A Hundred Flowers Character Analysis

Wei Lee

Wei is an aging scholar of ancient Chinese art and history who lives an isolated life with his family in the early years of Communist Party rule in China. Although his wife, Liang, has… read analysis of Wei Lee

Kai Ying Lee

Kai Ying is Sheng’s wife and Tao’s mother. She is the center of the family, the person who brings everyone together and who helps to balance out everyone’s different personalities. Kai Ying came… read analysis of Kai Ying Lee

Tao Lee

Tao is Sheng and Kai Ying’s seven-year-old son and Wei’s much-adored grandson. A bright, curious, and fearless little boy, Tao thrives at school, where he is ranked second in the class. But he… read analysis of Tao Lee

Sheng Lee

Sheng is Wei and Liang’s adult son. He’s married to Kai Ying, with whom he has a son, Tao. Like his father, he taught Chinese history. He loves his country passionately and… read analysis of Sheng Lee

Liang Lee

Liang was Wei’s wife, Sheng’s mother, and Kai Ying’s mother-in-law. She died before Tao was born. In childhood, she and Song became best friends at school; when Old Hing died, she invited… read analysis of Liang Lee

Suyin

Suyin is a 15-year-old girl who grew up in the poorer neighborhood of Old Guangzhou with her mother and two younger brothers. After Suyin’s father abandoned them, her mother married again. Suyin’s stepfather abused and… read analysis of Suyin

Auntie Song

Song lives at the villa as an adopted family member to Wei, Sheng, Kai Ying, and Tao. She and Liang were best friends as schoolchildren, despite their difference in class and… read analysis of Auntie Song

Tian

Tian befriends Wei on the train from Guangzhou to Luoyang. Tian grew up in Guangzhou, but he began to travel regularly to Luoyang years earlier, because his girlfriend, Ai-li, lived and attended university there… read analysis of Tian

Chang’e

Chang’e is a character from Chinese mythology, whose story forms an important part of the Autumn Moon Festival. According to the myth, she swallowed a magic pill in order to keep it from falling… read analysis of Chang’e

Minor Characters

Huoyi

Huoyi is a character from Chinese mythology, whose story forms an important part of the Autumn Moon Festival. According to the myth, his wife, Chang’e, lives on the moon while he lives on the sun; they only see each other once a year during the festival.

Ai-li

Ai-li was Tian’s girlfriend. The two met when they were students and they shared a long-distance romance for years, until her increasing involvement in the Communist Party eventually led to a rift between the two. She then disappeared without a trace from Tian’s life.

Mr. Lam

Mr. Lam owns a sweetshop patronized by the Lee family.

Mr. and Mrs. Chang

After the Communist Party takeover, the Changs move into an apartment carved out of the villa where Wei, Sheng, Kai Ying, Tao, and Song live.

Herbalist Chu

Herbalist Chu is the family friend with whom Kai Ying came to study in Guangzhou as a teenager. He was also Auntie Song’s friend and cared for her during the years of her marriage to Old Hing.

Old Hing

Old Hing was Auntie Song’s abusive, much older husband. He died in his 80s, after she poisoned him.

Little Shan

Little Shan is Tao’s best friend at school. After Tao’s injury, Little Shan befriends Lai Hing and becomes Tao’s rival for a time. But he asks for a truce with Tao in the end.

Lai Hing

Lai Hing is a classmate who befriends Little Shan while bullying Tao. He is the one who first tells Tao why the police arrested Sheng.

Comrade Cheng

Comrade Sheng is a corrupt Communist Party official in Guangzhou from whom Kai Ying tries to get information about Sheng’s whereabouts.

Sun

Sun was the family cook when Wei was a boy. She could never agree with the housekeeper, Moon, but cared for Moon devotedly after she fell ill. Sun died soon after Moon, and Wei believes they haunt the villa still.

Moon

Moon was the family housekeeper when Wei was a boy. She frequently disagreed with the cook, Sun, but enjoyed Sun’s care after she fell ill. Wei believes her ghost haunts the villa still.

Suyin’s Stepfather

Suyin’s stepfather came into her life a few years after her biological father abandoned the family. He raped Suyin, and he is Meizhen’s father.

Clerk Hu

Clerk Hu is a Communist Party official who works in Luoyang. He locates Sheng for Wei.

Meizhen (The Baby)

Meizhen is the infant daughter of Suyin and her stepfather.