Study Questions
1. Who is Amah? Baba?

2. What plans has the family made to celebrate the Moon Festival?

3. What does Ying-ying describe as “this dark side of me that had my same restless nature”?

4. Why does Amah say Ying-ying’s mother will banish them both to Kunming?

5. What does Ying-ying mistake for a swimming snake, one of the Five Evils?

6. How do her rescuers know that Ying-ying is from a wealthy family?

7. According to Chinese tradition, why does the Moon Lady live apart from her husband?

8. Where is Ying-ying as she watches the play?

9. Ying-ying is unable to remember what her wish was until when?

10. What was her wish?

Answers
1. Amah is Ying-ying’s nanny. Baba is Ying-ying’s father.

2. The family has rented a large boat on Tai Lake and has made arrangements for special foods. A ceremony will take place during the evening.

3. She describes her shadow this way.

4. Ying-ying had ruined her special new clothes by smearing blood all over them.

5. Ying-ying thinks the fishing net that rescues her is one of the Five Evils.

6. The woman notices Ying-ying’s pale skin and soft feet, like one who had led a pampered, indoor life.

7. Chang-o, the Moon Lady, lives in the moon as a consequence of stealing and eating the peach of immortality, which was intended for her husband, the Master Archer.

8. She is hiding in the bushes on shore, near the stage.

9. Ying-ying remembers her wish when she is an old woman, on the day of the Moon Festival, as she tells this story.

10. She wanted her family to find her.