What Ru Shi Writes

The Red String on Your Wrist: Who Tied It There?

I found an old red string in a drawer — the one my mother tied on my wrist years ago. Red strings have been on Chinese wrists for two thousand years: the long-life thread, the old man under the moon, the zodiac year. Chinese families don't say "I love you." Love turns into soup, a sweater, a string.