Who is Ping’er? Ping’er (平兒) is Wang Xifeng’s chief maid in Dream of the Red Chamber: her right hand, her go-between, and the keeper of her secrets. She’s also a concubine of the lowest rank to Xifeng’s husband, Jia Lian. That puts her between husband and wife, and so far she has stayed on good terms with both.
The name
平兒 / 平儿 / Píng’ér / ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄦˊ
平 (píng) means peaceful or calm, as in 和平, “peace.” It can also mean level or balanced, as in 平等, “equality.”
兒 (ér) is a small, familiar ending, common on maids’ names. Xifeng has another maid called Feng’er (豐兒).
Peace and balance are a good name for a girl who stands between Xifeng and Jia Lian.
Other names so far:
“Miss Ping’er” (平姑娘), how Zhou Rui’s wife introduces her to Granny Liu (Ch. 6).
What we know so far
Ping’er’s first scene tells you her rank. In Chapter 6, Granny Liu, a poor country relative, comes begging at Xifeng’s door. She sees a young woman dressed head to toe in silk and gold, beautiful as a flower, and nearly greets her as “Your Ladyship.” It’s Ping’er. She’s the one who decides to let Granny Liu in to wait, and she’s the one Xifeng relies on to pass messages back and forth. The word the novel uses for her is 心腹, a trusted confidant.
She also knows what goes on behind closed doors. In Chapter 7, a servant arrives at midday, hears Jia Lian laughing in the next room, and sees Ping’er come out with a big copper basin, calling for water (Wang Xifeng’s Nap). She greets the servant with a blunt “What brings you here again?”, which tells you she has authority of her own. Later that day, when Xifeng meets Qin Zhong without a gift ready, Ping’er chooses one and sends it over herself.
Her sharpest moment so far is in Chapter 16. Jia Lian has just come home, and a servant turns up with the private interest money Xifeng has been earning on the side. Ping’er heads it off with a quick story: it was only Aunt Xue’s maid Xiangling, she says, with a question. The money stays out of his sight (Ping’er and Wang Xifeng). The story works a little too well. It gets Jia Lian talking about how pretty Xiangling is, and Xifeng jokes that she’ll trade Ping’er for her.
In Chapter 21, when Xifeng’s daughter has smallpox, it’s Ping’er who packs Jia Lian’s bedding when he’s sent to sleep alone, and she joins Xifeng and Lady Wang at the daily offerings to the Pox Goddess.
My reading so far, after Chapter 21: Ping’er is the most capable person in that household after Xifeng herself, and she’s more careful than Xifeng is. Xifeng runs the house loudly. Ping’er runs it quietly.
Why the author needs her
I think Ping’er is how the novel shows us the Lian and Xifeng marriage from the inside. She’s the only person who answers to both of them and knows what each one is hiding. That’s a working theory, so far.
Every post about Ping’er
Read next
Meet her mistress: Wang Xifeng
Another maid at the center of things: Hua Xiren
New here? Start with the Start Here guide, or meet the rest of the family on the Characters page.