Learning:
The Journey of a Lifetime
A Cloud Chamber of the Mind

2006 Literature Notebook

Lucky. A maid of the Zhen family [1, 2].

Jia Yu-cun. [1, 2] A poor student who becomes a bureaucrat.

Lin Ru-hai. [2] A Salt Commissioner in Yangchow area. Originally from an aristocratic family, he was no longer entitled to any privileges, and made his way by education and merit. His chief wife was a Miss Jai, and they have a young daughter Dai-yu.

Lin Dai-yu. [2] Young daughter of Lin Ru-hai. She receives tutoring from Jai Yu-cun.

Leng Zi-xing. [2] An antique dealer. He was a friend of Jai Yu-cun while he was a student.

Jia Yu-cun arrives in the little town as a local Mandarin official, spots Lucky, and asks her to be his second wife. He quickly sends servants to ask Lucky if she will marry him, which she quickly agrees to. About a year after she marries Yu-cun she gives birth to a boy, then 6 months later his first wife dies and she becomes Her Ladyship.

But Yu-cun receives an unfavorable report and is soon dismissed. He takes the money he has saved and settles his wife and son in his native Hu-zhou, and then sets off on an extended tour.

While in Yangchow, he found he needed some money and ends up tutoring Lin Ru-hai's daughter Dai-yu for over a year. Then Ru-hai's wife dies suddenly and Ru-hai decides to send his daughter to stay with the Jias of Rong-guo mansion in Jinling.

Yu-cun meets Leng Zi-xing who brings him up to date on the Jia families in Jinling.

Keeping track of the Jia families will be important and worth the effort of getting this clear early.

The roll of chance in Yu-cun's life, and indeed for all of the characters, is an important feature of the story.