Shanjie
善姐
“The Cold Tray”
Her Story
When Xifeng brings You Erjie — her husband’s secret second wife — into the house in Chapter 68, she settles her in a back court and appoints Shanjie to wait on her. What follows is starvation by household routine: food arrives late, cold and short, and Shanjie answers back when questioned. The cruelty is Xifeng’s policy; Shanjie supplies the daily execution of it. Erjie swallows raw gold and dies in Chapter 69.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Facing straight out, hands folded at the waist, a green robe printed with heavy red peonies over a pink flowered skirt, hair in two loops. The face is round and young and entirely blank. Nothing in the sheet indicates a bully. That refusal is the painting’s whole argument.
The Calligraphy
Inscribed 善姐儿, with the familiar 儿 added to a name that already means “good elder sister” — the softest possible form of address for the girl who starved You Erjie.
Connections
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — her mistress, who assigns her to You Erjie.
- You Erjie 尤二姐 — Jia Lian’s second wife, whom she is set to serve and does not.
- Jia Lian 贾琏 — the husband whose secret marriage set the whole arrangement in motion.
Others of the same kind · maid – Wang Xifeng and Lady Wang Ping'er 平儿 · Feng'er 丰儿 · Caiming 彩明 · Jinchuan 金钏 · Yuchuan 玉钏 · Caiyun 彩云 · Caixia 彩霞 · Xiaoxia 小霞
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
