Hongniang, or Scarlet, is a fictional character from "
Yingying's Biography", a Chinese story by
Yuan Zhen (779–831), and ''
Romance of the Western Chamber'', a Chinese play by
Wang Shifu (1250–1337?). She is the maidservant of
Cui Yingying. In Yuan Zhen's story, she doesn't play an important role, but in Wang Shifu's play, Hongniang figures prominently. Intelligent, sympathetic, loyal, and highly enthusiastic, it is Hongniang who made Cui Yingying and
Scholar Zhang (Zhang Gong) fall in love, and it is she who made their marriage happen. Hongniang has entered modern Chinese vocabulary as a synonym for a (female) matchmaker.
Fictional Tang dynasty people
{{China-lit-stub