Rescuing a Sister from the Wind and Dust

Introduction

Guan Hanqing's Yuan zaju comedy in which Zhao Pan'er tricks a divorce letter out of Zhou She to free Song Yinzhang

Rescuing a Sister from the Wind and Dust, in full Zhao Pan'er Saves a Sister from the Wind and Dust with Romance, is a Yuan zaju by Guan Hanqing and is called his best-known realist comedy. It has four acts and no prologue, and the lead female, as Zhao Pan'er, sings throughout. The courtesan Song Yinzhang ignores the warnings of her sworn sister Zhao Pan'er and marries the rake Zhou She, who mistreats her until she sends a letter begging for help. At an inn Zhao Pan'er pretends to fall for Zhou She, coaxes a divorce letter out of him and swaps it in advance, so that in the end the court has him beaten and gives Song Yinzhang to the scholar An Xiushi. The text is in the Yuanqu xuan anthology; the writer Wang Zengqi noted that Zhao Pan'er can save her friend only through the means of her own trade, and the 2022 television series A Dream of Splendor took the play as its model.

Parts

1. Act OneSong Yinzhang insists on marrying Zhou She, and Zhao Pan'er fails to stop her
2. Act TwoMistreated after the wedding, Song Yinzhang writes for help and Zhao Pan'er resolves to save her
3. Act ThreeAt an inn Zhao Pan'er feigns love for Zhou She and gets him to agree to a divorce
4. Act FourZhou She signs the divorce and then goes back on it, and the court gives Song Yinzhang to An Xiushi