The main image of the bonesetter's daughter

Liu Runing is the first generation of China people who immigrated to the United States in the novel. Before going to America, Liu Runing's home was in Xianxin Village near Beijing, south of Lugou Bridge. She was born and raised there, where her ancestors were buried and her close relatives and friends lived. This small village in the north of China, as the source of her own life, shaped Liu Ruying's character and made her spend a stable and warm childhood. However, it was also in this small village that she lived with her biological mother Baoyi for fourteen years, but Liu Runing knew nothing about it. Later, because she insisted on marrying her father's enemy, Baoyi committed suicide in despair. Since then, Liu Ruying has been sent to a nearby nursery. There, she met the archaeologist Pan, and they got married happily. However, her new husband died tragically at the gunpoint of the Japanese invaders, and the newly established small family was destroyed. With the increasingly tense war, Liu Runing left Beijing, moved to Hong Kong, and finally moved away from his hometown.

After I arrived in America, I lied about my real age and marital status. She married a Chinese American named Yang and started a new life. Although, due to the early death of her husband, Yang Runing can only raise her daughter Yang Lusi alone, and life is very difficult; However, life in the United States is stable and rich in materials. However, in addition to the satisfaction of material life, people are more eager for spiritual conversion. For Liu Ruying, a woman who was born and raised in Xianxin Village near the site of Peking Man, the rich atmosphere of China traditional culture in China Beicun not only created her character, but also permeated the factors of traditional culture into her blood, which became the load and essential connotation of her life.

Ruth (Yang Ruyi)

Yang Lusi was born, raised and educated in America. Influenced by American culture, she naturally takes the United States as her home and takes the mainstream white cultural values as her value orientation. From beginning to end, Yang Lusi, who considers herself a "typical American", has been interpreting the behavior of Chinese mothers in the disadvantaged cultural groups from the perspective of strong culture. When he was young, Yang Lusi laughed at and hated his mother's poor English and vulgar lifestyle in China, and showed complete contempt and disdain for China culture and the dominated mother. After middle age, although people can understand and accept their mother's Chinese maternal love, they will feel pity and heartache for their elderly mothers, but they will still feel puzzled and helpless about their paranoid behavior and eccentric personality.