|
|
|
|
Jia
Tanchun
An
Ho, 1993, watercolor on silk mounted on rice paper using traditional
Chinese technique, 54" x 88"
|
| The
third of the quartet of "Springs," Tanchun (Quest Spring) is Baoyu's
half-sister and daughter of a concubine, A talented poet, she
is the founder of the poetry club for inhabitants of Prospect
Garden. A shrewd and capable administrator, she proves to be more
than an equal to Wang Xifeng in managerial skills. She is also
the lone reformer who has foresight enough to introduce measures
to shore up the failing economy of the Jia household. And she
alone of the young mistresses has the strength of character to
take full responsibility for her maids when Prospect Garden is
searched for contraband. But despite her superior abilities and
accomplishments, the unalterable fact that she was born of a concubine
becomes such a burden that Tanchun feels compelled to repeatedly
renounce her ties to her biological mother and claim Baoyu's mother
Lady Wang as her own. In the sequel, as suggested by the Main
Register and the commentaries, Tanchun marries into an official
family far away from home. |
|
