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Plot Summary

The book is divided into five interconnected stories. In the first story, "No Name Woman", Kingston's narrator describes the suicide of her aunt, as told by her mother, after she gave birth to an illegitimate child. The narrator is warned to never again speak of her un-named aunt, but still creates a more sympathetic history for her in her memoir. In the second story, "White Tigers", the narrator creates a fantastic allegory to describe her childhood. She imagines herself as a version of the legendary Chinese woman warrior, Fa Mu Lan, who, having learned the warrior's arts from an elderly couple who are hundreds of years old, raises an army and overthrows the corrupt government. After her battles, she takes up the traditional woman's roles of mother and wife. In "Shaman", the third story, the narrator describes her mother's experience in Chinese medical school. Mixing fantasy and autobiography, she details her mother's physical and mental battles with spirits and ghosts. In the fourth chapter, "At the Western Palace", she describes her aunt Moon Orchid's mental breakdown after she emigrates to the United States from China in order to find her estranged husband. In the final story, "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe", she describes her childhood experiences in the California public school system, and her parents' attitudes toward her. She closes the book with a reinterpretation of the story of early third century Chinese poet Ts'ai Yen, who, like the narrator, had to learn to sing in a foreign tongue.

No Name Woman

The first chapter, “No Name Woman,” begins with a talk-story told by the narrator’s mother about her sister-in-law’s suicide. The woman, the narrator’s aunt, had married a man who left for the Gold Mountain in California to bring fortune to the family. In 1924, such a practice was common, and many men in the narrator’s family left at the same time. Long after the husband left, the narrator’s aunt became pregnant. The village, suspecting adultery, shunned her throughout her pregnancy, and on the night of the birth, raided her house: valuables were stolen, livestock killed, and eggs and rocks thrown at the family. During the raid, the aunt gave birth in a pigsty before drowning herself and her bastard child. The narrator’s mother does not give the aunt a name, tells the narrator she never existed and to never mention her again. The story was told only to warn the narrator against promiscuity. The narrator, however, tells her own version of the talk-story afterward, filling in the holes in her mother’s account. She provides a plethora of sympathetic reasons for all the aunt’s actions: perhaps she was raped, or perhaps she simply missed the love of a man and vied very secretly for affection. The narrator even justifies her suicide by saying that the aunt drowned herself and her child to prevent their banishment from the family and society. She did not want for her daughter the same fate as she would suffer.

White Tigers

In White Tigers, we are told a talk story about a young lady, Fa Mu Lan, who becomes a woman warrior. In this tale, girls are shown that they could be more than wives, instead they could be heroines and swordswomen. It is not certain where the story leaves off and reality begins, but it is apparent that this tale shows young women another lifestyle they could acquire. Fa Mu Lan was given to an old couple at a young age to train to become a strong fighter. During her preparation, she trained to fight the barbarians, avenge her village, control her breathing, fake her body, leap high, and other strategic moves. One day the old couple put her through a test. They left her on top of a mountain named White Tiger, blind folded her, and told her to run. She was alone, collecting wood and nuts trying to survive. While in the woods, she became resourceful creating meals from fungus, nuts, and roots. She later encountered tigers and learned to copy their movement, such as, to stalk prey and crave blood. Her mission was completed and she returned home with the elderly couple to continue training. The next training session would be the dragon test, which requires adult wisdom. As she conversed with the couple, she was able to look in an object and see her family. In this object, she saw bandits taking advantage of the village and the men in her family being called to war. Fa Mu Lan grew upset and decided that she will continue training, so she can take her father’s place. Once training was finished, she returned home to her family and received a warm welcoming. That night, her parents carved in her back revenge, so she will know her purpose and their enemies will know who was retaliating. The day came for Fa Mu Lan to go off to war, the families in the village decided to give their sons to her, so she could create an army. The first opponent they encountered was the giant. Fa Mu Lan was able to cut off the giant’s leg with one sword swipe than cut off his head. Following the attack, the giant turned into his true form, a snake. After witnessing the transformation of their leader, the giant’s army pledged allegiance to Fa Mu Lan. For the duration of the traveling, Fa Mu Lan never saw her husband until finally they reunited. Not too long after they reunited, Fa Mu Lan became pregnant. Before she could return home, she had one mission to accomplish and that was to kill the emperor. She eventually had her time and was victorious, she beheaded the emperor and cleaned out the palace. The country was then able to start a new order. After encountering several important fights, such as cutting off the head of a corrupted baron or rescuing three female babies who would later become swordswomen, she went home to turn her armor in and fulfill her duties as a wife. After telling this story, the narrator transitions into the present tense. The narrator goes on to discuss her failed life, including prejudicial jobs and her inability to stand up for herself. Also, she touches on the conditions in China and the differences between there and the United States. Matters that arose in the conversation about the differences between the two nations included: in China girls who ate up food and threw tantrums were sold, there was no profit in raising girls, and there was a clear superiority of males over females. Kingston shows hostility towards these practices. Moreover, communism was spreading in the land. The narrator’s family received a letter from China retelling the horror in the land, ranging from rampant poverty, executions, and an increase in beggars. The family in China requested money, so they may get out of their situation. The chapter concludes with the narrator’s family upset and sadden by the situation in China.

Shaman

In “Shaman,” the third chapter, the narrator tells the story of her mother in China while her father was in America. During this time, her mother receives her medical diploma from China. The mother keeps her diploma in a metal tube, which her family mailed to her in 1950. The diploma shows the mother’s proficiency in Midwifery, Pediatrics, Gynecology, “Medecine,” “Surgary”, Therapeutics, Ophthalmology, Bacteriology, Dermatology, Nursing, and Bandage. A total of eight stamps and seals adorn the documents. Included in this can is a photograph of the narrator’s mother, which states that the mother was 27 years of age, when in reality she was 37 years of age at the time. In looking at the photo of the mother’s graduation class, the author notices that the mother, unsmiling and practical, has been that way her entire life. While the father is away, he sends money with photos taken in America. He has pictures sent of him in Coney Island and Central Park, wearing American clothing. Since the mother’s two children had died at a young age, the narrator’s mother does not have anything else to spend the money on except her. After buying herself nice clothes, she decides to use that money to put herself through school to become a doctor. At the To Keung School of Midwifery, the mother sees a different lifestyle for women. Free from domestic and maternal responsibilities for two years, the mother devotes herself to her new life as a “Lady Scholar”, but laments the fact that no slaves or nieces will wait on her. Soon after telling how the narrator’s mother became acquainted with her living space, her name is finally revealed: Brave Orchid. Brave Orchid divulges that there are two different types of places to study: dining hall rooms, and one’s own room. Brave Orchid acquires a reputation as a scholar and being intelligent. Because Brave Orchid is a generation older than her peers, she secretly studies day and night to stay ahead. However, she wishes to appear “favored by the gods”, and studies in the haunted room to avoid being caught in her extra studies. According to Brave Orchid, ghosts are only nightmares. One night, she decides to sleep in the ghost room to show her peers that she is unafraid of spirits. Her peers try to give her lucky charms, but instead she takes a knife for protection. While in the room, she begins to hear strange noises coming from under the bed. Out of nowhere, a hairy, shapeless creature climbs onto her body and holds her down. She refers to the creature as a "Sitting Ghost." She threatens to eliminate it from the school with the help of her classmates. After denouncing the creature’s hold over her and refusing to let it sap her life force, the mother simply ignores the creature until morning approaches. The next day the mother and her peers enter the room again carrying supplies that will get rid of the ghost. The women light oil and sing chants to banish the “Sitting Ghost”, and burn a piece of bleeding wood they find beneath the bed. The fumes smell as if it was a dead corpse. It is presumed that this object is the ghost and Brave Orchid is the person who finally got rid of it. After graduating, Brave Orchid returns to her village. She begins to practice medicine there and becomes quite popular, seeing cases such as a child without an anus and an ape man. In 1939, Brave Orchid’s husband has enough money to send for her. During that period, the Japanese have taken over much of their land and Brave Orchid is forced into a refugee camp, where she creates a hospital in a cave. Brave Orchid leaves in the winter of 1939 and arrives in New York in 1940. Soon after arriving, Brave Orchid gives birth to Kingston during World War II. The story then transitions into present day. Her mother feels the distance between her children and herself. Brave Orchid begins to tell Kingston how her absence has affected her. One year has passed without one visit. She then goes on to say how she could die any day now. As the two converse about life, Brave Orchid tells Kingston about her recent sell of land in China. Although they had always been attached to China and desired to go back, they no longer have that safety because the last plot of land was taken over. Now that Brave Orchid realizes her only home is in America, she desires her family to come together again. All six children have grown up and created their own lives, but Brave Orchid gets so much happiness when they are all together. The two finally conclude the conversation and fall asleep. The mother refers to Kingston as “Little Dog”, an endearing title, which she has not used in years.

At the Western Palace

In the fourth chapter, “At the Western Palace,” Kingston writes about her mother, Brave Orchid, and her sister, Moon Orchid, who is moving to America from Hong Kong. When the sisters finally meet after thirty long years, they are both surprised at how old the other looks. Moon Orchid thinks her sister’s children are rude and untraditional, and she has trouble fitting into her new environment. Brave Orchid’s purpose for bringing Moon to America is to reunite her with her estranged husband, who has not asked her to join him in America in all the years that he’s been gone. Brave tries to get her sister to go see him, but she declines. Moon Orchid’s main objection is one deeply rooted in Chinese tradition; since her husband continued to send her money and pay for their daughter’s education and expenses, she believes that he is being faithful to his duties. Finally, Moon makes the trip with Brave and Brave’s son to go see her husband. When they arrive, much to her son’s humiliation, Brave Orchid makes Moon feign a broken leg to lure her husband, a doctor, out of his office. Both Brave and Moon are shocked at how young Moon’s husband appears. When the doctor is informed of his relation to these women, he is cold and tells her that he now has a new wife (his receptionist) and a transformed life--one that she cannot be a part of. This unwanted meeting seriously impacts Moon Orchid’s mental health as she has a paranoid breakdown shortly thereafter. She won’t talk on the phone for fear of “Mexican ghosts” tracking and killing her. Eventually, Brave Orchid accepts her sister’s madness and takes her to a mental asylum, where she is very happy because “no one ever leaves.” It is here that Moon Orchid passes away.

A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe

In “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe,” Kingston writes about how Brave Orchid, her mother, cut her tongue as a child. Apparently, her mother told her that she cut her frenum to prevent her from becoming tongue-tied and so that she may speak in any language. However, Kingston also explains that the “Chinese say, ‘A ready tongue is an evil,’” and expresses her dissatisfaction with the outcome by giving an account of her childhood experiences. In describing her shyness in school, she tells us about another silent Chinese girl in her class, whom she despises. This hatred is fueled in part because she identifies with this girl; through her, she understands what others may see her like, and this scares her. This anger escalates until one day when she is alone with the girl, she begins to scream at her, demanding that she talk. Her anger intensifies and she begins to grab her, squeeze her face, and pull her hair repeatedly, while the girl is silently sobbing. After the girl’s older sister comes to her rescue, Kingston is bedridden with a mysterious illness for eighteen months. This illness appears mental because when her mother commands her to get up and stop all this, she obeys. Kingston blames the ghosts and the “secrecy of the Chinese” for her silence. She describes the madness of various people in the community, including a “mentally retarded boy” who becomes infatuated with her. Her parents, unsure of what to do with her, allows the young man to come visit her at the family laundry business and one day Kingston explodes; blaming her mom for her difficulties with speech and accusing her of deceiving and confusing her. Throughout “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”, Kingston plays with the notion of her own madness. After realizing that her sister does not “talk to people that aren’t real inside [her] mind” like she does, Kingston struggles with the appearance of normality. Hoping to rid herself of her secrets, she compiles a list of over two hundred things to tell her mother in a nightly Catholic confession. The mother refuses to listen to Kingston’s “craziness” and later calls her daughter ‘Ho Chi Kuei,’ which could mean ‘bastard carp,’ ‘casket sacrifice,’ ‘centipede,’ ‘grub,’ ‘chirping insect,’ ‘jujube tree,’ ‘water lily,’ ‘pied wagtail,’ ‘grain sieve,’ ‘non-eater,’ ‘good frying,’ ‘dustpan-and-broom,’ or ‘Good Foundation Ghost.’ Kingston ends with a story that begins as her mother’s story and then becomes her own, where a Chinese poet named Ts’ai Yen, similar to the narrator, has to learn to sing in a foreign tongue. After living with the Southern Hsiung-nu for many years, Ts’ai Yen returns and brings back songs such as “Eighteen Stanzas for a Barbarian Reed Pipe,” which Chinese “sing to their own instruments.”