Jiao Hong Ji (Ancient Chinese Tragic Story) (English-Chinese Parallel Translation): Ancient Chinese Tragic Story (English-Chinese Parallel Translation)

Author: Meng Chengshun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: A talented and ambitious young scholar named Shen Chun fails in the imperial examination and becomes melancholic. Seeking solace, he travels and visits his uncle Wang Wenrui's house. There, he meets his beautiful cousin Jiaojiang, and his desire for fame fades. The two compose poems and verses, their hearts gradually aligning. They share embers in a needlework room, make a vow by the stove, and secretly pledge to be lifelong partners. Later, the Shen family arranges a marriage between Shen Chun and the Wang family, but the uncle refuses on the grounds that "the court has laws prohibiting marriage between close relatives." Forced to part, Shen Chun and Jiaojiang go their separate ways. Eventually, Shen Chun passes the examination and becomes an official. Impressed by his "remarkable achievement at a young age and limitless future prospects," Jiaojiang's father proposes a marriage. Just as the two dream of a bright future, a son of the Western Sichuan Military Commissioner, who has long admired Jiaojiang's beauty, sends men to force the marriage. Fearing the commissioner's power, Jiaojiang's father has no choice but to give his daughter to the son, tearing the lovers apart. In the end, they both die for love, fulfilling their vow to "live together in the same house and die in the same grave." After their deaths, their families bury them side by side by the Zhuojin River, where a pair of mandarin ducks remain companions by their graves.