The Sorrows of Misfortune Summary and Analysis

The record opens with Shen Fu's posing the question, why do misfortunes come. He reflects that he has always been friendly and honest, his father helping people whenever there is a need, and still misfortunes come. He tells about when money is tight for Yun and him, and people started talking about why they no longer socialized with friends. Yun is the third lady of Shen Fu's family's house, being married to the second son. However, when times got hard they start referring to her as the third wife, implying that she is ranked third among her own husband's multiple wives, and a sign of disrespect. She still did everything she could to protect Shen Fu's family and relations with one another, sending him letters while she stayed with them when She Fu was gone...