Baby Uncle (Liu Hu Sen) Character Analysis in The Bonesetter’s Daughter

Baby Uncle is the youngest of the Liu sons. He is LuLing’s father (though she grows up believing that Liu Jin Sen is her father) and was Precious Auntie’s fiancé. He falls in love with Precious Auntie when she heals an injury of his at the Bonesetter’s shop. He is a handsome, charming man who wins over Precious Auntie by writing her poetry. Baby Uncle and Precious Auntie have sex before the wedding, resulting in LuLing’s conception. However, Baby Uncle dies after Chang attacks their wedding party. When he dies, Precious Auntie sees it as evidence of her family’s curse. She is so distraught after Baby Uncle’s and the Bonesetter’s deaths that she attempts suicide by drinking boiling ink. Precious Auntie survives, but injuries she incurs from the incident leave her permanently scarred and mute.

Baby Uncle (Liu Hu Sen) Character Timeline in The Bonesetter’s Daughter

The timeline below shows where the character Baby Uncle (Liu Hu Sen) appears in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...had been shocked to learn that her mother had been married to a man before her father . (full context)

...hear the jokes. Later in life, Great-Granny’s memory goes, and she begins to ask for Hu Sen , seemingly forgetting that her grandson has been dead for years. (full context)

...the oldest of Great-Granny’s four sons and is the man LuLing calls Father. LuLing calls her father ’s brothers Big Uncle and Little Uncle. The fourth son, Baby Uncle, whose real name... (full context)

...bone she has that’s covered in strange writing. It probably comes from a turtle, and her father almost ground it down for medicine before noticing the scratches that ran along its sides.... (full context)

...new patients come to the Bonesetter. One is a crying baby, and the other is Baby Uncle . The baby belongs to Chang, a rich coffin-maker who earns his fortune by selling... (full context)

Baby Uncle limps into the shop after Changs leave. He explains how his horse got spooked on... (full context)

Later that week, Chang and Baby Uncle go to separate fortune-tellers to see how their birthdates line up with Precious Auntie’s. Chang’s... (full context)

...to leave her helpless father behind. However, the bonesetter’s lie backfires after Precious Auntie accepts Baby Uncle ’s proposal the following week. (full context)

...to punish her for insulting him. Precious Auntie brushes off Chang’s threats and doesn’t tell her father or Baby Uncle about the encounter. (full context)

...have been looted. The Bonesetter is lying in a ditch, and his neck is broken. Baby Uncle promises to punish the cowards who caused his wife such grief and fires a pistol... (full context)

For three nights after her father ’s and husband’s deaths, Precious Auntie goes to their corpses and touches their mouths, though... (full context)

...she’s unbound and alone in the house. She searches for the corpses and finds that Baby Uncle ’s family buried the bodies while she was unconscious. At that moment, Precious Auntie resolves... (full context)

Baby Uncle comes to Great-Granny in a dream and tells her to keep Precious Auntie and her... (full context)

...Chang, who sells them wood. They believe Chang helped Precious Auntie after the bandits killed Baby Uncle . (full context)

...heed her warnings. A fight ensues, and LuLing tells Precious Auntie she’s only alive because Baby Uncle ’s family pitied her, and that Baby Uncle was lucky he died before he could... (full context)

...eyes go blank. She pauses before speaking the name “Liu Xing,” which was the name her father called her mother in a love poem he wrote for her. Ruth tells Art that... (full context)