Yun Guang
云光
“The Favour at Chang'an”
His Story
Military governor of the Chang’an garrison, and under an old obligation to the Jia and Wang families. In Chapter 15, at the Water-Moon Priory, the abbess asks Wang Xifeng to break off a betrothal on behalf of a rich family. Xifeng takes three thousand taels, has a letter written out in Jia Lian’s name, and Yun Guang does what it asks. The girl hangs herself and her betrothed drowns himself. Xifeng keeps the money. Yun Guang never appears on the page in person.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Two sheets. In one he stands before a great gilt statue, a long pipe in one hand and an open letter in the other — the errand itself. The other gives him a fan, a winter grove and no business at all. The novel puts him nowhere; only one of the two sheets takes a position.
The Calligraphy
Both sheets carry the same two characters, 云光, the personal name alone, without the office that is the only reason he matters.
Connections
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — sends the letter he obeys, and pockets the fee.
- Jia Lian 贾琏 — whose name the request travels under, without his knowledge.
- Jingxu 净虚 — the abbess who brings the request to Xifeng.
Others of the same kind · official / noble / royal Qin Zhong 秦钟 · Jia Yucun 贾雨村 · Bei Jing Wang 北静王 · Leng Zixing 冷子兴 · Zhang Rugui 张如圭 · Menzi 门子 · Xiping Junwang 西平郡王 · Nan'an Taifei 南安太妃 · Zhangshiguan 长史官 · Feng Ziying 冯紫英 · Sun Shaozu 孙绍祖 · Fu Shi 傅试 · Fu Qiufang 傅秋芳 · Li Yanei 李衙内 and 9 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
