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An analysis of characterization in "The Romance of the Western Wing"
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AN ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERIZATION IN
THE ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN WING
By
Yun-Ju Chen
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES & CULTURES)
August 2002
Copyright 2002 Yun-Ju Chen
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UMI Number: 1414897
UMI
UMI Microform 1414897
Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest Information and Learning Company
300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Graduate School
University Park
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089H695
This thesis, w ritten by
Under the direction o f A i s . . . Thesis
Com m ittee, and approved b y a ll its members,
has been presented to and accepted by The
Graduate School, in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t o f
requirem ents fo r the degree o f
Yun-Ju Chen
Dean o f Graduate Studies
D ate August 6, 2002
'O M M ITT E E
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT iv-v
CHAPTER I 1
Introduction 1
Background of the Problem 1
Statement of the Problem 8
Methodology 10
Plan of the Study 13
CHAPTER II 15
Zhang, Hongniang, and Madame Zheng 15
Overview of the chapter 15
The Student Zhang 15
Madame Zheng 22
The Manipulating Maid: Hongniang 28
Summary of the Chapter 34
CHAPTER III 36
Analysis of Miss Cui 36
Overview of the chapter 36
Two Versions of Miss Cui/Yingying 37
Miss Cui’ slnternal Conflicts 40
Miss Cui and Madame Zheng 4 4
Miss Cui and Student Zhang 47
Miss Cui and Hongniang 50
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Summary of the Chapter 54
CHAPTER IV
Summary and Conclusions
The Version of the Story
The Central Role of Miss Cui
Miss Cui and the Female Characters
The Meaning of the Play
Conclusion
WORKS CITED
57
58
61
66
68
71-72
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the
interactions of four central characters in Wang
Shifu’ s Romance of the Western Chamber and to
consider changes in the plot, characterization and
outcome of the version of this classic Chinese story
as interpreted by Wang Shifu. The central character
selected for analysis is Miss Cui, the heroine of
the story; it is hypothesized that Miss Cui is
pivotal in terms of the relationships between
Student Zhang (the lover and potential bridegroom),
Madame Zheng (Miss Cui* s mother), and Hongniang
(Miss Cui* s maid). The study, which draws upon
several versions of the story as well as critical
sources, reveals that in Wang Shifu* s version, Miss
Cui and Student Zhang are united in marriage after
enduring various periods of separation and
overcoming the objections of Madame Zheng. The
critical difference between Wang Shifu’ s
interpretation of the story and that of the original
short story is the resolution of the relationship
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V
between the lovers to achieve a positive outcome.
The study also reveals that Hongniang is
instrumental in bringing about the liaison between
the lovers out of a degree of self-interest.
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1
CHAPTER I
Introduction
Background of the Problem
Chai and Chai (p. 367) state that much about
early Chinese drama must, unfortunately, remain a
matter for conjecture, but it seems certain that its
origins are closely associated with religious
festivals, "in which shamans, assuming supernatural
roles, sang and danced." The classic drama in its
full-fledged form can be traced to the Song Dynasty,
though some analysts believe it can be dated to the
Tang, for the Tang emperor Ming Huang established
the Liyuan Jiaofang or "Pear Garden Dramatic School"
for the training of musicians (Chai and Chai, p.
367). It was during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368)
that the classic drama came to be divided into what
is known as the northern zaju or "miscellaneous
plays" and the southern xl wen or "play script."
(Chai and Chai, p. 367).
Wang Shifu is, with Guan Hanqing, widely
regarded as one of the greatest dramatists of the
Yuan dynasty. His work, which will be the focus of
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2
this study, has been characterized as "the
masterpiece of Yuan zaju (Asia Society, p. 1).
Wang Shifu (ca. 1250 - 1300) was the creator of
China's mos t popular love comedy, titled Xixiang Ji
or The Story of the Western Wing1 (hereafter Western
Wing). According to Stephen H. Westand and Wilt L.
Idema (pp. 3-5), this play, written as a cycle of
five zaju plays, represents the dramatic genre that
dominated the stage in northern China from the
middle of the thirteenth century until the fifteenth
century; it has been continuously performed since
its creation in both its original form and in
countless adaptations for other forms of theater and
prosmetric literature. As Westand and Idema (p. 3)
state, the play was highly controversial when it was
first performed because of its deeply romantic,
sensual, and rebellious nature. In fact, "the play
consequently came to acquire the notorious status of
a lover's bible." (Westand and Idema, p. 3).
The play has been characterized as explicating
the role of the matchmaker in facilitating Chinese
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3
romances. David Jordan (p. 1) suggests that another
critically important element in the play is the
development of a love match between two young people
that is achieved, in part, through the actions of an
amateur rather than a professional matchmaker - Miss
Cui's maid, Hongniang. Often, Chinese families
employed professional matchmakers to promote the
union of their children, with little regard for the
feelings of the young people themselves. What makes
this play different, says Jordan (p. 1), is that it
suggests that the formal system of matchmaking
supported by social convention in Yuan China was
augmented (or in some instances, supplanted) by the
agency of unofficial parties like Hongniang, for
whom romance rather than practicality was a dominant
concern. It is for this reason that the play is
known legitimately as a romance.
Wang Shifu, also known as Wang Dexin, was the
author of twenty-two plays and a number of sets of
lyrical songs sung to the qu type of music; of his
plays, only two, including the subject of this
1 Various names or titled have been given to the play,
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4
study, are fully preserved, with another two
existing only in fragments (Ch'en Shou-yi, p. 457).
His reputation rests on Western Wing, a play
converted from a well-known prose story titled the
Yingying Zhuan (hereafter Record of Yingying) by
Yuan Zhen. Tradition holds that when Wang was
writing the drama (which was actually finished by a
friend and fellow author, Guan Hanqing), he died of
a stroke after penning the final lines:
Blue clouds in the skies,
Yellow flowers on the ground.
The west wind is blowing hard
And swallows are flying south
(Ch'en, p. 458).
Among the striking features of the play in
addition to its length, one must include the in-
depth characterization created by the author.
Central characters include Miss Cui, the beloved
object of the student, Zhang Junrui's, affections,
as well as Hongniang and Madame Zheng, her mother.
The five-play cycle includes the initial encounter
between Zhang and Miss Cui, their romance, a dream
sequence involving her kidnapping and rescue, and
including The Romance of the Western Wing.
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5
the final act in which the lovers are united and
married (Ch'en Shou-yi, p. 459).
While many scholars have examined this play as
an example of a specific Chinese literary genre, or
considered its prose and lyrics, its authorship, and
its evolution into hundreds of versions over time,
the purpose of this study is to focus solely upon
the four above-named characters, examining the
conflicts they experience with one another and with
themselves. As Ch'en Shou-yi (p. 459) has
suggested, the evolution of the play has presented
scholars with a unique opportunity to explore how a
traditional drama has been transformed over time and
according to social norms and mores while remaining
essentially true to its origins. No fewer than 60
editions of the work were produced during the Ming
dynasty, and many, such as the Wang Jide edition of
1614, include woodblock illustrations to increase
appeal to readers (Asia Society, p. 2).
The plot is a relatively simple love drama that
tells how a young couple who fall in love encounter
and eventually overcome various setbacks in their
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6
relationship. Central conflicts in the story occur
between Madame Zheng and her daughter, Miss Cui, and
Madame Zheng and the young lover, Student Zhang. A
military invasion of the Monastery of Universal
Salvation - the physical setting of much of the
story's action - leads Madame Zheng to offer her
daughter in marriage to whosoever is able to defeat
the invading troops. It is, naturally, Student
Zhang who rises to this challenge, demonstrating
that in addition to his academic brilliance and
dashing appearance, he is capable of acting in a
manner suited to protect a young woman and her
family. When the time comes for the young lovers to
be united, Madame Zheng reneges on her offer,
leading the lovers to become romantically (and
physically) involved through the machinations of
Miss Cui's maid, Hongniang. When Madame Zheng
discovers the liaison, she severely punishes her
daughter and announces that if Student Zhang is to
marry her child, he must go to the Capital and pass
his state examinations. He complies and is
successful, thus gaining the right to claim his
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7
bride. Unlike Shakespeare's great adolescent love
story, Romeo and Juliet, these young lovers achieve
a happy ending.
During the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) Dong Jieyuan
composed a version of this story in song and prose
titled Xixiang ji zhungongdiao. It is close in both
plot and characterization to the play by Wang Shifu
that is examined in this story. It has been
translated by Li-li Ch'en and titled, in English,
Master Tung's Western Chamber Romance. It is in this
version that the original characterization of Miss
Cui, and, more significantly, Student Zhang, can be
seen as changing. These changes will be discussed
below.
The popularity of this play, and its remarkable
endurance in many forms, is due to "its masterly
construction, intricate plot, and its beautiful
language sparkling with life." (Chai and Chai, p.
377). However, Chai and Chai (p. 377) also point
out that while Zhang is a typical romantic male
figure, it is Miss Cui and her maid, Hongniang, who
are the most striking characters in the play. Wang
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Shifu drew heavily upon the earlier work of Yuan
Zhen to develop Miss Cui. Hongniang, however, "was
entirely his creation - an intelligent, lively, and
brave girl." (Chai and Chai, p. 377). It is due to
her efforts that the lovers are ultimately united,
in spite of the opposition of Madame Zheng. The
interactions between these four characters,
therefore, are of central importance in the story,
which includes a military revolt as well as a
kidnapping (albeit in a dream).
Statement of the Problem
The specific research issue to be explored in
the thesis is focused on the characters of Miss Cui,
Student Zhang, Hongniang, and Madame Zheng. These
three characters, as noted above, are the dominant
presences in the play, each possessed of personal
motives and aspirations that shape and inform their
actions. It is hypothesized herein that all three
characters are motivated by conflicting feelings
that bring them into conflict with one another and
with their own inner selves. For example, as Jing
Zhang (p. 2) has argued, Hongniang's lower social
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9
status as a housemaid renders her much less
restricted by the social decorum imposed on Miss Cui
and Student Zhang. Consequently, she enjoys greater
freedom of action and is able to be an active
facilitator of the romance between her employer's
daughter and the dashing young student.
Character is a central element in the success
or failure of any theatrical undertaking (Scholes,
Comley, Klaus, and Silverman, p. 797}.
Characterization also sheds light on the social
norms and mores that underpin action and structure
personality. By analyzing characters, their
conflicts (external as well as interpersonal), and
their actions and interactions, it is possible to
gain greater insight into the themes of a play such
as Western Wing. In this story, Miss Cui serves as
the point of reference around which the three other
central characters (Student Zhang, Madame Zheng, and
Hongniang) will be examined. Further, the study
will consider the transformations of Miss Cui that
can be observed when two versions of the play are
compared and contrasted.
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Methodology
Character in drama, according to Scholes,
Comley, Klaus, and Silverman (p. 797), presents
people who are like "real people" in some respects,
but who are by no means identical to people one
encounters in "real life." Real people exist in the
world that is, whereas characters in the play exist
in a world that is shaped by the theatrical contexts
and imitative purpose of the dramatist. Character
analysis, via a detailed examination of everything
the character says or does, allows the critic to
identify the important attitudes, beliefs, and
feelings of that character. It also permits the
analyst to explore the relationships between
characters and the various ways in which these
characters interact with one another and their
environment.
Included in character analysis is an
exploration of the style and format of dialogue and
individual characters' speeches and utterances
(Scholes, et al, p. 798). A further source of
information is what others in the play say about a
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11
character and how they express themselves in
relation to that character. Another important source
of information is to compare and contrast two
characters in a play. For example, Madame Zheng and
Hongniang are ideal characters for such a contrast
because of their widely disparate stations in life,
their attitudes toward love and marriage, and their
methods of achieving their goals and objectives.
Miss Cui and her mother are also contrasts in terms
of their attitudes toward love, sexuality and
marriage (Birch, p. 239, passim).
Scholes, et al (p. 798), also contend that
"character analysis can be a source of pleasure in
its own right, but it should ultimately lead us more
deeply into the play as a whole." For that reason,
when we analyze characters, we should keep in focus
the theatrical concepts and imaginative purposes
that shape their being. This leads, ideally, to an
appreciation of the dramatic imitation of a world
"created by the wedding of literary and of
representational art." (Scholes, et al, p. 798).
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12
Though not the central or primary purpose of
the study, by considering the development or the
evolution of a character over time as represented in
different versions of a play or story, it is
possible to gain insight into how society itself
shapes characterization and melds a work of
literature to meet new needs. The study will
briefly explore, particularly with respect to the
character of Miss Cui, how the young, romantically
inclined marriage-age woman was and is considered in
Chinese drama.
As Westand and Idema (pp. 6- 7) comment, the
popularity of this play has meant that various
writers have interpreted and reinterpreted it over a
substantial period of time. When the northern zaju
ceased to be performed on stage in the late
sixteenth century, West and Idema (p. 7) maintain
that Western Wing "continued to be played in other
forms of theater but also staged a successful
comeback as closet drama." Accordingly, many
different versions of the original have been
preserved and are available for examination today.
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13
The primary source to be employed in the study
is the 1998 version of the play translated by
Stephen H. West and Wilt C. Idema. This is the
earliest surviving edition of the five plays under
the title Xixiang ji and ascribed to Wang Shifu of
the Yuan period. Other earlier prose and chantefeble
versions, as noted above, will also be considered
with respect to character modifications, but it is
on West's translation that the major emphasis will
be placed. Secondary critical and explanatory
sources will be employed to lend scholarship to the
character analysis and to provide support for this
writer's assessments and explanations. Both
contemporary and historical source materials,
particularly commentary and criticism, will be used
in this analysis.
Plan of the Study
The thesis will be structured as a four-chapter
study that proceeds from this introduction through
character analyses and then on to a conclusion.
Chapter II of the study will offer an analysis of
Student Zhang, Hongniang, and Madame Zheng. Chapter
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14
III will focus exclusively on Miss Cui, the female
protagonist of the play. While others, including
Zhang (p. 1), have chosen to focus on the delightful
character of Hongniang (whose claim to centrality
rests upon her clever manipulation of others and her
role in facilitating the romance), this study will
explore an interpretation of the play in which Miss
Cui is central.
The fourth and final chapter of the study will
present a set of conclusions as to how character and
conflict shape the drama and determine its outcome.
Appropriate appendices will be included in the
thesis, along with a listing of all bibliographic
materials used in the research.
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Chapter II
Zhang, Hongniang, and Madame Zheng
Overview of the Chapter
While Miss Cui is the protagonist and central
figure in The Romance of the Western Wing, the
characters of Zhang, Hongniang, and Madame Zheng are
also of enormous importance. Zhang is the love
interest, Hongniang is a matchmaking catalyst, and
Madame Zheng is the obstacle against which the young
lovers must struggle to achieve their union. To a
degree, as Zhang (p. 3) has commented, these three
characters add drama, humor, and interest to what
might otherwise be a fairly ordinary love story of
the variety popularized by Shakespeare in Romeo and
Juliet. This chapter will consider each of these
characters separately.
The Student Zhang
The character of Zhang, the romantically
inclined student, changes substantially from the
initial version of the story to its most recent
translation and interpretation by West and Idema.
He is in the latest version remarkably consistent:
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16
he is the serious student, the dedicated and
determined lover, the potential warrior and hero,
and the valiant male seeking to win the love of his
lady. As such, his behavior is largely predictable,
and his conflicts are minimal, focused on overcoming
the barriers to achieving his desire and the
animosity of Madame Zheng.
In the original version of the story as written
by Yuan Zhen, the student is not a potential
warrior. His only heroism involves knowing a local
military commander, and he is not a consistently
dedicated and determined lover. Infatuated, he
eventually forsakes her. The version of the story
being explored in this thesis presents a radically
different "Student Zhang."
One of the preoccupations of student Zhang is
to achieve an outstanding reputation as a scholar
and, as a result of his scholarship, to further
achieve fame and fortune. It is only after his
meeting with Miss Cui that he begins to feel that
such a career will be unfulfilling without the love
of a desirable woman.
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Student Zhang, in both the original story and
the play, is seen as afflicted with an incurable
love sickness and a penchant for writing poetry to
his beloved (Liu, p. 173) . His description of his
beloved makes reference to a voice "like the
oriole's call across the flowers," her "dancing
waist," the "thousand graces and ten thousand charms
she has," and "love in the corner of her eyes."
(Wang Shifu, pp. 121-122) . He is therefore
established as a young man capable of embodying
every comment with poetry, a characteristic that
will not disappear as the play unfolds. He knows
himself to be suffering from "love sickness," and
feels that should she not care for him, his life
would be worthless. However, as noted above, the
"original" Student Zhang did not possess the extreme
degrees of character that are found in the later
version.
Zhang is an impressionable young man whose
fantasies are fulfilled in the physical being of
Miss Cui. It has been suggested by West and Idema
(p. 57) that when student Zhang enters the monastery
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18
in which he encounters Miss Cui, he abandons his
public, male role and becomes subject to the tyranny
of the matriarch, the vacillations of Miss Cui, and
the clever manipulation of Hongniang. In other
words, though he is an actor of significance, he is
also very much acted upon. His role, until he
rescues Miss Cui from the bandits who have abducted
her, is one of responding rather than acting. He
is, as are many young men, fascinated with a
beautiful woman and perhaps somewhat more in love
with the idea of love than with love itself.
Student Zhang's goal at the outset of the story
is simply "to go to court to take the examinations."
(Wang Shifu, p. 116). His grand ambition is to
achieve fame through study and scholarly
proficiency, and romance is not a particularly
pressing concern. It is only when he meets or sees
Miss Cui that he "runs smack into my alluring karmic
sentence from five centuries ago." (Wang Shifu, p.
120). He is literally as well as figuratively
overcome by the beauty of this young woman and says
that she has "brought out my monkey of mind, my
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19
horse of desire." (Wang Shifu, p. 122). He has
become infected "with a marrow-piercing love-
longing." (Wang Shifu, p. 123).
As he sees more of Hiss Cui, he comes to the
realization that "even if I wanted to rid myself of
love -longing now, how could I? " (Wang Shifu, p.
133). His love grows, and through the agency of
Hongniang he achieves sexual union with his beloved.
However, many trials await before Madame Zheng will
permit the liaison to continue or be formalized in
marriage.
So in love is student Zhang that when he fears
rejection, he becomes ill (Li-li Ch'en, p. 131).
The severity of the illness is never in doubt, but
it appears amenable to a dramatic cure that arrives
in the form of a letter from Miss Cui. Miss Cui
writes a poem advising Zhang to give up idle
anxiety, not let anxiety destroy his God given
talent, and recognize that she does in fact love him
and that his wish for marriage will be fulfilled
(Li-li Ch'en, pp. 132 - 135).
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The sexual consummation of the young lovers is
a precursor to their marriage and the forgiveness of
Madame Zheng. Student Zhang has proven his
worthiness not only by rescuing Miss Cui from
bandits, but also by demonstrating his aptitude as a
scholar and winning a place for himself in the world
Of government.
All of this occurs in the latest version of the
plot. Student Zhang is remarkably consistent in
this version, a young man vulnerable to love
sickness but still deeply concerned with his career
ambitions. Hongniang is suspicious of the conflict
between love and ambition that the young student
must invariably feel (Wang Shifu, p. 196).
Hongniang also sees the student as too romantic and
too devoted to be fully believed. She sees him as
pretentious and as perhaps more in love with the
idea of love than with a real woman. Nevertheless,
there can be little doubt that Student Zhang is a
man in love and a man who is self-indulgent.
While he is the object of Miss Cui's
affections, he is by extension significant to
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21
Hongniang, who, Jing Zhang (p. 5) suspects,
anticipates that she may become the young student's
concubine should he marry her mistress. In other
words, Student Zhang is seen as many things to many
people. Madame Zheng believes him to be an
interloper who is not ultimately worthy of her
daughter's hand in marriage. Hongniang sees him as
a romantic if pretentious lover for her mistress,
but also potentially her own protector. For Miss
Cui, Student Zhang is the ideal lover and a romantic
hero who has, after all, rescued her from bandits.
The governor sees the young man as capable of
holding his own in the affairs of government.
Student Zhang's conflicts therefore occur on
two different levels. He experiences conflict with
the ambitions of Madame Zhang for her daughter and
internal conflicts with respect to his grand
ambitions and his love for Miss Cui. He has not
prepared himself for the life of a warrior, but
rather for the life of a scholar. Of himself he
says, "Alas for my ambitions, pricking thighs and
hanging from rafters, I'm in danger of becoming a
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22
ghost away from home, far from my village.." (Wang
Shifu, p. 182)
Madame Zheng
Madame Zheng may perhaps best be understood as
a prototypical mother, concerned with making the
best possible marriage for a beautiful and
vulnerable young girl. Madame Zheng is uninterested
in love and concerned with social status and with
maintaining the estate to which her husband has
entitled her (West and Idema, p. 81). Madame Zheng
first promises Student Zhang that she will give him
her daughter in marriage if he rescues her, and then
reneges on this promise. She is clearly acting, in
both the original story and the subsequent versions
of the play, in what she perceives to be the best
interests of her daughter and her family.
Her attitude toward Student Zhang as a husband
is summarized in the following comment: "Even
though not a proper and exact match in status, it is
still better than falling into the hands of
traitors." (Wang Shifu, p. 155). This promise is
made in desperation and is indicative of a mother's
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23
deep concern for the safety and reputation of her
child. When she encounters General Du Que, Madame
Zheng responds, "It is as if our lives, mother's and
daughter's, have been bestowed by you." (Wang Shifu,
p. 166).
It is her intent to abandon the marriage plans
with Student Zhang and to find a better match for
her daughter. In this, she is largely frustrated by
the desires of the young lovers and by the
manipulations of Hongniang.
In the view of her daughter, Madame Zheng
"really is a case of the mouth not according with
the heart." (Wang Shifu, p. 179). Further, she is
"a slippery
bolt that can't be pinned down, a wordless riddle
that can't be solved." (Wang Shifu, p. 179). In
other words, Madame Zheng simply cannot be trusted.
Her daughter's judgment is that the mother has
"kicked apart a future that spread before us like a
piece of brocade" and " cheated me badly with
false pretenses." (Wang Shifu, p. 181).
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24
The mother is not, therefore, a particularly
complicated character. She is a widowed woman
charged with the responsibility of ensuring a good
future for her daughter and, not incidentally,
ensuring as well that she herself will enjoy a
respectable and prosperous old age, Madame Zheng
has apparently learned that love is fleeting and
that status is permanent. Nevertheless, when
Student Zhang becomes ill, Madame Zheng (also known
as the "Old Lady" in the play) expresses concern for
his condition and brings a physician to care for
him.
Madame Zheng also tends to blame Hongniang for
the affair and is seen by the maid as possessed of
manifold wiles and a violent temper (Wang Shifu, p.
223). So angry is she with the maid that Madame
Zheng threatens to beat her to death and says, "You
hussy, you're responsible for it all." (Wang Shifu,
p. 235).
Madame Zheng finds herself in the difficult and
dishonorable position of having gone back on her
promise of her daughter's hand in marriage. For a
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25
Chinese matron of elevated social status, dishonor
is not a very comfortable situation. Because of
this, she would like very much to hold Hongniang
responsible and to avoid any recognition of her own
culpability. It is then that Hongniang speaks back
and challenges Madame Zheng, telling her that if she
does not permit the marriage she will ultimately "be
sentenced for failing to keep strict control in the
family" and that all will learn that she turned her
"back on what was right and ignored a favor." (Wang
Shifu, p. 235).
The dilemma confronting Madame Zheng is, in any
version of the play, focused on how she will resolve
her problem with honor and to the benefit of her
family. She is fully aware, particularly after
Hongniang challenges her, that she is going to need
to compromise between her ambitions and her
obligations. Honor involves allowing the marriage
between Miss Cui and Student Zhang to proceed;
common sense dictates that Student Zhang must be
elevated beyond the status of a simple scholar in
order to fulfill the ambitions that Madame Zheng has
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26
for her daughter. Thus, her conflict is focused on
satisfying the twin dictates of honor and
practicality.
Madame Zheng is also in direct conflict with
the two other female characters of significance -
her daughter and Hongniang. Miss Cui seems, at
times, both to resent and to admire her mother; she
has, after all, been conditioned by her upbringing
to respect and obey an elder. When she learns that
her mother knows about the affair, she says: "How
embarrassing! How will I be able to face the madam?"
(Wang Shifu, p. 236). At the same time, she resents
being her mother's pawn - a natural reaction in a
young woman, particularly one who has had the
courage to enter into a sexual liaison of which she
knew in the beginning her mother could not and would
not approve.
In terms of the conflict between Madam Zheng
and Hongniang, the reality is that the maid is
filled with her own ambitions and is determined to
overcome all obstacles to realizing those ambitions.
Should her mistress, Miss Cui, wed the young
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27
student, it is possible that Hongniang will be
elevated to the higher status of a concubine. In
speaking to Madame Zheng, Hongniang allows her
contempt (and her personal ambition) to come
through: "You bring shame and disgrace on Chancellor
Cui.... Madam, you should consider it with utmost
care." (Wang Shifu, p. 236). The old woman is "hoist
on her own petard," caught between the obligation to
give her daughter to a man she does not wish to have
in her family and the shame that would occur if she
failed to keep her bargain.
Madame Zheng ultimately faces her obligations
with equanimity, stating to Student Zhang that he
must not "disgrace m y child in the capital" and
must do well on his examinations." (Wang Shifu, p.
240). She is also well aware that for Student Zhang,
to be the son-in-law of Chancellor Cui is an honor
that is far beyond his real station in life. The
advantages of the match are all on his side, and no
ambitious mother could avoid a small sense of
unhappiness at the "waste" of a marriageable
daughter.
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28
Before all can live happily, however, Madame
Zheng has one final moment of anger when she learns
that the student may have betrayed her family and
relegated her daughter to the status of a concubine.
This proves to be false, but the old lady is very
angry at the turn events have perhaps taken.
Finally, when all the mistaken rumors and tricks are
revealed as false, Madame Zheng capitulates and says
that "The husband is glorious, the wife is noble,
this day brings satisfaction." (Wang Shifu, p. 185).
Like many mothers before (and after) her, this woman
realizes that young love will often have its ways
and the wishes of elders are not to be realized.
Having moved from rejection to anger and back again,
and then finally to acceptance of what cannot be
avoided, the older woman expresses her hope for her
daughter's happiness and, as significantly, for her
son-in-law's future success.
The Manipulating Maid: Hongniang
Jing Zhang (p. 2) characterizes Hongniang as
less restricted than Miss Cui because of her social
status as a housemaid - a status that she clearly
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29
hopes will be improved upon the marriage of her
mistress. Unlike Miss Cui, whose relationship with
Student Zhang is artificially limited by Madame
Zheng's characterization of them as "brother and
sister," Hongniang is able to breach all the literal
and figurative "walls" that separate the lovers. She
is free to act in ways that the putative "brother
and sister" are not; she can spy on them through
holes in walls, can manipulate them and Madame Zheng
as she sees fit, and can move freely between the
world of the student and that of the protected young
lady.
Unlike Miss Cui and Student Zhang, who must
speak of their love in poetic terms and subtle
references, Hongniang is able to directly address
the issues that are being explored in the play. For
example, Student Zhang's illness may be "stabilized"
if he will "sweat beads of romance," (Wang Shifu, p.
201) a direct sexual reference to the likely cause
of his condition. When she speaks of her mistress's
longing for the young man, she says, "She is unable
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30
to shackle that monkey of her mind and the horse of
her desire." (Wang Shifu, p. 210).
Hongniang is also ready and more than willing
to uncover the pretentiousness and the absurdity of
the positions of others, including Miss Cui, Madame
Zheng, and Student Zhang.
She is at times suspicious that Student Zhang,
because he speaks in high-flown and poetic terms,
may be more in love with love than with Miss Cui:
"Oh, too romantic, too devoted. Too smart, too much
the rake." (Wang Shifu, p. 196). She also recognizes
that while Miss Cui is superficially the moral,
upright and decorous daughter of the upper classes,
she is also a girl who is very much inconsistent in
her behavior. For example, when Hongniang brings
Student Zhang's note to Miss Cui, she points out
that her mistress behaves differently in private and
public: "In front of others, clever words and
flowery speeches...Then behind others' backs,
sorrowful brows and tearful eyes." (Wang Shifu, p.
4) .
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31
Hongniang, in virtually all versions of the
plot, refuses to allow superficial attitudes and
responses to go unchallenged. She ironically
comments on others' words and actions and, according
to Jing Zhang (p. 4), is not afraid to confront them
when she feels they are behaving foolishly. While
she believes that her mistress and the young student
are truly in love and are "made for one another,"
and that Madame Zheng is likely to bring dishonor on
the family if she does not permit the marriage, she
also has personal and very selfish motives.
She does not want, for example, to be given
gold as a reward for her assistance to Student
Zhang. She clearly has something more important in
mind for herself and demands that she be treated not
merely as a servant, but as a woman. And, as she has
demonstrated in her cogent analyses of Miss Cui, to
be a woman means to be capable of love and lust and
to desire the union of both the spirit and the
flesh.
Is Hongniang herself "in love" with the
attractive student? While she clearly recognizes him
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32
as an attractive, even beautiful, young man, it
appears to be his talents and his potential for
success that are most appealing to her. In Book III,
says Jing Zhang (p. 5), Hongniang reminds Zhang of
his pursuit of fame frequently and emphasizes his
reputation and its importance. This may be due to
her realization (as a member of the servant class)
that social position and status are vitally
important in the world in which all these characters
live. In this, she is more like Madame Zheng than
Miss Cui, and would most probably not really believe
that the world was "well lost" for love.
For Hongniang, the only path to higher social
status is through concubinage. If Miss Cui marries
the young scholar, he may well elect to take her as
his own concubine. Of course, this option would also
be available in any other "good" marriage that Miss
Cui makes. Perhaps the combination of ambition and
the realization of Student Zhang's potential and his
physical appeal make him appear to be Hongniang's
"best bet" for moving up the social ladder.
Accordingly, she advises him to curb his desire for
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33
sexual fulfillment while continuing to create myriad
opportunities for Miss Cui and the young man to
improve upon their relationship.
Hongniang is mediator, manipulator, and
participant in all elements of the story of this
romance (Zhang, p. 7). She seems more responsible
than any of the other characters, and perhaps better
able to realize what is and is not important. As
noted above, it is Hongniang who constantly reminds
Madame Zheng that the honor of the family depends
upon keeping the bargain with Student Zhang; it is
Hongniang who ensures that the lovers' passions will
heat to the breaking point, and that once they have
indulged in their desires, their marriage will
become a reality. It is impossible to believe that
this young woman acts solely in the interest of
others. She is far too active a manipulator to be
disinterested and is, therefore, not a character who
shares with Shakespeare's Nurse in Romeo and
Juliet a merely voyeuristic interest in young love.
Finally, it must be noted that one of
Hongniang's most important functions in the play is
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34
to mediate between the characters and the audience
(Zhang, p. 7). It is through her narrative that we
come to know and better understand the central or
more prominent (in terms of status if not presence
in the play) characters. Hongniang "translates," in
essence, the poetry of the lovers into matter and
words that resonate with the audience, who certainly
understand that lust as much as love is at work. She
also pinpoints the conflict that confronts Madame
Zheng and ensures that the older woman will do the
right thing by the family and her daughter, while
further prodding the student to make the most of his
opportunities. All in all, this is a most important
and indispensable character.
Summary of the Chapter
This chapter of the thesis has briefly explored
the conflicts and concerns of three of the most
important characters in Wang Shifu's drama. Each
could be the center of a character analysis of the
story, but this particular research will focus on
the character of Miss Cui, whose love and
determination to wed the man of her own choice and
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35
whose willingness to engage in a sexual liaison
without benefit of marriage ensures that others'
ambitions will be realized.
The next chapter of the study will explore in
greater depth the character of Miss Cui and examine
her own relationship to the three characters
described above. The final chapter of the study will
examine the intricate relationships among all four,
and the differences between various versions of the
play.
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36
CHAPTER III
Analysis of Miss Cui
Overview of the Chapter
In the story, Record of Yingying, Miss Cui is
known as Yingying; according to Yuan Zhen, the
author (p. 141), the young woman is neither an
aggressive nor a particularly determined lover, at
least not until Student Zhang convinces her that he
is worthy of her love and her hand in marriage.
Later, the couple is seen as marrying others and
their own "grand love affair" is unfulfilled.
In the more recent version of the story under
analysis herein, however, a happy ending to the
story of Miss Cui and Student Zhang was developed.
In this new relationship, the two young lovers do
finally achieve union. This chapter of the study
will examine the conflicts that Miss Cui experiences
in relation to Student Zhang, Hongniang, and her own
mother. It will also explore this young woman's
internal conflicts as she attempts to resolve her
emotional quandary; finally, the chapter will
explore the key differences between the "original"
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37
Miss Cui and the Wang Shifu version of the
character.
Two Versions of Miss Cui/Yingying
yingying, or Miss Cui in "The Story of
Yingying," is depicted as related to the young
student, then called Chang (i.e., Zhang) (Yuan Zhen,
p. 139). Her initial response to the young man is
reserved at best; she "would not respond" to his
questions and his conversation when forced to meet
him by her mother (Yuan Zhen, p. 140). The student
is encouraged to ask for the girl's hand in marriage
by her maid, Hongniang. The young woman is depicted
by her maid as excessively "strict," as always very
proper in her actions, and as only amenable to
seduction by a love poem.
Upon being presented with this poem, the young
woman upbraids the student and tells him that
despite his heroic rescue of herself and her family,
he had no right to compose and then send to her a
"filthy poem": her "first impulse was to keep quiet
about it, but that would have been to condone your
wrongdoing, and not right" (Yuan Zhen, p. 141).
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38
Thus, she dismisses the student, but the very next
night goes to him in the wake of her maid. At this
juncture, she becomes both shy and yielding, and
their relationship is understood as having been
consummated.
The original story then has the young woman ask
for a "regularization" of the unconventional
relationship, followed by the student's departure.
The story then continues to reveal that it is the
young woman - and not the student - who desires
marriage; she is rejected by the young man, who
feels that she would be "cloud and rain or dragon
and monster" (Yuan Zhen, p. 144). He elects to
suppress his love, to abandon the young woman and to
marry elsewhere. Thus, in the original story, a very
different portrait of both Student Zhang and Miss
Cui is presented.
In Wang Shifu's version, the lovers are, after
a series of misadventures, united in marriage (Wang
Shifu, p. 37). West and Idema (p. 37) state that if
"Wang Shifu follows his source closely, he does not
follow it slavishly." For example, in the play it is
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39
not Student Zhang who wishes to leave to take his
examinations, but rather Madame Zheng who insists
that he do so. Further, and more significantly, Miss
Cui is redeveloped in the later version of the story
as a young woman who longs to be united with her
lover and who ultimately allows nothing to stand in
the way of her happiness. She is presented as
having made use of every opportunity available to
express her love, and is not shy or reserved.
Jing Zhang (p. 6) suggests that Miss Cui
deliberately presents herself in the latter version
as having "two minds." On the one hand, she speaks
to Hongniang about her lover in a way designed to
keep everyone off balance; she is deliberately
obscure in vocalizing her intentions to Hongniang,
whom she rightly suspects will repeat her words to
Student Zhang. On the other hand, her letters to
the young man reveal a greater depth and sureness of
passion and love than her verbal statements to the
maid.
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40
Miss Cui's Internal Conflicts
There are several real and pressing conflicts
that confront Miss Cui in Western Wing. On the one
hand, she has fallen in love with a student while
engaged or at least tentatively promised to another
man. On the other hand, she is not fully convinced
that Student Zhang's character is all that it should
be, or that his protestations of great and enduring
passion are to be fully believed. As Jing Zhang (p.
6) states, "Yingying's hesitancy indicates her
agonizing struggles between her desire to fulfill
her love, her anxiety over the reliability of
Zhang's character and his love for her and perhaps,
her suspicion of the transitory nature of man's
passion."
Li-li Ch'en, speaking of the zhugongdiao (p.
xv), characterizes Miss Cui as worldly and
ambitious, basically kind and easily moved to sorrow
and pity, possessed of an interesting mixture of
shyness and boldness. She is also tortured by
concerns regarding her lover and by the loneliness
that she experiences when he leaves to complete his
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41
examinations. "During the day she could manage a
certain equanimity, but at night she was tortured by
loneliness" (Ch'en Shou-yi, p. 185).
She is pious, as her prayers for her father
reveal. She says, as she lights incense sticks for
her deceased father, her mother's health, and her
own unspoken desire for a husband: "The unending
heartbreaks in my heart/All lie in these two deep,
deep bows" (In Wang Shifu, p. 139). She is always
aware that she must make a good marriage to maintain
the status of the family. After she is rescued from
the would-be abductors by Student Zhang, and her
mother promises her to the young man, she is
determined that the family honor will be maintained
by following through on the promise.
Her early education in verse and other aspects
of knowledge may well have prepared her for
vulnerability to the poetry of Student Zhang. For
example, she says of him that "Thinking of that
lettered man of culture,/ That enchanting man of
elegance-.../Once cannot but recite his name, feel his
stamp on the heart" (Wang Shifu, p. 153). She has,
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42
in essence, responded not only to his physical
attractions, but also to his literary capabilities
and his poems.
When confronted with the possibility that she
and her entire family will be abducted, Miss Cui
offers to give herself to the enemy and identifies
five advantages to such a strategy:
First, it avoids destroying my mother;
Second, it avoids turning these halls to ashen
members;
Third, the monks will be left alone and kept
secure;
Fourth, my late father's coffin will be safe
and sound;
and Fifth, even though Happy is not grown up -
He is the posterity of the Cui family.
(Wang Shifu, p. 144).
Happy is Miss Cui's younger brother. He is a
relatively minor character in the story, notable
only for his absence from the physical action and
his significance as the scion of the family.
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43
Miss Cui is clearly a rational young woman
capable of logically reasoning and in defining a
situation quite competently. She quickly realizes
that she could also be given in marriage to Student
Zhang, which her mother agrees is a better plan.
However, it is incumbent upon the young man to "wipe
away five thousand men/With the tip of your brush"
(Wang Shifu, p. 156). He succeeds in doing this and
achieves a promise of the hand of Miss Cui. It then
becomes incumbent for Miss Cui to believe that
student Zhang is honest in his love. Ultimately,
this is proven to be the case. Her conflicts are
resolved when she and student Zhang describe
themselves as follows: "Rightly paired are husband
and wife in this life (Wang Shifu, p. 284) ."
The story concludes with the union of a
"frustrated girl" and an "unmarried man" and Miss
Cui's gratitude to her mother for "your management
as head of the house" (Wang Shifu, p. 285). All her
conflicts now resolved, Wang Shifu's female lead has
little reason other than to be completely satisfied
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44
with herself, her husband, and the new status of her
family.
Miss Cui and Madame Zheng
While Miss Cui is characterized in both the
original story and the play as a dutiful daughter
filled with filial piety, she is not free from
conflicts with her mother. Madame Zheng, in both
versions of the story, is fully intent upon ensuring
that her daughter will make a marriage appropriate
to the honor and the status of the family.
Certainly, Madame Zheng is behaving in an
appropriate manner by seeking the best possible
husband for her daughter.
When Madame Zheng discovers the affair and the
student is more or less forced by her demands to
leave the monastery and take his examinations as a
condition of marriage, she can be understood as
acting in the best interests of both her daughter
and her entire family. As a mother, Madame Zheng
often characterizes her daughter as a piece of
"worthless goods" to be sold at "two for the price
of one" {Wang Shifu, p. 69). It is quite possible
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45
that Miss Cui's duty to her mother operates not in
the realm of love and compassion, but rather within
what West and Idema (p. 69) call the abused
relationship of authority and filial response. For
Miss Cui, the conflict with her mother centers upon
the tension between her own desire for love and
sexual as well as emotional fulfillment and her
obligations to an authority figure.
When she suggests to her mother that there are
limited choices with regard to meeting the demands
of the abductors, she carefully avoids any mention
of the possibility that Student Zhang may be the
family's salvation until she has listed other,
perhaps less palatable, alternatives. In this
manner, she obscures her true goals and objectives
from her mother and tricks her mother into accepting
a solution to their mutual problem that is honorable
and tolerable.
Miss Cui, in undertaking a sexual liaison with
Student Zhang, is certainly well aware that her
mother is unlikely to approve. Leaving the young
man, she makes this clear in the following
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46
statement: "I'm going back lest the madam look for
me when she awakens" (Wang Shifu, p. 230). This is
not a young woman who is in any way unaware of the
consequences of her actions. She is certainly
willing to take enormous risks in order to fulfill
her sexual and romantic desires. Like Student
Zhang, she is aware that her mother might confine
her if she were to find out that the romance was
underway.
The conflict between a daughter and her mother
is not unique to this particular genre, but rather
serves as a compelling theme in any number of
different literary traditions. Jing Zhang (p. 5)
claims that Miss Cui is abetted in her deceit by
Hongniang, who has an agenda of her own. Both of
these young women have plans for themselves that do
not necessarily coincide with those of Madame Zheng.
It is to their credit that they are ultimately able
to overcome the attitude of the mother, for whom a
marriage with Student Zhang is a lesser evil at
best.
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47
Miss Cui and Student Zhang
The conflict between Miss Cui and Student Zhang
is in many ways as predictable and understandable as
the conflict between the young girl and her mother.
The central question that Miss Cui must resolve in
terms of the relationship is whether Student Zhang
is honest in his love and whether she can rely upon
him to return from his examinations and take up his
role as her designated husband.
Earlier in this chapter, it was noted that in
the original story, the young student chooses not to
return and not to marry the young woman, suspecting
that she may simply be a bit too much or too
difficult for him. In the later version, Student
Zhang is not nearly so fickle.
Miss Cui is depicted in the play as thoroughly
aware of her own skills, talents, and physical
appeal. She is certainly equally aware that Student
Zhang is overwhelmed by her beauty. He considers
her to be dazzling and possessed of "the meticulous
behavior of one from a great family; /She doesn't
have half a speck of flippancy./ She makes deep,
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48
deep obeisance before the reverend/ And then opens
her scarlet lips and speaks just so"
(Wang Shifu, p. 129).
Student Zhang's passion is overwhelming at
first to Miss Cui, who is known to Hongniang as
young in years, but stubborn in character. She is
also recognized as capable of turning even a callow
youth "into a loving, a caring, a handsome husband"
(Wang Shifu, p. 134).
Like Student Zhang, Miss Cui is at least
initially attracted to a set of externals, including
his ability to create fresh and original poetry. As
their relationship grows, Miss Cui abandons her
concerns and expresses her love freely and fully.
As she tells Hongniang, "my love-longing was because
of him;/ His love-longing, because of me./ But from
now on, love's longing will be cured for us both"
(Wang Shifu, p. 176).
As the sexual relationship unfolds, Miss Cui's
shyness and any remaining confusion regarding the
romance are diminished. She gives herself fully and
freely, running the risk of antagonizing her
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49
suspicious mother. The wrath of the mother falls
first on Hongniang, who is certainly not unwilling
to let the old lady know that it is she and not her
daughter who is at fault.
Miss Cui, in the play, anticipates the grief of
separation and expresses fears that her husband will
not return from his examinations. She says: "Those
young in years/Lightly part for distant places./
Those shallow in feeling/Easily discard their
partners" (Wang Shifu, p. 241). Fortunately for
Miss Cui in the version of the story by Wang Shifu,
Student Zhang returns to take his place as her
husband after six months of study. A happy ending
is achieved and his loyalty is expressed by the
statement that "since I left Missy, my heart hasn't
had a single day's ease" (Wang Shifu, p. 261).
Wang Shifu provides one final plot twist at the
end of his play. As Student Zhang returns to claim
his bride, a scandalous rumor has already reached
the family that he has married elsewhere into a
family of even higher status. Student Zhang affirms
once and for all that he has been loyal to Miss Cui
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50
and that he is not an unprincipled man. He is
worthy of Miss Cui's love and even of her mother's
respect. Others have tried to discredit him, but he
has won through to achieve union with the only woman
he loves. Any lingering concerns that Miss Cui or
her mother may have felt are fully eliminated as the
action of the play closes.
Miss Cui and Hongniang
Hongniang is a vitally important character in
this play for several reasons. She functions as a
go-between whose machinations are ultimately
responsible for bringing together Miss Cui and
Student Zhang. She is equally significant in that
she has an agenda of her own with respect to Student
Zhang. As Jing Zhang (p. 2) maintains, Hongniang
may hope to improve her own situation in life by
becoming the concubine of Student Zhang upon her
mistresses' marriage to the young man. This is not
an unreasonable expectation.
However, her relationship with Miss Cui is not
without its own problems. In the story, Hongniang
offers her assistance both to Miss Cui and to
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51
Student Zhang. It is not until the later versions
appear that Hongniang becomes a character of greater
importance who is ultimately essential in creating
the relationship between the young lovers.
Li-li Ch'en (p. Ill) has noted that in the
original version of the story, Hongniang is
sympathetic to the desires of the young people and
also antagonistic to Madame Zheng. Despite this,
character transformation becomes apparent in the
later version, in which when Hongniang conveys one
of the poems written by Student Zhang to Miss Cui,
Miss Cui threatens to kill her and throws a mirror
at the maid's face (Li-li Ch'en, p. 114).
As Wang Shifu describes her, Hongniang becomes
even more aggressive and straightforward. She is
clearly determined to bring together the young
lovers and uses her wit to encourage each of them.
Hongniang, as a member of a lower class than that of
Miss Cui and her family, is able to act with greater
freedom and discretion than her mistress. This
leads Miss Cui to characterize her as both unhelpful
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52
and unfeeling and as only likely to be following
orders (Wang Shifu, p. 141).
The conflict between Miss Cui and Hongniang is
underscored by the fact that though Hongniang is in
the putative position of a "sister" to Miss Cui, she
is also under the orders of Madame Zheng. This
creates a certain tension between the two
characters. As Miss Cui says, referring to
Hongniang as Crimson, "Oh Crimson,/I can only lie
face down on this fine silken pillow and drowse:/
Were I just to leave the doors of my apartment/Like
a shadow, you'd never leave my side" (Wang Shifu, p.
152). To this accusation that she is spying for
Madame Zheng, Hongniang says, "It has nothing to do
with me! Madam ordered me to follow you around"
(Wang Shifu, p. 152).
Both young women are therefore under the
domination of the older, wiser, and ambitious Madame
Zheng. Neither is completely free to do what they
want to do when they want to do it, though Hongniang
is certainly less inhibited than her mistress.
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53
The question of whether Hongniang sees in
Student Zhang an opportunity for her own advancement
appears to be answered in the following statement:
"And because of his inner talents/I, who have always
had a hard heart/Am smitten as soon as I see him"
(Wang Shifu, p. 169). Certainly, Hongniang does not
at any juncture reveal to Miss Cui that she is also
interested in the young man. Rather she focuses her
attention on both lovers and encourages them to risk
all for their love and to go against the wishes of
Madame Zheng. There is assuredly an element of
self-interest in her manipulation. This is also
apparent when she attempts to warn Miss Cui that the
banquet planned by Madame Zheng to celebrate the
proposed marriage is excessively small and not in
keeping with the commitment that is being made (Wang
Shifu, p. 176).
Hongniang exhibits sensitivity to her mistress
that is also self-serving. She creates numerous
opportunities for the young lovers to be together
all the while assuring Miss Cui that she is working
for her (Miss Cui's) best interests. To achieve the
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54
marriage she must overcome Miss Cui's inability to
"shackle that monkey of her mind and the horse of
her desire" (Wang Shifu, p. 210). It is through her
efforts that the young couple consummates their
relationship. As Wang Shifu wrote: "Little Crimson
brings the happy affair to completion" (Wang Shifu,
p. 252).
Even at the very end, when Hongniang is accused
by Madame Zheng of being responsible for the return
of Student Zhang, she continues to defend herself
possibly in the hopes that her station in life will
be better. The reader of the play can only hope
that Hongniang's ambitions are as fulfilled as those
of Miss Cui and Student Zhang.
Summary to the Chapter
Miss Cui is the character around which all of
the other major characters in the play invariably
revolve. It is she who is the object of Student
Zhang's love, as well as she who is the object of
her mother's ambition and the aspirations of her
maid. She is valuable as a gift in marriage, and
her mother is willing to sacrifice her own daughter
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55
to bandits and then equally willing to allow her
daughter to be given in marriage to an unknown
student of little status.
For Hongniang, her mistress and "sister" is an
object of pity and fun, and may also be an
opportunity for personal advancement. Miss Cui also
appears to perceive herself as worthwhile only to
the extent that she either meets the needs of others
or fulfills the desires of others. It is only
through her growing love for Student Zhang that she
begins to achieve a sense of her own worth. This
relationship is also the catalyst that allows her to
break the hold exerted by her mother and to declare
her own independence.
The original Miss Cui or Yingying was far less
assertive and more self-effacing than Wang Shifu's
Miss Cui. Over time, a young woman who allowed her
to be deprived of her true love and victimized by
her lover has become a strong young woman who sees a
difficult relationship through to a positive and
happy conclusion. She ends the play as a happily
married young woman and not as a frustrated girl.
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56
Miss Cui has overcome the narrowness of her
mother's ambitions and her own doubts about the
validity of Student Zhang's protests of great love.
She ultimately deserves the reward that she receives
and is likely to become a "noble wife" to a
deserving and honorable man.
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57
Chapter IV
Summary and Conclusions
The Versions of the Story
The original story and the "updated" version by
Wang Shifu share many common elements, but end on
entirely different notes. In the former or original
version of the romance, Student Zhang does not
return to claim his bride after successfully
completing his examinations. In fact, he
deliberately chooses to marry elsewhere and to avoid
entangling himself in the affairs of Miss Cui or
Yingying. In doing so, he acts out the deception
that is perpetrated in the version by Wang Shifu,
who allows Miss Cui to briefly believe that her
lover has chosen another and then returns him
honorably to her side.
Miss Cui, in the original version of the
story, sends a final poem to Student Zhang in which
she writes: "Cast off and abandoned, what can I say
now/Whom you loved so briefly long ago?/ Any love
you had then for me/Will do for the one you have
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58
now" (Hightower, p. 145). This is a vastly
different Miss Cui than the young woman who sings,
"We thank the present sagely and enlightened sage
ruler of Tang,/Who bestowed on us a decree making us
man and wife:/For all eternity without
separation/For all infinity forever united./May
lovers of the whole world be thus united in
wedlock!" (Wang Shifu, p. 285). The original Miss
Cui is a woman who is bereft and abandoned, wasting
away in an unhappy marriage, and ultimately
convinced that she is without value in the eyes of
the one man who matters. Wang Shifu allows his Miss
Cui to achieve fulfillment and happiness in the
marriage of her choice. He further allows her to
have her own way with regard to her mother. These
are, therefore, two substantially different stories
with different endings and a dramatically different
character implicit in Student Zhang.
The Central Role of Miss Cui
The story of Madame Zheng, Miss Cui and Student
Zhang is also very much the story of Hongniang, a
maid whose actions are central to ensuring that Miss
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59
Cui and Student Zhang will be united in marriage.
It is, however, Miss Cui who has served as the
central focus of this study of the myriad conflicts
that occur in the relationships of these central
characters. Miss Cui, according to West and Idema
(p. ix), is "no village maiden but the daughter of a
gentry family, her father himself no doubt a former
official of unchallenged probity and prestige." She
has been reared from birth to be the companion and
wife of a man of equal stature, and her life has
been directed toward achieving this ambition.
Student Zhang is unexpected in Miss Cui's life,
which should have moved gradually to the promised
marriage with her father's nephew, Zheng Heng (Wang
Shifu, p. 115). To that end, she has been taught
all the "female skills" and embroidery, verse,
lyrics, calligraphy, and ciphering. She is
described by a Clown as "a heavenly beauty, a real
'statetoppler'" (Wang Shifu, p. 121). She is
clearly destined for a more prestigious marriage
than that which Student Zhang appears able to offer
her.
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60
Certainly, Miss Cui (and her prototype,
Yingying) recognizes that there are certain
obligations owed to family and rank. The conflicts
between personal desire and love and family
obligations are central to Miss Cui's character in
both versions of the story. In the earlier version
of the story, however, a critical difference is
centered upon the character not of Miss Cui, but of
Student Zhang.
The romantic, determined Student Zhang of Wang
Shifu is that writer's own invention. In the story,
Student Zhang is an opportunist who elects not to
marry Miss Cui after he has obtained her sexual
favors. Rather, he decides that as a wife, she may
well be more trouble than she is worth. He marries
elsewhere, despite his "grand passion" and "great
love" for the young woman. After leaving on his own
(and not at the behest of Madame Zheng) to complete
his examinations, he simply does not return to Miss
Cui. In the intermediate version by Dong Jieyuan,
the young student is much closer to the presentation
by Wang Shifu than to the original characterization.
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61
This difference in the character and the
actions of Student Zhang can be seen as shaping the
entire outcome of the story. Rather than a contented
pair of young lovers, the original story describes a
young man too quick to abandon a desirable woman in
his own self-interest. It also depicts Miss Cui as
an emaciated woman incapable of even looking at the
face of her former lover and embittered by her
experiences.
Miss Cui and the Female Characters
In addition to Miss Cui, two other female
characters are of enormous significance in the play.
These are Madame Zheng and Hongniang. As Jing Zhang
(p. 1) has pointed out, Hongniang dominates many of
the particular scenes and acts of the play and is
largely instrumental in bringing together the young
lovers while simultaneously helping them to outwit
Madame Zhang.
Hongniang also reduces the pretensions of the lovers
to a lower common denominator, being the only one of
the three who is unafraid to emphasize the
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62
inherently sexual attraction that exists between
Miss Cui and Student Zhang.
Miss Cui does not hesitate at any point in the
play to use Hongniang as an intermediary (Wang
Shifu, p. 35). Hongniang frequently carries letters
and poems back and forth between the lovers and also
intervenes on Miss Cui's behalf with Madame Zheng.
Her role is to facilitate the developing
relationship and to develop stratagems that are
essential in bringing a pair of ineffectual lovers
together. At the same time, this discussion has
suggested that Hongniang may not be an impartial
observer who is merely attempting to assist a
beloved mistress in achieving the culmination of her
dreams. She is also a woman legitimately concerned
with her own future and likely to be interested in
some kind of advancement.
There is nothing inappropriate in such an
attitude, and the degree of enthusiasm that
Hongniang brings to her self-appointed task of
''spreading love's longing" suggests that she also
has personal ambitions (Wang Shifu, p. 194). As she
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63
tells Student Zhang, "I don't give a damn about your
gold./ You look on me as a spring-wand sprig of
peach beyond the garden wall:/I'm not to be compared
to those who lean against the gates to sell their
charms./ I may be just a woman, but I have my pride"
(Wang Shifu, p. 195). This suggests, as does the
fact that Student Zhang makes reference to Hongniang
as a "sister," that her status will improve upon the
marriage of her mistress to Zhang.
If Hongniang has a hidden agenda with respect
to Miss Cui and Student Zhang, Madame Zheng is
ultimately far more transparent. Like any other
mother, she is highly ambitious for her only
daughter. Like a widow faced with marrying a
daughter successfully and advantageously, she is
well aware that Student Zhang will not bring any
particular status or benefits to her family. She is
also willing to consider her daughter as little more
than a bargaining chip with respect to other
ambitions that she holds for her son, Happy.
With respect to her mother, Miss Cui is seen as
torn between two conflicting attitudes. A dutiful
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64
Chinese daughter, she has been reared to obey the
commands of her parents. She certainly recognizes
that her mother has legitimate authority in the
family, and though she resents being considered
little more than a bargaining chip, she accepts her
mother's right to treat her in such a manner.
However, she is also a young woman deeply in love
and determined to have the husband of her choice.
It is her cleverness that leads to the initial
agreement of Madame Zheng to permit the betrothal
with Student Zhang. It is her subsequent
determination to follow through on that betrothal
that characterizes her actions.
Aided by Hongniang, Miss Cui takes matters into
her own hands and gives herself sexually to Student
Zhang. This places her mother in a difficult
position with regard to any other possible marriage
partner for Miss Cui. She is nevertheless
vulnerable to fear that once Student Zhang achieves
fame and fortune, "he will throw me to the back of
his mind" (Wang Shifu, p. 258). As noted earlier,
this is what precisely occurs in the story.
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65
In her relationship with Madame Zheng she does
triumph. She acquires the husband of her choice and
brings new honor and status to her family because of
his achievements. Less certain is the outcome of
any conflict between Miss Cui and Hongniang. Having
suggested several times that Hongniang may have
ambitions of her own with respect to her status;
Wang Shifu provides no resolution to this particular
subplot.
Hongniang disappears from the action of the
final scene of the play. Having brought Miss Cui to
meet her newly returned husband, Hongniang does not
speak again. The reader of the play does not know
whether Miss Cui will be forced to accept Hongniang
as her husband's concubine. Given the manipulations
that Hongniang has undertaken throughout the entire
play, it is possible that this development may come
to pass.
Certainly, as a married woman, Miss Cui has
managed to foil her mother's ambitions. She is even
capable of thanking her mother for "her management
as head of the house," and Madame Zheng is graceful
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66
in defeat by stating that "the husband is glorious,
the wife is noble, and this day brings satisfaction"
(Wang Shifu, p. 285).
The Meaning of the Play
The purpose of the play written by Wang Shifu
and the earlier story or stories upon which it is
based is to illustrate the various ways in which
love affairs can be resolved. In the story, an
unhappy resolution is brought about because Student
Zhang chooses not to marry Miss Cui and to take an
easier path through life. In this version, he does
not lose his opportunity for fame, fortune, or
position. He merely shares these benefits with a
woman other than Miss Cui.
In the zhugongdiao by Dong Jieyuan and the play
by Wang Shifu, Miss Cui and Student Zhang are far
better rewarded for their courage and their passion.
They are allowed by the authors to achieve a union
with one another despite enormous opposition
generated by Madame Zheng and the bandit known as
Flying Sun Tiger. Student Zhang emerges in this
version as a hero, a scholar, and a steadfast lover
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67
capable of enormous loyalty. Miss Cui emerges as a
young woman who is able and willing to take her life
into her own hands, denying the authority of her
mother and giving herself as well as psychologically
to the man of her choice.
Further, Wang Shifu provides a much-expanded
role for Hongniang, who becomes much more than a go-
between or message carrier. Hongniang functions as
a secondary female lead in the version of the story
by Wang Shifu and is the key catalyst whose
determination brings together a pair of lovers, who
left to their own devices may well have dreamed in
silence. Hongniang also proves herself to be more
than a match for Madame Zheng, whose opposition to
the marriage remains constant until the final scene
of the play.
Regardless of whether Hongniang ultimately
achieves the improvement in. her status by becoming a
concubine of Student Zhang, she has served Miss Cui
very well. Wang Shifu paints both Student Zhang and
Miss Cui as the kind of young lovers likely to be
satisfied with flowery poetry and pretentious
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68
lyrics. For much of the play, they seem willing to
stare at one another across garden walls or to gaze
in longing from great distances while spouting
poetry. Miss Cui is urged to act and then helped to
act by an earthy, determined maid who believes that
a grand passion should find its fulfillment in
sexual congress. It is possible that neither
Student Zhang nor Miss Cui would have been able to
achieve this union without assistance.
It is also possible that the opposition of
Madame Zheng to the marriage was understood by Wang
Shifu as a necessary spur to the interests of Miss
Cui. As the play begins, we learn that Miss Cui has
been betrothed to a cousin. She shows no objection
to this marriage, and it is only after the
relationship with Student Zhang has reached the
point of no return that she begins to believe that
she is capable of controlling her own destiny.
Conclusion
This study has consisted of an analysis of the
four central characters of Wang Shifu's Western
Wing. The analysis proceeds from the assumption
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69
that Miss Cui is the central focus of the play, both
in the later version by Wang Shifu and the earlier
story on which it was based. The four central
characters - Miss Cui, Hongniang, Student Zhang, and
Madame Zheng - have been identified herein as having
a specific set of goals and objectives that shape
their attitudes, actions, and interactions. By
focusing on Miss Cui as the central figure in the
story, it becomes possible to gain insight into the
conflicts between each of these characters.
Wang Shifu created a story in which a happy
ending was made possible only through the
determination of Student Zhang to remain faithful to
the woman he loved. Instrumental in bringing the
lovers together, Hongniang and (for different
reasons) Madame Zheng share in the general happiness
that results when they are finally and permanently
united. All's well that ends well, and Miss Cui and
Student Zhang are depicted as fully deserving of
their mutual good fortune. The story created by Wang
Shifu is therefore superior, in terms of
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romanticism, to the original upon which it was
based.
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71
Works Cited
Anonymous. “The Story: Plot summary.” 2001.
Available at
www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudentProj ects/
00-01/97 0284 6d/mmcourse/prc**‘
Asia Society. “Newly Annotated Edition of the
Story of the Western Wing, Based on Classic
Editions. Visible Traces. Available at
www.askasia.org/VISIBLE-TRACES/rarebooks/rbll.
Birch, Cyril. Studies in Chinese Literary Genres.
Berkeley:University of California Press, 1974.
Chai, Ch’ u, and Chai, Winberg. A Treasury of
Chinese Literature. New York: Appleton-Century,
1965.
Ch'en, Li-li. Master Tung' s Western Chamber Romance
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Ch’ en, Shou-yi. Chinese Literature: A Historical
Introduction. New York: Ronald Press, 1961.
Jordan, David. “Chinese Matchmakers of Tianjin &
Taoyuan.” Conference on Anthropological Studies in
Taiwan. March 21-23, 1997. Available at
http://ucsd.edu/~jordan/scriptorium/meiren/meiren-
abstract.html.
Lai, Ming. A History of Chinese Literature.
New York: John Day, 1964.
Liu, Wu-chi. An Introduction to Chinese Literature.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1966.
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Scholes, R., Comley, N.R., Klaus, C. H., and
Silverman, M.Eds. Elements of Literature.Oxford:
Oxford UniversityPress, 1986.
Wang Shifu. The Story of the Western Wing.
Eds/Trans Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema.
Berkeley:University of California Press, 1995.
West, Stephen H. and Wilt L. Idema, "Introduction.
In Wang Shifu, pp. 1-102.
Y. W. Ma and Joseph S. M. Lau. Ed. Traditional
Chinese Stories,Themes and Variations. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1978.
Yuan Zhen, "The Story of Yingying." Tr. James R.
Hightower. In Traditional Chinese Stories, Themes
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Zhang, Jing. "Peeping Through the Wall: Reading
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http://cosa.uchicago.edu/zhangj ing5.html
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Chen, Yun-Ju
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Core Title
An analysis of characterization in "The Romance of the Western Wing"
School
Graduate School
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Master of Arts
Degree Program
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
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literature, Asian,OAI-PMH Harvest,theater
Language
English
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Digitized by ProQuest
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Hayden, George (
committee chair
), [illegible] (
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