Yuguan
玉官
“Principal Female Roles”
Her Story
One of the twelve girls of the Pear Tree Court company; her line was the principal female roles. She goes about with Baoguan, and the two of them are the reason for one small famous scene: in Chapter 30 they are caught by a rainstorm at Green Delights, and the racket they make in the courtyard is why Baoyu’s knocking goes unheard at his own gate. Beyond that the novel keeps her in the roster and out of the story.
In Xiang Li's Hands
The oddest sheet in the troupe. Pale lavender robes with the sleeves flung wide, chin lifted, smiling — and a live mallard with an open orange bill riding at her chest, wings out. Rocks and a red-tipped reed below. No source in the novel supplies the duck. The painting simply hands her one.
The Calligraphy
Inscribed 玉官, the stage name alone — the jade character that in this house usually announces a Jia here means only which girl in the company she is.
Connections
- Baoguan 宝官 — her companion, sheltering with her from the Chapter 30 rain.
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — locked out of Green Delights while she is inside it.
- Jia Qiang 贾蔷 — bought the twelve girls in Suzhou and ran the troupe.
Others of the same kind · actress – Pear Tree Court troupe (梨香院十二官) Fangguan 芳官 · Ruiguan 蕊官 · Ouguan 藕官 · Kuiguan 葵官 · Douguan 豆官 · Aiguan 艾官 · Qieguan 茄官 · Lingguan 龄官 · Baoguan 宝官 · Diguan 菂官
Named on these pages Baoguan 宝官
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
