Diguan
菂官
“Mourned With Paper Money”
Her Story
She played the young female lead opposite Ouguan’s young man, and the two of them came to treat the stage marriage as real. Then she died. In Chapter 58 Baoyu finds Ouguan burning paper money for her in the Garden and covers for her with the servants; the explanation that reaches him afterwards is that Ouguan has since taken up with Ruiguan, and that this is no betrayal — a widower remarries and still keeps the first wife’s rites. Diguan is dead before the reader meets her.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Seated, a small yellow bird standing on her open palm, the other hand raised near her chin, eyes down on the bird. Green jacket, mottled grey-green skirt, bright green shoes at the hem. Bare paper behind. The girl the novel introduces as already dead is painted alive, and holding something alive.
The Calligraphy
Two characters, 菂官 — the stage name, using the rare 菂 for the lotus seed, kept exactly as the novel spells it.
Connections
- Ouguan 藕官 — played her husband on stage, and mourned her as one.
- Ruiguan 蕊官 — took her place in Ouguan’s affection after her death.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — finds Ouguan burning paper money for her and shields her from the servants.
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 · Aiguan 艾官 · Qieguan 茄官 · Lingguan 龄官 · Baoguan 宝官 · Yuguan 玉官
Named on these pages Ruiguan 蕊官 · Ouguan 藕官
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
