The Phoenix Seeks A Mate

THE PHOENIX SEEKS. Mate is based on the love Story of Sima Xiangru and Zhou Wenjun. Sima Xiangru was famous an ancient China for his fa poems. His poems were included in the classiccal works Shi Ji or Historical Records and Han Shu or History of Han, and many scholars from that time on have looked up to Sima Xiangru with great reverence. Inclusion in the Shi Ji: Biography of Sima Xiangru ensured for Sima Xiangru an unshakable position in the history of Chinese literature. We know very little about his love affair, except for a few details that have intrigued latet generations. One such detail is: "With the sentiments of the lute, he won her. Wenjun rushed to Xiangru in the night." How many love affairs have been sparked among young people by the "sentiments of the lute? This literary allusion appears often in the poems and dramas of different periods. The reason for this popularity lies not merely in the genius of the scholar who penned the work but also in the courage and resolution of the girl Wenjun in defying traditional morality for the sake of love. Although Xiangru's "winning her with the sentiments of the lute" was a rejection of the morality of the time, and Wenjun's "rushing to Xiangru in the night" was an unpardonably wanton act, their actions embodied a search for love in the truest sense. In traditional society, it was unthinkable for a weak young girl to yeam for true love. In those days, the girl's parents arraoged her marriage through a matchmaker- love never entered into it, as marriage was converted into a practical alliance between influensi nd wealthy families, and the role of the wife was that of produc of the next generation. Outwardly peaceful and harmonious, suh marriages often contained little love. So the significance of "winnine her with the sentiments of thc lute is that it encapsulates a youne couple's challenge to irrational traditional ethics, In this story, the father Zhuo Wangsun is the personification of those ethics. We can surmise that, when the newly widowed Wenjun returns home and falls in love with Xiangru, her fire marriage was not a happy one. Not only is her grief far from deep, but her longing for true happiness is stronger than ever. When Xiangru returns her feelings, Wenjun makes an impetuous decision without thinking of the consequences. Nonetheless, after the first flush of excitement wears olf, harsh reality catches up with the coople. Nevertheless, Wenjun is unyielding in the face of the pressure on her to conform to traditional morality; she defici pablic opinion and economic hardship. Uncowed, she overcomes all ebstacles with wisdom and courage, and, in the end, forces her old. fashioned father to yield to her stubborn defence of her love. In the "White-Haired Lament", a fragment of unofficial history from the Millneas Nates of the Wetere Capital, is written, "Xiangru wished to take a girl from Maoling as his wife. The girl Zhuo Wenjun wrote the "White-Haired Lament' as a rebuff to his ideas. Xiangru thereupon desisted." Guo Maoqian includes two poems from the "White-Haired Lament" among the Melodies of Chw in his Callated Har Ballads, but there is no evidence that they came from the hand of Zhuo Wenjun. In planning the present novel, I repearedly asked myself whether I should include this legend or not. In the end, I decided to fit it in as a chapter for the following reason: The way the lovers chose each other is beautiful and moving enough in itself, but after they had been married for a few years it is likely that the bloom of their love would have begun to fade and that there would come a time when they would be estranged from each other. This is a common enough phenomenon, and gives the "White-Haired Lament" episode profound social significance. This well-known story is in essence very simple, and its representations on the stage are generally restricted to the "lute" and "elopement" theme. In this retelling of the story, I have fleshed it out with authentic incidents from the history of the time. For instance, Sima Xiangru's service with the king of Liang and his return home upon the king's death, only to find his family ruined, are taken from the chapter on Sima Xiangru in the Historial Records. The historical records make no mention of how the Sima family fortunes fell into decline and so I have introduced the character of the rascally steward Sun Xi. Cheng Zheng, Zhuo Wangsun's rival tycoon in Linqiong, is a historical figure, and I have involved him closely with the fate of Wenjun, to give more substance to the character of the heroine. For a similar reason, I have linked Shunniang with Xiangru, but not in a way that sullies the image of the latter. The return home of Xiangru and Wenjun in glory, the routing of their enemies, the remorse of Zhuo Wangsun and the family reconciliation are not only faithful to the historical facts but also in accordance with the Chinese people's aesthetic tradition, and I have not introduced any fantastic embellishments that would fall outside that pattern. Indeed, according to both the Historial Records and the History of Han, Xiangru and Wenjun did live happily ever after. There are two other points I would like to mention. One is that I have simplified the language of some of the original poems to make them more accessible to the modern reader. The other is that the childhood nicknames bestowed on some of the characters, such as "Puppy" for Xiangru and "Piggy" for Emperor Wu, may be found in the Historial Records and are not my own invention.
This story is really written by Xu fei i am just tranferring it to a digital novel .

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