The story of Ying-Ying entails a young woman Ying-Ying who was being court by a maiden from a very good family. The young woman was in love with a man named Zhang. Zhang, according to the story, is a virtuous scholar who holds to his personal principles. The play shows that he was a proud of his bookish rigidity even though he came from a family where he did not witness passionate.
He came from a family where he never saw any body concerned with his life and now he has met a beautiful woman who he wishes to love and marry. He did not marry her because of her behaviour. On the other hand, Ying-Ying is a cute woman who attracts the attention of many people because of her beauty. It is due to this fact that Zhang felt for her when they met for dinner prepared by her mother. Ying-Ying’s mother had called him for banquet because he had assisted them.
Firstly, the young woman declines the advances by the maiden. The writer shows that she behaved in a most petulant and churlish manner when she was asked to say thanks to Zhang. She refused him for entering her room and condemned him for taking that decision of entering her room without permission. This does not persist for long since at the end of it all she gives in to his claim. The writer tells us that she replied to poem he wrote.
Throughout their relationship, Ying-Ying used her beauty to manipulate Zhang sometimes by sending bad letters to him. This not enough, her control over him disfigured his moral character. Her beauty turned Zhang into a sexually deprived maniac driving him to lose his moral composure. At this very humble beginning, Zhang leaves to go and sit for his examinations at the capital city, Changán. Following the demand of romance Ying-Ying sends him a letter that contained a detailed declaration of her love for him. This however, never appeased Zhang. He made a decision to show the letter to his friends in the city because of the feeling he had for her.
Later on Zhang decided to leave Ying-Ying because of her accusations to Zhang. She had many claims that Zhang wanted to leave her after he went to do his examinations. Although Zhang tries to meet Ying-Ying, she declines. This annoyed him very much. This was received with great applaud as it praises Zhang for not falling in love with such a passionate woman. Many poems escalated from the main theme of the story. However, they were not popular at that time because of traditional morals that young people are involved in marriage. It also had a greater impact on Chinese literature and other countries even now in many modern poems, novels and plays.
Written correspondence simply means transfer of written messages between two people or a group of people. There are many written correspondences in this story of Ying-Ying especially between Ying-Ying and Zhang. The implications of this art portrayed the elements of seduction. Zhang used a written poem to Ying-Ying to show how much he loved her. This was due to lack of direct contact with her when they met for the first time because the lady had no interest He used this poem to show he had personal interest. Therefore, written information helped to convey love message to a person who is not close to you. I think Ying-Ying realised Zhang was interested in her due to his first poem to her. This means poems played a big role in communication as one can pass a certain information to someone.
Ying-Ying replied by a poem entitled “my lover” to attract his attention. She used this art to win the attention of Zhang in love though she had declined to his prior request and had reprimanded him for entering her house. This means sometimes face-to-face communication can cause some fear of showing interest either because that person is present. It shows she was also interested in him even though she was very arrogant during dinner. If it were the opposite, she could not reply with a romantic message. She wrote this poem to express her intense romance for him.
Secondly, the use of written correspondences was a method of expression and communication that yielded contempt. Zhang used a poem to seduce Ying-Ying. To this, she writes a very encouraging poem in reply. All this yields contempt when Zhang plans to meet her to no avail but instead she called him a rapist. This made him totally crushed. He expected a lot from her when she replied with a lot of romance in the whole poem. However, his appearance to the woman was ironic because he received unexpected response. He received a severe scolding and the woman sent him away. This brings another negative attitude towards written messages.
Thirdly, the use of this art was an integral component in the development of romance. Romance through letters was a realistic possibility in the lives of men. They were important in the articulation of romantic sentiments. Zhang used letters when he wanted to communicate a romantic message to Ying-Ying. This is evident from the letters he wrote to her. One good example is when he returned after his examinations. He wrote to her to express how much he loves her.
Fourth, this technique helped to avoid binary moral contrasts such as good and bad. The reading gave the urge for emerging suspicion. Both parties were using letters to communicate good and bad things. When Zhang tried to visit Ying-Ying after getting married, she refused to see him and instead she wrote him a letter showing how miserable she was. This happened after they parted when Ying-Ying complained that Zhang is not committed to their love. It seems she was avoiding direct answers from him, which in one way or the other could annoy her.
The use of letters in the narrative makes it more real since they mimic the workings of real life. They demonstrated different views, which helped to enhance the story’s effect of authenticity. From the story, we realise that Zhang wrote a poem to show her that their decisions are beyond a recall and let her be committed to her husband. He was replying to the poem she wrote to him after refusing to talk to him when he visited her after getting married. According to the author, these letters were using alternative methods and hiding mechanisms the two failed to meet during times of resentment. It reviews fear and respect between the two because whenever they met, they just kept silent and communicated only through poems or letters.
The letters used in this excerpt give technical guidance on sexual relationships. Zhang and Ying-Ying involved in early sex behaviour that was not popular by that time. The story shows that this play was not very popular in early time because of this part. Ying-Ying uses letters to express her tension between propriety and romance. When Zhang went to do his examination, he wrote her to express how much he feels her but instead she responded with a letter, which shown how untrue friend he was.
She complains that he was interested in his exams rather than staying with her. Poet used letters to show how you feel about someone who is far away from you. When Zhang went to take his second examinations, he decided to send a letter to Ying-Ying to show how much he loved her. Therefore, letters passed information to people irrespective of where they were. Ying-Ying and Zhang used letters to communicate to each other when they are far.
In conclusion, the story of Ying-Ying is about love tragedy, immoral, union and separation between the two. It has a sad ending because Ying-Ying was not married to Zhang as she expected but married to somebody else she did not love. Zhang was the first man to break her virginity and did not marry her. She felt it and hearted her very much we are told how she explained to Zhang that she is living miserable life.
The play also shows the roles played by letters to communication between two couples who could not meet due to social forces. This story has a certain influence on Chinese literature because it led to development of drama critics. There are many novel, plays and love poems, which emerged from this story. Letters were only used to convey love messages only because now where is shown for other purposes. For example, Cui did not use any letter to invite Zhang for dinner.
References
1 Yuan Zhen. The Story of Ying-Ying. Hong Kong. Tang Dynasty (618-907). Print.
