P’u Sung-ling
Sung-ling is one of the most important historians from the 17th century and his writings are used by the author in the book. Sung-ling was born in 1640 in a poor area in China and he remained there for the rest of his life. Sung-ling worked for a long time as a public servant from the age of 18 until the age he died. In the book, the author mentions some stories written by Sung-ling in his collection of stories entitled Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. The stories are important because they present the everyday lives of the poor and normal people in the area and through those stories the contemporary reader can get a glimpse into the lives of the Chinese peasants in the 17th century.
Feng K’o-ts’an
Feng was a government official sent to the area to work as a magister. He was the member of an influential family but he was not rich. The author used Feng’s writings as historical documents in the book and he bases his description of the area on some of Feng’s writings. Feng served as a magister before Sung-ling and his recollections are more pragmatically and realistically than Sung-ling’s who often mixes historical facts with fictional ones.
The poor couple
In the first part of the book entitled The Observers, the author mentions a poor couple living in a poor area in China. The couple was so poor that the husband was willing to sell his wife to save her from starving and to save himself. This has the purpose of showing just how hard life was for the normal people and how many problems they had to face.
The merchant
The merchant is another character who appears in the first part. He is the one to whom the poor couple goes to try and get some money. The merchant refuses to buy the wife but reveals that he already bought ten other women from other poor people.
bought
Liu was a government official who gave the poor couple enough money so they could leave the area where they were staying. He meet with them while the husband was trying to sell his wife to the merchant.
Li Hsien-yu
A person mentioned in the first part. He was affected by the earthquake that took place in 1668. He survived but he lost all his possessions in the process.
Kao Te-mou
He is another person mentioned in the first part. He used to live in a house with almost other 30 people but only he, one son and a daughter survived.
Wang Ying
A veteran soldier mentioned in the first part. He was one of the people who fought against bandits in T’an-ch’eng in the period following the fall of Peking.
Woman P’eng
Woman P’eng is mentioned in the third part and is the first woman mentioned in the story. She remained a widow in 1669 when her husband died of an illness. He left her some money and an ox and some property. She raised their son, Lien, on her own.
Woman Li
Woman Li was another widow who had to raise on her own two sons. Both of them became government officials even if they did not came from a rich family.
Woman Liu
Woman Liu is another woman mentioned in the third part. She remained a widow at the age of 25 without any children and thus she adopted one of her late husband’s nephews to continue to line.
Woman Tu
Woman Tu is another widow mentioned. Apart from raising her own sons, Woman Tu also took care of her nephews and nieces after her husband’s siblings were all killed by the Manchus.
Woman T’ien
Woman T’ien is another woman who remained a widow at the age of 19 while she was pregnant. She raised her son on her own and he became a successful man.
Woman Fan
Woman Fan is mentioned by the author as becoming a widow at a young age and then raising her son, her orphan grandson and two step-sons her husband had from another marriage. All the boys grew up to become successful candidates in the local examinations.
Hsi-liu
Hsi-liu is a fictional woman from one of Sung-ling’s stories. She is described as being a good woman, intelligent who married a good man who took care of her until she died. After he died, Hsi-liu took care of the household and of the family business just like a man would do and raised her son and her step-son to become successful people. Hsi-liu is described at times as being a cruel woman because of the way she chooses to deal with problems when her children misbehave but her actions are the result of the love she has for the two. And the end of the story the children admit that they would have probably not became successful if their mother would have not acted in the way she did.
Kao
Kao was Hsi-liu’s husband. He was a scholar who was attracted by Hsi-Liu because of her good character. After marrying her, Kao allowed her to run the household and even become involved in family business affairs. Kao had another child from a previous marriage and one with Hsi-liu. The two were married for five years before Kao suddenly died.
Ch’ang-fu
Ch’ang-fu is Kao’s son from his first marriage. Ch’ang-fu is five years old when his father remarries and he becomes close to his step-mother. Kao did everything he could so Ch’ang-fu could get a good education but after Kao died his son lost all his interest in learning. His mother made him go and take care of the pigs and in time he realized what he must start learning once more. After that, he behaved impeccably, always listening to his mother and making sure she is happy about his behavior.
Chang-hu
Chang-hu was Kao’s son with Hsi-liu. In comparison with his half-brother, Chang-hu was not as gifted when it came to learning so his mother stopped paying for his education and tried to make him a merchant instead. Chang-hu was more interested in partying than earning money so his mother put up a plan to make him understand the value of money and hard work. He eventually reformed just like his brother did and he changed his life for the better.
Woman Wu
Woman Wu is another woman from the third part whose husband died. She is pressured into remarrying but she refuses and decides instead to cut her hair and disfigure her face.
Woman An
An is another young widow. Her husband died only after a few months of marriage and she decided to kill herself. She first tried to throw herself into a fire and then strangled herself. She was 19 years when she decided to take her own life.
Woman Kao
She is another widow mentioned in the third part. She disfigured her face after her husband died to avoid being remarried and she raised her son on her own.
Ts’ui Meng
Ts’ui Meng is the main character of the story that appears in the fourth part. Ts’ui Meng is described as being a brave man who cannot bear to see any form of injustice. Because of this, he sometimes behaves in a cruel and violent manner, to save his fellow villagers from pain. Ts’ui Meng spends some time in prison after killing a man and a woman and after he gets out he tries to change his ways. He manages to do it to some extent after his mother dies even though he struggles at times to control himself.
Ts’ui Meng’s mother
Ts’ui Meng’s mother appears in the character named The Feud. Meng’s mother is a woman who is gentle and caring who remained a widow at a young age. She took care of Meng on her own and is the only person who can control Meng and his rage. After she dies, Meng confesses to his murders because he knew that his mother would have wanted him to do the right thing. Meng’s mother continued to influence her son after she died and he would always remember about her when he would feel out of control.
Chou
Chou was the name given to Meng’s wife. She is described as being loyal to her husband and as wanting to always look after him and care for him. She appears in the fourth part called The Feud.
Woman Wang
Woman Wang appears in the fifth story and in the epilogue. The author talks about her and she was a real person. Woman Wang is a name given to a woman who ran away from her husband. It is unclear whether how she and her husband got married but from the beginning the two are not happy. Woman Wang leaves her husband for another man but she is left in return by her lover. She returns to her husband and she is eventually killed by him and then left to rot in the forest. She is eventually buried but the man who killed her does not receive the capital punishment.
Jen
Jen is the name given to Woman Wang’s husband. He is a poor man who is left by his wife. He eventually finds her seeking refuge in a monastery. He eventually takes his wife back but he ends up killing her. Jen plans to blame Kao, the priest who sheltered Woman Wang but he is found guilty either way and punished for his deeds. He appears both in the epilogue and in the fifth part.
Kao
Kao is the man who takes care of Woman Wang after she returns home. He is blamed by Jen for killing Woman Wang but he is let free. He is however told he must pay for Women Wang’s funeral because he hit her husband when he came to take her from the monastery.
Ts’ao
Ts’ao is Kao’s wife. She is imprisoned alongside him when Kao is accused of killing Jen.
Jen’s father
Jen’s father appears both in the fifth part and in the epilogue. He is the one who encouraged Jen to take Woman Wang back. He is imprisoned with Jen when he is accused of killing Woman Wang but he is released when it is discovered he had nothing to do with it.
Woman Wang’s lover
The lover appears only for a few pages and is the man with whom Woman Wang runs away with. He ends up leaving her on the road to a safer place.
Liang Yu-ts’ai
Liang is a poor man who feels attracted to a young woman with whom he meets at a religious celebration. He convinces the girl’s mother to let the two marry and then after they are married he steals everything of value from his new life and gambles everything. He even tries to sell his own life when he runs out of money but before he can do it he finds how his wife is a mythical being and she disappears without a trace. He dies alone and poor soon after that.
Ts’ui-hsien
Ts’ui is the woman with whom Liang gets married two. She tries to convince her mother not to marry her to him but she is not listened to and thus is forced to marry a man she does not love. Eventually she returns home after her husband tries to sell her to be a concubine or a prostitute.
Ts’ui-hsien’s mother
The mother appears briefly in the fifth part when she agrees to let her daughter marry Liang and then later when Ts’ui returns home when her husband wants to sell her.
