Jia Yun
贾芸
“The Nephew Who Made Himself Useful”
His Story
A grown nephew from the clan’s poor side, fatherless, living with his mother and on his wits. In Chapter 24 he goes looking for work. His maternal uncle Bu Shiren refuses him a loan; the neighbourhood drunk Ni Er presses silver on him with no interest and no note written. He spends it on musk and borneol as a gift for Wang Xifeng and comes away with the contract to plant the trees and flowers of the new garden. Along the way he flatters Baoyu into calling him son, though he is the older man by years. A handkerchief passes between him and the maid Xiaohong.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Willow closes over the top of the sheet and he stands under it in a white robe, a folded orange-red cloth over one arm, one hand raised to his chin, smiling sideways out of the paper. The face is soft, almost a girl’s. She gives the operator his charm and withholds the calculation.
The Calligraphy
贾芸, down the right edge: surname and personal name together, the full clan name that is the only capital he starts with.
Connections
- Ni Er 倪二 — the drunk who lent him the silver without security.
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — took his gift and gave him the garden contract.
- Xiaohong 小红 — the maid of Green Delights, and the handkerchief between them.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — the uncle younger than himself whom he addressed as father.
Others of the same kind · Jia clan – collateral branches Jia Rui 贾瑞 · Jia Dairu 贾代儒 · Jia Qiong 贾琼 · Jia Chang 贾菖 · Jia Ling 贾菱 · Jia Ping 贾萍 · Jia Jun 贾菌 · Jia Qin 贾芹 · Jia Xing 贾荇 · Xiluan 喜鸾 · Sijie'r 四姐儿
Named on these pages Xiaohong 小红 · Jia Qin 贾芹 · Ni Er 倪二 · Bu Shiren 卜世仁 · Yinjie 银姐 · Fang Chun 方椿 · Wu Sao Zi 五嫂子 · Ma Fanzi 马贩子 · Shuan'er 栓儿
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
