The Peach Blossom Fan: A Small Note

A Brief Note on The Peach Blossom Fan

The genre of chuanqi (romance) is meant to record extraordinary events; if an event is not extraordinary, it will not be transmitted. What is extraordinary about The Peach Blossom Fan? A prostitute’s fan, a libertine’s inscribed poem, a traveler’s painting—these are all vulgar matters; willing to slash one’s face to make one’s heart known in order to please a beloved—this is also a trivial matter; exchanging flirtatious banter, using bloodstains to dye flowers—this is again a frivolous matter; sending private tokens of affection, sealing and mailing letters—these are obscene and not worth mentioning. What is extraordinary about The Peach Blossom Fan? What makes it extraordinary despite its ordinariness lies in the peach blossoms on the fan; the peach blossoms are the bloodstains of a beauty; the bloodstains are left by one who, upholding chastity and awaiting betrothal, dashed her head and shed gushing blood, refusing to be humiliated by a powerful traitor; the powerful traitor is a remnant of the eunuch clique of Wei Zhongxian; the remnants are those who presented sensual pleasures, amassed wealth, formed cliques for revenge, and destroyed the foundation of three hundred years of imperial rule. Once the imperial foundation is no more, where can the powerful traitor be found? Only the beauty’s bloodstains, the peach blossoms on the fan, are praised by all and remain vividly before the eyes—this is why an event, though not extraordinary, appears so, and though not necessarily transmitted, can still be transmitted. Is it a human face? Or is it peach blossoms? Even after a thousand springs, they will still gleam red in mutual reflection. Ask the Taoist who planted those peaches—he does not even know where they have gone!

In the third month of the year Wuzi of the Kangxi reign, casually written by Yunting Hermit.