coolchicksfromhistory: Laotang was a form of lifelong friendship occasionally practiced in Hunan cul
coolchicksfromhistory:Laotang was a form of lifelong friendship occasionally practiced in Hunan culture. More bonded than best friends, Laotang friendships were engineered between families with young daughters and contracts were signed bonding the girls together for life.Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan follows the friendship of a Laotang pair, Snow Flower and Lily, from their betrothal as friends to old age. The girls write letters to one another on a fan using Nü Shu, a secret phonetic form of writing practiced exclusively by women. Over the course of their lives, their fortunes rise and fall based on the beauty of their bound feet, the wealth of their families, their marriages, and the upheaval of nineteenth century China. Lisa See has written a number of novels about Chinese and Chinese American women, but this is my favorite because it explores two topics I knew nothing about (Laotang and Nü Shu). Buy Snow Flower and the Secret Fan on Amazon -- source link
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