Juan Ta-cheng

I chose to discuss one of the key characters in The Peach Blossom Fan, the
character I chose to write about was Juan Ta-cheng.
In the beginning of The Peach Blossom Fan Juan seemed like a passionate and well
respected artist. One of his main strengths would have to be his passion for the arts.
Additionally, it seemed at the beginning of the story another of his strengths was his
devotion to his country. One of his weaknesses revealed early on in the story was
his strong desire to be accepted by his peers. At some point in his past he betrayed
his countrymen, seeking loyalty, praise, and riches with a tyrant.
Juans motivation comes from his desire to be among the best artists of the time. He
will stop at nothing to achieve this. He and a colleague devise a plan to sway the
individuals opposed to his desire. He plans to pay for the wedding for which the
story eventually revolved around. After the wedding Juans colleague returns to the
wedding place and speaks to the newly-weds where he requests the groom to speak
on behalf of Juan. The groom agrees to persuade his friends; however, his new bride
refuses to allow her new husband to stand up for a traitor. She believed this will
come to be a great cost to her husband, leaving his reputation at stake. During this
time period it seems as though nothing mattered more than ones reputation.
Unfortunately, his bride was not able to determine what the future would have in
store.
Juans character changed near the end of The Peach Blossom Fan. After the refusal
of Fragrant Princess groom to speak on Juans behalf, the social order as they all
knew it changed. China began to fall to new rulers. Juan became one of the primary
henchmen of the time. He joined forces yet again with the side his countrymen were
opposing. He eventually became high ranking, enforcing orders upon his henchmen
to kill all of his previous friends. I do not believe Juan sought acceptance at all, I
believe he sought money and power as he had done once previously in his past.
Nearly all of his old friends escaped from being killed; however, Juan did not fare as
well, eventually he died alongside his newly found friends.
RESPONSE 1:
Arnoldo,
I agree with your description of the play. Although the names may have been
difficult to pronounce, one could still understand the story. I think the issue for some
is getting past the first ten or so pages, once I got past the initial part of the story, I
found it to be very interesting and descriptive.
I like your outlook on nature and war. You are correct in stating nature will always
continue and in most cases outlast any conflict (nuclear being the only semipermanent cause for nature to stop). Although even in the case of nuclear fallout,

nature will eventually shine though. I believe they were pessimistic due to their
previous experiences. It seemed as though at some point in their lives they
experienced a similar uprising. I believe their attitudes helped prepare them for
what the future would bring.
For the case in Cairo, the only way the VP will ever leave the country is with
pressure from the public, or as we are seeing, pressure from the United States.
I think Hous description is deep. I think in some cases the countryside does not
change at all. I think war changes man. War may have changed Hous perspective
of his beloved country. He suffered much turmoil during the war, had not seen his
wife in nearly three years, his perspective was most likely skewed by recent
experiences.
RESPONSE 2:
Darryl,
Its unfortunate you did not enjoy the story. I almost thought about changing the
names of the characters to everyday names. I think though once I got past the first
ten pages, the story was very interesting.
The base of the story was about love; however I think there was far more to the
story than mere love. The story involved friendship, deceit, and war. The story also
contained amazing literature and very descriptive/detailed paintings. I think if you
are able to find the time to reread the story you may actually enjoy it. Surprisingly it
was a very interesting read.