The Joy Luck Club was formed by four womenin San Francisco: Lindo Jong (Tsai Chin), Ying-Ying St. Clair (France Nuyen),An-Mei Hsu (Lisa Lu),and Suyuan Woo (Kieu Chinh). The members have mainlyplayed mahjong andtold each other’s stories over the years. They emigrated from their nativecountry,China, remarried,and gave birth to children in America. Suyuan’s daughter June (Ming-Na Wen)replaced her when Suyuan died four months before the time the film is set. Themothers have high hopes for their daughters’ success, but the daughtersstruggle through “anxieties, feelings of inadequacy, and failures.” Throughoutthe film, the mothers and daughters bond by learning to understand each otherand by overcoming their conflicts.
The film begins with June’s prologue tale.In the prologue, a woman (presumably Suyuan) bought a swan inChinafrom amarket vendor who was selling it as “a duck that stretched its neck to become agoose.” She kept it as her pet and brought it to theUnited States. When the immigrationofficials took it away from her, she plucked out only a swan feather insteadwhile she struggled to grab the swan away. For a long time, the woman had keptthe feather, planning to someday give the feather to her daughter. Then thefilm transits to June’s farewell surprise partyin San Francisco for her upcoming reunion withher long-lost twin sisters inChina.Among the guests are members of The Joy Luck Club, their daughters, otherrelatives, and friends. The following characters below narrate their journeysto the audience while they reflect upon their pasts.
In the first section, "Feathers from aThousand Li Away," the mothers are sending Jing-mei toChinato findthe two daughters Suyuan abandoned during World War II. Then each mother tellsa story about her own childhood inChina. An-mei Hsu rememberswatching her mother scar her own flesh, cutting a piece out of her arm to makea curative soup for An-mei's grandmother. Lindo Jong describeshow she used superstition to escape her arranged marriage to a sour, spoiledboy and his controlling mother while preserving her family's honor. Ying-ying St.Clair explains how, when she was a little girl, she gotseparated from her family at the Moon Festival and found actors performing thestory of the Moon Lady. When she went to tell the Moon Lady her secret wish,she found out that the person was really just a man in makeup. Though she grewup with many privileges, Ying-Ying learned early on that women are expected tokeep their hopes and desires to themselves--secondary to men's.
In the second section, "The Twenty-SixMalignant Gates," the daughters tell stories from childhood. Waverly Jongremembershow she became a national chess champion--but then publicly humiliated Lindo byyelling at her to stop showing her off. Lena St.Clair recalls wishing she could bring Ying-ying back from thedeathlike depression into which she sank after a miscarriage. Rose HsuJordanexplains that despite the fact that her little brother Bingdrownedas a child, An-mei still waits patiently for his return. Jing-mei remembers howSuyuan tried to turn her into a Chinese Shirley Temple and piano prodigy. After failing, shesimultaneously triumphed over and wounded Suyuan by telling her she wished shewere dead like the babies Suyuan abandoned inChina.
In the third section, "AmericanTranslation," the daughters tell current stories about their mothers. Lena is afraid Ying-ying will see how her marriage iscrumbling--since the woman has always been able to predict disaster--which shedoes. Waverly finally comes to terms with her mother when, despite her fiancéRich's terrible first impression, Lindo seems to approve of him and acts proudof her daughter. Rose HsuJordanreceives divorce papers from Ted Jordan;she realizes that while her mother may not approve of divorce, she wants Roseto be strong and free like the wild overgrowth in her garden. Jing-mei recallsthat Suyuan gave her a jade pendant the night that she finally let Jing-meiknow how proud she was of her for being herself.
In the fourth section, "Queen Motherof the Western Skies," the mothers tell current stories about theirdaughters, and Jing-mei finally visitsChina. An-mei wants Rose to standup for herself in her relationship with Ted just as An-mei stood up to FirstWife after her own mother's suicide. In the same vein, Ying-ying wants Lena to fulfill her legacy by standing up to Harold,because she let her own spirit fade away when she got married. At the hairsalon, Lindo acknowledges that Waverly is ashamed of her, but when they look inthe mirror, neither can deny how much they are alike. The novel ends withJing-mei and her sisters inChina,all marveling at how they look like Suyuan.