The Peach Blossom Fan

Introduction

Kong Shangren's chuanqi in forty-four scenes, finished in 1699 after three drafts

The Peach Blossom Fan is a chuanqi play by the early Qing dramatist Kong Shangren, written over more than ten years and three drafts and finished in 1699 in forty-four scenes. It follows the love of the scholar Hou Fangyu and the Qinhuai singer Li Xiangjun, which Kong said he used to tell of rise and fall through partings and reunions. When Li Xiangjun refuses to be married off to a man of power, she strikes her head and her blood spatters the poem fan that sealed their love, and Yang Longyou paints the stains into sprays of peach blossom, which gives the play its name. An old Suzhou music master, Wang Shouxi, helped Kong with the music, and the finished play drew such notice that the Kangxi Emperor sent for a copy. Full performances were later lost, and only a few scenes such as Visiting the Beauty, The Wedding Night, Refusing the Trousseau and Inscribing the Painting are still staged now and then.

Parts

1. Visiting the BeautyScene 5 of The Peach Blossom Fan, one of the few scenes still staged
2. The Wedding NightScene 6 of The Peach Blossom Fan, one of the few scenes still staged
3. Refusing the TrousseauLi Xiangjun learns the trousseau came from Ruan Dacheng and sends it back
4. Inscribing the PaintingScene 28 of The Peach Blossom Fan, one of the few scenes still staged
5. Lingering NotesSu Kunsheng revisits Nanjing and sings the song suite Lament for the South