Jia Yuanchun

Jia Yuanchun (贾元春) is a primary character in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is Baoyu's elder sister by about ten years older (some versions said only one year older). Yuanchun was the lady-in-waiting in the Imperial palace first, then, becomes an Imperial Consort. At the end of the novel, Yuanchun's sudden death precipitated the fall of the Jia family; some say Yuanchun died of palace intrigue, the result of political forces moving against the Jia family. She is included in "Jinling City's Twelve Beauties"(金陵十二钗).

Yuanchun's name translates as "Cardinal Spring". She is the eldest in the quartet of "Springs" (4 daughters of the Jia family) Therefore, the way she was named set the pattern for the naming of the other 3. Like Baoyu, she had a remarkable birth. She was born on Chinese New Year's Day and during the springtime. Yuanchun is also the daughter of Minister Jia Zheng and Lady Wang, younger sister-in-law to Li Wan, and elder cousin to Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, and others.