"The Legend of Orchid Dream" is a classic vernacular novel of the late Qing Dynasty, with a total of sixty-eight chapters.
The protagonist Song Baozhu, who disguised herself as a man due to auspicious omens since childhood, was extremely intelligent. At the age of fifteen, she became a Jinshi and Diantanhua. At the age of sixteen, she became an imperial censor. At the age of eighteen, she took command of the Southern Xinjiang. She was named Princess Shengping, which shocked the world.
After her success, she resumed her female makeup and was ordered to marry Xu Wenqing, the top scholar in the same subject.
However, this once-all-powerful heroine was oppressed by feudal patriarchal power and ethics. After marriage, she suffered suspicion, abuse and mental torture from her husband. Finally, she died of hatred at the age of nineteen, leading to an eternal tragedy.
This book uses the glory and fall of a strange woman to deeply expose the social evil of male superiority and female inferiority. It is a rare anti-feudal and anti-patriarchal tragedy masterpiece in ancient Chinese literature.
