Laixi jia de
来喜家的
“A Name on the Roster”
Her Story
Another of the five dowry-servant wives who came into the Jia house with Lady Wang. Her husband’s given name, 来喜 — “good fortune arrives” — is of the auspicious kind bought servants were given, the same pattern as Lai Wang, “wealth arrives,” in the same group of five. The book names her among them and does not come back. Everything about her position is inherited: her place from her mistress, her name from her husband.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Not the old woman the block leads you to expect. Young, eyes lowered, red headband, black robe over a crimson skirt, both arms spread to hold up a long brocade panelled in blue and yellow medallions. She paints the labour, not the woman: a length of cloth being inspected.
The Calligraphy
来喜家的 sits down the top left in four characters — husband’s name plus 家的, “of Lai Xi’s house,” the only form of address the household has for her.
Connections
- Lady Wang 王夫人 — the mistress whose dowry staff she belongs to.
- Wu Xing’s wife 吴兴家的 — another of the five.
- Zhou Rui’s wife 周瑞家的 — the senior of the five, Lady Wang’s woman of business.
Others of the same kind · servant's wife / senior serving-woman Zhou Rui jia de 周瑞家的 · Lin Zhixiao jia de 林之孝家的 · Lai Da jia de 赖大家的 · Wang Shanbao jia de 王善保家的 · Wu Xindeng xifu 吴新登媳妇 · Wang'er xifu 旺儿媳妇 · Zhang Cai jia de 张材家的 · Zheng Hua jia de 郑华家的 · Wu Xing jia de 吴兴家的 · Qin Xian jia de 秦显家的 · Bao Er jia de 鲍二家的 · Liu jia de 柳家的 · Shan Daniang 单大娘 · Jin Wenxiang xifu 金文翔媳妇 and 10 more
Named on these pages Wu Xing jia de 吴兴家的
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
