Leaf 16 of the Red Chamber · 珍珠 Pearl, the name she came in with

Xiren 花袭人

In Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 (c. 1791) · in the Third register (又副冊) · nicknamed 珍珠 “Pearl, the name she came in with”

Loyal, prudent and the register's torn sleeping mat: the maid who gets everything she asks for and keeps least of all, since her verse gives her an actor instead of a master.

藏Keep on my shelf

Origin

Sold by her family for their debts and named Pearl before Baoyu renamed her

Given

Baoyu's bed and his confidence from childhood, and the first steps he took with either

Won

Lady Wang's private nomination as a concubine-consort, with her wage doubled

枉自温柔和顺， 空云似桂如兰。 堪羡优伶有福， 谁知公子无缘。

All her warmth and obedience for nothing, and vainly called one like osmanthus and orchid. One may envy the strolling player his good fortune — who could have known that the young lord was to have no part with her?

畫 One cluster of fresh flowers, and a bed with its mat worn through.

The great deeds 大事記

1. ch. 3

   Renamed from a Line of Verse

   更名

   Baoyu hears that her name is Pearl, learns her family surname is Flower, takes a line of old verse about overwhelming fragrance for her and reports the change to her mistress.

2. ch. 6

   Going to Bed After the Dream

   雲雨

   The only one who dares go to his bed after the register dream, and so the one the chapter says in a clause it never returns to.

3. ch. 19

   Three Reforms Won by a Feint

   箴規

   Lets it be believed that her brother has come to take her home, and only when Baoyu has promised three reforms does she let the story fall.

4. ch. 28

   The Sash at the Chest's Bottom

   換巾

   Takes a sash from Baoyu that he had received in an exchange of gifts with the actor Jiang Yuhan, and puts it at the bottom of a chest without a second thought.

5. ch. 34

   The Quiet Words That Settled It

   進言

   Answers Lady Wang on the beating, speaks of the danger the garden has become, and is thanked in the way that settles her own place for life.

6. ch. 63

   Draws the Peach Blossom Lot

   桃籤

   Draws the peach blossom at the birthday banquet, its line promising another year of spring, and the company laugh because a girl surnamed Flower could draw nothing else.

In the same register & chapters 同冊

• 晴雯 QingwenDaughter of the Hibiscus
• 贾宝玉 Jia BaoyuContemplation of Red
• 薛蟠 Xue Panthe Obstinate Tyrant, his byname
• 刘姥姥 Granny LiuPoor Relation from the Village

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