Jia Rong zhi qi
贾蓉之妻
“The Woman Who Replaced Qin Keqing”
Her Story
Jia Rong’s second wife, taken after Qin Keqing’s death in Chapter 13. The novel never gives her a personal name. She appears in the lists of Ningguo women at the household’s great occasions and is called 蓉妻 or 贾蓉之妻 — Jia Rong’s wife — and that is the whole of it. She has no scene of her own. Her function is to stand where Qin Keqing stood and show that the house filled the place without difficulty.
In Xiang Li's Hands
She is given far more than her role. Heavy fur-trimmed robes, a blue and mauve gown patterned with red spiral roundels, a jewelled band across the brow, pale peonies behind her. One hand lifts near her chin. For a woman the novel refuses to name, the painting withholds nothing.
The Calligraphy
贾蓉之妻, four characters down the left — husband’s surname, husband’s given name, “wife of” — an inscription that names a man and a relation and no woman.
Connections
- Jia Rong 贾蓉 — her husband, and the only name she is given.
- Qin Keqing 秦可卿 — his first wife, whose place she takes.
- You Shi 尤氏 — her mother-in-law, mistress of the Ningguo house.
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
