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{{short description|Chinese Ming Dynasty singer and actress}}
{{Copy edit|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| embed        = 
| name         = Chen Yuanyuan
| title        = 
| titletext    = 
| more         = 
| type         = 
| image        = Portrait of Chen Yuanyuan.jpg
| image_size   = 
| alt          = 
| caption      = A 17th-century portrait of Chen Yuanyuan
| birth_name   = Xing Yuan
| birth_date   = c. 1623
| birth_place  = [[Jiangsu]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming Empire]]
| death_date   = 1689 or 1695
| death_place  = Majiazhai, [[Guizhou]], [[Qing dynasty|Qing Empire]]
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = Majiazhai, [[Guizhou]], [[Qing dynasty|Qing Empire]]
| spouse       = [[Wu Sangui]]
| spouse-type  = Spouse
| consort      = yes
| issue        = <!--list children in order of birth. Use {{plainlist}} or {{unbulleted list}} -->
| issue-link   = 
| issue-pipe   = 
| issue-type   = 
| full name    = 
| era name     = 
| era dates    = 
| regnal name  = 
| posthumous name = 
| temple name  = 
| house        = 
| house-type   = 
| father       = 
| mother       = 
| religion     = 
| occupation   = courtesan,actress
| signature_type = 
| signature    = 
| module       = 
}}
{{Chinese
| pic = 
| piccap = 
| picsize = 200px
| t = 陳圓圓
| s = 陈圆圆
| p = Chén Yuányuán
| w = Ch'en Yüan-yüan
| altname = Xing Yuan<br />(birth name)
| c2 = 邢沅
| p2 = Xíng Yuán
| altname3 = Wanfen<br />([[courtesy name]])
| c3 = 畹芬
| p3 = Wǎnfēn
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Chen (surname)|Chen]]|lang=Chinese}}

'''Chen Yuanyuan''' (c. 1623–1689 or 1695)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://culture.people.com.cn/n/2015/0716/c172318-27312923.html | title=秘传人口述:陈圆圆生前思念吴三桂形神交瘁}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dingxinwen.cn/detail/4903832 | title=明朝灭亡后，陈圆圆怎样度过后半生？被吴三桂嫌弃，在深山中终老}}</ref> was a Chinese [[Gējì|courtesan]] who later became the concubine of military leader [[Wu Sangui]]. In Chinese folklore, the [[Shun dynasty|Shun]] army's capture of her in 1644 prompted Wu's fateful decision to let the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] armies enter [[China proper]] through [[Shanhai Pass]], thereby sealing the fate of the [[Ming dynasty]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cqcb.com/dyh/culture/dyh631/2018-01-20/646444.html | title=声甲天下之声，色甲天下之色：秦淮八艳之陈圆圆}}</ref>

==Biography==
Chen Yuanyuan was born in [[Jiangnan]] to a poor family with the original surname Xing (邢). After her parents died when she was young, she was adopted by her aunt and took her uncle's surname, Chen. At ten, her uncle sold her to become a courtesan. Excelling in [[Kunqu]] and Yiyang opera, and often wearing her hair in a ''wo duo ji'' (high bun, 倭堕髻),<ref>《十美词纪》(清)吴江邹枢贯衡："陈圆者，女优也。少聪慧，色娟秀，好梳倭堕髻，纤柔婉转，就之如啼。演《西厢》，扮贴旦红娘脚色，体态倾靡，说白便巧，曲尽萧寺当年情绪。"</ref> Chen became renowned as one of the [[Eight Beauties of Qinhuai]], along with [[Ma Xianglan]], {{ill|Bian Yujing|zh|卞玉京}}, [[Li Xiangjun]], [[Dong Xiaowan]], [[Gu Mei]], {{ill|Kou Baimen|zh|寇白門}}, and [[Liu Rushi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lee|Stephanowska|1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/hr-hrwy/news/2009/09-17/1872290.shtml | title=How to look at generation Geji Chen Yuanyuan objectively}}</ref><ref>《乾隆武进县志·卷十四·摭遗》:圆圆，金牛里人。姓陈氏，父曰惊闺，俗呼陈货郎。崇正初为田戚畹歌妓，后以赠吴逆三桂。甲申之变，圆圆留京师，贼遣人招三桂。三桂意犹与。既而知圆圆为贼所得，遂决意请讨。梅村圆圆曲谓"冲冠一怒为红颜者"，此也。</ref> She was especially praised for her role as [[Hongniang]] in ''[[The Romance of the West Chamber]]'' by poet Zou Shu (邹枢).<ref>清·邹枢《十美词纪》:"陈圆者，女优也。少聪慧，色娟秀，好梳倭堕髻:纤柔婉转，就这如啼。演西厢，扮贴旦红娘脚色。体态倾靡，说白便巧，曲尽萧寺当年情绪。常在予家演剧，留连不去。后为田皇亲以二千金酬其母，挈去京师，闻又属之某王，宠冠后宫，入滇南终焉。"</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://k.sina.com.cn/article_5328858693_13d9fee4502001la6w.html | title=Sun Huichang: Chen Yuanyuan}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Wai-yee |title=Dynastic Crisis and Cultural Innovation: From the Late Ming to the Late Qing and Beyond |publisher=[[Brill Publishing|Brill]] |editor-last=Wang |editor-first=David Der-wei |editor-link=David Der-wei Wang |page=95 |chapter=Women as Emblems of Dynastic Fall in Qing Literature |editor2-last=Wei |editor2-first=Shang}}</ref> Chen also wrote poetry, but only three of her works have survived.<ref>民国·由云龙《定庵诗话续编》:
昨方纪陈圆圆事，适儿辈同学友沙君德贞，偕同美国女作家温赛德女士来见。备言到滇专为搜求圆圆事迹，将为介绍于欧美妇女界，俾知中国多奇女子。顷已得圆圆肖像，再能得其所作诗词尤佳。女士曾作《昭君》一书及孟姜女、鱼玄机故事云。馀篇考纪载圆圆事实之书，皆无自作之诗，仅《众香集》王鸿绪等撰定载圆圆词三首，姑录以予之。</ref> 

Government official Gong Ruofu (贡若甫) bought her freedom and intended to take her as a concubine, but Chen was released due to disagreements with other women in his household.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.renwencz.com/a/lcmr/mrms/2013/0204/2122.html | title=Light up the lamp and read Chen Yuanyuan}}</ref> In 1641, Chen had a brief relationship with the poet and calligrapher Mao Xiang (冒襄), who also intended to take her as a concubine, but before that, she was "acquired" by the powerful courtier Tian Hongyu (田弘遇), father-in-law of [[Chongzhen Emperor|the Chongzhen Emperor]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3009628/remote-chinese-village-kept-courtesans-secret|title=The Chinese village that kept a courtesan's secret for centuries|date=2019-05-10|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|access-date=2019-12-14}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lee|Stephanowska|1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Romance and Myth in Water Painting Garden |url=https://travel.sohu.com/a/581086700_121286085}}</ref>

Accounts of Chen's arrival in Beijing vary, citing 1641,<ref>清·胡介祉《茨村咏史新乐府》:"崇祯辛巳年，田贵妃父宏遇进香普陀，道过金阊，渔猎声妓，遂挟沅以归。"</ref> 1642, or 1643.<ref>清·叶梦珠《阅世编》："十六年春，戚畹田宏遇南游吴阊，闻歌妓陈沅、顾寿。名震一时，宏遇使人购得顾寿，而沅尤靓丽绝世，客有私于宏遇者，以八百金市沅进之，宏遇载以还京。"</ref> Mao claimed he proposed to Chen in 1641, with plans for marriage the following year. However, by spring 1642 when he went to visit her again, she had been taken away, leading to the belief that she arrived in Beijing in 1642.<ref>明·冒襄《影梅庵忆语》:因便过吴门，慰陈姬。盖残冬屡趣余，皆未及答。至则十日前复为窦霍门下客，以势逼去。先吴门有?匿之者，集千人哗劫之。势家复为大言挟诈，又不惜数千金为贿，地方恐贻伊戚，劫出复纳入。余至怅惘无极，然以急严亲患难，负一女子无憾也。</ref><ref>明·冒襄《影梅庵忆语》:偶一日，赴饮归，谓余曰："此中有陈姬某，擅梨园之胜，不可不见。"余佐忠节治舟数往返，始得之。其人淡而韵，盈盈冉冉，衣椒茧时背顾湘裙。真如孤鸾之在烟雾。是日燕弋腔红梅。以燕俗之剧，咿呀啁哳之调，乃出之陈姬身口，如云出岫，如珠在盘，令人欲仙欲死。漏下四鼓，风雨忽作，必欲驾小舟去。余牵衣订再晤。答云："光福梅花如冷云万顷，子能越旦偕我游否？则有半月淹也。"余迫省觐，告以不敢迟留，故复?南岳归棹，当迟子于虎??丛桂间，盖计其期，八月返也。余别去，恰以观涛日奉母回。至西湖，因家君调已破之襄阳，心绪如焚。便讯陈姬，则已为窦霍豪家掠去。闻之惨然。</ref> At that time, Tian, concerned that his daughter Tian Xiuying (田秀英) might fall out of favor, sought beautiful women in Jiangnan to win over the emperor in the interests of the Tian family. However, amid the Ming dynasty's struggles against [[Li Zicheng]] and the Manchu, the Chongzhen Emperor had little time for Chen. Three months after entering [[Forbidden City|the Forbidden City]], she was sent back to Tian. She then performed in his family opera troupe until she was either bought for Ming general Wu Sangui by his father or given to Wu as a gift by Tian.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/hr-hrwy/news/2009/09-17/1872290.shtml | title=How to look at generation Geji Chen Yuanyuan objectively}}</ref><ref>清·陆次云《圆圆传》:声甲天下之声，色甲天下之色。崇祯癸未岁，总兵吴三桂慕其名，赍千金往聘之，已先为田畹所得。时圆圆以不得事吴，快怏也。而吴更甚。田畹者，怀宗妃之父也，年耄矣。圆圆度流水高山之曲以歌之，畹每击节，不知其悼知音之希也。甲申春，流贼大炽，怀宗宵旰忧之，废寝食。妃谋所以解帝忧者于父。畹进圆圆，圆圆扫眉而入，冀邀一顾，帝穆然也。旋命之归畹第，时闯师将迫畿辅矣。帝急召三桂对平台，锡蟒玉，赐上方，托重寄，命守山海关。三桂亦慷慨受命，以忠贞自许也。而寇深矣，长安富贵家胥畹忧甚，语圆圆，圆圆曰:「当世乱，而公无所依，祸必至。曷不缔交于吴将军，庶缓急有借乎?」畹曰:「斯何时，吾欲与之缱吴欲之而故却也，强而可，至则戎服临筵，俨然有不可犯之色。畹陈列益盛，礼益恭。酒甫行，吴即欲去。畹屡易席，至邃室一淡妆者，统诸美而先众音，情艳意娇。三桂不觉其神移心荡也，遽命解戎服，易轻裘,顾谓畹曰:「此非所谓圆圆耶?洵足倾人城矣!公宁勿畏而拥此耶?」畹不知所答，命圆圆行酒。圆圆至席，吴语曰:「卿乐甚?」圆圆小语曰:红拂尚不乐越公，矧吴颔之。酣饮间，警报踵至，吴似不欲行者，而不得不行。畹前席曰:「设寇至，将奈何?」吴遽曰:「能以圆圆见赠，吾当保公家，先于保国也。」畹勉许之。吴即命圆圆拜辞畹，择细马驮之去。畹爽然，无如何也。</ref>

In April 1644, when Beijing fell to Li Zicheng's peasant army, Wu's household in the city was captured by Li and his subordinate Liu Zongmin (刘宗敏).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://news.cctv.com/china/20090202/106953_3.shtml | title=The most unjust beauty in Chinese history: the tragedy and fate of Chen Yuanyuan}}</ref> By various accounts, Chen was either taken as a hostage, made a concubine, or raped by them. Wu eventually allied with the Qing regent, [[Dorgon]], allowing the Qing armies to enter China proper through Shanhai Pass. The combined forces of Wu and the Qing ousted Li's peasant army from Beijing, where the Qing dynasty then established its rule over China.<ref>{{harvnb|Wakeman|1986|p=300}}</ref><ref>《明史·流寇》："初，三桂奉诏入援至山海关，京师陷，犹豫不进。自成劫其父襄，作书招之，三桂欲降，至滦州，闻爱姬陈沅被刘宗敏掠去，愤甚，疾归山海，袭破贼将。自成怒，亲部贼十余万，执吴襄于军，东攻山海关，以别将从一片石越关外。三桂惧，乞降于我。"</ref>

After Chen reunited with her husband, she followed him on various campaigns, ending up in [[Yunnan]], which was awarded to Wu by the Qing rulers as part of his fiefdom. One account claims that Chen became a nun in [[Kunming]] after she fell out of Wu's favor due to her age and disagreements with his harem.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chinanews.com/hb/2011/01-04/2765113.shtml | title=The history of red makeup photos of a generation - parallel traces of the famous Geji Chen Yuanyuan}}</ref>

In the 1980s, Chen's final whereabouts were uncovered by the historian Huang Tousong (黄透松), who was exiled to Guizhou in the 1970s during [[Cultural Revolution|the Cultural Revolution]]. According to his research, by the end of Wu's failed rebellion against the Qing, Chen, her stepson Wu Yingqi (吴应麒), renamed as Wu Qihua (吴启华), and one of Wu Sangui's surviving grandsons were escorted by General Ma Bao (马宝) to what is now Majia Zhai (马家寨) village in [[Guizhou]], where they lived among the ethnic minorities hostile to Qing rule. In order to prevent being tracked down by Qing forces, Chen became a nun of a temple located on another mountain in Guizhou for years. In the era of [[Yongzheng Emperor]]'s reign, she returned to live in the village until her death. The knowledge of Chen's final whereabouts was passed down only by oral history of Wu Sangui's descendants living in the said village until Huang published the discovery. 

A tomb was erected in the village in the sixth year of Yongzheng Emperor's reign in 1728, with the inscription: "故先妣吴门聂氏之墓位" (lit. The tomb of the late ancestress, Madam Nie of Wumen), which was intentionally cryptic to deter detection. In 1983, the [[stele]] of Chen's tomb was unearthed, and the tomb was renovated. In the late 1980s, the tomb was looted, leaving only her skeleton and 36 evenly arranged teeth. In 2005, the tomb was attributed by the government historians to Chen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-10 |title=The Chinese village that kept a courtesan's secret for centuries |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3009628/remote-chinese-village-kept-courtesans-secret |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The oral account of the secret successor: Chen Yuanyuan missed Wu Sangui during his lifetime and was physically and mentally exhausted |url=http://culture.people.com.cn/n/2015/0716/c172318-27312923.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chen Yuanyuan was buried in Majiazhai, Guizhou |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2005-07-23/11416509246s.shtml}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=专家认定陈圆圆葬于贵州 墓冢现已被盗空_新闻中心_新浪网 |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-07-23/095820742082.shtml |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=news.sina.com.cn}}</ref> 

==In fiction==
[[File:昆明太和宫陳圓圓塑像.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Statue of Chen in Gold Hall Park in Kunming]]

In Chinese folklore, Chen Yuanyuan plays a dramatic and romanticized role in the rise and fall of dynasties. According to stories that emerged during the Kangxi era, Wu Sangui's motivation for joining forces with the Qing to attack Li Zicheng was to save Chen from Li's capture. This earned Chen the notoriety of a femme fatale and Wu the label of a traitor. Although such stories proved popular, some historians regard them as products of fiction.<ref>{{harvnb|Wakeman|1986|pp=292–294}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Spence|1990|p=33}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Huang|1997|p=205}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lovell|2006|p=252}}</ref> 

The story of Chen and Wu was immortalized in [[Wu Weiye]]'s ''[[qu (poetry)|qu]]'', ''Song of Yuanyuan'':<ref>{{harvnb|Wakeman|1986|pp=292–294}}</ref>

{{quote
| text = <blockquote><poem>In that time when the [[Chongzhen Emperor|emperor]] abandoned the human world,
Wu crushed the enemy and captured the [[Beijing|capital]], bearing down from Jade Pass.
The six armies, wailing and grieving, were uniformly clad in the white of mourning,
One wave of headgear-lifting anger propelled him, all for the sake of the fair-faced one.
The fair-faced one, drifting, and fallen, was not what I longed for.
The offending bandits, smote by heaven, wallowed in wanton pleasures.
Lightning swept the [[Yellow Turban Rebellion|Yellow Turbans]], the Black Mountain troops were quelled.
Having wailed for ruler and kin, I met her again.</poem></blockquote>
| sign = [[Wu Weiye]]
| source = excerpt from ''Song of Yuanyuan''<ref>{{harvnb|Chang|Owen|2010|p=179}}</ref>
}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

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*{{cite journal
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}}

==See also==
* ''[[The Deer and the Cauldron]]'', a [[wuxia]] novel by [[Jin Yong]] in which Chen appears.
*''The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-made Asia, [[Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang|Empress Xiaozhuang]]'', a historical novel by [[Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong|Alice Poon]] in which Chen has a minor role.
*''Tales of Ming Courtesans'', a historical novel by [[Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong|Alice Poon]] in which Chen is one of the three protagonists, the other two being Liu Rushi and Li Xiangjun.

{{Eight Beauties of Qinhuai}}
{{Prostitution in China}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yuanyuan}}
[[Category:1620s births]]
[[Category:17th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty people]]
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[[Category:Chinese concubines]]
[[Category:17th-century Chinese people]]
[[Category:17th-century Chinese women]]
[[Category:Shun dynasty]]
[[Category:Eight Beauties of Qinhuai]]
[[Category:17th-century Chinese actresses]]
[[Category:17th-century Chinese women singers]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty actors]]
[[Category:Kunqu actresses]]
[[Category:Singers from Jiangsu]]
[[Category:Actresses from Jiangsu]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty Gējìs]]
[[Category:Chinese Gējìs]]