Wei-sheng is an original audio drama inspired by the Chinese tradition of oral storytelling. Completed in a single episode, the work narrates a hidden love story between Wei Sheng, a poor scholar, and Yu Yin, a noblewoman confined by social expectations. Drawing from the ancient tale “Wei Sheng Holds the Pillar” (尾生抱柱), the drama reimagines this classical image within the turbulent setting of Republican-era China, blending it with the performative culture of folk storytelling.

The names of the protagonists carry intentional echoes: Wei Sheng (尾生) is a homophone of “wei-sheng” (尾声, meaning “epilogue”), while Yu Yin (余茵) echoes “yu-yin” (余音, “lingering sound”). These symbolic names mirror their intertwined fates—an ending and an echo. Though their love never comes to fruition, it lingers like a resonance in the air, unresolved yet persistent. The recurring line from the Book of Songs, “When the qin and se are in harmony, all is well” (琴瑟在御，莫不静好), serves as the emotional motif throughout, symbolizing an unspoken promise and longing that cannot be fulfilled.

From a sociocultural perspective, Wei-sheng explores the conflict between individual desire and patriarchal structures. The female characters navigate between familial obedience and personal agency, voicing a quiet but poignant critique of arranged marriage and its institutional violence. Within the confines of ritual and silence, storytelling becomes their only outlet—a fictional space where true emotion can survive, even as their real voices are systematically suppressed. In this context, the once-celebratory phrase “When the qin and se are in harmony” becomes not a blessing, but an elegy—for lost love, and for the loss of choice itself.

Wei-sheng is not only a love tragedy, but also an allegory of voice, agency, and social order. Through the inherently auditory form of the audio drama, the work employs restraint and sonic tension to breathe new emotional depth into an old narrative. It asks: in a world where some voices are never heard, what remains—and who remembers?