Flower Moon Scar

Author: Wei Xiuren (Qing Dynasty) / Qu Wenguang (ed.)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: In the book, the two talents Wei Chizhu and Han Hesheng each fall in love with a courtesan. Later, Wei meets a tragic end and dies, while the courtesan Liu Qiuhen also dies of a broken heart. Han, however, achieves success and prominence, and the courtesan Du Caiqiu is ennobled as a First-Class Lady. Through the contrasting fates of these two characters, the author expresses his own feelings of unfulfilled talent, his longing and pursuit of fame and success. Hua Yue Hen is another long romantic novel of the Qing Dynasty following Dream of the Red Chamber. In the history of Chinese fiction, Hua Yue Hen is a work where courtesans are the main characters. Mr. Lu Xun, in Outline of the History of Chinese Fiction, classified the long novel Pillow Book of Flower and Moon (which depicts the lives of performers) alongside Dream of the Green Chamber and Flowers of Shanghai as "Qing Dynasty's novels of courtesans," and Hua Yue Hen may belong to this category. Wei Xiuren lived during the time of the Taiping Rebellion, witnessing the decline and irreparable corruption of the feudal dynasty. Combined with his own unfulfilled talent, failures in imperial examinations, long life as a secretary, and dependence on others, he felt profound sorrow. In the book, he uses the two pairs of protagonists Wei Chizhu, Liu Qiuhen, Han Hesheng, and Du Caiqiu to reflect on his own "unjustified grievances" and his aspirations for fame and success. Hua Yue Hen is heavily influenced in writing by Dream of the Red Chamber. The author once created portraits of beautiful women for the characters in the book. The descriptions of the gardens, pavilions, towers, and halls in Yu Yuan, Ji Yuan, and Liu Xi, as well as the poetry and prose, clearly imitate the style of Dream of the Red Chamber. However, most of the poetry and plot are detached, and in terms of thought and art, they are far removed from Dream of the Red Chamber.