Who is Lady Wang? Lady Wang (王夫人) is Jia Baoyu’s mother in Dream of the Red Chamber. She’s the wife of Jia Zheng, the second son of Grandmother Jia, and after Grandmother Jia she’s the senior lady of the Rongguo household. She’s also Wang Xifeng’s aunt, and she has handed the day-to-day running of the house to her niece.
The name
王夫人 / 王夫人 / Wáng fūrén / ㄨㄤˊ ㄈㄨ ㄖㄣˊ
王 (wáng), “king,” is her maiden name. She was born into the powerful Wang family, like her niece Xifeng and her sister Aunt Xue.
夫人 (fūrén) is “lady,” the title for the wife of a man of rank.
So “Lady Wang” is a title plus her family name. The novel hasn’t given her a personal name.
Other names so far:
“Madam” (太太), what the servants call her. Zhou Rui’s wife calls her “Her Ladyship” when she explains to Granny Liu who runs the house now (Ch. 6).
“Second Madam” (二太太), her title in the family, since her husband is the second son (Ch. 10).
“Second Aunt” (二舅母), what she is to Lin Daiyu (Ch. 3).
What we know so far
Lady Wang has three children. Her first son, Jia Zhu, died young and left a widow, Li Wan. Her daughter, Yuanchun, serves in the imperial palace. Her youngest is Baoyu, the boy born with a piece of jade in his mouth.
She makes her first real impression in Chapter 3, when Lin Daiyu arrives. She receives Daiyu in her small side rooms, not the main hall, and I read the business with the seating as a quiet test of whether the girl knows her place. Then she warns Daiyu about her own son: don’t indulge him, and if he talks nonsense, just ignore him. Earlier that day, when Xifeng reports that the monthly allowances have been paid, Lady Wang answers with a faint smile and a silent nod (Wang Xifeng Enters).
By Chapter 6, she no longer handles household affairs at all. Xifeng does (The True Head Of Household). That arrangement costs her something: in Chapter 12, when Lady Wang tells Xifeng to send ginseng to the sick Jia Rui, Xifeng sends crumbs and tells her she sent two ounces (Wang Xifeng Punishes Jia Rui). In Chapter 18, her daughter comes home for one night as an imperial consort. In Chapter 21, when Xifeng’s daughter has smallpox, Lady Wang leads the daily offerings to the Pox Goddess.
My reading so far, after Chapter 21: Lady Wang is easy to overlook, and I think that’s the point. She has more rank than any woman in the house except Grandmother Jia, and she uses almost none of it out loud. When she does speak up, it’s usually about Baoyu.
Every post about Lady Wang
Read next
Meet her son: Jia Baoyu
Meet her niece: Wang Xifeng
New here? Start with the Start Here guide, or meet the rest of the family on the Characters page.