Character Descriptions in Chinese Literature

Diving into an old art

Character Descriptions in Chinese Literature

In yesterday’s translation post, we met three of the major female characters for the first time.

Because the original didn’t give names, I decided to refrain from naming the characters as well. However, I thought it might be helpful to let you know who they are — and then to throw in a little bit of literary commentary about how they are described.

Now, if you remember this post, there are actually four young girls in the Jia household, just as Leng Zixing described to Jia Yucun during their gossip session. The oldest, Jia Yuanchun, is already part of the imperial palace by this point, and is actually the key to the family’s continued income and prosperity.

The first Jia daughter that Lin Daiyu sees is actually Jia Yingchun:

第一個，肌膚微豐，身材閤中，腮凝新荔，鼻膩鵝脂，溫柔沉默，觀之可親

The first was slightly plump, of medium height, with cheeks as smooth and as fresh as lychee flesh and a nose as delicate as curdled cream. She was gentle and reserved, and was quite approachable warmth.

Now, if you compare her with what we mentioned in this commentary post, you’ll see that Jia Yingchun’s physical description has a lot to do with her eventual fate. She’s a little bit plump, looks healthy, and is gentle and quiet. In the end, her submissive nature winds up being her undoing.

The second Jia daughter is therefore Jia Tanchun:

第二個，削肩細腰，長挑身材，鴨蛋臉兒，俊眼修眉，顧盼神飛，文彩精華，見之忘俗

The second had slender shoulders and a narrow waste, and was tall and gracefully slender. Her face was as round as a duck’s eggs, and she had striking eyes, arched brows, and a spirited gaze that shimmered with wit and refinement. She was so striking that you forgot all about the cares of the world once you saw her.

The key here is Tanchun’s intelligence and wit. Unfortunately for her, she uses her intellectual talents to defend the feudal hierarchy, which “rewards” her in the end by marrying her to a place far away.

The third, Jia Xichun, is still young and undeveloped:

第三個，身量未足，形容尚小。

The third had a childish frame and was not yet fully formed.

Poor Jia Xichun comes of age as the Jia family declines.

Of course, there’s more to all of this than vague and general descriptions of what these girls looked like. In fact, the literary form of description Cao Xueqin uses here is interesting.

If you pay attention to the Chinese text, you’ll notice a lot of 4 character phrases:

肌膚微豐 (somewhat plump skin)

身材閤中 (medium height)

腮凝新荔 (cheeks like fresh lychees)

and so on.

These phrases aren’t unique to Dream of the Red Chamber. You see them in a lot of Chinese classics.

For example, in the first chapter of 三國演義 (which I still prefer to call Romance of the Three Kingdoms, despite the somewhat deceptive English title), Liu Bei is described like this in the first chapter:

兩耳垂肩，雙手過膝，目能自顧其耳，面如冠玉，脣若塗脂

His earlobes reached his shoulders, his arms hung past his knees. His eyes could see his own ears, his face shone like carved jade, and his lips were as red as painted vermilion.

Of course, this is a clearly exaggerated description, which is common in 三國演義. The point, however, is the four character adjectival phrases, with only the somewhat awkward “目能自顧其耳” breaking up the pattern.

You see the same thing all the time in 西遊記 (Journey to the West), though most character descriptions in that book are actually just poems. Here’s a description of a scene early in the book:

芝蘭香蕙，瑤草奇花，般般件件，整整齊齊，擺開石凳石桌，排列仙酒仙殽。

Orchids and fragrant herbs, jade-like rare plants and exotic blossoms — each variety meticulously arranged. Stone stools and tables were arrayed in perfect order, set with celestial wines and immortal delicacies.

Now, the thing that is most useful about those old four character phrases is that they provide an easily predictable grammatical structure for readers of the book.

Remember that 紅樓夢 was written without modern day punctuation, like you see here:

The original book was simply a long string of characters, with no division into sentences and no indication of where one thought began and another ended. It was incumbant on the reader to figure all of that out — and, therefore, descriptive passages that were clearly grammatically parallel would help the reader out a lot.

Interestingly enough, though, you don’t see the same pattern in 水滸傳 (Water Margin), or the later literary work based on it, 金瓶梅 (Plum in the Golden Vase):

單表迎來的這個壯士怎生模樣？但見：

雄軀凜凜，七尺以上身材；闊面棱棱，二十四五年紀。雙目直豎，遠望處猶如兩點明星；兩手握來，近覷時好似一雙鐵碓。腳尖飛起，深山虎豹失精魂；拳手落時，窮谷熊羆皆喪魄。頭戴著一頂萬字頭巾，上簪兩朵銀花；身穿著一領血腥衲襖，披著一方紅錦。

Let us now describe this mighty warrior's appearance. Behold:

A towering figure, standing over seven feet tall;

A broad, angular face, aged twenty-four or five.

His eyes stood straight as spears—gazing into the distance like twin stars;

His clenched fists, seen up close, resembled iron pestles.

When his toes kicked out, mountain tigers and leopards lost their courage;

When his fists descended, valley bears and panthers were struck with terror.

On his head: a 'ten-thousand' patterned turban, pinned with twin silver blossoms;

Across his body: a blood-stained monk's robe, draped with crimson brocade.

Though this isn’t a collection of four character patterns, you can still see the poetic structure if you line up the phrases:

雄軀凜凜，七尺以上身材；

闊面棱棱，二十四五年紀。

雙目直豎，遠望處猶如兩點明星；

兩手握來，近覷時好似一雙鐵碓。

and so on.

It’s a little bit jarring to modern readers to go back in time and read books with long and poetic adjectival phrases like this. Keep in mind, however, that this was practically required because of how books were composed in those days, and that this was actually helpful to contemporary readers, not confusing.