Peony in Love
Encyclopedia
Peony in Love is the fifth of Lisa See
's novels. Her previous novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
, and Peony in Love emphasize the difficulty 19th and 17th century Chinese women had in achieving freedom and identity in a society that was both male dominated and rigid in its gender expectations.
Unfortunately, this is just what happens to Peony. She is deeply moved by the text and performance of The Peony Pavilion, having extensively written about her feelings and reactions to love in her copy of the text. On the evening of the opera performance, Peony accidentally meets a handsome young man. After three nighttime meetings, Peony falls in love, but she also falls into deep despair, feeling doomed because of being trapped in an arranged marriage. Following the example of Du Liniang, she starves herself to death, only to learn right before her death that the man her father has picked for her is Wu Ren, the man she loves.
Most of Peony in Love takes place after Peony's death. Because her funeral rituals are not concluded properly, she becomes a "hungry ghost", who wanders far beyond the inner world of women that constrained her in her youth. In the process, she encounters a number of women writers who lament the difficulty of getting their voices heard in a male-dominated world. From her dead grandmother, she learns many painful details about her family's past as the Qing Dynasty
violently replaced the Ming Dynasty
, details later amplified by Peony's mother. Peony comes to learn about the courage and extreme suffering both older women experienced during the fighting and that the sternness her mother treated her with as a girl was only her attempt to protect her daughter from the evils of the outside world.
Peony shows her enduring love for Ren by her influence on his second and third wives, who add their personal responses to The Peony Pavilion, thus becoming sister wives, although Peony remains first wife. Given the appropriate funeral rites at last, Peony is no longer a hungry ghost but a spirit who looks forward with great joy to meeting her husband again in the afterworld.
by Tang Xianzu
, The Three Wives' Commentary on The Peony Pavilion, and the theme of love all play important roles. Of the latter, See has said: "I wanted to explore different aspects of love: gratitude love, pity love, respectful love, romantic love, sexual love, sacrificing love, duty love, and finally mother love". See also states that The Three Wives' Commentary had a special influence on her as she researched the large amount of writing done by Chinese women in the 17th century, most of it largely unknown today. "Then I came across The Three Wives' Commentary -- the first book of its kind to have been published anywhere in the world to have been written by women -- three wives, no less. With that, my interest turned into an obsession". The three wives of Wu Ren in the novel—Chen Tong (Peony), Tan Ze, and Qian Yi were, in fact, the real women who wrote The Three Wives' Commentary.
The opera presents the love of Du Liniang
for a young man named Liu Mengmei, whom she meets in a dream. Unable to turn her dream into reality, Liniang wastes away and dies, haunting Lui as a ghost. Eventually he finds a way to bring Liniang back to life, allowing them to find ultimate happiness.
Plans to film Peony in Love are currently moving forward.
Lisa See
Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her Chinese-American family has had a great impact on her life and work. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family and the novels Flower Net , The Interior , Dragon Bones , Snow Flower and the...
's novels. Her previous novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a 2005 novel by Lisa See set in nineteenth century China. In her introduction to the novel, See writes that Lily, the narrator, was born in 1823 — "the third year of Emperor Daoguang's reign". The novel begins in 1903, when Lily is 80 years old...
, and Peony in Love emphasize the difficulty 19th and 17th century Chinese women had in achieving freedom and identity in a society that was both male dominated and rigid in its gender expectations.
Plot summary
Peony's father, a wealthy, cultured man with important political contacts, is planning a performance of The Peony Pavilion on his estate. This is seen by many as controversial because the opera may influence young women into imitating Liniang, starving themselves to death in hopes of finding love.Unfortunately, this is just what happens to Peony. She is deeply moved by the text and performance of The Peony Pavilion, having extensively written about her feelings and reactions to love in her copy of the text. On the evening of the opera performance, Peony accidentally meets a handsome young man. After three nighttime meetings, Peony falls in love, but she also falls into deep despair, feeling doomed because of being trapped in an arranged marriage. Following the example of Du Liniang, she starves herself to death, only to learn right before her death that the man her father has picked for her is Wu Ren, the man she loves.
Most of Peony in Love takes place after Peony's death. Because her funeral rituals are not concluded properly, she becomes a "hungry ghost", who wanders far beyond the inner world of women that constrained her in her youth. In the process, she encounters a number of women writers who lament the difficulty of getting their voices heard in a male-dominated world. From her dead grandmother, she learns many painful details about her family's past as the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
violently replaced the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, details later amplified by Peony's mother. Peony comes to learn about the courage and extreme suffering both older women experienced during the fighting and that the sternness her mother treated her with as a girl was only her attempt to protect her daughter from the evils of the outside world.
Peony shows her enduring love for Ren by her influence on his second and third wives, who add their personal responses to The Peony Pavilion, thus becoming sister wives, although Peony remains first wife. Given the appropriate funeral rites at last, Peony is no longer a hungry ghost but a spirit who looks forward with great joy to meeting her husband again in the afterworld.
Background
In Peony in Love, the opera The Peony PavilionThe Peony Pavilion
The Peony Pavilion is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598 at the Pavilion of Prince Teng. One of Tang's "Four Dreams", it has traditionally been performed as a Kunqu opera, but Chuan and Gan opera versions also exist...
by Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu , courtesy name Yireng , was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial...
, The Three Wives' Commentary on The Peony Pavilion, and the theme of love all play important roles. Of the latter, See has said: "I wanted to explore different aspects of love: gratitude love, pity love, respectful love, romantic love, sexual love, sacrificing love, duty love, and finally mother love". See also states that The Three Wives' Commentary had a special influence on her as she researched the large amount of writing done by Chinese women in the 17th century, most of it largely unknown today. "Then I came across The Three Wives' Commentary -- the first book of its kind to have been published anywhere in the world to have been written by women -- three wives, no less. With that, my interest turned into an obsession". The three wives of Wu Ren in the novel—Chen Tong (Peony), Tan Ze, and Qian Yi were, in fact, the real women who wrote The Three Wives' Commentary.
The opera presents the love of Du Liniang
Du Liniang
Du Liniang is a fictional character from Tang Xianzu's play The Peony Pavilion. "Du" is her last name, "Li" means beautiful, and "Niang", girl. Only sixteen years old, she encounters a dream lover Liu Mengmei when she falls asleep in a long-abandoned garden. Overcome by lovesickness, she wastes...
for a young man named Liu Mengmei, whom she meets in a dream. Unable to turn her dream into reality, Liniang wastes away and dies, haunting Lui as a ghost. Eventually he finds a way to bring Liniang back to life, allowing them to find ultimate happiness.
Plans to film Peony in Love are currently moving forward.
External links
- Bernard Holland, "Music: Hard Work, The Virtue of a festival" -- treats the 1999 Lincoln Center production of The Peony Pavilion
- Diana Raabe, "Seeing Ghosts: A Conversation with Lisa See"
- Lisa See, "China's Lovesick Maidens" (video)
- Lisa See interviewed by Tavis Smiley (audio and text), PBS,08/24/2007
Reviews
- Sven Birkerts, "Dead Flowers." The New York Times, July 22, 2007
- Nicolas Delbanco, "Ghosts in the Garden", The Washington Post, June 24, 2007
- Susan Kelley. "Haunting Piony Unearths Ghosts of Culture and Love." USA Today, 07/03/2007.
- Jessica Treadway, "Female Voices from China's Past Silenced No More", The Boston Globe, July 1, 2007