 Wang, a poor Chinese farmer, marries Olan, a slave from the  Great House  and starts raising a family. When famine hits, Wang takes his family south to the city in search of work. Olan stays with him through hard times and revolution and helps get enough money to return the family to their northern farmlands. Wang becomes prosperous but his passions sway to a younger woman. The young woman s indiscretions with Wang s now grown up son cause a family rift but Olan remains steadfast. Then a new challenge arrives - a plague of locusts.