In traditional Chinese folk religions, like Confucianism, ghosts are an important part of the religion in the form of ancestral spirits that are said to watch over you. This is most important in the novel when An mei’s mother’s husband, Wu Tsing, is manipulated by the threat of the ghosts of one of his wives haunting him. Second wife first does this by threatening suicide using raw opium and saying she’ll haunt him if she doesn’t get her way. Later on, An Mei’s mother actually commits suicide three days before Chinese New Years, which causes Wu Tsing to recognize his son, Syaudi, as An Mei’s mother’s son and to treat An Mei as his own
