An-mei Hsu and her mother

Conflict-

Due to popo’s influence from young
à “To say her name is to spit on your father’s grave”

Her impression of her mother was bad
à “I felt unlucky that she was my mother”

She yearns to acknowledge her mother but due to Popo’s warnings, she was inhibited.
à “My heart felt like crickets scratching to get out of a cage.”

Bond & Relation

The both have them have a very strong affinity for each other and the link between them is extremely strong and intense
à “ She cried with a wailing voice that was so sad. And then I remembered the dream with my mother’s voice”

An-Mei lived for the love she has for her mother
à “Even your mother has used up her tears and left. If you do not get well soon, she will forget you.”
à “I came hurrying back from the other world to find my mother”

An-Mei could feel for her mother-a sign that their relationship is extremely strong.
à “But I knew she was my mother because I could feel her pain”
à “She did not need to explain that Popo chased her out of the house when I was dying...I knew this as well”

There was an extreme resemblance between An-Mei and her mother—Just like how her mother passed physical features to her, strength was passed down as well.
à “And when she did, I saw my own face looking back at me”
à “I wanted to touch her face, the one that looked like mine”

An-mei chose to leva with her mother despite Popo’s condemnation.
à “Throwing your life away… never lifting your head again”

Influence

An-mei learns the importance of shou from her mother, especially when her mother displayed it.
à Her mother was willing to suffer the pain “to try to cure Popo”.
à “This is how a daughter honours her mother. It is the shou so deep. The pain of the flesh is nothing.”



Her mother teaches her to be strong
à “it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone elses’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears”

An-Mei, from her mother, learnt the reality of life, Appearance vs. Reality and learnt not to be deceived by appearances.
à “How easy it is to lose myself to something false”

An-mei’s mother sacrificed herself to pass on the strength to An-Mei and gave An-Mei the power of her voice which later accessed An-mei to gain what she wanted.
à “She would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one”

Similarities

Both of them are strong-willed. Anmei’s mother kept her dignity despite the shameful past.
à “He promised to revere her as if she had been First Wife, his only wife.”
An-Mei revealed her strong will through the Bing incident
à “There’s a section called ‘Deaths”, and that’s where she wrote ‘Bing Hsu’ lightly, in erasable pencil.”

Both of them show great love and affection for their children. While Anmei’s mother died for her, An-Mei constantly gave Rose advice on how to salvage their relationship.