Who is Sheyue? Sheyue (麝月) is one of Jia Baoyu’s four personal maids in Dream of the Red Chamber, along with Xiren, Meiren and Qingwen. She’s easy to overlook in a room full of louder girls. So far she has answered Baoyu back exactly once, and it was enough to tell us where she stands.
The name
麝月 (Traditional) · 麝月 (Simplified) · Shèyuè · ㄕㄜˋ ㄩㄝˋ
麝 (shè): musk, the heavy, warm scent from the musk deer, used in perfume and medicine.
月 (yuè): the moon.
So her name means “Musk Moon.” A fragrance and a heavenly body in two characters is typical of the names in Baoyu’s rooms, where the girls are named like flowers in a garden.
David Hawkes calls her Musk; the Yangs call her Sheh-yueh.
First impression
We first see her in a list. In Chapter 5, Baoyu naps in Qin Keqing’s room, the older maids tuck him in and leave, and four personal maids stay behind: Xiren, Meiren, Qingwen and Sheyue. Then Lady Qin sends them out to keep the cats from fighting. That’s all we get.
In Chapter 21 she finally speaks. Baoyu walks in on Xiren’s silent treatment and asks Sheyue what’s wrong. “How would I know?” she says. “Ask yourself and you’ll figure it out.” She doesn’t scold him and she doesn’t comfort him. She just declines to do his thinking for him.
The story so far
Ch. 5: She is named as one of the four personal maids who stay by Baoyu’s bed while he naps → Chapter 5
Ch. 20: While Xiren sleeps off her illness, Baoyu ends up combing a maid’s hair, and that maid is Sheyue → Baoyu With Another Girl (paid)
Ch. 21: She refuses to explain Xiren’s mood to Baoyu, plays cards beside Xiren, and, when Baoyu shuts her out of the inner room, laughs and sends two little maids in to wait on him → The Silent Treatment
Relationships
Jia Baoyu, her master: She’s one of the few who talks back to him without raising her voice.
Hua Xiren, the head maid: Baoyu says he has always known how close the two of them were. When Xiren goes quiet, Sheyue goes quiet with her.
Si’er, a junior maid: Sheyue is the one who sends Si’er into Baoyu’s room, which gives Si’er her first scene.
What readers argue about
Whose side is she on? Sheyue sits by Xiren and plays cards while Xiren gives Baoyu the silent treatment, and later she and Xiren listen from the outer room and smile at his joke about the new girl’s name. Is she loyal to Xiren, or is she enjoying watching Baoyu squirm? → The Silent Treatment
Why send in the little maids? When Baoyu pushes her out, Sheyue could have stayed and argued. Instead she smiles and hands him a replacement. Is that tact, or a test? → The Silent Treatment
Essays and posts about Sheyue
None yet.
Read next
Start the story: Chapter 5, where she’s first named
Next character: Hua Xiren
All characters: Characters
New here? Start with the Start Here guide, or meet the rest of the family on the Characters page.