薛姨妈寄居荣国府的薛家长辈 · 28
Leaf 28 of the Red Chamber · 姨妈 the maternal aunt, née Wang
Aunt Xue 薛姨妈
In Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 (c. 1791) · in the household (当家) · nicknamed 姨妈 “the maternal aunt, née Wang”
The well-meaning aunt with money and no grip: she lodges her family in the Jia estate, spoils the son who wastes it, and gives her daughter to a wedding built on a trick.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 4
Lodging Her Household in a Wing
攜子寄居She brings her daughter and her unpromising son to the capital with a cargo of trade goods, and installs the whole household in a wing of the Rongguo mansion, where they stay for the rest of the book.
- ch. 57
A Match Said Over Tea
愛語慰癡顰Doting on the motherless Daiyu, she lets it be said over tea that Baochai and Baoyu would make a good pair — the comfort the girl clings to, and the hinge of the last third.
- ch. 79
A Match Made by Their Mother
聘定河東His journey south ends with a bride fixed: the only daughter of the Xia house, as rich as the Xues and notorious for temper. Baochai hints at what is coming; their mother lets it close.
- ch. 96
Sending Her to a Deceived Wedding
送女完姻She consents to a wedding arranged as a deception, and her daughter steps from the bridal sedan into a marriage with a half-wit bridegroom who keeps calling for another bride.
結局 The ending
She keeps her house standing through everyone else's ruin: her daughter left wed to an absent husband, her son bought out of the yamen a second time, and the girl her son wrecked taken back under her protection. Nothing in the ending costs her anything.
The book itself: what happens, how long it is, which English version to read — The story · How long it is · Which translation · The lamp-oil night · The family tree · The first expulsion