Wives and Concubines

Wives and Concubines (妻妾成群 Qīqiè Chéngqún) is a 1990 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. It was also adapted by the Thai writer Taitao Sucharitkul as "Mong-Kut-Dok-som" (มงกุฎดอกส้ม, TH), which means "the crown with orange flowers."

Plot

Lotus is attending college when her father's tea business goes bankrupt and he commits suicide. She chooses to become a concubine of Chen Zuoqian in the rich Chen household in order to avoid having to work.

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. 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.

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 watches the household servants taking Coral from her room and throwing her into the haunted well. Witnessing the murder drives Lotus to insanity.

Characters

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lu, Tonglin, 151.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lu, Tonglin, 152.

Further reading

External links