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Chen Yuanyuan
A celebrated late-Ming stage performer of the Suzhou area, later counted among the Qinhuai Eight Beauties, whose image was repeatedly rewritten in later memories of the 1644 crisis and Yuanyuan Qu.
Mural of the event “The Beauty that Shook the Dynasties”, which this person took part in.
Around 1641, Chen Yuanyuan became celebrated in Jiangnan for her Kunqu artistry and was counted among the Qinhuai Eight Beauties; she was later taken to Beijing by Tian Hongyu, entering the later memory of the 1644 dynastic crisis.
Also known as Xing Wanfen · Chen Yuan
Chen Yuanyuan (also known as Chen Yuan and Xing Wanfen) was a celebrated stage performer of the Suzhou area in the late Ming; Mao Xiang's memoir Yingmei'an yiyu records hearing her sing, and she was later counted among the Qinhuai Eight Beauties. Accounts of her relationship with Wu Sangui and her seizure after Beijing fell in 1644, together with the ‘fury for a beauty’ formula, are late narratives with disputed evidentiary weight; Wu Weiye's 1651 Yuanyuan Qu decisively shaped her literary afterlife.
Life and times
- 1623 CEBorn
Ming
Qing - 1641The Beauty that Shook the Dynasties
Took partage 18Chen Yuanyuan's Kunqu fame entered the memory of Wu Sangui's Shanhai Pass decision, while later poetry made her a symbol of the Ming-Qing dynastic turn.- Chen Yuanyuan Acclaimed for Kunqu ArtistryAround 1641 Chen Yuanyuan became famous in Jiangnan for Kunqu artistry, entered the Qinhuai Eight Beauties tradition, and was later taken to Beijing.
- Wu Sangui Opens Shanhai Pass Gate1644age 21In 1644 Wu Sangui sought Qing aid at Shanhai Pass and defeated the Shun forces; making Chen Yuanyuan the sole motive is a later popular explanation.
- Wu Weiye Composes Yuanyuan Qu1651age 28In 1651 Wu Weiye made the Chen Yuanyuan story the subject of Yuanyuan Qu, placing private fate within the poetry of the Ming-Qing transition.
- Chen Yuanyuan Acclaimed for Kunqu Artistry
- 1695 CEDied
