Raise the Red Lantern

A 19-year-old educated woman who arrives as the Fourth Mistress. She navigates the brutal power dynamics of the Chen household, tries to manipulate the Master by feigning pregnancy, and grapples with profound loneliness and disillusionment.

The powerful head of the estate who determines which wife he will spend the night with. His face is rarely shown, making him an enigmatic symbol of authority and control over the household.

A shrewd, socially adept wife who befriends Songlian while secretly conspiring to maintain her own status. She collaborates with Yan’er to undermine Songlian, revealing the ruthlessness of the house’s hierarchy.

A former opera singer who is spoiled and aloof, clinging to youth and favor. She harbors an affair with Doctor Gao, illustrating the precariousness of each woman’s position and the capacity for manipulation within the estate.

Songlian’s maid who resents her and is involved in secret, forbidden actions. She is caught with red lanterns and a curse charm bearing Songlian’s name, and she ultimately suffers severe consequences for the house’s intrigues.

The eldest mistress who bore a son decades earlier; firm and rigid, she stands as a guardian of tradition and a counterweight to Songlian’s youth and the Master’s attention.

The household physician drawn into its intrigues, involved with Meishan and used as a pawn in the mansion’s schemes.

An elder servant who has witnessed the house’s rituals and power shifts, embodying the old order and the loyalties of the Chen estate.

Grown son of the First Mistress who appears briefly, playing the flute and symbolizing an earlier generation’s influence and potential lineage tensions.

The aging matriarch representing the family’s decline and the social duties that shape the women’s lives within the estate.