The Tale of the Peony
- Runtime
- 8 min
- Year
- 2026
- Country
- Hong Kong
- Type / Genre
- Animation, Experimental, Short, Student
- Director
- Yuqing Liu, Jintao Sun
- Writer
- Yuqing Liu
The Tale of the Peony is an AI-generated experimental short film inspired by the life of the late Tang dynasty poet Yu Xuanji. After entering a Taoist convent, Yu Xuanji buries a lock of her hair in the courtyard, and the peony there gradually takes on an eerie crimson hue. A young scholar, Wang Sheng, comes to visit out of curiosity. Their brief encounter soon triggers a strange calamity—vine-like demonic patterns appear on his body, and he ultimately withers away like crumpled paper. Rumors spread rapidly, and the blame falls entirely on Yu Xuanji. Amid the growing accusations, she recalls her childhood encounter with her mentor, the poet Wen Tingyun, and becomes aware of the predicament faced by women of talent within the feudal order. In the end, the crimson peony grows wildly from her body, the courtyard turns to scorched earth, and only a single pure white peony remains. Blending the tradition of Chinese zhiguai tales with a surreal visual style, and drawing on the aesthetics of traditional Chinese paper-sculpture intangible cultural heritage, the film portrays the fate of women under structural oppression in traditional society.
