Cuiyun
翠云
“A Name on the List”
Her Story
She is one of the women of Jia She’s rooms, listed among his chamber-women beside Yanhong and given nothing further. No scene belongs to her, no line of dialogue, no exit. She survives in the book as a name in an inventory of the women a man kept — which is, exactly, the point the book is making about that household. Xiang Li painted her anyway, at the same size and with the same care as the principals.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Green, for the 翠 of her name: a wide green robe printed with red flowers, hanging open off both shoulders over a brown inner gown. One arm is bent up behind her head; her hair is long and unbound. The face is very young. Behind her, bare paper.
The Calligraphy
翠云, at the right in two large characters — the personal name alone, kingfisher green and cloud, the decorative pairing given to maids rather than to daughters.
Connections
- Jia She 贾赦 — the master whose rooms she belongs to.
- Yanhong 嫣红 — named beside her among the same household’s women.
Others of the same kind · Jia household – wives, concubines, in-laws Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 · Li Wan 李纨 · Qin Keqing 秦可卿 · Wang Furen 王夫人 · You Erjie 尤二姐 · You Sanjie 尤三姐 · Xue Baoqin 薛宝琴 · Xing Xiuyan 邢岫烟 · Li Wen 李纹 · Li Qi 李绮 · Xing Furen 邢夫人 · You Shi 尤氏 · Xue Yima 薛姨妈 · Zhao Yiniang 赵姨娘 and 11 more
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
