Wang Xifeng

Wang Xifeng (, rendered Phoenix in Chi-chen Wang's translation) is one of the principal characters in the classic 18th century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She came from one of the Four Great Families, the Wang (the other three are Jia, Shi, and Xue), and is known for her wit and intelligence, her vivacious manner, her great beauty, her multiple-faced personality and her fierce sense of fidelity. Her family had great faith in her and brought her up as a boy; in fact, the name “Xifeng” is considered masculine in her era. This accounts for her self-assuredness and straightforward ways, characteristics that do not quite fit with the traditional female role at the time. Relations Xifeng is a niece of Lady Wang and is married to Jia Lian, the eldest grandchild of Grandmother Jia (hence, she is related to Baoyu by blood and by marriage). As such she plays a significant role in the day-to-day running of the Rongguo household; in fact, she is the de facto holder of the household's purse. She is the most powerful woman of the Jia Clan, after Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang. She is also worldly, tactful, able to sweettalk Grandmother Jia and the other powerful ladies within the family, while controlling the servants with an iron fist. However, she is disliked by the jealous Lady Xing, her husband's stepmother, who came from a family of lower social status and who resented Xifeng for her talent and power. Relationship With Jia Lian Xifeng's relationship with her sybaritic husband changed greatly as the story processed. At first, Jia Lian was infatuated with his new bride, weeping hysterically when she got ill with a voodoo curse. But he is a womanizer by nature, and grew tired of Xifeng's stringent control. In one chapter, he slept with a servant woman during his daughter's illness; in another, he was caught in bed with the wife of his servant on Xifeng's birthday. The fatal turn in their relationship came when Jia Lian met You Erjie at a funeral, and married her in secret (right after Xifeng's abortion). Xifeng was kept in the dark for months. When she found out, the outraged mistress came up with a cunning plan. She put on a pretty smile and invited You Erjie to live with the Jia family, putting the unfortunate concubine completely under her control. In the end, You Erjie lost her child to a charlatan and committed suicide. Xifeng and Jia Lian's relationship deteriorated quickly after this. Personality