Wang Xifeng

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wang Xifeng (王熙鳳) is one of the principal characters in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. A not-so-well educated upper class woman with finesse, she is also known as "Peppercorn Feng"(鳳辣子), "Hot Pepper", or Phoenix. She is a niece of Lady Wang and is married to Jia Lian, the eldest grandchild of Grandmother Jia. As such she plays a significant role in the day-to-day running of the Jia household; in fact, she is the de facto head of the family.

Xifeng, or Feng Jie, is well-known in the novel both for her great capability as well as her almost-venomous character; when a poorer member of the Jia family once showed interest in her, she tricked him repeatedly into "rendezvous" which turned out to be traps, and eventually got the offending man killed (Chapters 11 and 12). Yet she is without doubt the most capable woman, if not the most capable character, within the novel; impartial and harsh in her discipline, she is hailed by her niece-in-law Qin Keqing as "a hero amongst womenfolk".