Wǔ Měi Yuán 五美緣
The Fate of Five Beauties by Anonymous (佚名)
About the work
Wǔ Měi Yuán 五美緣 is an anonymous Qing-dynasty romance novel in 80 chapters (huí 回). It is also known under the alternative titles Wǔ Měi Zàishēng Yuán 五美再生緣, Zàishēng Yuán 再生緣 (Full Transmission of the Reborn Fate), and Dà Míng Chuán 大明傳. It belongs to the cáizǐ jiārén 才子佳人 (scholar-beauty romance) genre and is set during the Zhengde reign (1505–1521) of the Ming dynasty. At 80 chapters it is considerably more expansive than most novels in this genre. The preface is signed by the pen name Jìshēng Shì 寄生氏, who also wrote a preface for the similar novel Zhēng Chūn Yuán 爭春園.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The narrative centers on the scholar Féng Xù 馮旭 (styled Zǐqīng 子清) and his romantic destiny with five women: Qián Yuèyīng 錢月英 (praised for her pure fidelity, chún zhēn 純貞), Zhào Cuìxiù 趙翠秀 (fierce integrity, chún liè 純烈), Qián Luòxiá 錢落霞 (pure prudence, chún jǐn 純謹), Huìlán 蕙蘭 (steadfast loyalty to a poor scholar), and Fēiyīng 飛英 (devoted love for a military talent). The plot is set partly around West Lake 西湖 (Hangzhou) and Suzhou, and involves over 150 characters across eighty chapters of romantic intrigue, false accusations, judicial proceedings, popular uprisings, and final imperial resolutions.
The preface, signed by Jìshēng Shì 寄生氏 and dated “two days before Grain Rain 穀雨 in the year Rénwǔ 壬午” — which corresponds to Daoguang 2 (1822) — provides the date of first publication. Jìshēng Shì’s earlier preface for Zhēng Chūn Yuán 爭春園 (first published Daoguang 1, 1821) is dated Jiaqing 24 (己卯, 1819), establishing that this author was active in the Jiaqing–Daoguang transition period. Important extant early editions include the Daoguang 4 (1824) Lóuwàilán 樓外樓 edition (titled Xiùxiàng Dà Míng Chuán 繡像大明傳, British Museum), the Daoguang 8 (1828) Yúnxiānggé 芸香閣 edition (Osaka Prefectural Library), and the Daoguang 23 (1843) Shèndétáng 慎德堂 edition (Nanjing Library).
The novel was placed on the Qing censorship list of banned books (yínshū 淫書) owing to its romantic content. No named author beyond the pseudonymous preface-writer Jìshēng Shì is known. The catalog attributes authorship to 佚名 (anonymous); the Jìshēng Shì preface indicates this person composed the novel, not merely the preface, but the true identity of Jìshēng Shì remains unestablished.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The title’s “five beauties” (wǔ měi 五美) echoes the imagery of the five-petalled plum blossom and the five-fold structure beloved in Chinese popular fiction (compare Wǔ Sè Shí 五色石 in KR4k0248, Wǔ Fèng Yín 五鳳吟 in KR4k0246). The elaborate subplot involving Zhào Cuìxiù (who substitutes herself for the heroine as a bride and is subsequently executed) is frequently cited as one of the more dramatically effective passages in the cáizǐ jiārén tradition.