Coming Home (2015) Plot Summary Explained

Dandan betrayed her parents because she wanted to regain the leading role in the ballet Red Detachment of Women. As a teenage ballerina, her father's outlaw status due to the Cultural Revolution prevented her from playing the lead. When the police offered her a chance to reclaim the role in exchange for information about her parents' secret meeting, she revealed their plan. Despite her betrayal, Dandan still did not get the leading role, making her sacrifice pointless.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the story, Dandan's inability to play the lead role establishes the pressure she faces.

• dandan
• betrayal
• police
• ballet
• red detachment of women
• cultural revolution

Lu was arrested because the police were already waiting outside his family home. After escaping from the labor camp in Xining, Lu planned a secret meeting with his wife and daughter. However, Dandan had already revealed the meeting plan to the police in hopes of reclaiming her ballet role. When Lu arrived, the police were there to capture him immediately.

Foreshadowing: The story establishes early that Dandan's career was blocked by her father's political status, creating the motivation for her betrayal.

• lu yanshi
• arrested
• police
• labor camp
• escape
• cultural revolution

Feng developed amnesia as a result of the trauma she suffered during the Cultural Revolution. The political persecution, her husband's imprisonment, and the stress of raising their daughter alone while being targeted as the wife of an intellectual created severe psychological trauma. This trauma manifested as memory loss, preventing her from recognizing her own husband when he returned.

Foreshadowing: The brutal conditions of the Cultural Revolution and the family's persecution establish the psychological toll that would later surface.

• feng wanyu
• amnesia
• memory loss
• trauma
• cultural revolution

Feng mistakes Lu for Officer Fang because of her trauma from sexual harassment by a former official during the Cultural Revolution. The harassment left deep psychological scars, and when she experiences shock or stress, she confuses her husband's identity with that of her harasser. This misrecognition is a manifestation of her trauma and memory damage.

Foreshadowing: The story hints at the harassment when mentioning Feng's shock from a former official's assault.

• feng wanyu
• officer fang
• misrecognition
• trauma
• harassment

Lu disguises himself as a stranger because Feng's trauma prevents her from accepting him as her husband. Her amnesia and psychological damage cause fear and resistance when he tries to be close to her. By posing as a letter reader or piano tuner, Lu can stay near her and attempt to jog her memory without triggering her traumatic responses. He hopes that approaching her as a stranger will eventually help restore her memories.

Foreshadowing: Feng's misrecognition of Lu establishes the need for him to maintain distance.

• lu yanshi
• disguise
• stranger
• memory recovery
• letter reader
• piano tuner

The ending at the railway station represents a fragile, tentative reunion. Years after the Cultural Revolution ends, Feng waits at the railway station on a snowy day, hoping for news of her husband. Lu appears beside her, disguised as a pedicab driver. This quiet moment shows that despite all the suffering and memory loss, their connection persists. It is bittersweet because Feng still does not fully recognize him, but Lu's presence suggests hope for eventual reconciliation.

Foreshadowing: The years of Lu's patient efforts and letter-writing build toward this moment of quiet hope.

• railway station
• reunion
• snow
• pedicab
• ending
• hope

Lu continues writing letters because direct communication is impossible due to Feng's amnesia and trauma. The letters serve as his primary way to stay connected to her and to maintain hope. Additionally, Lu uses the letters to convince Feng to forgive their daughter Dandan for the betrayal that led to his capture. The letters represent his steadfast devotion and his efforts to heal both his wife's memory and their fractured family.

Foreshadowing: The breakdown of normal communication due to Feng's condition makes the letters essential.

• letters
• communication
• forgiveness
• dandan
• devotion

Dandan betrays her father because the Cultural Revolution has placed her in an impossible position. As a ballerina, her career depends on political purity, and her father's status as an outlaw threatens her future. When authorities promise to restore her leading role in Red Detachment of Women in exchange for information about her parents' secret meeting, she succumbs to the temptation. Her betrayal is motivated by youthful desperation and the system of political pressure thatpunishes children for their parents' perceived crimes.

Foreshadowing: The ballet company's rejection of Dandan due to her father's status establishes the stakes.

• dandan
• father
• betrayal
• career
• ballet
• cultural revolution

After being captured, Lu is taken back into custody and remains imprisoned until the Cultural Revolution ends. The story does not detail his exact years of imprisonment, but he eventually returns home to find his family broken. His wife suffers from amnesia and cannot recognize him, while his daughter has become a textile worker. The capture destroys any immediate chance of reunion and sets in motion the years-long struggle to reconnect with his wife.

Foreshadowing: Lu's dangerous escape underscores how much he risked for this reunion.

• lu yanshi
• captured
• labor camp
• imprisonment
• return

Feng cannot recognize her husband because the trauma of the Cultural Revolution caused her to develop amnesia. Years of persecution, her husband's imprisonment, and sexual harassment by officials damaged her memory severely. When Lu finally returns, she experiences memory gaps and sometimes confuses him with her harasser. Her inability to recognize him is not a choice but a psychological condition resulting from the political persecution she endured.

Foreshadowing: The harassment by a former official is directly connected to her memory problems.

• feng wanyu
• recognition
• memory
• amnesia
• husband
• trauma