Our Tradition Ending Explained: What Happened and Why?
Complete breakdown of the climax, final twists, and spoilers for Our Tradition.
Our Tradition Ending Explained: This family tale spans three generations of Chinese trying to understand and come to terms with life's changes. Directed by Ding Yinnan, this 2000 drama film stars Wang Zhixia (Yu Lianfang), alongside Zhu Xu as Guan Juchen. With a 8/10 audience rating, the ending has been widely praised.
What Happens at the End of Our Tradition?
This family tale spans three generations of Chinese trying to understand and come to terms with life's changes. Middlesome relatives stir up a storm. The old and the young find themselves and their values developing and evolving, and new relationships come and go. The eldest family member, Guan, the son of a royal physician of the former Qing Dynasty, has also become a great physician who is able to predict the exact time of a patient's death. His ex-daughter-in-law, Yu, trained by him to be a physician, still stays with the family as his assistant. Her ex-husband, Jin, comes back from the USA with his new girlfriend, Jenny, a beautiful American who is doing a research on the death of Guangxu, the second last Emperor of Qing Dynasty who is Guan's father's patient. Jenny speaks fluent Mandarin, but she has a long way to go before understanding and getting accustomed to the Chinese tradition and mindset. On the other hand, Yu falls in love with her old friend who is a married man.
Ding Yinnan's narrative builds toward a resolution centered on Wang Zhixia (Yu Lianfang)'s journey. Middlesome relatives stir up a storm.
How Does Wang Zhixia (Yu Lianfang)'s Story End?
- Wang Zhixia: Wang Zhixia's arc reaches a definitive conclusion by the final act, with Ding Yinnan delivering a resolution that feels earned after the film's 1h 38m runtime.
- Zhu Xu (Guan Juchen): Zhu Xu's role in the climax proves pivotal to how the central conflict resolves.
What Does the Ending of Our Tradition Mean?
Our Tradition concludes with Ding Yinnan reinforcing the drama themes established throughout the film. The final moments with Wang Zhixia leave a lasting impression — the ending is both a resolution and a statement about the story's central questions.