Starry River of the Sky

Through the catharsis that his storytelling provides, Rendi finally gains the courage to investigate the cries he hears, thereby facing and processing the complex emotions he holds for his father. As he helps to heal Jiming and finds his own version of healing in the process, this scene provides a new form or resolution for The Destructive Power of Anger by emphasizing The Importance of Forgiveness. Similarly, Madam Chang’s wise words about painful decisions in Chapter 28 are ostensibly in reference to the amputation of the toad’s mangled leg, but they also apply to Rendi’s decision to leave home. Although it hurt him to walk away from his family, especially his sister, it was the best decision he could make at the time. Now, Rendi’s newfound maturity allows him to consider the long-term consequences of this decision; this shift in attitude first becomes apparent when he feels conflicting emotions about letting the duke leave without knowing the truth of his identity. Likewise, the story that Rendi tells in Chapter 30 helps the others to realize who he is, and this is also the moment in which he finally releases the pent-up sorrow and anger that has been holding him back in life. Because his father’s angry words were so hurtful, Rendi carried them in his heart as a representation of who he was to the man. However, after learning that his father is concerned enough to search for him, Rendi starts to question who his father really is, and the story of the broken porcelain dish shows the difference between the man Rendi left behind and the man who is now struggling to deal with the loss of his son. These moments lead up to the discussion Rendi has with Jiming in Chapter 35, in which he urges the boy to forgive his father so as to alleviate his own internal suffering. This moment forces Rendi to realize that withholding forgiveness from his father has only caused pain within himself. Seeing this truth reflected in the feud between Jiming and his father, Rendi doesn’t want Jiming to make the same mistakes that he once did.

As these interpersonal conflicts slowly resolve themselves, these chapters continue to showcase Lin’s ability to reimagine the essence of mythological tales in a fresh new form. The palaces of joy and misery referenced in Chapter 28 are not found in Chinese mythology, but this story can easily be likened to others from different cultures, such as Tantalus from Greek mythology—who was eternally hungry and thirsty but was cursed to never be able to reach his food and water. Likewise, the people in the palace of misery are only miserable because they are selfish. They do not want to think of others and focus only on feeding themselves, which is an impossible task with the chopsticks they have. By contrast, those in the palace of joy understand that helping others is what truly brings fulfillment, and their mutual aid allows everyone to grow.

Jiming’s own story emphasizes the interconnectedness of mythological tales that shift and twist with time and retelling, for the boy’s act of swallowing the moon mirrors the tales that Madam Chang has told throughout the novel; thus, all of these fantastical stories come together to imply such tales may be more than fiction. Like the woman from Madam Chang’s stories, Jiming drinks a pearly sphere and turns into a toad, which suggests a link between the moon and the original immortality pill. This also explains why the moon has gone missing, though the characters won’t work out the sequence of events until the book’s final chapters. (After the mountain spirit left, the moon fell and landed in the river, where it remained until Jiming drank it.) In another example of stories that contain a grain of truth, Rendi’s decision to help Jiming with wine highlights the importance of wine in many different contexts within Chinese culture. While the realgar wine, as a protection against poisonous creatures, was used to perpetrate the deception against the traders, Rendi’s “son wine” helps Jiming to burp up the moon, which also allows the boy to return to his true form as the innkeeper’s son. The importance of the wine to Rendi’s own origin story links him thematically to Jiming’s own issues with his father, and it is significant that the wine becomes a cure for someone else when it only ever brought Rendi heartache.

The story that Rendi tells Jiming about the son wine explores the finer nuances of Chinese culture even as it highlights how profoundly certain family dynamics affect each member of the family unit. Throughout Chinese history, girls have been considered of lesser value than boys, and as a result, daughters were often viewed as an inconvenience while sons were believed to be a measure of the father’s greatness. Rendi’s father demonstrates this cultural dynamic when he shows great anger at having a daughter yet wildly celebrates the birth of his son. This treatment has adversely affected both of his children, leaving Rendi to feel upset on his sister’s behalf and pressured by his father’s desires. Telling this story also helps Rendi to understand the full value of what he left behind when he ran away from home. Though he is still hurt by his father’s poor behavior, he misses the good times that he remembers. Telling this story also makes Jiming miss his home, which leads to the moment of understanding between the two boys. Rendi realizes that Jiming wants to go home but isn’t sure he can, which is exactly how Rendi feels. Rendi helps Jiming to find the strength to return by telling him how things have changed in his absence, and this makes Rendi realize that his home might also have changed. Thus, the scene represents the profound power of Storytelling as a Self-Portrait, for by relating the stories of his past, Rendi is able to gain new insights into how he must address his future.