Yingwu
鹦鹉
“The Other Parrot”
Her Story
One of Grandmother Jia’s maids, and one of two in those rooms named for a parrot: 鹦鹉 and 鹦哥. The other was given away to Daiyu when she arrived and renamed 紫鹃, and went on to become one of the most important servants in the book. 鹦鹉 stayed. She is named in the lists of who waits on the old lady and does nothing the novel records. In that room the names run in sets — jewels and birds — and hers marks a tier more than a person.
In Xiang Li's Hands
She sits low with the skirt spread wide, lifting a small green cup to the level of her chin, two jade bangles at her wrists, long red ribbons uncoiling across the paper below her. No parrot anywhere. The bird in the name is given no picture.
The Calligraphy
鹦鹉, top right in two heavy characters, the household name alone, with nothing to distinguish her from the other parrot-named girl in the same apartments.
Connections
- Jia Mu 贾母 — the matriarch she served.
- Yingge 鹦哥 — the other parrot in the matriarch’s rooms, given away to Daiyu.
- Yuanyang 鸳鸯 — the chief maid over her.
Others of the same kind · maid – Grandmother Jia's apartments Yuanyang 鸳鸯 · Hupo 琥珀 · Feicui 翡翠 · Boli 玻璃 · Zhenzhu 珍珠 · Yingge 鹦哥 · Cailuan 彩鸾 · Xiuluan 绣鸾 · Xiufeng 绣凤 · Wenguan 文官
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
