–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.
–What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu? Why do you think so much of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?
–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
Weifu reburying his little brother, despite nothing/no one being there is significant, because it shows that in his older years, things for him came full circle. Weifu’s mother was very distraught over the idea of his younger brother’s burial site being swamped over. Considering how he described how he was when he was younger, the idea of putting his mom’s mind at rest wouldn’t be a priority. He is even somewhat surprised by this, when he says “Do you blame me for being so changed?..But now I am like this, willing to let things slide and to compromise. Sometimes I think: ‘If my old friends were to see me now, probably they would no longer acknowledge me as a friend.’ But this is what I am like now”. Its kind of interesting to watch him become, and even admit to becoming the type of person he was against when he was younger. I think this is so significant, because a lot of the times, when the places we call home changes, there are some traditions/ways of life that stay, and maybe the fact they stay may show that there was nothing wrong with them at all.
–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
The significance of Weifu recalling that he and the narrator used to pull the beards off of religious statues is that this lets us know how much they have changed since their youth. In the same passage Weifu says “all day long we used to discuss methods of revolutionizing China until we even came to blows. But now I am like this, willing to let things slide and to compromise.” In their youth Weifu and the narrator probably dreamt of causing significant change in their adult lives. At the time of their coming to age China was being revolutionized and new subjects other than Confucianism were being taught and learned. By the time we get to this point in the story Weifu is teaching Confucianism. They rebelled in their youth, where now as adults they have had to realize that life will force you to compromise and to keep moving forward this is necessary. With youth comes hope and an audacity that as an adult that has had to live and operate in society one may not want or have it in them anymore.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
Weifu reburying his brother says a lot about who he is, and is an example of filial piety. This is a respect for ones elders, particularly those who raised you. He is doing this because his mother asked him to, so he has no choice. This was a common thing in China. Weifu would not have done this otherwise. He still buried the empty coffin, despite the body being decomposed, just to fulfill these wishes.
Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
I think that this event shows the rebellion of Weifu and the narrator in their youth. On my opinion this memory shows huge disrespect towards the statues. Maybe it was just the age that was making them act in this way, but I think that it’s most likely that this was a sign of rebellion against religion.
On the other side, the memory might also be just the narrator and Weifu recalling their past actions when they were younger and they are regretting what they have done.
Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
I believe that the significance of this memory is the point out the fact that they were rebellious early in their childhood and that even at that age they were against the societal norms. This memory also goes to show that they were targeting religious figure because religious and cultural institutions in China and how they wanted to challenge religion as a whole because of how common and how much of a norm it was in china at the time.
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
An instance of filial piety in the story is when Wei-fu tries to deliver flowers to Ah Shun only to be informed that she has passed. Similar to when his mother asked him to rebury his brother and was met with an empty coffin, Wei-fu continued with his tasks and lied to his mother about giving Ah Shun the flowers and reburying his little brother. I think these two are examples of filial piety because Wei-fu obeys his mother’s request despite the inconveniences he is met during both times and lies to please his mother. These lies aren’t made with ill intentions, but a sign of respect and not wanting to disobey his mother’s tasks.
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
Instances of filial piety would be when Weifu goes to rebury his brother that died when the burial site had the swamped over and he does this because his mother was upset about it and when go goes there he finds the coffin empty the brother was already decomposed and gone completely but he still goes and burys the empty coffin next to their father’s burial. This also happens when he is told to give flowers to the neighbour’s daughter An Shun but she had passed he still said it was done. This shows his virtue as a person and shows how he treats his parents as even though both of these tasks were pointless if you think about it he still does it to show his respect and love to his mother.
–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.
the meaning that this “revisitation” has about the story’s theme, from my point of view, I saw it as a saying that says “What Goes Around… Comes Around”. The protagonist leaves the country where he grew up and when he returns there he finds himself like a fish out of water, he no longer recognizes his place, and this is due to his new way of seeing things, where in the time spent away from home he has developed more reflective thoughts regarding culture and revolutionary ideas. As mentioned above, this circle where everything that goes comes back is the general topic of the entire text, where even if life offers many opportunities beyond the comfort of consciousness, we will always return to where we were happy.
Hi Joan, that’s a really interesting way to look at it. We see that the town wasn’t the only thing that changed, as you said, the narrator himself has changed a lot due to his experiences, and the same could be said for Wei-fu. Wei-fu also gave a great analogy of the bee flying in a circle and how they’re in that same exact situation. However, by the time they flew back, everything was already so different, and they’ve also grown up. Coming back to this town has given them the opportunity to really reflect on themselves and the lives they’ve led. And even if they were to fly off again, there’s always the possibility of flying back once more, with a whole new set of feelings and emotions.
The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.
The importance of Weifu revisiting the place where he once lived shows us the impact of change and how change can make someone feel like a total stranger in a place they once use to live. For example, when Weifu was sitting in the bar he felt like he didn’t belong there and he could barely recognize his previous home village. Weifu also begins to reminisce about his old rebellious self which is something he didn’t know was gone till he came back home.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
The reburying of Weifu’s little brother was significant in the story because it represented filial piety. Filial piety was an important ideology in China where elders and parents were to be respected as they were a class above the younger person. Even though his brother was decomposed and burying him was of no use, Weifu still buried an empty coffin because it was what his mother had wanted. This represents how people like Weifu can not fulfill their full potential of freedom mainly because of how big filial piety is, and he will always be limited to doing things that are almost useless such as burying an empty coffin.