Under the Well Binding Lotus

Chu He, a child bride in the countryside of North China, was sent to the Yun family since she was a child. She endured harsh treatment and scolding every day, and was driven at will by her young husband. The long years of hard work smoothed away all her vivid temperament, and she became a numb and submissive doll. When he first met Yunzhushu, his cousin from Yunfu in Jiangnan Province, who was visiting relatives from afar at the age of six, his ignorant attachment was deep in his heart. The word "Chuhe" was a name randomly given by her husband's family. Only Zhushu would remember her original appearance. Beside the summer night swing where we briefly met, Zhu Su gently rubbed the lines on her palms and whispered the thoughts hidden in her heart. This was the only light for Chu He in the gloomy years. Suddenly, a sudden change occurred, and the Yun Mansion in Jiangnan was seized by civil strife. Zhushu, who was very thoughtful, sensed that a catastrophe was coming, fabricated the reason in advance, and sent Chu He to his aunt's house in western Sichuan overnight for refuge, telling her to wait patiently and wait for reunion. Chu He lived her life clinging to hope, but little did she know that her salvation had already fallen into the abyss. Zhushu was forcibly married by the Yun family and married into a violent and powerful family. She was chained and imprisoned in a windowless dark room for many years. The endless domestic violence and torture crushed her sanity and made her completely crazy. After hearing the bad news, Chu He resolutely bid farewell to his stable home and traveled thousands of miles alone to find her. When they reunited, the former smart and gentle lady from the aristocratic family did not recognize her old friend. Only Chu He stretched out his hand and let her touch the familiar palm lines. The dust-laden memories suddenly awakened, and the broken soul recognized its only concern. The world could not tolerate their presence together, so the two of them walked into the depths of the moonlight together, and there was no trace of them in the world again. In the deep well of mud, the lotus flower bloomed quietly. After the dust of the troubled times settled, no one witnessed the flower blooming. Purpose: This article uses the suffering life of women at the bottom of the Republic of China as the background to tell the tragic story of Chu He and Yunzhu Su who redeem each other but cannot escape the crushing fate of fate. Using the image of "lotus flowers hanging side by side in a well", it depicts the double restraint of women's body and mind by feudal ethics and family power in the old era, and expresses the pure and forbearing love of the two girls; it reveals that no matter how sincere the love in troubled times, it is difficult to break away from the shackles of the times and the secular world, while retaining the short-term tenderness in suffering, it also laments the permanent regret of small people who are unable to resist fate.