Spring Moon is a novel about clashes.

It deals with the clash of different generations, with the clash of different ideologies, with clash of different religions and with the clash of different cultures. It has a timeless quality because it deals with these larger than life themes. It invites readers to compare their own lives to the lives of the characters in the book. It invites readers to learn more about a different culture and by examining that "other" culture, to learn more about their own.

1. Why does the suicide of Plum Blossom bring dishonor on the house of Chang? What does it foreshadow?

2. When he explains about Plum Blossom, the grandfather tells Spring Moon that "only the gods can alter fate" and she must "simply yield."

What does he mean? Does Spring Moon agree? How can you tell?

3. On the journey back to China from...