The Peach Blossom Fan
The Peach-Blossom Fan is a musical play and historical drama in 44 scenes, written in the late Shogunate Era.
Contents
Plot
In the middling years of the Shogunate, the reformist "Restoration Society" arose amongst idealistic Dragonblooded in the court of the Shogun, seeking to repair the factionalism of the government and to fight corrupt officials. Hou Fangyu, one of the Society's members, fell in love with courtesan Li Xiangjun beside the Crane River. He sent Li a fan as a gift and became engaged to her. A corrupt official called Ruan Dacheng sent beautiful wedding garments as a gift to the pair through celebrity poet Yang Longyou, in order to further his influence in the Shogun’s court. Hou was persuaded to accept, but Li rejected the gift firmly, which won Hou's respect.
Because he lacked military provisions, the daimyo of Wuchang on the Isle’s western coast, Zuo Liangyu, intended to move his army east to the capital, which terrified the court. Considering Hou's father had once been Zuo's superior, Shogunate officials sent Yang to ask Hou for help stopping the move. Hou wrote a letter to discourage Zuo from moving, but was slandered by Ruan for betraying the Shogun and attempting to sieze military power for himself, forcing him to find shelter with daimyo Shi Kefa in Arjuf. Li and Hou were separated.
At that time, the political situation began to spiral out of control. News came that Tsatsuka Zicheng, the northern daimyo at the head of a peasant rebellion, had captured the Shogunal hunting lodge on the northern coast, and that the Shogun had hanged himself. Ruan and Gherin Shiying, the daimyo of Juche, crowned the Shogun’s nephew Zhu Yousong as new Shogun. They persecuted Reformists and indulged the Shogun with lust. The daimyo of Cao, Yushoto Tanyan, a supporter of Ruan and Gherin, coveted Li's beauty and wanted to take her as his wife. At the marriage ceremony, Li resisted by attempting suicide. She knocked her head on a pillar, leaving blood spots on the fan which was gifted to her by Hou, and which she had treasured in their time apart. After that, Tanyan drew a branch of peach blossoms with Li's blood on the fan, and it was sent to Hou to show Li's determination.
The peasant army continued to grow, marching southward and threatening the Shogunate government. However, the internal conflicts among four daimyo whose troops held strategic posts along the Crane River were fierce, and Shi Kefa himself couldn't stave off their defeat. Meanwhile, the new Shogun cared little for politics, instead losing himself in song and dance. Gherin Shiying and Ruan Dacheng sent Li into the court as a gift, catering to the Shogun’s lusts. Li scolded the evil officials to their faces and was beaten cruelly. Hou attempted to reach Vanchow during the chaotic conflict but was caught and sent to prison in the capital by Ruan.
Vanchow fell and Shi drowned himself in the Crane River. The new Shogun was captured by the rebel army and the capital fell, but the rebels soon collapsed themselves and fighting began amongst the daimyo to determine who would become the new Shogun. Hou and Li both managed to escape the capital up the slopes of Mount Meru, stumbling into each other. When they were embracing and telling their affection, the Immaculate itinerant Zhang Wei passed them by and admonished them "How can you still indulge in your little affection after the devastation of your country?" They were both struck by this admonishment... Li thus became an Immaculate nun, in meditiative retreat atop the Mountain, while Hou followed her step to become an Immaculate preacher travelling the Isle spreading peace and enlightenment to the peasantry.
Cast
The following are characters of note in the play, though in total the cast includes some 30 speaking roles plus as many supporting musicians/singers/dancers onstage.
Master of Ceremonies, the nameless official charged with decorum at the Shogun’s court
Hou Fangyu, a young scholar of distinction
Chen Zhenhui, fellow member of the Restoration Society
Zhang Wei, Immaculate Style 'Empty Cloud', former commander of the Shogun’s Own Guard in the capital, who became an Immaculate itinerant.
Li Zhenli, proprietress of an elegant house of pleasure and foster mother of the heroine
Li Xiangjun, the heroine courtesan
Su Kunsheng, Li's singing teacher
Zuo Liangyu, daimyo of Wuchang
Ruan Dacheng, corrupt politician, dramatist and poet
Hong Guang, Shogun. Surrounded by corrupt officials whom he made no effort to suppress.
Shi Kefa, daimyo of Arjuf. An honourable man devoted to duty.
Tsatsuka Zicheng, daimyo of Chanos and leader of the peasant revolt
Gherin Shiying, daimyo of Juche and later also Grand Minister of the Shogun
Zhu Yousong, nephew of the Shogun, later crowned Shogun himself. Lustful and indolent.
Yushoto Tanyan, daimyo of Cao, famed painter
Karal Zeqing, daimyo with troops on the Crane River.
Guo Jie, daimyo with troops on the Crane River.
Maheka Liangzuo, daimyo with troops on the Crane River.
The play involves a large number of main characters which are divided into three categories: the Colour Department, the Energy Department, and the and Overall Department.
The roles in Colour department play the main plot of the story, expressing the sentiment of separation and reunion. The department is itself split into two parts, male characters led by Hou Fangyu make up the Left Department, and female characters led by Li Xiangjun make up the Right department. Both of the two parts are in turn divided into four sections: Main Colour for the protagonists, Neutral Colour for those who do not influence the protagonists (mostly roles for musicians or singers whose accompaniment requires taking position onstage), Combinative Colour for those who harm or oppose the protagonists, and Supporting Colour for those who aid and assist the protagonists. While the first holds only 1 character, the last 3 contain equal numbers of actors.
The characters of the Energy department perform mostly on the rise and fall of history. It has two parts, the Odd department and the Even department, the first containing characters who seek to preserve and the last those who seek to destroy, further divided into sections based on motivations. The Even department contains twice as many actors as the Odd department.
Two final characters, making up the Overall Department, are the Warp Star (Zhang Wei) and Weft Star (the Master of Ceremonies) who run through the whole play introducing the backgrounds, scenes, and other complements.
Performance
The 44 scenes of the Peach Blossom Fan take a little over 8 hours to perform in full. While such performances are applauded and welcome, the play is more regularly performed by smaller troupes specializing in particular groups of scenes which they can play out in the course of an hour or two. Roles are complex, with every character singing and engaged in movement, and by tradition there is no raised stage, with actors moving through the audience as they perform. As such, where one is seated determines which quiet conversations one might hear between characters. Sets are lavish, as are costumes... there are records from the late Shogunate indicating a group of daimyo spent 160 talents of Jade on costumes alone for a full performance in honour of a Shogun's coronation.
Reception
The Peach Blossom Fan was reportedly immensely popular at the time of its release in the late Shogunate, given out at first to friends by its author after a writing process that occupied ten years of his life. He was soon inundated with demands for further copies, even the Shogun requesting one. Copies are found in almost any excavation from that period. Its themes of a chaotic world, of romance-not-to-be and of giving up all for duty, seem to resonate with Dragonblooded audiences across eras, and with the rise of the Scarlet Empress it has risen to become the example which all other plays seek to emulate, the structure and balance of its cast reflected in most later works.
On the Blessed Isle, the finest performances of the play are said to come from the House Tepet sponsored troupes of Lord’s Crossing.
