Wives and concubines
Encyclopedia
Wives and Concubines is a novel
by Su Tong
that describes a college girl whose mind is broken by the concubine system in 1930s China
. It was made into a film
in 1991 by Zhang Yimou
. It has since been republished in the United States under the title Raise the Red Lantern in order to capitalize on the success of the film. Moreover this novel was adapted by Taitao Sucharitkul, a Thai writer. Taitao changed the name of the novel into "Mong-Kut-Dok-som" which means "the crown with orange flowers" in Thai. With the same plot the name of some characters together with their backgrounds was changed. For instance, the name of the lead character of the story became "Kam-Keaw" who was a girl from a poor family in northern Thailand instead of being Songlian. This novel became a TV series and very famous among Thai people as well.
when her father's tea
business goes bankrupt
and he commits suicide
. She chooses to become a concubine in the rich Chen household in order to avoid having to work. From the beginning, she does not fit into the household with its three other wives. Initially, the first mistress
Joy ignores her, the second mistress Cloud befriends her, and the third mistress Coral acts with outright hostility. Coral goes so far as to interrupt Lotus's wedding night with the lie that she has taken ill. In spite of this, Lotus is favored by Chen.
Shortly after her arrival, Chen's elder son Feipu, who is older than Lotus, comes home. He favors Lotus's company and she begins to fall for him, especially because he plays the flute so well and movingly. Meanwhile, one evening when they are playing mahjong
, Lotus notices that Coral is flirting with a doctor.
Swallow, Lotus's special servant, hates her and neglects her duties whenever possible. One day, Lotus accuses Swallow of stealing her flute and searches Swallow's trunk. Instead of finding the flute, she finds a doll with pins stuck in its chest. The doll has "Lotus" written on it, and Lotus demands to know who wrote the word for the illiterate Swallow. It is revealed that Cloud was the one who helped her.
That night, Chen Zuoqian admits that he was the one who stole and destroyed her flute because he was afraid it was a lover's token. Instead of forgiving him, she bursts into tears and he leaves her. Cloud asks Lotus to cut her hair the next morning, and Lotus cuts her ear. Coral is impressed by Lotus's action and warms further to her. She reveals that Cloud attempted to abort
Coral's child Feilan when they were both pregnant.
When Chen Zuoqian celebrates his 50th birthday, more domestic strife breaks out. Feilan and Yirong (Cloud's child) knock over a vase and the resulting fight gives Lotus a headache. She goes outside to help it go away and instead she ends up next to an abandoned well in which three concubines of previous husbands had died. She has a hallucination
in which a hand reaches out of the well water and a voice tells her to come down.
Shaken, she returns to the party. Chen Zuoqian is extremely angry with her and he barely acknowledges her gift. Unfortunately, her gift is less expensive than the others'. She tries to make up for it by kissing Chen, but he gets angry. She leaves the room weeping.
Feipu arrives with his flute teacher and friend, Young Master Gu, as well as a replacement flute for Lotus. Joy interrupts the flute lesson, however, and Young Master Gu leaves because the mood is destroyed by Feipu's absence. Afterwards, Feipu tells Lotus she is different from other women, who frighten him, and leaves on a business trip.
Chen Zuoqian finally decides to see Lotus. He forgives Lotus for her behavior at his birthday party, but Lotus is unwilling to have sex as she cannot stop thinking about Feipu. Chen eventually leaves her in disgust when she is unable to stop weeping. As a result of Lotus' attitude and the manipulations of Cloud, Lotus loses favor with Chen even more. Later, Cloud claims that Coral hired a boy to beat up her daughter Yirong. Only Lotus and Coral know the truth behind the second mistress' facade, and they slowly become closer friends.
Lotus finds a drawing of her on a piece of soiled toilet paper and confronts Swallow with it. Swallow is afraid at being caught and does not want to be sent away. In a fit of anger, Lotus tells her to eat the toilet paper or be forced out of the Chen household. Swallow catches typhoid and Chen is infuriated with Lotus.
Lotus realizes that her twentieth birthday has gone by and determines to celebrate. When the new servant returns with wine, she announces Swallow has died. Lotus is regretful but says that "dying is better than living." Feipu arrives and a tipsy Lotus reveals how she feels about him. Feipu confesses that he likes her but he is too afraid of women to do anything. After he leaves in shame, Lotus gets very drunk and has a hallucination in which Swallow kills her.
The next morning, Lotus wakes up to see Coral leaving for town. When she comes back, she is escorted by several male servants; Cloud has caught her and the doctor in bed. Coral is locked in her room. That night, Lotus sits up expecting Swallow to return. Instead, she sees Coral taken from her room and thrown into the abandoned well that has been haunting Lotus since her arrival. Witnessing this murder is the final straw, and Lotus goes insane
.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Su Tong
Su Tong
Su Tong is the pen name of a Chinese writer born in Suzhou who is now based in Nanjing. His real name is Tong Zhonggui .He entered into the Department of Chinese of Beijing Normal University in 1980 and started to publish novels in 1983. He is now the vice president of Jiangsu Writers Association...
that describes a college girl whose mind is broken by the concubine system in 1930s China
Republic of China (1912–1949)
In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism...
. It was made into a film
Raise the Red Lantern
Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong...
in 1991 by Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
. It has since been republished in the United States under the title Raise the Red Lantern in order to capitalize on the success of the film. Moreover this novel was adapted by Taitao Sucharitkul, a Thai writer. Taitao changed the name of the novel into "Mong-Kut-Dok-som" which means "the crown with orange flowers" in Thai. With the same plot the name of some characters together with their backgrounds was changed. For instance, the name of the lead character of the story became "Kam-Keaw" who was a girl from a poor family in northern Thailand instead of being Songlian. This novel became a TV series and very famous among Thai people as well.
Plot summary
Lotus is attending collegeCollege
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
when her father's tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
business goes bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and he commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. She chooses to become a concubine in the rich Chen household in order to avoid having to work. From the beginning, she does not fit into the household with its three other wives. Initially, the first mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
Joy ignores her, the second mistress Cloud befriends her, and the third mistress Coral acts with outright hostility. Coral goes so far as to interrupt Lotus's wedding night with the lie that she has taken ill. In spite of this, Lotus is favored by Chen.
Shortly after her arrival, Chen's elder son Feipu, who is older than Lotus, comes home. He favors Lotus's company and she begins to fall for him, especially because he plays the flute so well and movingly. Meanwhile, one evening when they are playing mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
, Lotus notices that Coral is flirting with a doctor.
Swallow, Lotus's special servant, hates her and neglects her duties whenever possible. One day, Lotus accuses Swallow of stealing her flute and searches Swallow's trunk. Instead of finding the flute, she finds a doll with pins stuck in its chest. The doll has "Lotus" written on it, and Lotus demands to know who wrote the word for the illiterate Swallow. It is revealed that Cloud was the one who helped her.
That night, Chen Zuoqian admits that he was the one who stole and destroyed her flute because he was afraid it was a lover's token. Instead of forgiving him, she bursts into tears and he leaves her. Cloud asks Lotus to cut her hair the next morning, and Lotus cuts her ear. Coral is impressed by Lotus's action and warms further to her. She reveals that Cloud attempted to abort
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
Coral's child Feilan when they were both pregnant.
When Chen Zuoqian celebrates his 50th birthday, more domestic strife breaks out. Feilan and Yirong (Cloud's child) knock over a vase and the resulting fight gives Lotus a headache. She goes outside to help it go away and instead she ends up next to an abandoned well in which three concubines of previous husbands had died. She has a hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
in which a hand reaches out of the well water and a voice tells her to come down.
Shaken, she returns to the party. Chen Zuoqian is extremely angry with her and he barely acknowledges her gift. Unfortunately, her gift is less expensive than the others'. She tries to make up for it by kissing Chen, but he gets angry. She leaves the room weeping.
Feipu arrives with his flute teacher and friend, Young Master Gu, as well as a replacement flute for Lotus. Joy interrupts the flute lesson, however, and Young Master Gu leaves because the mood is destroyed by Feipu's absence. Afterwards, Feipu tells Lotus she is different from other women, who frighten him, and leaves on a business trip.
Chen Zuoqian finally decides to see Lotus. He forgives Lotus for her behavior at his birthday party, but Lotus is unwilling to have sex as she cannot stop thinking about Feipu. Chen eventually leaves her in disgust when she is unable to stop weeping. As a result of Lotus' attitude and the manipulations of Cloud, Lotus loses favor with Chen even more. Later, Cloud claims that Coral hired a boy to beat up her daughter Yirong. Only Lotus and Coral know the truth behind the second mistress' facade, and they slowly become closer friends.
Lotus finds a drawing of her on a piece of soiled toilet paper and confronts Swallow with it. Swallow is afraid at being caught and does not want to be sent away. In a fit of anger, Lotus tells her to eat the toilet paper or be forced out of the Chen household. Swallow catches typhoid and Chen is infuriated with Lotus.
Lotus realizes that her twentieth birthday has gone by and determines to celebrate. When the new servant returns with wine, she announces Swallow has died. Lotus is regretful but says that "dying is better than living." Feipu arrives and a tipsy Lotus reveals how she feels about him. Feipu confesses that he likes her but he is too afraid of women to do anything. After he leaves in shame, Lotus gets very drunk and has a hallucination in which Swallow kills her.
The next morning, Lotus wakes up to see Coral leaving for town. When she comes back, she is escorted by several male servants; Cloud has caught her and the doctor in bed. Coral is locked in her room. That night, Lotus sits up expecting Swallow to return. Instead, she sees Coral taken from her room and thrown into the abandoned well that has been haunting Lotus since her arrival. Witnessing this murder is the final straw, and Lotus goes insane
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
.
Further reading
- Lu, Tonglin. Misogyny, Cultural Nihilism & Oppositional Politics: Contemporary Chinese Experimental Fiction. Stanford University PressStanford University PressThe Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
, 1995. ISBN 0804724644, 9780804724647. Pages 134-140.
External links
- Discussion questions from Harper Collins
- An excerpt of the book - University of IowaUniversity of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...