The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Afong awakes in a boarding house in immense pain. Her feet are unbound and broken—the doctors must have tried to straighten them. They also removed her clothing and measured and examined her body, all without her consent. She was etherized for most of the procedure and hit her head in the process.

Back at the theater, Afong officially meets the new translator, who introduces himself as Nanchoy. He is handsome and explains that he spent his early boyhood in a Christian orphanage and then came to America. When he tells her he has spoken with a trader whom Afong Moy’s mother asked to find her daughter and bring her back, Afong becomes excited, but Nanchoy quickly crushes her hopes by telling her it’s a capital crime for women to return to China. He commiserates with her homesickness, and she asks if he would instead write to her family—and Yao Han—on her behalf, as she is illiterate.

Nanchoy agrees, and Afong sends letters to both her mother and Yao Han. However, when relaying the responses to Afong, Nanchoy tells her that Yao Han has died by suicide: “It rained for weeks and the Chu Kiang overflowed near your village. Witnesses saw him walk directly into the rushing river” (125).