Lianhua'r
莲花儿
“Sent for the Egg Custard”
Her Story
A little maid in Yingchun’s quarter. In Chapter 61 Siqi sends her to the Garden kitchen to demand a steamed egg custard, and Mrs Liu the cook refuses her: eggs are short, and a junior maid’s errand carries no weight. Lianhua’r reports the refusal back, Siqi sends a party to wreck the kitchen, and the quarrel runs on from there. That errand is her whole appearance in the novel.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Three-quarter view, a small pale ovoid held up between the fingers of one raised hand, the other hand out flat as though presenting it. Black jacket over a pink and green floral robe, bare paper behind. Of everything she might have been given, she is given the egg.
The Calligraphy
莲花儿 keeps the 儿 — the diminutive the household actually says aloud to a child-servant, rather than a formal name.
Connections
- Siqi 司棋 — Yingchun’s chief maid, who sends her to the kitchen.
- Mrs Liu 柳家的 — the Garden cook who turns her away.
- Jia Yingchun 贾迎春 — mistress of the rooms she serves in.
Others of the same kind · maid – Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Li Wan, Xiangyun Siqi 司棋 · Xiuju 绣橘 · Shishu 侍书 · Cuimo 翠墨 · Xiaochan 小蝉 · Ruhua 入画 · Caiping 彩屏 · Cai'er 彩儿 · Suyun 素云 · Biyue 碧月 · Cuilü 翠缕 · Baoqin 抱琴 · Xiaoque 小鹊 · Xiaojixiang'r 小吉祥儿 and 5 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
