Li Yanei
李衙内
“The Second Suitor”
His Story
In Chapter 15 the abbess Jingxu brings Wang Xifeng a case from Chang’an. Jin-ge, daughter of the rich Zhang family, is already betrothed to a garrison commander’s son when Li Yanei — the prefect’s brother-in-law — sees her and wants her. The Zhangs try to return the first family’s betrothal gifts; the commander’s family refuses. Xifeng takes three thousand taels to have the matter settled. Chapter 16 reports the result: both young people are dead. Li Yanei is not mentioned again.
In Xiang Li's Hands
He is painted mid-smirk: chin lifted, eyes cut sideways, a fan the size of his torso held up between him and the viewer, its face painted with a lotus in bloom. Green robe, teal roundels, red tassel. Nothing behind him. The fan does the characterisation.
The Calligraphy
衙内 is not a name but a term for the young male relative of an official — a swaggerer with a yamen behind him — so the inscription 李衙内 gives him surname and type and no personal name at all.
Connections
- Jin-ge 金哥 — the girl he wants; his suit ends in her death.
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — takes three thousand taels to clear his way.
- Jingxu 净虚 — the abbess who carries the Zhang family’s request to her.
Others of the same kind · official / noble / royal Qin Zhong 秦钟 · Jia Yucun 贾雨村 · Bei Jing Wang 北静王 · Leng Zixing 冷子兴 · Zhang Rugui 张如圭 · Menzi 门子 · Xiping Junwang 西平郡王 · Nan'an Taifei 南安太妃 · Zhangshiguan 长史官 · Feng Ziying 冯紫英 · Sun Shaozu 孙绍祖 · Yun Guang 云光 · Fu Shi 傅试 · Fu Qiufang 傅秋芳 and 9 more
Named on these pages Jin'ge 金哥 · Zhang Yuanwai 张员外 · Zhao Gongzi 赵公子 · Zhao Shoubei 赵守备
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
