Old Madam Han is the grandmother of Han Luoxue and the matriarch of the Old Han family. She is cruel, greedy, and utterly lacking in familial affection. During the famine, she plans to sell her granddaughters to the butcher Liu for grain, and even talks about eating them. She beats and scolds her own daughter Han Juhua and treats her paralyzed son’s family as burdens. She is loud and quick to curse, using feigned crying to manipulate the villagers. When the family splits, she tries to prevent it but is forced by the village head. She later plots with her sons to scare Han Luoxue’s family back or steal from them, driven by the desire for the rabbit and grain they have. She is described as having a sharp tongue and no conscience, representing the worst of human nature in a time of starvation.
