Ping'er
平儿
“Peace in a House at War”
Her Story
She came into the Rong mansion with Wang Xifeng, part of her mistress’s dowry, and was given to Jia Lian as a chamber maid — a position that comes with a bed and no title. Her whole life is spent in the space between a wife the household is afraid of and a husband who is unfaithful to her. The novel’s interest in her is in how she survives that position without becoming cruel.
Chapter 21: while Xifeng is nursing their daughter through smallpox, Jia Lian takes another woman. Shaking out the bedding afterwards Ping’er finds a lock of black hair and slips it into her sleeve. She tells Xifeng that nothing is missing, and tells Jia Lian to his face that she now holds a hold over him for life.
Chapter 44 is her worst day. At Xifeng’s own birthday party Xifeng finds Jia Lian with Bao Er’s wife, and strikes Ping’er for it; Jia Lian comes after them with a sword; Ping’er runs out looking for a knife to kill herself with. Baoyu takes her to Green Delights, sits her down and helps her put her face back together — 喜出望外平儿理妆, the chapter title calls it: beyond all expectation, Ping’er does her makeup.
Chapter 52: a gold bracelet is stolen at Green Delights. Ping’er works out who took it and buries the matter — invents a story about it slipping off in the snow, and tells Sheyue to keep it from Baoyu and have the girl dismissed quietly. Chapter 61, when rose syrup and poria powder go missing, Xifeng would have had kitchen maids kneeling in the sun until somebody confessed. Ping’er finds out what actually happened and arranges an ending in which nobody is broken: 得放手时须放手 — when it is time to let go, let go.
After Xifeng’s death, Jia Lian resolves to raise her to principal wife once his father returns (Chapter 119). The novel leaves it as an intention.
In Xiang Li's Hands
She is dressed like a bride and posed like a woman at her mirror: both hands lifted to one ear, a green jade bangle at her wrist, red and gold flowers pinned into her hair, a rose-pink jacket and skirt printed with white blossom over blue-green facings, her hair falling loose and long to the right. Five white doves fly around her, drawn in outline and left uncoloured against grey paper, and the inscription sits among the three in the lower corner. The doves are the argument: 平 is the peace in her name. She gets the birds, the flowers and the quiet, and none of the beating.
The Calligraphy
平儿 — the personal name with its diminutive suffix, the form a mistress uses to a favoured maid. There is no surname to give her, no courtesy title, and none of the standing Chapter 119 promises her. The two characters are brushed large and loose at the lower right, set down among the doves so that the birds read as part of the signature.
Connections
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — her mistress, whose dowry she came in with and whose worst orders she softened.
- Jia Lian 贾琏 — Xifeng’s husband, whose chamber maid she was and whose infidelities she covered.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — took her to Green Delights after the beating in Chapter 44 and helped her repair her face.
- You Erjie 尤二姐 — Jia Lian’s secret second wife, destroyed inside the household while Ping’er watched.
- Qiaojie 巧姐 — Xifeng’s daughter, left in her care.
Others of the same kind · maid – Wang Xifeng and Lady Wang Feng'er 丰儿 · Shanjie 善姐 · Caiming 彩明 · Jinchuan 金钏 · Yuchuan 玉钏 · Caiyun 彩云 · Caixia 彩霞 · Xiaoxia 小霞
Named on these pages Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 · Jia Qiaojie 贾巧姐 · Jia Lian 贾琏 · Liu Laolao 刘姥姥 · Zhui'er 坠儿 · Liang'er 良儿 · Liu Wu'er 柳五儿 · Feng'er 丰儿 · Caiming 彩明 · Xiuju 绣橘 · Qin Xian jia de 秦显家的 · Bao Er jia de 鲍二家的 and 4 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
