Hua Zifang
花自芳
“Xiren's Brother, Fetching and Delivering”
His Story
The elder brother of Xiren, Baoyu’s chief maid. Their family name is 花 — Baoyu renamed her from a line of old verse once he learned it. Hua Zifang appears three times, and each time he is moving someone from one house to another.
In Chapter 19 Baoyu rides out in secret to see where she lives. Mingyan calls “Brother Hua” at the gate, and Zifang comes out and nearly drops with fright at the sight of who is in the lane. He apologises for the thatch and the narrowness, warms the room, sets out fruit, and then goes to hire a small chair and walks Baoyu home himself, leading the horse. Around the same time he and his mother had been planning to redeem Xiren out of service. She refused outright — she was sold when the family had nothing to eat, she is fed and clothed like a mistress now, and they are not to raise it again. After Baoyu’s visit they let the idea go for good.
In Chapter 51 he comes to the house to ask that she be allowed home; their mother is dying and wants her daughter. Lady Wang grants it at once.
In Chapter 120 he sends his wife in with a proposal: a family named Jiang south of the city, with land, a house and a shop, the man a few years older and never married. Lady Wang is pleased, checks it, and agrees. Xiren goes home meaning to die rather than marry, and then thinks that dying under her brother’s roof would only ruin him — so she gets into the sedan chair. He has laid out the betrothal gifts and the dowry to show her, item by item, proud of the arrangement.
In Xiang Li's Hands
He strides right to left through a wood in profile, thin moustache, mouth open as if mid-word, hair bound under a blue cloth, a russet robe swinging back off a turquoise lining, blue sash flying, black boots planted hard on green ground with leaves coming down around him. The face is plain and cheerful. She catches him where the novel always has him — on the road, on somebody’s errand — and gives him more forward motion than any other sheet in this group.
The Calligraphy
花自芳, three characters at the top left with the seal beneath — surname and personal name in full, the way a man is entered on a list, which is more than his sister’s family gets anywhere else in the novel.
Connections
- Xiren 袭人 — his younger sister, whom he tries to buy back, then fetches home, then marries off.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — who turns up unannounced at his house and is escorted home on foot.
- Jiang Yuhan 蒋玉菡 — the man of the Jiang family south of the city whom he arranges her to marry.
- Wang Furen 王夫人 — who grants his request in Chapter 51 and approves the match in Chapter 120.
- Mingyan 茗烟 — who takes Baoyu to his gate and calls him out of it.
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
