Written by Yuan Zhen, also known as Chen, The Story of Ying-Ying is a love story about two people who fall for each other in different ways and from different moral perspectives. Ying-Ying, a beautiful young woman has already been told that her parents knew the man she was to marry, but Chang came along and swept her off of her feet. They were opposite people who would never seem to match up and the circumstances were really complicated, so it seemed like it would never work.
The setting of the story is during the Chen-Yuan period (785-804), so it’s very different than modern time. In the story, Ying-Ying falls in love with Chang, and in the end, as much as Ying-Ying wants it to work out, Chang has to leave. It all starts while Chang is on his way to participate in the competitive literary exams. He stayed at a monastery, which was the same place that a widow, Mrs. Ts’ui, stayed.
After finding out that he is related to Mrs. Ts’ui, Chang also catches news of some soldiers that are threatening the monastery and making it an unsafe place to stay. He brings in back up help from a neighboring town, and Mrs. Ts’ui is so happy and relieved, she invites him over for dinner. Ying-Ying is Ts’ui’s daughter, and as soon as Chang set eyes on her he fell in love. Ying-Ying wasn’t for the love at first, she was very hesitant. But, after finally giving in and wanting it to work, Chang had to leave for the capital and breaks up with her.
The Story of Ying-Ying was very inspirational for me because it showed me that no matter what people tell you to do in life; you should always follow your heart. If that doesn’t work out, swallow your pride and move on, just like Ying-Ying did. I can’t stress how brave I really think her character was to go over everyone, be herself, and not be scared about her feelings and what she wanted to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment