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Audiobook edition · 1 h 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if loving again means breaking the rules that hold your whole household together?
In Xu Zhenya’s Soul of the Jade Pear, He Mengxia takes a tutoring post in a village household shaped by old customs. His pupil, Chonger, brings him into daily contact with the boy’s mother, Bai Liniang. She is a young widow devoted to her son. As teacher and mother grow closer, their feelings press against a code that forbids her to love again.
What they cannot say openly finds its way into poems and letters. Mengxia writes verses, and Liniang answers in kind. Then Cuiyun, a younger woman from Liniang’s circle, enters the situation as others try to shape the lovers’ future. In ornate, musical prose, this Chinese romantic tragedy explores the cost of family honor—and the sorrow of placing duty before desire.
What you’ll discover
- Love held in check Follow two sensitive people whose growing closeness makes ordinary contact fraught with longing.
- Letters that carry longing Discover how poems and private exchanges give forbidden feelings a place to speak.
- A widow’s divided heart Meet Liniang as devotion to her son meets the strict demands of widowhood.
- Lives shaped by others Watch Cuiyun enter a dilemma where family expectations reach into the most personal choices.
- The weight of custom Explore a changing China through rules that constrain women’s lives and men’s choices.
Who will love it
For readers who love romantic tragedy, Chinese literature in its early modern years, or stories where duty and desire pull in opposite directions.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tutor arrives in a widow's house
- Poems and letters carry what cannot be said
- A third person enters the circle
- What the novel is about and how it speaks
Who’s who
- He MengxiaA refined, sensitive young teacher who takes a tutoring post and finds himself drawn to the household's young widow.
- Bai LiniangA young widow devoted to her son, torn between her feelings and the strict code of conduct expected of her.
- ChongerLiniang's young son and Mengxia's pupil, whose lessons bring the teacher and his mother into daily contact.
- CuiyunA younger woman from the widow's circle, drawn into the situation as others try to shape the future of the lovers.
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L’Âme de la poire de jade
by Zhenya Xu · 1912
A young tutor enters a widow's household, where poems and letters carry a love constrained by duty.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readfrançais
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In short
Soul of the Jade Pear is a Chinese novel by Xu Zhenya, first published in 1912, in the first years of the Republic. It is a love story told in ornate, musical prose, with many letters and poems set into the narrative.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A tutor arrives in a widow's house
The story opens with He Mengxia, a young teacher of refined taste and a sensitive nature. He takes a post tutoring a small boy named Chonger, who lives in a household of women and old customs. The boy's mother, Bai Liniang, is a young widow. She has lost her husband early and has made her son the center of her days.
The village setting matters. It is a quiet world of courtyards, gardens, seasons and visits, where a man and a woman who are not related rarely speak freely.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 5 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 1 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Xu, Zhenya. Soul of the Jade Pear. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/soul-of-the-jade-pear.
Xu, Z. (2026). Soul of the jade pear. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/soul-of-the-jade-pear (Original work published 1912)
Xu, Zhenya. Soul of the Jade Pear. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/soul-of-the-jade-pear.
@book{xu2026soul,
author = {Xu, Zhenya},
title = {Soul of the Jade Pear},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/soul-of-the-jade-pear},
note = {First published 1912}
}
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What is Soul of the Jade Pear about?
It is a Chinese love story about a young tutor and a widowed mother who feel a deep attachment but are held back by duty and social custom. A younger woman is drawn into their situation.
Who wrote Soul of the Jade Pear and when?
Xu Zhenya wrote it, and it was published in 1912, soon after the founding of the Republic of China. In Chinese the title is Yu Li Hun.
What is Mandarin Duck and Butterfly fiction?
It is a popular style of early twentieth century Chinese writing, focused on romance, sentiment and tragic love. Soul of the Jade Pear is among its best-known examples.
The author
Xu Zhenya
1889–1937 · Chinese novelist
Xu Zhenya was a Chinese novelist who lived from 1889 to 1937. He was born in Changshu, Jiangsu, and later worked in Shanghai as a newspaper editor and writer. His novel Soul of the Jade Pear was first serialized in 1912. He died in Shanghai in 1937.
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