The Bonesetter’s Daughter

The Changs accept LuLing as their daughter-in-law and agree to recognize her as family even before the wedding, during the special ceremony that will be held during the Moon Festival to honor Mr. Chang’s “scientific achievements.” The aunts advise Mother to send LuLing to the Changs as soon as possible—before they have an opportunity to change her mind. At this point, neither LuLing nor the Changs know the truth about LuLing’s birth. Mother orders LuLing to join the Changs before the Moon Festival. She and GaoLing cry tears of happiness for LuLing. In contrast, LuLing’s relationship with Precious Auntie remains strained. When Precious Auntie isn’t working in the ink studio, she sits at her table and writes, though about what, LuLing can only guess.

A few days before LuLing is scheduled to go to the Changs, Precious Auntie wakes LuLing, presenting her with a bag that contains the bound pages she’d been writing. Then, Precious Auntie leaves the room. LuLing reads the papers, which detail Precious Auntie’s tragic life story. However, as soon as LuLing gets to the part where Precious Auntie criticizes Chang, she throws the papers to the floor and refuses to read any more—including the very end of the story, where Precious Auntie tells LuLing that she is her mother.

At dinner that night, Precious Auntie tries to feed LuLing, but LuLing rejects her. Later, when Mother and the aunts are embroidering LuLing’s bridal clothes, Precious Auntie asks LuLing if she finished reading her story. LuLing answers yes, not wanting to fight with Precious Auntie in front of the rest of the family.

Later that evening, Precious Auntie asks LuLing if her thoughts toward her have changed now that has read her story and knows the truth. To this day, LuLing can still remember her exact response to Precious Auntie: even if the Changs were all murderers, she’d still marry into her family to get away from Precious Auntie. Precious Auntie blows out the candle and doesn’t say another word to LuLing. 

When LuLing awakens the next morning, Precious Auntie is gone. LuLing isn’t worried at first, but she grows concerned when Precious Auntie isn’t at breakfast, either. Later, when the aunts, GaoLing, Mother, and LuLing enter the ink studio to work, the room is in shambles, and every surface is stained with ink. Suddenly, Mother shrieks. LuLing turns and sees Precious Auntie: her face is white, and her hand is still gripping the knife she used to slit her own throat.

LuLing can’t remember much about the day. She remembers waking up in her room sometime later and initially forgetting that Precious Auntie is dead. LuLing suddenly remembers the horrific sight of Precious Auntie’s body as she approaches the ink studio, but when she opens the door, she finds that someone has cleaned the room and removed the body. LuLing returns to her room and falls back asleep.

The next time LuLing wakes up, GaoLing is sitting at the edge of her bed. She has tears in her eyes and tells LuLing that they will always be sisters, no matter what. GaoLing explains to LuLing how yesterday, Mrs. Chang came over, angrily clutching a letter that Precious Auntie had delivered to their house. In the letter, Precious Auntie claimed that her ghost would haunt the Changs forever if the marriage between their son and LuLing proceeded. When Mother informs Mrs. Chang of Precious Auntie’s suicide, Mrs. Chang runs away, terrified. Then, Mother walked to the studio and proceeded to kick Precious Auntie’s body, angrily screaming at her for being ungrateful. She promises to sell LuLing into prostitution if Precious Auntie’s ghost returns to haunt them. After that, GaoLing tells LuLing, Mother ordered for Precious Auntie’s body to be thrown over the cliff.

After GaoLing leaves, LuLing finishes reading Precious Auntie’s story and discovers, too late, its final words: “I am your mother.” Later that day, she goes to the End of the Earth to search for Precious Auntie’s body. At the bottom of the ravine, LuLing realizes that she has perpetuated the family curse: Chang had only wanted her to marry his son so he could have the dragon bones hidden in the Monkey’s Jaw. LuLing frantically searches for Precious Auntie’s bones but fails to find them

LuLing remains unable to eat or move for nearly a week afterward. Precious Auntie visits her dreams and tells her she is doomed to stay unhappy for the rest of her life. The Changs revoke the marriage contract, and Mother stops pretending the LuLing is her daughter. Only GaoLing continues to treat LuLing with kindness.

Two weeks after Precious Auntie’s suicide, Little Uncle returns from Peking, crying and disheveled. He informs the family that the ink shop has burned to the ground. He explains to Mother how Precious Auntie’s ghost visited them last night. Father knocked over an oil lamp in his attempts to chase her away, and before they knew it, the entire shop was engulfed in flames.  The fire destroyed the adjacent shops, too, and Mother knows the shopkeepers will make their family pay for the damages. Mother orders everyone to hide the valuables.

Father, Big Uncle, and their sons return the next day, looking haggard and sooty. Everyone is beside themselves and uncertain of the future: will they lose the house? Will they have to run away? GaoLing and LuLing cry together and promise to look after each other as sisters, no matter what happens. Unlike the rest of the family, GaoLing doesn’t blame Precious Auntie or LuLing’s birth for the misfortunes that have befallen the family. Instead, she tells LuLing that Precious Auntie is lucky to have died quickly, since the rest of them will undoubtedly face a slow, painful death by starvation and social ostracization.

The next day, a man comes to the house to deliver an official letter claiming the Liu clan’s responsibility for the fire. As soon as the other shopkeepers assessed the cost of their damages, the magistrate would announce the debt the Lius would have to pay. He also warns them that the village has been informed of the complaint and will know to report the Lius, should they try to flee. Realizing that there is no way to change their fate, Mother announces that they’ll blow through their fortune while they still can.  

The next day, everyone goes to the market to buy the nicest fruits, sweets, and finest meats. GaoLing and LuLing make their way through the market. They eventually find themselves at Beggars Lane, which is full of miserable, disabled beggars. GaoLing wonders if this is the fate that awaits their family, too. A girl with no eyes approaches them and tells LuLing the ghost of her mother wants to speak to her. They tip the girl, who writes in the sand with a long, thin stick. “A dog howls, the moon rises,” writes the girl. LuLing instantly recognizes Precious Auntie’s nickname for her, Doggie. The rest of the message makes no sense to GaoLing, but LuLing thinks her mother is trying to shame LuLing for her betrayal. 

When the girls return home, the whole family is gathered around a Taoist priest, who thinks a ghost haunts the house. The priest’s assistant explains that the priest is a Famous Catcher of Ghosts. The priest offers to capture the ghost for the Liu clan but says they need to demonstrate their “sincerity” first. Mother and Father give the priest silver ingots. Next, the priest asks for the girl whom the ghost loved, and Mother and Father gesture toward LuLing. The priest orders LuLing to run her comb through her hair nine times. He orders her to place the comb in a jar when she’s finished. The priest and the young man circle around LuLing as they chant and hum to themselves.

Suddenly, the assistant slams the lid of the jar first. The Catcher of Ghosts announces that he has captured the ghost. The next day, the family celebrates with a banquet, though nobody has much of an appetite. Mother hires a man to take photographs of the family. GaoLing insists that they include LuLing in one of the photos. A week later, Father calls for another banquet, for the magistrate has decided the Lius don’t owe any money. Apparently, the supposed valuable, ancient artifacts the shopkeepers claimed to have lost had been forgeries all along. Father takes this fortuitous development as proof that Precious Auntie’s ghost is truly gone.

That evening, everyone is happy, except for LuLing. The next morning, Mother informs LuLing that she is sending her to an orphanage and that Mr. Wei is already waiting out front to take her away. LuLing returns to her room to pack her small bundle of possessions. Before she leaves, GaoLing secretly gives LuLing her favorite jacket. She cries as she promises LuLing that she’ll come and find her one day. As LuLing leaves the compound in Mr. Wei’s cart, she thinks about the message Precious Auntie had conveyed through the blind beggar girl: “A dog howls, the moon rises. […] In daylight, it’s as if the stars never existed.” LuLing stares at the sky and listens to her “howling” heart.