The Peach Blossom Fan () is a musical play and historical drama in 44 scenes that was completed in 1699 by the early Qing dynasty playwright Kong Shangren after more than 10 years of effort.《洪昇年谱》康熙三十八年（1699年）载："六月孔尚任《桃花扇》成，遂盛行于世。秋，康熙索《桃花扇》观之，其后孔尚任罢官，世多疑其系以《桃花扇》贾祸。"Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, "Kong Shangren". answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/kong-shangren. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
The play depicts the drama that resulted in the 1644 collapse of the Ming dynasty.Acton, p. xvii. The play recounts the death of the Ming dynasty through the love story of its two main characters, young scholar and a famous geji named Li Xiangjun.: "《桃花扇》是一部以复社文人侯方域与秦淮名妓李香君的爱情故事，反映南明弘光王朝覆灭的历史悲剧。" The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature has called it "China's greatest historical drama"..
An English translation by () and Harold Acton, K.B.E. with Cyril Birch collaborating, appeared in 1976. Wai-yee Li published another translation with Oxford University Press in 2024. The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren. Translated by Wai-yee Li. Oxford University Press, 2024.
Background The rise and fall of the early Qing dynasty pushed many poets and playwrights into thinking of the historical lessons taught by the downfall of the Ming.. These writers, including Kong Shangren, expressed hatred and regret at its collapse through their works and a sense of historical responsibility. Kong said he wanted to expose the causes of the decay.Kong Shangren 孔尚任, "Short introduction" (小引) to the Peach Blossom Fan: "知三百年之基業,隳於何人,敗於何事,消於何年,歇於何地。" Kong heard stories about Hong Guang (弘光) from his cousin Kong Fangxun (孔方訓), whose tale of Li Xiangjun inspired him into creating a script.据《桃花扇本末》记载："独香姬面血溅扇，杨友龙以画笔点之……虽不见诸别籍，其事变新奇可传，《桃花扇》一剧感此而作也。" It was only a draft because Kong wanted to collect further historical details.《桃花扇本末》："每拟作此传奇，恐闻见未广，有乖信史者，寝歌之余，仅画其轮廓，实未饰其藻采也。" During his three-year sojourn in the south, where the story took place, Kong became acquainted with Ming loyalists like (冒襄), (鄧漢儀), Xu Shuxue (許漱雪), Zong Yuanding (宗元鼎), She Chacun (社茶村) and masters of art like Shitao, Gong Xian, and Cha Shibiao (查士標). He also visited historical sites such as Plum Blossom Mountain (梅花岭), Qin Huai River (秦淮河), Swallow Rock (燕子磯), Imperial Palace, and the Mausoleum of the Ming Emperor (明孝陵)..
Kong started work on "The Peach Blossom Fan" in 1648 and finished it in 1699, the culmination of more than twenty years of writing. The musical play contains 44 historical drama scenes emphasizing Chinese culture and characterizing the collapse in 1644 of the Ming Dynasty. It elaborates love and death of the Ming Dynasty, camouflaged in a love story of two main characters: Hou Fangyu, a young scholar, and a courtesan named Li Xiangjun (or, “Sovereign Fragrance”). The composition was conceived originally in two parts. There are an additional 40 scenes, but it is not long compared to other plays with 55 plus scenes, mainly with style drawn from the South. The plot is set in the Restoration Society, which sought reform to counter rampant corruption. Officials in the court plot or plan on how to cut short the emperor's reign and oversee the fall of the Ming dynasty, a plan being set and overseen by courtesans such as Ruan Dacheng.
"The Peach Blossom Fan" exposes the rot of official corruption, cowardly choices, and even outright callousness of those in authority. It details the power of people who come together in unison and love for a just cause and equally highlights the delicate balance of ascending to power without the interests of service to humanity at the core of decision-making.
Composition The play was conceived as a two-part play, as stated in the notes of Liang Qichao.Wang, C. H., p. 10. The play has over 40 total scenes. Birch wrote that this length is "not unduly long" for a southern-style (Yangtze Valley) Chinese play, citing the 55-scene length of Peony Pavilion.Birch, p. xiv.
The main portion of the play includes exactly 40 scenes. The "Enquiry" (prelude) section is located in the play's beginning. The first portion of the main play forms part one, the upper (上) part. The "Inter-calary" scene is in between the two parts of the main play. The second portion of the main portion of the play forms part two, the lower (下) part. The "Additional Scene" and then the "Sequel", the epilogue, are the final portions of the play.Wang, C. H., p. 10.
Plot In the late Ming dynasty, the reformist Donglin movement reinstituted the "Restoration Society" (C: 復社, P: fùshè, W: fu-she) in Nanjing to fight corrupt officials. Hou Fangyu, one of the Society's members, falls in love with Geji Li Xiangjun beside the Qinhuai River. He sends Li Xiangjun a fan as a gift and becomes engaged to her. An official called Ruan Dacheng, delivers trousseau through celebrity Yang Longyou (T: 楊龍友, S: 杨龙友, P: Yáng Lóngyǒu, W: Yang Lung-yu) for Hou in order not to be isolated from the royal court. Hou is persuaded into accepting it, but Li Xiangjun rejects the gift firmly, which wins Hou Fangyu's respect.
Because he lacks military provisions, the commander of Wuchang Zuo Liangyu intends to move his army south to Nanjing, which terrifies the court. Considering Hou Fangyu's father had once been Zuo Liangyu's superior, Nanjing officials send Yang to ask Hou for help as a substitute. Hou Fangyu writes a letter to discourage Zuo from moving, but is slandered by Ruan for betraying the country, forcing him to find shelter with Shi Kefa in Yangzhou. Li Xiangjun and Hou Fangyu are separated.
At that time, the political situation runs out of control. News comes that Li Zicheng, the leader of peasant rebellion, had captured the capital Beijing, and that the Chongzhen Emperor had hanged himself. Ruan and Ma Shiying, the local governor of Fengyang (鳳陽督撫), crowns the Prince of Fu (福王) Zhu Yousong as new Emperor and changes the title of the reign into Hongguang 弘光. They persecute Reformists and indulge the Emperor with lust. Governor of Cao (曹撫) Tian Yang (田仰) covets Li's beauty and wants to take her as concubine. At the marriage ceremony, Li resists with a suicide attempt. She knocks her head on a pillar, leaving blood spots on the fan which was given by Hou Fangyu. After that, Yang draws a branch of peach blossoms with Li Xiangjun's blood on the fan, and it is sent to Hou Fangyu to show Li Xiangjun's determination. Jin Fu, author of Chinese Theatre, wrote that the fan and poem symbolize the integrity and determination of Li Xiangjun.Fu, Jin, p. 59.
The Qing's army continues to go south, threatening the Ming government. However, the internal conflicts among four generals, who are in charge of strategic posts in north of the Yangtze River, are fierce, and Shi Kefa himself could not retrieve the defeat. Meanwhile, the new Emperor never cares about politics, only losing himself in song and dance. Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng send Li into the court as a gift, catering to the Emperor. Li Xiangjun scolds the evil officials to their faces and is beaten cruelly. Hou Fangyu flees to Nanjing during the chaotic war but was caught and sent into prison by Ruan Dacheng.
Yangzhou falls and Shi Kefa drowns himself into the river. The new Emperor is captured by the Qing army.. The end of the play features a Taoist ceremony mourning the loss of the Ming dynasty. The remaining protagonists decide to seclude themselves instead of serving in the Qing dynasty. Hou Fangyu and Li Xiangjun meet each other occasionally at Qixia Mountain. When they are telling their affection, Zhang Yaoxing, a Taoist master, criticized them for the affair, asking "How laughable to cling to your amorous desires when the world has been turned upside down?"K'ung, p. 296. (or: "When there are such tremendous changes, you still indulge in love?"). This gives them both a realization. Li Xiangjun thus becomes a nun, while Hou Fangyu follows her step to become a Taoist priest. Cyril Birch, who collaborated on a University of California Press translation of The Peach Blossom Fan, wrote that "There can be no happy ending, given the historical authenticity of the action".
Like other Southern-style plays the play incorporates martial scenes and a love affair central to the plot. Birch wrote that the Hou Fangyu-Fragrant Princess love affair "is brilliantly integrated with the more weighty matter of the plot" and that the martial scenes "perfectly reflect the unhappy progress of the Ming cause and depict in vivid terms the gallant but ultimately futile loyalty or generals like Huang Te-kung and Shih-K'o-fa."
Famous passage In the last act of Peach Blossom Fan, Su Kunsheng (蘇昆生) recounted his visit to the old place after the fall of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He mourned the old capital of Nanjing and composed a set of songs "Lamenting Jiangnan" (哀江南) to express his sorrow for the separation of the people from their hometown. The whole song is desolate and sad, and is a famous piece in the legend of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The following is the last song of "Lamenting Jiangnan":
【哀江南·離亭宴帶歇指煞】 Lament for Jiangnan – Farewell Banquet
俺曾見金陵玉殿鶯啼曉， 秦淮水榭花開早，
誰知道容易冰消。
I once beheld, in Jinling's jeweled halls, orioles singing at dawn, And by Qinhuai's waters, flowers blooming early.
Who knew such splendor would melt like ice?
眼看他起朱樓， 眼看他宴賓客，
眼看他樓塌了。
I watched him raise his vermilion tower, I watched him feast his honored guests,I watched that tower crumble and fall.
這青苔碧瓦堆， 俺曾睡風流覺，
將五十年興亡看飽。
Among mossy tiles and green eaves piled, I once slept the dreams of romance,
And saw the rise and fall of fifty years play out.
那烏衣巷不姓王， 莫愁湖鬼夜哭，
鳳凰台棲梟鳥。
Now in Wuyi Lane, no Wang clan remains, At Mochou Lake, ghosts wail through the night,
And on Phoenix Terrace, only owls roost.
殘山夢最真， 舊境丟難掉，
不信這輿圖換稿。
Broken hills bring truest dreams, Old places, once lost, are hard to forget—
Who could believe even the maps would be redrawn?
謅一套哀江南， 放悲聲唱到老。
So I compose this Lament for Jiangnan, And sing my sorrow till life's end.
Characters
The play involves 30 dramatis personae. The protagonists are historical figures. Like many southern Chinese (Yangtze Valley) plays, there are contrasting character groupings. Hou Fangyu and his friends are in one grouping, while the Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng group forms an opposing grouping. Each role-type may control a set of characters.Birch, p. xv. The "painted-face" (P: jing, W: ching) role controls Ma Shiying, Liu Liangzuo, Su Kunsheng, and Zhang Yanzhu.Birch, p. xv-xvi. The "comic" (P: chou, W: ch'ou) role type controls Liu Jingting, Cai Yisuo, Zhen Tuoniang, and several attendants and servants.Birch, p. xvi.
Birch wrote that the audience is "led to a deep respect for Hou Fang-yü, Liu Ching-t'ing, and Shih K'o-fa, as in their different ways they follow their doomed ideals."
Character list (in order of appearance)
The Master of Ceremonies of the Imperial Temple in Nanjing. He states that The Peach Blossom Fan "employs the emotions entailed by separation and union, to depict feelings about rise and fall." (T: 借離合之情，寫興亡之感,[...], S: 借离合之情，写兴亡之感,[...]) C. H. Wang wrote that the Master "seems to impersonate" Kong Shangren. (C: 侯方域, P: Hóu Fāngyù, W: Hou Fang-yü), a young scholar of distinction Hou Fangyu opposes corrupt officials who sell out to Manchus and is a loyalist to the Ming cause. Chen Zhenhui (Ch'en Chen-hui), fellow member of the Revival Club Wu Yingji (Wu Ying-chi), fellow member of the Revival Club Liu Jingting (C: 柳敬亭, P: Liǔ Jìngtíng, W: Liu Ching-t'ing), a veteran minstrel of renown Lianche Tu Fang, an author on an encyclopedia article about Liu Jingting, wrote that the person was one of two people used in the story to "bring together the various incidents of the plot."Tu Fang, p. 947. Li Zhenli (Li Chen-li), proprietress of an elegant house of pleasure and foster mother of the heroine Yang Wencong (Yang Wen-ts'ung), painter, poet, and official