Hill died of the negligence of parents, just 17 years old. His death seemed like a secret to Lute to which she never can find the key. Dew Dew (), Lute and Hill's mother, was an open-minded woman who had the courage to divorce with her husband in that old days fulling of feudal ideology. But she was also selfish and cruel to give up her little daughter and son. Due to the abnormal family relationship, young Lute always observed the world around her with distrust. Dew became the very person who hurt Lute the most. Generally speaking, she was not a qualified mother. Yuxi Yuxi () was the master of the noble family. He indulged himself in debauchery and divorced his wife, Dew-Lute and Hill's mother. Usually, he did not have enough time to get along with his children because of opium addiction. Servants There were many servants in this noble family, such as aunt Tong, aunt Qin, aunt He and so on. Taking aunt He for example, she brought up Yuxi's father, Yuxi and Yuxi's daughter, Lute. But at last, aunt He was ejected from the family which she served almost all her life. This was the servants' fate. In that old days, they were always in a powerless position suffering oppression and enslavement. Social factors Eileen Chang lived during a period of transition in China. The author and her work Eileen Chang, whose real name is Zhang Ying (张瑛), was born in a decaying noble family. She has the extremely prominent family background that her grandfather, Zhang Peilun (张佩纶)was a noted Qing Dynasty statesman; her grandmother Li Juou (李鞠耦) was the firstborn daughter of Li Hongzhang (李鸿章), minister of Qing state court. Eileen Chang is now recognized as one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, though she was completely erased from official histories in mainland China for her first husband Hu Lancheng (胡兰成). She was the most popular writer in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II, with English and Chinese stories focusing on human frailties rather than nationalist propaganda. For her non-committal politics and idiosyncrasies, she was boycotted by fellow writers after the war and forced to the margins of literary respectability. Eileen Chang is noted for writing that deals with relationship between male and female in the history of modern Chinese literature. Being a prolific and exceptional writer in modern China, she combined the art with