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.

Director

Yuqing Liu, Jintao Sun

Yuqing Liu is a filmmaker and PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong, affiliated with the eXtended Humanities VR + AR Research Lab. She holds a BA in Chinese Literature, a BFA in Art Theory, and an MA in Theory of Literature and Art from Peking University. Her work focuses on film, virtual reality, and immersive media, with an interest in affect and embodied experience.