Moon Over the Blue Jar

The old ceramic vat in The Moon Over the Blue Vat holds half a lifetime of moonlight, along with all of Lin Xi’s longing and despair.

She waited for the tender smile that would greet her beneath the red wedding candles on their wedding night. She waited for her husband’s promise, “Wait for me to come back,” amid the flames of war. From strands of black hair to a head of white, she endured hardship until it left calluses on her palms. But when the familiar figure returned with an unfamiliar wife and children, all her years of devotion came to nothing.

Moonlight spills over the blue vat like a layer of cold frost, reflecting her haggard face and a lifetime of wandering and hardship. Old Shi’s quiet, steadfast protection and Niannian’s innocent, hopeful waiting could not keep her from making the resolute leap into the vat. Every line aches with the pain of everyday life, and every scene holds the helplessness of years gone by. Only at the end do you understand: some people’s waiting had its ending written from the very beginning. And the moon beside the blue vat will forever shine on the regret left unspoken.