Narrative
Raise the Red Lantern
妻妾成群
Su Tong · 1990
Synopsis
After the bankruptcy of her father's tea business, Songlian, a student, leaves university and becomes the fourth wife of the wealthy Chen Zuoqian. She enters a house where three women already live, Yuru, Zhuoyun and Meishan, and struggles to find her place there. Chen's eldest son, Feipu, comes back to the house, and the flute he plays draws them together. Tensions rise between the wives and the servants, and the newcomer's position grows more and more fragile.
Context
The story appeared in the last issues of 1989 of the journal Shouhuo, then in volume form in Taiwan in 1990, from Yuan-Liou; it was later reissued under the title of the film. Zhang Yimou, who had read it, asked the author for the adaptation rights; his film, released in 1991 with Gong Li as Songlian, introduced the red lanterns, which are absent from the story. Annie Au Yeung and Françoise Lemoine translated it into French for Flammarion in 1992, and Michael S. Duke into English in 1993, with two other stories.
Who it is for
A story told within closed walls in a patriarchal house; it exists in French from Flammarion, and in English.
Prizes and reception
The story also gave rise to a Taiwanese television series in 1992 and a Chinese series in 2014, according to the University of British Columbia.