Aiguan
艾官
“The One Who Told”
Her Story
One of the twelve girl actors bought in Suzhou and housed at Pear Tree Court to perform for Yuanchun’s visit. Her line was 老外, the old-man roles — beards, fathers, ministers. When the company is dissolved in Chapter 58 the girls are parcelled out among the women of the house as maids, and Aiguan goes to Jia Tanchun. What the novel keeps her for is one act of loyalty: she tells Tanchun what Mother Xia has been stirring up among the Garden servants. That is her part.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Kneeling three-quarters, holding a spray of red tiger lilies aloft in one hand and steadying the stem with the other. Pink robe with fan-shaped medallions, a blue sash, a mottled black-and-green skirt. Nothing behind her. The girl who played old men is given jade bangles and flowers.
The Calligraphy
Two characters, 艾官 — the stage name alone, the 官 suffix that marked every girl in the company, so she is addressed as a member of a troupe rather than as a person with a family.
Connections
- Jia Tanchun 贾探春 — the mistress she is given to at the troupe’s dissolution, and the one she reports to.
- Mother Xia 夏婆子 — the Garden servant whose mischief she exposes.
- Jia Qiang 贾蔷 — sent to Suzhou to buy the twelve girls and manage the company.
Others of the same kind · actress – Pear Tree Court troupe (梨香院十二官) Fangguan 芳官 · Ruiguan 蕊官 · Ouguan 藕官 · Kuiguan 葵官 · Douguan 豆官 · Qieguan 茄官 · Lingguan 龄官 · Baoguan 宝官 · Yuguan 玉官 · Diguan 菂官
Dream of the Red Chamber
Xiang Li painted all 413 characters of the novel between 1975 and 1985, the first person to complete the entire cast. See the whole collection · Chinese Empresses
