Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel

Engaging from the first page to the last, this is the story of a girl born in China to a privileged family. It is a wonderfully simple and beautiful narration of her life, marriage, profession and all the hardships she endured as a woman.

This is the story of Ancient China’s culture and social customs.According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman” but in this story Yinxian, born into an elite family is raised by her grandparents to be of use. There are only a handful of female doctors in China and Yunxian’s grandmother is one of them and teaches her the pillars of Chinese medicine. She teaches her to work with female patients, which is something a man can never do.The story is how Yunxian was brought up, her arranged marriage, her bound feet, her struggles to birth a son and the story of women helping other women.It is about love, friendship, grief, the desperation of females during this dynasty and her remarkable life.I enjoyed this story. I love to be fully engrossed in a story so rich in history and language. The beginning is a bit slow, as the world building and the young age of Yunxian takes up the first 25% of the book, but it shortly thereafter moves into more depth and dimension while showing us the experiences in which she is living.This is a highly character driven and detail oriented story. The characters are mostly women, and their connections during the best and worst times of their lives. The action takes forefront in the later part of the book. It is well researched, immersive in historical information and vividly describes the people, clothes, food, tea, and atmosphere, living environments. The relationship to their men and children and especially to each other, which I enjoyed very much. She lived an adventure that was very interesting to read. It makes us enjoy what we have and who we are as women now.

Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor by Tan Yunxian 1511AD published when Dr Tan was 50yo: 31 patient case studies with symptoms, examination, treatment recipes referencing original texts and patient outcome. Lorraine Wilcox (English Translator of Chinese medical history) with two prefaces and three postscripts by relatives of Dr Tan offer the heart of fictional biography by Lisa See.Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel by Lisa See is a true story from 1469AD when Tan [last name, family name] Yunxian [LoyalVirtue] was 8yo and began her medical training. The history was deeply researched during the pandemic and culturally contextualizes the patient case histories in the life arc of women of the MingDynasty. Dr Tan is a descendant of both Imperial Scholars, literati male doctors, and Hereditary traditional physicians, women educated pragmatically in female and pediatric medicine.A criminal trial involving a woman of the Inner Chambers reveals the formal approach to murder. The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee details a criminal justice system practiced since the T'ang Dynasty (618 - 907). The Judge Dee mysteries were translated from Chinese by 20thC Dutch diplomat RobertVanGulik (1910–67). Author Lisa See faithfully reproduces the Ming Dynasty autopsy and murder investigation. There are significant social and financial consequences of contact with a dead body, even merely viewing or touching blood for a woman is considered scandalous. A midwife is called to publicly testify. Midwives are known to touch blood in catching babies and to assist autopsy. To speak in public of such shocking behavior is another.Dr Tan Yunxian is constrained by elite position, precarity of bound feet with withered lower limbs, arranged marriage age 15, social control by gossip and innuendo in the women's Inner Chambers, absolute control by her mother-in-law who forbids her to practice medicine.Alcoholism associated with parasitic worm infection reveals its infective presence to a keen medical observer. Dr Tan Yunxian responds when finally appealed to for help. Dr Tan diagnoses and treats her mother-in-law's ascariasis (roundworm infection) thus saving her life.Dr Tan's natal grandparents are both doctors from a celebrated line of Imperial scholars and Hereditary physicians. Grandparents teach Yunxian to trust her senses: look see hear touch smell. Read. Consult with others. Yunxian trusts Grandmother Ru for Hereditary medical advice and Dr Tan's own father, a respected Prefectural Judge for Confucian legal advice. Dr Tan is provided education and family wisdom: Pause and think before deciding how best to proceed.Tan Yunxian has access to her literati grandfather's library of medical texts, accumulated medical knowledge beginning with the Han Dynasty 206BC-220AD. Dr Tan secretly begins to practice medicine and keeps notes of each patient seen to develop her own knowledge.Tan Yunxian's best friend from childhood is Meiling. Meiling is learning midwifery from her mother.Meiling is a friend match chosen by Yunxian's grandmother Doctor Ru for complementary personality to balance Yunxian's tendency to slip into morose self-pity and rumination out of boredom. Meiling has freedom as she works with her mother traveling throughout the city attending to pregnancies and deliveries. Meiling shares vivid descriptions of the outside world as a medically trained observer. The two friends balance each other.Both Yunxian and Meiling are born Water Snake year but of distinct social classes: Yunxian is elite with bound feet, from a family of Imperial scholars and Hereditary doctors, Meiling is illiterate, fatherless, has large unbound feet, is apprentice midwife to her mother Midwife Shi and working class.Yunxian can read and write but is confined to the Inner Chambers, women's quarters of the family compound; Meiling can travel freely throughout the empire as her mother's apprentice midwife and observes working class women who suffer physical and emotional distress beyond childbearing.Yunxian's beautiful mother Respectful Lady believes wealth and social position render her and her family protected from infection. Respectful Lady refuses to request the services of the itinerant insufflation doctor. Dr Tan's two older brothers die of smallpox in childhood. Insufflation variolation, a form of vaccination against small pox, became mandated in China by the 1700s about the time of the American Revolution 300 years later. Respectul Lady dies age 28 of gangrene.Dr Tan and Meiling become pregnant concurrently. In their 6 month, both are summoned to the Forbidden City to treat women of the Imperial Palace, specifically the Empress who is pregnant. Tan Yunxian and Meiling are to attend to The Compassionate One's pregnancy, month of seclusion, labor and delivery, and month of recovery. Guanyin the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion is embodied in the Empress.After menopause, Dr Tan matures beyond her prejudices as regards status, propriety, acceptable social behavior as she ascends to responsibility for the family Inner Chambers. The consequences for the entire Tan family in both the novel and elaborated in the appendices is fascinating. If one member of a family is accused of political treachery, the entire family is purged. Dr Tan Yunxian's published case histories disappeared from public view for 500 years with only one copy of the second edition sequestered in an antiquarian library in Beijing. Lisa See and translator Lorraine Wilcox describe their journey of discovery in interview for The Lost Women of Science, Scientific American series. Hereditary Dr Tan Yunxian died age 96.Dr Tan's history is so engaging I could not stop reading and fell asleep in a chair. Next morning I immediately dove in again.Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See 5* cultural revelations are thought and discussion provoking ideas about social status, politics, fame celebrity, punishments for deception lies greed and murder, bias, prejudice, money, education, scientific thought, legal trial procedure established by Han Dynasty [206BC-220AD], and a woman earning her way in the world through meaningful work effort and service to other women.Gripping nonstop reading.I am reading on democracy and noticed Abigail Adams wife of John Adams performed the same services as Dr Tan did for her family. John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States from 1797 to 1801 DVD PaulGiamatti LauraLinney imdb 8.4/10 38,000 ratings 7part miniseries based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. Abigail Adams had herself and their children variolated to protect from smallpox. Miniseries spans the Boston Massacre 1770 to John Adams' death on the same day as Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1826 the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.Infectious diseases decimate humankind throughout history.Vaccines offer prevention for avoidable human suffering.

I couldn’t put this book down. It took a minute to get all of the characters straight but the fact that Lisa See does amazing research and Lady Tan was a real person kept me engaged until the end. I could not wait to pick up my next Lisa See novel, Daughters of the Sun and Moon

The writing of the book drew me from the beginning. I was so intrigued by the stories and detailed recollections of the character's experience. The specific details of the feet as weak yet strong pulled out a curiosity thay kept me reading. There was also a bit of drama...but in the end women's sovereignty in the midst of oppression and the need for community called to me most.

I’ve recently started exploring historical fiction beyond my usual focus on American history, eager to learn about other countries and their rich, often complex pasts. It’s striking how history, no matter the place, can reveal moments of cruelty and hardship. Compared to America, with its relatively short history, some countries have histories that stretch back much farther, offering a deeper context to their stories.Lady Tran’s Circle of Women is the second book I’ve read that delves into China’s past, particularly exploring practices like foot binding and the contrasting lives of women from different social classes. It was mind-opening to discover that women from elite classes often had less freedom outside their homes than common working women.I loved the friendship between Tan and Meiling, especially understanding why Tan’s grandmother, Ru, encouraged this bond. The story felt well-researched and beautifully told. It added an enthralling layer to learn that Tan Yunxian was a real historical figure, with the narrative drawing on her written works.This was my first time reading Lisa See, and it certainly won’t be my last.

This was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I could barely put it down! So well written!

Whew! 😰 I finally finished this one (and just in time for my October book club meeting next week 😅)! I’m not gonna lie: THIS was a tough book to get through, and NOT because of the language being “difficult” or hard to understand or anything like that; it was actually a fairly easy “read” in that sense . . . But because of the topic; it was a tough topic to read about/listen to, sadly . . . 🥺 I’m NOT kidding you, I had to take a “break” for reading/listening to it, and I’ve NEVER had to “take a break from a book” before now. I’m telling you, if it wasn’t for a book club, I’d probably would have stopped all together & not finished it . . . But, in the end, I “powered through”! 😉 The part where I had to stop & take a break to “read something happy” for a change (just so you’re prepared (and a SLIGHT * Spoiler Here *)) is after Yunxian’s (the MC) (and yes, I DID go back & made sure I spelled her name correctly; I’m not Chinese myself & I’m bad with names in general 🥹) friend, Meiling, really her BEST friend (for all intents & purposes), had a miscarriage in front of the Empress & she got BLAME AND PUNISHED for it!! I AM NOT KIDDING!! Man, this book will REALLY make you HATE men!! And don’t even get me started on the FOOT-BINDING!! MY GOD!! 😡 Such a HORRIBLE practice, as well as brainwashing practice!! That’s the other part that really made me sad & mad (at men) all at once: the part where Yunxian had to BIND her OWN daughter’s feet & she was “happy” when the bone “finally broke”!! 🥺😡 That, to me, just showed me the COMPLETE brainwashing that goes with foot-binding . . . Because what mother would “happy” that her daughter’s toe “finally broke”?!?! 🥺😡 One thing that I agree with some other reviewers was that the story “never really picked up speed” & I’ll admit, I kinda got bored with it towards the middle, too. While it was VERY well researched, clearly (you can read the “Acknowledgments” portion in the back for all the research this author clearly did before writing this novel), it DID feel like it was “lacking excitement” for a novel . . . (And, yes, I know that it was a “historical fiction” novel, but still . . . Once or twice, I thought, “Finally, we’re doing something a little adventurous (& maybe a little reckless) for the time period!”, but then it would just go back to the same slow pace . . . Like, for example, when Yunxian went “outside the wall” of her home for the first time (she was from an elite family, luckily (I guess? If you don’t count the foot-binding & the women being told how they should act & behave . . . ) & she went to go help a “working woman”, I thought, “Aha! Finally! She’s gonna see how “other women” live & want to help them, too, & is gonna “sneak out” more to help them, too!” But, nope, that was only the one time (& a little bit in the VERY last chapter, as well) . . . Or, when she was going to help the empress deliver her baby, I thought, “Aha! Finally! Another woman is gonna see her medical skills & want her as the “palace doctor!” But, no again, she just helps deliver the baby (& Meiling a little; that’s where Meiling has her miscarriage) & that’s it. She goes back home after that . . . 😕 So, anyway, all in all, I thought it was a good book, well researched, but just was a bit slow at times with not much excitement or adventure to it; hence, the 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I gave it! I WILL say, through, that the narrator of the audiobook was excellent, especially at pronouncing Chinese words & names, she (& he, at the end) gets a 5 stars “Performance” rating from me! 👍🏻😊

Interesting, well written and so informative .Very good Read.

Great book! I couldn't put it down. A very visual story, easy to follow, with interesting and relatable characters. Friendship, love, murder, mystery... this novel has everything. Will be reading more from this author.

The reviews about this book drew me in and I am so glad that I did purchase it. An interesting and thought provoking story about a true historical character, a female doctor and her medical practices/studies. Having recently returned from a trip to Japan, the detail about the Chinese culture, dress, class and beliefs was fascinating and enriched the story. It was a delight to read and I thoroughly recommend the novel.

I was so identified with the main character that I decided to go to China and start studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’ve reread the book several times ever since and I’m always enchanted by Yuxian and her cases.

Dieses Buch hat mich von der ersten Seite an gepackt. Die Geschichte basiert auf dem wahren Leben einer Ärztin in der Ming-Dynastie und entführt einen in eine völlig andere Welt.Lisa See schafft es großartig, die strengen Regeln, das Leben hinter verschlossenen Türen und vor allem die Medizin jener Zeit lebendig zu machen, ohne dass es sich wie ein trockenes Geschichtsbuch anfühlt.Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Freundschaften von Frauen, ihr Zusammenhalt und der medizinische Wissensaustausch, der damals oft der einzige Weg war, um als Frau überhaupt einen eigenen Wirkungskreis zu haben. Yunxian ist eine unglaublich nahbare Protagonistin, deren Weg man einfach gebannt verfolgt.Meine Highlights:- Fesselnder Schreibstil: Die Autorin erzählt flüssig und atmosphärisch, sodass man das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen mag.- Spannender Hintergrund: Die Einblicke in die traditionelle chinesische Medizin und die gesellschaftlichen Verpflichtungen der Frauen sind extrem gut recherchiert.Das Taschenbuch liegt gut in der Hand und lässt sich angenehm lesen, die Schriftgröße finde ich auch okay - könnte für ältere Personen aber zu klein sein. Eine absolute empfehlung für alle, die historische Romane mit starken Frauenfiguren mögen. Fünf Sterne.