湖山畔，湖山畔，云缠雨绵。雕栏外，雕栏外，红翻翠骈。两下心头留恋，三生石上缘，他年再现。把好梦惊回，落花如溅。
The Peony Pavilion is a poetic play written by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) during the Ming dynasty in 1598. The play consists of 55 scenes. Around a dozen major scenes are still consistently performed, but transitional scenes are rarely performed today. "The Interrupted Dream" (scene 10) and "Pursuing the Dream" (scene 12) are two major scenes frequently performed together.

The heroine of the play is a young lady named Du Liniang. Raised in a strict household, she is forbidden to leave her chambers without permission. One day, she disobeys her parents' orders and enters a garden, accompanied by her maid, Spring Fragrance. The spring flowers are in full bloom, and Du Liniang feels the mysterious beauty, joys and longing of nature, life and developing womanhood.

After returning to the house, Du Liniang falls asleep. She dreams that she was in the garden and met a young scholar. The two are united in true love under a plum tree. Henceforth, she continues to think of her lover from the dream. She returns to the garden to pursue the dream but is unable to bring it back. She fallsl sick and after drawing a self-portrait, she dies of a broken heart. Eventually, the young man appears, brings Du Liniang back to life, and the couple are married.