¶ … Golden Cangue" Eileen Chang Across the novel, the main symbolism for the moon is that of the fate of the woman. However, in order to express this best, it also takes additional secondary meanings, including the subjective approach of women, the shift in their personality, including through the differences from different periods of time, associated to different periods of development.

This shift is clearly suggested in the beginning of the novel, with the description of the moon in the present, as compared to the moon thirty years ago. The writer goes to great length to provide objective descriptions of the moon, with different metaphors and comparisons. The moon is "the size of a copper coin" and "like a teardrop." However, thirty years ago, it was "gay, larger, rounder and whiter."

Looking closer at this introductory paragraph, the understanding is that the moon mirrors Ch'i-ch'iao's...

The reader understands that, as Ch'i-ch'iao' grew and her responsibilities in life became different, including through her marriage and change in social status, she became "tinged with sadness."
The reader can understand the reason for the sadness as related to her growing opportunities in life (marrying into a rich family, change in social status, new privileges), which, however, came with difficult relations (marrying into a loveless marriage, conflict with the husband's family, concomitant with conflicts with her own alienated family, difficult relations with her own children, whom she terrorizes etc.).

The moon becomes a continuous symbol of her development, but also carefully punctuates her inner state as references to the moon often appear without a particular meaning in the text and only related to the main character's feelings. For example, at one point,…