnote 11. As Zhiyan Zhai mentions in hislher commentary to Shilouji, Lin Daiyu is finally judged as
qingqing (twtw, passions for passions), Chapter 19.
lOR Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1299.
72
ill/f't.R;ftHEl).109 Her hot sickness in cold weather, the image of rain pattering on
plantains, and even her sadness for no reason all closely relate to Daiyu's passions and
sensations in similar weather and environment. The last, but not least, similarity is of
course Xiaoya's worries about her marriage. "The Miss was really depressed at the
marry her to a relative in the countryside, who she does not know but expects to be
vulgar. I 10
Making a perfect parallel to Daiyu in terms of qing, Xiaoya's literary talents are
an essential quality. Like her elder sister, Xiaoya is also capable of writing poetry,
which is the best venue for a girl to display her literary talents and personal traits.
During the party for women which Qionghua hosts, Princess Heyang orders the
women to write a poem on qixi (--(;5), the seventh day of the seventh month, a
festival when two lovers, Niulang L:j:: ~IS (the Herd Boy) and ZhinU ~.R3c (the Weaving
girl), are able to meet for one day each year; it is also the date when women pray for
feminine skills. After Daya and Xiaoya finished their poems, the princess comments
that Daya's work is "tender and serene" a!l\.;¥U %1~) and Xiaoya's poem is "very
delicate and graceful, but it feels that qing overcomes language" (lI\.;flH~f~3[, 11:.!:%'lft
TIT-X)."! Not coincidently, Zhang Yishao also has a similar comment after reading
and comparing their poems, "Although the taste of Female Erudite's poem is very
leN Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1365-66.
110 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1345.
III Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1394.
73
high, her poem feels too cold ... not as flamboyant and passionate as Xiaoya's" (~t~
preferences for the poems are different, the princess and Yishao share a consistent
opinion. Both point out that Xiaoya's poem focuses on qing, while Daya's poem
emphasizes literary techniques. This scene again recalls a similar comment made by
Li Wan on Baochai and Daiyu's poetry: "If talking about passions and uniqueness, it
is definitely this one [by Daiyu] that is better; if talking about contained meaning and
intensity, it finally has to be Baochai's that wins" (1'fi~)x\'~1EjJU3&, ~ ~J:3:-~-, :.B-~~
1Z1if~!J, ~itiH~).\13 In spite of the comment, Baoyu, the man who values qing
and loves Daiyu, favors Daiyu's poem.
After all, the idea of qing cannot avoid the inclusion of romantic love in the
land. Like Daiyu, Xiaoya is also in love with a man who is involved with many
women but whose love for her is authentic. The narrator portrays Yishao's courtship
ofXiaoya as falling into the cliche of scholar-beauty romance. This setting of the
subplot ofYishao's romantic life is a variant of the "chaste and erotic scholar-beauty
romance" defined by Keith McMahon: there is no explicit descriptions of sex between
the licentious male protagonist, Yishao, and women related to him; but Yishao is in
other ways a typical male protagonist in an erotic scholar-beauty romance because he
is "a benevolent polygynist around whom women willingly gather,,;114 he has more
112 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1395.
113 Cao, Honglou meng, Chapter 37.
114 Keith McMahon, Misers. Shrews and Polygamists: Sexuality and Male-Female Relations in
Eighteenth-Century Chinese Fiction (Durham & London Duke University Press, 1995), 126.
74
than two wives and concubines and several maids as his sexual partners. His two
primary wives do not engage in premarital sex; his wives have fewer superior
qualities than the heroines in its chaste counterparts, in this case Lingyun's wives. The
storyline ofYishao and Xiaoya's romance also follows the conventions of
scholar-beauty romances: they fall in love with each other as soon as they see each
other. Yishao, similar to many male scholars in scholar-beauty romances, tries every
means to pursue her, including reconstructing his garden to view her, writing love
poems to her, bribing Dame Meng Jfutz5ll-=t- as his go-between, climbing to Xiaoya's
bedroom, and sending her jade and stealing her hairpin as keepsakes. Yishao and
Xiaoya also encounter difficulties from the villains Liu Xiangui )zIH,llff and Zhang
Qihu*~~%, who try to take Xiaoya by means of their political or physical powers. I 15
Having and experiencing the same qing as Daiyu, Xiaoya's reactions to
Yishao's pursuit are totally different from Daiyu's to Baoyu. Although Xiaoya to
some extent is physically and morally modeled after the outstanding female
protagonists in scholar-beauty romances, it is very interesting to see how the female
author indicates that the notion of chastity opens a space for women's subjectivity.
Given Yishao's persistent and propelling pursuit, Xiaoya displays her resolute belief
in the notion of "chastity" and therefore shows strong resistance to the opportunities
of gaining a good marriage by compromising her female virtues. Although she is such
a traditional female character, it is through her insistence on her chastity, including
115 See the detailed definitions of "chaste and erotic scholar-beauty romances" in McMahon, Misers, Shrews and
Polygamists, 103-106, 126-31.
75
committing suicide, that she builds her subjectivity, finds her agency and establishes
her self-identities and self-respect.
The narrator allows a secondary character, Dame Meng, to indicate that Xiaoya
has plenty of chances to break the rules of chastity with excuses that would appear
reasonable in most literary works. Yishao asks Dame Meng, who works for Xiaoya's
family, to be his secret go-between. Dame Meng, considering herself as doing a good
deed, tries to persuade Xiaoya to meet and marry Yishao:
Her adopted father and mother don't love her much. And her family is not a
noble one, so she won't necessarily marry into a noble family. Ifshe marries a
mediocre husband, it is really a mistake for a whole life for a pretty girl. She
might as well take control of it as a matter of expediency, enjoying pleasures
while she is still young.
[~llx>r·~fiY~:~L JZ.£Hl;f)§~F~~, ~~·**~\~r,=,'J*o 1fJ\jr~t@ifJl~~,
)j~~IW1~~j:o iijij/f~:tzQB10AtR7t13-=E, &rM"W*~ff~o ]"6
Now that your marriage brings anxiety to you, why don't you take control of it
as a matter of expediency?
[~~~ ~!t£j:~~t®, 1PJ/f~}AtR§ -=EM'? ]117
Using the exact same word, zizhu(chi) (§ -=E[1~]) to be the master of herself, as Daya,
Feixiang and Murong Zhu all do in their fight for autonomy, Dame Meng seems to
support the idea that women should have the right to choose their husbands freely and
tries to convince Xiaoya of it as well. Another word she uses is "congquan" (}J,.tR) or
"to follow expediency," an ancient rule in extraordinary conditions, which is also a
common notion in scholar-beauty romances that permits young lovers to act boldly.
But it is mentioned here that the circumstances are neither extreme nor urgent, so it is
"the extraordinary circumstances of their absolutely perfect match" that motivates
116 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1330.
117 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1346.
76
Dame Meng to urge her to follow expediency.Jl8 It is a powerful expression to allow
women to realize their own will to meet with a man and decide her marriage in
extreme occasions, such as Daya's cases. Interestingly, in both of Daya's cases,
congquan is never mentioned. So in this sense, congquan here is used in a sarcastic
way.
Xiaoya's response to Dame Meng here is strong and determined. When Xiaoya
rejects Yishao's request through Dame Meng, everything she says follows Ii or rituals:
Although I, Zhen Xiaoya, am born in the wrong time, r haven't lost my
authenticity. How would r be willing to be such kind of a lascivious woman
who loses her reputation and integrity? ... Although he is rich, noble, talented,
and handsome, I am also born in an official family. I have learned the cardinal
principle of righteousness. The ritual that r should follow my father cannot be
changed. If there are no parents and matchmakers, it is always inappropriate to
get married.
[~:lGJt/J\~tftl.r~1:~~JiB1, r~w*Jt*~, a~1tk~~~~~lJB<]1¥yJ&Z
A~? ...... fmftl. j'~~~'~5G, ~Jt!JJ'~ I'T$:'¥~ a j\:~ ~jffi~~¥*, fr~j,A
:X: tU1t f$ a ~~~:X: -BJ: fHJit ~t,;, IZ1 We~~H[~Ltrl~ 1L ]119
According to Xiaoya, chastity is essential to her marriage. In late imperial China,
Xiaoya understands that loss of chastity will result in not only loss of a chance to
make a good marriage, but also loss of her integrity. Comparing herself and Yishao,
Xiaoya is very clear about their different living conditions and social status. However,
in spite of and because of these differences, what she emphasizes in her speech is that
she does not want to surrender to the superficial advantages ofYishao and be "a
lascivious woman who loses her reputation and integrity." As Janet Theiss points out,
"For women, chastity was not simply about moral reputation or social status but also
II R McMahon, Misers, Shrews and Polygamists, 122.
119 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1346.
- ---- -- ----
77
about dignity and self-respect.,,12o Apparently, Xiaoya believes that it is her
reputation and integrity that define her individuality. Quoting the ritual codes, Xiaoya
is actually making use of these notions to establish her integrity and therefore gain
respect from Yishao. Although she does like Yishao, Xiaoya places greater value on
ensuring her self-identity and future happiness of her marriage.
As it turns out, Xiaoya is wise enough to keep her integrity by preventing
Yishao from taking advantage of her. What Yishao actually wants from Xiaoya is, as
Xiaoya detects, a secret sexual relationship, "Since I am a man, you must know that I
have an official marriage and therefore a first wife. If! want to take another girl from
an official family as my concubine, how can I mention it to people?" (JJ<:7iJ~T;N9;Q
absolutely indicates Yishao's selfishness. He knows the rituals well enough that he
should not attempt to marry a noble girl as his concubine, but his solution is to have a
secret sexual relationship, which only satiates his own desires. Even Dame Meng who
earns money from him by being his go-between is irritated:
It is fortunate that Miss Zhen has some opinions [zhuyi] and did not fall into
your tricks. If it were someone else who did not have her own plans and
trusted you, having a secret affair with you, she would finally end up with no
results, losing her chastity and leaving a notorious reputation into the future.
As expected, people's true nature appears in the long term, so I won't mention
this from now on.
120 Theiss, Disgraceful Matters, 202.
121 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1348.
78
[-7§"Jt/J-, ~111f J1:j;.±~, /f> ~1:1fJ\ ~~ffiU~ 0 1rniJiJ3iJ 1-7G'UR~, 1~ 1fJ\~1=t~JE;~
Jf~o El J5~~T7G~j§*, ttr!'\~l1 *45~o *r!,\ B0.AI~\m, fX.tE}A9¥t/f~
tiL ]122
Dame Meng here points out all the possible bad results ifXiaoya had agreed to have
an illicit relationship with Yishao. She stresses that Xiaoya has her own opinions
(zhuyi), compared to those who do not have plans (wumoubei). Dame Meng's words
suggest that Xiaoya's subjectivity is expressed through her commitment to preserving
her chastity.
It is also interesting that Dame Meng's opinions all support Xiaoya's
perspective. Although Dame Meng in a sense falls into the stereotype in
male-authored fiction of a go-between who helps further illicit affairs, she is still
portrayed as having a conscience. Despite her ritually inappropriate function, her goal
is always to help Xiaoya pursue real happiness for her lifetime. In this sense, Dame
Xue can also be looked upon as an alter-ego with whom the ritually appropriate
Xiaoya debates. The physical withdrawal of Dame Meng after this event can be
viewed as Xiaoya's determination to maintain her chastity, integrity and self-respect
after the debate. In contrast, Yishao fails to consider the future happiness of Xiaoya,
the girl he claims he loves most, and actually only objectifies her, showing no respect
to her as a person. Janet Theiss also points out in her research that "to insult a
woman's chastity was to deny her humanity.,,123 Xiaoya's insistence on chastity and
rituals is definitely a strong sign of resistance to him. As a result, Xiaoya successfully
122 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1348.
123 Theiss, Disgraceful Malters, 203.
79
wins Yishao's respect, pushing him to make an effort to pursue an official marriage
with her.
Xiaoya's belief in chastity is so consistent and persistent that she is portrayed as
the only example of a woman in the tanci who is actually prepared to commit suicide
in order to keep her chastity. Her suicide is not coincidentally intertwined with
political chaos, so her act of committing suicide not only publicizes her chastity to her
fiance, but also her loyalty to the state. 124 When Zhang Qihu leads a rebellion that
defeats Qiongshan county mlll!t, Xiaoya is still in the mourning period for her
adopted parents. As she learns of the news, she sews all her clothes together and
prepares a white silk cord to commit suicide. When she fails to die by hanging herself,
she jumps out of the building in another attempt to kill herself. In Xiaoya's extreme
situation when requital can be in no way provided to her, killing herself is the ultimate
act that Xiaoya can take to resist the potential humiliation of losing both her body and
her land. In this sense, Xiaoya's suicide aims to publicize her self-respect and her
physical, moral, and social integrity.
It is noteworthy that Xiaoya deliberately chooses forms and venues for her
suicide. The narrator describes in detail her preparation for her suicide, "[She] is not
willing to go out of the yamen, but would rather sit in there waiting. She takes off her
124 It is common in Ming-Qing fiction, especially during the transition of the Ming and the Qing, that a woman's
suicide is celebrated because women's chastity is taken as a metaphor of a scholar's loyalty, In this sense, chastity
and loyalty were both considered essential qualities of a moral person's integrity, Therefore, Xiaoya is portrayed as
virtuous and respectful in both aspects,
80
mourning garment made of hemp" (/G~te1~Ji=t*'T,mH~;:~~~JfH~Q).125 Instead
of escaping with other people when the rebel army approaches, Xiaoya does not
believe that she is able to escape. Therefore, the venue in which she chooses to die is
the yamen where her adopted father worked when he was alive. Yamens are the
central public places where people can go to search for justice legally and are also the
dwellings of the local governor and his family, members of local elites. Xiaoya's
choice of the yamen as the place she will end her life indicates that she wants her
suicide to be viewed as noble and unjust in public. Although the narrator does not
clarify why Xiaoya has to change her mourning clothes, it is suspicious that wearing
normal clothes to hang herself is also her careful choice to magnify the "emotive and
even supernatural impact" of her death that she may come back as a vengeful ghost to
haunt these rebels. 126 Therefore, Xiaoya's choices of the form and venue of her death
reinforce the glory of her public suicide and promise her autonomy during and even
after her death.
Interestingly, the narrator seems not to agree with Xiaoya's determination to
commit suicide although her agency in the decision is celebrated. Neither ofXiaoya's
suicide attempts is successful. When she tries to hang herself, she suddenly loses her
strength to carry or move the ladder; when she jumps out of the building, there is a
125 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1675.
126 For details, see Theiss, Disgraceful Matters, 204. She argues that it was a popular belief during the Ming and
Qing that a suicide, especially one who hung herself, would come back as a malevolent ghost to haunt the people
who pushed her to death. In Chinese popular belief, people who commit suicide due to injustice, wearing red, will
become malevolent vengeful ghosts. The color of her clothes is not mentioned, so it is possible that the narrator
follows the convention to let Xiaoya die prettily in normal dress, but it is also likely that the narrator leaves the
possibility of her return as a vengeful ghost to the imagination of the readers.
81
purple cloud that breaks her fall. As the narrator explains, gods help and protect her
secretly. The intervention of powerful gods in this fantasy narrative can only be
interpreted as the narrator's opinion that a girl should not commit suicide in any
seemingly extreme situation. As it turns out, although she is abducted by Zhang Qihu
as she had feared, Xiaoya does not get raped, due to her own resistance and Qihu's
wife's jealousy. The designed failure ofXiaoya's suicide attempts seem to suggest to
female readers that suicide is not the only option in many cases to keep their dignity
and integrity. Meanwhile, Xiaoya's successful struggle against rape after abduction
indicates that it is a woman's active actions, instead of passive death, that determine
the real value and identity that she establishes for herself to the public. 1n Xiaoya's
case, her identity is defined by her chastity.
Bao Xiang'er: Going Against the Cult of Chastity
While the majority of female characters in the lanci are chaste, there is an
exception -- Bao Xiang'er. 1n contrast to Xiaoya, a willing follower ofthe cult of
chastity, Bao Xiang'er is her exact opposite. She is portrayed as and viewed by other
characters as a "lascivious" girl, in the sense that she pursues her own marriage and
happiness. Although the narrator and the speaking subjects, namely the characters in
the lanci, seem to all believe in the cult of chastity, Bao Xiang'er unexpectedly does
not get punished for her transgressions, but instead is rewarded with a good ending.
Compared to the famous lewd woman Pan Jinlian, the ending Xiang'er is given
82
suggests the author's tolerance of women's "unchastity" and acceptance, or even
celebration, of women's will to pursue their own happiness.
Bao Xiang' er tits every stereotype of a ritually inappropriate girl who is not
from a noble family. Her father is Bao Wen, an evil and licentious scholar, who
practices black magic in order to help his nephew Zhang Cai have sex with young
beautiful boys and girls. Xiang'er's older brother Bao Zhen'er is a beautiful singer
who has sexual relations with his guests. Zhen'er later is adopted by Liu lin, the evil
eunuch who is the source of corruption in the imperial court, where his name is
changed to Liu Xian'gui. Xiang'er is adopted along with her older brother. Born and
raised in these two families, Xiang'er is barely educated or exposed to Confucian
values and rituals. As one character explains, "The venerable Liu (Liu lin) has
ordered that it is useless for girls to read these classics, so [Xiang'er] only reads
around in novels and poetry" (J!jE)<IjT!dJ J1B"Pft, i)l3z,-f~)L%~J! ®::ktJ7CJtl, ?JT
ideology from novels and poetry, Xiang'er does not seem to absorb any of it because
of the twisted plots in novels and the lack of role models in her real life. 128
As it turns out, Xiang'er's behaviors are in no way appropriate. However, it is
interesting that Xiang'er's lack of propriety infuses her with the vitality and vision to
seek true control of her own marriage and happiness. Yishao once tries to ask Liu lin
127 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1312.
128 As we have read, the plots of some novels focus on improper behavior as a warning. Similarly here, Bao
Xiang'er is a young girl without guidance in her reading, so it is easy to follow the attractive plot and neglect the
warnings. Her "inappropriate" ideas, which I will discuss below, are largely learned from the romantic plots in
fiction.
83
for Xiang'er as his concubine. Liu Jin initially agrees but later comes up with the
condition that Yishao needs to give up his friendship with Lingyun. As Lingyun's
sworn brother and closest friend, Yishao immediately rejects the idea of marrying
Xiang'er. However, Xiang'er is very satisfied with this potential husband and resents
her adoptive father for placing obstacles in the way of their union. As a result,
Xiang'er decides, "What women care about is marriage, so how can I wait for others
to decide for me?" (:~cAJ5fiJI1j~~[7;jlJ, {PJi'1:{mA{~±J* 0 ).129 As a result, she finds
every opportunity to visit and stay with her cousin, Zhang Liyu, who is married to
Lingyun as a concubine, in order to meet, talk and flirt with Yishao in person.
If the processes by which Daya and Xiaoya gain autonomy are subtle and
deliberate, Xiang'er's will to power in terms of controlling her own life is frank and
straightforward. When Xiang'er requests an official marriage from Yishao, she tells
him her opinions on ritual propriety:
I read novels and anecdotes from old and new. There are so many famous and
beautiful girls who have poorly matched marriages due to the restraint of the
rites and their desire for a reputation for chastity that places on them. They
cannot escape from the prison and it is sad that they die in their boudoir. How
can they be compared to Zhuo Wenjun and Hongfu who decided their own
marriages? Although I am young and without much knowledge, I swear that I
am not willing to die with regret. Even though the gate of an official is as deep
as the sea, I am willing to be like that Lady Zhuo and carry a zither case for
you.
[~~jj~tl~/J',l)?itr{~~, $d>~~t~M~~, RJ;]~JL1!11Jl*~Tflt, t@
~~H'I.t!We.:f t§ .3 0 :If' ~~ill tf:l $:Ji -t:, ,;ca n IIJ~ ~'~ {% 0 ;;s, ~~ jj~ J¥i~Xtt, ~I
12~ Cheng, Fengshu{mgfei, 1312.
84
my, ~~~I!J § .3::7}~~ JIillo fr)(1Uif:MjC3;lli,J~, tf/f~l:t I c,\txtltt: 0 P]~tGf~Ul ¥*
f~~, If;:/iJ J¥i y ffJ.~. 0 ] 130
As we can see, Xiang'er's perspectives on marriage are all derived from novels and
stories, but she develops her own ideas on them. As she suggests, the consideration of
rites and reputation becomes a mental and physical prison for women; in her view,
these women are sad and miserable. In contrast, she prefers and wants to follow those
women who take control of their own marriage, such as Zhuo Wenjun and Hongfu
who picked the men they love and elope with them with no regard for their own
reputation. What Xiang'er considers as ideal is "to be master of her own marriage' (~~
tzl!J ~ .3::), a modern idea from our perspective. We are unclear how popular or
widespread of the idea of free love was in Cheng Huiying's time, twenty years before
the May Fourth movement, but Xiang'er's subjective voice does speak for it ahead of
that time. Although this voice is labeled as unorthodox in the text, it indicates
women's awareness of the sufferings caused by arranged marriage.
In her relationship with Yishao, Xiang'er is the one who takes full initiative and
control. In order to gain control of her marriage, Xiaoya engages in a long-term effort
to get Yishao to elope with her. If she is still referring to other women the first time,
she becomes more direct about her own desires thereafter: "I don't want to be
officially honored. I am willing to follow you for my whole life ... I often make plans
in my heart. This time I come without consideration of my reputation" ('f'If;1t:t"13f
130 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1314.
85
that Xiang'er does not care for anything but her emotional happiness in her marriage.
We can also see how she "makes plans" (n~) all the time for her own marriage.
Compared to Daya who uses ritually appropriate excuses to manipulate her own
marriage, Xiang'er gives us a clearer and more straightforward picture of a woman's
desires and will to control her marriage. Later, when Liu Xiangui discovers a letter
from Yishao to Xiang'er and then suspects that Xiang'er is pregnant with Yishao's
child because of her mysteriously enlarged stomach (in reality due to sickness) and
decides to kill her, Yishao, having enjoyed physical contact with and admiration from
the woman, has no choice but to rescue her and finally marries her in secret. In this
sense, Xiang'er's desires and efforts ultimately win her her ideal marriage partner,
albeit not exactly as she planned in that their relationship gets publicized and Yishao
is pushed into a corner.
Although morally the narrator does not seem to agree with Xiang'er, s/he does
accept and value Xiang'er's subjectivity and agency. Instead of punishing the ritually
inappropriate woman as a reader would expect in a male-authored novel, Xiang'er is
greatly rewarded for her actions. Not only does she get to consummate the marriage
that she had always wanted, but she also gives birth to a son. It is common that
infertility is used as a punishment for "lewd" women and having a good son is a
131 Cheng, Fengshuang(ei, 1384,
86
reward for virtuous women in mainstream male-authored fiction. 132 After giving birth
in secret to Yishao's son, "Bao Xiang'er is really carefree and she becomes even
son seems to have potential for a good fate: "This boy looks exactly like Yishao.
Although he is a little too skinny, he is beautiful and has a high spirit. It is likely he
will be successful when he grows up" (!~l:-T~P~~I~;l2§y, ~ lll~1'lX$~~o ill1f!if R
**fH~~f, El J§ fJ'2A m/f~fi£ 0 ).134 In this sense, Xiang'er gets to enjoy the fruits of
her success in her struggle to take control of her own marriage and happiness.
Although Yishao's wife Qionghua initially refuses to accept Xiang'er as a member of
the Zhang household, the presence of this lovely son eventually wins over Qionghua's
support. Towards the end of the tanci, everything that Xiang'er did that was ritually
improper turns out to benefit her and creates no disasters for her or the Zhang
household. Therefore, instead of warning against Xiang'er's unorthodox behaviors, a
common motif in mainstream male-authored fiction, this female-authored fiction, by
granting such a happy ending to Xiang'er, subtly encourages female readers to pursue
their own marriage and happiness.
132 For the punishment, I have a more detailed discussion in Chapter 6, In terms of the rewards of sons, there are
various examples, such as Li Wan's son in Hong/au meng.
IJJ Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1332,
134 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2451.
87
Conclusion
This chapter is a case study of women's ideal agency and subjectivity on their
own marriages, as perceived by the female author, Cheng Huiying. The three
women's cases are greatly varied. While Xiao'er's case is the extreme one which
places personal happiness and fulfillment above Confucian rituals, the Zhen sisters'
cases appear to legitimately follow the rituals, but in fact subtly subvert them. The
narrative constructs Daya as an example of a woman who has a job and therefore does
not need to rely on a man through marriage. Although Daya seemingly follows
Confucian values, such as chastity, loyalty and filial piety, she actually pursues and
gains a great degree of autonomy to decide on her own marriage and to bargain for
her agency in her marriage by manipulating the interpretations of these values. Due to
her financial independence, her voice has to be respected in the fictional world. The
last case, Xiaoya, seems to be the most conservative among the three because she
strictly and willingly follows the Confucian values required for women, especially the
cult of chastity. However, instead of portraying her as a victim of Confucian rituals,
the narrator alters the value of chastity from Xiaoya's perspective to be a means to
demonstrate her subjectivity and to gain respect. In this sense, the three women all
find their own way to obtain their autonomy although they involve very different
beliefs and situations. Yet all these paths to their individual self-realization are
portrayed as equally valid.
88
The typical courting relationship between Lingyun and Murong Zhu best
supplements the three cases, which do not involve much interaction between the
10vers. 135 When Zhu lives in the Guo household to stay with her fake husband
Feixiang, who had already married Lingyun, Zhu and Lingyun experience the whole
procedure of courtship, from admiration of each other, to misunderstanding, to feeling
out each other's love, and finally to certainty of each other's love and devotion to the
relationship. Although Lingyun usually takes the initiative in the courtship, Zhu is the
one who finally determines where the relationship goes. The progression of their
relationship is exactly the same as in any modern romance.
In this way, Cheng Huiying creates a late imperial fictional world where
women can always find their agency in diverse individualized ways. As I have argued,
the three cases discussed in this chapter are likely a fantasized reflection of the social
reality of the gender inequality of women, especially in marriages which determined
their whole lives. These women, in this sense, try their best to find their voice within
the limited space of gender conventions in late imperial China. Meanwhile, Zhu's case
can be considered a prototype of the later concept of free love as represented in Feng
shuangfei. In this sense, a late nineteenth-century text becomes a perfect link to the
early twentieth-century movement for women's liberation and we can unsurprisingly
135 Because I will talk about Murong Zhu and her agency in detail in Chapter 5, I did not include her in this
chapter. However, her relationship with Lingyun should be undoubtedly considered as belonging to the topic of
this chapter.
understand how the idea of free love could be accepted and spread so fast in only
about ten years.
89
90
CHAPTER III
SELF-CONSCIOUS WRITING: THE AESTHETICS OF FENG SHUANGFEI
Introduction
Xiaoshuo fiction had been considered a minor genre of literature for a long
time until the Ming-Qing period. The phrase xiaoshuo, literally "small talks,"
indicates its marginal status in literature. However, the literati, especially fiction
writers and commentators, worked very hard to incorporate this genre into serious
literature during the Ming and Qing. They argued that xiaoshuo, especially the novels
written by literati, demonstrated a high degree of intricacy and artistic sophistication.
The commentators used various methods of commentaries, such as zonglun O;:;),~,
general treatises), huiping (@]t'JZ, chapter comments),jiapi (~ttt, interlinear
comments) and meipi (J§ttt, marginal comments), to point out the aesthetic, as well
as moral, values of xiaoshuo. These aesthetic techniques include but are not limited to
a constructed self-conscious narrator, multiple layers of speaking subjects, a
well-designed structure based on symmetry and yin-yang numerology and various
types of relational characters.
Although xiaoshuo finally rose into scholars' sights as one of the most
important genres of literature, lanci, similar to xiaoshuo before the Ming, has never
been considered as a genre of serious literature even until the present day.136 Tanci
136 Modern scholars since the May Fourth Movement have paid attention to xiaoshuo not only because of the
efforts of writers and commentators of traditional novels by literati, but also probably because novels are a major
91
have always been considered as a genre of popular literature whose only function was
to entertain its audience. Therefore, there have been no studies of fanci that discuss
them as literary works. However, upon reading Feng shuangfei, I realized that the
author also uses the common writing aesthetics ofxiaoshuo, including numbered
structure and relational characters. Since xiaoshuo fiction is considered a serious
literary genre because of the artistic sophistication, I will argue that this fanci is also a
conscious production of a serious piece of literary work parallel to xiaoshuo fiction.
My goal in this chapter is to discuss Feng shuangfei in that light.
The Magic Numbers: Structure and Numerology in Feng shuangfjj
As self-conscious writers, outstanding novelists during the Ming and Qing
periods usually had a well-designed big picture of their works, which can be most
obviously seen in the structure of the novels. Commentators, such as Zhang Zhupo ~~
11:1&: on Jin Ping Mei (3li1li1'~, Plum in the Golden Vase), and Zhang Xinzhi ~~~z.
on Honglou meng (n~~, Dream of the Red Chamber), called readers' attention to
the overall structure of the novels and/or the symbolic yin-yang numerology in the
novels. Based on these commentators' observations and on their own research, recent
scholars have offered some important theories on the aesthetic design of the structure
of the novels. Andrew Plaks closely analyzes the structure of 1OO-chapter novels, such
as Jin Ping Mei and Xiyouji (lffiWJ.-ic, Journey to the West). As Plaks argues, these
genre in world, especially Western, literature.
------ -------
92
novels are considered self-conscious writings because they have shown a deliberately
designed structure: their overall structure can be read for symmetry (for example, I
and 99, 10 and 90) with the peak around chapter 50; they can be divided into
IO-chapter basic units, which Plaks terms as decades; each individual hui chapter can
be divided into two balanced halves; the chapter numbers, especially those ending in
"nine," also bear symbolic significance for the novels; the heat and coldness work as a
self-conscious structuring device. 137 Maram Epstein furthers Plaks's studies on
yin-yang symbolism, especially in terms of numerology. As she argues, many
Ming-Qing fictional texts play not only with the yin-yang imagery, but also yin-yang
numerology. Six and nine respectively represent yin and yang at their peak power
according to Yijing and appear in significant chapter numbers and characters'
names.
138
Similar to these canonical works, the structure ofFeng shuangfei also makes
use ofyin-yang symbolism. Yin-yang theories originate from Yijing (JlJt2, Book of
Changes) and present a cosmology which informs all aspects of life. For example, the
yang force is represented by the heaven, the sun, the male, fire, and brightness, and
the yin force is represented by the earth, the moon, the female, water, and darkness.
The forces ofyin and yang are opposite but complementary to each other and can
fluidly transform into each other. In the Daoist reading of Yijing, the theories ofyin
137 For details, see Andrew Plaks, Four Masterworks ojMing Novel.
IJ8 For details, see Epstein, Competing Discourse.
-------- -_.._---
93
and yang are merely descriptive of the nature ofthings in the world. 139 Beginning in
the Han dynasty, Confucianism had become a dominant school of philosophies and
Confucian scholars had appl ied new interpretations to the yin-yang theories laid out in
the Yijing. Dong Zhongshu, the most influential Confucian scholar during the Han
dynasty, created a system of moral values related to yin-yang forces, in which yang
stands for the good (shan '§:) and yin stands for the evil (e ~).140 Cheng Huiying's
writings reflect the influence of the world view of both schools.
The 52-chapter Feng shuangfei is roughly divided into three parts based on the
rise and fall ofyin and yang powers in the work. This large framework is loosely
based on the moral value ofyin as evil and yang as good. However, in this lanci, the
evil yin force is represented by men who are abnormally feminine, namely catamites
and eunuchs, while the good yang force is embodied by the morally orthodox males
Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao, the male phoenixes named in the title. The three
parts of the story roughly tell the fall of evil yin powers, including male same-sex
practices, treasonous eunuchs and foreign invasions, and the rise of a positive yang
force, namely the triumph of Guo Lingyun against the yin powers.
It is noteworthy that the evil yin force is represented by men, instead of
women. In male-authored fiction, the evil yin force always concentrates on women.
For example, in lin Ping Mei, a typical male-authored fiction that uses yin-yang
139 For details, see Zeng fanzhao ~ fLJ¥Jj comments, Yijing JJJ~~ (Wuhan: Chongwen shuju, 2007),
140 For details, see Dong Zhongshu ff1rp~, Chunqiu !an{u ;;hlCi suoyin tH:k~!Ut~~~'31, ed, D, C, Lau
(Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1994),
----------~- -------------
94
numerology, the most negative yin people are two women, Wang Liu'er (Wang the
Sixth) and Pan Jinlian (referred to as Pan the Sixth in the novel), on whom Zhang
Zhupo comments, "Six is a yin number. Pan Liu'er and Wang Liu'er are combined to
be a double yin number, therefore yang completely wanes. How can [Ximen] escape
JE? ).141 Similarly, in Xiyouji, the most dangerous and disastrous yin demons
transform into women, such as the Baigu jing (S '~'*f!, Demon of the White Skeleton),
who can be considered double yin (dead and female). However, Cheng Huiying seems
to intentionally avoid the topos, subverting the demonized stereotype of women.
Instead, the major female characters she creates all represent positive yin energy; in
contrast, the negative yin characters are designed to be males.
The first third of the novel is mainly about Guo Lingyun's first achievement,
conquering one manifestation ofyin gone awry, infertile male same-sex practices, in
the distorted overwhelmingly yin society. It is symbolically significant that no major
female characters appear in this section of the land to indicate a yin-yang imbalanced
universe. At the very beginning of the land, the narrator paints a picture of
unbalanced yin-yang forces by stating "the popularity of lewdness ¥¥ )Xl..j..:1T ,,,142
especially in "the way of male homosexual eroticism that is risible, hateful, shameful
and frightening" (.!J35~m, ~7{pJ~PJ't~, PJ~pHl'l,o ).143 The yin energy in this
141 Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng ~1lf~~1=., Gaohe tang piping diyi qishu Jin Ping Mei ~t~¥:1Iti.'l'm~j!jHHtmL
;ffjJ (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe, 1994),522.
142 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 4.
143 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 28.
95
section of the land is embodied in Bai Ruyu B -sz~::E, whose nickname is "the
Incomparable jCx;Z." Bal Ruyu is so irresistible that no man who meets him is not
affected. Bai Ruyu, portrayed as a femme fatale, plays a female role in male same-sex
relationships, indicating that the natural yin-yang balance is broken. As a symbol of
the imbalance, Ruyu attracts all men in the land and sleeps with all kinds of men,
including the martial villain Zhang Qihu *!E9i'i%, the scholar officials Zhang Cai ~iCf~
and Zhang ling iJi~~, the military general Mu Lei 1,*r~, the barbarian generals and the
crown prince. From villain to crown prince, these people cover a wide range of men's
social status, indicating the degree to which the perverse yin power has spread through
the whole empire. Ruyu also destroys the five relationships including that between
emperor and minister, father and son, brothers, and friends. 144 The disorder in these
five relationships, the central Confucian relationships for men, reinforces the toxic
imbalance brought by the chaotic yin force, symbolized by RuYU. 145
But the spread of perverse yin energy is not limited to the Middle Kingdom.
The Tufan (O±liJ), people considered subordinate and therefore in a positive yin in
relationship to the Ming, rebel against Chinese rule. Moreover, the whole royal family
ofTufan is dominated by the evil yin force and is corrupt and lascivious. The queen
Wei Luan JJ.~ kills the king for her secret lover; the general Wei Xiong JJ.~t who is
144 The relationship between husband and wife is not discussed in detail in this part of the novel because it all
centers on the abnormal male world. Although we can assume that Zhang Jing's relationship with his wife
becomes somewhat problematic when he falls in love with Ruyu, Jing's travel to the capital in the absence of his
wife provides an excellent excuse to avoid this problem at the moment. Furthermore, catamites are usually not
taken as threatening to the wife because of their unofficial status.
145 I will discuss in detail the toxicity of Ruyu in the five relationships in Chapter IV, which is exclusively devoted
to male relationships. For details, please see Chapter IV.
96
the queen's brother, kills his father and brother out ofjealousy over Ruyu since all of
them are having sex with him. Ruyu is circulated among the men from the provinces
to the capital, to the border and finally to a rebellious foreign country. By following
his circulation, the narrative, in the first third of the land, displays how corrupt yin
subjugates the empire in such a way that Ruyu can be read as a symbol of all the
sexual and political yin-yang disorders.
The first turning point is in Chapters 16 and 17, approximately one third of the
way through the novel. The turning point, as expected, is also symbolized by Bai
Ruyu. Instead of indulging in the corporeal pleasures of male same-sex desires as
before, Ruyu, under the moral instruction of Guo Lingyun, sacrifices his own body to
destroy the Tufan's rebellion against the Ming, and the Ming army finally defeats the
Tufan in Chapter 16. After Lingyun's moral admonishment of Ruyu at the end of
Chapter 7, Bai Ruyu finally understands what Lingyun has told him. Like other
famous femmes fatale, such as Diaochan ~.g~ and Xishi 1ffiMB, Ruyu utilizes his
sexual powers as a weapon to serve the country. In this sense, Lingyun's first
achievement is gained by transforming the lethal yin force to help the righteous yang
power.
If the first third of the land can be considered dominated by the yin force
struggling to overpower a rising yang power, the second third is the central
battleground of the two with the consolidation of the yang force and the balanced
healthy yin-yang powers. From Chapter 17 on, the protagonists, Guo Lingyun and
97
Zhang Yishao, reach marriageable age and they and their wives-to-be, symbols of
positive natural yin forces, start to appear in the narrative. In Chapter 17, Zhang Cai
*~, who during the first third of the land dominated by improper yin forces is
interested in having sex with feminized beautiful boys, is now attracted to Zhang
Feixiang *~W, Yishao's elder sister and Lingyun's fiancee, and tries to abduct her.
Although Zhang Cai is still depicted as an lewd scholar official, the change of his
sexual attention symbolically indicates that Lingyun has already purged the
"abnormal" fashion of male same-sex practices on a large scale and that yang power
is becoming ascendant.
In this sense, we enter the world of sound orthodox heterosexual relationships,
representing the ideal of naturally balanced yin-yang forces. All the important female
figures are introduced in this middle part of the land. While Feixiang, Lingyun's
fiancee, is missing due to Zhang Cai's abduction of her, Lingyun receives Cai's
younger sister as his concubine. As a loyal husband, Lingyun refuses to consummate
this relationship, travels around the country to look for his fiancee and is rewarded
with another concubine-to-be, Zhen Daya. At the same time, Yishao, another of the
two phoenixes, takes Mu Qionghua ~')t(J;'1t as a wife, secretly arranges for Bao
Xiang'er fi@w JL to be his concubine, and falls in love with Zhen Xiaoya 1{/NflE.
Not only is a balanced yin-yang relationship established in this part of the
land, but so is a positive yin female relationship. In the second third of the land, the
cross-dressed Feixiang starts her journey, meets the island princess Murong Zhu and
98
marries Zhu on her island kingdom. Their mutual appreciation of appearance and
talent imitates that of the scholar-beauty novels, thus implying an ambiguous tension
of female same-sex desires. Parallel to the intimate relationship between Lingyun's
future wife and concubine, Yishao's wife, Mu Qionghua, also initiates a close relation
with another woman and Yishao's concubine-to-be, Zhen Xiaoya, based on her
appreciation ofXiaoya's appearance and talent. Both of these ambiguous relationships
involving female same-sex desires can be read as a reflection of the male same-sex
desires in the first third of the land. While male same-sex desires are considered
dangerous and disastrous, female same-sex desires are presented as not threatening to
the Confucian order. Therefore, female same-sex desires are treated lightly and are
considered as positive yin flows and interactions, seasoning the narrative.
Bai Ruyu, formerly the embodiment of the deadly yin power and male
same-sex practices, also changes symbolicalIy and physicalIy in this part of the land.
Ruyu is masculinized, in terms of his physical strength, after taking two magic pilIs
that Lingyun gives him. He is also able to use newly gained strength to resist men
who make advances on him. To reinforce Ruyu's ability to protect himself against
male same-sex eroticism, the magic pilIs also turn him into a blue-faced monster
when he is fighting off sexual aggressors. 146 Moreover, Ruyu is bold enough to point
out the corruption ofLiu Jihua )(IJ~ff,$, Liu Jin )(Ij;f.~, the evil eunuch's nephew, and to
physicalIy fight with Jihua's servant who tries to shut him up. Because he cares about
146 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, Chapter 21,23,27.
99
social problems and fights for them, Ruyu here is portrayed as socially masculine,
after he regains his physical masculinity.
Reacquiring his social identity as a man, Bai Ruyu now sexually desires
women, a change from enjoying male same-sex practices in the first third of the land.
Being captive in Zhang Cai's household, Ruyu successfully resists Cai's request for
sex, but is not able to resist the seduction from his concubines. According to Ruyu's
logic, his sexual relationships with Cai's concubines are karmic retributions for Cai,
"Before you took advantage of me, now I commit adultery with your concubines. It is
how karma makes you pay for your fault. How strange is that?" (1f]\~:.miJJJ<;i¥J1J!J~L
JJt~Q~1tu1f]\i¥J/J\"~, ili~-:i2E-1R, 1ilJJEJ'J~'? ).147 Ruyu's desires for sex are still
uncontrollable, but now he argues for the legitimacy of his desires for women instead
of men with karma. This change ofRuyu's sexual interests is symbolically important
in terms of reclaiming his masculinity because Cai was the first man with whom Ruyu
started enjoying same-sex desires and eroticism. Ruyu's emblematic change serves as
a metaphor of the fight between yang and yin forces in the lanci-the "sick" male
same-sex practices can no longer survive in society and men are back to their correct
natural and social yin-yang dominance.
In this middle section of the novel, the yin power, after Bai Ruyu's
transformation, is now concentrated in the eunuchs and inner court. The prince claims
the throne when the emperor dies, and he places those eunuchs whom he Iikes and
147 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1280.
100
trusts in positions of power. Similar to male-authored novels, the castrated and
therefore feminized eunuchs who teach and then seduce the crown prince with various
physical pleasures in the first third of the land symbolize the evil yin powers. After a
failed attempt by Lingyun and some loyal officials to eliminate these evil eunuchs led
by the historically notorious Liu lin xlj.fw.(?-151 0), the emperor, the ultimate yang
force, is further pushed away from his normative yang position and the court is
thrown into chaos. 148 The eunuchs corrupt the emperor by encouraging him in all
sorts of entertainments, forcing the loyal ministers to retire, and even writing imperial
rescripts for the emperor. 149 The slanderous behavior of the eunuchs causes the
emperor to be blind to his normal role and therefore the yang heroes suffer. Lingyun is
practically exiled, being sent to a remote area, and Yishao, the emperor's friend, is
estranged from the emperor.
Another turning point, echoing the first one, falls exactly two-thirds ofthe way
through the land in Chapters 35 and 36 and shows the second victory of the yang
force, represented by the two male phoenixes. Zhang Cai and the eunuchs, led by Liu
lin, accuse Lingyun of rebelling against the emperor. The story reaches its climax
towards the end of Chapter 35 when Yishao tries to cut his own heart out to prove
Lingyun's innocence. At the beginning of Chapter 36, He Shiwei 1PJtEtlWZ, Yishao's
148 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, Chapter 21-22.
149 Writing imperial rescripts(1It*:ffi') is solely the emperor's prerogative. In rescripts, the emperor responds to
the ministers' suggestions and makes decisions on governmental issues. They represent the highest governmental
power in imperial China.
101
martial arts master, finally produces evidence that turns the emperor against the
eunuchs. At this point, proper political yang order is reinstated and reinforced.
In the last third of the tanci, yang power steadily reaches its peak and an ideal
social and political balance ofyin and yang is established and celebrated. In this part,
the tanci is dominated by the eight-chapter narrative of the largest war against the
allied rebel forces led by Murong Zhu, the princess of the foreign Three Immortal
Island, and Zhang Qihu, the martial villain who used to be He Shiwei's disciple and
the husband of the Dragon Queen of the Double Peak Island. While barbarians from
the north and the west, including Tufan, are usually considered yang because of their
extraordinary martial and military skills, the barbarians from the south and the east are
viewed as yin because they are from the sea. It is especially true in this case
considering that the rebelling leaders of the Tufan are men and the rulers of the island
kingdoms are Princess Murong Zhu and the Dragon Queen. In this sense, winning the
war against the Tufan suggests more of a victory over yin moral corruption; in
contrast, the conquest that Lingyun gains in this war purely symbolizes a political
triumph over submissive yin barbarian countries.
Lingyun's "taming" of Princess Zhu is not limited to the battleground, but
extends to domestic life. Although Zhu hates Lingyun as a military enemy and a rival
lover, Lingyun finally wins her love and domesticates her as one of his concubines.
The taming on two levels also indicates an overall conquest of the central yang power
of the Middle Kingdom over the barbarian yin power, which is always supposed to be
102
submissive to the center. Tamed as a natural counterpart of the yang, Zhu, now
representing a positive yin force, eliminates the rest of the negative yin forces when
she quells the rebellion led by the adopted son of the evil eunuch Liu lin.
The land concludes with a proper order and a balanced union between yin and
yang after the symbolic fight between the positive and negative yin powers. In terms
of domestic life, the family lives of Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao and their wives
turn into a harmonious model, and thereafter their family members, friends and
inferiors all get married. In terms of public political order, the emperor trusts and
promotes loyalty and runs a benevolent government. The advantage of the balance of
yin-yang is proved by the ensuing prosperity ofthe Guo and the Zhang families, their
fecundity with seven sons and three daughters for Lingyun and five sons and two
daughters for Yishao, and the peace of the empire.
Yin-yang symbolism not only shapes the overall design of the structure, but
also applies to the use of numerology. As Zhang Zhupo comments on Jin Ping Mei, he
indicates that chapter numbers containing 6 usually represent yin. I so Interestingly, the
6-related chapters in this land also feature symbolic yin figures, namely Bai Ruyu and
Murong Zhu, who are converted from representing the negative to representing the
return of proper order. Chapter 6 centers on Ruyu: General Mu storms Zhang Cai's
residence in order to take back Ruyu whom Cai had kidnapped; Mu then starts a
sexual relationship with Ruyu and tricks Zhang ling into sleeping with the boy; Liu
150 For example, see Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, Gaohe tang piping diyi qishu lin Ping Mei, 522.
103
lin sends Ruyu to the heir apparent as a sexual gift and therefore the prince gets
involved in male same-sex practices too. Ruyu is considered femininely yin here not
only because physically his appearance is femininely beautiful and he plays a female
role in his sexual intercourse with men, but also because he is socially cloistered in
the inner chambers like women by these men. In this sense, Chapter 6 is dominated by
the feminized yin boy, Ruyu, who is entrapped and then lures men into the yin ¥~, or
lewdness, which is considered one of the ultimate negative yin qualities. Chapter 16
continues this chain of using Ruyu to symbolize yin ~A and yin ¥~, but at this point
Ruyu's meaning is also beginning to shift. He, using sex, works as a spy and tricks
Wei Xiong, the barbarian rebellious leader, to make wrong decisions so that he can
help Lingyun win in the war. Chapter 26 and 27, still focusing on Ruyu, complete his
transformation. As previously argued, Ruyu's social caring about corruption and his
physical strength and courage to fight against it result in the death of the servant of
Liu lin's nephew. Moreover, when he is charged for murder, Ruyu is able to make a
masculine and heroic move to take full responsibility for the death. This event follows
Ruyu's other important symbolic change from yin to yang as I have mentioned before,
symbolized by his resistance to the sexual harassment from Zhang Cai and adultery
with Cai's concubines. These three 6-related chapters crystallize the whole process of
Ruyu's change from negative to positive and reinforce the value of Ruyu as the
symbolic embodiment ofyin, which is proved by his later self-castration.
104
Likewise, Chapters 36 and 46 are dominated by Murong Zhu, another model
yin transformation from undermining the proper order to realizing it. In Chapter 36,
Zhu is the rebellious leader and princess of the Three Immortal Island who challenges
the rule of the Middle Kingdom. Being a woman from a subordinate barbarian and
marginal island country, Zhu embodies the personal and political meanings of
negative yin. However, in Chapter 46, Zhu has become a general who pacifies a
rebel Iion led by the adopted son of the evi Iyin eunuch Liu lin. She then wins herself
an amnesty and the chance to legitimately marry Lingyun. This portrayal of Zhu, in
this 6-related chapter, concentrates on her positive yin qualities, including her
adoption of Confucian values and submission to both the Middle Kingdom and her
man, Lingyun. As in the depiction of Ruyu, these "6" chapters present a condensed
version of the narrative of Zhu's transition from negative yin to positive yin.
It is noteworthy that the classic negative yin images of women appear in
Chapters 38 and 39, instead of Chapter 36. These two chapters center on the battle
between the Chinese army led by Yishao and the barbarian army led by the Dragon
Queen. The Dragon Queen is ajiaojing (~:m, ajiao spirit) who transforms into a
woman. The definitions ofjiao in Chinese legends are varied: some say thatjiao is a
female long Cft, dragon); some say thatjiao is a kind of animal which wiIl possibly
become a dragon after five hundred years. But in general,jiao's status is inferior to
long in terms of the hierarchy of the gods;jiao is generaIly in charge of rivers and
lakes. In most legends,jiao are presented as cruel animals/gods and bring floods. In
105
this sense, the Dragon Queen is obviously a negative female yin image associated
with disastrous waters.
Moreover, the black magic she uses is also associated with negative yin. Since
the Chinese army is too strong, the Dragon Queen has to rely on her black magic to
win the battles. Two of her black magic spells are to summon floods, as expected, and
to summon clouds to cover the sun. ISI The magic treasure she uses to defeat Yishao is
a pearl that is "bright as the moon" H)l~l~ jj.152 The worst magic of all is the one
practiced by a group of women whose lower part of the body is naked. 153 Using
women to perform the yin ~~/¥¥ magic, none of the men in the army, except for Guo
Lingyun, can avoid being lost and captured in this battle. It may be significant that the
narrator decenters the classic female yin images to the chapters after Chapter 36,
where traditional readers may expect them, indicating that they are the minority of
women. This may emphasize that Cheng Huiying intentionally subverts the
stereotypes of negative yin women by presenting positive yin images in the usual
Chapter 36.
ln contrast, the 9-related chapters, the utmost yang number, all focus on the
two male phoenixes, Lingyun and Yishao, and their healthy relationships with others.
ln Chapter 9, Yishao righteously rejects the prince's request for sex and kills a group
of lascivious monks he encounters in a temple. In Chapter 19, Yishao and Lingyun are
151 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, Chapter 38-40.
152 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1809.
153 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1848-1850.
106
promoted after their victory in war, and Lingyun has a mysterious dream about his
future concubine, Zhang Liyu *1~B::li. Chapter 29 centers on Yishao's romantic
relationships with Xiaoya and Xiang'er. In Chapter 39, Yishao gains help from both
Xiaoya and Lingyun, overcoming the extreme yin enemy in the war. Chapter 49
concentrates on Yishao's family life, marked by the birth oftwo sons. Although these
9-related chapters do not feature particularly noteworthy moral or political
achievements compared to the 6-related chapters, the two phoenixes' vigorous
heterosexual relationships, which reject the abnormal and the immorality symbolized
by Yishao's fertility, still promote the value of orthodox yang and suggest the benefits
of a natural and proper balance between yin and yang.
The Relational Characters: The Aesthetic Design of Characterization
One ofthe symbols of the maturity of xiaoshuo fiction during the Jiajing and
the Wanli periods (1522-1620) of the Ming dynasty is that novelists began to focus
more on aesthetic design, especially in terms of characters, and not merely on the plot.
Characterization gained more and more attention from both the novelists and the
commentators. In his comments on Shuihu zhuan ;.KjVf11i (Water Margin, also known
as Outlaws of the Marsh), Jin Shengtan ~:£P)( highlights the writer's emphasis on
constructing meaningful relationships between the characters. For example, he points
out that Song Jiang *~I and Li Kui '¥~ demonstrate precisely opposite
107
personalities in order to more clearly express their characters. 154 Under the influence
of Jin Shengtan, novelists and commentators of fiction, especially the masterworks
such as Xiyouji [Eimric (Journey to the West), lin Ping Mei ~1tM1!f(Plum in the
Golden Vase) and Honglou meng ~It~~(TheDream of the Red Chamber), all
devoted a great deal ofattention to aesthetic patterns of characterization. Later
commentators considered characterization an organic part of the aesthetics of
xiaoshuo fiction.
In Feng shuangfei, we see the deployment of all techniques of characterization
that male authors used in their works. Among these "relational" characters, as termed
by David L. Rolston, one of the most prominent characterization techniques in Feng
shuangfei is the use of paired characters. Studying the theories of the commentators,
Rolston summarizes that characters can be arranged in contrastive pairs (fandui R)(1)
or analogous pairs (zhengdui iEXi): the former means their differences outweigh
their similarities, forcing readers to compare their moral worth, such as Li Kui and
Song Jiang as suggested by Jin Shengtan; the latter means "their similarities are
greater than differences, which is useful for fine-tuning the comparative ranking of
characters of nearly similar stature," such as Qingwen BW~ and Daiyu 1Wt3S. in
Honglau meng. 155 It is worth noting that the definition of "contrastive pairs" needs
154 For details, see Jin Shengtan ~~IlX, Guan hua tang di wu cai::i shu Shui hu ::huan ~$¥:~1i;tT457.1<Nf
it in Jin Shengtan quanji ~~llXiE~(Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1985), vol. 2, 125-26.
155 David L. Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary: Reading and Writing Between the
Lines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997), 2 I2.
108
some adjustment because it focuses only on differences such as personal traits or
abilities, but does not involve moral judgments in Feng shuangfei.
As expected from the title, the lanci first and foremost creates a pair of male
protagonists, the so-called pair of male phoenixes. Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao
represent two complementary ideals from the perspective of women's fantasies. Guo
Lingyun is a typical Confucian orthodox man, who is depicted with words such as
"solemn and just fIE 1I" and "elegant ftiffiiM;.,,156 In all five relationships, he strictly
follows Confucian teachings and all his behaviors accord with Ii or rituals. In his
relationship to the emperor, he is always loyal no matter whether the emperor trusts
him or misunderstands him. He has the nickname of "The one who dares to lose his
head 1.#*::*," which is given by the evil eunuch Liu Jin, and he falls into the
stereotype of a loyal minister who remonstrates with the emperor and risks his life
(known as JEif).157 Due to Lingyun's persistent loyal advice, the emperor finally
gives up the "bad" habit of homoeroticism and executes the evil eunuchs who try to
manipulate and corrupt the court. Although his father dies when he is seven, Lingyun
is still presented as a perfectly filial son by the way he obeys his father when al ive and
shows deep sorrow after his father has died, as marked by his crying faintly and
refusing to smile during the three-year mourning period. Lingyun is also a ritually
proper husband, always treating wives as "a guest and a friend ~Q~~Q~.,,158 He
156 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 46.
157 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1598, 1615, etc.
ISR Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999.
-----------------
109
shows moderate qing (or passions) and respect toward his wives, but never gets
attached to or obsessed with any of them; indeed, he seems indifferent to whose
bedroom he stays in. Being a single child, Lingyun does not have a real brother, but
he does have an adopted elder brother, the emperor, and an elder cousin, Guo
Chenglong $~Jj.x;:ft, to whom he never fails to show respect. He is emotionally
attached to his sworn brother and best friend, Zhang Yishao, and yet morally corrects
him. In every single aspect of the five relationships, he is a model of Confucian
orthodox values, but this degree of propriety seemingly made him fall short of
romantic ideals.
In contrast, Zhang Yishao stands for the fengliu (JX\.~1E, romantic, sensual) man
who is "sexually and emotionally more 'open' to women and who has a sharp eye for
subtleties.",159 As a typicalftngliu young man, he is not restrained by the strict
Confucian rules. The words most commonly used to describe fit the stereotype of a
ftngliu scholar; he is referred to as "shusan (jf;~~, loose)," "qingyang ($£i'h
flighty)," "renxing (1ft!:, spontaneous)," ''fengliu (JX\.¥nE, romantic).,,16o He is good at
socialization, marked by his ability to make friends with all kinds of people regardless
of their class and morality. He is always popular because he is good at making jokes,
arguing with people, and playing all sorts of sports and games. As long as he is having
fun, he does not consider the consequences even though he might be making a bad
friend (such as Zhang Cai) or his behavior may cross the boundary of propriety (such
159 McMahon, Causality and Containment, 51.
1(,0 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 46, 47, etc.
110
as staying with the emperor overnight). 161 Yishao is such a typical unrestrained
fengliu type that these personal traits remain the same even in his relationships with
women. Unlike Lingyun who sticks to the strict Confucian rules and keeps a proper
distance from women, he is too romantic and attracted to women to behave
appropriately. For example, he peeks at Mu Qionghua, which results in their marriage;
he climbs the garden wall and sneaks into Zhen Xiaoya's bedroom when he is in love
with her; he secretly meets Bao Xiang'er and arranges a marriage without the consent
of his parents or first wife; he flirts with all the maids and eventually sleeps with them.
It is also noteworthy that although he does not care about minor behavioral issues in
terms of rituals, he is very clear about the core Confucian values and never makes
significant mistakes after getting advice from Lingyun, who is the only person he
fears.
These two male protagonists therefore form an interesting pair with almost
opposite characteristics who flesh out each other's characteristics because they always
appear together. However, they are also similarly extraordinary. They often appear
together in the lanci: they are each other's "zhixin (~I~J~" soul mate);" they grow up
together; they both have a remarkable appearance; they have similar literary and
martial talents; they both succeed in their political careers and get similar official
titles and ranks at a young age; and they finally end up living next door to each other
161 Staying with the emperor is considered having crossed the boundary in the tand because it may result in a
rumor that Yishao is a catamite as well as from the fact that Yishao lures the emperor into spending too much time
having fun, instead of working.
----------_._-------
III
with their prosperous and large families. 162 Although people gave them the nickname
of "two male phoenixes flying together" due to their exceptional appearance when
they were young boys, their image as a pair is reinforced by their political and
domestic successes and the way their two households are joined together at the end of
the land. Although contrastive pairs in male-authored novels usually draw readers'
attention to their moral values, this contrastive pair of Lingyun and Yishao instead
provides a pair of complementary ideals who, like Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai in
Hong/au meng, form a perfect two-in-one pair that appeals to both orthodox and
romantic sensibilities.
Parallel to the complementary pairing of the men, Lingyun and Yishao's wives
also complement each other in a way. Lingyun's wife, Zhang Feixiang *~W, is an
exemplary virtuous wife. Being especially meek, she does not show off her
extraordinary literary talents. 163 Without parents-in-law, her only familial
responsibility in the household is to maintain domestic order. She allows and even
encourages her husband to take a concubine; as a result Lingyun ends up having three
concubines, Zhang Liyu, Zhen Daya, and Murong Zhu. Feixiang even willingly works
as a matchmaker between Lingyun and Zhu. Her generosity causes Lingyun to praise
her, such as "your generosity is surely like the amount of water in the sea" O&JtJt*
1~/G&) and "your degree of virtue is rarely seen even since ancient times" (xAYlf
1(,2 Zhixin IS mentioned in Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 47.
1(,3 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 759-62. When the emperor asks for paintings from her, she politely rejects him and
implicitly points out the moral problems with the emperor's request. See my Chapter 6 for a detailed discussion.
112
l!, Jt~ Sr!i::ffi"Ji).I64 Moreover, she is very good at dealing with problems in the
household, which is exactly a virtuous woman's job. When Murong Zhu, the only one
ofLingyun's wives who is non-Han and impetuous, fights with Lingyun or competes
with Daya, everyone turns to Feixiang for help. She runs her household with "renhou
(1=~, leniency)"and therefore she successfully gains the respect of servants and
maids and is able to resolve their issues with their trust. One example is the case of
Wan Caifang who is mistakenly accused of adultery by Zhu and tries to kill ZhU. 165
To complete the image of Feixiang as a perfectly virtuous wife, the lanci ends with
Feixiang giving birth to a son, allowing her to fulfill the ultimate duty of a good wife.
In contrast, Yishao's wife, Mu Qionghua ¥*~1-t:, is a stereotypical shrew. She
is so jealous that she tries every means to prevent her husband from associating with
other women, including both women outside of their household and the maids in the
household. While talking about his wives, Yishao tells Lingyun, "Your wife and
concubines are all virtuous, but my wives are all sharp. They are all jealous, and then
:z...lc.\A~1f, ~1-t:~~~/f-';~~§ 0 ).166 Jealousy and ferocity are two characteristics
which Yishao identifies with Qionghua; they are also the two essential qualities of a
shrew. 167 On the surface then, Yishao appears to be a henpecked husband although it
164 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1998, 2002.
165 Feixiang is referred as renhou in Cheng, Feng shuangJei, 2342, 2344, etc.
Cheng, Feng shuangfei, chapter 48-50.
166 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, p. 2033.
167 The description of the stereotype of shrews in male-authored fiction can be found in McMahon, Misers, Shrews,
and Polygamists, 55-57.
113
is because of his improper interactions with women. Yishao has to argue with
Qionghua every time he wants to take a concubine. Qionghua's fierce jealousy goes to
an extreme when she finds out that Yishao has secretly married Bao Xiang'er.
Qionghua's wrath cannot be pacified unti I her father intervenes. 168 Qionghua seems
to fit perfectly into the category of shrew; however, as a typical shrew, Qionghua
nonetheless val idates her status as a good wife by her chastity to her husband, her
vigorous ability to manage the household and by giving birth to a son. Instead of
being destructive and getting the household in an uproar as is typical of most shrews,
Qionghua is presented as the best kind of wife for a wastrel husband who has no
control over his sexual desires, because she can correct and improve him. 169 In this
way, Qionghua and Feixiang create another contrastive pair designed for the two male
protagonists, a virtuous wife and a shrewish wife.
While the male protagonists have a perfect combination of both literary and
martial skills, none of the female characters in Feng shuangfei is good at both wen X,
literary, and wu itt, martial, qual ities. 170 In terms of literary and martial qualities,
I will go into further detail in Chapter VI.
\1,8 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, chapter 50-52.
\(,9 A similar pairing also occurs in Lin Lan Xiang **~:'j!j=. Instead of an overly virtuous woman, the desirable wife
for a wastrel in Lin Lan Xiang is the one who can correct and improve men. For details, see McMahon, Misers.
Shrews, and Polygamists, 234-50.
A detailed reading on the author's values on these two stereotypes of women, virtuous wives and shrews, will be
discussed in Chapter VI
170 As in a cliched saying) "be ",veIl versed in both fine letters and inartial arts" ~~M~,
Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao are considered literary because both can enjoy and write poetry (Cheng, Feng
shuangfei, 125,423-424, 1373-1374,2472-2473, etc.); they are considered capable of martial arts and military
strategies because both of them have been generals leading the Chinese army to conquer foreign rebellions.
However, it is noteworthy that wu is valued over wen in this tanci, as I mentioned in the Introduction. It is
probably related to the author's contemporary social and political background.
114
women in Feng shuangfei cannot be complete or perfect on their own, but are placed
in complementary wen-wu pairs. For example, Feixiang, the ideal talented girl, never
shows up alone, but instead is coupled with He Danyan or Murong Zhu. Feixiang, as
I will discuss in detail in Chapter VI, is not only a perfectly orthodox and virtuous
wife for Lingyun, but also is depicted as a female counterpart of an idealJengliu
scholar. While the male literary scholars, such as Zhang Cai and Zhang Jing, are all
to some extent morally corrupt and obsessed with excessive improper sexual desires,
Feixiang, a talented literary girl, becomes the incarnation ofpositiveJengliu values.
Similar to aU the desirable talented women who are considered the embodiment of
pure qing in male-authored fiction, Feixiang has pure and strong feelings for Murong
Zhu and she is good at calligraphy, painting and writing poetry. 171 Therefore she
physically, emotionally and intellectually fits into the aesthetic of qing and creates a
female version of the positive wen model. J72
Paired with Feixiang, Danyan and Zhu are the two most extraordinary female
martial figures in the land; they are officially entitled guanjun (l&~, champion) by
the empress. Growing up as an adopted sister to Feixiang, Danyan accompanies
Feixiang until Feixiang meets and "marries" Zhu. Since her childhood, Danyan has
been a martial girl-as the daughter of He Shiwei who is the best martial master in
171 Honglou meng is the best example to illustrate how girls in the Grand View Garden are portrayed as the pure
embodirrlent of qing,
"Pure" in this case not only indicates that Feixiang's qing for Zhu is not corrupted by the material world, but also
suggests physical chastity. Physical purity in the late Qing period seems also to be an essential of pure qing and
Pinhua baojian is a typical text of this kind of values.
172 For a detailed discussion of Feixiang's jengliu and androgynous qualities, please see Chapter VI of this
dissertation.
lIS
Feng shuangfei, she is raised as a boy and learns martial arts from her father, and she
even kills the evil Bao Wen, who had both used black magic and climbed into
General Mu's garden to abduct Feixiang, without hesitation or fear at sixteen. 173
When Feixiang decides to travel back home from the capital, Danyan volunteers to
accompany her as a bodyguard and suggests that both of them dress as men. When
dressed as a man, "although [Danyan] hasn't learnt the habits ofjianghu from her
father, she is just like a pretty young boy on the battleground for knights-errant" Ou
"[people] only heard the sound ofthe wind blowing on the ground, but they saw only
a pool of light, instead of either her body or the sword" (i.E! PlJ %U :tiiJ,)X\.ft;. u(ri], Af.2U1~
:t:7't-IlI).175 Here, Feixiang's uncle, watching two girls in men's dress, clearly
praises them as a perfect wen and wu pair, "Excellent! Excellent! This is truly a
scholar and a warrior" (!ztytlk! !ztytlk! -x-lit, ftiffiS<.J/f;.::&).176 For a long time,
Danyan willingly dresses, lives and fights as a young man. 177 With her exceptional
martial skills, Danyan likes to dress as a male warrior not only because she was
raised as a boy and trained with martial arts until she was ten, but also because she
identifies herself with knights-errant, who are usually males. Danyan's wu -- with
173 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, chapter 17.
174 Cheng, Feng shuangfti, 809.
175 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 809.
17(, Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 809.
m She is the only one who suggests the cross-dressing to Feixiang and, for five years on Three Immortal Island,
serves as the king's adopted son. Although Danyan and Feixiang dress as women after they return to China after
five years, Danyan is still happy to dress and fight as a man in war (Chapter 46). She also takes the responsibility
for continuing the family line of the Murong family, having her second son surnamed Murong.
------------ -----
116
her masculine courage and forthrightness -- and Feixiang's wen -- with her feminine
gentleness and meekness -- create a remarkable wen-wu contrastive but
complementary pair.
After her fake marriage with Murong Zhu, Feixiang appears more frequently
together with Zhu as a couple. The text often identifies Zhu, a non-Han princess, as a
military figure who leads her own army. She is more than any other woman in the
land involved in most battles, including her fights with Lingyun. Her remarkable
martial qualities are highlighted by the narrative when it compares Zhu with Danyan,
describing them as "[they are] exactly the same in skill and bravery.,,'78 Unlike
Danyan who often fights in men's dress, Zhu often appears with her "luan-engraved
blades ~~:gJ]" in women's fighting dress. 179 Luan are considered female birds,
especially when paired with the mythical malefeng. Zhu, the foreign princess who
exists outside the system of Ch inese stereotypes, is presented as a complete female
wu figure. Moreover, it is important to notice that she, as another female barbarian
rebel leader, is also an embodiment of a positive female yin martial figure in contrast
to the Dragon Queen, who represents a negative female yin martial figure. Zhu's wu
qualities -- her feminine irritable temper and capriciousness -- and Feixiang's wen
qualities -- masculine calmness and stability -- form another contrastive but
complementary wen-wu pair. Noteworthy is the complex distribution of gender
qualities between the two women.
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 850.
179 Luan is a mythical bird believed to be the privileged conveyor of heavenly gods.
117
As for the definition of wen and wu values, it is noticeable that wen and wu in
Feng shuangfei not only refer to these girls' skills and personal traits, but also are
culturally marked. Danyan and Zhu train the soldiers on her island kingdom while
Feixiang sets the rites on it, functioning perfectly in terms of wen and wu. Both Zhu
and Danyan's martial images are reinforced by their military, and therefore political,
achievements in the wars between the Chinese army and foreign and national
rebellions.
While Feixiang, Danyan and Zhu make up congenial complementary pairings,
Guo Lingyun's two concubines, Zhen Daya Jt:A~ and Murong Zhu ~~J*, make
up another wen-wu pair marked by their competition. Unlike Feixiang and Danyan
who are both to some extent fluid in their gender, Daya and Zhu are a pure female
pairing in terms of their gender identification. As was previously argued, Zhu's wu
qualities are clearly feminine; Daya's gender identification is also associated with
womanly virtues and talents. The characters' names suggest their qualities. Daya's
style suggests that she is a virtuous talented woman. "Daya" is directly from the title
of the "Daya (Great Odes)" section of the Shijing, the songs played in solemn court
ceremonies. Her adherence to ritual and propriety gives her an air of solemnity and
respect. Her given name is Miaocai ~y::t, literally "wonderful talent," which again
reinforces her image as a talented girl. 180
180 Her younger sister's style is Xiaoya. Xiaoya is directly taken from the title of the "Lesser Odes" collection in
Shijing, the less formal songs played at court festivities. As expected, Xiaoya is not as rigid as Daya, but still
virtuous and chaste. Xiaoya's given name is Miaorong .wy~, "wonderful appearance." As the name suggests,
Xiaoya is truly prettier than her elder sister.
--------
118
Daya appears as a talented woman who is stereotypically adept at call igraphy,
painting and poetry. Unlike Feixiang whose subject position in literary works is as a
fengliu scholar who appreciates beautiful women, Daya directly claims her
identification as a talented woman by signing her penname, Penglai nilshi (~*fr~,
literally "female historian from Penglai, the immortal island"),181 on her paintings.
While Feixiang paints a beautiful woman, Daya paints plum blossoms and Guo
Lingyun, the man who helps her and with whom she fell in love; while Feixiang's
poetry mostly addresses Zhu, her beautiful wife, Daya's poetry collection has a
typical feminine title, Lilchuang xiaocao (r~Wi' IJ<i'j!i:, Trivial Manuscripts beside the
Green Window), putting her into the guixiu (IIJ*, talented girl) group and tradition.
What more explicitly identifies Daya with orthodox female literary virtues is
that she writes women's history; for this work she is awarded the official title of
nilboshi (frt~±, female erudite).182 Parallel to Zhu's barbaric wu and Daya's
cultivated wen qualities, their official titles of nilboshi and guanjun reinforce the fact
that the narrator views them as the ideals of female wen and wu.
The contrastive pairing of Zhu and Daya is further highlighted by their
competition as two concubines in Lingyun's polygamous household. Although the
competition is always initiated by Zhu, the competition itself demonstrates their
comparable qualities. The fact that they marry Lingyun on the same day reinforces
their opposite but equal characteristics, which are further demonstrated in their
IXI Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1103.
I X2 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1296.
119
competitive show of womanly virtue, namely sending their husband out of their own
bedroom to sleep with his other concubines. It is noticeable that the motivations for
this behavior also display their differences in terms of feminine wen-wu qualities:
Daya does it because a literary virtuous woman is not supposed to be too attached to
her husband or sex; Zhu, in contrast, does it merely in order to show that she is as
good as Daya. When confronting this turn of events, their orthodox husband Lingyun
has a very interesting comment:
It is very strange that Miaocai, the boshi, has been famous for her talent for a
long time, but she is impractical and foolish in her heart, This implicates the
heroic female king into abiding by Neo-Confucianism.,. Neo-Confucianist
and Hero, both please withdraw.
[~m~~~M+~~~, ~W~m~ff~, *~~.~*£, ~~~~
t I '1§,>l!. '1§,>l!. -++ til: 'oIsc!!;l,.12. ] 183/)I\:I.E!. 7' ......m -7" J'k; ~~1f'j I'V<. tlJ 0
Lingyun, the symbol of ultimate moral judgment, clearly classifies Daya and Zhu with
two opposing wen-wu categories, neo-Confucianism and heroism. This speech in front
of his concubines follows his thought that "the barbarian girl is pretty but too irascible,
Lingyun indicates, Zhu and Daya represent two extreme examples of well-educated
women (wen) and uncivilized wild women (wu). Their divergence stands out in their
competition, making them an obvious wen-wu contrastive but complementary female
pair.
Feng shuangfei also makes use of other forms of characterization, especially
in the grouping of characters. Similar to the way the characters in Xiyouji and
183 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2261-2.
184 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2262.
120
Honglou meng are associated with five-elements (wuxing IiiT) symbolism, Cheng
Huiying also creates a suite of female characters who are associated with the four
seasons.
185 In Lingyun's happy polygamous family, Zhu suggests that Daya paint the
four wives of Lingyun, fitting them into the four seasons. Many male authors during
the Ming and Qing periods concluded their novels with a list of characters, for
example, the one hundred and eight heroes in Shuihu zhuan, the promotion ofthe
gods in Fengshen yanyi, and the presumed qingbang (Roster of names ranked
according to qing) in Honglou meng. As expected, Daya's paintings and Lingyun's
poems appended to them appear in the last chapter of Feng shuangfei.
Amazingly, Lingyun's four wives fit perfectly into a four seasons and four
virtues scheme. Feixiang, the first wife, is in the spring scene, with the poem titled
"Drinking wine and appreciating the flowers" (l'l[~¥j1!j"X~{t). The image of Feixiang in
the painting and poem emphasizes her characteristics as a femaleJengliu scholar
doing the typical aesthetic activities of the Jenglong literati. Liyu, the second wife, is
in the summer scene, with the poem titled "Embroidering in the wind" (1IfuJXUFIJm).
Since she is only a secondary female character, the portrayal ofLiyu in the land only
stresses her feminine virtues and lack of any kind of talents, so doing embroidering
becomes the best symbol of her virtues. Daya, the third wife, is in the autumn scene,
with the poem titled "Chanting poems under the moon" (J=j r~ti~). Along with her
IR5 In his study on characterization, Andrew Plaks points out the phenomena of grouping the characters by the
frame of the five-elements (wuxing n1T) scheme in Honglou meng and Xiyouji.
In Yesou puyan, the four concubines of Wen Suchen clearly fall into the four categories of traditional skills --
mathematics, medicine, poetry and military science -- which are at the same time Suchen's interests. For a detailed
discussion about this topic, see McMahon, Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists, 53, 150-75.
121
official title of "Female Erudite," this self-portrayal and Lingyun's poem again
reinforce her image as a talented woman. Zhu, the fourth wife, is in the winter scene,
with the poem titled "Hunting in the snow" (**1T~Mi). Consistent with her wu
imagery throughout the fiction, this hunting image of her indicates her identity as a
i":' • I 186Joretgn martIa woman.
After looking at the paintings and reading the poems, Yishao points out the
delicate and artistic design of the picture. He says,
The scenes are spring, summer, autumn and winter; the rhymes are/eng, hua,
xue andyue; the themes of your poems are virtue, beauty, talent, and skills ...
[~~~,~,~,~, ~~~,~,*,~, ~Wm~X~~,~,~,
z:.; ......]187
It is an intentional design of the author to weave four seasons, four virtues and the
settled idiom/eng hua xue yue into the titles and rhymes ofthe poems. "Feng hua xue
yue" literally means "wind, flowers, snow and moon," referring to the typical natural
scenes in the four seasons: flowers in the spring, breeze in the summer, moon in the
autumn and snow in the winter. Because these are considered beautiful and pleasant
scenes, it, as a settled phrase, also works as a metaphor for romantic lives. Relating
the four wives to this phrase indicates Lingyun's happy polygamous love and
marriage life. Moreover, the narrative seems to indicate that Lingyun's happy
domestic life is due to the four feminine virtues associated with his wives. It is
noteworthy that the traditional side (IITI1!8.\, four feminine virtues) are de 1!8.\, rang~,
1H(, Considering the lanci was written during the Qing period, we can believe that the cultural stereotypes of Han
Chinese and Manchu/foreign fit into the literary and martial/military. Actually, Manchus, including their emperors,
were famous for and proud of their skills in riding and hunting. Therefore, such a painting by Zhu probably
indicates her non-Han identity.
IH7 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2473.
-------- ._----- --- _._----
122
yan g, gong X, which refer to propriety in behavior, speech, demeanor and
employment. However, the narrator purposefully alters the definition of side: instead
of proper countenance, Lingyun, the speaking subject, praises the beauty ofFeixiang;
instead of proper speech, he appreciates the literary talents of Daya; instead of proper
feminine work, he compliments Zhu's martial skills. The subtle change of the
definitions indicates a larger space that the narrator allows for women. The perfect
positioning of the four wives in four seasons with four virtues, according to their
characteristics, can be no coincidence, but a deliberate design of the author.
Conclusion
By evaluating its aesthetics, this chapter suggests that Feng shuangfei should
be considered as serious a piece of Iiterary work the equal of mainstream
male-authored xiaoshuo fiction. Although the narrative does not adopt the common
structure of two halves in xiaoshuo fiction, the deliberately designed three parts
marked by the rise and fall ofyin and yang energies indicate that the writer was very
conscious of the aesthetics of the overall structure of her work. Moreover, like
xiaoshuo fiction, the characters in this tanci are not merely plot devices, but also
aesthetic devices. I argue that these characters are deliberately designed to be pairs or
groups, so that aesthetically they correspond to each other in the whole work.
123
This chapter not only proves the literary value of Feng shuangfei, but also
provides a guideline to read the following three chapters. Echoing the three parts into
which the text is divided according to yin and yang energies, the next three chapters
will also focus on yang energies, yin energies and the balance between the two. Like
this chapter, the following three chapters will also take xiaoshuo fiction as a large
background and parallel. Each chapter wi II deal with a common motif in xiaoshuo
fiction, male same-sex eroticism and homosociality, female same-sex desires and
subjectivity, and stereotypes of women.
124
CHAPTER IV
HOMOSOCIAL YANG:
A NEW TWIST ON CITY-TOPPLING BEAUTY AND MALE FRIENDSHIP
Introduction
As scholars have pointed out and studied, there was a vogue of male same-sex
practices among the literati during the Ming and Qing dynasties. 188 This vogue is
supported by rich textual materials, such as poetry, notation books (biji *i-c) and
fiction. 189 Although Sophie Volpp argues that interest in and acceptance of writings
about male same-sex practices was mostly because of strangeness (qi itr) rather than
actual practice, Matthew Sommer's studies, which document the banning of sexual
intercourse between males beginning in the Ming dynasty, actually demonstrate that
the phenomenon of male same-sex practices had become so popular and visible that
the government had to establish new laws to discourage and prohibit this kind of
infertile non-Confucian behavior. 190 While we cannot tell for sure how widely
IKg See Brett Hinsch, Passions of the Cut Sleeve (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); James Gough,
"Deviant Marriage Patterns," in Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Chinese Culture, ed. Arthur Kleinman and
Tsung-yi Lin (Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publisher Co., 1981); and Vivian Ng, "Homosexuality and the State in Late
Imperial China," in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha
Vicinus, and George Chauncey, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1990).
\R9 For example, the anonymous writer, Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng's ~1Ii~~j: Jin Ping Mei 16:Jm~ (Plum in the
Golden Vase), Cao Xueqin's lIl~Jf Honglou meng IT~~ (Dream of the Red Chamber), the poems on Xu Ziyun
~7'E by Chen Weisong IljHl~ and his friends literati, Shen Defu's tttim Bi::hou ::hal yutan !tw~~~
(Casual Conversations of the Worn Brush Studio), Li Yu's '$ii!I short story "Nan Mengmu jiaohe sanqian !J5ZiHJ:
$,Xi;.=:jf" (A Male Mencius's Mother), Ling Mengchu's ~~HJJ Pai'anjingqi m~'n~(Slappingthe Table in
Amazement), the anonymous writer, Zui Xihu xin yue zhuren's N'f]ffil'41H,,;9 ±,A Sian er chai:it ITillY( (Cap and
Hairpins as Well), etc.
\90 Sophie Volpp, "Classifying Lust: The Seventeenth-Century Vogue for Male Love," Harvard Journal ofAsiatic
Studie61,no.1 (Jun., 2001): 77-117.
Matthew Sommer, "The Penetrated Male in Late Imperial China: Judicial Constructions and Social Stigma,"
125
practiced and accepted it was, the promulgation of new laws and the increasing
number of literary works referring to male same-sex practices did indicate the
literati's attention to and interest in the actual practice among intellectual circles.
To legitimate their desires for beautiful young boys, scholarly writers
advocated the aesthetics of qing 'tN in their literary works. J9! One ofthe most extreme
examples is the first story, "Qingzhen j i" 't~ ff[ 1c(Records of Virtuous Love), in Bian
er chai 1t·Tmfj( (Cap and Hairpins as Well), in which one of the male protagonists,
Feng Xiang JX\J~H, defends himself when asking another male scholar, Zhao Wangsun
!ME]!J\, for sex, "The place where qingconcentrates is exactly people like us. The
thing that happened today is inappropriate in terms of principles, But in terms of qing,
then men can become women and women can become men too" ('t~ Z?JTf~, IE1lJJ<;
suggests, in the case of male same-sex practices, qing is a medium that allows for this
cultural transgression, where men are willing to be the penetrated for qing. Giovanni
Vitiello also concludes in his research, "the notion of qing is predicated upon the
erasure of all boundaries.,,193 Therefore, with the presence of qing, the men who are
involved in same-sex sexual behaviors are acceptable, understandable, and even
admirable. The narrative logic proves his argument by presenting a happy ending for
Modern China 23, nO.2 (1997): 140-80.
191 See Footnote 11.
192 Zui Xihu Xin Vue Zhuren's /WjffiWj,L.'A ±A, Sian er chai ft-rm~Jl(Zhonghe: Shuangdi guoji, 1996),78.
193 Giovanni Vitiello, "Exemplary Sodomites: Chivalry and Love in Late Ming Culture," Nan nil 2 nO.2 (2000):
214.
126
the two men-Zhao saved Feng from a death sentence, and then they both quit their
jobs and established marital relationships between the two families for generations.
Another central concept of qing, aesthetic connoisseurship, is also highly
valued in the culture of male same-sex relationships and through the acknowledged
connoisseurship of beautiful young boys, the literati established a homosocial
community. This is especially obvious in the fashion of boy-actors who played the
danS., female lead, roles in dramas. In the famous late Qing novel, Pinhua baojian ~
.:tt:':f:~ (A Precious Mirror for Ranking Flowers), Chu Nanxiang Ji!l¥J#§ introduces
Mei Ziyu t~T35: to the beauty and aesthetics of the dan actors, "Women are surely
beautiful, but they cannot avoid applying powder and rouge. How can they be
compared to men who are naturally bright without makeup?" (]~::9:TIJ!!I~, Jt:/[~:96®
and authenticity of girls made in Hong/ou meng nf~~ (Dream of the Red Chamber),
Nanxiang adopts Baoyu's '35.35: logic and argues for boys' authentic beauty, which is
one of the core standards of qing. However, taking the dan actors as the center of their
gaze, these literati actually consider the passive same-sex partner as an object of
connoisseurship although writers and readers of these novels appear to assume a
certain degree of equal ity when a scholar and an actor are together alone. 195 Echoing
the novel Pinhua baojian, in which the literati as a whole cultural circle enjoy and
194 Chen Sen Il*%!li, Pinhua baojian 8'/,n3f~ (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1990), 12.
195 Keith McMahon, "Sublime Love and the Ethics of Equality in a Homoerotic Novel of the Nineteenth Century:
Precious Mirror ofBoy Actresses," Nan nii 4, nO.1 (2002): 70-109.
127
appreciate the beauty of dan actors, the historical group of literati around the early
Qing dan actor Xu Ziyun 1~~~, as Sophie Volpp suggests, appreciated his beauty
and celebrated the qing between him and Chen Weisong ~*M€t0 by writing poems.
They created a homosocial literary community around the two by identifying
themselves with the cu It of qing. 196 As can be seen from both real and fictional
examples, establishing a relationship with a same-sex partner was both a symbol of
the cult of qing values and a medium to establish homosocial relationships.
Contrary to her contemporary male writers, throughout Feng shuangfei, Cheng
Huiyin does not view nanse (~~, male love, male homoeroticism, male beauty) as a
symbol of qing, but one of decadence. The desire for beautiful boys, symbolized by
Bai Ruyu, is depicted as a mere sexual act, not as an expression of taste. Male
same-sex desire is frequently abusive; and instead of leading to the restoration of
proper social harmony, as is the cliched norm for the cult of qing narratives, it
undermines the five canonical social relationships (emperor-minister; parent-child;
husband-wife; older sibling-younger sibling; friend-friend). Through depictions of a
femmefalate figure Ruyu circulating around the empire, male same-sex desire is
portrayed as one of the destructive yin powers in traditional Confucian society.
Meanwhile, the narrative is still under the influence of the cult of qing when
depicting the homosocial relationships between Lingyun and his friends. As we have
seen in other lanci fiction, female fanci writers held a much more conservative
196 Sophie Volpp, "The Literary Circulation of Actors in Seventeenth-Century China," Journal ofAsian Studies 61,
nO.3 (2002) 949-84.
128
perspective than most male novelists in order to legitimate their writing, an act which
by itself already carried hints of transgression by establishing women's identity in the
public male sphere. 197 This is especially true in discussions of sex and relations.
Cheng Huiying is not an exception. Although the narrator depicts male same-sex
practices as bringing chaos, whether sex is involved between men seems to be the
only standard for her to determine the nature of relationships. Even though the
relationships between Lingyun and Ruyu and between Lingyun and Yishao are
unusual and sexualized, the text celebrates them as true friendships and presents them
as ideal homosocial relationships. Consistent with the late Qing view on authentic
qing, Feng shuangfei advocates this kind of "love devoid of lust" parallel to that in
Honglou meng and Pinghua baojian. 198
The clearly presented views of these two kinds of similar male relationships
provide an example of a female author's perspective on the contemporary fashions
and events among men, especially the literati, and a fantasized ideal of male
homosocial relationships.
197 Tanci authored by female writers commonly contain much more conservative moral values than those in male
authors' works. The best example of this is the fact that Qiu Xinru rewrote and Hou Zhi edited and wrote a sequel
to the story of Zaisheng yuan, the most famous tanci among women at the time, in order to correct the moral
problems in it. Like them, most female tanci writers tried to display the didactic functions which were specifically
the promotion of Confucian values, especially those concerning their female protagonists in their tanci.
19K See Martin Huang, Negotiating Masculinity in Late Imperial China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'j Press,
2006), 153.
129
Male Same-sex Eroticism and Practice:
Disastrous Beauty, Corrupted Scholars and Disordered Country
Male homosexual desire is a central, if not the central, theme of the first third
of the tanci. However, unlike many male-authored works, male same-sex desires are
not framed within the cult of qing aesthetics. The depiction of sexual behaviors
between men in the tanci is usually very direct and cruel, without any implication that
hearts consent or are committed. "The Incomparable" Bai Ruyu, the willing victim of
these cruel sexual acts of consumption, becomes a symbol of the destructive power of
male same-sex practices. His movement around the empire stands for the disordered
moral and political state of the empire.
In order to build a foundation to discuss the toxicity of male same-sex
practices, the narrator uses a lengthy monologue by the exemplary moral character
Guo Hongying :$~~~.w:.As the introduction to the main plot, his speech establishes the
basic attitude towards male homoeroticism in the tanci. Explaining "Lewdness is the
top of all evils" O¥~, JJ7J~L-~tE),199 Guo Hongyin's comments on male
homosexuality follow those on improper heterosexuality:
The way of male homosexuality (nanse zhi dao ~5Lm) is more risible,
hateful, shameful and frightening. Please think carefully: The beasts are the
most contemptible, but even male animals don't have sex with each other; We
are human beings covered with heaven above and earth below, so how can we
embrace men as women? The fundamental relationships will be disordered
(Juan ~L), and the. pairing is especially abnormal. This is really ridiculous! It is
a source of shame for three generations if a woman loses her chastity; if a man
is contaminated, it shames his whole family; passersby will laugh and his wife
199 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 28.
130
will be ashamed. If you have sex with the young, how is it different from
having sex with your son or grandson? Even if the boy is a bit older, how is it
different from having sex with your younger brother and nephew? Those who
are called to "serve as father or brother" cause remorse such as this. This is the
most hateable. Being close to young actors and intimate with handsome
servants, your heart will be made chaotic by your desires and you will be
unable to distinguish inner and outer. Since I channel water into the wall, he
definitely will set fire with the help of wind. Qin Gong goes into the Liang
household, Chifeng enters Empress Zhao's tower. It starts from not separating
men and women, and ends with men and women competing to be the favorites.
When notoriety spreads, it is often all like this. It is most shameful! Emperor
Wu of the Han doted on Han Van and it resulted in his neglect of his relatives;
the Filial Emperor Ai of the Han favored Dong Xian and even wanted to
follow the example ofYao in yielding throne to Shun; Lord Jing of the Song
loved Huan Tui, but Tui did not care about his lord's tears and schemed to
rebel; Fu Jian of the Qin adored Murong Chong, but Chong did not consider
their pleasures in bed and dispatched rebellious troops instead. This is what is
most to be feared."
["~~-m, ~}~PJ~pH~, PJjf.PJt~o ;ttifHfIl,~,: ~~:3'?J&, ~/f~~tlJ
~t3( , ~JG~ JJ~:X J1l:Lit!.Z A, a PJtJ1l!J3 7~ ~=1? ~~J ~ ~5t JliL , 121 We:Jt§'rt; , lIt::*:
PJ~illo~A~~, BA~~Z~;!J3T~~,~JJ*~~~,~A~~,
~T~mo~X~~,W~~T~?~~*#,w~~m@?~.~.z
ilL filJrm1Jt,c,\~lr~? .lbbw:PJ't~ill! ~rp1Jt:i::, W~1~1r, ,c,\~WcJliL, l*J5'r/f~7to
~JG~5tiJl7K}d11.L 1N&:\*)X\.~:ko m*~ID.~ELA, ~J§;f~r:p~~*o ~~f:5l
~~~7t,~~~~$~oH~~~,tttt~~o~~PJ*ill!&~~~
~,~~§~~M; ~~~.~,~~~%~~;*~~~~.,rm.+
}~,nrp r=:! z1fL, 1fM~i~; =*1~Jl£¥~~i'P, rmi'P/f~~tt/¥Z~f, ;$~~IJ&o
llUI~ PJ tJ'l; ill 0 ,,]200
Th is long moral lecture illustrates the impropriety of nanse, male same-sex desires. As
Guo Hongyin argues, the very first argument against nanse is that it is "unnatural,"
which specifically means that it will not produce descendants. Moreover, the core of
the harm of nanse is that it perverts (luan) relationships ~lxJ 'ffi', the foundation of the
Confucian socio-ethical system. The "messy" relationships caused by nanse, usually
an elder man with a younger boy, imitate incest in blurring the boundaries of proper
200 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 28-29.
---------~----_._._------
131
relationships, and therefore destabilize Confucian society. Nanse also destabilizes
Confucian society by blurring the boundary between the inner and outer. Giving
plenty of historical examples, Guo argues that incorporating another man into the
inner chambers will cause illicit sexual relationships between the young boys taken in
and the women in the household and therefore would ruin the reputation of the family.
Last but not least, Guo suggests that young male lovers tend to usurp or abuse the
elder's status.
In this speech, readers can see that Cheng Huiying, a female writer, suggests
that the male same-sex practices and eroticism in Feng shuangfei belong to
destructive sexual desires. However, just preaching the idea is not enough, so she
creates a didactic story to illustrate the destructive power of male same-sex eroticism
and practices. Unlike male-authored works, which typically use the figure of a
beautiful but domineering shrew as a catalyst to illustrate a world gone topsy-turvy,
Feng shuangfei features the boy Bai Ruyu S :tz~3S:"White as Jade," as the sign of
yinyang imbalance. Bai Ruyu's nickname is Wushuang xX3(, "the incomparable one";
he is so sexually irresistible that almost all the men who catch sight of him want to
have sexual relations with him. AJI of the problems that Guo Hongyin mentions in his
lecture are lived out by Ruyu. By borrowing the theme of "city-toppling" beauty and
applying it to a beautiful young boy, Cheng Huiying deconstructs and satirizes the
popular culture of male same-sex practices and eroticism "disguised" by qing during
the late Qing period.
132
Although Cheng Huiying's perspective on sex is quite conservative, she does
not shy away from depicting the "disgusting" and destructive sex between men in
order to display its lethality. To give an idea of how explicit the text is in its treatment
of male homosexual practices, here is a partial translation of the scene in which Zhang
Qihu instructs Wei Xiong in the pleasures of male sex:
"Since, after aJJ, you were born in this barbarian territory, aJJ you know is
how to fool around with women. How would you know that Chinese males
are even more fragrant than women? AJJ you need is a presentable young boy
to accompany you when you sleep, and then why would you bother to get
married? "
Even though he heard the words, how could Wei Xiong believe it?
"Don't take advantage of the fact that I am an inexperienced barbarian. How
could two men fool around with each other? What thing did you say they use
to become a couple?" [Qihu] doubled over with laughter. .. and said "Since the
little Commander has never experienced it of course you do not understand,
once] explain, it will be as though] have given you something extraordinary."
Wei Xiong said: "Please teach me, please teach me! Hurry up! C'mon,
hurry up."
Readers, you must understand that there was nothing Qihu was not
willing to show him or say. NaturaJJy, doing this and that he instructed him
thoroughly in such and such a way, just like a viJJage teacher lecturing on how
to spur on a horse, he mounted a bench and modeled it for him. "Is this clear?"
["1$ ttl~ ~ljJij;tElff~, R 9;Q~T:\:lI}:Vf-, )j~EJt1l{J.9=J ~ ~A b~~]!~ 0 }r~
1ff~3&/J\ '§~~;gfjj, 1iiJm~)J ~~m 0 "J2fl~ Q)r TfilJ ~1*: "1$/G~~AiUlJt:fr
A~/G-tL J3~£1fMl'~A~~I}:XJj~, 1$lli~~~filJ~1tj:~j1Ijc)jX:x~? "f9='1t*
1~ JL-'¥~~ ......1fi~: "/JY7'GY~* ~ fJ'Rj1, 13 ?:~{';1~~Q, /J\~~i~ ttl?le Jf1$
-f'HftJY'YB<:Jx1~1fT 0 "J2fl~ij!: "ifff'J:! ffirfz! tJ\i~! '~iJl! ";Y'1j1SL~~BJt
1~· tW ~:~1f*~ ~>tN fJ'R ~·F ttl, *~~)Liit:lf'; ttl 0 13 1'/.\)jiJt-flo llt -flo ll:t, j~JRJt J1J5t
~m~T-l'~W,Jf~.M~~~*m.~~-J1J5t,MtE~~~.Tl'
Y1T101m~~, "PJ-tE~JlB-tE~? ,,]201
Wei Xiong is so excited by his new-found knowledge that he grabs Qihu,
throws him on the bed and strips off his clothing. Qihu frantically finishes his lesson
on male homosexual sex by explaining that a man can only fool around with a young
201 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 557-58.
----------
133
teenage boy and "that is why it is called doing a young master. Once a boy reaches the
age of twenty, then it is absolutely impossible"(?JTlJ,P41Ml:f'f/J\'B 0 --iIJmT =-+~,
3Jt'*Jrl1fT/f~PJB~0 ).202 Qihu goes on to explain why:
"Most boys have weak bodies when they are children; since they have not yet
begun to produce yang essence, they are still like girls and are good at taking a
woman's role. Once they reach 20, they become powerful men and if they
were to do that kind of business with someone, it would be as if two yangs
were struggling with each other or two tigers fighting; it might be that both
would get hurt."
[*R~~~~~~~, ~~**, ~~~A-~, ~M~~~AZ.o
-~~~=+,~~~~~~~,~~~A~~~~~*,~~~~ffi4,
=m,f§~, *1f/f'~Y&1~jjJ~illo ]203
Throughout, the lanci is clear that it is unmanly to be a penetrated male.
Although Zhang Qihu's reasoning seems to make sense in terms of Chinese medical
theory ofyin-yang cosmology, the main purpose of Qihu saying this, made up or not,
is to avoid being penetrated by Wei Xiong, another man. Enjoying male same-sex
practices with young boys himself, Qihu, as a masculine military/ martial figure, will
only take the role as the penetrator in his sexual relationships with men once he has
grown up and has the strength to defend himself. The ultimate reason for Qihu to
reject being penetrated by Wei Xiong is his self-esteem as a masculine man, who is
unwilling to playa female and therefore the inferior, penetrated role in male same-sex
relationships.
In this sense, consistent with other fictional depictions of male same-sex
sexuality, male relationships, from Cheng Huiying's perspective, maintain and create
W2 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 558.
20J Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 558-59.
--------_. _._--
134
strict gender, age and class distinctions?04 Being a penetrated male means social
inferiority and therefore inevitably brings dishonor to a man's social status and family
reputation. The same situation is also played out when Yishao is asked to engage in
male same-sex practices as the penetrated when he is a young boy. When Zhang Cai,
whose argument is surprisingly similar to that of Feng Xiang in Bian er chai, entreats
Yishao to consent under the name of qing, "You only know that it [male-male sex]
should not be due to reason, but how do you know that it cannot be according to
qing?" (1fJ\1g3;IHJ!LZ..?JT~'7G, ~3;W~NZ?JT~'1f).205 However, the result is totally
opposite to that in Bian er chai.2°6 Even though Yishao is relatively unrestrained by
the rites, he rejects Cai, citing Confucian rites, "Since you are not benevolent, I won't
be righteous" (1$~)f/f'1=t:!<)F5()?07 In this argument, fighting his way out, Yishao's
stance of "righteousness" indicates the author's conservative choice of Ii over qing.
Similarly, when the heir apparent makes a similar request, Yishao refuses on the
grounds that "doing this improper thing will humiliate my ancestors and violate
cardinal principles. This is not what human beings do" (1Mzj~::£JHZ~, &;lxf~M.El5t,
7§"~J*14, ~~A~?JT7'J)?08 Again, Ii wins out even though the person who is
making the request is the heir apparent, Yishao's social and political superior. But, as
204 See Wu Cuncun, Ming Qing shuihui xing 'a! jengqi ~¥jlH±ii:'tt~JxV=C (Beijing: Renmin wenxue, 2000), 282:
also see Huang, Negotiating Masculinity in Late Imperial China, 149.
205 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 109.
206 After Feng Xiang's defense of male-male sex according to qing, Zhao Wangsun agrees to have sex with him.
See Feng Xiang's argument above in the introduction.
207 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 110.
208 Cheng, Feng shuangfei. 359.
13S
a result, Yishao gains respect from the prince. In the narrative logic of Feng shuangfei,
propriety is the ultimate value that everyone should follow. While qing has become an
expedient force that allows certain writers to blur the boundaries of propriety, Cheng
Huiying subtly demonstrates her reevaluation of the limits of qing.
Cheng Huiying makes use of every possible cliche to describe Wushuang as a
"city-toppling" physical beauty. He is femininely beautiful. The narrator describes his
beauty from the perspective of Zhang Qihu 5*~)if§, the lewd villain who is having an
affair with Wushuang's mother. When Qihu first hears his voice, the narrator
describes, "Entering the ears, the voice is not annoying, but instead lovely [Qihu's
thought]. It was probably from a girl next door who is reading aloud" (AJ+·;l':~J1~PJ
~, M£jj~~~*lmi~1Hlt9:).209At the age of twelve, Wushuang still has a child's
voice, which is closer to that of a girl. When Qihu sees his appearance, he thinks:
His pretty face cannot be molded by rouge, embellished by powder, or be
carved. It cannot be sketched or painted, and his long eyebrows and pretty eyes
are beautiful and bright. His red lips are small, hiding his white teeth. His
delicate appearance is just like the tender crabapple flowers in the spring. His
ten fingers are slender like jade bamboo shoots, and his low but clear voice is
better than the sound of sheng and huang.21O He is as gentle and mild as a
charming girl, but without mincing or contrived manners. He is exactly like a
flower which understands human language or ajade which produces fragrance.
I have seen so many beauties, but how can they be compared to him, who
monopolizes amorous feelings and surpasses all other beauties? 211
[~~xt1Jg, ~xt#$(, xt~IJxtff&B"J'rfHmEEa rEfi/f'pX;ffJ]illli/f,jfjL 1~}§1~J~~r~
~o*~-~.~@,M~~~~~W$.~o+m~~~~~,~m*
~w~.o-~m~~~~M~,~X£*&~~m~~o~~~nnm
m, *~~~~¢~a~AmM$$~. ~&~S~~mlliA~oJ
209 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 177.
210 Two Chinese traditional pipe musical instruments.
211 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 178.
136
All the descriptions of Ruyu here are precisely what literati use to describe an
extraordinary female beauty. Rouge and powder are the cosmetics that ancient
Chinese women used, so from the very beginning his face is connected to femininity.
The words used to describe his lips and teeth are common terms, which can be traced
back to Shijing i,~~2. (Book of Poetry) and Chuci ~~* (The Songs of the South) to
describe beauties, especially beautiful women.212 The tender hands and slim fingers
of women are eulogized as early as in Gushi shijiu shau r.iJi,~i-tL-§·(Nineteen Old
Poems), and the metaphor for women's fingers as jade bamboo shoots appears in Ting
zheng 11JT~(Listening to the Zither), a poem by the Tang poet, Zhang Hu 5iHr±!,213
Moreover, female beauties are commonly compared to flowers and jades in Chinese
literature, as seen in the Xixiangji, lin Ping Mei and Hanglau meng.214 It is likely
212 Zhuchun is seen as early as the "Dazhao"j;jB in Chuci to describe the red lips of the beauties. It is an
important factor of a beauty, although it does not necessarily aim to describe female beauties.
Xichi is seen as early as the "Shuoren"@j)., in James Legge trans., The She King or the Book 0/ Poetry tiff~
(Taipei: Wenzhi chubanshe, 1982), 68-69. The original sentence is "Her teeth were like melon seeds tI,j:tzQ~~,"
which describes the white teeth ofa female beauty, who literally refers to the wife of Lord Zhuang of Wei .:E.Et0.
213 In "Tiaotiao qianniu xing iHJH'if:lj::JI!." in Gushi shijiu shou Etif+tL1"1, the line describing the tender fingers
and hands is "She stretches her pale and delicate hand, clackmg, she whiles away time with the shuttle.~~fI~
-,¥, ;f[.fLWtLH." Translation from Stephen Owen, An Anthology o/Chinese Literature: From Beginning to 1911
(New York: W. W. Norton, 1996), 257.
Zhang Hu *lj!; uses the metaphor "jade bamboo shoots" in his poem, "Tingzheng ~Jf~," in Quan Tangshi 3':f1ftif,
ed. Peng Dingqiu )1; iE31((Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1996), vol. 511, 3187, to describe the fingers of
the zither player. The original line reads, "Ten fingers are slender like red jade bamboo shoots, flying like wild
geese and lightly pausing among the emerald strings +:t/'rffff3i1fn. Jli1T~~~~i;r:p." Considering that the
fingernails of the person playing the zither are dyed in red, we can assume the player is a woman.
214 Wang Shifu .=E~-m, Xixiang ji 1ffiJ.flliG (Tianjin: Renming wenxue chubanshe, 1995), 31, "The shy flower
understands human language, and the tender jade has fragrance (irJF~tEMif,L r.ffi\*3i=ffW)."
Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, Gaohe tang piping d~vi qishu .fin Ping Me;, !46, "Her pretty appearance is as enchanting
as a flower that understands human languages; her beautiful appearance is as fair as ajade that produces fragrance.
(3i~!,I;:K~:ttf!JinB. 75~~~::liIotW)"; 1091, "[Aiyue'er is] white jade produces fragrances and flower
understands human language (E=l3i lot wtEM iBY'; 1329, "[Lady Lan] can be compared to flowers which
understand human languages; [she] can be compared to jade that produces fragrances (~ttE:ttMiB. ~t3i::li1ot
W)".
Cao Xueqin fi~Jf and Gao E 1I1!i~, Honglou meng n~~ (Changchun: Changchun chubanshe, 2006), 129, the
137
that the usage of these two parallel metaphors in Hong/ou meng had already settled
their connotations of describing female beauties by Cheng Huiying's time. All these
cliched terms used to depict Ruyu suggest his exceptional feminine beauty and also
indicate his overflowing yin power as discussed in Chapter 2.
In the Chinese literary and historical tradition, someone who is unusually
beautiful is often dangerous and destructive to men. The boy Ruyu is exactly this kind
of beauty. It is no coincidence that the author uses the exact same terms used for
demonic female beauties to name Ruyu. One of the most frequently seen terms is the
"fox fairy," used in this text as "demonic fox woman ~5}R31:," "demonic fox ~5}R,"
"with fox-like allure 5}Rt\J§," etc.215 As Rania Huntington points out, fox spirits had
been associated with the term "mei "Ml, seduction, which carries strong connotations of
deception and loss of will" over the literary history?16 Related to the stereotype of the
sexually fiendish fox fairy, Ruyu is also referred to as a demon, as in the term,
"demonic woman ~31:," "little demon /J\~," "monster '11:~," "soul sucking demon
~R~AA," "demonic miscreant AA!J1.," etc.2\? Both fox fairies and demons are often
related to the image of evil spirits who use their supernatural powers to transform into
beautiful women and suck up the yang essence from men, thus indicating Ruyu's
extraordinary beauty and his destructive power. Huntington also suggests that "as the
couplet of the chapter title of Chapter 19 reads, "Earnestly a Flower Understands Human Languages by Night;
Endearingly a Jade Produces Fragrances by Day ('f~tJJt)J Ii! fJfftMitt ;W;mm~ El.:::lS.1::l!f),"
215 See Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 227, 297, 330, etc,
21(, Rania Huntington, Alien Kind: Foxes and Late Imperial Chinese Narrative (Cambridge and London: Harvard
University Asia Center, 2003), II,
217 See Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 301,329-30,400, etc,
138
most sensitive violation of human boundaries, sexual illusion aroused the most
anxiety and exerted the greatest fascination.,,218 The recurrent use of phrases related
to the fox spirit by the narrator to describe Ruyu reinforces his image as an evil and
dangerous "city-toppling" beauty and suggests the anxiety caused by his sexual
powers.
Male homoeroticism, as embodied in the bewitching Ruyu, is shown to be
toxic in that it destroys the boundaries that are foundational to the Confucian moral
order. Unlike girls and women, who for the most part are cloistered and therefore
properly contained in this land, beautiful boys circulate freely and undermine the
boundaries between the idealized homosociality of the male outer (wai !II') spaces of
friendship, brotherhood, study, government and warfare, and sexuality?19 Beautiful
boys are repeatedly entrapped and victimized by men who desire them as sexual
objects. Even the young Zhang Yishao, the most formidable military figure in the
empire, is not exempt from being sexualized; at various times he is the sexual target
of Zhang Cai, the future Zhengde emperor (r. 1506-1522), and a monk who has
already kidnapped a number of other boys. Catamites pose a particular challenge to
boundaries, since as sexualized members of the household they should be properly
contained within the household; much to everyone else's consternation, Zhang ling
218 Huntmgton, Alien Kind, 11.
Zl'i When Zhang Qihu rapes Ruyu, he alludes to the intimacy socially tolerated between men in order to persuade
the boy to stop pushing him away: "This is bizarre; you and 1 are both men, moreover since we are brothers we
should be able to engage in horseplay; since you are not a sequestered girl, why are you trying to avoid suspicion
like this?" (A~"T , '!lt1:5 f$xJtXJ(~ X1~, m~~ 5L~~iJt. f$.x:f~ ffJJJH'pg, {"J~9lj2;~:i!fltIlBjt) (Cheng, Feng
shuangfei, 182).
139
introduces the adolescent Ruyu into the inner domestic spaces to sleep in his
concubine's chambers.22o
The freely circulating young boy Ruyu, who moves effortlessly between
"inner" (nei l*J) and "outer," literally functions as an "empire-toppling beauty," a role
usually played by a woman. Perfectly fit into this stereotype, Ruyu behaves exactly as
a demonic destructive beauty who is fully aware of his advantage and makes use of it
for his own sake regardless of Confucian virtues. As remarked by Yishao, a beauty
like Ruyu is able to "ruin a country and destroy a family" (Y&ffilL~q.221 Ruyu
moves from the imperial palace to the edges of the empire, from the outer male sphere
to the inner women's quarters. He is responsible for both the wasting disease that
threatens the life of the crown prince and the fall of a garrison city in Yunnan.222
After a guard tries to force himself on Ruyu when he sees Ruyu going to the bathroom,
a brawl breaks out between the Han soldiers and civil leaders within the garrison,
allowing the Miao army to take advantage of the commotion to storm the city
walls.223
In addition to blurring the proper boundary of "inner" and "outer," nanse is so
ruinous in this land that Ruyu is able to destroy the proper hierarchy of the cardinal
male relationships. First and foremost, his presence incites distrust between the
220 Cheng.. Fel1g shuol1gfei, 906-908.
221 See Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 400, 424.
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 292-294
223 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 523.
See McMahon, Causality and Containment, on male urination as a narrative device.
--------~ - - ._------
140
emperor and his minister. Although Liu lin, the evil eunuch, abducts Ruyu and
presents him as a gift to the crown prince, Ruyu willingly sleeps with the prince
because, as is typical for sexually destructive beauties, "his sexual desires are all over
the place and are hard to restrain" (W\t~*jIiLxtLj5nR).224 Because of their excessive
indulgence in sex, the prince falls ill. When Lingyun rebukes Ruyu and Ruyu decides
to accept Lingyun's warnings, Liu lin tricks the prince into believing that Lingyun is
planning to elope with Ruyu. The furious prince fights with Lingyun, but he has to let
Ruyu follow Lingyun out of the palace because Ruyu does not have official status in
his imperial palace. After this falling out, for a long time the prince does not trust
Lingyun. Even though Lingyun leads the Chinese army to defeat foreign rebellions,
the emperor believes Liu lin and his clique that Lingyun plans to take the throne with
the army.
What is more, the father-son relationship, parallel to the emperor-minister
relationship at the center of the five relationships, is also undermined by the noxious
male homoeroticism. Sleeping with Zhang ling, Ruyu disparages ling's son, Yishao,
and provokes ling to turn against his only son. Ruyu scolds ling disrespectfully when
he quarrels with Yishao. When Yishao hears Ruyu curse his father and mother, Yishao
cannot bear it and beats Ruyu. As a result, to teach him proper manners, ling pulls out
a blade and chases Yishao to kill him and then later rejects an invitation to move to
Yishao's house. The ideal relations of kindness from the father and filial piety from
224 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 255.
----------- . _. - --- --
141
the son are ruined completely by Ruyu's misbehavior. The tension between Yishao
and his father is not resolved until Ruyu finally gives up his practice of male same-sex
eroticism and becomes Lingyun's attendant.
As could be expected, Zhang ling's obsession with Ruyu creates huge
problems in his relationship with his wife. When he returns home, his wife greets him
angrily with a recounting of his faults.225 Once he acknowledges his moral defects,
ling then has to defer to his wife about everything. Although this does not cause moral
issues because Mrs. Zhang is so virtuous, ling does build an improper and unhealthy
familial structure in terms ofneo-Confucianism. His wife takes control of the
household and Zhang ling loses all his rightful authority in his family to his wife.
Last but not least, nanse significantly impacts the relationships between
brothers and friends. Although these two relationships are not at the top of the five
relationships, they are one ofthe central concerns in this tanci. As mentioned, the
relationship between the crown prince and Lingyun who are adopted brothers is
ruined because ofRuyu. The central relationship of the tanci between Lingyun and
Yishao who are sworn brothers and friends is also threatened. Misbelieving that
Lingyun and Ruyu have a sexual relationship, Yishao fights with Lingyun and cuts
their friendship off for a whole year (Chapters 11-15). In this way, the stereotypical
city-toppling beauty, Ruyu, stands for destructive male same-sex practices and causes
disorder in all five relationships in the neo-Confucian world.
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 964, "The lady has been angry for a long lime, so she digged out her husband's old
problems at this moment. (xAIA B,I:" r:p 11£:. jIjJJt~IJmtrex~ [S $1!!)"
142
The web of relationships spun around Ruyu is so tangled that the threats of
symbolic and real incest are always present,226 In a clever plot twist, Ruyu eventually
harnesses his destructive sexual power to help the besieged Han forces when he
realizes that he can use his sex appeal to set the rebel leaders against each other.
Zhang Qihu, Ruyu's god-brother and symbolic father, now a rebel general, has
established a timeshare with the Tufan general Wei Wu Jlftt-Qihu possesses Ruyu
for 30% of the time, and Wei Wu possesses Ruyu for 70% of the time; Wei Wu's two
sons are also secretly engaging in sexual relations with Ruyu. Obsessed with Ruyu's
beauty, Wei Xiong Jl~~, Wu's son, is mad at his father's unwillingness to share Ruyu.
Blinded by his fury, Xiong kills his father, his younger brother and his father-in-law
and assumes the position of chief general in the army, replacing his father. The death
of Xiong's father-in-law impels his wife to surrender to Yishao's Chinese army in
order to avenge her father. Smitten by Ruyu's beauty and sexual appeal, Xiong
tolerates all the intentional "mistakes" Ruyu makes in his army. Xiong's spoiling of
Ruyu leads to his final defeat when Ruyu learns the secret of the magic spells used by
the army and informs the Han troops. In this example of symbolic incest, Ruyu
purposefully destroys the five relationships among the enemy forces to help Lingyun
and the Chinese army: the Miao army led by the general fails, the son kills the father,
22(\ The first man to have sexual relations with Ruyu, Zhang Qihu, is his symbolic brother! father because Qihu is
the adopted son of Ruyu's mother but has an illicit sexual relationship with her (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 182, 189);
General Mu is like a father to him; the crown prince and Lingyun are symbol ic brothers; Ruyu is frequently
mistaken for Zhang .ling's son; Wei Wu and his two sons all have sexual relations with Ruyu, Moreover, Yishao
introduces Zhang Cai's half-brother to him as a catamite (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 346), For the importance of
incest as a theme in xiaoshuo literature, see Andrew Plaks, "The Problem of Incest in Jin Ping Mei and Hong/ou
meng," in Paradoxes of Traditional Chinese Literature, ed, Eva Hung (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press,
1994), 123-46
143
husband and wife become enemies, the elder brother kills the younger brother, and the
disciple betrays the master who is also at the same time his only friend. Ruyu's
destructive sexual power, in this sense, spreads outward from the Middle Kingdom to
the borders and even beyond the foreign territories.
In order to understand how thoroughly the narrative embeds male homosexual
desire into the world of male culture, the narrator also depicts the problem of nanse
culture as not merely due to the beauty of young boys. Central to this narrative is the
moral implosion of Zhang ling, the representative of male literati culture. Zhang ling
himselfwas a beautiful boy and a victim of unwanted sexual attention from men and
initially seems impervious to improper sexual desire. He prides himself on not having
taken any concubines while away from home in the capital. When his close friend
General Mu a first introduces him to Bai Ruyu who is his catamite, Zhang lectures
Mu that he should not be sleeping with his protege but giving him a strict moral
education. General Mu had been raising the fatherless Ruyu, but after Ruyu had been
raped by Zhang Qihu 5*fE9Jli~ and then kidnapped and kept as a catamite by the
official Zhang Cai 5**3, Mu initiated a sexual relationship with the boy. Somewhat
shamed by the lecture, General Mu asks Zhang ling to tutor the boy, but Mu also
decides to playa trick on his friend and sends Ruyu into his bed in order to "see
whether he is truly able not to withstand sexual desire" (~1iBJt1nj~Y~B/f~:l!i¥Jf®:
;gf).227 This test is Zhang ling's downfall; he becomes so infatuated with Ruyu that
227 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 232.
144
the two become "like husband and wife." Eventually, Zhang Jing becomes so
infatuated with the boy that he willingly sacrifices what should be the most important
relationships in his life: those with his only son and with the emperor. Zhang Jing
repeatedly turns against Yishao and eventually drives him out of the house because
Yishao is critical of how Ruyu abuses his status as favorite. 228 When a practical joke
played by Ruyu ends in the public humiliation and dismissal of Zhang Jing from the
imperial court, Jing cannot bring himself to discipline Ruyu and instead comforts the
boy who is crying from shame and guilt.229 After Zhang Jing is sent to Kunming as a
magistrate, he and Ruyu grow even closer than before.
Given that all the other male characters in the land, with the exception of
Lingyun and Yishao, actively attempt to get access to Ruyu, resorting to either
violence or deception, Zhang Jing stands apart morally in that he is a passive recipient
of nanse. Zhang Jing, who is famed for his calligraphy, sees Ruyu as more than a
sexual object and tries to give the boyan aesthetic education and in this sense their
relationship comes closest of all to the aesthetic male-male relationships based on
scholar-beauty ideals common in male-authored homoerotic novels. Zhang keeps the
boy in his household, and everyone, including his young daughter, refers to Ruyu as
his lover ('~A)?30 But theirs is not a "scholar-beauty" romance: the two
immediately get down to sexual business without any exchanges of poetry or romantic
22R Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 377-82, 386-87.
229 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 453.
2JIl Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 417.
145
longing and despite living as "husband and wife" the relationship is not morally
ennobling for either.
Strikingly, unlike most fiction authored by male writers, the narrative of Feng
shuangfei holds a negative view of the morality of civil wen male scholars. It seems
significant to the construction of civil and military figures in this tanci that Zhang ling,
alone of the positive loyalist characters, is unable to resist Ruyu's sexual allure.
General Mu gives up on Ruyu once he realizes that the boy has no emotional loyalty.
He Shiwei 1PJtit&lG, a classic mature wu military figure who trained both Zhang Yishao
and Zhang Qihu, has had sexual relationships with both boys and women, but is fully
in control of his own desires and helps protect several of the beautiful boys in the
novel from becoming sexual victims. The two Phoenixes, both of whom circulate
widely through the extended web of male homoerotic relations, are perfect
embodiments of combined wen and wu talents and restrict their sexuality to their
polygamous marriages. Therefore, consistent with the mainstream male-authored
fiction, the wu figures are shown to be sexually resistant, with both boys and
women.
231 In contrast, the two exclusively civil wen literati in the novel, Zhang Cai
and Zhang ling, have the least control over their sexual desire.
The narrator also indicates a negative perspective when commenting on these
figures. When Zhang Cai asks Yishao for sex, Yishao scolds him, "Apparently you are
an ignorant ne'er-do-well, an idiot who has read the classics in vain" (7t S)Hl!::1'5'G9;r.!
231 See Kam Louie, Theorising Chinese Masculinity: Society and Gender in China (Cambridge; Oakleigh, Vic.:
Cambridge University Press, 2002), 28-30.
-------------- - ---
146
9if1, tIl~i;f_=r;:.k~¥1'1).232 The narrator obviously takes Yishao's side in judging
Zhang Cai. Later, when commenting cynically on Zhang Jing's moral downfall in
General Mu's house, the narrator no longer tends to hide his/her own opinions by
borrowing another character's voice, but directly mocks Zhang Jing, "It is really
laughable that Licentiate Zhang (Zhang Xiaolian) derides others with casual
remarks ... in his middle age, his reputation and virtue are impaired" (~:!:~~, 5*:25t
scene that the narrator refers to Zhang Jing by his official title, xiaolian. Xiaolian,
"filial and incorrupt," was originally an official title to which virtuous people were
recommended during the Han dynasty, and it was still in use in the Qing period to
refer to the provincial graduates (also known asjuren 2:jS;A) who had passed the
county level of civil service examination. Since Zhang Jing is engaging in illicit sex,
the choice to refer to him as "filial and incorrupt" is intentionally ironic.
When Zhang Jing's moral downfall reaches its apogee while he is serving as a
magistrate in Yunnan in the war between China and the Tufan pi lr, the satirical view
of the narrator on Zhang Jing also reaches a climax. When the Shenhu Pass 1't?:* is
taken by the rebel army, the local governor, Zhang Jing, is having sex with Ruyu. The
narrator gives a detailed description ofthis sex-addicted scholar when his
subordinates find him in bed with the boy:
232 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 110.
233 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 234.
147
What abilities can be detected in such a mad scholar who plays around with
brushes? Just as he was reaching the height of happiness, he became so scared
that his three heavenly souls drifted to Huaxu Kingdom and his six earthly
souls flew to Juku Island. He was in a wild sweat from top to bottom and
almost unable to breathe. He was unable to respond with his mouth and unable
to move his body, just like a cooked bent loach in a penholder.
[[~1'-*ftJI1::, ~1~ m~~1'f J1$*~? iER~F}l,'tR:*Z~, Rt&:~~F}1
~~rZr, f!,~r1~] -- ~~JXl1:$~~, ;\aJfi, ~V3#~)ffi1HI a 1:r~{H~~{t7J(,
fL :p.~ Jjjjc ltfT ~IEJ ~~ a D xi:X;J~~ xi!Ii , ~T~ ibl- ft;~z rep~ d:b fW; a ] 234
The narrator's attitude towards scholars who can only write is clearly negative as
shown by the description of their lack of abilities in war, especially by illustrating
Zhang Jing's bewilderment. As a local governor, it is his responsibility to protect the
people in an emergency, but frightened, Zhang Jing even loses his abilities to react,
acting as ifhe is dead. By picturing Zhang Jing's discomposure here, the narrator is
displaying a very incapable wen scholar facing real crisis in the country. It is even
more humiliating to Zhang Jing when the narrative uses the metaphor of "a cooked
bent loach" to describe his incapability of reaction, because it is not only a metaphor
of his paralyzed body but also one of his penis. Being seen naked having sex, Zhang
Jing loses his reputation, honor and authority in front of his subordinates.
Captured by rebel forces, his first thought is neither for the empire nor his
family, but for Ruyu. Instead of praising his qing for Ruyu, the narrator comments,
"He is a book-fool for sure" (*r!\-t)E~-T;~,m).235 It seems that in the narrator's
perspective Zhang Jing's qing for Ruyu is not real, but an illusion of desire. He then
willingly becomes the kept lover ofthe foreign queen who is holding him prisoner.
234 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 5 I9.
235 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 369.
148
Zhang ling adjusts quickly to his new status in the harem and takes on one of the
queen's maids, Babao'er J\~)L, as his lover. Noteworthy is Zhang ling's sole
gesture toward the traditional acts of political loyalty -- he threatens to starve himself
to death. The motivation for this grand performance of self-sacrifice, however, is to
ensure that the queen allows him to keep Babao'er as his lover (13.585). The narrator
comments on the scene where all three are sleeping together in a bed, "Since he
cannot commit suicide to fulfill loyalty ... being a dissolute ghost whose soul is
decayed and bones are melted is, anyway, better than drinking swords and eating
blades. Therefore when the literati ancient and present encounter difficulties and
disasters, it is not strange this always becomes a norm" (~;t/f'~~ §j *~{;k;~}~,
m. Jg,~J!~*~~/f'/,;]1"tro ).236 The narrator is very sarcastic here when s/he
compares death from excessive sex with that from battlegrounds and concludes that
Zhang ling prefers the former. Taking illicit sex and captivity as a norm, the narrator
totally subverts the ideal of loyal wen scholars that the literati established throughout
history. The culminating act of humiliation in Zhang ling's moral fall is when Yishao,
who has triumphantly led Han troops into the rebel palace to rescue his father, finds
him naked in the queen's bed with Babao'er beside him (14.629).
236 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 589.
149
Male Homosociality: Upright Friends and Ambiguous Brothers
Although the narrator successfully delivers the message that the culture of
same-sex practices and eroticism in the literati circle is destructive to Confucian
society, s/he does offer a vision of a healthy male homosocial ity to correct those
excuses. The relationship between Lingyun and Yishao fits into the concept of
"homosocial desire," which is "a continuum between homosocial and homosexual,"
as suggested by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.237 What connects the bipolarity of
homosociality and homosexuality as a continuum are the concepts of qing Off,
passions) andyi (5(, righteousness) in their relationship, consistent with relationships
in male-authored fiction. 238 Both qing and yi underpin a male homosociality that is
based on equality, instead of hierarchical relations.239
The narrator frames qing and yi in terms of gong 0 (public) and si ;fb
(persona!), as in Lingyun's phrase, "personal feelings and public righteousness"(;fb
'ij!J 05().240 In this sense, qing can be read as creating spiritual bonds between men
in terms of private feelings, while yi brings Confucian order to friendship in terms of
237 Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1985), I.
m As is argued in Chapter I, Cheng Huiying was very familiar with Sanguo yanyi, a novel exclusively devoted to
relationships between men, as discussed in Chapter II. Yi, as an important positive value of friendships, is hIghly
advocated in that work.
23~ Scholars have argued that qing is an equal value between lovers (See footnote 191 above).
Some scholars' research suggests that the definition of yi has not been stable throughout history, unlike =hong or
xiao. Therefore, it developed two different connotations, one hierarchical and the other equal. Cheng Huiying here
apparently emphasizes the latter. I will talk about the definition and subcategories later.
240 Cheng, Feng shuangJei, 412. This phrase is suggested by Lingyun when he talks about his own relationships
with Ruyu and Yishao, but it is unclear which is siqing and which is gongyi referred to by him. This again proves
the ambiguous nature of both relationships. Actually, talking to Yishao, Lingyun himself admits his relationship
with Ruyu as an "ambiguous relationship" (Sillfz.3t).
---------- - ._------
150
propriety. Scholars have theorized qing as a notion that includes, but is not limited to,
passions, emotions, feelings, authenticity, and aesthetic connoisseurship, so it is
obviously a concept in the private sphere that the narrator promotes here,z41 In
contrast, yi had been considered a public value until the Song era. As early as in Liji,
yi is interpreted as, ''yi is yi, to be appropriate" (X.$I , '§: ill).242 Liji further
elaborates yi in terms of human relationships:
What are "the things which men consider right"? Kindness on the part of the
father, and filial duty on that of the son; gentleness on the part of the elder
brother, and obedience on that of the young; righteousness on the part of the
husband, and submission on that of the wife; kindness on the part of elders,
and deference on that ofjuniors; with benevolence of the part ofthe ruler, and
loyalty on that ofthe minister; --these ten are the things which men consider to
be right.
[W~Ax.?~., ~#, ~~, ~m, ~x., ~~, *_, M~, ~t,
P:; J:P +# 'm' A '\'1 243
tr:'-/Ql" -i=jlI'3Z/\,Z...x...o]
Liji established the Confucian ideal ofyi, which is later referred to as dayi ::kx.(major
yi) by scholars. As we can see in the Liji, the Confucian ideal of dayi is actually
hierarchical and emphasizes the responsibilities of everyone's social roles, which is
consistent with the concept of zhengming JI-i';, the rectification of names.
However, during the turn of Song and Yuan when the Sanguo yanyi - . ~mx.
story also came into shape, popular and folk culture produced another private
subcategory ofyi, which orthodox Confucian scholars called xiaoyi IJ\ X. (minor yi).
While dayi, advocated by elite literati, became another term of zhong or loyalty,
241 See footnote 191.
242 "Zhongyong 9=' II," in LUi *L1i.\, in Wenbai dui::hao shisanjing Jt s ~ffil,-t.=:~§., ed. Hanwen '$\I!llJt
(Beijing: Jiuzhou chubanshe, 2001), 523.
243 James Legge, trans., Li Chi: Book ojRiles (New Hyde Park. New York: University Books, 1967), pp. 379-80
------------
151
xiaoyi, promoted by common people and folklore, incorporates brotherhood,
faithfulness and honor and emphasizes an equal and mutual relationship between
friends?44 Some scholars also argue that the whole concept ofxiaoyi is also based on
qing, and therefore is exclusive.245 Due to the continuum from qing to yi, homosocial
desire in Feng shuangfei is as ambiguous as expected.
Sanguo yanyi is the best canonical example of popular fiction that promotes yi
because of the suggestive title of the novel which points to the novel an illustration of
yi (¥j[5() and Cheng Huiying's familiarity with it. 246 In Sanguo, the three major
characters, Liu Bei )l:IJ~, Guan Yu ~~~ and Zhangfed-JCt, swear to be brothers, "We
dare not hope to be together always but hereby vow to die the selfsame day" (1-':* [BJ
~ Ir1J fJ ~, H~~~ IPJ fJ n).247 After they become sworn brothers, they "sleep
together in the same bed and love each other like brothers" (~D11J IBJJ*, ,o/E,15 Jt5f3 ).248
But as Kam Louie points out, their relationship is ambiguously exclusive because
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei show jealousy when Liu Bei "shares the same bed" (~i'*l)
244 For more detailed discussions about yi, see Liu Shangsheng )(IJl:.~, "Sanguo yanyi yi wenhua xinli jiegou zhi
xitong kaochaC:: 00 il\l:505(:)[itlL.'~!i!i~Z¥~;IJ~,"MingQing xiaoshuo yanjiu Ijjjm+J,)I.Wf~, no.02 (1990)
69-82; Ma Jianhua fh~*. "Guan Yu 'yishi Cao Cao' de wenhua mima-jian tan 'taoyuanjieyi' zhi 'yi' ~3J53'5(
~11j;Jk'I¥J:)[itW~~-~illi'#51ITJ!i!i5('z'5C,"Fujian shida Fuqingfenxiaoxuebao m~yfjJAmm?H-R~*
(zonghe ban tf-il-I\IY.) no. 15 (1991, no 2): 97-99, 29; Zheng Futian 1:Ilm H3, "Lun Sanguo yanyi he Shuihu =huan
zhong de 'yi' i1!; «~00il\l:5(» ~ «7.KMfU >P 1¥J'5('," Neimenggu shida xuebao i*J ~i5yfjJA~* (zhexue shehui
kexue ban t§~t±~l4~1\IY.), no. 1 (1992): 83-90; Liu Tingqian J;IJ~!jit, "Sanguo yanyi he Shuihu =huan zhong 'yi'
de bijiao«~ooil\l:5(»~«7.KMfU>p'5('I¥J~t~," Linyi shifan xuebao II(Jj¥MfjJm:~1R 23, no. I (Feb. 2001): 67·70,
etc.
245 Liu, "Sanguo yanyi yi wenhua xinli jiegou zhi xitong kaocha," 70.
246 See Chapter 11 for the discussion of Cheng's familiarity with Sanguo.
247 Luo Guozhong, Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel, trans. Moss Roberts (Beijing, Berkeley, Los Angeles,
London: Foreign Language Press; University of California Press, 1999),8
24H Chen Shou Il*~, Sanguo =hi ~oo;t, vol. 36.
It is very interesting that this phrase is mentioned in the official history Sanguo =hi, instead of the novel Sanguo
yanyi.
152
with other officials.249 Meanwhile, the three brothers are also emperor and ministers,
fulfilling the major and minor expressions ofyi at the same time. However, when dayi
and xiaoyi are in conflict, the Sanguo narrative, as one developed from folklore,
favors xiaoyi over dayi. 250 Considering Cheng Huiying's familiarity with the Sanguo
stories, I believe Cheng Huiying adopts the usage ofyi in Sanguo yanyi, intentionally
blurring the boundaries between dayi and xiaoyi, promoting the popular version of
xiaoyi by identifying it with dayi. In this way, the narrative suggests that the bonding
between Lingyun and Yishao is an ideal one that incorporates both positive private
and public values.
Cheng, as a female writer, is more conservative than some male fiction writers
who preceded her or who were contemporary with her during the Ming and Qing
dynasties. As Sedgwick suggests, '''obligatory heterosexuality' is built into
male-dominated kinship systems, or that homophobia is a necessary consequence of
such patriarchal institutions as heterosexual marriage.,,251 Living in a patriarchal
Confucian society, Cheng Huiying is unable to avoid the rejection of physical sex in
249 Kam Louie, "Sexuality, Masculinity and Politics in Chinese Culture: The Case of Sanguo Hero Guan Yu,"
Modern Asian Studies 33, noA (Oct. 1999): 835-59.
250 Some famous examples are Liu Bei's emotional revenge against Wu when Guan Yu is killed by the Wu when
the Han army is not ready, Guan Yu's yi release of Cao Cao at Huarong Pass which allows Cao to reestablish his
kingdom, etc.
Besides the articles mentioned in footnote 244, also see the discussion of the favor of xiaoyi in Sanguo in Wang
Lijuan .:FfllHFl, "Wenren zhi 'zhong' yu minjian zhi 'yi'-taoyuan jieyi gushi liangzhong xushi de bijiao xAz
','~'~~I'§]Z'5('-~51ZQ~3(iiJ(~I:P~H,!,i$l(lj:(J<J~~~7HJT,"MingQing xiaoshuo yanjiu IlJHff/JYl$GWfR no.8!
(2007, No.1): 50-6!; Li Bingqin '$ffl~, "Lunli yu shenmei de tongyi-lun Sanguo yanyi zhong 'yi' de shenmei
pin'ge 1tW~*~A<JI"iiJ--i2«=OOl9l'3(» 9="3('A<J*~JflJftr," Hubei daxue xuebao Wl~t:*~~* (zhexue
shehui kexue ban t§~;f±~M~~), no.! (1993): 37-41; Zhang Zhihe ~T1f;t.g., "Sanguo yanyi suoyan shi 'yi' erfei
'zhong' C::::OOnil"3(» Jifil9l':li!:' 3( 'jjjJ~~' ,\1;\' ," He 'nan daxue xuebao ¥iiJJ¥j:*~~* (shehui kexue ban l±~M~~)
36, no.2 (March 1996): 43-47; etc.
251 Sedgwick, Between Men, 3
153
an ideal homosocial relationship. Similar to the female same-sex relationships that I
will discuss in Chapter 5, intimate male-male relationships are encouraged as long as
they do not involve physical sex. The narrative considers it fully acceptable to
promote a concept offriendship and maintain a certain sexual tension wherein the
friends are able to help each other correct moral defects.
The narrative highly values friendships between men, and therefore it is
important to the narrator to convey the idea of a healthy and correct homosocial
relationship. Parallel to the treatment of male same-sex practices, the narrator sets up
a standard to talk about male homosocial relationships. Guo Hongyin's son Lingyun,
the other exemplary orthodox character, gives another long lecture on a proper and
ideal male friendship:
In Iife, the four relationships are those with emperor, parents, and older and
younger brothers. Beyond these four, friendship takes pride of place, while
marital relations with wives and concubines are last. If I become friends and
sworn brothers with someone like Brother Zhang, then in the future our
friendship can bring wealth and mutual improvement; when we are tired we
can rest together, when we go out we can travel together; as officials, we can
look for models from near and far, when relaxed we can converse, drink tea,
and play chess; there is nothing on earth more pleasurable than this. As for
wives, you cannot be together with them when sitting or traveling, and it is
even more necessary that the distinction between inner and outer be
maintained. A man's ambitions fill the four seas, while a woman's sense of
propriety should not extend beyond the inner quarters; the only place in which
[husband and wife] can be near and intimate is limited to their sleeping mats.
[AJ±11:ttt, ~7A=5L~7~ZlITJ5(, lITJ*fZ6'r, 1l:~}jAa:7~5t, ~~*IL
~*M~~MA~,ft~~~~Ma:,X.~*5L~,~*~mmM,m
$3CJ1rllL ;f!dJ?,~-=r, m!J1T~/j,mR;jBJ, p;j6'r£lW:fOJ!Jo JJ-=rit:ff'flITJ
)4fJ, 91 A *L /1' ttl I~ n, JiJT 7A= fiJT JJi /1'i1H~Z I'm IL ]252
252 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 43-44.
----- -------------
154
In Lingyun's opinion, a representative of the narrative's most orthodox view, all five
relationships are considered yi which is public and proper as is defined in Liji;
however, friendship is valued over marriage. Lingyun's preference for friends over
wives is consistent with a popular definition of heroes who are supposed to resist
sexual temptation, as epitomized in the canonical worlds ofMing-Qing fiction,
Sanguo yanyi .. ·I~¥~x. (Romance of Three Kingdom) and Shuihu zhuan 7.K¥if11z
(The Water Margin).253 In his speech, Lingyun legitimizes his unusual intimacy with
Yishao by pointing out the physical limitations ofconjugal relationships. As he
suggests, since male friends are economically, morally, spiritually and physically
more accessible than women, those relationships are more intimate.
The narrative then indicates that all ambiguous male-male relationships are
based on qing. As scholars have argued, appreciation of beauty is essential in the
concept of qing, so the special bonding between men all starts with the shock of the
beautiful appearance at these men's first encounter with each other. As an introduction
to the main plot line, the story of the official Guo Hongyin foretells the destiny of his
son, Lingyun. Guo Hongyin is so virtuous that he is chosen by the Jade emperor to be
the father of the human incarnation of Prince lin .:ET~. However, upright as he is,
he is still dumbstruck the first time he sets eyes on the sixteen-year-old Zhang ling,
who is working as a scribe in his yamen. In a long description explicitly focalized
253 See Kam Louie's example of Guan Yu in his Theorising Chinese Masculinity, 28-30; also see Huang"
Negotiating Masculinity in Late Imperial China, 94-94. Huang gives several important examples of heroes
resisting sexual temptation from Sanguo Yanyi text, with which Cheng Huiying was very familiar.
155
through Guo's point of view, we see the older man checking him out from head to
foot:
[Guo] saw he had on a black gauze hair wrapper and earrings that appeared to
be silver. The color of his blue robe looked attractive and his silk shoes and
white socks were spotless. He was delicately thin with a slender waist and
appeared to be under twenty. His face was as smooth and white as polished
jade, and his refined nose complemented his red lips. His long graceful
eyebrows were the color of spring mountains and his eyes were pools of
autumn water. His plain silk clothing and cap were utterly striking, like the
flowering plum there was nothing common about him; he was like a flawless
jade. Unless you said he was a banished immortal, how else could someone
like you appear on earth?
[Yl',1m'*~~tJ;rjJ, £!=j§xJUf1lj, [,=H~ 0 J!?f/$~)L~B~T, ~~ ~1 EH,*{fr7C~L
~*Hf~~~~Wl, :*:t''Jif.$*=1Uo TIIT1W~H~¥~~I~{, .YP~~§J!jC*Mo
*J§*M#W ilJ ~, ~ g Jlt-{g-;f,:k7k ajj 0 :tij~~lT'L~~J&, f~n7CfB-~7C* 0
i#B /f~£ ~1fl111 ]W&j, tit1:.YP fPJ ~!R Yl',~? ]254
It is noteworthy that the narrative changes the pronoun from fa (1m, he) tojun (15, you)
when depicting Zhang's appearance from Guo's perspective. At first, the usage of fa
indicates a distance when Guo views Zhang's beautiful appearance. Towards the end,
the abrupt change of the pronoun to you indicates intimacy and suggests Guo has
already involved his personal feelings with their public relationship. This exclusive
focus on Zhang's physical beauty directly influences Hongyin's judgments on Jing's
abilities. Guo Hongyin's first instinct is to promote the boy, but when he recalls that
Mao, the former magistrate, had filled the yamen with sexual favorites, he suspects
that the boy might have been an intimate of Mao. He further worries that ifhe chooses
his own staff based on appearance and then treats them with favor that it will give rise
to gossip.
254 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 3.
156
Although Guo Hongyin is attracted to Zhang Jing in terms of the values ofthe
cult of qing, he is able to control his own desires according to propriety. Likewise, he
also warns people against male homosexuality in terms of dayi. Hongyin is known for
his daoxue (i!!"¢, neo-Confucian) values, so he tries to promote Zhang Jing by
cultivating his literary talents.255 The narrator reveals this procedure, "[Hongyin] was
also worried that Jing would get involved in illicit sex due to his extreme beauty, so
he inculcated him with many books which admonished people about illicit sex,
i$$'.!ue<:, f!,~1tPAIiQ:-t-lEAo ).256 One of Hongyin's most important daoxue teachings
is the previously discussed sermon he delivers to Bai Jinzhong declaring that the "way
of male homosexuality" is "more risible, hateful, shameful and frightening.,,257 Able
to keep himself from a physical relationship with Jing, Guo Hongyin transforms his
desires into a righteous friendship. This model of friendship, initially based on
physical attraction, can be assumed to be the kind of healthy homosocial relationship
the author favors and, to some extent, promotes.
Later in the main story line of the tand, Guo Hongyin's son Lingyun, who is
otherwise morally incorruptible, confronts the same challenge to differentiate the
bonds of friendship from sexual attraction. Throughout the tand, Lingyun's
relationships with other men give rise to rumors about his homoerotic motivations that
255 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 5, 7.
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 8.
257 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 28.
157
threaten to destroy his most important bonds to emperor and family. The true nature of
his relationships with Ruyu and Yishao is always ambiguous in the lanci, even as his
relationships are framed with qing and yi, the ideal qualities of erotic and platonic
love. Both passionate and righteous, Lingyun, like his father, acts as an upright friend,
correcting the moral mistakes of both Ruyu and Yishao in the Confucian notion. In
this sense, the moral need to question the nature of these relationships is blunted, as
Lingyun models applaudable male homosociality.
The very first suggestion that Lingyun is inappropriately involved in a male
same-sex relationship occurs due to his ambiguous relationship with Ruyu, the
"city-toppling beauty." Lingyun is caught up in the scandal that he has seduced Bai
Ruyu who at that time is the favorite of the imperial heir who also happens to be
Lingyun's adoptive brother. The exact nature of Lingyun 's attraction to the beautiful
Ruyu is left ambiguous in the narrative. He too is struck speechless the first time he
sees Ruyu:
Others looked at Lingyun. They saw that he did not ogle [the boy], but in fact
he was looking in all directions ... He saw that Wushuang's coiled hair was
hanging down, wearing a blue shirt with small sleeves, a white belt, and red
shoes with pink soles embroidered with flowers. Although he dressed as a
common servant in the imperial palace, his face was luminous. Lingyun
couldn't help looking at him again. Who knows that it was this gaze that left
Lingyun dumbstruck for a long time.
[[jJJjA~ftB § /F!f~t~l¥Jtlt~, Jt~B<J, ][9TIIT)\1J\§'nJ~ ......mftB~j)E~-~·
:&/F=fLZ' IJ\*ltlH3jij;:?I¥, ~Ifl;ro/f£~J1ftt~; ~*Bifl:t';~xt~, ftat1~·TIij
~*~m~~o~~~Mm-~. ~~~~ft~. R~~-~, ~re~]
.m~l* 7 -'¥-)EJs1 a f58
258 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 276.
158
Mu bu xieshi (§ /F~f~tYtJ,) originates from the famous book offamily teachings, "The
Family Instructions ofMaster Yan &m ~~n),," authored by Van Zhitui &mzHE
(531-591CE), which follows "The Great Learning" and promotes self-cultivation.259
It literally means that the eyes see but do not look at what is improper. The phrase can
also be written as mu bu xieshi ( § :..F#-HYtJ,), which means the eyes do not look astray.
In both versions, the phrase conforms to the ideal of a Confucian moral figure, whose
orthodox morality is symbolized by his ability to see but without looking astray at
anything improper. Apparently, Lingyun ironically only superficially maintains such
an image, but actually cannot resist gazing at the extremely beautiful boy who is in his
sight. This passage is especially cynical in terms of Confucian propriety, since
Lingyun who is referred to as Chongtong (Double-pupil) looks at Ruyu for double the
time (chong yikan). The character chong ID: (again, double) seems to indicate that
Lingyun is a hypocritical man with double sides-the outer side of an orthodox image
who seems to do everything properly and the inner side of an average man who
cannot resist sexual desires.
It is important to the moral economy of the narrative that the narrator explain
Guo Lingyun's interest in Ruyu because he recognizes Ruyu from their previous life
but he does not know why,z60 This explanation excuses all of Lingyun 's unusual
259 Van Zhitui ~z1t, Yanshijiaxunji/ie ~~*iJll~M, commented by Wang Liqi .'E;¥UcB (Shanghai: Shanghai
guji chubanshe, 1980), 25,
It is funny that Van Zhitui uses this phrase to set up rules for pregnant women to teach their children beginning in
early pregnancy,
260 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 276.
159
behaviors that maintain his moral integrity even as he repeats his father's ambiguous
actions. Even though we as readers are privy to the knowledge that the immortal
Prince lin took pity on the Daoist nun Shui Bailian before she was reincarnated as Bai
Ruyu and promised to help reform her if they crossed paths on earth and that Lingyun
is working from an altruistic motive, it is striking that Lingyun, the reincarnated
Prince lin, also is swept up in the language of male same-sex eroticism. Qing is,
therefore, the overwhelming quality here when the narrator intentionally parallels the
ambiguous meeting of Lingyun and Ruyu to that of Hongyin and Zhang ling.
Lingyun maintains an intimate relationship with Ruyu despite the fact that it
threatens to destroy the bonds of trust between him, the heir apparent and his sworn
brother Zhang Yishao. However, Lingyun legitimates their relationship by applying
qing, the force that crosses boundaries as suggested by Vitiello, onto it. When Yishao
accuses Lingyun of taking Ruyu away from the heir apparent as a lover, Lingyun
argues for his own behavior from the perspectives of both Ii propriety and qing
passions:
Ifl care and favor him, he will also follow me wholeheartedly and will not be
close to others; if I cut off relations with him, he will have no one to return to
and he will end up roaming about. It is really pitiful!
[fJ(;:5~}l!.m®1m, 1m ili~~J~'M!:fJ(;, 8Jt/f~*~jl]JJIj A 7; fJ(;:5l=g1mWT~{!},
1m7C?JTV:::l, &'~+~1E~7&J13., '1ff,*PJ'I~o ]261
In terms of Ii propriety, Lingyun argues that if he makes Ruyu follow him, Ruyu will
not be close to others and therefore will not destroy them; in terms of qing passions,
he anticipates how pitiful Ruyu will be if Ruyu has nobody to rely on. Although
261 Cheng. Fengshuangfei, 410.
160
Lingyun's argument for Ii sounds, to some extent, dignified and even self-sacrificing
in that it would save many men, including the crown prince, from indulging in male
homosexuality, his reasoning for qing is actually more moving and persuasive.
Moreover, his qing for Ruyu is more evidently undeniable when he is even willing to
proceed with his debate with Yishao for Ruyu because Yishao is the one to whom
Lingyun is spiritually attached. Taking Yishao's relationship with the heir apparent as
a comparison, Lingyun justifies himself saying, "It is obvious that you want to get
along with him regardless of what it does to [the crown prince's] reputation. Then my
love for Ruyu is the same human feeling. Why shouldn't It" (PJ JJt!.ffJ\~l'A. ill Jl'Jt/j-":
)lj~1tEF.cg ~t 37, 15H!l=jftEt§~8~ T 0 JJliJfJtZYl!:~:tl~3i ill~~f¥A.'1J!f, 1'f 1PJ~'FPJ !i 62
Established as a Confucian moral paragon, Lingyun is supposed to care about his
reputation in the society. However, qing in this case apparently overpowers Ii and
becomes the basis of his self-justification. As we can see, the narrative promotes male
same-sex bonds infused with qing, but stripped of sexual contact.
From his qing for Ruyu, Lingyun develops yi, a value between equal friends,
towards Ruyu and painstakingly corrects Ruyu's moral defects. It is his insistence on
helping Ruyu morally that establishes Lingyun as an upright friend, instead ofa lover,
to Ruyu. When Ruyu indulges in male same-sex practices that threaten the health of
the heir apparent, Lingyun summons a god to punish his addiction to sex and lectures
262 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 411.
161
him to "return to the orthodox Wholeheartedly" (~JL.' Y=l IE).263 Thanks to Lingyun's
righteous efforts, Ruyu suddenly understands his faults and determines to follow and
learn proper behavior from Lingyun. To be a true and complete upright friend,
Lingyun helps Ruyu by restoring his masculinity, giving him the magic pills to restore
his strength and give him a horrifYing appearance so he will be able to resist sexual
requests from men.264 This restoration of masculinity is crucial for Ruyu in his
relationships with other men, because it restores him as an equal male friend to others,
instead of a socially feminine, and therefore inferior, catamite.
Lingyun's relationship with Yishao is even more suspicious and ambiguous
than that with Ruyu. IfRuyu merely represents physical attraction to Lingyun, Yishao
can be considered his soul mate. As Lingyun defines their friendship, "The names
between brothers are equal. What is valued is qing and yi that they entrust each other
with heart and can entrust each other with sincerity" (JL5&Zr§]~1)j-fto 7!.:DftE'tff5Z
t§19:~-rm=IJto ).265 The predestined meeting and intimacy between the two boys reads
exactly the same as that between Baoyu and Daiyu, the most famous soulmates in
Qing fiction. Lingyun has always been lonely until he meets Yishao when Lingyun is
ten, "As soon as Lingyun saw Yishao, he was happy from his heart, forgetting his
boredom ... Although the bodies are different, their hearts are the same. They want to
talk about their three lives of karmic connections, but were afraid of the grief of losing
2(,3 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 302.
204 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, Chapler 21,23,27.
2(,5 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 136.
162
~ wr MJ 0 ).266 A Ithough the readers know that they had been friends in their previous
lives, Lingyun is described as falling in love at first sight. The reference to their
karmic friendship is especially weird because it sounds like a cliched description ofa
reunion between two lovers after a long and difficult separation. The familiarity
between the two echoes the one between Baoyu and Daiyu on their first meeting. This
textual similarity immediately sets up their relationship into the category of qing.
Among all the relationships between Lingyun and Yishao, the most suspicious
is that Lingyun insists on maintaining a physically intimate relationship with Yishao
whenever the two are together. They always stay and sleep together, unwilling to
separate for even a short while, before their heterosexual marriages. This intimacy
between sworn brothers apparently imitates the one between the three brothers in
Sangua yanyi, which is ambiguously full of sexual tensions. Meanwhile, it also
echoes the close heterosexual relationship between Baoyu and Daiyu in Hong/au
meng. Since their first meeting, like little Baoyu and Daiyu who sleep together in
Grandmother Jia's bedroom, the two boys also sleep, study, eat and play together. The
omniscient narrator tells readers, "They were not willing to separate ifit could be
helped. Even if they were only apart for a short time, it felt long to them" (~WJ/1~~
7J\Ji5~, Jl~IJt§liI;1f'!ltt*).267This kind of relationship can in no way be considered
friendship since it involves a sense of possession of the other. After the death of
2(,(, Cheng. Feng shuangfei, 42.
267 Cheng, Feng shuangfei. 45.
---------
163
Lingyun's parents, Zhang ling offers to let his son stay in order to accompany
Lingyun, "Lingyun can't be without you. You'd better stay here and accompany him"
O$(-:frYi$/f-~~, £LtEllU#i*"im).268 As ling expects, Yishao is the only person who
can comfort Lingyun in his sadness during the three-year-long mourning. This echoes
the closeness between Baoyu and Daiyu after her father's death.
Even after Lingyun and Yishao have grown up and become officials, they
continue sleeping together until they marry. When they fight, Yishao refuses to sleep
together (10.410-12), and their reconci liation is marked by their sleeping together
again (15.686). More curiously, the "small finale" (xiao tuanyuan IJ\ aJ [Ql]) in chapter
20, the conventional gathering of characters on stage used to mark significant
structural or episodic junctures, features Guo Lingyun, Zhang Yishao and Bai Ruyu
reunited in the same bed.269 As the narrator suggestively describes:
The beauty still lies deep in the fragrant bed, the two phoenixes fly together
through the magnificent bed curtains. Neither reaching nor leaving unlimited
pleasure, what need is there to go to the south terrace for clouds and rain?
[3JtA iJJ hirmw~, xxm1f~Jdlff rjFl§ 0 /f- E!IJ /f- ~j 7C ~~~ , -:frm{PI 16' ¥U ~S
t::J? f70
2(,8 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 84.
2(,9 Since the earliest print version of Feng shuangJei, published in 1898, is 40 chapters long, chapter 20 may have
been conceived as a halfway point, a conventional place to stage a "small finale."
270 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 932.
The famous yunyu (~ro, clouds and rains) euphemism for sex is fTom Song Yu, "Preface of the Rhapsody on
Gaotang" in Selection ofRefined Literature, Vol. 19, "In the past, King Xiang of Chu and Song Yu traveled on the
Terrace of Yunmeng. They looked at the scenery of Gaotang. Above it, there were only clouds rising up steeply.
The clouds changed their shapes suddenly and took on a limitless number of shapes. The King asked Yu, 'What is
this qi~' Yu answered, 'These are the so-called dawn clouds.' The King asked, 'What are dawn clouds~' Yu
ans\-vered, 'In the past, the previous King (King Huai of Chu) visit~u Gaoiang and stayed there for two days. He
dreamed of a woman who said, "I am the Lady of Mount Wu and a guest of Gaotang. I heard that you will traverse
Gaotang and I am willing to serve at your pillow and mat." The King favored her [with sexual relations]. When she
left, she said, "I am at the south side of the Mount Wu at the peak. In the morning I make clouds, in the evening I
make rain. Day and night, I am under the terrace." The King looked at the mountain and it was exactly as the Lady
had described, so he built a temple called Dawn Clouds.'''
164
Even while providing this highly suggestive description, the narrator tries to
desexualize the sexual scene, marked by bed curtains and clouds and rains, the
euphemism for sex, by claiming that there is no need to "go to the south terrace,"
which may be interpreted as to consummate physical sex. In this case, readers can
infer that physical intimacy does not involve sex in contrast to the direct depictions of
those men who sleep together and have sex in other scenes. However, the sexual
tension in the description is undeniable. Moreover, sleeping together whenever
possible goes beyond the norms of a regular friendship, which does not require
intimate physical contact.271 With the sexual tension unexplained, the boundary
between male same-sex desire and male friendships again seems to be intentionally
blurred.
Moreover, like other romantic love relationships, the relationship between
Lingyun and Yishao seems to be exclusive in that one becomes jealous when the other
gets close to other men, just like the relationship among the three brothers in Sanguo
yanyi. As was commonly believed, jealousy appears only because qing is too deep.
This point is made by Zhang Jing in a comment on the jealousy ofYishao's wife,
Qionghua m1t, "her jealousy comes only from their lingering love" (!lf1Jc,,}t>'~~~
1:.. ,m~c&~, ~yj~zl'il]"!Ntx~o .:E1'Q).3iS: 'JttfiiJ4.tE.? '.3iS: 'YiifriWl~~tE.o '.:ES: 'f~rif;J¥.Jj~? .,
.3iS: '1j~5t;.:E~W'ril'lim, .~j)iJJil:~, $'JIl,t::IA, s: "3f~lilZ:3l:tE., :1vil'limz~, ilfJtl"Wj'il'Iim, ~*
ttf,1!Jo ".:EI29$Zo "*ffijli¥s: "3f1:E~lilZ~S, ~1izili.§. El.:1v$J~, 5J:1v11'm, $J$JlUJ, ~B~Zro "EJ.
~~Z~Q~, ~~~~, %B~~D)
271 There are quite a few common sayings in China to describe spiritually close but physically distant friendships.
Two quotes from Zhuangzi are among the most popular ones, "The friendship between gentlemen is as light as
water, and the friendship between petty men is as sweet as wine" (tl"i"z3tiJH:l'7..k, IJ'AZ3ttt*l\Io ) and "To
moisten each other with saliva is not as good as to forget each other in rivers and lakes" (;tIH'/IHJi;ti.. ~y.uffi~TtL
i\tIJ 0 ).
165
tlfl).272 Since this comment from the perspective ofa character in the lanci refers to a
heterosexual relationship, it suggests a parallel meaning for the jealousy between two
men. When Lingyun takes Ruyu with him, Yishao becomes furious. Yishao insists that
Lingyun abandon Ruyu, saying "If you side with the Incomparable, then don't talk to
me; if you side with me, then don't talk to him" C~iA3C)(xf;j'\i,)'JJt, iA f>/f'itiA3C
XX).273 Lingyun is astonished by this overreaction and gently asks if his friend is
acting out ofjealousy, "[others] will only consider you as beingjealous and trying to
subdue me" CfU3f$pZ~,*)X\,refJt~$)?74 However, when the situation is reversed,
Lingyun's "jealousy" is no better than that ofYishao. Toward the end of the lanci,
Yishao mourns the corrupt Zhang Cai, who had earlier tried to have sex with him and
died together with the rebellious eunuch Liu Jin. Lingyun is enraged and mocks
Yishao for his "ambiguous relationship" (8f,*) with Cai. But Yishao also makes fun
of Lingyun's overreaction saying, "[you are] not only jealous of him alive, but also
jealous of him dead" (~~fElj~P"tj)R"!if1~.i7S Both recognize the other's jealousy and
both realize that it has crossed the line of platonic friendship. The jealousy here
demonstrates that their qing for each other is so deep that it blurs the boundary
between friendship and romantic love. However, the author does not treat their
jealousy as negative, but instead considers it as an acceptable joke at which people
272 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2398.
273 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 411.
274 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 412.
275 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2299, 2300.
166
can laugh, because like similar female same-sex desire without physical sex, it does
not threaten the Confucian patriarchal order.
The author treats the ambiguous relationships between the two male
protagonists playfully in a way that spices up her fiction. One of the interesting
rhetorical moves in the tand is that Lingyun and Yishao sometimes knowingly
transgress the role of mere friends and seem to enjoy the resulting sexual tension, but
then intentionally depreciate it as ajoke. When Lingyun has the strange dream after
he loses Feixiang in which he marries a different girl, Yishao makes fun of him.
Lingyun loses control of his temper and replies, "If! can't have Feixiang in this life, I
swear that I will not marry again. The one who should fill in during this crisis should
of course be you, accompanying me for a hundred years" (4-:±'::5¥~~WJz:", JJt1£=~!f
~~~~5~o m;§:tJt"f::i~7~dfJ\, sif1=FJJtrffi3~o ).276 Without thinking clearly in his
rage, Lingyun probably has blurted out his real hope. While the two do not think
anything is amiss, He Shiwei 1i5Jtlt~, Yishao's martial arts master, immediately
laughs at them. Shiwei's laughter both signifies the impropriety of the comment and
downgrades the sexual tension to ajoke that is funny precisely because the situation
will never happen.
Yishao's feelings for Lingyun are also resolved in ajoke. On Lingyun's
wedding night with his concubines, Zhen Daya ~h::*::~1E and Murong Zhu, Yishao
accepts a bet from Mu Mengxiong PK~~t his brother-in-law, to sleep with Lingyun.
276 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 888,
167
Mengxiong's challenge is explicitly sexualized. Mengxiong comments on his own bet,
"[it] will not only make the brides suffer a lonely night, but it will also cause the
groom to not lose the pleasure of sleeping with somebody" (~~ ~4 ;yJi:LEl jfJjHJll8r\;, ;yJi ~I~
:;1' :t:xxWi5f; ),277 The sexual connotation is obvious in that Mengxiong requires
Yishao to take the place of the two brides who are supposed to have sexual
intercourse with Lingyun on their wedding night. But the whole sexual tension is
simply resolved by Yishao's actions. Since they have always slept together since their
childhood as a habit, Yishao is happy to take the bet for fun, pretending that he does
not comprehend its sexual connotation. Diminishing the homoeroticism to ajoke, the
narrator again indicates that the ambiguous boundary between male friendship and
same-sex desire is not dangerous to the Confucian system and therefore is acceptable.
Others in the lanci frequently comment on the unusually close relationship
between Lingyun and Yishao; it seems that no one in the land is ignorant of their
close ambiguous friendship. Lingyun's cousin, Guo Chenglong $~pJG.ft, is the first
person who is fully aware oftheir uncommon intimacy. When Lingyun and Yishao
meet for the first time, Chenglong murmurs, "[Lingyun] never smiled seeing others,
but he unexpectedly laughed today" (~ T J3IJA;'A/f'~, 9lj!)jm1f~Jf:J:~).278
Witnessing how they keep each other company all the time, including sleeping
together, Chenglong then starts to question the nature of their relationship. He makes
fun ofLingyun, "Today it would be better to take off the male clothes from this pretty
277 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2224.
27M Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 43.
168
Ruiguan and dress him as a girl. You can keep him beside you as a wife" (4' E=J *if
taking into account the different status between the two in terms of their age and
appearance, the relationship between Lingyun and Yishao clearly imitates that
between husband and wife.
Feixiang lS ~, Lingyun's first wife and Yishao's elder sister, who herself is
involved in an ambiguous female same-sex relationship, also does not miss the
awkwardness between these two men. When Lingyun decides to marry Murong Zhu
~~J*, Feixiang's beloved sworn sister, to Yishao, Feixiang is unwilling and
therefore mad at her younger brother because of the way he teases Zhu.28o But
Lingyun anxiously swears that it has nothing to do with Yishao, but is his own
decision. Watching his anxiety, Feixiang mocks her husband, "You only know your
feelings for Yishao. When his name is mentioned, you get agitated and are even
l§Qf~o ).281 As Feixiang points out, Lingyun typically stands up for his calm, cold
and rational disbelief in superstition. This anxious response to Yishao, to the point of
swearing to heaven, is definitely unusual. Sensitive to the attraction of same-sex
desire herself, Feixiang is acutely aware that Lingyun "has no response, and so has to
279 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 43.
280 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, Chapter 44.
281 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2036.
169
admit [his feelings forYishao]" (1l:l:~i7Cx11§f, J'-7IH-Uf~jlk1l..!).282 Lingyun's
behavior suggests his feel ings of qing for Yishao over anyone else and also echoes his
earlier statement of valuing male friends over women.
The most significant labeling oftheir relationship as same-sex eroticism is
made by Zhang CaL After failing to initiate a sexual relationship with Yishao, Zhang
Cai is jealous of his intimate relationship with Lingyun. He then composes a piece of
doggerel called "A Pair of Male Phoenixes Flying Together" (JA.xXlS), "A pair of
phoenixes flies together under the Phoenix Terrace. Why does the pair flying together
necessarily need to be a male and a female? ... Double-Pupil loves the beauty of
• " (r-7l 181 L>. -.::" r-7l '1U I< "vu I< 1Qf ,,'/d* l::::: I~? -ffi-" R* 18 ~~ --};.- ITO U, ) 283catam Ites. . . }J.\,}'E.\, l-l I' ))(VI/" '" /I)\. " IHJ ~ l';1± ~J ~>tt.. • Lf'-.II.\!l.IIIHJ '" /~ 1"1-< t:::J .
This poem on the surface eulogizes the elegant demeanor and beautiful love of the
young couple, but longyang, a euphemism for homosexual lover, suggests that their
relationship goes far beyond common friendship. Lingyun is enraged by the poem.
Since this poem uses the phrase of "a pair of male phoenixes flying together," from
which the lanci takes its title, it leaves open the meaning of the epithet.
Since there is no physical sex involved and all the sexual tensions are properly
dissolved, the unusually close relationship stays in the safe realm of homosocial
desires. Furthermore, the narrative promotes a proper homosociality between Lingyun
and Yishao in that they regulate their qing according to yi. As an upright friend,
Lingyun always corrects Yishao's mistakes in terms of Confucian moral values; in
282 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2036.
283 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 151.
170
turn, Lingyun is the only one to whom Yishao listens and of whom he is afraid.
Lingyun does everything possible to keep Yishao on track whenever Yishao makes
mistakes, such as when he has a close relationship with the lascivious Zhang Cai,
disobeys his father, and marries Bao Xiang'er ffriQw JL in secret. For this reason,
Yishao often refers to him as Big Brother Guo $:~::t:.k. Since all these instances of
moral help and correction are based on Confucian propriety, dayi, or public/greater
righteousness, is the central value that the author is advocating for between the
friends.
Moreover, as devoted righteous friends, they willingly risk their own lives in
order to save the other. As a public moral value, yi is often associated with zhong '~"
or loyalty to the emperor, and the concept of "valuing righteousness and treating life
lightly" Olt:x.ti:1:.) is promoted,z84 Lingyun has always been a loyal minister, known
as "Willing to risk a beheading" (1ft*~) to his political enemies and friends alike,
and is an upright friend, universally known as the Big Brother.285 He is always
fearless and powerful, using his extraordinary martial arts and magic to save Yishao
from danger in the wars against foreign countries.286 By helping his sworn brother
Yishao, Lingyun both fulfills his moral commitment to loyalty toward the emperor
and righteousness toward his friend Yishao.
2K4 This concept can be seen in history books as early as the History of Jin -J!!f45, and it is mentioned in the
"Biographies of the Loyal and Righteous."
m Cheng, Fengshuangfei, \425, 1598, 1615,2073, etc.
2R6 See Cheng, Fengshuangfei, Chapter 15,39.
171
However, the best example of combining the public moral values of zhong and
yi and the private values ofyi is acted out by Yishao, who is usually the more
unconventional of the two, which further proves the benefit of their friendship. One of
the most impressive demonstrations ofyi in the whole book is when Yishao stabs
himself in the heart in order to prove the innocence of Lingyun, who has been framed
as a usurper. This extreme act ofYishao conforms to the stereotype of the loyal
minister who risks his life to remonstrate the emperor; but more importantly, it is also
consistent with the ideal friendship in which friends are willing to give their lives for
each other. As Yishao indicates:
The relationships between emperor and minister and between friends are both
among the five relationships. Although I receive your honor's boundless grace,
it is hard for me to abandon this friendship ... Your humble minister should
remonstrate in front of the emperor. Even if you ordered axes on my neck,
how could I lower my head and keep silent?
[;ght:MR, 1~,tEn1tzl*J, lIL~;f'l",~~3fH~;4lt, xt~t·Ri'j'PF~ffl ...... l)~H;:£
)s\H{:H*~·1W 0 f!:ny *~~:!JI~ bi~](, a ~1[£~"lt"A7~ 0 ]287
In Confucian morality, the order of five relationships, starting with the one between
emperor and minister and ending with the one between friends, is deliberately
designed in terms of their social importance. Friendship is never considered of equal
significance in a Confucian society. However, since yi between friends is considered
more important than zhong to common people in popular literature, such as Sanguo
yanyi and Shuihu zhuan, the narrative apparently inherits this ideology here.
Therefore, in this land, Yishao claims that yi between friends and zhong to the
emperor are equal virtues. As in Sanguo yanyi, the priority order of zhong and yi are
2K7 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1626.
------ ----
172
resolved tacitly-true loyalty here is achieved through being a yi friend. In this sense,
although yi between friends is already considered a publ ic value due to its position
within the five relationships, it is transformed into a traditionally much more
important public moral value by associating with loyalty to the emperor, the ultimate
public moral value in Confucianism. By advocating this publicly beneficial aspect of
the friendship between Lingyun and Yishao, the ambiguity in their relationship can be
easily overlooked.
Conclusion
This chapter, which talks about how the female author thinks ofand portrays
male homosociality, contains two contrary parts, negative male same-sex eroticism
and practice and positive male friendship, from the female writer's perspective. While
male authors of novels supported male same-sex eroticism because of qing, Cheng
Huiying, as a female writer, believes that it destabilizes the normative social orders. It
is interesting that the narrator uses a beautiful young boy, a male counterpart of the
female femme fatale, as an embodiment of toxic male same-sex eroticism. This twist
of characterization not only supports the opinions, but also deconstructs the
stereotypes of disasterous women.
In contrast, the narrator advocates male friendship based on qing and yi.
Although the friendships discussed in this chapter are in many ways ambiguously
similar to male same-sex desires, the narrator's disclaimers of sexual contacts
173
categorize these relationships into the safe and positive zone. By emphasizing qing
and yi, the narrator seems to try to reestablish a healthy male homosocial ity
although whether it is successful is questionable, given so many details of male
intimacy involved in the male relationships. However, paralleling this part to the
theme of the next chapter, female same-sex desires, we can easily tell the logic of the
narrative. As long as sex is not involved, the relationship is not threatening to the
Confucian order. Therefore, the author is able to easily insert her own values and
opinions into the text without worrying about moral judgement or the inability to
publish.
174
CHAPTER V
YIN RULES:
FEMALE SAME-SEX DESIRE AND AGENCY
Introduction
In contrast to the negative depiction of male homoeroticism in Feng shuangfei,
the treatment of female homoerotic desire conforms to the cult of qing ideals.288 The
emphasis in the female same-sex relationships depicted in the tand is on love and the
appreciation of beauty rather than sex; women's shared feelings of love are morally
ennobling in that they promote sexual and political loyalty; and the female same-sex
relationships are based on companionate equality rather than status/age differentiation.
The text is ambiguous about the exact nature of the relationships between women.
Although there are no descriptions of explicitly sexual acts, the narrator does not deny
the possibility of sexual intimacy between women as she does for the relationship
between Guo Lingyun and Zhang Yishao.289
Very few male writers touched on the topic of female same-sex desire in Ming
and Qing fiction. There are several short stories by Li Yu $~ (1611-1680) and in Pu
Songling's ¥if~~ (1640-1715) Liaozhai zhiyi (19I]~it:ff, Liaozhais Tales ofthe
Strange) that deal with female-female love, among which the most famous ones are
2XX See Footnote ]].
2X9 See my previous chapter, Chapter IV, for details.
175
"Lianxiang ban '1"fW1'f" and "Feng Sanniang tt· ~~.,,290 In the scholar-beauty novel,
Lin Lan Xiang ~* -=:: W (a.k.a. The Six Wives of Wastrel Geng, earliest extant edition
dated 1838), the anonymous author portrays a couple of female servants who have
same-sex sexual relationships. Because the stories that refer to female same-sex
desires are so few and so marginalized within the corpus of fiction written by men,
scholars have paid little attention to this topic. 291
Female homosociality is another theme that is of little interest to traditional
male writers of fiction. While female poets during the Ming and Qing established
communities of women poets and socialized through poetry, male fiction writers
usually portray female homosociality as poles, either universal sisterhood, as with the
hundred flower spirits in Jinghua yuan (ti{t~~, Flowers in the Mirror) and the wives
in Yesou puyan, or as jealous competition, as in Jin Ping Mei and Xingshi yinyuan
zhuan (Mttt~[z;j~1~, The Story of a Marital Fate to Awaken the World). Male writers
rarely depicted close and exclusive friendships between women, preferring to depict
290 Li Yu *ii!l, "Lianxiang ban ~li'#," in Li Yu quanji *ii!l~~ (Taibei : Cheng wen chu ban she, Min guo 59
[l970l),2807-3030.
Pu Songling litt~, "Feng the Third M'=:~~," in Liao::hai ::hi yi I!9P~$j'f (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe,
2005), 198-201.
2YI Suiyuan xiashi MH:~r± ed., Di 'er qishu Lin Lan Xiang m=1tij-45,*~li' in Sijia micang xiaoshuo baibu ;fl,
%~.JJ\"ilts$, ed. lin Chengpu ~JJ.lZ¥IlL Qiming fr'J iY3, (Huhehaote: Neimenggu daxue chubanshe, Yuanfang
chubanshe, 2001),v~.53.
Keith McMahon, in his Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists (205-220), discusses the sexual relationships between
wornen in Lin Lan Xiang.
Laura Wu's article "Through the Prism of Male Writing: Representation of Lesbian Love in Ming-Qing Literature"
(Nan NiL Men, Women, and Gender in Early Imperial China 4, nO.l (2002): 1-34) discusses the theme of female
same-sex desire in Ming-Qing literature.
Sang Tze-Ian's The Emerging Lesbian: Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern China (Chicago and London: The
University of Chicago Press, 2003) devotes a chapter (37-95) to the discussion of female same-sex desire in
premodern China.
176
the pillar extremes of universal friendship or jealous power struggles.292 Women's
friendship and socialization seem to always be imagined in extreme ways in male
authors' novels.
In contrast, Cheng Huiying, as do many female authors of land, creates
exclusive female bonds. Female same-sex desire and homosocial ity are common
themes in female-authored lanci fiction, since most of the lanci contain cross-dressing
and polygamous family life as important subplots. Both Zaisheng yuan ~1:~~ (The
Destiny of Rebirth) and Bi sheng hua §@;1:1t (Flowers Growing from Writing
Brushes) contain cross-dressed female protagonists who marry women and end up
taking their "wives" to their betrothed husbands' households as secondary wives.
Their enduring bonds with their "wives" entwine their desire for another beautiful
woman with an ideal solution to the potential problem ofjealousy in polygamous
families. So they take matters into their own hands and start to arrange a marriage that
will include both of them. Cheng Huiying, in her lanci, portrays the strong desires of
the women to stay forever with another woman they love and the efforts they make to
realize their desires. Through their ambiguous same-sex relationships in Feng
shuangfei women actually are, to some extant, able to claim and execute their agency
in their contemporary patriarchal system.
292 There are quite a few scholars who have already studied women poets during this period and pointed out the
existence of the community of the women poets. See Ko, Teachers ofInner Chamber; Widmer, The Beauty and
the Book; Grace Fong, Herselfand Author; etc.
177
Cross-Dressing, Fake Marriage and Beyond:
The Ambiguous Boundary between Female Same-Sex Desires and Homosociality
As in earlier tanci written by women, narratives about female same-sex desire
are interwoven with the theme of cross-dressing. Cross-dressing is not as important to
the plot development of Feng shuangfei as it is in earlier tanci such as Yuchuan Yuan
3S.1Jll~ (The Destiny Connected by Jade Hairpin), Zaisheng yuan ~1:~~, Jinyu yuan
1i£iJ.~~ (The Destiny Connected by Golden Fish), and Bi sheng hua ~~:,tt, but it is
still a notable feature ofFeng shuangfei. It is essential to the subplot where Zhang
Feixiang 5* ~::j3f and Murong Zhu ~':@:l* consummate their fake marriage and
develop their desires for each other.
When fleeing from Zhang Cai 5*% who is attempting to abduct her, Feixiang,
Guo Lingyun's $ln&Li fiancee and Zhang Yishao's *~y sister, leaves the capital
with her adopted sister He Danyan 1PJri]dl!l. The two dress as men in order to travel
more safely. En route, they meet Murong Zhu, the daughter of a non-Han bandit
who has established himself as a king of an island off China's southern coast.
Feixiang is so obsessed with the princess's beauty that she cannot help staring at her,
although Danyan keeps reminding her that since Feixiang is a "man" her behavior is
highly inappropriate. After a long passage describing Murong Zhu as focalized
through Feixiang's gaze, the omniscient narrator let us overhear her musings:
[The judgment of Miss Feixiang] was never wrong and had always surpassed
others. On meeting this city-toppling beauty, she was so pleased that she
forgot everything else. She forgot that she was dressed as a man, and stayed
there in a stupor, admiring [the woman]: "There are few such women in the
----- ------
178
world. She must be an immortal that descended to earth. Looking at her, I
know that I cannot compare with her. If she encounters that Zhang Cai from
Shanxi,293 I don't know what he would do. He would certainly go crazy
without having a way to approach her. I don't even know whether there will
be a man lucky enough to marry such a beautiful wife."
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;G; 0 /f~-;'c El *~T:J7t, :!.fUi'U.L:/EBjH$fh: J!f.l3i::P:T)dBJY, &\~1111~I5!~r
jj 0 fJtJ7l'. EJ ~pf' /j;;R, ;fi1~~~~ jffi5-1L /r~~pX. f\j:~p1PJ T, 3Cil'f~*/Ej,t
~Io ~+~PPJ1'f~)L~~lff~, ~~J*~~J!~~mo 294
It is not uncommon in fiction for a woman to appreciate another woman's beauty.
However, Feixiang's admiration for Murong Zhu goes beyond common appreciation.
Feixiang is so overwhelmed by Murong Zhu's beauty that she throws caution to the
wind; she is dressed as a man to insure her own safety and needs to make sure that she
can continue to pass, physically and ritually. Immediately after evaluating Zhu's
beauty, Feixiang wonders whether she is engaged and th inks to herself how "lucky"
her husband will be. Since marriage was the only legitimate way for proper women to
be sexually intimate in late-imperial China, the "luck" to which Feixiang is referring
implies sexual possession. Moreover, given that within the norms of this particular
lanci, same-sex friendships are much more emotionally, and in the case of Bai Ruyu
sexually, intimate than any of the marriages depicted, it is especially striking that
Feixiang does not wonder about how she could become friends with this beautiful
woman. Up until this point in the narrative with the one exception of playing on a
swing in the garden, Feixiang has shown herself to be orthodox in her concern with
293 In the self-introduction of Zhang Cai, he mentions that he is from Guanzhong ~9", which is part of Shanxi II!!!:
jffi (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 91)
294 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 822.
179
her own and the household's sexual virtues. And given that Feixiang was so recently
the object of a very similar gaze from Zhang Cai, her fascination with Murong Zhu
can in no way be interpreted as fully innocent. Feixiang's sexualization of Murong
Zhu may be a result of her adoption of a male stance: when passing as a man, she is
no longer morally responsible for upholding the ideals of chastity and is freed to
romanticize women and the institution of marriage rather than think of them as agents
of orthodox order. Indeed, Feixiang is so oblivious to the need to protect Murong
Zhu's virtue that the two arrange to eat together while Zhu's father is absent.
Zhu's father, Murong Tao ~':@.:tE3, discovers them together and forces the two
to marry in order to avoid a scandal. He then returns with them to his island kingdom.
In a plot device that is common to other cross-dressing stories, Murong Zhu falls in
love with her fake husband. And Feixiang, despite being held captive in a forced
marriage and unable to go back home or even contact her family to reassure them that
she is alive and well, is oddly not anxious at all. In response to He Danyan's worrying
before the marriage, Feixiang laughs:
"Don't bring it up! Since both father and daughter are blind and have chosen
me, I have come to be the groom. Since her father is rich and powerful, he
must have chests of gold and pearls to give us. I haven't needed to pay a cent
and get to marry a beautiful wife for free. When I go back home wearing a
crown, it will only make people laugh. This is a wonderful romantic tale that
can be passed down for thousands of years, not something that will dishonor
me."
291 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 834.
--------- -----------
180
It is astonishing that Feixiang, a well-educated gentry woman, does not think of
Murong Zhu's situation at all since this marriage to a fake man would jeopardize her
ability to take a real husband in the future. A second marriage was considered
dishonorable for women during the Ming and the Qing; and a woman without a
husband was socially incomplete. Nor does Feixiang think about the morality of her
own actions: she is the one who is passing herself off as a fake man who has
improperly seduced a noble woman and is herself betrothed to Guo Lingyun. It seems
she does not feel that this marriage to another woman has any implications for either
woman's chastity or social honor.
Feixiang's fantasizes this marriage between her and another woman within
the framework of the aesthetics of qing and scholar-beauty romances. Feixiang is
clearly willing and pleased to marry Murong Zhu. Although she mentions the wealth
and power of the Murong family, her lack of concern for contacting her own family
reveals that she does not think of this marriage as a ritual arrangement between two
famil ies, but as an affair of the heart between her and her "beautiful wife." The
affair of the heart is exactly what the notion of qing focuses on.296
Also worth noting is that at no point does Feixiang think to herself that a
relationship with Zhu as sworn sisters could be equally fulfilling and without any of
the complications of marriage; she is intent on fulfilling her romantic
296 In Hong/ou meng, while Baoyu and Daiyu express their feelings for each other, they both say, "I am for the
sake of my heart ftj;] s<Jn,fts<J,C"." (Cao and Zhiyan zhai. Zhiyan ;;hai chongping Sitou ji gengchen jiaoben,
409.)
181
"scholar-beauty" fantasy of being coupled with a beauty. Feixiang is as equally
enamored of the beautiful girl as of her new-found agency that allows her to express
legitimate sexual desire-something otherwise impossible for a proper woman. Since
it was common in Qing fiction to apply the scholar-beauty formula to male same-sex
romances within the scheme of the aesthetic of qing, such as in Pinhua baojian, it
raises the possibility that Cheng Huiying knowingly evoked female homoerotic
desires in this land. An example of this can be seen in Feixiang's regret that she is
unable to have sex with her beautiful wife on their wedding night.
Feixiang was also a little drunk. She bowed to her father-in-law and took her
leave. Maids on the left and right moved the huge candles and led her into the
wedding chamber. She sat on the golden chair and scrutinized the beauty.
[Murong Zhu] was swathed in jade and gold and her wedding outfit made her
more enchanting than an immortal. [Feixiang thought to herself] "It would
have been a sad injustice if she had married an ugly barbarian. It is regrettable
that she had the bad fate to meet me and that we are both the same. How can I
immediately change into a man's body so that I can enjoy this incomparable
beauty? At least there is no reason to be ashamed in that we are well-matched
in terms of talent and appearance, so she need not sigh over her misfortune."
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Feixiang's regret is not that she has lied to her wife and must come clean, but that she
is not a man who can take full corporeal pleasure (xiaoshou ¥f!l9t) in his new wife.
Again, Feixiang, playing the role of a talented scholar, puts herself into the frame of
scholar-beauty romances, which usually emphasize the pairing of men's talent and
women's appearance (~rs:;:t3d9t\). Feixiang's regret and self-positioning reveal her
297 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 840.
182
strong desire for Zhu, another woman. Since the text does not shy away from
describing sexual relations between men in other sections of the narrative, the
references to Feixiang's unrealizable desire to have sexual relations with Zhu suggests
the phallocentric nature of traditional Chinese understandings of sexuality and the
absence of language that could be used to describe or realize female same-sex desires.
In the following passage, Feixiang acknowledges the linguistic and cultural erasure of
lesbian sexual ity as something that could not threaten the code of female chastity:
If I were a real man, it would naturally be improper for me to look at her; or if
she were a man, it would be even more inappropriate for me to stare at her;
even if we were both men, people nowadays would also have something to
talk about. Fortunately we are both women, so I can be bold enough to look at
her.
FJ~:ir~~T' ~~1ffi I~H!VGi~; B)(:~1ffi£~T, fJU~dffi~:IJQ~~*L; JfJt1~M
T '$~~ 93 T, g 4-tlti!!tEtf ifJi~ i¥J 0 ::f:tE: $:JE::9;"A, j5ff ~~fJJ~~E!~~ 0 ]298
On their second night together, Feixiang reveals her real identity ofa woman.
Although Zhu is surprised, she does not show any anxiety or anger towards the fake
husband, but instead she orders her maids to be quiet and displays total
understanding ofFeixiang's disguise, "Now that you are a woman pretending to be a
Moreover, she makes fun ofFeixiang's staring at her, acknowledging their mutual
attraction, and considers their meeting as yuan (~~,destined), which is a Buddhist
term always used to describe romanticized heterosexual marriage. Ifshe did not love
Feixiang, Zhu would have thought of herself being decieved and unable to marry in
19K Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 824,
299 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 843,
183
the future again. In this case, Zhu's love for Feixiang is motivated by Feixiang's
talent and appearance, regardless of her gender.
After this interestingly peaceful scene of disclosing the truth, the narrator
coyly allows the readers to watch the two women undress before giving the couple
their privacy. Zhu reassures Feixiang that she is comfortable with their relationship:
"From today on, we shall be husband and wife in public and sisters in private.
Our feelings (qing) will be like that between flesh and blood and we will not
doubt each other. You don't need to pretend to be drunk like yesterday. You
can take off your clothes and sleep without worry." Feixiang happily replied:
"As you order! It isjust that I am unworthy of your beauty-I carry the name
[of husband] in vain without reality. Don't feel resentfu1after you reconsider
things." The Princess spat, then grabbed [Feixiang's] shoulder with hands,
forced her to sit on the bed, and then took off [Feixiang's] lotus shoes and put
them on her own feet. They fit perfectly, as if they were made for her. The
Princess was even more delighted and kept saying, "Marvelous!" Both took
off their undergarments and slept peacefully side by side under a single quilt,
closing the door and dismissing both maids.
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:x~:gJ!~$:WYl r~J§7J~Hmf~, -~MlP93~i(!JjT, ~nillt±:l= "(iL ]300
Although Zhu now desexualizes their relationship as gurou, which usually refers to
direct blood kinship and here especially means "sisters," the narrator does not give
readers a longer break from the sexual tension between them. Feixiang's response that
she "carries the name [of husband] in vain without reality" again reminds readers of
the sexual nature of the marital relationship between the two. Moreover, this tension is
300 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 844.
184
not released by Zhu's spit, but instead stren 1gthens when they both sit and sleep in the
same bed, sharing the same quilt.
It is also noteworthy that before sleep, Zhu takes off Feixiang's shoes, wears
them by herself, and is obviously pleased by the fact that the shoes fit her well too.
As is suggested in Dorothy Ko's Teachers ofInner Chambers, women during the
Ming and the Qing constructed their own culture of foot-binding and shoes for bound
feet were part of the culture in which women socialized with each other. 3D ] This scene
is exactly a reflection of this women's culture and indicates that such a homosociality
is established between these two women. But we cannot overlook the fact that the
bound feet and the shoes for them are also highly erotic in male-authored fictions. In
Jin Ping Mei :~i~Jf-URJ, Pan Jinlian ~11i£Ji and Song Huilian's *~~ small bound
feet are sexual metonymies to the lascivious Ximen Qing jL§ nK and their shoes
work as sexualized identities.3D2 Considering the erotic depictions of men's
relationships, the narrator ofFeng shuangfei may have entirely innocent intentions
when displaying this private intimate scene in the bedroom.
The blissful interlude of these two women's fake marriage as husband and
wife, which lasts for nineteen long chapters, is emotionally and romantically fulfilling
for both women. Enjoying their time accompanying each other, both of them express
their satisfaction with the arrangement. To describe their happy fake marriage,
Feixiang writes a ci lyric and they read and comment on it together:
)0\ See Ko, Teachers ofInner Chambers.
)02 See Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, Gaohe tang piping diyi qishu lin Ping Mei.
185
Palaces and pavilions are exquisite, / rosy clouds are dimly discernible, /
Three thousand Ii of weak water surrounds Penglai Island. / The immortals on
the jade tower meet each other smiling, / Shuangcheng is graceful and
Feiqiong is young.
Although the good dream is connected, / King Xiang is vexed in vain,!
my heart wants to pray to Heaven for myself. / I wish my body would
immediately become a man, / I am willing to get old in this hometown of
tenderness.
----To the Tune of "Tasuo xing"
When she finished, she handed it over to the Princess. After reading, the
Princess smiled, "If you really wish to spend your remaining years here until
death, why do you have to be a man? Even if I can be your fake wife for a
whole life, it would be a source of happiness."
~~~~, ~.~~, --~~*~.~o~~~~~ffi~, ~~~~~
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At the beginning of the lyric, Feixiang portrays the island as distant and hard to reach.
Clouds cover the island, and the weak water that cannot hold a boat prevents people
from approaching it. Ruashui, or weak water, not only refers to the seclusion of the
island, but is also a metaphor of love.304 The famous saying, "Even though there is
three thousand Ii of weak water, I only drink a ladle" (}t~~7.K-=:.f-, -llt-R ltx -~JI1tX),
which also appears in Hang/au meng, means one's exclusive love for another.305
Therefore, by using the word ruashui, Feixiang depicts this island as surrounded by
an otherworldly and romantic atmosphere. On this island, Feixiang identifies herself
and Zhu with two female immortals, Dong Shuangcheng .~Jj.lZ and Xu Feiqiong if
303 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 849.
304 In ancient times, Chinese believed that if a boat cannot float on water, it is because the water is too weak. So it
is very common to describe a distant place, which is hard to reach by water, as surrounded by weak water.
305 Cao and Gao, Hanglau meng, 698.
186
lSm. In Feixiang's metaphor, being immortals seems to refer to the happiness two
women are enjoying and the fact that both are playing pipe wind instruments may
indicate that they are zhiyin (3;Q-fcL people who know each others' music) intimates.306
The second stanza of the lyric traditionally turns to the emotions of the writer.
This stanza begins with the erotic reference to King Xiang's story and then expresses
regret that sex cannot happen between two women. 307 While their relationship is
highly sexualized in this stanza, Feixiang pushes it even further. She uses sixin to
indicate that her wish is si (;fL.), for herself, and it is to turn her body into a man so
that they can consummate a real marital relationship. She also suggests her
willingness to spend her whole life with Zhu, another woman. This whole stanza is
erotic in tone. Although women during the Ming and the Qing often use the
language of romantic love to describe the intimacy between female friends, it is
unusual for a woman to repeatedly regret her inability to have sex with another
woman as a way of describing the depth of their friendship.308
In response to Feixiang's passion for her, Zhu also shows her dedication to the
relationship. She argues that sex does not matter to their relationship and that what is
306 This is an alternative for ::hiji, a person who knows me, and refers to the mutual understanding between two
fiiends and soul mates, The most famous story of ;:;hiyin is no other than the one between Yu Boya M"f~:5f and
Zhong Ziqi l'l'i"Wl, in which Boya breaks his zither when Ziqi dies because no one else will understand his music
after Ziqi's death,
307 See the yunyu story in footnote 270,
30R This borrowing of the language can be S<::<::f1 <::v<::rywhere in women's poetry, prose and even folksongs,
Maureen Robertson, in her "Voicing the Feminine, Constructions of the Gendered Subject in Lyric Poetry by
Women of Medieval and Late Imperial China" (Late Imperial China 13, no, I: 63- 110), talks about how women
use lovers' voices to express friendship; Cathy Silber, in her "From Daughter to Daughter-in Law In the Women's
Script of Southern Hunan" (Engendering China: Women, Culture and the State, ed, Gilmartin et. (Harvard
University Press, 1994),47-68), points out that in nushu, female authors use the metaphor of yuanyang, a common
metaphor of a married couple, to describe their relationships of laotong,
187
important is that they can grow old together. Obviously she is more satisfied with
their current relationship than Feixiang is, because she considers herself to be happy
enough even though they are merely a fake couple. As an exotic foreign girl who is
not nurtured and restrained by neo-Confucian propriety, Zhu's opinion probably
touches the true nature of their relationship, the qing and sexual tension between
them.
Their happy marriage comes to an abrupt end when Feixiang's fiance, Guo
Lingyun, leads an attack by Chinese forces on Three Immortal Island (~ 1'111 !i1J), The
king is killed, Lingyun defeats the enemy army which is now lead by Murong Zhu,
and he "rescues" his fiancee and returns her to China. Zhu's longing for Feixiang
reveals the extent to which she considers themselves to be "husband and wife," Zhu
directly express her attachment to Feixiang when Feixiang is taken away from her:
[The princess] felt bitterness on account ofFeixiang, "We have been as
intimate as if we were one body for many years. Yesterday, we were still
laughing and talking together, but today we are suddenly separated and it is as
ifmy shadow has left my body. By now she must be in Lin'gao County and
has removed her men's clothes and is wearing skirts again. How did that nasty
jailbird get so lucky? I really can't stand thinking about it."
The maids standing beside her said: "In the end, your husband was a woman.
How could she really count as your spouse all along? She has been missing
her own family. Today, she has escaped the bitterness ofthat trap, and we can
expect she is enjoying real happiness now. There is no point in dredging up
these memories, so why bother continuing your foolish infatuation (chiqing
1jQ'I~)?"
The Princess shouted, "This is the opinion of fools-that people who love
each other (xiang aizhe) can only he husband and wife, and that 1'.'.'0 women
therefore shouldn't love each other. It's for this reason that that bitch Wuhe
lost her life on account of a man309 I have seen through the ways of the world,
309 Wuhe is one of Murong Zhu's maids. When Murong Zhu is fighting off the Chinese army, she does not let
Feixiang return to the Chinese side. Because Guo Lingyun is unwilling to attack them with full force, he uses Bai
188
and I don't think of men as a precious treasure. Instead, I made my life with a
woman; I lived with her and yielded to her for five springs. Although she often
missed her homeland, her love (ai wo zhi xin) for me was also true. Now that
we have been unexpected Iy separated, even if she leaves, takes a husband,
changes her heart and gives me up, there is no possibility that I could give her
up. Ifwe can't meet again in this life, even ifI kill Guo Lingyun, capture the
territory of the Ming, kill the emperor and minister, and establish myself as
empress over all, it still will not be enough to wipe out my sense of injustice."
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The attempt to desexualize their relationship fails again. The narrator,
describing Murong Zhu's perspective, starts portraying Zhu's longing for Feixiang as
sisters, using the term shouzu qin, a word that usually describes the intimacy between
brothers. However, this depiction of pure friendship is immediately destabilized by
Zhu 's jealousy toward Lingyun. When Zhu thinks of Feixiang dressing as a woman,
she cannot help cursing Lingyun. Moreover, she considers Lingyun as having zaohua,
luck or fortune, because he may legitimately accompany and own Feixiang. In
comparison to her "misfortune" of losing Feixiang, she is definitely envious of
Ruyu as his secret weapon, Lingyun thinks the reason Zhu does not let Feixiang leave is that, as a barbarian
woman, she must be lascivious and unwilling to part with the most handsome and talented "man" she has ever
seen, Zhu does not fall for the even prettier man, Instead, Bai Ruyu seduces Zhu's maid, Wuhe, to try to get access
to Zhu Once Zhu realizes what has happened, she has her executed, See Cheng, Feng shuangJei, 1750-61,
310 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 1771-72,
--------
189
Lingyun, a feeling which cannot be viewed as asexual due to Lingyun's special status
as Feixiang's fiance.
Her strong desire for another woman, wavering between erotic desire and
friendship, is further confirmed by her conversation with the maid. While the maid
tries to persuade Zhu to give up her chiqing or foolish obsession, the word often used
to describe the romantic love between men and women, because both of them are
women, Zhu's statement of her understanding of love between her and Feixiang is
astonishing. She overturns the common belief that only men and women are able to
xiang'ai, love each other, and claims that she, unlike other women who consider men
precious, only favors a woman. Again in spite ofthe borrowed eroticized language,
this statement goes beyond the norms of expression of love between women. Instead
of using metaphors such as mandarin ducks and butterflies to describe close
relationships, the narrator, through Zhu, draws direct parallels between a woman's
love, xiangai or ai, for another woman and other women's love for men and claims
there are no differences between the two. Zhu's unusual statement clearly gives us a
clue that her relationship with Feixiang is definitely more than friendship although
physically they may be virgins.
The attachment between Feixiang and Zhu is not one-sided. For her part,
although she has returned to China, Feixiang cannot forget her life with Murong Zhu.
Her sworn-sister Danyan tries to encourage her to forget the past and focus on her
present happiness:
190
Feixiang sighed and frowned, saying: "Even 1am unclear about my feelings.
Ever since I was captured [by Murong Zhu's father], my unhappiness has been
as deep as the sea and I hated that I could not escape, return home and enjoy
good health and peace. Who would have thought that as soon as I had gained
my freedom that I would feel so thoroughly uneasy? I think about us sharing
the same bedroom for many years; although we only borrowed the name of
husband and wife, her love for me was truly deep. The feelings between blood
sisters could not surpass it. ... It was all because of me that her country fell
and her family was destroyed, but she did not harbor any feelings of
resentment toward me. Since you and I separated, she was even more
solicitous in looking after me day and night. The night before last, I happened
to catch a cold and she personally prepared the medicines and repeatedly came
to visit me. Yesterday at dawn when she was about to leave the room, she
turned around to cover me with clothes and quilts. Who could have foreseen
that after she left she would not return, and we separated as easily as the
shadow of waves and the traces of duckweed? We are now as distant as the
states ofQin and Yue, and I do not think that we will be able to meet again in
the future. When I remember the past when we were together talking happily,
it is as if I have awoken from a dream. I can still see her smile, her voice and
her face before me, and the bedding is still neatly arranged. But who knows
where the beauty has gone? The rain has dispersed and the clouds have flown
off far into obscurity. Coming to this juncture, people are not wood or stone;
how can I not feel pained when I see her things?" As she talked about her grief,
Feixiang's tears fell like rain and soaked her clothes.
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This passage makes it clear that Feixiang does not see theirs as a bond
between sisters, but as a bond between husband and wife. Her memories of her final
days with Zhu are as a husband gratefully receiving the subservient care a wife owes
her husband: Zhu serves her medicine during her sickness, makes sure she is dressed
JII Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1773.
191
warmly enough, and keeps their bedroom orderly. Feixiang misses Zhu from an
eroticized perspective that focuses on the face of her beloved and on the bed they
shared: "I can still see her smile, her voice and her face before me, and the bedding
is still neatly arranged." Feixiang then uses the suggestive image of "clouds and rain"
to refer to her lover's absence: "The rain has dispersed and the clouds have flown off
far into obscurity." "Clouds and rain" is a common euphemism for sexual intercourse,
based on the story of King Huai ofChu JJ!HI who had sex with the female
immortal who was in charge of the rain and clouds on Mount Wu 6[ LIJ.312
Although the expression "the rain has dispersed and the clouds have flown off'
(yusan yunfei ffi~A-"1,) refers to separation, its placement here, immediately after
Feixiang's visualization of the bed curtains, pillows and mat (jangwei zhenxi ffij-rIJtHJt
jlt) recalls the willingness of the immortal on Mount Wu "to serve at King Huai's
pillow and mat" (yuanjian zhenxi )!;+rtJtnjn. Even though there is no description of
actual sexual contact between Feixiang and Zhu in the lanci, the sexualized nature of
their desire for each other is consistently brought out.
The obsession and attachment between Feixiang and Zhu are so recognizable
that the characters in the lanci do not miss it either. After reading the poetry
Feixiang wrote to express how she misses Zhu in Lingyun's camp, Lingyun
comments, "She is still bitterly missing the barbarian girl and totally forgets that she
312 "Clouds and rain" is used throughout Feng shuangfei to refer to Bai Ruyu's sexual relations with other men
(see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 190, 274, etc). The locus classicus for the expression "clouds and rain" is also found
in the story of King Xiang. See footnote 270.
f: k h b d" (£:'jt:){~'I9. ~ * A>. ,'/lr T= E3. t=l ,[gJ) I ±was a a e us an ~ i=J <VL.1'11H Y-. '~" j't-J~':/1 7E EJ( LJA 0
192
).313 He Shiwei 1ilJtlt&Q
and Bai Wushuang B 72,xJ., make fun of them, "They are really a good couple" (~7-~
~xtt6-x~o ).314 And He Danyan follows, "My elder sister is truly very spoony" (:Jf!:
r~t\$t\$+7t1Jfi 0 ).315 Zhang Yishao, although not in this scene, comments later too,
"although my elder sister is smart, tolerant, polite and virtuous, her infatuation is
worse than that of men. She loves Murong Zhu at the cost of her own life" (Jt*Pl3.Pl3.
everyone in the fiction realizes that their unusual relationship mimics that of husband
and wife and is aware ofFeixiang's abnormal chi or infatuation for Zhu. However,
none of them considers their relationship serious or dangerous. Having kept their
virginity without approaching the boundary of sexual intercourse, the relationship
between Feixiang and Zhu is not a threat to the patriarchal system and therefore is
acceptable and even a source of fascination for other people, orthodox or not, in the
land. As Laura Wu also observes, within the patriarchal social background during the
late Qing, "a woman's love for another woman is not a serious matter, only an odd
and perhaps slightly repulsive taste that a man could afford to laugh at and very well
ignore.,,31? In this sense, the female writer, Cheng Huiying is still conservative when
dealing with this ambiguous relationship.
313 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 1774.
314 Ibid.
315 Ibid.
316 Feng Shuangfei, p. 2033.
317 Laura H. Wu, "Through the Prism of Male Writing: Representation of Lesbian Love in Ming-Qing Literature,"
Nan Nil 4, no. I (2002), 27.
193
Qing and Women's Agency: The Desire to Stay Together Forever
Because of readers' acceptance of her work thanks to its conservative attitude,
Cheng is able to manipulate and create a space of agency for these women in love.
When two people are in love, one desire will be to stay together forever, which is
exactly what these women want in Feng shuangfei. But this was almost a "mission
impossible" in patriarchal imperial China, because women could only identify
themselves through men, namely their fathers, husbands and sons. The women with
ambiguous desires for each other in the tanci therefore think of another way to stay
together for a life time which is to marry the same man. This is not a new plot device
for either male-authored literature or lanci works.318 The authors treat it
naturalistically as if it could be achieved easily. It is interesting to see in this lanci the
details with which the author portrays the effort that the women exert to achieve their
own will by manipulating their own marriages within a context of silent male
acceptance of their ambiguous relationships.
It is significant that the text consistently uses the words ai (~, love) and qing
O~, feelings, passion) to describe the relationship between Feixiang and Murong
Zhu.319 Even though they do not necessarily imply a sexual relationship in this work,
31H The same story also happens in thl:: IlItli"-tlulnur,,d nuvel, Lin Lan Xiong. in most lanel works that invoive a
cross-dressing subplot, the cross-dressed protagonist and her "wives," who at the same time are her best friends,
always marry the same man.
319 For example, when speaking to her brother Yishao about Zhu, Feixiang says: "1 won't wait for others to ask to
speak about our feelings (qing). I am still not able to bear abandoning her because of the depth of the feelings from
our sworn bond." (*i$lmlJlttN/f't~'%'Alii], fttBj;j~5('tN~*i6HII!J)(Cheng. Feng shuangfei, 1975). Feixiang
also quotes Zhu, repeating, "Although we are sisters, we say we love each other. .. " (1!l.*!'\:Il$M;ffl~'tt ... ) (Cheng,
194
the terms qing and ai place their relationship firmly within the passionate values of
the cu It of sentiment (qing) and give their relationship moral legitimacy within the
cult of qing values.32o This legitimation ofthe strong and intimate connection
between the two women establishes their relationship as the moral equivalent of the
idealized male homosocial bonds between Lingyun and Yishao. This insistence on the
legitimacy of their relationship, sexual or not, is important because of the ritual
mandate that women place their obligations to the patrilineal family (be it defined
though father, husband, or son) ahead of any personal desires. Orthodox discourse did
not recognize the possibility offriendship for women, for women's lives were to be
fully circumscribed within their obligations to the family. Moreover, although
friendship was idealized within the cult of qing values as more authentic than other
relationships, in actual practice friendship was also problematic for men since they
too were expected to prioritize family and political obligations.321 Current research
on women writers is showing how important female friendship networks were to the
development of women's writing during the Qing; however, these relationships were
Feng shuangJei, 1975) Another of Lingyun's wives comments: "The love between the first wife [Feixiang] and
[Zhu] is truly deep," (:*:~A.ffi~~;JJf()(Cheng, Feng shuangJei, 2234) He Danyan also remarks: "Although you
are a fake couple, your love for each other is real" (~~.1ll.m:tj!j)(~)(Cheng, Feng shuangfei, (989).
And there are further examples in the passages quoted in first part of this chapter.
320 Bai Ruyu is referred to as the "lover" (ab·en ~)..) of the cro'Nn prince (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 411) and of
Zhang .ring (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 419). Guo Lingyun also refers to his feelings of love (ai) for Ruyu (Cheng,
Feng shuangfei, 411) and Yishao (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 409, 2224); the narrator explicitly comments that these
relationships are not sexual even though Lingyun insists that they sleep together. Lingyun spends his wedding
night holding Yishao (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 914).
321 See Norman Kutcher, "The Fifth Relationship: Dangerous Friendships in the Confucian Context," The
American Historical Review 105, no. 5 (Dec., 2000): 1615-29.
195
not defined or defended as the equivalent of marriage.322 Feixiang and Murong Zhu
are unapologetic about their pursuit of personal (si ;fL" meaning without social
sanction) commitment to each other.
Before meeting Zhu, Feixiang is merely a standard proper talented girl. When
the emperor asks for more of her paintings, she, as a gentry woman, does not want her
talent to be spread outside, so she writes a poem instead to insinuate the required
virtue for him. When the girls, including Danyan and the maids, in her household are
playing on the swing in the spring she is the only one who stays away from it. Playing
on a swing in the spring is a typical plot device in male~authored fiction to incite a
romantic affair,323 so her choice of not joining them is also considered appropriate
and virtuous. As for killing Bao Wen, who intends to rape the girls, and suggesting
cross~dressing, they are both Danyan's plans and actions, although Feixiang is present
on Danyan's side.
However, we can see how Feixiang and Zhu create autonomous agency for
themselves through their shared passionate relationship after they meet. As we saw
earlier, in her role as a cross-dressed man, Feixing constructs agency for herself: first
in her eroticized gaze and pursuit of a beautiful woman, and then in her role as the
husband whose place is to be served. Murong Zhu, with full consciousness of being a
322 See Widmer, The Beauty and {he Book. In fact, as we can see from the common excuses made by the authorial
persona in {anci for taking time away from household duties to devote to writing, elite women felt they needed to
be defensive when their private interests took them away from family responsibilities. See Hu, Cainil cheye wei
mian.
323 Cheng Huiying uses a series of cliched plot devices, including swinging in the spring, voyeurising the beautiful
girl over the wall, passing poems between lovers, and flirting through music, to satirize the impropriety of
seemingly romantic scholar-beauty stories. While a love affair actually happens after these scenes, the characters
involved are Zhang Cai and the maid Yuzheng, both of whom are portrayed and considered evil and lascivious.
196
woman, is thoroughly aware that the person she loves is another woman, yet she
insists on her right to determine her own marriage. However, her willingness to marry
a fake cross-dressing husband does not stem merely from love. As she explains to
Feixiang:
Ifwe make it public now, two bad things will happen. First, even though my
father is old, ifhe sees how beautiful you are, I am afraid he won't let you go;
second, without a son-in-law, he will go back on his word and marry me to
that barbarian and that would be terrible! Things being what they are, I beg
you to consider our fortune in meeting and to deceive him and assume the
name of husband and wife. Ifwe can all avoid disaster and return to my island
kingdom, I am willing to plan again to send you back [to China].
[".U:~Bt:6pg~*JE9*, ~~M1tf:/l'tz'y: --:#:)CEmP!'\lf~, :6~T 1f])3Z~1t.
A,R~ili~@~~M;=*&T~~,~~nTffi~,.~re~~~3Z
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)jAtr·x~=!5Jf-iH1=l. 0 ;ff~~~~:A*~JcA~ [BJ V::l.'i-&, t~~B~ :rfffmJ :I:~1f])~ 0 ,,]324
Murong Zhu's initial motivation for marrying Feixiang is to escape marriage to an
ugly barbarian husband. She does not justify their relationship in terms of qing, but in
terms of her desire to resist an unwanted arranged marriage even if it means deceiving
her father and consigning herself to a sterile marriage. Her immediate decision to plan
her own fake marriage indicates her desire to take control over her own marriage.
However, as soon as the two are married, Zhu frames their relationship in
terms of qing and her right to be master of her own emotions. When Feixiang later
suggests that Zhu should also marry Guo Lingyun and move into his household so
that the women can be together, Zhu refuses since Guo is not only her rival in
marriage but her military enemy.
324 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 844.
197
Feixiang was shocked: "Then you are decided. You certainly do not feel close
to Lingyun, and it is not important if you do not marry him. But it's just that
you and I have lived together for five years, and our qing has been so deep!
How can we all of a sudden separate again? Wouldn't that make our struggles
up until now meaningless?" After she finished speaking, her tears began to fall.
The Princess laughed, "That is so foolish (chi 1.fu)! Since you are used to living
with me, how can you be so unclear about my feelings? Just because we are
women does not necessarily mean we need to be paired with a man! To be
honest, even if you marry into a neighboring house, I will consider only you
as my husband. Although I won't marry Guo Lingyun, I will of course follow
you into [your husband's household]; all it will take is for you to take control
(zuozhu ff.3=:) and decide to let me stay and provide food. Both my parents
are dead, so I can be master (zizhu EJ 3=:) of my own life. Who can force me
to remarry? I will be happy to be carefree and unrestrained and stay close to
you forever. Not only do you not need to worry about being lonely, but no one
will dare look down on us. Isn't this a great plan superior to yours?"
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~,~~~~ffi~M,R~~~3=:ffiW~~~o~~m~~~3=:,*~m
ft*m~!~m~mmEJ~~~*, ~~~*~~*o~~~~~~.,
'Jj AR/j~!j:~;f§~o a:=j~-~f';'ij55i~, ~~ih\~~JJ1J¥±/L7to ,,]325
When they are discussing Zhu's marriage, qing is in the center of their conversation.
Feixiang concludes their five-year relationship with the word qingshen (qing is deep).
Consenting to Feixiang's definition of their relationship, Zhu points out the chi or
fool ishness of Feixiang's behavior, another central term in the cult of qing. Zhu again
attacks the common conception that qing and marriage have to be between men and
women and insists that her attachment is to Feixiang regardless of their sex.
As Zhu twice emphasizes, the intensity of their feelings for each other morally
empowers them to take agency and assert control over the situation. She not only
325 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1990.
198
claims her own authority (zizhu) over her marriage due to the death of her parents, but
also encourages Feixiang to take control (zuozhu) over their relationship. Zhu.3=: in
Chinese usually means "master, authority, main," with which women were hardly
associated in neo-Confucian late imperial China. According to Daxue, men were the
masters of all five relationships and men are the ones who are supposed to take
control of these relationships by establishing a moral exemplar. This conception is
reinforced by the "Three Followings," according to which women never had anything
to do with control of themselves and their lives were determined by the men, their
fathers, husbands and sons. Under this cultural background, women who intended to
take control of their own lives were usually taken negatively. But the narrator in Feng
shuangfei shows a compassionate positive view of this decision made by the two girls.
The celebration of the girls' zuozhu and zizhu is mostly from Zhu's perspective.
Zhu's status as non-Chinese makes it morally tenable for her to reject orthodox
patriarchal family structures in a way that Feixiang may not. Her identity as
non-Chinese further opens up a space to fantasize about female agency; it is harder to
imagine the scene being sympathetic to readers if it were about a proper Chinese
woman making such a radical claim to her right to self-determination. Ultimately,
close to the end of the land, Feixiang's conventional phallocentric view wins out and
the two women become co-wives in Lingyun's polygamous household, but it is still
noteworthy that Zhu's marriage to Lingyun is also her own decision.326
326 This is also her agency, as well as the author's fantasy, in terms of heterosexual relationships and marriages,
which I have talked about in Chapter III.
199
It is probably not a coincidence that in another lanci, Bi sheng hua, the female
protagonists, Jiang Dehua ~1~$ and Xie Xuexian i~j~'rlll, face a similar situation to
that ofFeixiang and Zhu. After Dehua's true gender identity is revealed, everyone
expects that Xuexian, Dehua's "wife," would marry Wen Shaoxia Jtj>~, Dehua's
fiance together with Dehua, but Xuexian is unwilling to do so because she has her
own agenda of practicing Daoist immortality. Finally, the problem is solved so that
Xuexian goes back to the Jiang household and stays in the garden, without marrying
Shaoxia. Exactly parallel to Zhu, she does not have formal status in the fami ly but is
only considered the "wife" of Dehua. Although Xuexian's relationships with the Jiang
family do not fit into neo-Confucian propriety, the narrator also seems to consider it
acceptable due to the qing, which is realized by Xuexian's parents as qingshen
yizhong (feelings are deep and righteous duty is heavy 'IfWiU(:£), between Dehua and
Xuexian regardless of their sex.327 While persuading her "husband" Dehua, Xuexian
also emphasizes that this time she should be in charge, youwo (rn iJ<.), after the first
marriage when she "could not take control of myself," nan zhucai ()(ti3:::J~JG).328
Feixiang and Zhu are not the only couple of women who desire to stay
together forever as a couple and decide their own marriages in this lanci. While
readers may be highly suspicious of the ambiguous nature of the relationship between
Feixiang and Zhu, the narrator confuses us more by giving another couple as an
327 Qiu Xinru Ji~/C,':ilQ. Bi sheng hUG ~'±.1t, ed. Zhao Jingshen ~:lll:i'* (Henan: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1984),
1049.
328 Qiu Xinru, Bi sheng hUG, 1048.
200
example, Mu Qionghua ¥*~:tt: and Zhen Xiaoya ~;j\!I1t When meeting with
Xiaoya for the first time at a gathering for women only, there is also a depiction of
Qionghua's gaze at Xiaoya:
Although people's predestined relationship is connected in their previous lives,
Lady Mu's gaze was more insightful. As soon as she saw Xiaoya, she liked
her and thought happi Iy, "Everyone praises the good appearance of the Erud ite
(her sister Zhen Daya), but this girl is even more beautiful. She doesn't put on
heavy makeup, nor is she dull like a sculpture made of earth or wood. No
matter how you view her, she is without flaw, and is the only person who can
be considered a beauty. Not only I can't be compared with her, but even Wang
Zhaojun and Yang Guifei would be left in the dust if they stand beside her.
Who says that Xishi is the only city-toppling beauty? If even I am intoxicated
when facing her, then ifmy wild husband sees her, he will be infatuated and
lose his mind and would certainly die from lovesickness. Our unexpected
meeting today must be due to karma from our previous lives. My sister-in-law,
the Heyang Princess, has always liked her elder sister, but in my heart I feel
close to the younger sister.
[A~.!!jLf! IWj:~, 1'*~~A~l~£~)j, ~T /j~ rn 1L,'1I<=P, ji#1~~xJ.:*BiH!j,D·:
Mf$t~±~iWJ~f, 1~~3d;ft~oJ¥lJL7} 0 ~5t.Jj~¥:&~f,z:tn~1*, X~F¥ft:~*!WMZo
)'- TID~* 32.Er':i tJrJc, !J:~A77" "rjU'-i*A 0 *8 }Jt~xtf§ in, 1I1r:~ CE) PI1l51=J
*~, tf-lz: t!Ml\15It ffi1rlj, it8 jffiT J~1~~ 0 fI'lJ1~ f§ )(tM; IL,'M , ~i~if~ JJL!,
~%,~~~~m~ng~,ffi~-~~m~o~~~g*ffi~,ili1r:1W
~~Wl ttl:~ 0 tz!tz!~ 1L,''f~q~ti$, ~JtIL,'!P 1=J:0U§~ 0 ]329
Similar to Feixiang's gaze at Zhu, Qionghua's appreciation ofXiaoya is also
eroticized by the use ofthe language of romantic love. By claiming a predestined
relationship from their former life, Qionghua uses the conventions of scholar-beauty
romances to frame their relationship. Qionghua then compares Xiaoya to the famous
beauties in Chinese history, Wang Zhaojun, Yang Guifei and Xishi, a model of
parallelism often used to depict the scholar's perspective in scholar-beauty romances.
Qionghua's intoxication (xinzui) for this same-sex beauty is further eroticized by her
329 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1389-90.
201
imagining her husband's possible reactions to Xiaoya, setting herself up as parallel to
a man in her qing and desire for Xiaoya. Unable to explain her own obsession with
another woman, Qionghua can only make sense of her feelings as a karmic bond
established in previous lives, again, echoing the predestined relationship so common
to scholar-beauty romances. Karmic power in women's writings in late imperial China
often seems to be a convenient and useful means for women to legitimize their
unorthodox thoughts. In her prose, "Record of Past Karma," Ji Xian *91~ (1614-1683)
also gives a similar religious excuse, karma from her previous life and Buddhist
practice to make up for her sin, to reject her husband in her bed.330
Though both of them are dressed as women, Qionghua's quick and direct
response to her feelings for Xiaoya displays her strong opinion on this issue and her
will to manipulate their relationship. She initiates a plan to swear sisterhood before
the moon. Furthermore, in so doing, she abruptly asks Xiaoya to stay with her forever:
The lady said, "The White Maiden is above. Your disciple Mu Qionghua now
swears to the Heavens that I and Zhen Xiaoya will be sisters although we have
different surnames. We agree to three conditions: First, we will always help
each other in difficulties; Second, we will be honest with each other and never
hide anything; Third, we live together when we are alive and share the same
tomb when we are dead. If I break this pledge at any time, the Heavens and
the earth shall know it and ghosts and gods shall kill me."
[~A~i1[: "~~tLt, 5B-=f¥;t:~:t£~l::j1{/J\~iHA7v~$l'tfJE, X1~JLtfo
~~~--:m-~*ffi~,~~~-;m=~MRm,~.~~; m·-~
x /PJm, Y"Ex /PJ7\:o 1,lQ~~)Hf:f¥;:t, ~~i17C~~, 7~JiR ~9;Q, *f~~~o ,,]331
330 The story is translated by Grace Fang, in Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese His/ory, ed.
Susan Mann and Yu-yin Chneg (Berkeley: University of California Press, 200 I), 135-46.
331 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1403.
202
The first two promises she makes here are quite common among sworn brothers and
sisters. However, the third is unusual among sworn sisters, because women all know
that they have no control over their destinies since they will ultimately marry a man
and belong to another family. Xiaoya also realizes that staying together, alive or dead,
is impossible for two married women unless they marry the same man. This action is
very unexpected for Qionghua because she is such a shrewish wife who until this
point has prohibited her husband from having any relationship, sexual or not, with
another woman. Furthermore, it was not considered proper to ask a girl from a
scholar's family, although her family is poor, to be a concubine, a status far below
primary wife. This is also Xiaoya's concern for herself. Throughout the process of
pledging to each other, Qionghua is the initiator who pushes Xiaoya. Xiaoya seems to
be quite reluctant, "(Yishao and Qionghua are) predestined to be a good couple, who
love me as soon as they meet me for no reason" (x1:-X1:iitx~, xftiffi- J7~A~·A
~).332 However, she still agrees to pledge sisterhood with Qionghua because of the
Goddess's prophet, which, as I argue in Chapter 3, is merely an excuse to fulfill her
romantic love.
Worth noting are the terms that the narrator uses to describe the relationship
between Qionghua and Xiaoya. As shown above, Xiaoya considers the feelings of
both Yishao and Qionghua for her as "ai." So does her maid, Hanmei, who comments
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1404.
203
on their relationship being one of"xiang 'ai," or mutual 10ve,333 the same term used to
describe the relationship between Feixiang and Zhu. By using the same terms, the
narrator is possibly implying that there is no difference in the nature of the love
between Yishao and Qionghua or between Feixiang/Zhu and QionghualXiaoya.
While Yishao's love for Xiaoya is definitely normative heterosexual romantic love, as
I argue, the love between Feixiang and Zhu goes beyond regular same-sex friendship,
as does Qionghua's love for Xiaoya.
Again, as it does to the ambiguous relationships between Feixiang and Zhu,
the narrative also legitimizes the relationships between Qionghua and Xiaoya in terms
of qing aesthetics, by not only using the word ai, but also qing. Although Qionghua
initiates their intimate relationship, Xiaoya finally participates in it willingly. After
Qionghua and Xiaoya have gained mutual trust by revealing Yishao's love and
flirtation with Xiaoya, Xiaoya begins to admire Qionghua's zhencheng ~iJ£, or
sincerity and authenticity:
Even though Miss Zhen thought highly of herself, she couldn't help being
convinced by (Qionghua's) sincerity (zhencheng). She acknowledged
(Qionghua) again at that time, "My elder sister, your deep love for me
(shenqing) is truly extraordinary. I was too stupid to understand and took
myself as a guest. Now that I believe you, there is an ancient idiom, 'One can
die without regret if he gains a person who knows him (zhiji), , how can I talk
about things according to worldly customs. Today it is decided that I will live
with you until my hair turns white, and I will never dare to break my promise
in life or death." Lady Mu overjoyed, "Since you have faith in me, I can be at
ease in carrying out my plan (xingshi)."
[1f~IG' rI"':J~/J\~lL /f~ rnIG'~lt~JTX?~ 0 ':3111)8 Q ~J~t~j: "$i$$i$¥3iH~ l~f/f~}L 0
/H(*mJ ,~~:1dllif, ionm~ 3 ~Jil~ 0 Jl:t 81 ~5t B'G';f§1~, [~A1'rii 'xr fk1
]]] Ibid.
204
~9;Q 13, JE7CPJt~', ]a PJj£Ndft1~IJ~o B-fi[q]l*4- BfE, JE1=./f'It~~M
1S 0 "[xA:Al=m: "~~~)tP~.t§1~, ~~J¥Jt~tJJj,c,\1T1fT 0 ,,]]334
Xiaoya's response to Qionghua's authentic love is exactly the same as that of the
lovers in male-authored cult of qing fiction. When one shows authentic love for
another person and the other person also has authentic passions, regardless of their
gender, both will repay the authentic love and consider each other as zhiji, such as Jia
Baoyu and Lin Daiyu in Honglou meng and Mei Ziyu and Du Qinyan in Pinhua
baojian. This is exactly what happens to Xiaoya, who refers to Qionghua as her zhiji.
Therefore, Xiaoya can transcend worldly concerns about her status as a concubine or
that the two women have unusual feelings for each other.
Their qing seems to be the crucial motivating factor for these two women to
obtain and expand their agency. Qionghua, as the first wife, of course has the
authority to carry out her plan (xingshi) to take a concubine for her husband. She
executes her agency within the allowed region in a patrilineal family to fulfill her own
wish, which is to stay together with a beautiful woman she sincerely loves. On the
other hand, she respects Xiaoya's decision on her own marriage although her adopted
parents should have full power over it. In this sense, the cult of qing only empowers
Qionghua to make the effort to convince Xiaoya's parents to agree to this ignoble
marriage, but also, more importantly, empowers Xiaoya to take control over her own
marriage and therefore to gain agency over her own life.
334 Cheng. Feng shuangfei, 1405.
205
Conclusion
This chapter displays the pure yin world in the fictional world of Feng
shuangfei. From a female perspective, instead of being dangerous or disastrous,
female homosociality is completely acceptable and desirable. The long-neglected
female same-sex desire is portrayed in the notion of authentic qing, a celebrated value
among literati in late imperial China. It poses no threat to the orthodox Confucian
values because it ambiguously erases the physical intimacy, but instead emphasizes a
spiritual bonding between women. Moreover, as the female author perceives it, this
spiritual bonding between women enhances their desire to pursue their autonomy in
the late imperial patriarchal China. Therefore, th is yin world in the fictional Feng
shuangfei is depicted as positive to both mainstream patriarchal order and
marginalized female subjectivity.
The female author can be considered manipulative since she chose female
same-sex desires as the venue to implant the idea of female subjectivity. On the one
hand, since it is common in xiaoshuo fiction that male writers imagine a harmonious
polygamous family, it is easy for the male audience to overlook a subtle change of
emphasis on the values promoted by the female author. Therefore, the land can still
pass as an orthodox and entertaining text in order to get published. On the other hand,
a female homosocial community is also a common fantasized theme in
female-authored land. For the female audience, it may not be so hard to realize the
subtle change from friendship to ambiguous same-sex desires. Therefore, the desire
206
for staying together forever, which was never achievable or realistic between female
friends in late imperial China, makes more sense and calls for women readers'
awareness of their subjectivity and agency.
In this chapter, we have made the fascinating discovery that marriages are no
longer something to restrain women, but something that women can make use of for
their own sake. Unlike women in Chapter 2 who try all means to pursue happiness
through subtly making decisions on their own marriages, the women noted in this
chapter use marriages as a device to pursue their happiness. In some sense, the women
discussed in this chapter reach a higher level of autonomy because they realize that a
traditional heterosexual marriage cannot necessarily determine their happiness. In
terms of self-conciousness, they obviously are clearer about what they really want and
what happiness is for them. This is especially true for the two first wives, Feixiang
and Qionghua, who could not make decisions on their own marriages.
These revelations lead directly to my next chapter on these two ideal primary
wives. Although they cannot demonstrate their autonomy in making decisions
concerning their own marriage, they do have more power in their households as first
wives. After discussing how they successfully obtain happiness as subjects, I will look
at how the narrative from the female author's perspective celebrates their powers and
autonomy and considers them as ideals.
- --------_._--------
207
CHAPTER VI
VIRTUOUS WIFE AND SHREWS:
RE-ESTABLISHING A NORMATIVE ORDER
This chapter will discuss how the author portrays the two extreme types of
women, virtuous wives and shrews, common images in male writers' works. The
female writer, Cheng Huiying, creates a series of lovely women, Mu Qionghua,
Murong Zhu, and Zhang Feixiang, to subvert the negative stereotype of shrews and
the rigid stereotype of virtuous women. As the author indicates, both the shrews,
Qionghua and Zhu, and the virtuous woman, Feixiang, end up being desirable for the
men and their families. These different perspectives from the female writer suggest
her tacit subversion of patriarchal literary and social norms and stereotypes of women.
While both shrews and virtuous wives are desirable in a different way in this lanci
than those in male-authored fiction, the author is celebrating and appreciating
women's agency and individuality by reinterpreting these lovable women.
The Desirable Shrews
Shrews are always the center of criticism in male writers' works. As Keith
McMahon argues, firstly, shrews are known as pofu O.£~=l, scattering women),
literally translated as "scattering women." They spill their temper uncontrollably so
that men lose face or are even frightened. These fierce women are also called hanju
208
et~9"'1, fierce women). Secondly, shrews are known as yinfu (¥¥ 9"'1, lascivious women),
in which yin U¥, lust) has symbolic meanings of flooding and polluting po. Both
types are opposites of the idea of "nourishing Iife.,,335 The spectrum of shrews
includes jealous women, duju (tlf!~=!). Jealous wives are usually both irritable and
lascivious. They always compete with other women for men's sexual attention and
favors. 336
There are plenty of shrew images in male-authored fiction and jealous wives
are also one of the most popular images of women, who can fully display the
destructive power of women and the failure of men's self-cultivation. Pan Jinlian m
~~ in Jin Ping Mei is a typical shrew, who exemplifies all the terms used to
describe shrews, poju, hanju, yinju, and dufu. She is so jealous that she is
bad-tempered and never fails to scold and curse her peers, Ximen Qing's [ffi ntt
other wives and sexual partners; at the same time, she is the lewdest woman in the
novel and is sexually insatiable and plays every trick to enjoy sex. Xue Sujie W¥~~l3.
in Xingshi yinyuan zhuan (Mtl:f:vlElt~Ht Marriage Bonds to Awaken the World) is also
another example of an uncontrollable shrew with destructive energy, in terms of
neo-Confucian values.337 The famous shrew with whom most female writers and
readers are most familiar is probably Wang Xifeng I~~JA. in Honglou meng. Capable
JJ5 See McMahon, Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists, 55-57.
JJ6 Ibid, 58-65. Also see Epstein, Competing Discourses, 120-149.
337 See Epstein, Competing Discourses, 125-26.
209
as Xifeng is, she is still depicted as jealous, ill-tempered, and manipulative, becoming
one of the major destructive forces to the Jia family.
There are two broad types of solutions for the shrew problem in male-authored
fiction. The first one is containment of the woman through harsh punishment,
infertility or death. Pan Jinlian is infertile in every relationship and ends up being
killed by the hero, Wu Song !itt,,;.. Xue Sujie never gives birth to a son and dies from
sickness. Although we are unclear about the author's real plan for Wang Xifeng's
ending, it is clear that the poem and the song about her in Chapter 5 suggests her
miserable fate and death and she actually does die from sickness in the popular
120-chapter version. Through the desolate deaths of these powerful women, we can
see the fear of the male authors and their narrative of reconstruction of an orthodox
social order.
The second type of solution to the problem of shrewishness is male triumph
over the threat of a powerful woman. In this type, Keith McMahon concludes, these
male-authored fictions end with three general solutions: the man realizes the
predestined fate between himself and his wife, accepts his fate and tries to cultivate
himself to avoid the same fate in his future lives, such as in Xingshi yinyuan zhuan;
the man cures the jealousy of his wife by legendary medicine or food, such as in
Liaodu geng (fftlflJt, The Jealousy-curing Soup); the man transcends the mundane
210
desire for sex, such as in Papo jing ('ta~~, Sutra of Wife-fearing) appended at the
end ofCu hulu (Mi5Jjp, Gourd ofVinegar).338
However, from the stories of the shrews in Feng shuangfei, we see a different
standard and value accorded these women. There are two representative shrews, Mu
Qionghua and Murong Zhu in this land. Although the personal traits of their
husbands are totally different,jengliu ()X\.rfrE, dissolute) and orthodox, the two wives
share some identical characteristics of shrews. Since usually there are no yinfu as
important characters in land, du Oealousy) and han (fierceness) are the major
qualities to identify the shrews in this lanci.339 By establishing these shrewish images
as positive figures, the author celebrates women's powers in their domestic lives and
appreciates them as individuals, instead of criticizing them through stereotypes.
The first shrew is Qionghua, Zhang Yishao's first wife. She is known for
jealousy and Yishao is known to fear his wife, although this reputation is intentionally
spread by Yishao.340 Everyone in the fictional world of Feng shuangfei knows that
Qionghua is ajealous wife. Yishao tells Qionghua, "People outside say that you are
jealous and I am afraid of my wife" (5'r:iiIA iJt1$9? /8., iJt:JJda ~). Lingyun, the
model of the orthodox male, also considers her "fierce and jealous" ([>9 9?). Mu
Mengxiong ¥*~fl~, Qionghua's elder brother, comments that she is "arrogant and
m See McMahon, Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists, 59-60.
))'i Sometimes there are some very minor female characters that can fit into the type of yinju, for example, Wo
Lianggui '!Ji. liHJll in Bi sheng hua ~!£ft. However, it seems they are portrayed as a negative stereotype character
in the work, and they never occupy a considerable position in tanci. On this point, it seems female writers and
male writers agree that lewdness is the ultimate negative characteristic in which women should never indulge.
340 Yishao spreads this reputation so that he can use his "jealous" wife as an excuse, for example, the first time he
rejects Bao Xiang'er's request to elope.
-------------
211
jealous" (!lJftlfl).341 Yishao's mother also agrees that Qionghua is a 'Jealous wife" (tlfl
J.:).342 Mu Lei, Qionghua's father, also calls her ''jealous'' (tlfl ,I'd,) when talking to his
wife about their daughter. 343
As a first wife, she is considered jealous from three perspectives. First, she is
very sensitive to her husband's interest in other women. Right after their marriage,
Qionghua reads a poem by Yishao and realizes that Yishao has two lovers outside, "I
sympathize with the people in the jade towers at two places; they are lovesick, and I
do not know how many tears they have shed" O-!j~j7'}Bt.=li.~A, t§M!,m~~n$
y).344 People in jade towers usually refer to women, while the word 'Jade tower" is
often related to desire.345 The details of being "lovesick" and "shedding tears" are
obviously both related to love affairs. Recognizing from the poem that her husband
may have some illegitimate liaisons with other women, Qionghua questions her
husband intensely. Her exclusion of other women from her relationship with her
husband demonstrates her jealous attempts to control his sexuality.
Moreover, Qionghua is very aware of the threat from the maids. As the
mistress of the household, Qionghua has the power to restrain her beautiful maids, so
that Yishao cannot flirt with them or sneak into their bedrooms. Because sexual
341 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1480.
342 Cheng, Feng shuang(ei, 2384.
343 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2438.
344 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, J352.
345 Wang Guowei once pointed out that in Honglou meng, the "jade" in Baoyu's name can be read as a pun on
desire. Maram Epstein, in her book Competing Discourses, developed his view and interpreted nuanyu lou (~'li
~, warm jade tower) in Yesou Puyan (!f~Ilij~n as a warm tower of desire.
212
interest in women is one ofYishao's personal traits, he enjoys the fun of flirting with
the maids even though he does not really want to have sex with them. When
Qionghua is adamantly against his flirting with them, he makes fun of her when
fighting with his wife:
Although Yishao loved his wife to the utmost, he also blamed her for being
jealous. Without any reason, he insisted on playing tricks on her. Coincidently
it happened that there were four maids in the room ... When the lady looked
somewhere else now and then, he would pretend to be lustful. He either held
the maids' necks, or stepped on their bound feet. His eyes stared at their
breasts, and his fingers stroked their faces ... It made the lady have no idea of
what to do. She had to watch him all the time, so that her eyes burned. At
night, she was so afraid that he would go out secretly that she dismissed the
maids to their own rooms and then bolted their doors. She would also then go
lock their rooms from the outside by herself, and only then could she allow
herself to sleep peacefully.
[~j>~~li1}~ , X t¥:fiE~' i~dzQ LI:~!lf1 J~\ IJ£ 0 :ff2 fffiij~~:iJ" fiE~ 0 it-f5-ffj r=p-----------
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~~~~~W~o 1?Z*X~fiE5fLd±J, J!~V3JJHl ~I'=] 0 5'riTIl*~Jfl:.'fffi, 1J~
JJJt~fi §j ~B~o ]346
This is the typical portrayal of the relationship between Yishao and Qionghua as
husband and wife. It is impossible to say whether Qionghua's jealousy is the reason
for Yishao's tricks or vice versa. Yishao has plenty of physical contact with the maids
and it exacerbates Qionghua's jealousy. For her part, she is like any other shrew who
commonly appears in male writers' works, watching her husband all the time and not
allowing him to flirt with other women. Qionghua wisely uses her power to limit the
maids, instead of her husband, in order to restrain him.
34(, Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1361
213
Lastly, when Qionghua learns that her husband has already had sexual
relationships with other women, it is difficult to pacify her. Yishao has to get
Qionghua's permission, as the first wife,to take concubines, so she uncompromisingly
rejects Bao Xiang'er to enter their household. When she knows that Yishao has
married Xiang'er secretly and that they even have a son, she is so angry that no one,
even her parents-in-law, can persuade her to take them into the household until her
father, General Mu, vents her anger for her by scolding and punishing Yishao.
Moreover, when Qionghua and Xiang'er are both pregnant, Yishao has sex with
Ruancui ~¥ and Jiaohong M~I, the two maids whom Qionghua had given to
Xiaoya, and later he initiates a secret relationship with Ruoyan ~~~, one of
Qionghua's maids. However, Qionghua only allows Yishao to take Jiaoying M1ll;,
Qionghua's senior maid, as his official concubine, "Taking Jiaoying as a concubine
was reported to the parents, and Mrs. Zhang and Lady Zhen both gave Jiaoying a lot
of marriage gifts. Taking Ruoyan as a concubine wasn't told to everyone. This is
called pronouncing praise and blame through not speaking" CM1ll; l&~P1, *'f IwJ '¥1:.~
sA, ~j;)~J{xAiFAiq:$m:Y,~o ~~~zjrJ;J, 3f~~ ~ i!dJf13iJA, J3:1~~:\lttE+*
B1.!~UL ).347 Ruancui and Jiaohong's status in the family is exactly the same as
Ruoyan's. In response to both cases of taking a woman from outside or taking maids
from inside the household as concubines, Qionghua shows her strong will against her
husband's dissolution and only yields to the most minimal degree. She is never
347 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2476.
2]4
generous nor virtuous enough to allow him to take any woman he likes as his
concubine without her resistance.
Not only is she jealous, she is also a fierce shrew. Although we seldom see her
fierceness depicted in this lanci, we cannot overlook Lingyun's comment that she is
"fierce and jealous." As the embodiment of orthodoxy, Lingyun can be looked upon
as providing a final moral judgment in the lanci. When Qionghua knows that her
maids have a secret sexual relationship with Yishao, she not only scolds her maids,
but also beats them. He Danyan 1iiJ~iR~!I, Yishao's adopted sister, narrates the whole
event to Lingyun:
[Qionghua] scolded and beat the maids ... Ruancui and Qionghong kneeled
down and cried with their hands covering their faces and their hair in a mess.
Qionghua still carried a whip to beat them, and her eyebrows raised like the
Star of Killing.
[~~ '( .~J5Ln .... ..M\~\ $i:nt~1ffB1~L iWfl$1tjjjJ5L~ -ii' 0 mtElt!3 m
~n, 1W-\£x~J§1~~J!L ]348
Qionghua cannot be considered a shrew if she does no more than beat the
maids, because as a mistress she has every right to punish the maids if they commit
adultery. However, more importantly, she fights with her social superiors when they
are wrong. Towards the end of the work, when Yishao's secret marriage with Bao
Xiang'er is revealed, her fury reaches a climax. Before meeting Yishao, she first
scolds his teacher, He Shiwei 1iiJttt~, who had helped him hide Xiang'er, "Such a
great teacher! ... His fame has already become infamy" C~~.l!:~~ 0~T$3lYiji......11~
34R Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2195.
215
B~~;g:@:).349 Then she learns immediately that it is her brother who had provided
the garden for Yishao to hide Xiang'er, so she berates her elder brother, "You are an
official and read books, but you don't know ritual and reputation at all ... 1won't Jet
you off tomorrow, or even the day after tomorrow" (-7§-1$];] 'B ill -w;-t50 fL5Z.Ff;g~+
Aft ~iJtPY~IJ aA lj!jJ, J§ El ill/f":n)(:1$ 0 ).350 As a shrew, she does not leave any space
for her social superiors to save face when they have done the wrong things, but
instead denounces them directly in front of their families until they cannot argue.
As a typical shrew, Qionghua does not even listen to her parents-in-law when
she is furious. Lack of filial piety is always one ofthe harshest charges against shrews,
as in the case of Xue Sujie in Xingshi yinyuan zhuan. Although Qionghua does not go
as far as Sujie, who abuses her parents-in-law, her disobedience can also be
considered unfilial. Due to Yishao's misdeeds, Qionghua goes back to her natal family
and does not want to go back to the Zhang household. Yishao's parents send a servant
to take her back, but she tells the servant: "The old master and mistress are kind
people. They must be cheated by his clever words ... but I won't be taken in" (~4'r,
~).351 Thinking of their words as traps, Qionghua definitely shows little respect to
her parents-in-law. Furthermore, she has the servant repeat to her parents-in-law that
she will not go back home unless Yishao and Xiang'er explain the whole story and
349 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2378.
350 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2380-2381.
351 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2398.
216
apologize. A filial daughter-in-law will never ignore her parents-in-law's wishes or
leave them home alone, staying at her natal family instead, even though it is her
husband who has done wrong, because she knows that serving the in-laws is part of
her essential role. In response to her strong attitude, her father-in-law can do nothing
but comment on her as a "valiant and masculine woman" (#5Ht~1) and being "brutal
and unreasonable" (~SH~).352
Qionghua fits the image of a shrew in every way. However, she is not a
negative character in the Feng shuangfei, but instead is a positive exemplar of a
woman who is able to discipline her husband. First of all, unlike the universal
criticism of shrews in male writers' works, the narrator defends and explains
Qionghua's shrewishness, especially her jealousy, from the perspective of her
husband's father, the dissolute Zhang Jing 5it~:
It doesn't matter. There is no girl in the world who is jealous if she and her
husband are not close. The jealousy only comes from their lingering love.
[5*0 JZ.m"3GWJp~ , A1!UttJ.1tt!t rSJ, X~=HR iEJTE@)j'pp, PPIL,' J-U'-J~~J!
m0 ]353
In this way, jealousy is positively rooted in qing. Since the narrator treats the values of
qing between men and women in a positive light as I discussed in Chapter 3, jealousy
is understandable and forgivable in the cases involving qing.
Moreover, the narrative indicates that what causes jealousy is not women's
lack of generosity or virtue, but men's lack of virtue and the ability to cultivate
themselves (xiushen 1Ji~) and regulate their family (qijia ft~). When Yishao's
352 Ibid.
353 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2416.
217
mother, Lady Qian t~xA, learns of his illicit relationship with Bao Xiang'er and of
Qionghua's anger towards it, she, as another shrewish woman, criticizes her son for
creating problems in the family:354
Now you have a beautiful wife and a pretty concubine, enjoying a golden
youth. Why are you so greedy, loving another girl out of the household? Now
your secret relationship is revealed, and it becomes a widespread joke. You
cannot hold up your principles as a husband. No wonder you have ajealous
wife in the bedroom.
[J~1f~Wf H 'i'~, JXt1t/f~ ff1- d>~~ 0 1-J iiiIEti'iX1ftJCBt? gi19rJ ±JI?ift:~ jJljH 0
1Vl~r4-*b¥1iSt, -:i:~~tp;j:iJ1Hi]m:o § */f~1Ex~~H~, xit¥:lljm1ftlf1~ 0 ]355
This logic fits perfectly into the requirement of men in orthodox Confucian values
suggested by Daxue (Great Learning :*:'7:) that they rectify their mind in order to
cultivate themselves and then to regulate their families. 356 It is a very common theme
in Chinese fiction that if a man cannot keep his house in order, it indicates "a
corresponding disequilibrium (luan I5L) at each other level of the system.,,357
Interestingly, it is now a woman using this logic to legitimate another woman's
shrewishness. Therefore, the narrator turns the common criticism on shrewish women
in male-authored fiction into a criticism on dissolute men in the tanci.
In this sense, Qionghua's jealousy appears to have a certain power to regulate
the family. She never rejects the reputation of a "jealous wife," and even seemingly
accepts it as a way to keep the family in order. She does not allow Yishao to marry
354 She scolds Zhang ling for having sex with the beautiful boy, Bai Wushuang, when ling goes back home in
Chapter 21 (Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 964), and ling does not even fight back.
3% In Daxue, it reads "once one's mind has been rectified, one's self can be cultivated; once one's self has been
cultivated, one's family can be ordered" ('IYiErmJ§~1li'.~1~rmJ§~1r.~1rrmJ§OOi'tl).See Zhu Xi, Sishuji::hu,
2. The translation is from Plaks, Four Masterworks ofMing Novel, 158.
357 Plaks, Four Masterworks of Ming Novel, 158. See pages 156-80 for a lengthy analysis on how Ximen Qing's
family is luan on the very level of the above saying in the Daxue.
218
Xiang'er, but not merely because she is jealous. When she persuades Yishao to give
up Xiang'er, her every word conforms to ritual, "The physiognomy of this person is
low ... Her stepfather is a eunuch. Her upbringing cannot be as strict and orthodox as
rJE~Fifo ).358 In truth, Xiang'er is the stepdaughter of Liu Jin, an evil eunuch and
Yishao's political enemy, so it will cause trouble for Yishao to ask for her in
marriage.359 What is more important is that Xiang'er never appears to be a chaste and
virtuous woman according to Confucian values. She frequently goes to Yishao's place
with the excuse of staying with her cousin and Lingyun's concubine, Zhang Liyu, but
actually in order to meet with Yishao alone and even request marriage or
elopement,36o Qionghua recognizes Xiang'er's personal traits after meeting and
talking with her, so she rejects Yishao's demand to take Xiang'er into the household
to keep the family in order. Yishao has to admit that Qionghua is reasonable and right,
"After thinking carefully, he recognized that although his wife was jealous, she
To regulate a family, the duties of a mistress are not only to control the quality
of concubines, but also to train the maids. When she becomes aware of her husband's
flirtation with her maids, Qionghua usually makes sure that her husband has little
358 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1451.
359 This actually is the case when Yishao tries to ask for Xiang'er as a concubine. Liu lin demands that Yishao
abandon Lingyun in exchange for Xiang'er, but Yishao is unwilling to betray his sworn brother.
360 See Chapter 11J for more details. Although these behaviors do not conform to Confucian values, I read them as
Xiang'er's subjectivity and agency.
361 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1452.
219
chance to approach the maids. When she stays at home, she locks the maids out at
night; when she returns to her natal family, she brings her maids with her, taking them
away from Yishao. In the relationships between Yishao and the maids, she is more
concerned with the chastity of her maids than with Yishao's loyalty:
Although I have a reputation for jealousy, I ask my own conscience and half
of the jealousy is in order to keep you complete. Your social status is low, but
you will get married in the end. Is it worth hurting yourself before your
marriage? It is for this reason that I am not afraid of people's sneers and am
alert day and night as if I were watching you in prison.
[tttmtlf!J81f;g1~, ?~rm EJ:tE ~I~'IP], -*~~%~~it, m~1~t'&~~~~,
!r~~1'pJ5T.m15JAJ~o ~rm/F'tB}.jJl*, tlHtJ El1i1~L&ljiL ]362
Qionghua makes the above speech after the maids Ruancui and Qinghong tell her that
they have already had sex with Yishao. Half of the reasons that she dares to be looked
upon as jealous is to protect the maids, although we can assume that the other half is
that she is actually jealous. While it can be considered disorder that Ximen Qing and
the servants' wives have sex in Jin Ping Mei, a similar ideology works in this lanci
too given that both are set against the background of Confucian society. Although the
maids are not married women so Yishao can in no way be thought of as notorious as
Ximen Qing, their relationships were still considered illegitimate if the mistress did
not officially recognize the maids' status as concubines. Therefore, Qionghua's
jealousy also serves to protect the reputation ofYishao and the Zhang family, as well
as that of the maids.
Fierceness, another aspect of Qionghua's shrewishness, also helps Qionghua
to keep the family in order. The elders all agree that a strict and fierce wife is good for
](,2 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2412.
220
Yishao so that there will be someone who can discipline him. He Shiwei, Yishao's
master of martial arts, is happy when he learns about Qionghua's personal traits. He
says:
This fellow is not afraid of heaven or earth, nor is he afraid of neither the
emperor nor his father. Before he was afraid of only the Prince Guo; later
Prince Guo left the capital, and he now has no scruples. He is exactly in need
of a strict wife to restrain him, so that I, his master, don't need to worry about
him.
[J.3: A J ... /f-'; 'tB 7:. , r /f' 'I'B:Li!!., tt)lr /]< 'tB~m, tt*/f' 'tEl:)(7A 0 ~ tJJ}!, 'tEll'
~Br,~m~Brilil~,~l'~~~W,K~~l'?m~~~*~*,
{i~/~' i-ij·:JJGJ.3:YflJ11'M'1iE~ II) 0 ]363
Shiwei is one of the people closest to Yishao and also probably the one who
understands him the best. He used to be a villain who did not care much about virtue,
especially sexual propriety, so he can, to some extent, sympathize with Yishao's
dissoluteness. He will never be as orthodox or strict as Lingyun, so he helps Yishao
take Xiang'er as a concubine in secret. But at the same time, he is always able to see
right from wrong, as well as good from evil, because he himself has experienced both.
Even such a person agrees that a wife as strict as Qionghua is perfect for Yishao.
Acquainted with Yishao's fearlessness, Shiwei believes that Qionghua's ferocity is a
good match for Yishao's sense of invincibility because it brings order and balance to
the family.
Parallel to Qionghua, Murong Zhu is another excellent example of a shrew as
concubine. Being a concubine, she does not have much power to control the family
and the behavior of the husband. Usually in male writers' works, a concubine shrew in
363 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1361.
221
a wastrel's family, such as Pan Jinlian, will compete with her rivals in terms of
appearance and sex; ifshe is in an orthodox man's family, she will be disciplined.
However, neither of these two situations arises. Since Lingyun is the ultimate
embodiment of ritual and always shows equality and propriety to all wives, his other
three wives are all virtuous and generous. Murong Zhu is the only shrew in his
household.
Murong Zhu's jealousy is only towards Zhen Daya, because Feixiang, the first
wife, is her beloved sworn sister, and Zhang Liyu, the second wife, is so untalented
and common that she cannot in any means be compared to Feixiang. Therefore, Daya
is her only rival. When she discovers that Lingyun keeps a painting of Daya, she takes
it away as evidence of their secret relationship.364 When Lingyun hears it, he thinks,
"[Her] jealousy must be growing wild" (&\p!tW'1~x.t~1:).365 As Lingyun expects,
Zhu queries him angrily about the painting, and he ponders, "It is troubling that the
woman's jealousy is so deep" Cj'jHI*fi~~W'1~1*).366 This happens when Zhu Jives in
the Guo household but before she agrees to marry Lingyun. Getting along with
Lingyun and Jiving under the same roof with him, Zhu has already fallen in love with
him, so she shows her feeling of insecurity and anger when she is cognizant of the
existence of a potential rival. She herself is also very aware of her jealousy, but she
364 Lingyun painted Daya's likeness himself. Daya does not know about it and it can, therefore, in no way be taken
as evidence of their relationship.
365 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2090.
366 Ibid.
222
also wants to keep her pride. Therefore, she rejects Feixiang's suggestion of marrying
Lingyun:
I lack generosity and can't pretend to be mute or deaf, so I will feel resentment
and enmity and the inner chambers will be perturbed. Rather than being
laughed at by others with a notorious reputation from being jealous and
competitive, I will break off with him now, so that I can still keep my original
authentic nature.
[fi~~&~*.'*~.§~~~Q~~~~~O~,~mX~mT~Q
~Jt: El j§-ilA~, fr?:tE4JrN·tI:LH~, ~;&~~~5tWi~,@, ~r~~~JJG*710tQ ]367
She claims that she is never generous and always resentful, so there is no way for her
to tolerate another woman as talented or beautiful as she sharing her husband.
Although Feixiang finally persuades her to marry Lingyun, the major reason is the
women's shared love and friendship, not Zhu's feelings for Lingyun.
Because of her jealousy, she never easily yields (rang -U:) to others. Yielding is
one of the virtues that a virtuous man or woman should model. 368 However, yielding
is exactly what Zhu lacks. She does not want to marry Lingyun first because Zhang
Liyu, who seems very incapable to her, will rank higher than she in the Guo family,
and she cannot yield such a position to this kind of woman. Her feelings of
competition with Daya are similar. She cannot yield her husband to another talented
woman, nor is she willing to yield the status of the third wife in the Guo household to
another woman until the Empress takes control of everything and makes the final
decision that Daya ranks higher than Zhu when they both marry Lingyun on the same
day.
367 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2189-90.
36R In Rulin waishi, the ritual at the climax of the novel is that of the rangwang, the yielding king.
223
In contrast to Qionghua, Zhu's shrewishness focuses more on fierceness than
jealousy. Right after she marries, others widely recognize Qionghua as ajealous wife,
while Zhu is already recognized by people as a pofu before her marriage.369 Her
identity is a barbarian princess, (man gongzhu jj0±): man can mean "barbarian;"
in this sense it reinforces the fact that she does not know much or care about the
rituals in the Middle Kingdom; man also carries the correlate meaning of "brutal,"
which echoes her fierceness.
First, her personal traits are described as arrogant and irritable. The narrator
never grudges using strong words to portray Zhu's peevish responses, such as qi ("=t,
angry), nao ('r~, angry), he (~, to shout loudly), ma (~, to scold) and cui (P$, to
spit).370 One of the best examples showing her peevishness is her sickness when she
hears of Lingyun's decision to marry her to Yishao. She, at that time, has already
fallen in love with Lingyun, but does not want to marry him because Lingyun had
defeated her in war and Zhang Liyu would be above her in status. She has so much
self-esteem and arrogance that she does not show any love for Lingyun and is angry
that Lingyun, the person she loves, wants to marry her to Yishao. Worried and
indignant, Zhu falls sick and is unable to eat or drink anything and even vomits food,
water and blood.371 No one can pacifY her except for Lingyun. She gets well and
3(,9 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1761.
370 In Cheng, Feng shuangfei, see examples of qi, 1548, 1652, 1712, 1728, 1777, 1784, 2195 etc.; nao, 1548, 1652,
etc.;he,pp.1758, 1772, 2043, 2250, etc.;ma, 1757, J784,etc.;andcui, 1548, 1588, 1713, 1759, 2042, etc.
371 This reminds the readers of Lin Daiyu's sickness when she is mad at Baoyu in Honglou meng. As with Daiyu's
sickness, Zhu's sickness also indicates that she is deeply indulged in qing.
224
starts eating as soon as Lingyun apologizes to her, "The discussion about marriage the
day before was my fault" Ci~ln:l)'5(jfjz..:J, j~J'j~AJ<)f~iJ'<), and admits his true
feelings towards her, "How can my heart be like wood and stone? From now on I will
and fury goes to such as extreme that she cannot be placated without others'
concessions.
Moreover, she is one of the two best female warriors in the novel. She and
Danyan together are entitled "guanjun" (l&~, champions) due to their exceptional
martial arts. Although being a female warrior itself does not necessarily make a
woman fierce, it helps establish Zhu's reputation in this case. Throughout the whole
lanci, she is never reluctant to fight with men, nor is she afraid. When Xianyu Meng
~f-=f~~ sends his troops to ask for Zhu in marriage, she personally kills the soldiers
with her sword.373 When Liu Xiangui )(!j1'd1f£, Liu Jin's adopted son, flirts with her
and tries to marry her by force even when he sees that she dresses as a married
woman, Zhu chases him down and kills him with her two swords.374 After the
eunuchs kill her father, Zhu leads her own army to avenge her father and she, as the
leader of her army, always fights against the male generals of the Middle Kingdom,
including General Mu and Lingyun.375
372 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 846-47.
373 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 846-47.
374 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1558-1560.
375 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1572-1799.
225
Capable in martial arts, she is cruel to her enemies and her inferiors. When
fighting with Liu Xiangui and his servants, "the Princess killed insanely" (0.±7f, tB
T tt) and "crazily" (7f,~ T ).376 It indicates that Zhu sometimes cannot even control
her own ferocious nature when she is involved in fighting. When Lingyun sends Ruyu
to seduce her, she would have killed him if it had not been for Feixiang's interference;
and when she learns that Ruyu is trying to get close to her through a sexual
relationship with her maid, Wuhe ~;IHI~, she immediately kills Wuhe.377 When she
suspects that her maid, Wan Caifang Jj -*: 7J, is having an affair with Yishao, she
interrogates and scolds her right away; and when Caifang pulls out a sword to protest
for her innocence, Zhu is so angry that she whips Caifang and throws her onto the
ground.378 Although maids are usually socially inferior to their mistresses, it is very
common to see close relationships between them in both male-authored fiction and
female-authored tanci.379 But in Zhu's case, as fierce as she is, she shows no mercy
or bonds to her maids, who, as we can assume, continually serve her.
Zhu's lack of compassion is not limited to her enemies and inferiors, but, as a
barbarian princess without the restraint of Confucian values, it incorporates anyone,
even ritual superiors, who have done wrong. When chatting about Qionghua's beating
of her maids due to their flirtation with Yishao, Zhu comments to Feixiang and
Danyan:
376 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1560
J77 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 1743-1760.
37R Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2337-2337.
379 For example, Cui Yingying and Hongniang in Xixiangji and Meng Lijun and Su Yingxue in Zaisheng yuan.
226
" ...This kind of person (the maid) should not only be scolded, but also be
beaten. Xiaoya is too gentle, and Lady Mu only beats the maids when angry. It
suggests that she is not very capable."
Danyan said, "True! If it were you, a fierce goddess, you would catch your
husband and punish him by having him kneel on the ground and beat him until
his tendons broke."
The Princess replied, "Exactly! Otherwise, what is the point of showing your
temper?"
[" ......i!~A~~-rll~~, TfD£Li~nJ!J\m1H*7CJEi~L ~1JQi!{fLY*xA,
~*fUEY.n, PIJl',@:~~~1f~~o "*:tm~r!i~~~$"~ili! ;g:P~f~ff]\i!~t$,
£,~pHf)\f1:*X±, 'WWB~±~nitfT}ffi 0 "0±@]~"~~~~l1:t! /f~p~1fiJm~~
'* 0 ,,]380
Assuming her husband is like Yishao, Zhu insists that the wife should punish the
husband instead of the maids for his extramarital relationships. She takes it for
granted that a wife is entitled to be mad at her husband's disloyalty and firmly claims
a wife's right to punish a dissolute husband. As a barbarian princess, Zhu ignores the
rules that a virtuous wife should be demure and always listen to her husband and
encourage him to take concubines. What is more, her claim of the right to punish her
husband seems unthinkable even to the Chinese He Danyan, another ofthe two best
female warriors, although they alone share the qualities of bravery and cruelty and
willingness to kill people.
Interestingly, the orthodox husband, Lingyun, does not discipline or cure his
shrewish wife, but to some extent indulges her shrewishness. Zhu does not bring
chaos (luan I5L) to the household as might be expected from the norms of
male-authored fiction, such as Pan Jinlian in Jin Ping Mei, but brings piquancy to
everyone's domestic life. For example, when Zhu shows anger or jealousy towards
380 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2195.
227
Bai Ruyu, Lingyun not only does not argue against her misunderstanding of their
relationship but enjoys her show ofjealousy. The omniscient narrator reads into
Lingyun's mind:
Because my wife (Feixiang) and my concubine (Liyu) are both virtuous, our
household lacks the smell of vinegar among the seven domestic supplies. It is
for the best that she adds this flavor to keep the romantic nature of the
bedroom.
[lElE1:*~/J\~$'Bf~~, --t1tt*n&~W, ~~El31m~-~~, ~tM')X\jHJF
1'fJ 1% 0 ]381
Although he is an orthodox Confucian, Lingyun seems not to be completely satisfied
with his marital relations. His wife and concubine obey the Confucian teachings for
virtuous women and behave generously without jealousy. This should be an ideal
family for any man, but Lingyun appears to feel that exemplary virtue can be
monotonous. Zhu's jealousy fulfills his desire for domestic passions. Although Zhu
causes a lot of trouble in his domestic situation, Lingyun delights in her jealousy, need
and love for him,just as Danyan comments, "I[[his wife and concubines] often
fight. .. [he] will voluntarily take the consequences for his dissolute behavior" (;g:p!:\
:'i!U]"\~ oor IfflJ •.... .}x\'1!JUWill'.1!jf~ ~).382 By associating this shrewish subplot with the
orthodox Lingyun, the author is probably insinuating the ironically hypocritical nature
of men, who demand generous wives and an orderly family on the one hand and
romantic excitement from unconventional women on the other hand.
381 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2076.
Lingyun at this time has not married Daya and Zhu. He just consummated his marriages with Feixiang and Liyu.
"The seven things" is from a Chinese idiom since the Song Dynasty, "There are seven things when you open a
door: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea" (H n-t11J=$. #I§*¥1Ei\1i:iimt~, ). "Open a door" here
means to keep a household running.
382 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2259.
228
Lovely Virtuous Women
Virtuous women are another classic type of women in fiction. A virtuous
woman is one who is in accord with orthodox neo-Confucian values, including loyalty,
chastity, filial piety, and generosity. She is usually loyal to the country, loyal to her
husband and his family, able to manage the household, and never jealous of his
concubines. She devotes her life to chastity, but at the same time encourages her
husband to take more concubines to continue the family line. To be a virtuous woman,
she is not only a good wife, but also a good mother, who teaches all the orthodox
Confucian values to her sons and daughters. In Ming-Qing fiction, these virtuous
women are always highly praised and rewarded with a good ending, namely longevity,
fertility, and the prosperity of the family.
Virtuous women are everywhere in Ming-Qing fiction. The best example
among all is Lady Shui *;1(A, the protagonist Wen Suchen's Jt~h{ mother, in
Yesou puyan (Jr.!lSI~, A Country Codger's Words of Exposure). She is a
"Confucian matriarch" (-1:.£1:) "as the symbolic center of the novel's Confucian
world" who always nurtures the "Confucian superman" Suchen with orthodox
Confucian guidance.383 The most well-known example from fiction for women
during the late Qing is probably the talented and virtuous Xue Baochai ~*'i:f){' in
Hong/au meng who has a good son to reinvigorate the Jia family. Another good
383 Maram Epstein discusses Lady Shui as a "Confucian matriarch" in her Competing Discourses, 237, 236.
Keith McMahon defines Wen Suchen as a "Confucian superman" in his Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists, J50.
229
example, as Keith McMahon suggests, is the "overly virtuous wife" Van Mengqing ~
~9~P in Lin Lan Xiang ** =:: if (The Six Wives of the Wastrel Geng).384 Only she
among the six wives has a son to continue the Geng family line although she dies at
an early age. From a male author's perspective, virtuous women deserve a good
ending like these female characters.385
Zhang Feixiang obviously fits in this general category of virtuous women.
Married to the ultimate orthodox man, she is supposed to be considered the ultimate
virtuous wife in the tand. She turns out to deserve the title because she successfully
manages the Guo household, shows no jealousy towards Guo's concubines, and gives
birth to a son to continue the Guo family line. However, Feixiang is constructed as an
ideal wife not merely because she fits into the category of virtuous women, but, more
importantly, because Feixiang is different from the stereotypes of virtuous women in
male-authored fiction. While assuming the role of a virtuous wife, Feixiang is also
literarily talented and a follower of qing. She also conforms to an androgynous ideal
in public and domestic lives, displaying no apology for doing things with a certain
degree ofmasculinity. Establishing such an ideal wife indicates the author's
perspectives on, and celebration of, the agency and powers of virtuous wives.
First of all, unlike most virtuous women in male-authored fiction, Feixiang is
never a morally strict virtuous woman. Instead, she bears some characteristics of a
384 McMahon, Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists, 205-206.
385 Although Baochai's marriage is unhappy, she has a healthy and successful son in the popular 120-chapter
edition, which can be considered the best reward for a virtuous woman.
230
beautiful talented woman in a companionate marriage, including qing and chi
(obsession) and literary talent. Although companionship between men and women in
marriage was nothing new in late nineteenth-century fiction, there is still a subtle
difference in Feixiang's case in this lanci authored by a woman.386 Companionate
marriage in male-authored fiction usually follows one of three possible patterns: first,
the wife is a perfect companion in terms of both qing and literary talent, but she fails
to follow Ii and be a virtuous wife and daughter-in-law because of her obsession with
qing, as in the case ofYun in Fusheng liuji 1¥1:/\ i.G (Six Records of a Floating Life);
or second, she is merely a concubine who does not need to care about the
management of the household and therefore has plenty of time and freedom to devote
to intellectual activities and she shares some aspects of her husband's interests, as in
the case of Wen Suchen's concubines in Yesou puyan; the third pattern is that she is a
talented and emotional companion before marriage, but after marriage her romantic
traits fade and she becomes one of the standard virtuous wives mentioned above, such
as in Mudan ling (t±ft-¥-, Peony Pavilion) and most scholar-beauty novels.
Feixiang can in no way fit into any of these patterns. First, Feixiang is always
an adherent of qing, but her relationship with her husband is not based on qing, but on
Ii. Feixiang's feelings for Murong Zhu are consistently described in terms of qing and
chi, not only by the narrator, but also by all the speaking subjects around her.387
JK6 Keith McMahon also mentions this in his book, Misers, Shrews. and Polygamists, when talking about Yesou
puyan and Lin Lan Xiang.
3K7 For details, see Chapter V of my dissertation.
For examples of Feixiang's qing, see Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1543, 1547, 1782,2034, 2233, etc.; for examples of
231
However, as a typical virtuous wife, her relationships with Lingyun can only be
described in terms of Ii, propriety. Before her marriage, unlike a girl longing for a
romantic heterosexual relationship, of whom the most extreme and popular example is
Du Liniang, Feixiang, adapting herself to the Confucian ideal, has already seen
through the nature of polygamy and fully understands her proper position in a
polygamous family. When Danyan talks about the fake marriage between Feixiang
and Murong Zhu, Danyan believes that the marriage only benefits Lingyun, bringing
him a beautiful concubine. Feixiang responds,
When one gets rich and noble, it is very common to have several concubines.
Even if there weren't such a person [Murong Zhu], 1can't guarantee that he
[Lingyun] wouldn't take concubines in his life time ... 1 am confident that I am
not stingy and will definitely not be jealous and fight in the inner chambers.
[~A~7~m, =~~~~~~m; ~~~~~A, ~*~~~~+~
~[il~ ...... §j 1*Jj1!Jc.\~~ii9F, tj(/f~tIJ*'14-tJ?~I\fflI*Jm 0 ]388
Obviously, Feixiang is very clear about what awaits her in her marriage.
What is clearer for her is how to be a good first wife by being generous. Because of
her awareness of marriage as part of proper Confucian rites, she does not shy away
from talking about it. While she is with Murong Zhu on the Three Immortal Island,
she is missing home and eager to go back to China. Zhu thinks that Feixiang wants to
return because she desires to marry a man, and Feixiang replies with womanly virtue,
"My man is arranged by my parents" (ftErJ~TI:.)(-BJ:~~jI!jcB<J).389Influenced by
people commenting on Feixiang's chi, see comments by He Danyan and Lingyun in Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1774,
comments by Murong Zhu in Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1990, and comments by Yishao in Cheng, Feng shuangfei,
2033.
3RR Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 834.
m Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 849,
232
Confucian ideology, Feixiang considers it appropriate to talk about her marriage
because it is an expression of ritual. And expectedly, after marriage she behaves as
Confucian teachings for women require, "Between the couple, they treat each other as
guest and friend" (~!Z:1Zril], ~IJ ~~PR).390 We see none of the same passionate qing
between Feixiang and Lingyun that she shared with Zhu.
As a first wife, not a concubine, Feixiang is extraordinary in terms of excelling
in both dealing with her household duties and keeping up her literary talents.
Whenever there is anything that happens in the inner chambers of the Guo family,
people go to Feixiang to seek a final decision and she usually solves the problem
perfectly and fairly. However, daily chores do not exhaust her literary merits. Lingyun
appreciates her literary talent and values it as the highest among all his wives. When
comparing her literary talent with that of Daya, who is the most famous talented
female scholar in the land, Lingyun says, 'To talk about your true nature, your poetry
is astute and your style is romantic. Your calligraphy is elegant and naturally beautiful,
btft!!.~ ~1-~o ).391 This comment follows right after the narrator's comment that
"they treat each other as guest and friend" and the description of the couple chatting
on literary arts, including poetry, painting, and calligraphy, within the bedroom.
Apparently, Lingyun treats Feixiang as a friend and an intellectual equal when
discussing the arts. He is especially grateful that Feixiang has such refined taste.
3~O Cheng, Feng shuangfei. 1999,
391 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999,
233
When Feixiang is able to recognize his painting of Daya based on his brush style,
Lingyun praises her as able to "understand others (9;QA)" and "have great
discernment (§ iH).,,392 This understanding and recognition is not one-sided, but
mutual. After Lingyun composes poems to complement the paintings of his four
wives, only Feixiang comments on them as "more delicate and adroit than others" (T
Last but not least, Feixiang and Lingyun appreciate each other's literary
talents and share interests in intellectual activities only after marriage. Because of the
closeness of their families, they probably knew of each other's literary talents before
marriage, because Lingyun was known as a capable prince and official and even the
emperor had heard ofFeixiang's talent.394 But they, as exemplars of Confucian
virtues, had never exchanged any literary works before their marriage as is typical of
couples in scholar-beauty romances, although Lingyun had had a chance to read
Feixiang's poems to Murong Zhu. Their mutual appreciation and understanding of
each other's literary talents and intellectual communications all occurs after their
official marriage and carries no hint of romantic attachment.
However, it seems that from the author's perspective, being an intellectual
equal and companion is not enough to distinguish Feixiang from the virtuous women
in male-authored fiction. She is unusual in the way that she is portrayed as an
392 Cheng, Fengshuangfei, 2]93.
393 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2473.
194 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 759.
234
androgynous and unconventional wife, who carries all the positive qualities of a male
scholar. By androgynous, I mean a single person who embodies both masculine and
feminine character traits. Feixiang is not only androgynous in terms of her appearance,
but also in terms of her personal traits. Dorothy Ko talks about historical examples of
androgynous women who occupied an ambivalent gender space, but in the examples
she lists these women were courtesans who were culturally considered outside ofthe
Confucian system and the end result of playing an ambivalent gender role was to
entertain men by becoming their ideal literate companion.395 Portraying a virtuous
first wife with these characteristics, Cheng Huiying, the female writer, may be
accepting the courtesan model and rewriting it as a new model ofthe perfect primary
wife.
Feixiang is able to pass perfectly in both male and female clothing. Since
clothing marked gender in late imperial China, her mobility in both types of clothing
indicates her gender fluidity. When Zhang Cai saw her when she was twelve or
thirteen, he used the phrase, "appearance like flower and moon" (fE~ jj ~m, to
describe her feminine beauty?96 However, when she first dresses as a man, in her
uncle's eyes, Feixiang has "eradicated the gentle and charming appearance of a
395 Dorothy Ko, "The Written Word and the Bound Foot: A History of the Courtesan's Aura," in Writing Women in
Imperial China, ed. Ellen Widmer, Kang-J Sun Chang (Stanford: Stanford University, 1997), 74- J00
396 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 763.
397 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 809.
235
In either type of clothing, Feixiang's appearance seems to embody the ideals of an
elite gender role, for a cultured man or woman.
More interestingly, Feixiang always eliminates the potential negative qualities
of the assumed gender while maintaining some positive qualities of the opposite
gender. When Danyan and Feixiang are planning to dress as men, Feixiang's uncle is
against it because he worries that Feixiang may be too feminine even though she
cross-dresses. However, Danyan comments on the nature ofFeixiang's appearance,
"Although my elder sister is born with delicate beauty, she is not all that lithe and
meek, and her personality is not pi iable. Even if she is dressed as a scholar, it is sti II
is still in women's dress, Danyan is able to picture her as a scholar in men's clothes.
In the opposite way, when she is dressed in men's clothes, the language used
to describe her good looks is also ambiguous in terms of gender. When Murong Zhu,
a barbarian princess, sees Feixiang dressed as a scholar, she describes Feixiang in the
following terms:
His spirit is like autumn water, his bones are like ice and jade, his scent is like
that of irises and orchids, and his skin is like snow and frost. His appearance is
radiantly beautiful like a pretty woman, and his spirit is pure and integral like
immortals ... Only he can be considered a beautiful and elegant Chinese man.
[;fj(7]<. *~ ffll i'7.K .3~:I~L Z c'::: 4.~ '§;m flt( 0 ~)t1m tIT ::~d¥ jt ~'@ , H~ b~ f$1LII~ cp
7F. *~ --1'- J:j:Ji~ Ej:l,~$~ *R _1399
., ~, : : : , : . ..., -" ,-, I ../ '" '" ./" ~.J • H 19 V J
39M Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 807.
399 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 823.
236
The descriptors used to portray his/her spirit, bones, scent and skin can be applied to
both men and women. While in this case Zhu is using this language to describe
Feixiang as a handsome man, Lingyun uses the same wording when describing his
bride Feixiang at their wedding, "Her beauty is so extraordinary that it can be taken as
food. Her skin is like ice, her bones are like jade and her spirit is like water" (~BPI
~J1U~tE!:, iJJ\M.:li:l'il'7.K7'Jf$).400 It seems that one becomes a beauty if he/she bears
these qualities, and the beauty transcends the limitations of embodied gender norms.
Zhu further compares the cross-dressed Feixiang to a beautiful woman and believes
that only a man like this can be considered a handsome man. When talking about
Feixiang's beauty, the narrative blurs the boundary between genders and identifies her
with a transcendent androgynous beauty.
Feixiang's dramatic cross-dressing from man to woman suggests that her
androgynous beauty stems from her personal traits. Witnessed by the women in the
Zhang household, Feixiang's cross-dressing evokes people's praise for and wonder
about her gender plasticity:
She is truly a goddess descending to the capital! She was as dashing as Song
Yu before, and now she is as gorgeous as Wang Qiang. She doesn't show any
fragility or tenderness as a man, nor does she display any stupidity or
vulgarity as a woman. She behaves as she wishes with no pretense, so she is
naturally suitable as either a man or a woman.
[.~~~~*~!a&~~~*~,W~fflB~~I.o~~~£M~~,
J'J =9: flJ 7CIiiB ~~ 0 11~ iT 7'J 7C'fI~H~L § r~ E8~~~ =9: ,e, t§ #3 0 ]40 I
400 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1995.
40\ Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1966.
237
In this passage describing people's appreciation of her, Feixiang's beauty fits within
both male and female standards. They compare her to Song Yu and Wang Qiang, two
of the leading examples of male and female beauty in Chinese culture. In either role,
she displays no possible negative qualities of either gender. The narrator concludes
that the reason Feixiang has this gender fluidity is her authenticity, ziran ( § Pt-,
natural). In the literature of the Ming and Qing, authenticity (J{.), contrary to falseness
Uia 1rl,jiajie iFlflo\: in the quote above), was considered an ideal quality, that was
usually concentrated in women, "in contrast to the decadence of the official center.,,402
Being authentic as the reason for the gender mobility ofFeixiang's appearance
indicates that Feixiang carries the personal traits of conventionally gendered men and
women.
Authenticity is merely one aspect of Feixiang's character. For the most part,
Feixiang identifies herself as a scholar, a male social identity. She has all the
intellectual talents of a scholar. Although intellectual talents are not necessarily
masculine identified because of the presence of talented girls during the Ming and
Qing, they help to blur the boundaries of the genders and later build the image of
Feixiang as an unconventional scholar, which is usually a male role. Feixiang is good
at painting. The emperor, the highest authority, believes that she inherits her father's
talent and bestows honor on her painting, "Excellent! The refined talents really come
402 Epstein, Competing Discourse, 90. Epstein examinesauthenticity and qing, and authenticity and women in
di fferent texts.
238
from Qiantang" (PJ! *1'!.\~"=\.l±lrtJi!).403 She is also good at calligraphy. Even Liu
lin, the evil eunuch who is out ofthe literary circle, thinks that her calligraphy "soars
like dragons and snakes" (:ft!I!B~~).404 Lingyun too comments that her "calligraphy
is elegant and naturally beautiful" (~f*~ I~II~ :X~1~).405 Above all, she is of course
good at composing poetry. Feixiang "wrote three seven-syllable quatrains within the
time it takes to drink a cup of tea" C/j'L-~.*a1rB], -If-~ 7 -=.:.-§j·-t8~€l1D) on her
own painting for the emperor.406 The quickness indicates her talent composing poetry.
She also writes four poems in the form ofji tangju ~Ji!f1D, collected verses from
Tang poetry, to express how she misses Zhu when they are separated by war. 407 Her
abilities in writing poems in this special form display her knowledge and wide
readings in the poetic realm and her talent in poetry composition. As expected, she is
not only good at composing regulated verses, but also lyrics-when she is on the
Three Immortal Island, she writes one for Zhu.408
Although talented women during the Ming and Qing-Daya can be viewed as
the perfect example in Feng shuangfei-may have all these intellectual skills,
Feixiang differentiates herself from them by assuming a masculine wen stereotype.409
In her relationship with Zhu, Feixiang clearly identifies herself as a male scholar.
403 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 759.
404 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 760, 761.
405 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999.
4[)" Cheng, "eng shuangjei, 760.
407 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1774.
408 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 849, quoted in Chapter V.
40Y Kam Louie divides premodern Chinese masculinity into two large categories: wen (literary) and wu (martial or
military) in his book Theori::ing Chinese Masculinity.
239
Fitting herself into the scholar-beauty romance, she more than once considers her
marriage with Zhu as a match between talent and beauty, "we are worthy of being
called the match between talent and appearance" (7f~jH§~ l~>f''1*) and "(we are)
perfect in talent and appearance" (7f~5tM~1::).410 As mentioned above, Feixiang
composes poetry for Zhu, a cliche of the scholar-beauty romance genre. Furthermore,
the scholar role that Feixiang is playing in her marriage to Murong Zhu is not only
romantic and talented, but also inherits "the [unconventional] demeanors of the lin"
(~AJXt.3&).41! When she recalls her life as a man, she concludes, "I am pretty sure
that I have been as unconventional as I wished over the past five years" (:f-z § 1J§Ji5.Ji
if ~*1f'lfIjj)n~).412 All the characteristics, with which Feixiang identifies herself
when she cross-dresses as a man, typically belong to the stereotypical caizi (:;;f'i"-,
talented scholar).
Moreover, assuming the role of a masculine scholar, Feixiang is good at
governing a country. Acting as the son-in-law of the King of the Three Immortal
Island, Feixiang assumes the ruler's responsibility of being in charge of the island
kingdom, so that Murong Tao, the king, can enjoy retirement:
[Enjoying the peace, the fake Prince promulgates many ritual and legal
policies. In three years, she has transformed the cultures and conventions of
the Three Immortal Island to be exactly the same as those in China. (People)
not only obey the law, but also are able to open the door at night. Even China
410 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 840.
Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 843.
411 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1999. The intellectuals during the lin are famous for their wild and unrestrained
behaviors as well as their extraordinary literary talents. See my discussion of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo
Grove and linxia =hifeng in Chapter II.
412 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1966.
240
cannot achieve this.] When she has leisure time from other books, she
scrutinizes the military strategies in Sunzi and Wuzi. She is so smart that she
can naturally understand these books, so she has mastered tactics and battle
strategies. Her time on the island has benefited the soldiers and the myriad
common people. There is no war, the crops ripen every year, and the good
fortune is immense.
[[1~!Mf~ill~~~, iJJ[;5Et±Hf$fL5f-7fUJJ)1:o ~~lj,*, :9HE-~-1111.%L
EJ!,] )XUtF~ 1t& r:j:d¥ - ff' ~ ~1M$ 0 ~Y!, ~lffaJ 1!>[:If' I;r] n, i3:)z'~ r:j=J lIJ ?JT1, ~~
&To]~~&~~~~, m~*\~~~~o~.~~~~., ~~~
~~$[!]t1Fo fUE11111-=fJ;5~,%, ~&~~~1(7J~~C ~*jC,~~~~, _.±~
$t[\JCylIo t 13
On the island kingdom, Feixiang assumes the role of an ideal Confucian official who
governs his prefecture or a sage king who rules his country. According to the
Confucian ideal, she first cultivates the people through rituals (fL5f-, literally rites and
music), and then regulates them by laws. Her efforts bring about considerable
achievements that surpass China~peopledo not need to close their door at night
when they are sleeping-the ideal society as depicted in The Book ofRites.4J4 Being
cultivated is not enough for a country since they of course need to defend themselves.
Therefore, Feixiang studies the works of famous military strategists, Sun Wu 1/J\D3.:
and Wu Qi ~i1], and trains the kingdom's army. Feixiang's success as ruler is shown
through the prosperity of the island, a state marked by the abundant food and peace
from wars. Following Confucian teachings, Feixiang accomplishes a male scholar's
goal, the canonical injunction laid out in the "Great Learning" to "cultivate one's self,
113 Cheng, Feng shuangjei, 1543.
414 James Legge trans., Li Chi Book ofRites: An Encyclopedia ofAncient Ceremonial Usages, Religious Creeds,
and Social Institutions (New Hyde Park, New York: University Books, 1967), 365-66. "In this way (selfish)
scheming were repressed and found no development. Robbers, filchers, and rebellious traitors did not show
themselves, and hence the outer doors remain open, and were not shut. This was (the period of) what we call the
GreatUnion"(1,ll~lYfrj/f\~, ~tJHiL~ffij/f\1t, ii'51!Jr?ffii/f\I'{J, ~i\'JAlbJo ).
241
order one's family, rule the state, and harmonize the country" (11i~, ft~, ¥€I ~, -Sf
Due to her self-identification as a scholar, even though Feixiang later changes
her clothes back to those of a woman, she still enjoys the characteristics of a caizi, of
being unrestrained by rigid conventions and other people's opinions, although she can
at the same time be completely feminine, behaving as a virtuous wife, as discussed
above. As Carolyn Heilbrun remarks, "Androgyny seeks to liberate the individual
from the confines of the appropriate.,,416 In this sense, Feixiang continues to be
androgynous even after she enters into an orthodox marriage. The adjectives which
the narrative renders to describe Feixiang's characteristics after marriage are the ones
that are usually used to describe an unconventional caizi scholar, including talented in
letters and unconventional in life style (JXI'}flE), literarily excellent (JXl.illli), elegant and
refined (JXI.~t), bold and unconstrained (~~::5), open and upright (~~t), free and easy
One of the most remarkable characteristics of caizi scholars, with whom
Feixiang identifies, is that they do not care about rigid conventions or others' opinions
derived from them. Still maintaining an authentic spirit after marriage, Feixiang often
415 This goal is articulated in the Great Teachings -F.?j'.. For translations of this whole passage, see Plaks, The Four
Masterworks of the Ming Novel, 158; Epstein, Competing Discourse, 27-28; Wing-tsit Chan, "The Great
Learning," in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963), 84-94;
James Legge, The Four Books: Confucian Aneiects, the Great Learmng, the Doctrine oj the Mean, and the Works
of Mencius (New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1966), 317-46; E. R. Hughes, The Great Learning and the
Mean in Action (New York: AMS Press, 1979), 145-66.
416 Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Toward a Recognition ofAndrogyny (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973), x.
417 Cheng, Fengshuangfei. Fengliu, see 834, 1965, 2005, 2006, 20 I8, 2178, 2262, etc.; fengsao, see 845, etc.;
ftngya, see 2232, etc.; diedang, see 2473, etc.; leiluo, see 2018, 2262, etc.; tuosa, see 2262, etc.
242
follows her heart, and she does not pretend to be virtuous or generous. Lingyun's
marriages with Daya and Zhu take place on the same day, so the issue of whom
Lingyun sleeps with becomes a problem of protocol. Zhu, who always takes Daya as a
rival, attempts to persuade Lingyun, who has already stayed in her bedroom, to stay in
Daya's room in order to display her generosity and detachment from her husband.
Daya, as the icon of a talented and virtuous woman awarded by the emperor, tries to
show her modesty as well, of course, by not allowing Lingyun to enter her bedroom.
The delicate issue between the two wives naturally becomes Feixiang's decision,
since she is the head of the inner chambers. Feixiang harshly criticizes both women's
hypocrisy and stubbornness. While Zhu has nothing to say in response to Feixiang,
Daya challenges Feixiang by asking her what she would do if Lingyun were to sleep
in her bedroom. Unexpected to both Daya and Zhu, Feixiang immediately responds
with laughter, "What is the difficulty in this? If Lingyun does not come to me, there is
nothing I can do; if he does come, you keep an eye on me, I absolutely won't push
him away" (J!1f1PJxi? {&:li:-t~tlJ.l/:~rsJ1l:~, :tftIJJ!jl" :wjJt*:-t~fl1tBo ).418 To
Feixiang, there is no need to pretend to be virtuous or generous, because she believes
that women in a polygamous household can only be considered virtuous and generous
when they actually do not care about with whom the husband sleeps. Her authentic
nature one more time distinguishes her from other women.
41R Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2261.
243
Compared to Zhu's peevish temperament and Daya's rigidness, Lingyun's
comment best illustrates Feixiang's androgyny in terms of her flexibility, "(She is)
open, unconventional and poised, unconstrained by trivial matters but clear about
great morality. She is really a dignified man among women" (@~)Xl.~1E£:k7J0 /J'l1
3CfpJ S)j :k)(' 3z: r:p~T iE1i!:liL ).419 It is interesting that Lingyun comments on
Feixiang as a "dignified man" because she does not shy away from sex or talking
about sex. As we can see in late-imperial fiction, including male-authored novels and
female-authored tand, no virtuous woman ever talks about anything related to sex.
When women talk about it, it indicates their interest in sex and therefore they are
considered lascivious. It seems that sex, for virtuous women, is only a tool to continue
the family line and a taboo in daily conversation. In this sense, the moral standards in
this tanci are very different. Since sex is part of domestic life, avoiding talking about
it is only hypocritical; instead, honestly talking about sex solves problems and
therefore is considered "dignified." Hence, Feixiang's attitudes are not only looked
upon as masculine, but also honorable.
Her androgynous subjectivity is more prominent when Murong Zhu is
involved. As discussed in Chapter 5, Zhu follows Feixiang into the Guo household,
but does not want to marry Lingyun. Feixiang, after her marriage to Lingyun, actually
does not give up her idea of bringing Zhu into the household, so she creates chances
for Zhu and Lingyun to be together and "abandons all the standards in women's
419 Cheng, Feng shuang{ei, 2262. My italics.
244
chambers, learns to be a go-between" (n5U~ IlJm~, 'T1~3l1f.~d~if111J).420 A Qiantou
('$~ go-between) is usually considered a negative figure who connects men and
women in illicit relationships, but Feixiang totally disregards the common contempt
toward sangu liupo (~.-..M/\~, women holding nine professions), who are heavily
condemned in Jin Ping Mei and other late-imperial literature, and willingly plays the
role of one ofthem.421 This break from propriety is unthinkable to other gentry
women, such as Daya, but Feixiang does not feel embarrassment for the sake of her
beloved Zhu. When her plan seems to fail due to the misunderstandings between Zhu
and Lingyun, Lingyun suggests to Yishao that he marry Zhu. Feixiang argues with
him, "If you don't have malevolent intentions, then you don't need to have any
contact with her from now on. Let her follow me for her whole life just as we swore
JJ<:., if;g: fB] gtE1HJ: IJ-I 0 ).422 Concerning the relationship between herself and Zhu,
Feixiang does dwell on the ultimate propriety of Zhu as a woman getting married. She,
taking a man's part, still consciously considers Zhu as her wife although Feixiang
herself has already become Lingyun's wife. When Lingyun insists on his suggestion
based on rituals that Zhu should get married, Feixiang reluctantly tells Zhu about it.
420 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2005.
421 The word qiantou is used on Hongniang who helps Cui Yingying and Mr. Zhang in Xixiang ji, Dame Wang
who connects Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian in Shuihu zhuan. etc.
Sangu liupo usually has a negative connotation, referring to women whose professions are either illegitimate or
disreputable. Sangu refers to Buddhist nuns JEifJfi, Daoist nuns mifJfi, female fortune-tellers through gua ;E~ifJfi;
Liupo refers to women trading girls as slaves, concubines, etc~~, matchmakers ~~, witches Vffl~, bawds m~,
female healers ~~, and midwives ~~.
422 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2035.
245
Interestingly, the reason Lingyun asks Feixiang to talk to Zhu is that "she is your
wife" Ctlt!!.jj~d~!¥.J~lE).423 From this detail, we can see that Lingyun also detects and
agrees to Feixiang's masculine role in her relationship to Zhu.
Even though Feixiang does not have special feelings for other women, when it
is related to their actual benefit, Feixiang's androgynous iconoclasm even gives
Lingyun, the ultimate orthodox man, a lesson. Guo Lingyun takes Zhang Liyu as his
concubine, but does not consummate their marriage in order to wait for his formal
marriage with the first wife. Three days after their marriage, Feixiang suggests that
Lingyun should sleep with Liyu and consummate their marriage, but Lingyun is still
hesitant. They have a debate:
The virtuous Prince, Lingyun, cannot help laughing, "You are generous for
sure. However, I am afraid it is unreasonable since our marriage has only been
three days. It is better to hide it from the people. Please let me follow your
order after a full month. This girl is sedate and not evil. Moreover, she gets
along with you. I expect that she will not complain or sigh." The Lady
responded with a severe countenance, "Since she is sedate and without
complaints, you shouldn't let her down more. How can you tolerate it that she
spends her best days in solitude? Who can intervene in the affairs in our
bedroom, and why should you keep in mind the customary taboos?!"
[rNQ~~~N-=:ET: "~:S:~*1J§:.f~L 1Ei1GJda~ tt - !j1Jj 7C 1~~ lllL if '§: me1E
iliA~.~~~~~M$o&~~~tt:.f$om~~A$~~,~7Cmm
~Pkr1;r. "~AlE5§~m: "qlUl!LrTu~/f~?~P~, ~!~:~>F'§:t§iiJ.qJ5[, ~,r1~@
~JjUf·$? IIJffijz.:Jii:~e§r, 1~}~di1J~ff-!ff@3f! "] 424
This conversation takes place on the fourth day after Lingyun and Feixiang's wedding.
In late imperial China, weddings consisted of three days of celebration, so this could
be considered the first day after the wedding. Moreover, the groom and bride were
423 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2035.
424 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 1998.
246
still considered newlyweds within the first month. Because of this, when talking about
taking a concubine during his "honeymoon," Lingyun is worried about his and Liyu's
reputations because people may look upon them as lascivious. However, Feixiang
points out Lingyun's hypocrisy. She tells Lingyun that the real benefit to Liyu is much
more important than other people's views of them based on customs. Her opinion on
this problem indicates not only her generosity as a virtuous wife, but also her real and
practical concerns about other women's lives and happiness.
Conclusion
Examining and reconstructing the shrews and virtuous wives in her land, the
author tries to subvert the stereotypes in male-authored fiction and suggests that every
woman is an individual who can be appreciated. Cheng Huiying rewrites the jealous
wives as a positive other and humanizes the often unidimensional characterization of
the ideal virtuous wife. Each female character that seemingly falls into a stereotype is
lovable and desirable for different reasons, in such a way that strongly opposes the
stereotyped labeling of women in male-authored fiction. Moreover, these women are
lovable and desirable because readers can see and identify with their subjectivity and
agency as individuals, instead of viewing them as objects from a man's perspective.
Meanwhile, the author also empowers their agency in public and domestic lives,
suggesting women's powers and contribution in both spheres.
247
While reevaluating stereotypes of women, the author also reveals the
hypocrisy of male authors and readers. By deconstructing the stereotype of shrews
and virtuous women, the author points out the double standard imposed on women by
men: while they want women to be "virtuous" and generous in the family, men still
pursue domestic romances; while they require women to follow strict rules and blame
women for any problems at home, they cannot follow Confucian rituals themselves
and refuse to admit that they are the root of most domestic problems. To reiterate
men's hypocrisy, Lingyun and Feixiang's conversation about his relationship with
Zhu best illustrates the picture:
[Lingyun:] "Why does the happiness between men and women have to take
place in the bedroom? Drinking and chatting like this gives us the pleasure of
keeping a certain distance ... " When Lingyun finished, Feixiang laughed,
thinking that this man's expressions were so odd. His opinions and plans are
mostly different, like a civet cat which makes no noise but steals chicken.
What he wants is not a fair and frank marriage, but secret meetings in front of
flowers under the moon.
[I&: i~: ]"fA* gj :9:1-r*, 1PI~' IEfr ffJ# z rSJ? ~1~~mttjUjilj WJ~, 1l:1f
t~ /f( ~p :;F~z@ .. ...."mJit~~ 'E.W~ , BtH.B:ltJi)d~ it;~ 0 j::]f,*11F $ jJlj
iftn, JW:1~jj~11I!~'~ P~~11WX% 0 ]'trIjj tz*~~FA~, {jMgtfEiW j=j r ~1:1:ltJl 0 425
Feixiang's analysis uncovers the unorthodox behaviors of the "orthodox" Lingyun.
The metaphor of a civet cat she uses is especially cynical because Lingyun does not
talk much, behaving like a true Confucian orthodox man. By projecting these
motivations on the ultimate orthodox man in the land, the author seems to suggest
that all men are hypocritical no matter how orthodox they seem to act. Compared to
425 Cheng, Feng shuangfei, 2009.
the desirable women who are lovely because they behave authentically, male
hypocrisy is shown to be even worse and appalling.
248
249
CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION
Eight years after Feng shuangfei was published, the first female Chinese
feminist writer, Qiu Jin tkJi( 1875-1907), wrote a land called Jingwei shi (*~ JJ.;q',
Stones of the Jingwei Bird), which is one of the last land works authored by a
woman.
426 Although this land was never completed due to Qiu's execution in 1907,
Qiu Jin had already finished the first five chapters and sketched out the rest of the plot
for an intended length of twenty chapters. Based on the extant five and half chapters
and the remaining chapter titles, Jingwei shi tells a story of female protagonists, lead
by Huang Jurui Jit¥*JJiM, escaping from their traditional families and arranged
marriages and travelling to Japan to study, joining a revolutionary faction as female
soldiers, opening factories for women to gain jobs and economic self-support, and
finally expelling the foreign invaders and establishing a republican Chinese state. In
its exploration of new ideas, especially equality between men and women, Jingwei shi
takes a more aggressive and progressive attitude. However, since it makes use of the
traditional generic features of land, Jingwei shi makes a perfect bridge between
426 Qiu lin and her radical behavior and famous execution were probably related to her thoughts on nationalism
and feminism, See Guo Yanli !1~}$*L, Qiu Jin wenxue lungaon tl\JlX$'iQf{.Ij (Xi'an: Shaanxi renmin
chubanshe, 1987), Mary Backus Rankin, "The Emergency of Women at the End of the Ch'ing: The Case of Ch'iu
Chin," in Women in Chinese Society, ed, Margery Wolfand Roxane Witke (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1975), Amy D, Dooling and Kristina M Torgeson ed" Writing Women in Modern China: An Anthology of Women s
Literature From the Early Twentieth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998), etc,
250
traditional lanci works, such as Feng shuangfei, and novels authored by women
during and after the May Fourth Movement.
As a fictional work of lanci, Jingwei shi, Iike Feng shuangfei, is a women's
fantasy. While Cheng Huiying idealizes her audience as her zhiyin (9;~-F(), people who
understand her and appreciate her talent, Qiu Jin assumes a wide audience of women.
Because lanci was so popular among women, literate or illiterate, Qiu Jin uses lanci to
educate women to struggle for individuality and equality:
So I compose a lanci in order to let everybody understand, entering
civilization from the dark. Elaborating gradually, I wi II write about the evil
convention and women's sufferings and humiliation in the society completely
in order to startle the readers. When [readers] suddenly feel lost, they will rise
up in a rage, so that our women society will be entirely bright.
~~&*~~~, ~~AA~M, ~~~W~~~: ~~M~, #~~
:9:Tfti?Z.~)J»'liWtiM~, ~1~i~1!t~p,B't~IL,\, ~1~!3 ~, w~!3 ~,
~ t.; .fX:9:Wz. -'W1iy.1t 8}j & 0 t 27
Apparently, didactic values are the original intention ofQiu Jin. Although the preface
also emphasizes the moral and didactic values ofFeng shuangfei, these values,
following the didactic tradition of novels, are more implicit and interpreted by
commentators while the author never claims these functions. 428 In this sense, we can
also see that Qiu Jin, ten to twenty years later than Cheng, was taking a more
aggressive approach than Cheng to talk about women's problems, although Cheng has
already subtly talked about the inequality that women were experiencing. While
42' Qiu .Tin tkJi, preface to Jingwei shi, in Qiu lin quanji tkJi~~ (Changchun: Jinlin wenshi chubanshe, 2003),
457-58.
42R The 1898 prefacer of the Feng shuangfei says, "Although it is interwoven into fiction, [the author], having
opinions on events, speaks for a purpose, which is to make people understand that one's loyalty will be revealed
over time and one's evilness and lewdness will also destruct over time". (§l1tTJJ\l)lP!~Pti:, iJij~.bt1§, If jviJij
1§, ~A~m~Z~.~~~OO, ~~Z~.~~~~.).
-------
251
Cheng idealizes the audience to be able to understand and interpret the implicit
meanings in her text, Qiu expects her readers to learn from her work and follow her
ideas.
Moreover, as fantasy, not only is the audience idealized in both land, but also
the fictional worlds. In both works, political turmoil is finally pacified, order is finally
restored, and the protagonists live happily ever after. As is mentioned in Chapter I, in
Feng shuangfei, under the historical background ofthe late Qing, this restoration of
order can be interpreted as a wish to eliminate all the disorders in Cheng's
contemporary society, presumably including foreign invasion, the Taiping (:;t.;: '¥)i;: fiI)
and the Boxer (5U¥U iii) rebellions, and the economic and social changes that were
changing the traditional society. However, the land itself is written in a very
traditional way, setting its background in the Ming, and the social and political
problems seem to be different from the ones in the late Qing. In contrast, Qiu lin's
setting of her land directly refers to her contemporary social and political background,
with only the names changed. Her ideal solutions to the social problems are also
indicated in her version of the ending of the story, which includes the final victories of
women, including their achieving knowledge and independence, their free will to
study, join the revolution and army, and their success in establishing a Chinese
republic.
As most female writers focus on gender problems and sexual politics, we also
see a development of their perspectives on these issues in the late Qing. From earlier
252
major ranci works, just as the influential "three major ranci works," authored by
women, we can already see some debates on these issues. One of the central gender
problems directed in these works is women's independence from men. In Tian yu hua,
although the female protagonist, Zuo Yizhen, never has an official position, she is the
hero who kills the evil usurper. More importantly, her marital life is centered on her,
instead of her husband: her husband has to have an uxorilocal marriage with her, and
her opinions in the household are more important than her husband's. Zaisheng yuan
develops the theme of cross-dressing and gives the female protagonist, Meng Lijun,
an official position, although she dresses as a man. It seems that the author cannot
reconcile the problem between Lijun's will to continue the job and the wish of other
related people to reveal her identity. As a result, the original author, Chen Duansheng,
did not finish the ranci, and her successor, Liang Desheng, had to conclude with a
happy ending, taking Lijun back to the inner chambers. Hou Zhi's Jinguijie and Qiu
Xinru's Bi sheng hua are both rewritings of the Zaisheng yuan story. Although both
authors take a more conservative perspective on the theme of women's cross-dressing
and holding an official job in men's disguise, they still value women's talents and
abilities as much as, or even better than, those of men. In chronological order, these
works display a stronger and stronger desire of these female writers for subjectivity
and agency in terms of their success in men's public sphere and indicate that women
can be physically and psychologically independent from men, given a real job.
253
Living in a later age, Cheng Huiying goes much further than her predecessors
on these women's issues. Probably under the influence of new incoming Western
thoughts during the late-nineteenth century (although we cannot see any direct
reference to Western thought or objects in Feng shuangfei), we can also read Feng
shuangfei as Cheng's reevaluation of Chinese gender and sexual values from a
woman's perspective. While women in earlier works can only earn money disguised
as a man, Zhen Daya sets an example of a woman who can financially support herself
and her family. When women have to yield to arranged marriage in earlier tanci, girls,
despite the fact that they are concubines, are allowed plenty of space to pursue their
own marriages and future happiness. When earlier tanci accept gender and sexual
norms as a given, Cheng Huiying is bold and sophisticated enough to evaluate all
kinds of sexuality, including heterosexual relationships, male same-sex practices and
female same-sex desires, in order to validate women's desires and agency. Last but
not least, Feng shuangfei also inherits the convention of exam ining women's roles
and powers in domestic life from earlier female-authored tanci. Instead of creating a
perfect female protagonist who overpowers her husband as in earlier works, Cheng
Huiying's female characters, who have flaws, find their subjectivity and gain their
powers and autonomy by subtle or explicit struggles and fights with men and social
norms, taking a more realistic approach.
In this sense, Cheng Huiying's Feng shuangfei anticipates Qiu Jin's Jingwei
shi, a tanci that targets a female audience and promotes radical gender reforms. From
254
the extant five and half chapters, we can tell that the central issues about women that
Qiu lin is concerned about and intends to teach her female readers are freedom of
marriage, elimination of foot binding, and the equal rights of women to study, earn a
living and engage in politics. Because of the ideology that Qiu lin promotes in this
lanci, Jingwei shi should be periodized as modern or contemporary although the lanci
genre more properly belongs to traditional literature. In the lanci, Qiu lin scrutinizes
and criticizes all the biased traditional values and conventions on women, such as the
saying that "women without talents are virtuous" (3l:-T-JC/t1l!tt1!!\), "women should
be chaste, following only one man, while it does not matter for a man to have many
wives" (3l:-T-~lHlJUA~, ~-T-JCWJi[f)l:J.:),"bound feet are extraordinarily
beautiful" C51tlE~~~fL)and "parents all rely on matchmakers' words and decide on
[their daughters'] marriages hastily" ()(£1:i:3tYM:tz~Ff, ~~~I!P¥:¥1l!t§~:J().One by
one, the extant text points out that these are unfair traditions that men created to
"restrain and fool women"};fUf3l:-T-, ~*3l:-T-.429 As a result, Qiu lin suggests that
women have been so brainwashed that they cannot see that men have been
objectifying them, "considering you the same as toys, flowers or birds" (~:~.HfFffmJl,.,
ft~AA:~14t), and they believe that they must depend on men, having no autonomy
(zizhu § ±) or independence (ziti § ...sl.).430 Compared to Feng shuangfei, which
advocates the same ideas, women's autonomy and independence, Jingwei shi goes
429 Qiu, Jingwei shi, in Qhljin quanji, 466, 470.
430 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 468-69.
255
much further in itemizing women's sufferings and theorizing the causes ofthe
sufferings so that the ideas seem more urgent and convincing.
According to Jingwei shi, the ultimate goal for women is to gain real "equality
of rights between men and women" (nanniipingquan ~:9:"-'¥f2).431 While we are
unclear whether Cheng Huiying had been influenced by Western reformist values, Qiu
Jin was directly exposed to radical Western ideology. Qiu moved to Beijing in 1903
shortly after her marriage and started reading radical periodicals and meeting
progressive intellectuals. In 1904, Qiu abandoned her marital family and left China to
go to Japan to study in a women's school. These experiences of her female
protagonists in Jingwei shi are fairly transparent fictional renderings of her own
experiences. From these resources, Qiu Jin learns Western ideas:
Recently I've had the chance to read many books from Europe and America
that discuss the right to liberty, and how women and men are created equal.
Heaven was impartial in endowing us with rights and privileges ...And since
women are capable of being independent, everyone is promoting women's
rights.
~Bm~~~OO, W~~~~~~, #~~:9:"~-'¥~, ~H~~~~
f2 ...... ::9:7-#~~~ §.lL, AAilliP!§::9:Zf2o t 32
Interwoven with Qiu Jin's experiences, Huang Jurui, one of the female protagonists in
Jingwei shi, claims that all these ideas are from Europe and America and believes that
Chinese women and people should learn from them. These ideas are apparently much
stonger, clearer and more specific than those in Feng shuangfei.
431 Qiu,Jingweishi,471-472
4J2 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 508. English translation from Amy D Dooling and Kristina M. Torgeson ed., Writing Women
in Modern China: An Anthology of Women s Literature from the Early Twentieth Century (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1998), 71.
256
Qiu Jin not only promotes the ideas in her lanci, but also provides practical
solutions to the contemporary problems she points out. As she argues, in order to be
independent, women first need to have the right to education and then the right to
work. As Qiu Jin visions the reform of women's status, she encourages all women to
devote themselves to the social change: on the one hand, women, Huang Jurui and her
friends as examples, need to have the courage to break off from their traditional
families and conventions like foot binding; on the other hand, she appeals to people
with wealth and power to support the feminist movement,
If [this lanci] can make you fortunate and wealthy ladies be charitable, support
with your money or powers, opening crafts factories or schools for women so
that women can learn knowledge and skills by themselves and will be able to
support themselves with a job.
[;&~~~3J151::m1-'FRf{BB~, ~tj;B~:*:*!JJJ!JJJ1IT&/[,-~tfJc", 9-xllJJtj;ylJt, 9J(;llJJ
~~, H~I~r~M, H~~~~M, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~,
~ 7 J±.~, iJ'Ji)iJ*m § ~o t 33
Instead of fantasizing a woman who plays the role of an official as does Feng
shuangfei, this lanci concerns readers' practical actions and efforts to solve women's
real problems. In this sense, Jingwei shi transcends the nature of lanci as a genre of
fantasy, modeling itself as a women's practical handbook.
A final but noteworthy feature of Jingwei shi is that women's problems are
closely associated with the nation's problems. The time period Qiu Jin lived in was a
difficult time for the Han Chinese, because not only were they under Manchu rule, but
China had also been invaded by Japanese and Western powers. In the introductory
poem, Qiu Jin, a very conscious and passionate nationalist, writes, "The great rivers
433 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 469.
257
and mountains are swallowed by foreigners ... It is pitiful that there is no light in
women's world. They can only spiritlessly wait for death" (A~HJ~ III, J6?,V3ffJj§(~,*
if! ......pH4-:RW7C:7't)f~, }!"11k~1;J~o ).434 These two Jines appear in the first and
second half of the introductory ci poem, indicating that the two topics are internally
related. Qiu Jin believes that saving the country has to start with saving the women
because "Empowering the nation and the race both depends on women, and
educations at home are all from mothers" (?;$.~ ?;$.~~:i:~:R, *JE$3C~rg~~1~ 0 ).435
From Qiu Jin's perspective and logic, the weakness of the nation and the Chinese
people is all due to the suppression of women's potential over the centuries. Therefore,
solving women's problems is a priority and is the first step to saving China. It is worth
noting that the connection between the nation and women never appeared in earlier
lanci, including Feng shuangfei, but is very common in later literature during and
after the May Fourth Movement.
From Qiu Jin's perspective, saving the nation is not only the job of men, but
also of women. In fact, Qiu Jin believes that women have the ability and
responsibility to participate in saving the nation:
Every day I burn incense, praying that women will emancipate themselves
from their slavish confines and arise as heroines and female gallants on the
stage of liberty, following in the footsteps of Madame Roland, Anita, Sophia
Perofskaya, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Joan ofArc. With all my heart, I
beseech and beg my twenty million female compatriots to assume their
responsibilities as citizens. l\.rise! j\.rise! Chinese "vomen, ailse!
434 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 458
435 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 508.
258
[~B~~nm~~, ~I~~~m~, ~§rn~~z~~a, ~~~, ~
~c':i:, IbftJ.1m, !1],$SfE. 1tt~, ~1~~rm~fE9~o ~mPlRlc,\¥OO-lliJ.lj,ff*z,
:fJT;R=..JJ..JJ~\RJ~, 3Cffult~~.w1fmo J!~! J!~! ~Jf-AJ!~! t 36
As Qiu lin points out, setting themselves free and saving the nation as heroes are
women's responsibilities as citizens. She gives examples of female heroes from the
West to indicate that women can be heroes, yingxiong and haojie. She also lists
famous heroines from Chinese history, such as Hongyu ~I3i, Mulan *c':i: etc., to
suggest that women are superior to men in terms of patriotism, "The ones who have
surrendered and turned over their territories have always been men ... Women ought
to occupy the superior position" (19: ~~:I:tI!:jlf~ R::.!J3) L{/t( ......~Tm~tt~tL).437
According to Qiu lin, in terms of their ability to serve in the army and save the
country, women not only are as good as men, but are in some senses better. Although
Qiu lin may go too far in listing women's superior capabilities and potentials, she
grasps the essentials of feminism and "equal rights issues," which promotes equal
rights and duties for both men and women.
From this lineage of women's perspectives in their lanci works, we are able to
see the rapid change of ideology among women at the turn of the century. In terms of
requesting and fighting for women's subjectivity, individuality and autonomy, these
female lanci writings developed from mild fantasy to practical didactics. Feng
shuangfei, in this sense, becomes a perfect link between the late imperial and the
43(, Qiu, preface to Jingwei shi, 460. English translation from Dooling and Torgeson ed., Writing Women in Modern
China, 44.
437 Qiu, Jingwei shi, 486. English translation from Dooling and Torgeson ed., Writing Women in Modern China, 55.
We have to say that Qiu lin here puts an unfair charge against men, considering that women did not have the
opportunity to do these things in premodern China.
259
modern, heralded by Qiu lin's Jingwei shi. As we can see, the pressing issues of
concern to female writers during and after the May Fourth Movement on the subject
of women and gender had already taken shape in late-imperial literary works by
female authors. In this way, we can consider modern literature by women as not only
a product of learning from the West, but also a continuation of traditional concerns.
260
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