Baoqin
抱琴
“Carrying the Zither”
Her Story
Maid to Jia Yuanchun, the eldest daughter of the house, and taken into the palace with her when she enters imperial service. Her name completes the household’s neatest joke: the four Jia sisters’ senior maids are 抱琴, 司棋, 侍书, 入画 — zither, chess, calligraphy, painting. Because Yuanchun’s life is lived offstage, Baoqin is barely seen. She stands in the train at the family visitation, and that is very nearly all of her.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Layered green and taupe over a gold-figured sleeve, blue collar, a red sash the length of the skirt. Both hands hold an open white handscroll; her eyes are down on it. She is named for the zither and given the scroll instead — the one of the four that is not hers.
The Calligraphy
抱琴 — the given name alone in the top right, a name that is also an instruction, “carry the zither.”
Connections
- Jia Yuanchun 贾元春 — her mistress, the Imperial Concubine she follows into the palace.
- Siqi 司棋, Shishu 侍书, Ruhua 入画 — maids to the other three sisters, completing the 琴棋书画 set.
Others of the same kind · maid – Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Li Wan, Xiangyun Siqi 司棋 · Xiuju 绣橘 · Lianhua'r 莲花儿 · Shishu 侍书 · Cuimo 翠墨 · Xiaochan 小蝉 · Ruhua 入画 · Caiping 彩屏 · Cai'er 彩儿 · Suyun 素云 · Biyue 碧月 · Cuilü 翠缕 · Xiaoque 小鹊 · Xiaojixiang'r 小吉祥儿 and 5 more
Named on these pages Cai Pin 彩嫔
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
