The Widow Summary and Analysis

"The Local History of T'an-ch'eng," by Feng K'o-t'san, tells the story of widows who struggle to raise their children, particularly their sons, properly. Many widows work hard spinning thread and doing some farm work and are able to get one or more sons educated and able to pass their examinations. The biggest honor is when the widows' boys pass the provincial level chu-jen examination. P'u Sung-ling makes some jokes about these virtuous widows in his stories. In one story, an old widow is spinning thread and making clothes, when a beautiful young woman enters the widow's home. The young woman is beautiful and smells nice. There is an air of magic about her. The young woman says she has come to keep the old widow company. When the women go to bed, the old widow has a fantasy that...