# Hongniang

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{{expand Chinese|date=December 2018|topic=cult}}
{{Chinese|pic=Romance of the Western Chamber Shaoxing opera 02.jpg|piccap=Actress Chen Xinyu (陈欣雨) portraying Hongniang in a 2016 [Yue opera](/source/Yue_opera) performance in [Tianchan Theatre](/source/Tianchan_Theatre), [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai).|t={{linktext|紅|娘}}|s={{linktext|红|娘}}|p=Hóngniáng|w=Hung<sup>2</sup> Niang<sup>2</sup>}}

'''Hongniang''', or '''Scarlet''', is a fictional character from ''[Yingying's Biography](/source/Yingying's_Biography)'', a Chinese story by [Yuan Zhen](/source/Yuan_Zhen) (779–831), and ''[Romance of the Western Chamber](/source/Romance_of_the_Western_Chamber)'', a Chinese play by [Wang Shifu](/source/Wang_Shifu) (1250–1337?). She is the maidservant of [Cui Yingying](/source/Cui_Yingying).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Owen |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=626CZk84adAC |title=The End of the Chinese 'Middle Ages': Essays in Mid-Tang Literary Culture |date=1996 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-2667-2 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=156}} The character of Hongniang became increasingly important from Yuan Zhen's story to Wang Shifu's play and later versions, eventually becoming the protagonist in the one-act play ''Hongniang''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Wen-Chin |first=Hsu |date=2011 |title=ILLUSTRATIONS OF "ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN CHAMBER" ON CHINESE PORCELAINS: Iconography, Style, and Development |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23075932 |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=40 |pages=39–107 |jstor=23075932 |issn=0571-1371}}</ref>{{Rp|page=79}}

In Wang Shifu's play, Hongniang plays a key role as a witty, cunning, and righteous character who facilitates the love affair between Cui Yingying and [Scholar Zhang](/source/Zhang_Sheng) (Zhang Gong).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=48}} Hongniang has entered modern Chinese vocabulary as a synonym for a (female) [matchmaker](/source/Marriage_broker).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=48}}

== References ==
{{Reference list}}{{Xi Xiang Ji}}

Category:Fictional Tang dynasty people

{{China-lit-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hongniang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongniang) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongniang?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.