Dìyī Měinǚ Zhuàn 第一美女傳
Biography of the Supreme Beauty by 素庵主人 (撰)
About the work
Dìyī Měinǚ Zhuàn 第一美女傳 (Biography of the Supreme Beauty) is a Qīng vernacular novel in 16 huí attributed to the pen name “Sù’ān Zhǔrén” 素庵主人 (“Master of the Plain Hermitage”), whose real identity is unknown. The novel is set during the Táng dynasty, spanning from the reign of Tàizōng 太宗 through the Ān-Shǐ Rebellion 安史之亂. The protagonist — the “supreme beauty” of the title — is a woman named Gé Míngxiá 葛明霞, whose beauty, virtue, and talent are tested against the upheavals of mid-Táng court politics and the catastrophe of the Ān Lùshān 安祿山 rebellion. The 16 chapters trace her betrothal to the scholar Zhōng Jǐngqī 鍾景期, their separation during the rebellion, encounters with historical figures (including the general Guō Zǐyí 郭子儀, the martyr Léi Hǎiqīng 雷海清, and the Lady Guó Guó 虢夫人), and their eventual reunion and reward after the Táng court’s recovery.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The novel belongs to the cáizǐ jiārén 才子佳人 (scholar-beauty) genre common in Qīng vernacular fiction, with the complication that the “beauty” proves herself heroic under the severe test of civil war. The setting in the Ān-Shǐ Rebellion (755–763) allows the author to introduce a range of historical figures alongside fictional protagonists: Ān Lùshān 安祿山 is the chief villain, while Guō Zǐyí 郭子儀 (the historical general who recovered Luòyáng and Cháng’ān) appears as a benefactor. The martyrdom of the court musician Léi Hǎiqīng 雷海清, who smashed his lute and cursed Ān Lùshān when forced to perform for the rebels, is dramatized in chapter 11 — an episode based on a historical anecdote recorded in Jiù Táng shū.
The pen name “Sù’ān Zhǔrén” does not appear in standard bibliographic catalogs, and no reliable attribution to a known author has been established. The style and vocabulary are consistent with Qīng composition, likely 18th century. No preface or dated colophon has been identified in the source file examined.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.