In this story by Lu Xun two women grieve either side of a path that divides a Chinese cemetery. On one side, a mother places offerings over the grave of her adult son who had recently been executed as a revolutionary. On the other, a mother does the same over the grave of her young son. Unknowingly, the two share a gruesome connection. The boy had died of consumption (tuberculosis) despite consuming a “guaranteed” Chinese folk cure… a steamed bun dipped in the blood of an executed prisoner! Themes include despair, superstition, cannibalism, grief, courage, political change, hope.
