Leaf 20 of the Red Chamber · 大太太 the Eldest Madam

Lady Xing 邢夫人

In Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 (c. 1791) · in the household (当家) · nicknamed 大太太 “the Eldest Madam”

Jealous, penurious and always second: she hunts a maid for her husband, is scolded for it in public, and takes her only revenge with a purse found in the grass.

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Married

second wife of Jia She; stepmother of Jia Lian and of the young mistress Yingchun

Epithet

the novel's own name for her in chapter 46 is simply the awkward woman

Cost

her one act of spite — an obscene purse handed on — is what burns the garden down

The great deeds 大事記

1. ch. 46

   Pleading the Match Herself

   親說媒

   Over Xifeng's warnings she goes herself to talk Grandmother Jia's head maid into being her husband's concubine, and is then made to stand and take the old lady's rebuke in front of the whole family.

2. ch. 73

   The Embroidered Purse Handed Over

   遞繡春囊

   A silly little maid picks up an embroidered purse of quite indecent pattern in the garden; Lady Xing gets hold of it and has it carried across to Lady Wang, whose nerve gives way at the sight of it.

3. ch. 74

   The Search Her Servant Whispered

   縱僕抄園

   Her own serving-woman, insulted by a maid in Baoyu's rooms, whispers that the garden is full of wantons; the search of the trunks that follows is done with Lady Xing's approval and Lady Wang's hand.

In the same register & chapters 同冊

• 贾赦 Jia Shethe Eldest Master
• 鸳鸯 YuanyangHead Maid of the Dowager
• 贾宝玉 Jia BaoyuContemplation of Red
• 贾母 Grandmother JiaLady Shi, the Dowager
• 贾政 Jia Zhengthe Second Master
• 王夫人 Lady Wangthe Madam of the second house

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