Respond to one of the following questions by commenting on this post. You may also feel free to respond to comments posted by your classmates!
-What’s the connection between the broad historical material about the Ming Dynasty that begins the story and the narrative about Du Tenth and Li Jia’s relationship that follows?
-What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
-How are courtesans represented in the story? Why do you think Feng Menglong chooses to depict them this way?
-Money plays a central role in the story. What does “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seem to be saying about the relationship between money and love?
-Feng Menglong was interested in using literature to teach morality. What lesson is being imparted by this text?
What “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seem to be saying about the relationship between money and love is that you can not have both. You must give up one of them in order to obtain the other. In Du Tenth’s case, she was willing to give up money and stay penniless to be by Li Jia’s side. Despite her knowing that Li Jia no longer had any money, she chose her love for him over his money (or lack thereof). On the other hand, we see that in Li Jia’s case, he ended up choosing money over love. When faced with the opportunity to get a thousand taels, he was willing to leave Du Tenth behind. His fear of his father and his desire to restore his position within his family led Li to give up on his future with Du, on everything they endured together as lovers, to get some money. As seen in both instances, money and love were at two completely different pathways that never crossed. By going down one pathway, you have to give up on the other.
“Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seems to be saying that in regards to the relationship between money and love, you must sacrifice one for the other. Du Tenth was ok with sacrificing money for love when having to choose whether or not to stay Li Jia when he barely had money. On the contrary, Li Jia sacrificed love for money when he was ok with giving away Du Tenth to Sun Fu in order to not to be a disappointment in his family. One thing can be gained, but another can be lost.
But does Du Tenth end up with love? She does give up her riches at the end of the story together with any hope of finding real love. I’m not sure the either/or proposition really works out in this story.
In this reading, one of the main protagonists is named Li Jia. From the beginning, he is represented as someone who is driven and controlled by his desires, which in turn is the reason why he is so obsessed with du tenth. This love stems from his obsessive and frequent visits to the pleasure chamber where the prostitutes reside. as a relationship develops between Li Jia and Du Tenth, the author highlights Li Jia as a superficial person who mainly uses money unwisely and to please himself and his new companion. It is obvious that for Li Jia money has a strong connection to love and he feels that he can buy his love for du tenth by spending fortunes on her. Money has always been an obstacle for him and this was demonstrated from the beginning when he thought the money was a better alternative than trying to repair his broken relationship with his father. Ultimately, at the end of the story, he once again chooses money and from this, he loses the love of his life. This completely encapsulates the struggles he has with money throughout the whole story.
But is Du Tenth really “the love of his life”? Also remember that their relationship begins as that of client and courtesan.
The reading “Du Tenth Sinks The Jewel Box in Anger “explains how there is no balance between money and love. For example, throughout the story, we see the relationship between Li Jia and Du Tenth separate because of money and love. Even though the reasoning for Li Jia leaving Du Tenth for money showed what mindset of Lia Jia is in, it also goes further on the idea of money over love. Another example we can point to regarding money and love is how in this reading Li Jia was influenced by Sun Fu. Li Jia talks to Sun Fu and this is a turning point for Lia Jia because when Sun Fu talks about how he had fifty taels of silver left, this is where Lia Jia becomes more of a paranoid person. This is because Sun Fu explains to Li Jia if he runs out of the fifty taels of silver he has left, he will have nowhere else to turn. This statement was a huge turning point for Li Jia and resulted from him leaving love (Du Tenth) for money. In the end his mindset was he could only have one thing and give up the other.
Interesting – in the world of this story, what would a “balance” between love and money look like?
What the story “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” seems to be saying about the relationship between money and love is that people can’t have both and must sacrifice one for the other. In the story, money is equally as important as love, but there is never a balance. It is up to the person on what they deem to be more important. In the relationship between Du Tenth and Li Jia, Du Tenth chose love and gave up everything for Li Jia while knowing he had no money. Li Jia at first also chose love. He recklessly wasted all his money and sold his clothes just so he can be with her. However, as soon as she was free to be with him, he was constantly worried about his future, family, and life without money. When an offer by Sun Fu came along offering Li Jia a thousand teals for Du Tenth, Li Jia had to choose what he deemed as more important in his life. In the end, he was willing to trade despite all the hardships they already faced. When Li Jia chose to accept the offer, he gained money but lost his love. That goes to show he would’ve had one or the other, not both. There is never a balance between money and love.
What does Du Tenth actually give up for love? After all, hasn’t she wanted to escape prostitution for a long time?
What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
Li Jia is a well-educated, gentle, and successful young man. Yet, he is also indecisive, when facing big time decisions, he could never make a decision; in fact, none of the decision was made by Li Jia. The reason why Li Jia and Du Tenth are married is because of Du Tenth’s proposal. When he needed three hundred taels of silver, he couldn’t even gather a single tael of silver. Additionally, their trip back to Li Jia’s home, Li Jia was using Du Tenth and her sisters’ money the whole time. Li Jia’s friend, Liu Yuchun, believed that it was an “old brothel trick” to kicked Li Jia away when Li Jia told him that the madam only wants three hundred taels of silver and Du Tenth doesn’t want him. He didn’t disagree with Liu Yuchun, but instead, he agreed with Liu Yuchun. When Sun Fu offered Li Jia a deal to exchange money for Du Tenth, Li Jia didn’t even have a second thought. His behavior doesn’t come as a surprise because throughout the story, we could tell that Li Jia can’t make decisions himself and he couldn’t see how much does Du Tenth loves him.
Based on how Li Jia is portrayed throughout the entire story, I am not surprised by the way he behaves at the end. Li Jia is a naive person who constantly thinks about spending money. In addition to that, Li Jia is someone who is scared of his own father and how his father would react to his decisions. When Sun Fu tells Li Jia to give Du Tenth to him in exchange for a thousand taels, and to not anger his father any further, Li Jia takes this offer, without thinking much about Du Tenth, because it satisfies his need for money and it would please his dad. The fact that he was willing to “sell” Du Tenth for a thousand taels also aligns with Li Jia’s character because it seemed like he did not respect her. In the beginning, Li Jia is embarrassed at the thought of possibly telling his father that he is with her and has even mentioned how she was “unworthy”. That fact that he was also willing to let her go with a random guy despite knowing how much Du Tenth loved him shows his lack of respect for both her and her love for him. Based on his character, Li Jia’s decision to follow through with Sun Fu’s plan was not surprising at all.
-Feng Menglong was interested in using literature to teach morality. What lesson is being imparted by this text?
I believe the lesson being imparted in the text is that we are all humans, whether you have a high position or are a prostitute like Du Tenth, and what determines who you are as a person is not the position you were born in, but the actions and choices you make. Li Jia was irresponsible from the beginning, spending all of his father’s money. Du Tenth carefully saved what she made. She was always faithful and was by Li Jia’s side, and was willing to help him. Li Jia in turn decided to turn his back on Du Tenth at the end of the story and was willing to sell her Sun Fu and was scared to face his father’s wrath. He is a coward, and was punished by losing Du Tenth, the one person who would always be by his side at the end. Sun Fu was also punished as he wasn’t able to steal Du Tenth from Li Jia because she killed herself in the end. I think it shows how everyone deserves respect, and we shouldn’t assume people’s worth just by the position they have in society.
The story “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” summarizes the relationship between love and money. Throughout the story, we see that Du Tenth fell in love with a master named Li Jai, who used to love to be with him. But, Li Jai used the money to get respect and impress his family. Not only that, he was trying to make as much money as he can to love Du Tenth, who did not care about how much money he was making. He was obsessed with money that he used it for himself to buy Du Tenth’s love. Du Tenth and Li Jai were married, and she was helping him make three hundred taels of silver to impress the madam. Then, Li Jai met up with his friend Sun Fu to sell Du Tenth to make thousands of money. After that, Du Tenth sacrificed herself for Li Jai after he made lots of money. It proves that Li Jai used her to make as much money and did not care about their relationship. The article explains that the relationship between money and love is that you cannot buy love with money because it is a feeling in your heart.
Throughout the story Li Jia always acted childish, always thinking about himself and not about how his actions might affect others. For example, when he was out trying to come up with the rest of the three hundred taels and no one was willing to help him out, he thought of abandoning Du Tenth since he was too embarrassed to face her. He never wanted to go back if he couldn’t get the money, so he was a coward and hid in Liu Yuchun’s quarters. Li Jia can be very easily manipulated. For example, when Sun Fu made it seem as he was helping Li Jia by giving, he a thousand taels in exchange for Du Tenth. Sun Fu made it seem that if Li Jia accepted this offer, then his father will not be in rage anymore and can trying to fix his relationship with his father. He acted like a coward when he accepted Sun Fu offer to take Du Tenth off his hands for a thousand taels despite all the hardships he and Du Tenth endured together. He was willing to give that up to be back in his father good grace. So, I wasn’t surprised of his behavior at the end of the story.
What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
As of what I have read, I think Li Jia can be a selfish person spending all of his fathers money. Li Jia was afraid of his stubborn father not accepting them and wanted to maintain his great fortune and status in his family. Li Jia was manipulated a lot. Towards the end of the story Li Jias’ behavior didn’t come up as a surprise to me because all along in his best interests he wanted to have a good relationship with his father. In doing so, he did all that he can.
What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
I would consider Li Jia as a selfish and coward person throughout the story because he only thinks about himself and not others. He didn’t care how he spent his money when he met Du Tenth because it was his father’s money and he was going to disappear and leave Du Tenth to her luck after no one wanted to give him money and he didn’t want to work for it. I am not surprised of the outcome of the story because Li Jia never understood the value of money and how hard someone could work for it because he was born into a family of wealth who gave him everything. Which is why I think he betrayed Du and spent all the money for himself and didn’t stop to think about what would happen to her if he did.
In this short story, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger”, Feng Menglong depicted the courtesans or specifically describe Du Tenth as a person with low status in the society and didn’t have a respectable background unlike Li Jia or Sun Fu. But despite this negative persecution Menglong describes her personality or what on the inside as intelligent, brave, and extremely loyal to her lover. Menglong depicted her this way to contrast the upbringing of Li Jia and Sun Fu and how the difference of the upbringing affects what they value the most in life.
So that would be a critique of the values of the upper classes, wouldn’t it?
The relationship between money and love s limited. The theme of the story is wealth and money cannot buy everything but everything has a price. In the story, there is a quote that says, “friendship based on profit grows cold when profit runs dry“ which adds to the theme tied to the young master, who is only satisfied when he has plentiful riches. When he tells his plan to Du Tenth, drawer by drawer she tossed every treasure she saved into the river. Young master Li was blinded by money so this blinded him to the treasure he had in front of him. Du Tenth tightly held onto her treasured box and plummeted to the bottom of the river. There was no real value of any of it once her lover betrayed her. Master Li is alone in his boat looking at his 1000 pieces of silver. In the end, his shame and guilt drives him insane.
-What kind of person is Li Jia? Does his behavior at the end of the story come as a surprise? Why or why not?
Li Jia doesn’t know the value of things. He is irresponsible and immature. He doesn’t have experienced and he is greedy. because his father is always help to him.
So he gets frustrated because he can’t have everything in the last of story.