Shi Xiangyun

Who is Shi Xiangyun? Shi Xiangyun (史湘雲) is a young cousin of Jia Baoyu from Grandmother Jia’s own family, the powerful Shi clan. She bursts into the story in Chapter 20 talking and laughing at full volume, and she has a lisp: she can’t quite say “Second Brother,” so it comes out “Love Brother.”

The name

史湘雲 (Traditional) · 史湘云 (Simplified) · Shǐ Xiāngyún

史 (Shǐ): her family name. On its own, the character means “history.”
湘 (Xiāng): the Xiang River in southern China.
雲 (yún): “cloud.”

So her given name is something like “Xiang River Cloud”: water and sky, two things that never sit still. Neither does she.

Other names so far: “Miss Shi” (史大姑娘), in Chapters 19 and 20.

First impression

She walks on in Chapter 13 in a single sentence: at Qin Keqing’s funeral, her aunt arrives “with her niece, Shi Xiangyun”. Then she vanishes for seven chapters. Her real entrance comes in Chapter 20. Word comes that Miss Shi is here, and Baoyu is out the door at once. He finds her in Grandmother Jia’s rooms, talking and laughing loudly.

The story so far

Ch. 2: Grandmother Jia, we learn, was born into the Shi family, hereditary marquises from Jinling (an old name for Nanjing) → Chapter 2.
Ch. 4: The “Official Protection Register,” a corrupt official’s cheat sheet, names the Shis as one of four great intermarried families, with mansions that outshine the First Emperor’s palace → Chapter 4.
Ch. 13: Her one-line walk-on at the funeral, beside the wife of her uncle Shi Ding, the Marquis of Loyal Stability → Chapter 13.
Ch. 19: Baoyu’s maid Xiren says she served “Miss Shi” for a couple of years before Baoyu → Servitude.
Ch. 20: She arrives, Baoyu drops everything, and Daiyu sulks because he came from Baochai’s → The Big Fight.

The lisp

Baoyu is his parents’ second son, so the girls call him 二哥哥 (èr gēge), “Second Brother.” Xiangyun’s tongue turns 二 (èr) into 愛 (ài), which means “love.” So he becomes 愛哥哥, “Love Brother.” Daiyu pounces at once, and Xiangyun gives as good as she gets. The scene is in Chapter 20, and that post is free to read.

Relationships

Grandmother Jia, relative: Born a Shi.
Shi Ding and his wife, uncle and aunt: Bring her to the Ch. 13 funeral.
Jia Baoyu, cousin: Drops everything when she arrives.
Lin Daiyu, cousin: Teases the lisp.
Hua Xiren, former maid: Served “Miss Shi” before Baoyu.

What readers argue about

Is Daiyu’s bad mood about Xiangyun at all? Her jab is about Baochai, but a third girl has just walked in → Why Every Great Love Story Needs A Good Fight.
Is the lisp a flaw or a charm, and can English keep the joke?

Essays and posts about Shi Xiangyun

None yet, since she has only just arrived. For the quarrel she walks into, see Why Every Great Love Story Needs A Good Fight.