{ "contentStorage": "postgres", "title": "Lin Hongyu", "description": "Lin Hongyu is a maid of the Rongguo house in Dream of the Red Chamber. Because her name clashed with those of Daiyu and Baoyu, she came to be called Xiaohong or Hong'er. She is the daughter of Lin Zhixiao, the second steward of the Rong house, begins with rough tasks in Yihong Court, and is later taken by Wang Xifeng to run errands. She and Jia Yun like each other, and the commentary hints that she may play an important part in the lost chapters after the eightieth.", "url": "/en/people/xiaohong.html", "entity": { "id": "person_cn_q10959991", "type": "person", "title": "Lin Hongyu", "slug": "xiaohong", "aliases": [ "小红" ], "summary": "Lin Hongyu is a maid of the Rongguo house in Dream of the Red Chamber. Because her name clashed with those of Daiyu and Baoyu, she came to be called Xiaohong or Hong'er. She is the daughter of Lin Zhixiao, the second steward of the Rong house, begins with rough tasks in Yihong Court, and is later taken by Wang Xifeng to run errands. She and Jia Yun like each other, and the commentary hints that she may play an important part in the lost chapters after the eightieth.", "status": "published", "categories": [ "category-literature", "category-people", "category-fictional-characters" ], "tags": [ "tag-fictional-character", "tag-classics", "tag-four-great-classics" ], "sources": [ { "id": "wikidata", "title": "Wikidata Q10959991", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10959991" }, { "id": "zhwiki", "title": "小红（维基百科）", "url": "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E7%BA%A2" } ], "createdAt": "2026-10-25T00:00:00+08:00", "updatedAt": "2026-10-29T17:21:41+08:00", "updatedBy": "user:admin", "revision": 7, "body": "Lin Hongyu is a character in the Qing novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Wikidata records her birth name as Lin Hongyu and lists the English alias Lin Hongyu, and the Chinese Wikipedia article also takes Lin Hongyu as her name, with Xiaohong and Hong'er as later forms, so the heading is changed to her full name. She is a maid of the Rongguo house, set in the dynasty of the novel, and recorded as female.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]\n\n## Position and the change of name\n\nThe Chinese Wikipedia article says she is seventeen when she first appears, \"clean and pretty\", and that her family have been servants of the Rongguo house for generations. Her father is Lin Zhixiao, the second steward of the Rong house. When the Grand View Garden was finished she was assigned to Yihong Court. Later Yuanchun ordered Baoyu, Daiyu, Baochai and others to move into the garden, and Baoyu took up residence in Yihong Court. Because her name clashed with those of Daiyu and Baoyu, Hongyu came to be called Xiaohong or Hong'er. In Yihong Court her place is low. She carries water, waters flowers, feeds birds and lights stoves, and has no standing to wait on Baoyu directly. Once, when no maid was in the room, she went in to pour Baoyu tea and Qiuwen spat at her face and scolded her as unworthy of passing tea and water. Disappointed in her prospects, she sees through the world and sighs that a thousand-mile awning must come down and every banquet must end.[^zhwiki]\n\n## With Wang Xifeng\n\nThe article says that on the Festival of Grain in Ear, when Wang Xifeng toured the garden without her own maid, she had Hongyu run an errand. She liked how capable Hongyu was and how crisply she spoke, and nearly took her as a goddaughter, which was prevented only because Hongyu's mother was already Xifeng's goddaughter and the generations did not fit. Later she asked Baoyu to give Hongyu to her. But Xiaohong was not given much responsibility there either, and appears only three more times in the first eighty chapters.[^zhwiki]\n\n## With Jia Yun\n\nThe article says that Hongyu and Jia Yun, from a collateral branch of the Jia clan, like each other, and their story is summed up as the foolish girl who loses a handkerchief and brings on longing. Jia Yun, keeping an appointment with Baoyu, waited in the outer study and met Hongyu, and asked her to pass on a message. The next day she could not find her handkerchief and dreamed Jia Yun had picked it up. Later, when Baoyu was bewitched and Jia Yun kept watch with servants day and night, Hongyu saw that her lost handkerchief seemed to be in his hands. When the little maid Zhuier led Jia Yun to Yihong Court, Hongyu asked Zhuier to help look for the handkerchief. Jia Yun said he had found one, but gave Zhuier his own handkerchief to pass to Hongyu. She took it and falsely said it was hers, and gave Zhuier another to pass to Jia Yun in thanks.[^zhwiki]\n\n## The lost manuscript and the last forty chapters\n\nThe article says that, according to the commentary of Zhiyan Zhai, the lost chapters after the eightieth contain episodes such as the confiscation and the Temple of the Prison God, in which Hongyu is active and an important positive character, directly helping Baoyu. The scholar Song Qi guesses that during the confiscation she served Xifeng faithfully, and that when Xifeng and Baoyu were briefly held in the temple she and Jia Yun brought food and clothing in their hour of need. Shen Zhijun guesses that she reached outlaws such as Ni Er through Jia Yun to try to save them, and died for being drawn into Baoyu's trouble. As to her love with Jia Yun, Song Qi thinks they would marry, while Shen Zhijun thinks it may end in tragedy like that of Baoyu and Daiyu. These are all conjecture. In the Cheng Jia edition compiled by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E, in the last forty chapters, Xiaohong serves Wang Xifeng until her death, appears little, and in chapter 88 has a flirtatious exchange with Jia Yun.[^zhwiki]\n\n## Assessments\n\nThe article says opinions on Xiaohong are polarized among characters, commentators and researchers. In the book Qingwen, Qiuwen and Bihen of Yihong Court push her aside and sneer at her wish to climb higher, while Wang Xifeng likes her crisp speech and quick work. Zhiyan Zhai calls her a sly and wicked maid, while Jihu Sou, who saw the draft of the Prison God Temple, defends her. Some see the Xiaohong of the first eighty chapters as an opportunist who flatters and schemes to climb, while some scholars admire her and Jia Yun for their ambition and effort.[^zhwiki]\n\n## Basic facts\n\n- Birth name: Lin Hongyu[^wikidata][^zhwiki]\n- Other names: Xiaohong, Hong'er, Hongyu[^wikidata]\n- Description: character in Dream of the Red Chamber, maid of the Rongguo house[^wikidata]\n- Setting recorded on this entry: the dynasty of the novel[^wikidata]\n- Appears in: [[work_cn_q8265|Dream of the Red Chamber]][^zhwiki]", "url": "/people/xiaohong.html", "lang": "en", "availableLangs": [ "zh", "en" ], "disambiguation": "Character in Dream of the Red Chamber", "isFictional": true, "personCategory": "literary character" }, "entities": null, "tags": [ { "id": "tag-fictional-character", "slug": "fictional-character", "name": "Fictional character", "description": "Fictional or literary characters from classic works.", "names": { "ar": "شخصية أدبية", "de": "Literarische Figur", "en": "Fictional character", "es": "Personaje literario", "fr": "Personnage littéraire", "hi": "साहित्यिक पात्र", "id": "Tokoh sastra", "it": "Personaggio letterario", "ja": "文学上の人物", "ko": "문학 인물", "ms": "Watak sastera", "nl": "Literair personage", "pt": "Personagem literária", "ru": "Литературный персонаж", "th": "ตัวละครวรรณกรรม", "tr": "Edebî karakter", "vi": "Nhân vật văn học", "zh": "文学人物", "zh-hant": "文學人物" }, "descriptions": { "ar": "شخصيات خيالية أو أدبية من الأعمال الكلاسيكية.", "de": "Fiktive oder literarisierte Figuren aus klassischen Werken.", "en": "Fictional or literary characters from classic works.", "es": "Personajes ficticios o literarios de obras clásicas.", "fr": "Personnages fictifs ou littéraires d'œuvres classiques.", "hi": "शास्त्रीय कृतियों के काल्पनिक या साहित्यिक पात्र।", "id": "Tokoh fiktif atau sastrawi dari karya klasik.", "it": "Personaggi fittizi o letterari di opere classiche.", "ja": "古典名著に登場する架空または文学化された人物。", "ko": "고전 명저에 등장하는 허구적·문학적 인물.", "ms": "Watak rekaan atau bersifat sastera daripada karya klasik.", "nl": "Fictieve of literaire personages uit klassieke werken.", "pt": "Personagens fictícias ou literárias de obras clássicas.", "ru": "Вымышленные или литературные персонажи классических произведений.", "th": "ตัวละครสมมติหรือเชิงวรรณกรรมจากวรรณกรรมคลาสสิก", "tr": "Klasik eserlerdeki kurmaca veya edebî karakterler.", "vi": "Nhân vật hư cấu hoặc mang tính văn học trong tác phẩm cổ điển.", "zh": "古典名著中的虚构或文学化人物。", "zh-hant": "古典名著中的虛構或文學化人物。" }, "count": 1027 }, { "id": "tag-classics", "slug": "classics", "name": "Classics", "description": "Classic works and novels of pre-modern China.", "names": { "ar": "كلاسيكيات", "de": "Klassiker", "en": "Classics", "es": "Clásicos", "fr": "Classiques", "hi": "शास्त्रीय कृतियाँ", "id": "Karya klasik", "it": "Classici", "ja": "古典名著", "ko": "고전 명저", "ms": "Karya klasik", "nl": "Klassiekers", "pt": "Clássicos", "ru": "Классика", "th": "วรรณกรรมคลาสสิก", "tr": "Klasik eserler", "vi": "Tác phẩm cổ điển", "zh": "古典名著", "zh-hant": "古典名著" }, "descriptions": { "ar": "الأعمال الكلاسيكية والروايات في الصين ما قبل الحديثة.", "de": "Klassische Werke und Romane des vormodernen China.", "en": "Classic works and novels of pre-modern China.", "es": "Obras clásicas y novelas de la China premoderna.", "fr": "Œuvres classiques et romans de la Chine prémoderne.", "hi": "पूर्व-आधुनिक चीन की शास्त्रीय कृतियाँ और उपन्यास।", "id": "Karya klasik dan novel Tiongkok pra-modern.", "it": "Opere classiche e romanzi della Cina premoderna.", "ja": "中国古代の古典的な著作と小説。", "ko": "중국 고대의 고전 저술과 소설.", "ms": "Karya klasik dan novel China pramoden.", "nl": "Klassieke werken en romans uit het premoderne China.", "pt": "Obras clássicas e romances da China pré-moderna.", "ru": "Классические произведения и романы традиционного Китая.", "th": "วรรณกรรมและนวนิยายคลาสสิกของจีนก่อนยุคใหม่", "tr": "Modern öncesi Çin'in klasik eserleri ve romanları.", "vi": "Các tác phẩm và tiểu thuyết cổ điển của Trung Quốc tiền hiện 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الممالك الثلاث، وعلى ضفاف الماء، ورحلة إلى الغرب وشخصياتها.", "de": "Der Traum der Roten Kammer, Die Geschichte der Drei Reiche, Die Räuber vom Liang-Schan-Moor, Die Reise nach Westen und ihre Figuren.", "en": "Dream of the Red Chamber, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and their characters.", "es": "Sueño en el pabellón rojo, Romance de los Tres Reinos, A la orilla del agua, Viaje al Oeste y sus personajes.", "fr": "Le Rêve dans le pavillon rouge, Les Trois Royaumes, Au bord de l'eau, La Pérégrination vers l'Ouest et leurs personnages.", "hi": "रेड चैंबर का सपना, तीन राज्यों का रोमांस, वॉटर मार्जिन, पश्चिम की यात्रा और उनके पात्र।", "id": "Impian Paviliun Merah, Kisah Tiga Negara, Batas Air, Perjalanan ke Barat, dan tokoh-tokohnya.", "it": "Il sogno della camera rossa, Il romanzo dei Tre Regni, I briganti, Il viaggio in Occidente e i loro personaggi.", "ja": "『紅楼夢』『三国志演義』『水滸伝』『西遊記』とその登場人物。", "ko": "《홍루몽》《삼국지연의》《수호전》《서유기》와 그 등장인물.", "ms": "Impian Bilik 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