ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
In a mountain hamlet in eastern China, a poor woman faces trial after trial. First, sold into marriage as a child, she is left a young widow. Enslaved by her mother-in-law who finally sells her to a poor peasant. Although the second marriage turns out to be a happy one, fate turns against her by taking her husband and son away. Worse, she earns a reputation as a bearer of bad luck, a social outcast. When the New Year comes, can this poor woman find any hope in this society? |