"The Peony Pavilion" tells the story of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei's love life and death with a fantasy and romantic plot. Du Liniang was the daughter of Du Bao, the prefect of Nan'an. When visiting the garden in the spring, she dreamed of a tryst with the scholar Liu Mengmei by the Peony Pavilion.
Three years later, Liu Mengmei stayed at Plum Blossom Temple on her way to Beijing to take the exam. She accidentally found a self-portrait of Du Liniang. She was shocked to realize that the person in the painting was exactly the same as the woman in the dream. Du Liniang's ghost appeared due to induction, and she met Liu Mengmei again. The two fell in love with each other and got married.
Liu Mengmei took Du Liniang's instructions to Huaiyang to report the good news to Du Bao, but Du Bao was besieged by the rebels. Liu Mengmei ventured into the city, but was treated as a tomb robber by Du Bao and tortured because he could not produce evidence to prove his relationship with Du Liniang.
At this time, the imperial examination results were released, and Liu Mengmei was ranked number one in high school. The emperor personally intervened, and Du Bao reluctantly accepted the marriage. In the end, Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei reunited, and their love after the twists and turns of life and death was finally consummated.
Concept: The concept of "The Peony Pavilion" is profound and diverse. The core is the praise of "deep love", showing the breakthrough of love in feudal ethics.
- Praise for the ultimate love: The work depicts the love between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei as sincere and intense. They live and die for love and come back to life because of love. It reflects the powerful power of love and affirms people's instinctive pursuit of free love.
- Criticism of feudal ethics: By describing Du Liniang's repressed pain under the constraints of ethics and the process of resisting for love, it criticizes the confinement of feudal ethics on human nature, such as Du Bao's restriction on his daughter's freedom, and Chen Zuiliang's rigid indoctrination of traditional ethics in school.
- Pursuit of individual liberation: Du Liniang, represented by Du Liniang, shows a strong desire to pursue individual liberation, calling for breaking the feudal shackles and respecting people's natural emotions and the value of life.