Love and Society in "The Story of Yingying"

The Story of Yingying shows how love can be destroyed if other things outside the relationship, such as society, are allowed to affect the couple’s future together. Two people, Zhang and Yingying (Miss Cui), fall in love with each other and for a short amount of time they enjoy being in love. But soon outside forces cause the love affair to fall apart due to the choices that are made. 

In the beginning of the story, we find out that Zhang is twenty-three years old and has never had relations with a woman. He is quoted saying, "I am the true lover - I just never happened to meet the right girl. How do I know that? It's because things of outstanding beauty never fail to make a permanent impression on me," (pg. 1054). Later on when he is introduced to Yingying for the first time, she was not wearing anything spectacular just a normal everyday dress. She wore no makeup, except for a bit of rouge, and her hair was in disarray. Yet her beauty was extraordinary enough to startle Zhang. He chooses to try and tries to win her over by confessing his feelings for her. She tries to follow what is socially acceptable of a young unmarried woman at that time but eventually gives in to her feelings for Zhang.

Later on, the role society plays is seen as the key to understanding what doomed their relationship. Zhang has to follow the social obligation to live where he goes to school. He does manage to return to visit her, but must once again leave to take his exams. On the eve of his departure Yingying tells him, “To seduce someone and then abandon her is perfectly natural, and it would be presumptuous of me to resent it. It would be an act of charity on your part if, having first seduced me, you were to go through with it and fulfill your oath of lifelong devotion,” (pg. 1057). Yet, she plays the zither for him after saying this because he has always wanted her to play it for him. Even when she realizes what is going on, she chooses to show her devotion to him. We see that Zhang's priorities are clearly set on his schooling rather than on his relationship with Yingying when he chooses to go back to take the exams. He chooses to follow what society expects of him rather than choosing to be with Yingying. Yingying was clearly willing to make sacrifices for Zhang, but Zhang was not willing to sacrifice for her in return.

Yingying further shows her understanding that their future together was doomed. In a letter to Zhang she writes, "When I offered myself in your bed, you treated me with the greatest kindness, and I supposed, in my innocence, that I could always depend on you. How could I have foreseen that our encounter could not possibly lead to something definite, that having disgraced myself by coming to you, there was no further chance of serving you openly as a wife?" (pg. 1058).

All of Zhang’s friends have heard what has happened and wonder why Zhang has chosen to pursue education over love. Zhang is quoted saying, "It is a general rule that those women endowed by heaven with great beauty either destroy themselves or destroy someone else," (pg. 1061). Zhang and Yingying end up marrying other people. It is clear in the end that they still do have feelings for one another, but Zhang made his choice and must now deal with the fact that he lost his true love.

Word count (minus the page numbers): 593

Text: The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Third Edition, Volume B