Cuimo
翠墨
“The Note That Started the Club”
Her Story
Tanchun’s second maid. Her moment is Chapter 37: she carries Tanchun’s written invitation across the Garden to Baoyu, and out of that note comes the Begonia Poetry Club, which occupies the cousins through the best years the Garden has. Cuimo delivers the letter and steps out of the frame. The novel does not follow her back.
In Xiang Li's Hands
A phoenix stands behind her with both wings out, gold and orange, its tail spilling past her skirt. She holds a rolled paper and a slim brush, chin lifted. For a girl whose whole part is carrying one note, the bird is an enormous claim: the errand is painted as an event.
The Calligraphy
翠墨 — “kingfisher ink”, the given name alone at the lower right, brushed in the substance it names.
Connections
- Jia Tanchun 贾探春 — her mistress, who writes the invitation.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — receives it.
- Shishu 侍书 — the senior maid of the same rooms.
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 · Xiaochan 小蝉 · Ruhua 入画 · Caiping 彩屏 · Cai'er 彩儿 · Suyun 素云 · Biyue 碧月 · Cuilü 翠缕 · Baoqin 抱琴 · Xiaoque 小鹊 · Xiaojixiang'r 小吉祥儿 and 5 more
Named on these pages Shishu 侍书
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
