Hair (Motif)
Throughout the text, hairstyles represent a woman's position in the Confucian order and, consequently, her degree of liberation or oppression. Ming-feng and the other unmarried servant girls wear their hair in a single, long braid, which shows their youth and beauty. Married women, like Chien-erh, wear their hair in a bun. Even though Mei is a widow, she still must wear her hair in a bun like a married woman. This signifies that Mei is tied to her husband even after his death.
Short hair is a controversial sign of liberation for young women. Chin and Hsu Chien-ju argue that short hair is a rational choice for women, as it is economical, hygienic, and diminishes distinctions between the sexes. However, short hair carries immense symbolic weight. Chien-ju endures stares and mockery after cutting her hair; Chin's mother forbids her from mimicking Chien-ju, because Mrs. Chang considers short hair rebellious and vulgar. Eventually, the Chengdu govrenment forbids this symbol of women's liberation, claiming that short hair is too rebellious and has the potential to incite disorder.
Still and Troubled Water (Motif)
Still and troubled waters are a motif used widely throughout the text to represent the impact of individual actions on the status quo. Characters of all backgrounds meaningfully interact with this motif. Mama Huang compares the glory days of the Kao family with clear, flowing waters and bemoans that the family is now like muddy water, corrupted and befouled.
Chueh-hui and Chueh-min attempt to throw rocks into the brook, but they miss every time they throw a rock. When Chueh-min and Chueh-hui throw the rocks, they have not yet made any meaningful contribution to the New Culture Movement or defied their family. The brothers' inability to disrupt the water represents their inability to change their family or society.
On the final day of the New Year's celebration, the younger generation goes rowing on the lake in the family compound. Briefly separated from the older generation and their petty cares, the youth enjoy perfectly still, serene waters. They are in harmony with one another and their surroundings. However, as they row closer to the compound, the waters begin to churn, foreshadowing that when they get off the boat, they will receive news that war has broken out in Chengdu.
When Ming-feng drowns herself in the lake, the waters violently churn before quickly settling, which symbolizes that Ming-feng's death causes a brief upset in the family before she is forgotten entirely.
When Chueh-hui sails away on the river to Shanghai, the water constantly flows, representing the unstoppable progress of the New Culture Movement.
Plum Blossoms (Symbol)
Throughout the text, plum blossoms symbolize romantic love. Mei's name means "plum blossom," and plum blossoms represent Mei to Chueh-hsin. Chueh-hsin fills his room with the flowers and even asks Jui-chueh to embroider a runner adorned with the image of a plum blossom. The only time Chueh-hsin and Mei exchange words is in the plum grove, where they confess that their romantic feelings have not abated despite their time apart.
Plum blossoms also take on meaning to characters other than Chueh-hsin and Mei. Chueh-hui follows the scent of plum blossoms to the grove, where he finds Ming-feng gathering plum blossoms on behalf of Chueh-min, who is falling in love with Chin.
Later, Chueh-hui vandalizes a plum tree by mashing up the plum blossoms in his hands. The scent of the flowers lingers. This vandalism foreshadows Ming-feng's death; Chueh-hui and Ming-feng's love ultimately kills her. Ming-feng's memory lingers, just like the scent of the plum blossoms.
Plays and Performances (Motif)
The characters observe several plays and performances throughout the text. Plays and performances symbolize how every person has a unique role to play in the Confucian order, and deviating from this role causes disharmony. Chueh-hsin compares himself to a puppet on his wedding day and engagement, being pulled about and manipulated by his family members. By behaving excitedly and with gratitude, as is expected of him, Chueh-hsin feels like an actor onstage.
The dragon dance is a performance organized by Uncle Ke-ting. Ke-ting hires a group of dancers to perform at the compound, where Ke-ting subjects them to physical abuse and humiliation. The dragon dance performance exemplifies how the gentry dehumanizes the lower classes, seeing the human beings as nothing more than characters for their entertainment and pleasure.
Electric Lights (Symbol)
In 1920s China, electric lights were a novel invention used primarily by the wealthy, and they were also a status symbol. The Kao family compound has many electric lights, which symbolize how new ideas expose flaws in antiquated ways of thinking.
The Kao family gathers in the main hall during the New Year to pay respects to their ancestors and gods. The hall is lit not only by the usual lamps but by a "hundred-watt electric bulb which had just been installed." The light of this bulb helps illuminate the "portraits of the Ching Dynasty ancestors." In the glow, "[e]ven the cracks in the coloured-tile floor were made visible." The electric light here shows that as the Kao family invites new ideas into their lives, the flaws in their family structure and the truth of their family history are made apparent to everyone.
When the youth return to shore after rowing on the lake, electric lights glow in the night. The youth then receive news that war is coming to Chengdu. The electric lights symbolize that the New Culture Movement and its ideas reveal resentment and discontent that culminates in violence.
