Golden Lotus Pan 潘金蓮
- Robin Yong
- Jan 16
- 4 min read
This is my dream photo project for 2026 - 晚清時代的京劇 Peking Opera of the late Qing period…
The concept is to recreate the exact scenes from the late 1800s based on actual historical paintings and those colored rice paper drawings sold to wealthy European tourists…
Everything is original, including the backdrop which is painted…
Took me months to plan this…
Took Master Tang years to collect and repair the antique costumes…, and spending huge amounts of money buying useable antique clothings and accessories for this purpose.
The costumes are then reassembled using old drawings and paintings from the same era.
Not an easy feat because fabric degenerates over time and many artefacts were lost during the wars and the cultural revolution. Sourcing for exactly the same marching historical pieces to recreate the same look is a very tedious and expansive task.
And then we need a makeup artiste who can recreate the Qing Dynasty style of face painting…
The model is actually a real and famous actress in China. Her name is 周一凡 Zhou Yifan.
Her videos can be found online on cctv and YouTube :
Just a very sincere photo project by a bunch of people doing what we love…
China is indeed amazing…
Pan Jinlian (Chinese: 潘金蓮) is a fictional character in the Chinese novel Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase), and a minor character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. She is an archetypal femme fatale and one of the most notorious villainesses of classical Chinese culture. She has also become the patron goddess of brothels and prostitutes.
Pan Jinlian's name appears to be inspired by Pan Yunu, an imperial consort of the Southern Qi. Her husband, Xiao Baojuan, was obsessed with her small feet and made her dance on golden (金, jin) lotuses (蓮, lian).
Pan Jinlian also appeared to be based on the false rumors a real namesake lady who had a sharply different personality. The reputation of real-life Pan Jinlian was badly affected by the fictional Pan Jinlian and this incident also caused a rift between Pan family and Shi family (the family of Shi Nai'an, author of Water Margin) for a long time until descendants of Shi family made an official apology in 2009.
Pan Jinlian is married to Wu Dalang, the elder brother of Wu Song. Wu Dalang is short and ugly, while Pan Jinlian is renowned for her beauty; as a result, many people feel that the couple are a mismatch.
Pan Jinlian, dissatisfied with her marriage, has an extramarital affair with Ximen Qing, a handsome womaniser in town. Wu Dalang eventually discovers the affair, but Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing murder him by adding poison to his food. They bribe the coroner to conceal the true cause of his death.
Wu Song grows suspicious of his brother's death. He carries out his own investigations and discovers the truth. In Water Margin, Wu Song's slaying of the adulterous pair is described in graphic detail and is one of the most memorable scenes in the novel. In Jin Ping Mei, however, Pan Jinlian marries Ximen Qing as a concubine, and Wu Song kills Pan after Ximen dies from excessive sexual activity.
Pan Jinlian is a classic character in Peking Opera, frequently appearing in adaptations of Water Margin or Jin Ping Mei, and is usually portrayed by actresses specializing in the huadan or qingyi roles. While her image on the Peking Opera stage is multifaceted, her tragic fate and character remain a key focus for Peking Opera artists.
Peking Opera developed in Beijing during the mid-Qing dynasty, with its origins traced to a 1790 performance by four Anhui troupes for the Qianlong Emperor's 80th birthday. The Anhui troupes, along with Hubei troupes, stayed in Beijing and developed the new style that became known as Peking Opera. The art form reached its peak of popularity within the Qing imperial court, where it was considered a national treasure.
WuSong killing his Sister-in-law (武松杀嫂) is a real classic and always popular with audiences but still considered one of the less performed plays nowadays. It is deemed a cursed play usually plaqued with accidents and bloodshed during performances, hence little troupes will even consider doing it.
"Wu Song Kills His Sister-in-Law" is one of the classic plots in "Water Margin". After discovering that his elder brother Wu Dalang had been poisoned by his wife Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing, Wu Song first filed a complaint with the government, but failed because Ximen Qing bribed the magistrate. He then killed Pan Jinlian in front of Wu Dalang's spirit tablet, cut out her heart and liver, and cut off her head as a sacrifice. He then killed Ximen Qing to avenge his brother. This event shows Wu Song's fierce and righteous character, and also reveals the contradictions of folk revenge behavior under the background of judicial corruption in the Song Dynasty.
The costumes are all antique from the late Qing Dynasty period and the make-up inspired from old Chinese paintings of the same period.
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