Ba Jin's Family takes place in early 1920s Chengdu following the advent of the New Culture Movement. The narrative follows the three Kao brothers, Chueh-hsin, Chueh-min, and Chueh-hui, each representing a distinct way of engaging with tradition and modernity. Chueh-hsin, the eldest, fully embraces his traditional duties without resistance and suffers the consequences; Chueh-min, the middle brother, strikes a balance between rejecting and embracing classical values; and Chueh-hui, the youngest, wholly rejects all traditional values and conventions.
Chueh-min and Chueh-hui are two brothers struggling to find where they fit in between two distinct worlds. At their Foreign Language School, they study progressive ideas and Western literature. At home, on the Kao family compound, the two struggle against Confucian morals and rigid restrictions imposed by their rich and influential family. Chueh-hui, a passionate and hotheaded humanitarian, is torn between his love for the bondmaid Ming-feng and his love for social reforms.
Chueh-min and Chueh-hui's cousin, Chin, is an intelligent and modern girl. Chin intends to apply for a coeducational program, despite the gossip this controversial choice would incite. Chueh-min tutors Chin, and the two fall in love. Chueh-min's romance tempers his devotion to the New Culture Movement, but Chueh-hui becomes highly involved, joining student protests and writing articles for the revolutionary magazine Dawn.
Chueh-hsin, the eldest, is a living example of the destructive effects of the classical Confucian family. Though Chueh-hsin is young, he holds the second-highest position in the Kao family, with innumerable responsibilities and pressures. Chueh-hsin navigates complex familial relationships using a strategy of non-resistance. Chueh-hsin's compliance not only invites his brothers' scorn; it also has deadly consequences. Chueh-hsin defers to his father's wishes and gives up his dreams of getting an education and marrying the love of his life, Mei. Memories of the past and the thought of what could have been haunt Chueh-hsin. After returning to Chengdu, Mei, depressed by her lost love, loses the will to live and succumbs to illness. Chueh-hsin's beloved wife, Jui-chueh, is also sacrificed to Chueh-hsin's "compliant bow" philosophy.
Though the Kao brothers survive near-constant military violence as warlords seize Chengdu and soldiers enforce order, the primary source of the brothers' strife is their grandfather, the Venerable Master Kao. Though ill and frail, the family patriarch is tyrannical, requiring filial piety and complete obedience from the entire Kao family without considering the consequences of his iron-fisted approach to leadership. After learning of Chueh-hui's rebellious involvement in the student movement, the Venerable Master Kao forbids Chueh-hui from leaving the family compound. The Venerable Master Kao also sells the bondmaid Ming-feng into concubinage to old man Feng, a choice that drives her to suicide. He then replaces Ming-feng with another young, unwilling bondmaid, Wan-erh. The Venerable Master Kao also tries to force Chueh-min to marry Feng's grandniece, though Chueh-min is still in school and wants to marry Chin. This order pushes the usually level-headed Chueh-min to run away from the family compound. The Venerable Master Kao only rescinds his order on his deathbed so that he can see his grandson one last time.
Even after death, the Venerable Master Kao demands sacrifices. His concubine, Mistress Chen, believes that if a woman gives birth in the compound while the Venerable Master Kao's corpse is entombed there, the patriarch's body will spurt blood. Chueh-hsin's wife, Jui-chueh, soon to give birth to her second son, moves outside the city and gives birth without her husband present. The patriarch's dead body takes priority over Jui-chueh's safety, and Jui-chueh consequently dies.
After his sister-in-law's death, Chueh-hui decides to run away to Shanghai against his family's wishes. Chueh-hsin, having lost both of the women he loved, covertly aids Chueh-hui, providing him with money and keeping his whereabouts secret. Chueh-hui bids goodbye to his friends, Chin, his brother, and his stepmother, and boards a boat to Shanghai without looking back.
