The Peony Pavilion
Lee Yuan-chen is a professor at Tamkang University and has been active in the women's rights movement for many years. She selects The Peony Pavilion as her favorite love story. Written in the Ming Dynasty, this comedy directly addresses the issues of love and passion.
In the era that Du Liniang was raised in, women were not allowed to go to flower gardens because it was thought to be immoral and decadent. The first time that Du Liniang goes to a flower garden, she does not tell her parents. When she sees the wide array of blooming flowers, she is awed. "Now bursting with color, blossoming everywhere, one day they will wither and tumble! Beautiful moments and lovely scenes-what do they matter? Who will see the beauty in this house?" Of course, this passage not only reflects her sadness for the end of spring but also for her own passing youth.
After Du Liniang goes to the gardens, she has a dream in which she sees a young scholar named Liu Mengmei and has sexual intercourse with him; a scene which is noteworthy for its delicate description of a woman's needs and passions. Later in the story Du Li-niang becomes very sick and dies. Her ghost has sexual relations with Liu Mengmei and she then comes back to life. Liu Mengmei knows that Du Liniang has come back to life and goes to her grave to try to free her. Her father sees him, however, and mistakenly believes that the young scholar has robbed Du Liniang's grave. Her father grabs the young scholar and begins to beat him, but Liu shouts out, "I kissed her so that her heart could start beating again. By lying with her I gave her my life essence and brought her back to life." This story literally emphasizes the life-saving nature of love and the power of desire.
The script of The Peony Pavilion was adapted from a Song-dynasty story. Cheng Pei-kai, a professor in the history department of Pace University in New York, also lists this story as a favorite: "Tang Xianzu changed the plot so that it was not merely a story in which sexual activity brought life, but one in which a woman is depicted as having her own desires and pursuing them."
Communicating with a few words
In The Dream of the Red Chamber, the love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu gradually grows from a physical relationship into a spiritual relationship. Through sharing in daily activities such as eating and sleeping together they slowly develop a rapport. Yu Te-hui is an associate professor at National Dong Hwa University's Institute of Ethnic Relations and Culture. Although Dr. Yu works in the social sciences, he states: "Sociological theories and areas of investigation cannot portray matters of love as well as a great novel. Although stories are often unstructured, they bring romance to life. The Dream of the Red Chamber is the perfect example of this."
As an example, let's look at Chapter 32 of The Dream of the Red Chamber. Jia Baoyu has always had contempt for those who try to talk him into pursuing the expected paths of government or business. He movingly says: "Daiyu would never try to convince me to do something like that. If she was the type of person to say something of that nature we wouldn't be as close as we are." Lin Daiyu hears this through the closed door and is overwhelmed with both delight and sadness. Her delight is due to the fact that she thinks of him as her intimate friend, and on overhearing his speech knows that the feeling is mutual. But at the same time she is saddened. She knows that everyone feels that the perfect match for Baoyu is a young woman named Baochai, because they are from the same social class. Lin Daiyu is merely an orphan, alone, and in failing health.
Jia Baoyu then goes outside and sees that Lin Daiyu is crying. He gently wipes away her tears with his hand, and after gazing at her for a while he tells her: "Don't worry." She is stunned and after an equally long pause, replies: "Why should I be worried with you here?" Jia Baoyu comforts her by telling her to worry less and to concentrate on recovering from her illness. Lin Daiyu is struck by his words, marveling at the extent to which he understands her. She wants to tell him everything she has been thinking and feeling, but after struggling to do so, she cannot spit out even one word. She just gazes at him in silence.
Professor Yu Te-hui comments on this scene: "This passage exemplifies true love. You say only a few words and I say only a few words yet somehow we communicate our innermost feelings."
No need to envy the gods
Some years ago, Columbia University in the USA decided to compile The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, to present different aspects of Chinese culture, and invited a panel of leading international sinologists to recommend books they felt best exemplified Chinese culture. Only one book was on every committee member's list: Six Chapters of a Floating Life, the story of Shen Sanbai and his wife Yunniang. In our survey, Ko Ching-ming, a professor in NTU's Chinese literature department, and two other college professors, Lin Chien-hsun and Lin Ching-su, put this at the top of their lists. Yunniang is also described by many scholars as "the most lovable woman in Chinese literature."
The love between Shen Sanbai and Yun-niang can be seen in many passages of the text. This is demonstrated both before and after they are married. In the passage "Congee," one can see how considerate Yunniang is. Sanbai is a guest at a party held at Yunniang's house. At the end of the evening he helps by seeing guests home, and returns very late. He is hungry, but all that is left is desserts and sweets, which he does not care for. Just as he is trying to decide whether to eat the sweets, Yunniang pulls out a bowl of congee and some vegetable dishes, thereby demonstrating that even in her busiest moments she thinks of his needs.
They often read and talk about poetry and literature together. They also enjoy gardening and collecting rocks together. Once, she even dresses up as a man so that she will be allowed to go out with him at night to a temple fair. In one memorable scene they go for a boat ride together and irreverently use bowls and plates as drums as they sing with the oarsman. Later in the story she falls ill for a long time and he takes care of her day and night, attending to her every whim. Love exists in every aspect of their lives.
Shen Sanbai admits that Yunniang is not very beautiful and that she shows her teeth when she laughs (which a "proper" woman did not do at that time), yet he loves her like no other. Ko Ching-ming states: "This story is significant because it is one of the first stories in Chinese fiction to show that even ordinary people could have deep and meaningful love. As the proverb says, 'We don't have the beautiful wings of a phoenix, but there is beauty in our mutual understanding.'" So, why should we envy the birds and butterflies in love stories, when in true life we can see true love in every corner?
The Romeo and Juliet of the East
When the scholars listed the most moving love stories, they left the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai off their lists. On closer examination of the lists I realized that none of the stories were of the "die for love" genre. Because these scholars are very familiar with classical Chinese love stories, I was curious as to why this kind of story was not included.
Professor Teng Chao-hsu answered that the reason was that moving love stories such as this "appeal to your emotions, yet they lack significance. Through these stories you can appreciate that kind of love but it is not really worth further thought or admiration."
One such story from the East Jin era is that of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. When she is a teenager, Zhu Yingtai dresses up as a boy and leaves her hometown to attend school somewhere else. That is when she meets her classmate Liang Shanbo. When she returns home he finally realizes that she is a woman. Feeling foolish for this oversight, he returns home to tell his parents that he wants to marry her, but by that time Zhu Yingtai is already engaged to a member of the Ma family. Three years later Liang Shanbo falls ill and dies. On the way to her wedding ceremony Zhu Yingtai visits Liang Shanbo's grave. While she is there a big storm comes. Just as she is praying at the grave with grief, the sky and the ground split open, and she jumps into the hole and dies. Later, the two lovers turn into butterflies and fly into the sky.
In the story The Peacocks Fly Southeast, Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi are a married couple that kill themselves because the young man's mother forces them apart. Liu Lanzhi lifts up her skirt, takes off her silk shoes and drowns herself. Jiao Zhongqing hangs himself from a tree in his yard. Later, their families bury the two lovers together and two intertwined trees grow on their grave. In the trees there is a pair of mandarin ducks, the symbol of lovers in China, singing with grief. Whenever people pass by this scene they are touched and have tears in their eyes.
In traditional society where marriage was arranged by a matchmaker with the backing of one's parents, lovers were often torn between filial obedience and loyalty to each other. In many cases the only way for a couple to avoid breaching one of these affections was to end their lives. Under this great pressure, two lives were pressed into one. Through death they forged their love to make it eternal. Tseng Chao-hsu of National Central University's Chinese literature department states: "What touches people in the story is the love, not the death."
Why die?
Professor Ko Ching-ming criticizes the message of such stories. "If we analyze these love tragedies, their deaths are caused not only by society, but also by their own personalities." As an example of this, Professor Ko notes that in the seven years that Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai study together, Zhu Yingtai never gives any hint of love to Liang Shanbo. After her parents promise her to someone else, neither of them tries to fight for their own rights. For instance, Zhu Yingtai's father agrees to let his daughter go to school in spite of the fact that this was highly irregular at the time. This suggests a certain permissiveness on her father's part, which shows that her parents are not so strict that they would not listen to the earnest pleas of their daughter. Also, after her death the Ma family asks the government to grant her an honorable title. From this we can see that the families concerned are sensible people and that the lovers should have fought for what they wanted.
In the story The Peacocks Fly Southeast, Jiao Zhongqing, although the head of his family, succumbs to the pressure of his mother who wants him to divorce his wife. Rather than trying to resolve the tension between the two women, he is not assertive, in that all he does is to make a weak threat: "If you send this woman away, I will not marry anyone else." Even when his wife is dismissed, he does nothing. When she remarries his response is predictably passive-aggressive: "You are better off now. I guess I will go die alone." Professor Ko Ching-ming states: "With a personality like Jiao Zhongqing's, he can neither maintain his own honor nor fight for his wife's dignity. He is not a good husband, and since he ends his own life, neither is he a good son to his mother. This story does invoke sympathy, but on further reflection one must realize that their deaths are senseless." Professor Ko also feels that the major cause of the whole tragedy is Jiao Zhong-qing's weak personality, which "loves but cannot protect."
The most fundamental meaning of love is to understand yourself and to break free of your shackles, not to seek escape through death. When love gets to the point where nothing else exists but love, it is like firing the first shot in a war with life. Yueh Heng-chun, who used to teach in NTU's Chinese literature department, wrote an article entitled "Romantic Love and Classical Love," in which she states: "Although this kind of story is exciting and powerful, there is also an air of destruction." This kind of love makes one melancholy because at the end the lovers' total destruction is inevitable.
Don't ever forget
Jiao Zhongqing's mother, upon hearing of Jiao Zhongqing's and Liu Lanzhi's deaths, breaks down and cries. Love transcends societal restrictions but it is a sad victory. At the end of the story, the anonymous author states: "Many thanks for reading my work, but bear it in mind that one should never kill oneself over love, and one shouldn't interfere with other people's love." By saying this, the author is issuing a warning for two kinds of people that cause this kind of tragedy. Who? People who are in higher positions, and lovers who give up too easily.
Nevertheless, people do not seem to keep this in mind. In a society like ours today where the liberty of individuals is respected, you don't need to fight against the structure of society to pursue love. And yet there are still those that kill themselves for love. For instance, a while ago two high-school students killed themselves by hurling themselves off the top of a building. They left a letter requesting that they be buried together. Another young couple killed themselves by drinking poison. They left 99 roses by their beds. In Chinese the word "nine" sounds like the word "long" so this was presumably a symbol of being together forever. In another news story the famous actress Yu Feng hanged herself because she was suffering in her love life.
There is a popular song that says "It is easy to fall in love but it is hard to be together." It is an extreme expression to choose to die for love, but to face difficulties not only takes courage but wisdom. In Peitou there is a "Lovers' Temple." At this temple they do not worship the spirits of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, nor do they worship Romeo and Juliet. Rather, they worship Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun. So again, "Don't ever forget!" There are better solutions than suicide!
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