Zhang Yimou's second feature is set in China during the 1920s. Gong Li stars as the title character, a young woman whom the wealthy, aging Yang Jin-shan (Li Wei) buys to be his bride. Due to his own impotence, Ju Dou cannot bear the son Yang Jin-shan desperately wants; as a result, their marriage becomes violent and bitterly unhappy, forcing the girl into the arms of the old man's nephew Yang Tian-qing (Li Bao-tian).