The Plum Blossom Blooms Twice (2)

惜阴堂主人Jun 2024

3.2

Word count: 41K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

A Qing dynasty vernacular novel in six volumes and forty chapters, roughly ten thousand characters, attributed to the Master of Xiyin Hall. Its full titles are The Complete Tale of the Twice-Blooming Plum: Loyalty, Filial Piety, Integrity, and Righteousness and The Strange Tale of the Twice-Blooming Plum. Later adapted for Peking opera, Yue opera, and Ping opera. Though a scholar-beauty romance, it devotes considerable space to political strife within the ruling group rather than solely to love between man and woman; while it retains the traditional theme of loyalty versus treachery, the plot is intricate and, despite its many threads, orderly.

Editor's review

The Complete Tale of the Second Blooming Plum is a distinctive work among Qing-dynasty vernacular novels. Though framed as a scholar-and-beauty romance, it does not stop at sentimental love but devotes much space to the struggle between loyalists and villains at court, giving the unions and partings of a marriage a weightier political and ethical backdrop. In six volumes and forty chapters, it is not long, yet its plot is intricate and many-threaded, advancing layer by layer without confusion—evidence of the author's careful construction. The notions of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness it promotes bear clear marks of their era; readers may take it as a traditional popular novel or use it to observe how such stories were later adapted repeatedly for Peking opera, Yue opera, Ping opera, and other forms. It suits readers interested in classical Chinese fiction and the sources of operatic adaptation, who may sense in leisurely reading both the tension and the limits of traditional narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in classical Chinese vernacular fiction who want to broaden their reading
Scholars of the scholar-beauty romance and the loyal-versus-treacherous theme
Opera enthusiasts interested in how traditional stories were adapted for the stage
Readers who want a short introduction to Qing popular narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern pacing, strong suspense, and fast-moving plots
Readers resistant to traditional moral preaching such as loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness
Readers expecting a pure love story and unwilling to read about political struggle

Reading tips

Clarify the relationships between the loyal and treacherous factions before entering the plot, to reduce confusion from the many threads.
Separate the romance line from the court-struggle line and note how they converge to drive the ending.
After reading, compare with the Peking, Yue, and Ping opera adaptations to see what each medium keeps and cuts.
Read the book's ideas of chastity and righteousness with critical distance, understanding them in the context of Qing society.

版权信息
第十三回赏梅花陡思同年降风雨忽想云游
第十四回拜求神圣因留父上天垂象念孤儿
第十五回梅开二度千古佳话花园联诗万载奇逢
第十六回眼识英贤怜友念故交心结丝梦惜旧遭奸变
第十七回选民女百姓惊惶认兄妹家庭痛哭
第十八回赶路途民夫忿恨到重台兄妹沾襟
第十九回雁门关夫妻哭别苏武庙主仆叹忠
第二十回落雁崖烈女殉节众鞑靼剑吓佳人
第二十一回真容投飞落崖下假扮贵人和番邦
第二十二回昭君显圣送贞节云英降香逢杏元
第二十三回撞巡更梅生改姓遇门生冯公荐友
第二十四回路旁无柰春生投水渔有缘玉姐联姻

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and the opera "Er Du Mei"?

"The Complete Story of Er Du Mei" is a Qing vernacular novel; later Peking, Yue, and Ping opera versions were adapted from it. Read the novel first for the full story, then see how opera condenses the plot and heightens conflict; comparing the two reveals the different approaches of each art form.

I haven't read any scholar-beauty romances. Can I start with this one?

Yes. The book is about ten thousand characters long; the plot is intricate but the threads are clear and it does not depend on other works. First-time readers need only follow the parallel loyal-versus-treacherous and romance lines to read it smoothly, and it can serve as an introduction to the genre.

Is there a lot of political struggle, and is it hard to follow?

The author devotes considerable space to the loyal-versus-treacherous struggle within the ruling group, which distinguishes the book from ordinary scholar-beauty romances. The relevant passages are driven by character conflict and events rather than complex institutional terminology; ordinary readers can follow simply by distinguishing the characters' sides.

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About the author

惜阴堂主人 Author

Xiyintang Zhuren is an authorial name taken from a studio hall (tanghao) in the field of Ming and Qing vernacular fiction; the writer's real name, native place, and dates of birth and death are not clearly recorded, and publicly available information is limited. Judging from the ten works held in the collection, the author's output centers on the compilation of classical literature and the writing of vernacular fiction. Representative works include Er Du Mei (The Second Plum Blossom) together with its full-length sequel and various divided and Qing-dynasty vernacular editions, as well as a forty-volume collection of classical literary works. These titles are generally classified under classical literature, classic works, and social fiction, with tags also touching on Eastern philosophy and time-travel alternate history, suggesting a diverse range of subjects. Er Du Mei, which traces the joys and sorrows of a talented scholar and a beautiful maiden, features a twisting plot and plain, accessible language; it was one of the more widely circulated Qing vernacular novels, and it is through this work that the name Xiyintang Zhuren is known to later readers.