Four Great Dramas -- The Peach Blossom Fan

Author: (Qing) Kong Shangren, edited by Ouyang Guang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-10-01
Features: This play, together with The Romance of the West Chamber, The Peony Pavilion, and The Palace of Eternal Life, is hailed as one of the "Four Great Classical Plays." They represent the highest achievement of ancient Chinese dramatic works and hold immense literary and artistic value. Published by the renowned Yuefu Press, this book is part of the "Four Great Classical Plays" series. It is based on collations from the Lansuyuan edition, Xiyuan edition, Nuohongshi edition, and Liang Qichao's annotated edition, featuring exquisite packaging and an extremely low error rate, making it an excellent choice for opera enthusiasts to read and collect. If someone were to ask which are China's greatest ancient plays, we could confidently answer: The Romance of the West Chamber, The Peony Pavilion, The Palace of Eternal Life, and The Peach Blossom Fan. The Palace of Eternal Life, set against the backdrop of dynastic rise and fall, portrays the love story of Yang Li. In contrast, The Peach Blossom Fan, which follows it, is a historical play that "uses the theme of separation and reunion to express the sentiments of rise and fall." The author of The Peach Blossom Fan, Kong Shangren, was born in 1648 in Qufu, Shandong, and was the sixty-fourth descendant of Confucius. During his youth, he lived through the transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty, a period marked by frequent warfare. Witnessing the devastation of the land, he once considered retiring from official life. However, as the Qing regime gradually stabilized, he changed his mind. When Emperor Kangxi visited Qufu to pay homage to Confucius, Kong Shangren was selected as an imperial lecturer, earning the emperor's favor. Later, he was summoned to the capital to serve as a professor at the Guozijian. Subsequently, he was assigned to participate in flood control efforts, spending several years traveling around Jiangnan. In Jiangnan, Kong Shangren gained insight into the people's suffering, befriended many Ming loyalists, and paid homage to the remnants of his former dynasty, which led to profound ideological transformations. Having initially aspired to rise through the ranks of the imperial bureaucracy, he became deeply reflective upon his return to the capital. The Peach Blossom Fan, which he wrote, was the result of his experiences and reflections. Why did Kong Shangren create The Peach Blossom Fan? As explained in the preface to The Peach Blossom Fan, his goal was to use "the songs and dances on stage and the comments from the sidelines" to make the audience "understand how the three-century-old foundation of the Southern Ming fell into whose hands, what caused its decline, when it happened, and where it ended?" The aim was to "punish and correct the hearts of men, serving as a salvation for the declining age." In other words, Kong Shangren sought to portray the process of the Southern Ming's downfall and summarize historical lessons. How could Kong Shangren, a member of the landlord class deeply influenced by Confucian feudal thought, analyze the reasons for the Southern Ming's collapse comprehensively and accurately? Given his reliance on the Qing regime and the taboos surrounding ethnic issues of the time, he could not objectively record the devastation of Jiangnan by the Manchu cavalry. Based on his understanding, he saw the Southern Ming's downfall primarily as the result of the Fujun Emperor's reliance on corrupt officials. "Corrupt officials are the remnants of Wei An's faction; these remnants, who indulge in pleasure, accumulate wealth, form factions, and seek revenge, have undermined the three-century-old imperial foundation." (See The Peach Blossom Fan, Minor Notes) Therefore, while The Peach Blossom Fan touches on peasant uprisings, its attitude is incorrect; it also addresses ethnic struggles, but its tone is veiled. Kong Shangren directs his righteous anger entirely at corrupt officials like Ma Shiyin and Ruan Dachen. The entire play revolves around the conflicts between these corrupt officials, the literati of the Fushuo Society, and the common people. However, it must be said that the mistakes of corrupt officials were indeed a major reason for the Southern Ming's collapse. Although Kong Shangren did not fully reflect the historical reality or grasp the main social contradictions, he exposed the sharp social issues of the time and proposed profound historical lessons. The rise and fall of the Southern Ming, though short-lived, were complex. If the play had simply listed historical events, it would have been as dry as a broken newspaper, leaving the audience indifferent. Kong Shangren, instead, used the story of Li Xiangjun and Hou Fangyu as the thread, weaving it with the broader tapestry of social life to paint a picture of the Southern Ming era. In his own words, the fan between Hou and Li "spun the fate of the Southern dynasty." The Peach Blossom Fan begins by depicting Hou Fangyu, one of the leaders of the Fushuo Society, indulging in poetry and wine in Nanjing and falling in love with the famous courtesan Li Xiangjun. However, lacking funds, he cannot fulfill his desires. At the time, Ruan Dachen, also living in Nanjing, was being besieged and excluded by the Fushuo literati, in a miserable state. To curry favor with the Fushuo members and improve his situation, he offered gold and silver to Yang Longyou, asking him to give them to Hou Fangyu as a means of gaining influence. Unaware of the hidden agenda, Hou Fangyu readily accepted Yang Longyou's gift and won Li Xiangjun's affection. The love story of Hou and Li thus became intertwined with the factional struggles of the time.