花與女性的比興現象，是中國抒情傳統中重要的藝術手法。而以描寫女性為主體的《紅樓夢》，書中運用大量的花卉來襯托女性人物的性格神韻或暗示其命運與結局，將此香草美人的抒情傳統發揮到極致。其中，襲人與桃花間的關係之密切，可由桃花在中國古典文學中的獨特意象與文化意涵來切入，會發現桃花意象中所存在的關於「女性」、「媚俗」、「慾望」、「愛情」及「改嫁」等意象，都可和襲人在《紅樓夢》中所呈現出的形象與結局有所重疊；而桃花在文化意涵上的雙重意涵，也正好可以詮釋出襲人人格特質中的正負兩面。

Using flowers as the metaphor of women is an important artistic technique in Chinese traditional sentimental literature. In ”Dream of the Red Chamber” which focuses on the descriptions of women, the author uses plenty of flowers as not only a foil to express the characteristics of female figures but also the hint of their destinies and the outcome of the novel, he therefore brings the sentimental tradition of flower-women metaphor into full play. Based on the notion, the close relation between Xiren and peach blossom can be analyzed through the unique image and cultural meaning of peach blossom in Chinese classic literature. The images related to peach blossom such as ”women”, ”fawning”, ”desire”, ”love” and ”remarrying” all overlap the figure of Xiren and the outcome of the novel. Moreover, the double cultural meanings of peach blossom can perfectly interpret both the positive and negative characteristics of Xiren.