Qing Ruan Lizhen's Swallow Note

Ruan Lizhen was born before 1609 and is believed to have died during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing dynasty. Her courtesy name is unknown. She was from Huaining, the daughter of Ruan Dacheng, the wife of Cao Taiwang, and the mother of Ruan Tang. Her plays include Meng Hu Yuan and Yuan Pa Xue, but none of them survive today.

The play Yan Zi Jian was first drafted by Ruan Lizhen and later polished by her father, Ruan Dacheng. It tells the complicated love story of the Tang dynasty scholar Huo Duliang, the famous courtesan Hua Xingyun, and Li Feiyun, the daughter of a minister. Surviving editions include Mao Heng's engraved edition of the newly compiled Yan Zi Jian from the Yonghuaitang collection (one of the four plays in the Shi Chao Chuanqi edition, abbreviated as the "Shi edition"), the Huaiyuan Hall annotated edition of Yan Zi Jian (the "Huai edition"), the Xueyuntang annotated edition of Yan Zi Jian (the "Xue edition"), the Nuanhongshi collected edition of chuanqi plays (a reprint of the Huaiyuan Hall annotated edition of Yan Zi Jian, abbreviated as the "Nuan edition"), the Jiao Ao Shan Fang edition, the lithographic edition from Saoye Shanfang, and the Songfenshi reprint of the Four Plays from the Shi Chao Collection (the "Song edition"), among others. The Second Collection of Ancient Chinese Drama reprinted the Xue edition.

Theme: Be thoughtful and ambitious