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Mei Fei zhuan 梅妃傳 is a novella written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by an unknown author.
Chen Liantang's 陳蓮塘 collection Tangren huishuo 唐人說薈 names the author Cao Ye 曹鄴 (816-878) and dates it to the year 848, based on a statement in the afterword (ba 跋). However, the Republican scholar Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936) believed this postface to be a forgery from the Song period. The book is included in his collection Tang-Song chuanqi ji 唐宋傳奇集.
The book records the story of Consort Mei 梅妃, whose personal name was Jiang Caiping 江采蘋. During the Kaiyuan reign-period 開元 (713-741) of the Tang dynasty 唐 (618-907), she was selected to enter the imperial harem. She was especially fond of plum blossoms, so Emperor Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (r. 712-755) bestowed upon her the title "Plum Consort" (Mei Fei), and made her his favorite.
The novel depicts Emperor Xuanzong's indulgence in sensual pleasures, his licentiousness and misrule, as well as the rivalry and mutual jealousy between the Consorts Mei and Lady Yang Taizhen 楊太真 (i.e., Yang Guifei 楊貴妃, 719-756). The work is written with delicate craftsmanship, and both Consort Yang and Consort Mei are portrayed as distinctive, fully individualized characters.
However, Consort Mei did not exist as a historical figure. Lu Xun believed that the figure probably arose from paintings of the time that labeled a female person as "Consort Mei", loosely referring to someone from the era of Emperor Xuanzong.
In the Ming period 明 (1368-1644), Wu Shimei 吳世美 (fl. 1573) adapted this story, albeit in an altered form, into the drama Jinghong ji 驚鴻記 "The Startled Swan".
The story is included into the series Shuofu 說郛, Gushi wenfang xiaoshuo 顧氏文房小說, Longwei mishu 龍威秘書, Lüchuang nüshi 綠窗女史 and Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小說大觀.