Bodhisattva Warrior (a novel) tells the story of an ordinary family in southern China, a traditional tale of kinship—except that the entire narrative is delivered through the ghost of the deceased father, Hua Jindou. Set between the 1960s and 1980s, the narrator Hua Jindou is a resentful, grumbling specter. After death, he drifts as a wandering spirit, no longer needing food (saving rations) or clothes (saving fabric), which pleases him. Yet, being dead also means he can no longer meddle in his family’s affairs, leaving him seething with rage even in the afterlife. A restless soul refusing to find peace, he is doomed to remain a bitter and lonely ghost.