Peony Pavilion is a Chinese play that is romantic, funny, and tragic
The Peony Pavilion is a Chinese play that is romantic, funny, and tragic. It was written in 1598 by Tang Xianzu. The play paints the picture of two individuals in love, Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei, who overcome countless obstacles that transcend everything; time, death, life, and space. In the end, they are finally together. The story has a significant plot, and its characters are well-depicted, which keeps the audience hooked.
I think that the central theme of the story is love. It begins when the heroine, Du, who is sixteen, falls asleep in her family’s garden. In her dream, she meets a young man, Liu, who is a scholar. He is a stranger to her, but his charm and advances make a thriving romance develop between them. Unfortunately, Du’s dream is interrupted when a petal falls on her. Despite knowing that it was a dream, she cannot get over Liu, and as a result, she becomes lovesick. Du is confused as to why she cannot find the man in her real-life because she believes he is her soulmate. The experience was so powerful and all-consuming that sadly, Du wastes away and dies in the end. After her death, Liu, traveling to take an exam, sees her portrait in the garden, and falls in love.
Meanwhile, the ruler of the underworld judges that marriage between these two individuals is predestined. It is because their love transcends all barriers. Therefore, Du must return to the earthly world. She visits her lover in ghost form, in his dreams, and they fall in love again. To further demonstrate the theme of love, Du convinces Liu, to exhume her body, which was buried in the garden. He does that, and her corpse, which is preserved miraculously, is filled with life once again. Through Du’s resurrection, she can find true love as a human.
However, she discovers that she is a changed person. She is not consumed by the passionate love she had for Liu and is more grounded. When he asks to marry her, she feels that she must follow the rites and fulfill her duties to her parents. When Liu tells her father that she is alive, he is accused of grave robbing and imprisoned. Fortunately, Liu narrowly escapes death when he passes the exams he took at the top of the list. He stays by Du’s side until her parents believe she is alive, and she is reunited with her family. Liu is also firm in his belief that Du is the woman from his dreams, and they are meant to be together, which is the most significant expression of love.
In Confucianism, human beings are seen as teachable, kind, and perfect through personal and communal endeavor. Its main thought focuses on a morally organized world. In its theory, interpersonal relationships can be categorized as either affiliation or dear. The specific links include those of father and son, brothers, friends, ruler and a subject, and finally, husband and wife. In this story, the theme is derived from Confucianism since the couple illustrates a husband and wife relationship. When it comes to Taoism, it involves the way one lives with nature, having peace and strength in oneself, balancing desires and need, and being in harmony with the environment. A person with an open mind and honest intentions will have a lot of meaningful answers and a way to find peace after consulting the Tao. Taoism interlinks with the theme excitingly. The garden, which is a piece of nature, is the link between these two lovers. They dream about one another in this location, and this is where Du dies and is resurrected. The Tao way of life encourages love but warns us against holding on to it. It is because it makes us lose the energy we need in life, for example, in Du, who died from lovesickness. People should, therefore, first understand themselves before pursuing love.
According to Buddhism, independence in romantic relationships is encouraged by not having an attachment to anyone. The idea of not being attached is to make sure that a person lives a happy and fulfilling life without suffering. Getting rid of things that can cause pain is also encouraged for one’s happiness. Avoiding the thought of a perfect person helps one not to get attached and allows us to accept a partner for who they are hence having a happy relationship. Marriage is usually seen as a means for procreation or a romantic way of love. Nevertheless, in Buddhism, it depends on an individual to decide whether to marry or not. Advice is offered to help a person have a happy marriage and is not limited to rules or tradition. Men are also urged to have one wife and not walk away from their family. The theme is derived from this teaching in Buddhism because Du and Liu decided they were soulmates. Throughout the story, they stood by each other despite all their trials.