Ping'er
Encyclopedia
Ping'er is an important character in the Chinese
novel
Dream of the Red Chamber
. She is Wang Xifeng
's chief maid and personal assistant/confidante, who follows her from the Wang family. Being the chief consultant of the household manager, Ping'er wields considerable power in the Jia household. Always kind and caring, she turns big dilemma
s into little, solvable problems. She does so with grace and impartiality and is respected by most other servants.
She is the cause of many fights between her mistress and master, partly because she is Jia Lian's unofficial concubine (seen as a dowry
from the Wang family). Nevertheless, she is well loved by them, too, especially by Xifeng, who understands her value as a personal confidante. The novel portrays Ping'er as a pretty and sweet-natured girl, though clearly intelligent enough to know how to conduct herself through the politics of the family.
In the Cheng-Gao ending, when Xifeng's daughter Jia Qiaojie
is left motherless after Xifeng's death, Ping'er arranges the plan for Granny Liu
to hide Qiaojie in her village, and accompanied Qiaojie to Granny Liu's home. She eventually becomes Jia Lian's wife.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber , composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of...
. She is Wang Xifeng
Wang Xifeng
Wang Xifeng is one of the principal characters in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. A not-so-well educated upper-class woman with finesse, she is also known as "Peppercorn Feng" or "Hot Pepper"...
's chief maid and personal assistant/confidante, who follows her from the Wang family. Being the chief consultant of the household manager, Ping'er wields considerable power in the Jia household. Always kind and caring, she turns big dilemma
Dilemma
A dilemma |proposition]]") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable...
s into little, solvable problems. She does so with grace and impartiality and is respected by most other servants.
She is the cause of many fights between her mistress and master, partly because she is Jia Lian's unofficial concubine (seen as a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
from the Wang family). Nevertheless, she is well loved by them, too, especially by Xifeng, who understands her value as a personal confidante. The novel portrays Ping'er as a pretty and sweet-natured girl, though clearly intelligent enough to know how to conduct herself through the politics of the family.
In the Cheng-Gao ending, when Xifeng's daughter Jia Qiaojie
Jia Qiaojie
Jia Qiaojie is a character in the Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is the only child of Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng. She remains a child throughout much of the novel...
is left motherless after Xifeng's death, Ping'er arranges the plan for Granny Liu
Granny Liu
Granny Liu is a character in Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is an elderly country rustic and a distant relative of Lady Wang through "joining families" and marriage ....
to hide Qiaojie in her village, and accompanied Qiaojie to Granny Liu's home. She eventually becomes Jia Lian's wife.
See also
- Wang XifengWang XifengWang Xifeng is one of the principal characters in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. A not-so-well educated upper-class woman with finesse, she is also known as "Peppercorn Feng" or "Hot Pepper"...
- Jia Lian
- Dream of the Red ChamberDream of the Red ChamberDream of the Red Chamber , composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of...