Si’er

Who is Si’er? Si’er (四兒) is a junior maid in Jia Baoyu’s rooms in Dream of the Red Chamber. She starts Chapter 21 as Huixiang, a girl whose name Xiren chose, and ends it as Si’er, a girl whose name Baoyu chose in about a minute. The narrator calls her clever, and she spends the rest of the day proving it.

The name

四兒 (Traditional) · 四儿 (Simplified) · Sì’ér · ㄙˋ ㄦˊ

四 (sì): four.
兒 (ér): a diminutive ending that turns a word into a pet name. It’s the same sound we’ve been hearing all through the Chapter 21 dialogue.

So her name means “Number Four,” or “Little Four.” Baoyu takes it from her answer when he asks which one of the sisters she is: “The fourth.”

She has had two earlier names. The first was Yunxiang (芸香), “Rue Fragrance,” and Xiren, “Big Sister Hua” in the text, changed it to Huixiang (蕙香), “Orchid Fragrance.” Baoyu dismisses both. His line is that “Bad Luck” would suit her better, since 蕙 (huì) sounds like 晦 (huì) in 晦氣 (huìqì), “bad luck,” and no maid is good enough to be compared to flowers. His new name is as plain as a name gets.

David Hawkes calls her Number Four; the Yangs call her Ssu-erh

First impression

She walks in because somebody else walked out. Baoyu has pushed Sheyue away, so Sheyue sends two little maids to wait on him. Baoyu notices the older, prettier one and asks about her name. Before he’s finished his tea, she’s been renamed.

What she does next is the interesting part. The novel says that when she saw Baoyu was using her, she tried every trick she could think of to win him over. The Chinese word is 籠絡, which pictures a cage and a net.

The story so far

Ch. 21: Baoyu learns that she was Yunxiang and then Huixiang, tells her “Bad Luck” would suit her better, renames her Si’er, and asks only for her for the rest of the day; she works hard to keep it that way → The Silent Treatment

Relationships

Jia Baoyu, her master: He renames her on the spot, then asks for nobody else.
Hua Xiren, the head maid: Xiren gave her the name Huixiang. She and Sheyue listen from the next room and smile at the pun.
Sheyue, a personal maid: Sheyue sends Si’er in, and so gives her the chance.

What readers argue about

Is she clever, or calculating? The Chinese calls her 乖巧, “quick and clever,” and says she did everything she could to 籠絡 Baoyu. Is she a girl doing her job well, or one working an angle? → The Silent Treatment
What did Baoyu actually ask her? His question is 你姐兒幾個, and she answers “four” and then “the fourth.” Hawkes takes the question to mean how many girls are in her family. Other readers take it to mean how many girls she is grouped with. Both readings give the same name, but they tell different stories about her life. → The Silent Treatment
Why does Baoyu care so much about names? He renamed the garden’s pavilions in Chapters 17 and 18, and now he has renamed a maid. What does naming mean to him? → The Naming War

Essays and posts about Si’er

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