02820cam a2200337 i 4500 10504935 CaAEU 20251014175101.0 231021t20242023nyu e 000 1 eng d 1982117095 9781982117092 on1405187017 YDX eng YDX BDX YZS OCLCO FM0 OCLCO FM0 MUX IKG TSU English PS3569.E3334 L33 2024 See, Lisa author. 25771 Lady Tan's circle of women : a novel / Lisa See. First Scribner trade paperback edition. New York, NY : Scribner, 2024. ©2023. 352 pages : 21 cm. Includes topics and questions for discussion. "According to Confucius, "an educated woman is a worthless woman," but Tan Yunxian--born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness--is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations--looking, listening, touching, and asking--something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women's illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose--despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it--and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other's joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife--embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today."--Provided by the publisher Mother and child. 25772 Midwives Fiction. Women China Social conditions 15th century Fiction. Arranged marriage Fiction 25566 Sex role Fiction. China History Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 Fiction. lcc 0 0 lcc 0 0 TBS TBS 2025-08-26 0 P-EN SEE B07691 2025-08-26 1 2025-08-26 1 4869 4869