CHARACTERS
Who is Haoyou?
This boy is the protagonist of the novel.
What is the Jade Circus?
Haoyou joins this to help support his family.
Where is the story set?
In China.
What does Hayou's kite flying symbolise?
Freedom.
Who is Kublai Khan?
The Mongol emperor Haoyou performs for.
Who is Mipeng?
She is Haoyou’s cousin and a spiritual medium.
Who is Kublai Khan?
The person Haoyou is forced to perform for at the end of the novel.
What is the Yuan dynasty?
The dynasty during which the story is set.
What is Hayou's responsibility?
To support his mother.
Who is Marco Polo?
The famous European traveler who might’ve lived around the same time.
Who is Di Chou?
This cruel man forced Haoyou’s father to ride the wind-testing kite.
What happens with the wind-testing kite ride?
Gou Pei (Haoyou’s father) dies.
What is circus entertainment?
These performances included kite flying and acrobatics.
What is independence vs duty?
The contrast between circus life and home life.
Who are the Mongols?
These people ruled China during the 13th century in the story.
Who is Miao Jie?
He runs the Jade Circus and gives Haoyou a new life.
What is a spirit summoning ritual?
Haoyou and Mipeng use this method to prevent Qing'an’s marriage.
What is the Jade Circus?
Haoyou’s new home after he leaves with the circus.
Kublai Khan is portrayed with power and presence—but not necessarily love from his subjects. Here’s why he wasn't loved by many citizens
Kublai Khan was not ethnically Chinese — he was a Mongol, part of a foreign invading force.
Many Chinese citizens saw the Yuan Dynasty (established by Kublai) as an occupation, not legitimate rule.
What is Khanbaliq (Beijing)?
This was the capital of the Mongol empire at the time.
Who is Great-Uncle Bo?
This character wanted to arrange a marriage between Qing’an and Di Chou.
The reason Haoyou refuses to return home even when given the chance."
Hhe wants to continue earning money and protect his mother from Di Chou.
Haoyou’s performances take him to this setting, where he must prove his courage before the most powerful man in the empire.
The imperial palace of Kublai Khan
Chabi is described as physically large or fat. What does she symbolise?
It reflects how wealth, power, and beauty were often understood in the context of the 13th-century Mongol Empire.
Who is Chabi?
The empress of China.