Li Shenniang
李婶娘
“The Aunt Who Came to Stay”
Her Story
Li Wan’s widowed aunt. She comes up to the capital with her two daughters, Li Wen and Li Qi, and the three of them arrive at the Jia house in Chapter 49 — part of the sudden influx of cousins that fills the Garden just before the snow and the poetry party. She stays on as a guest, sits with the older women at the feasts, and is given no story of her own.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Seated in profile facing right, in robes of nearly solid black ink with faint roundels worked into them. A string of prayer beads hangs from one hand. Behind her, a great circular moon-gate filled with pale bamboo. A widow’s sheet: the only colour is the teal ribbon at her collar.
The Calligraphy
李婶 — surname plus 婶, “aunt by marriage”, shorter even than the 李婶娘 the novel uses, and containing no personal name because she has none.
Connections
- Li Wan 李纨 — her niece by marriage, in whose household she stays.
- Li Wen 李纹 — her elder daughter, brought with her to the capital.
- Li Qi 李绮 — her younger daughter.
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
