An-Mei's Early Life and Scar

An-Mei's Early Life

• An-Mei's grandmother, Popo, told her that her mother was a ghost, meaning she was forbidden to talk about her.
• Popo often said that An-Mei and her brother were "eggs that nobody wanted" to scare away ghosts.
• Popo told An-Mei stories: one about a greedy girl who poisoned herself and another about a disobedient girl who lost her brains.
• Popo warned An-Mei never to say her mother’s name because it was like spitting on her father’s grave.
• An-Mei only knew her father through a painting that hung in the main hall.
• An-Mei considered her mother thoughtless and unlucky for leaving them.
• An-Mei's mother was taller than her aunt, almost as tall as her uncle, and looked strange.
• When An-Mei saw her mother, she recognized her own face looking back.
• An-Mei’s mother tried to care for Popo when she was sick, laying cool cloths on her face.

An-Mei's Scar

• An-Mei remembered a dream from when she was four years old.
• An-Mei’s mother was at the dinner table, and An-Mei called out to her, but her aunt slapped her and pushed her down.
• There was a commotion, with people shouting and An-Mei's mother’s voice crying, “An-Mei! An-Mei!”
• Popo called An-Mei’s mother a "concubine" and said she would make An-Mei "like her" if she took her.
• An-Mei remembered her mother’s face across the table, and a boiling soup pot spilled onto her neck.
• This memory was so painful that An-Mei could not remember anything else.
• An-Mei couldn’t speak because she felt like she was choking.
• She could not see because of all the tears that poured out.
• An-Mei remembered her mother’s voice crying.
• Popo told An-Mei that she had already made her "dying clothes" because she was still a child.
• Popo told An-Mei that her mother had already "used up her tears and left" and would forget her.
• Popo took care of the wound on An-Mei's neck until it healed.

An-Mei's Mother's Sacrifice

• An-Mei came back to life wanting to find her mother.
• An-Mei cried every night until her eyes and neck burned.
• Popo poured cool water over the wound on An-Mei’s neck until she fell asleep.
• Popo would peel off the dead skin from the wound.
• An-Mei's scar became pale and shiny in two years.
• An-Mei had no memory of her mother.
• An-Mei saw her mother at Popo's deathbed.
• An-Mei's mother was cooking soup and cut off a piece of her own arm to put in the soup to cure Popo.
• An-Mei understood that her mother’s sacrifice was an act of love.
• It showed how deep a daughter’s love can be for her mother.
• To remember that love, you have to let go of the pain.
• You must peel off your skin, and that of your mother, and her mother before her.

Rose Hsu Jordan's Mother

• Rose's mother used to carry a leatherette Bible to church every Sunday.
• Rose's mother later lost her faith in God and wedged the Bible under a table leg to correct the imbalances of life.

Explore the early life of An-Mei, focusing on her relationship with her grandmother Popo and her mother. This quiz delves into the cultural tales and familial dynamics that shape An-Mei's identity and perception. Test your understanding of An-Mei’s memories and her significant scar story.