In ancient time, there existed a Nan An county. The county official, Dubao, had a daughter, Du Liliang. Dubao hired a teacher to teacher his daughter The Book of Songs, China's first ancient poem collection. Du Liliang's slave girl also learned the book. But she often missed the class for play.
In China's feudalist society, parents decided the marriage of women. Women didn't even know what their husband look like before the marriage. Du Liliang read the Books of Songs and yearned for the life described in the book in which men and women chose their marriage partner freely.
Spring came. The slave girl told Du Liliang that there was a beautiful garden in the backyard. Du Liliang obeyed the rules. Everyday she stayed indoors to do some needlework or do some reading or writing. She had never gone out for play. So she went to the backyard garden with the slave girl.
It was beautiful in the garden. The willow was green. The moss grew in the pond. The flowers were in bloom. The birds were singing on the trees. Looking at the landscape, Du Liliang was sorry to think that she could only stay indoors to read or to do some needlework. Her youth might pass, like this landscape, with no one to appreciate. She couldn't get out of this sad mood. So she went back to her room and fell asleep.
She had a dream. In the dream, she went back to the garden. A young intellectual came to her. He said Du Liliang was beautiful and bright. But he regretted that Du Liliang wasted her youth. Du Liliang thought that he understood what she thought and began to like him. The flower fairies danced in the garden and congratulated them.
Mother came and interrupted the dream. Liliang still yearned for the dream. So she went back to the garden. But everything was there except that young intellectual. She couldn't find him. She felt so sad that she became ill. Thinking of the Spring in the garden and the dream, she drew a picture of herself and told her slave girl to put it in the garden. She died soon after. But before she died, she told her parents to bury her under the big plum tree and built a tomb.
Later, the family moved out. An intellectual, Liu Mengmei once passed by and happened to be ill. So he stayed near the garden. Liu Mengmei was the young intellectual that Du Liliang dreamed of.
When Liu Mengmei was just recovered, he went for a walk in the garden and picked up the picture by accident. He thought he had met this beautiful woman before. So he hanged the picture in his study room. He called the woman everyday as if she was alive.
Although Du Liliang died, her soul was still in the garden. Seeing that Liu really liked her, Du Liliang came to meet him every night. Liu Mengmei asked how they could be together forever, Du Liliang said she could come back to life as long as Liu Mengmei opened the tomb. Liu Mengmei did what she said and was glad to see that Du Liliang revived. The two married happily.
Many people have been moved with the story of Du Liliang.
