Wenxing
文杏
“Baochai's Other Maid”
Her Story
Baochai’s second maid. She is named in the roll of the household’s girls and kept there: Oriole takes the errands and the lines, and Wenxing stands behind her. No speech of hers is recorded and no fate. Her name — patterned apricot — is effectively her whole characterisation, one of the ornamental two-character names a large house hands out by the dozen.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Seated, in a wide lavender robe with a teal collar, two looped buns tied with red. Across her lap lies a panel of yellow-green cloth carrying one red peony: a fan, or a length of embroidery — the sheet does not settle which. She smiles straight out at us.
The Calligraphy
文杏 alone, the two-character given name, brushed high at the right of otherwise empty paper.
Connections
- Xue Baochai 薛宝钗 — her mistress.
- Ying’er 莺儿 — the first maid of All-spice Court, who takes the scenes Wenxing does not get.
Others of the same kind · maid – Baochai (All-spice Court / 蘅蕪苑) Ying'er 莺儿 · Dian'er 靛儿 · Zhen'er 臻儿 · Tongxi 同喜 · Tonggui 同贵 · Xiaoluo 小螺 · Baochan 宝蟾 · Xiaoshe'r 小舍儿
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
