#China Association of Performing Arts

[bluebirdmuppet]

A post about how a shit stain waste of space @ajawrites @bookshop attacked fans of Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan in an article she wrote for @vox, and then went on to slander and defame Zhang Zhehan in an attempt to get the only article published about his cancellation by CAPA retracted.

Here's the context: On June 6, 2022, @vox published an article written by @ajawrites @bookshop claiming that fans of Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan are "conspiracy theorists". In it, she makes all types of claims defaming myself and the entire JunZhe fandom (both here and in China) for being conspiracy theorists because we do not believe Zhang Zhehan's Instagram account is controlled by him. For those who don't know, Instagram fraud is rampant and there have been several Chinese celebrities who have been the victim of this. Zhang Zhehan's solo fans encouraged the reposting of this article and defended it because they somehow believe that Zhang Zhehan would "comeback" on an international platform before his name is cleared in China (another story for another day).

On June 14, 2022, less than one week after the publication of that article, The China Story published an article about why Zhang Zhehan was cancelled, and specifically that a non-governmental organization called the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA) was behind the cancellation, not the Chinese government. It also described the efforts made by Li Xuezheng, a famous government-affiliated director, to clear his name. To my knowledge, this is the only story in the world to shine a light on CAPA's role in Zhang Zhehan's cancellation.

After this article was published, @ajawrites @bookshop wrote a long email to the China Story on June 18, 2022 seeking that the article be retracted. She claimed she had done "research" which showed that the article was part of a conspiracy theory (false), that Zhang Zhehan's family was linked to Japan (false), that Zhang Zhehan was cancelled by the government (false), that CAPA wasn't involved (false), and that all those who believe they are are "conspiracy theorists" (false). She repeats anti talking points to smear Zhang Zhehan in an attempt to obtain a retraction of the article.

Yes, @ajawrites @bookshop attempted to get the only article in the world that described CAPA in a negative light retracted.

We have a copy of the email. Here are some excerpts of her own words.

Here's @ajawrites @bookshop insinuating that Zhang Zhehan was banned by the government, when it has been proven on multiple occasions that the government did not ban Zhang Zhehan.

A writer who cannot even get this fact right does not deserve to be called a writer or a thinking human being.

Here's @ajawrites @bookshop claiming that Zhang Zhehan has family ties to Japan, which is FALSE.

Zhang Zhehan himself stated in his interview with Li Xuezheng on January 1, 2022 (seven months before this email) that this was not true. Yet, @ajawrites @bookshop continued to spread this smear to the editors of The China Story.

How does someone who is too lazy to confirm facts become a "culture writer" for @vox?

Here's @ajawrites @bookshop claiming that their "research" shows that the public genuinely hated Zhang Zhehan. They claim that Zhang Zhehan was not cancelled by bad actors, but rather by the "public".

They ignore all the proof and statements that what happened was due to malicious competition and monopoly. All of this was readily available, had @ajawrites @bookshop actually done diligent research. Li Xuezheng had, after all, talked about it for weeks at the end of 2021 and early 2022.

But of course @ajawrites @bookshop knows better! They know better than even Chinese people! They even know that CAPA is a government organization, when CAPA itself said that it is not government and does not represent government.

Pretty rich for white journalist @ajawrites @bookshop to claim that when Li Xuezheng, a renowned government affiliated film director, says that Zhang Zhehan's cancellation was not done by the Chinese government but instead by CAPA, he is spouting a "conspiracy theory".

@vox is this the type of sinophobic journalists that your publication now employs?

Here's @ajawrites @bookshop defending CAPA by stating that it is not to blame for Zhang Zhehan's censorship from all media platforms in China.

Except they failed to read the multiple media reports indicating that CAPA had allied itself with multiple media platforms to ban those it deems "immoral". These media resources includes a western outlet, Reuters. Basic due diligence would have unearthed this, but it appears neither @ajawrites @bookshop or @vox care about the facts.

Here's @ajawrites @bookshop suggesting (as a white foreign writer with zero access to his case), that it is "unlikely" that Zhang Zhehan's investigation would go anywhere, that he can't come back, that he is "already back".

These are clear anti talking points easily found on Chinese social media.

Of particular note is that @ajawrites @bookshop claims that these conclusions are a result of their "research". Yes in their own words, in 2020 they were just learning Chinese. With their level of genius, I bet they're not far from being a beginner.

Yet, this is the type of "expert" that @vox employs to write about Chinese fan culture.

The article in China Story is one of the only published articles in the world that details how Zhang Zhehan was cancelled by CAPA, not the Chinese government. Yet @ajawrites @bookshop, great friend to Zhang Zhehan solo fans asked for a retraction.

Yes, we have the email. They actually did.

Who has incentive to take down an article that speaks negatively about CAPA? Who has incentive to water down statements negative to CAPA? Who has incentive to perpetuate smears against Zhang Zhehan internationally?

Who better to manipulate than a lazy and dumb writer like @ajawrites @bookshop

I do wonder how @vox and its advertisers feels about @ajawrites @bookshop spreading slander about a Chinese celebrity and his fandom? I wonder if @vox even bothers with basic fact-checking? I wonder if @vox is okay with one of its writers contacting another publication in an attempt to supports their biased views?

To the Zhang Zhehan fans (Zhang Sanjian believers) who have fawned at the feet of @ajawrites @bookshop: good to know that you support those who defend CAPA, the organization that cancelled Zhang Zhehan.

And one last thing to @ajawrites @bookshop: only a shit stain waste of space would write an article about a celebrity to gain a following in his fandom while actually despising him, believing the smears against him, and thinking he's a t******.

We call people like you blood sucking vampires.

#Zhang Zhehan #Zhang Sanjian #Aja Romano #vox #zhang sanjian exposes #misinformation #Sinophobic journalism #junzhe #CAPA #813 #China Association of Performing Arts #zzh #zsj #张哲瀚 #张三坚 #俊哲 #中演协 #中国演出协会

[calder]

In every mainline Fallout game except for New Vegas, players can earn the loyalty of a dog known as “Dogmeat.” As part of the main quest of Fallout 4, Dogmeat assists in tracking down the antagonist, even if the player has never encountered him before. When you leave Kellogg’s home, Nick simply starts talking about Dogmeat as if he’s a known quantity.

Perhaps related to this quirk of the world, Dogmeat is first named in this game when the clairvoyant Mama Murphy recognizes him and addresses him by name. The game’s UI calls him “DOG” until he is recognized by Valentine or Murphy. It seems clear that this german shepherd is somehow an independent agent with a good reputation, or something.

Dogmeat does not have a loyalty quest associated with him, which is how the player would earn the other companions’ perks. However, upon finding Astoundingly Awesome Tales #9 within the Institute, Dogmeat becomes more resistant to damage. While this isn’t coherent or conclusive evidence of Dogmeat being a synth, it’s plainly prompting the audience to consider that idea. In light of these factors, his origins have been fiercely debated among the community.

The skeptics and “hard sci-fi” fans out there would have you believe that he’s merely a famous stray dog who solves crimes. But I believe there's something more remarkable at work.

There's a section in the Fallout 2 instruction book called the Vault Dweller's Memoirs, where the player character of the first game recounts what canonically happened. Due to Fallout’s famously terrible companion AI, if you travelled to Mariposa with Dogmeat, he would consistently run into the force fields and get vaporized. So, in the Memoirs, we learn that this is exactly what became of Dogmeat Prime, in canon. He loyally sprinted into a wall of solid light, and disappeared. What if our buddy simply awoke in a new, confusing place?

In Fallout 2, Dogmeat must be found at the Cafe of Broken Dreams, which is explicitly a liminal space. It appears randomly to travellers in the desert. The NPCs within are frozen in time, such as a young version of President Tandi, who mentions that Ian went to “the Abbey,” an area cut from the game. To gain Dogmeat’s trust, the Chosen One must equip the Vault Dweller’s V-13 jumpsuit, which Dogmeat recognizes as belonging to his dead master. You can also attack him to spawn Mad Max, who claims ownership of the dog. Max fits the description of Dogmeat's original owner given in Fallout.

There’s also the “puppies” perk in Fallout 3, which enables you to restore Dogmeat, in the event of his death. “Dogmeat’s puppy” inherits his base and ref ids. In other words, they ARE the same NPC, just renamed. So, the way this actually articulates is that whenever Dogmeat dies in combat, you can find him waiting for you back at Vault 101. In practice, it’s almost Bombadilian.

Lastly, please consider the following developer context.

In June of 2021, the dog who performed Dogmeat’s motion capture and voice for Fallout 4 passed away. A statue of her was placed outside of every Vault in the China-exclusive sequel to Fallout Shelter. She still watches over each player.

River's owner, developer Joel Burgess, honored her in a brief thread about her involvement in the game, and shared much about his thought process and design goals while leading the character’s development. The Dogmeat project changed course early on, after Mr. Joel saw a new member of the art team gathering references of snarling German Shepherds. This motivated him to bring River into the studio, so the artists and developers could spend time with her.

He wanted to steer the team away from viewing Dogmeat as a weapon, and towards viewing him as a friend. Everything special about Dogmeat was inspired by River. For example, whenever you travel with Dogmeat, he’s constantly running ahead of you to scout for danger, then turning to wait for you. This was inspired by River’s consistent behavior on long walks. The only way they were able to motivate River to bark for recordings was by separating her from Joel while he waited in the next room. Reading the thread, it’s very clear that he hoped Dogmeat would make players feel safe, encouraging them to explore, and to wonder. In his closing thoughts, he said the following:

-Joel Burgess

Mr. Joel felt it was important to express that the ambiguity of Dogmeat’s origin in Fallout 4 was deliberately built into his presentation. He also felt it was important that you know Dogmeat loves you. Dogmeat was designed, on every level, to reflect the audience’s inspirations, and to empower their curiosity.

The true lore of Dogmeat is a rorschach test. The only “right” answer is to pursue whatever captures your imagination.

#dogmeat #v13 #meta #companions #animal death t

[city-of-ladies]

Women warriors in Chinese history - Part 2

(Part 1)

"However, court confessions, unofficial histories, and local gazetteers do reveal a host of women warriors during the Qing dynasty when patriarchal structures were supposedly most influential. Women in marginal groups were apparently not as observant of mainstream societal gender rules. Daughters and wives of “peasant rebels,” that is, autonomous or bandit stockades, were frequently skilled warriors. Miss Cai 蔡†(Ts’ai) of the Nian (Nien) “army,” for example, “fought better than a man, and she was especially fine on horseback. She was always at the front line, fighting fearlessly despite the large number of government troops.” According to a folktale, she managed to rout an invading government force of several thousand with a hundred men and one cannonball after her husband led most of the Nian off to forage for food.

Related to the female bandits were the women pirates among whom Zheng I Sao 鄭一嫂†(literally, Wife of Zheng I; 1775–1844) is the best researched. “A former prostitute … Cheng [Zheng] I Sao could truly be called the real ‘Dragon Lady’ of the South China Sea.” Consolidating her authority swiftly after the death of her husband, “she was able to win so much support that the pirates openly acclaimed her as the one person capable of holding the confederation together. As its leader she demonstrated her ability to take command by issuing orders, planning military campaigns, and proving that there were profits to be made in piracy. When the time came to dismantle the confederation, it was her negotiating skills above all that allowed her followers to cross the bridge from outlawry to officialdom.”

We know slightly more about some of the women warriors involved in sectarian revolts. Folk stories passed down orally are one of the sources. Tales that proliferated in northern Sichuan on the battle exploits of cult rebels of the White Lotus Religion uprising in Sichuan, Hunan, and Shaanxi beginning in the late eighteenth century glorify several women warriors. The tall and beautiful Big Feet Lan (Lan Dazhu 籃大足) and the smart and skillful Big Feet Xie (Xie Dazhu 謝大足) vanquished a stockade together; the young and attractive Woman He 何氏 could kill within a hundred feet by throwing daggers from horseback. The absence of bound feet in Big Feet Lan and Big Feet Xie suggests their backgrounds were either very poor, unconventional, or non-Han.

Sectarian groups accepted female membership readily, and many of these women trained in the martial arts. Qiu Ersao 邱二嫂†(ca. 1822–53), leader of a Heaven and Earth Society (Tiandihui 天地會) uprising in Guangxi, joined the sect because of poverty and perfected herself in the martial arts. Some women came to the sects with skills. Su Sanniang 蘇三娘, rebel leader of another sect of the Heaven and Earth Society, was the daughter of a martial arts instructor.  Such sectarian rebel bands are frequently regarded as bandit groups. A history of the Taiping Revolutionary Movement refers to these two cult leaders as female bandit chiefs before they joined the Taipings.

Male leaders of religious rebellions frequently married women from families skilled in acrobatic, martial, and magic arts. These women tended to be both beautiful and charismatic. Wang Lun 王倫, who rebelled in 1774 in Shandong, had an “adopted daughter in name, mistress in fact,” by the name of Wu Sanniang 烏三娘 who was one of Wang’s most powerful warriors. Originally an itinerant performer highly skilled in boxing, tightrope walking, and acrobatics, she terrified the enemy with spellbinding magic. She brought a dozen associates from her old life to the sect, and they all became fearsome warriors known as “female immortals” (xiannü 仙女); three of them, including Wu Sanniang, lived with Wang Lun as “adopted wives” (ifu ��婦). A tall, white-haired woman at least sixty years old, possibly the mother of one of these acrobat-turned women warriors, wielded one sword with ease and two almost as effortlessly. Dressed in yellow astride a horse, hair loose and flying, she was feared as much for her sorcery as for her military skills. Her presence indicates that some of the women came from female-dominated itinerant performing families. Woman Zhang 張氏and Woman Zhao 趙氏, wives of Lin Zhe 林哲, another leader of the cult, were also known for being able to brandish a pair of broadswords on horseback.

Hong Xuanjiao 洪宣嬌†(mid nineteenth century), also known as Queen Xiao (xiaohou 蕭后), wife of the West King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (taiping tianguo 太平天國), was so stunningly beautiful and impressive in swordsmanship that she mesmerized the entire army during battles. The link between early immortality beliefs and shamanism also suggests that these women warrior “immortals” of sectarian cults may represent surviving relics of the female shamans who occupied high positions during high antiquity.

During the White Lotus Religion rebellion in Sichuan, Hunan, and Shaanxi beginning in 1796, five of the generals were at once leaders and wives of other leaders of the cult. They were Woman Qi née Wang (Qiwangshi 齊王氏; Wang Cong’er 王聰兒), Woman Zhang née Wang (Zhangwangshi 張王氏), Woman Xu née Li (Xulishi 徐李氏), Woman Fan née Zhang (Fanzhangshi 范張氏), and Woman Wang 王†née Li 李 (Wanglishi 王李氏). In the Heavenly Principle Religion (tianlijiao 天理教) rebellion that began in Beijing during 1713, the wife of its leader, Li Wencheng 李文成, led three invasions into the city. There was even a “Female Army” (niangzijun 娘子軍) within the Eight Trigrams (baguajiao 八卦教) uprising in Shandong during the Daoguang 道光† reign (1821–51). The female generals, Cheng Sijie 程四姐†and Yang Wujie 楊五姐, were particularly impressive when they wove among enemy forces in the style of “butterflies flitting among flowers,” wielding broadswords on horseback, their hairpins glittering in the light.

A number of female rebel leaders used religion and magic to buttress their power. Many claimed to be celestials and were leaders of sectarian cults (...). Chen Shuozhen 陳碩貞†(?–653) mobilized a peasants’ uprising by declaring that she had ascended to heaven and become an immortal. Tang Sai’er (ca.1403–20), a head of the White Lotus Religion (bailianjiao 白蓮教), designated herself as a “Buddhist Mother” (fuomu 佛母). The spellbinding old woman warrior in Wang Lun’s Clear Water Religion (qingshuijiao 清水教) sect was known to the rebel community as a reincarnation of the highest White Lotus deity, the Eternal Venerable Mother (wusheng laomu 無生老母). Wang Lun relied on her for performing magic and the rituals for calling on their supreme deity. Woman Wang née Liu (wangliushi 王劉氏), one of the numerous female leaders of the White Lotus Religion revolt, also titled herself the Eternal Venerable Mother. Wang Cong’er (1777–98), originally an itinerant entertainer, became the commander in chief of the rebel army she launched with her husband, a master in the White Lotus Religion.

Indeed, itinerant performers such as Wu Sanniang mentioned above were frequently trained in the martial arts since childhood and must have been skilled at performing magic tricks as well. Lin Hei’er 林黑兒†(?–1900), leader of Red Lanterns (hongdengzhao 紅燈照), the young women’s branch of the Boxer’s Movement (yihetuan 義和團), was also originally an itinerant entertainer (her husband was a boatman). Designating herself the Holy Mother of the Yellow Lotus (huanglian shengmu 黃蓮聖母), she taught her followers the skills of wielding swords and waving fans as well as magic to defeat their enemies.  Wang Nangxian 王囊仙†(literally, Goddess Nang, 1778–97), an ethnic minority of the Miao tribe, was worshipped as a goddess by her tribesmen before she led them in revolt against the Chinese government."

Chinese shadow theatre: history, popular religion, and women warriors, Fan Pen Li Chen

#history #women in history #women warriors #warriors #warrior women #china #chinese history #asian history #historyblr #qing dynasty #19 century #18th century #Wang Cong’er #hong xuanjiao #su sanniang #qiu ersao #tang sai'er #asia #Zheng Yi Sao

[whencyclopedia]

The Dragon in Ancient China

Dragons appear in the mythology of many ancient cultures but nowhere else in the world was the creature quite so revered as in China. There, in marked contrast to other world mythologies, the dragon was almost always seen in a positive light and particularly associated with life-giving rains and water sources. Considered the most auspicious year sign, worn on the robes of emperors, depicted in the most precious materials from gold jewellery to jade figurines, and with countless references in literature and the performing arts, the dragon was everywhere in ancient China and looms as large today in the Chinese psyche as ever.

Continue reading...

#History #Mythology #ChineseEmperor #ChineseArt

[bizarrequazar]

Zhang Zhehan, 813, and Zhang Sanjian FAQ

I’ve been thinking for a while that I should make this as a starting place for people just learning about the situation. Please let me know if you have any corrections or anything you would like me to add.

1. What happened to Zhang Zhehan? / What is 813?

On August 13. 2021, a photo was spread by online water armies of Zhang Zhehan in front of cherry blossoms from a trip he had taken to Japan in 2018. This was accompanied by claims that he had been there to visit the Yasukuni Shrine—a politically controversial shrine which honors WWII war criminals—and that he held right-wing anti-Chinese sentiments. This photo was later joined by others, all either photoshopped or with falsified context, “backing up” these accusations along with further claims slandering him and his family.

In the days following, Zhang Zhehan lost all of his endorsements, had all of his past works taken down, had all of his social media shut down, and was boycotted by the private association CAPA without the chance to defend himself. His name and image were also later banned from social media, he was used as a negative example in schools and on exams, and his name is blocked from registration on some social media sites and certain devices. He and his family have been subject to intense harassment including death threats.

All of the accusations against him have been shown to be false and he is currently pursuing legal action, but he is still unable to speak or appear publicly in any capacity.

Further reading:  -  Talking points pamphlet  -  Wiki page

2. Who was behind 813?

The boycott was issued by the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), a private industry association that at the time held sway (but no official authority) over many social media and streaming companies. CAPA is heavily suspected of being the ones who orchestrated the entire incident and related events, see point 4 below.

2.5. Was Gong Jun behind 813?

No, he had no motive whatsoever, was still a small name in the industry at the time, has no industry sway, had his most popular show taken down because of 813, and was targeted by similar attacks in the months after. If he had not stayed quiet about 813, Gong Jun very easily could have been taken down by it as well. Please see point 7 below if you have this belief because of Zhang Sanjian / zhangzhehan_super3, and if you have this belief because of the Twitter account Justice for Zhang Zhehan please know that she is an idiot.

3. Was 813 caused by censorship / homophobia / the Chinese government?

No. There is no evidence for 813 having anything to do with censorship, it was perpetuated by private venture capitalism. The Chinese government had no known involvement—CAPA has no government affiliation, and both the NRTA and MCT confirmed after inquiry that they had nothing to do with Zhang Zhehan’s cancellation. Quite the opposite, it was said by Li Xuezheng that government officials were in attendance during the interview between him and Zhang Zhehan released 2022-01-01.

4. Why Zhang Zhehan? / What was the motive behind 813?

The exact reason is not known for sure, but it is heavily suspected that he turned down an exclusive endorsement deal with one of CAPA’s subsidiaries around March / April 2021. CAPA took this as a slight and, because he was heavily in the public eye at the time, they decided to make him an example of what they could do to people who refused to play their game.

Other smaller parties who participated in 813 were driven by industry competition, private capital, mob mentality, and/or because they’re shitheads who found it fun.

Further reading: Lead-up to 813

5. Does the lack of news about Zhang Zhehan mean he’s given up / he’s lost his case?

Absolutely not, and quite the opposite in fact. Avoiding the public eye is the best thing Zhang Zhehan can do to avoid media frenzy and the potential skewing of the narrative that that could cause. Due to the length of time it has been since 813, whatever Zhang Zhehan first does when he becomes public again is guaranteed to cause a stir, and therefore he has to be very careful about not saying anything publicly until he and his case are at a favourable point to do so.

Further reading:  -  Question about the length of the case  -  Breakdown of the legal process in relation to Zhang Zhehan’s case

6. Could Zhang Zhehan pursue a career internationally instead? 

Until his name is cleared, no. 

Zhang Zhehan did not have enough international recognition prior to 813 to realistically build a career overseas, and he has not shown fluency in any language other than Mandarin with which to do so. Even if he did pursue this, until his name is cleared he will always be associated with 813 and would struggle to find success with how he would be viewed by Chinese diaspora. 

As well, given the nationalistic nature of 813, seeking a career overseas would communicate guilt and/or giving up on his case.

7. Is Zhang Sanjian / the zhangzhehan_super3 Instagram account / the person releasing new songs Zhang Zhehan?

No. There is overwhelming evidence that Zhang Sanjian etc. is a scam using Zhang Zhehan’s name and image, utilizing photoshopping, deepfakes, and impersonators. 

The people behind this have known professional connections to CAPA, and the activities the scam has engaged in have consistently been aimed at further damaging his image. The Zhang Sanjian persona is characterized as having given up on clearing his name, being degrading and rude to both his fans and former costars, and giving up on his career in China to pursue international fame (see point 6 above). Practically every action made by the persona and related parties go completely against Zhang Zhehan’s character and/or make no logical sense for someone in his position.

Further reading:   -  Timeline of the IG’s early activity  -  Deepfake breakdown  -  Collected information about the Bangkok concerts  -  Wiki page for the IG account

8. Why doesn’t Zhang Zhehan speak out against Zhang Sanjian?

See point 5 above. It is likely that part of the original aim of Zhang Sanjian was specifically to try to bait him into saying something against it. The scam has been trying very hard to control the public narrative via buying public screens, commissioning tabloid articles, releasing a ridiculous number of songs and artificially raising hit counts on these, etc.

9. Why go through so much effort to erase Zhang Zhehan / continue the Zhang Sanjian scam?

For CAPA, Zhang Zhehan winning his case and overturning his boycott will heavily diminish their industry influence (not to mention jail time, hopefully). It could, in the best case scenario, even lead to the complete disbandment of the company under Chinese anti-monopoly legislation. (see the first point under [this post])

For the smaller players involved in the scam specifically, the motive is by and large personal financial gain. Many are known to be in debt / have been in debt but are suddenly now making lavish purchases (Sophie for example), some are known professional con men (Peter), and some are seeking other personal goals such as trying to get famous themselves (Lexus), to promote their own businesses (the Chens and the gym bros), or even for sexual gratification (Hewitt). 

As well, it’s important to keep in mind the financial scale of the extremely lucrative Chinese entertainment industry. The amount that has been spent on 813 and everything since is barely anything in the grand scheme of things.

Further Resources:  -  Zhang Zhehan wiki  -  Masterlist of my posts about Zhang Zhehan  -  My ZZH info tag

#Zhang Zhehan #Zhang Sanjian #813 #Word of Honor #Shan He Ling #zzh info

[potteresque-ire]

孤鴻號外野，翔鳥鳴北林。 徘徊將何見？憂思獨傷心。 — 魏晋·阮籍 《咏怀八十二首·其一》 The lone swan goose wails in the wilderness, The flying birds call in the northern forests. What’s there to see in the lingering? Worried thoughts and a solitary, wounded heart. — Ruan Ji (210-263 AD) “82 Songs of Dispositions, No. 1”

孤雁不飲啄，飛鳴聲念羣。 誰憐一片影，相失萬重雲？ — 唐·杜甫 《孤雁》 The lone swan goose doesn’t drink or eat, Flying, wailing its longing for its flock. Who would pity that piece of shadow, Lost in the million layers of clouds? — Du Fu (712-770AD) “The Lone Swan Goose”

Happy New Year everyone! 🎉🧧

Below the cut, I’m offering my interpretation of Like the Sunlight, based on the lyrics and Dd’s performance on NYE. Unlike other interpretations I’ve worked on, I’m keeping this one free from the influence of what I’ve found on the Chinese internet, whether they are interpretations from fellow fans, explanations from those involved in the production, or reviews by the media—for reasons I shall explain afterwards. 

This is strictly the product of my brain, my senses, based on the words, the stage art, the choreography.

As a warning of sorts, my interpretation isn’t one of positivity, or even, one of blissful happiness. It also isn’t candy-ish. However, I do believe this song, this performance is deeply personal for Dd, revealing, sharing a facet of him that with his fame, he can no longer say in words. And in doing so with music and movements, and on one of China’s biggest stages no less, he’s letting us see that side of him, and fulfilling what he sang in Nian:  為溫暖 也為尋常的人間 Stand up. For warmth, and for the ordinary humankind, stand up.

(Under the cut: Yes, this meta is also very, very long. :) )

For reference, I’m using the English lyrics translation by Xiaoman, and the official performance video posted by SMG. I'll denote the time of the lyrics (Xiaoman) video by the notation “LV 1:00″ for the 1st minute mark, and PV 1:00 for the same time mark in the performance (SMG) video. Sorry this is a little clumsy! I haven’t thought of a better way to do this.

To start, perhaps we can start with the simplest questions? As with any story, we’d like to figure out the time, the place, and the characters.

Time is the easiest—it’s provided in the first line of the lyrics (LV 0:20). There’s a slight mistranslation in the video; the line actually specifies two solar terms in the Chinese calendar—清明 Qingming, which falls on the 4th or 5th of April, and the one immediately after, 谷雨 Guyu, which falls on the 20th or 21st of the same month. Hence, this line of lyrics is better translated as: The Qingming winds are blowing, waiting for Guyu to sow the seeds. The time of when the conversation in the lyrics happens can therefore be estimated as around mid-April.

Is there a significance to this? Yes. The Chinese calendar divides the seasons differently from the Gregorian calendar, and Guyu is the last solar term associated with Spring. Spring is well on its way at the time of the song. It’s almost over.

Next, the place. This one is quite simple as well. It’s the wilderness, with wide open air where the the starry skies can be seen, with forests and its many trees, with mountains where beasts can roam.  

The characters. This one a little trickier ... far trickier. The lyrics never specified who they are—in fact, the narrator doesn’t even know the name of who he’s talking to.

Who is the narrator, by the way? There are three pronouns in the lyrics — “I” (我), “You” (你), and “It” (它). Can we identify them?

Let’s start with the “It”, because the syntax actually makes it quite clear what “It” is — it’s the Lonely Nights. While Lonely Nights is plural in English, it’s introduced more as a character in the lyrics. Hence, the use of “it” rather than “they”.

And what does this “It” do? How does it interact with the other two characters, “I”, the narrator, and “You”? The lyrics says, Lonely Nights drifts away like fallen leaves of Autumn, and renews itself, like new leaves budding in Spring, on the tree branches (LV 1:17). It has a cycle then, a routine—usual as, the narrator says, the world will go on (LV 1:29). The time of renewal, he says, decides when and the narrator, the “I”, and the unnamed “You”, will meet.

This means the narrator is familiar, comfortable with Lonely Nights. He’s someone who has accepted Lonely Nights as part of life, as the way things are, as like the seasons, which may appear to come and go but don’t really, truly leave.

Nights, of course, share the same cyclic character as the seasons. They leave at dawn, return in the evening. But the narrator is specific about the kind of nights he is referring to. 

They are lonely. Not only are his nights like clockwork. His loneliness is also like clockwork. 

What else do we know about the narrator? We know that he has been going on long journeys, journeys that are always restricted by time, that force him to hasten his pace (LV 0:08). The translation of 趕路 (literally, rushing the road) as “rush” is technically correct, but what “rush” doesn’t convey—no single English word can convey it, to my knowledge—is the implied nature of the journey. It’s long; it invites the image of the traveller hurrying day and night without rest, whose time and effort can afford to make the journey happen and not much else. Who sees, as the journey happens, the journey being his primary task.

Such journeys, expectedly, often serves important purposes. They are often related with something life-changing, or critical for survival. Swinging by the coffee shop before work isn’t 趕路, for example, even though the coffee-deprived person may be very rushed, and may feel they can’t live without the coffee.

The narrator has gone on such long, hastened or “rushed” journeys many times. He has done it while the “You” he was talking to have dreamt for a long time.

This still isn’t specific enough, isn’t it? Not for us to understand why the narrator’s perspective is the way it is; why he equates the Lonely Nights with seasons, talks in the language of nature and not of urban life, of civilisation. The Chinese word corresponding to the most … civilised word in the English translation, “campfire” (LV:58), is 篝火. “Camp” is associated with human activity; it sounds artificial. 篝火, nonetheless, doesn’t originally mean campfire. It’s a smaller fire, lantern-like, protected by a cover weaved from bamboo. Likewise, the light in the narrator’s palm (LV 1:56), the gift for “You”, is actually specified in the lyrics as 螢火—the light from fireflies. The narrator being a member of nature is further suggested by his not being afraid of the mountain beasts—he watches the starry skies with them (LV 0:29).

Do other places in the lyrics offer more clues to who, or rather, what he is? Is there another spot in the lyrics that refers to something journey-related, and dreams? If so, that would allow us to draw a parallel and perhaps, deduce the identity of the narrator and “You”.

There is. It can be found near the end of the song (LV 3:49): Like the green grass having a dream of falling snow; like the flying bird passing through layers and layers of dark clouds.

If we apply this parallel in description, the conclusion would be …

The narrator is a bird. 

Hence, his comfort around with the beasts, while, notably, also not being one of them. While the contemporary Chinese word for animals, 動物, includes birds and mammals, the lyrics’ word choice of 獸, translated as beasts, generally refers to the four-legged, big and fearsome creatures and excludes members of the avian family, which has its own word, 禽.

The narrator being a bird is implied by the dance choreography, the most obvious being at PV 2:59 where he flaps his wings:

What about the “You” the narrator is talking to then? Applying the same parallel, it would be the green grass, or something like the green grass—young (green), helpless in its inability to escape the seasons, the weather. It’s fearful. Anxious. Dreaming of and already dreading the winter snowfall in April. It’s vulnerable; depressed, some may say, prone to cry with the knowledge, the sadness that Spring will soon leave, not caring enough to stay (LV 4:16) to keep it warm.

But the “You” can’t be just the green grass. The early parts of the song make clear that this “You” not only doesn’t have a name, it shares certain qualities with the night. It’s found among the shadows of the trees under the starry skies (LV 0:29-0:47). It’s awake, if silent, in the night hours (LV 0:47). Dawn is the time the narrator asks for it to tell its name (LV 2:26), implying that the narrator is not expecting it to stay after sunrise.

More importantly, this “You” is who the narrator asks to wake up, like the sunlight. This critical line (LV 3:18) that leads to the climax of the song, that is the song’s namesake, is a suggestion, a plea. This may not be obvious in the English translation, because English doesn’t have an equivalent sentence building block in Chinese known as the sentence-final particle. Such particles—the 吧 (pronounced “ba”) after 像陽光那樣醒來 Wake up like the sunlight in this case—serve the important role of conveying the tone of the speaker. Punctuation marks were not introduced into standard Chinese texts until the early 20th century, and so, such particles are critical in communicating what the speaker actually means in written texts.

Here, the narrator is suggesting. He isn’t commanding. 吧 is softer, more polite than that. He’s asking. Hoping.

The suggestion, the plea for “You” to wake up like the sunlight also implies something important: the waking up hasn’t actually happened. That is only the wish of the narrator; the wish of the narrator that “You” will, one day, be like sunlight and be everywhere, on the crossroads, in the journeys, at sunrise, while dancing in the wind (LV 3:30). The “You”, therefore, has so far remained in the night. Echoing this interpretation, in Dd’s dance, at sunrise (PV 3:28) the “I”, the narrator’s movements turn frantic; he runs around and reaches, searches, grabs, until he finally collapses on the floor, curled up in a fetal position, despaired (PV 4:04):

He made a desperate attempt to hold on, and failed.

If the narrator is a bird—a lone bird—the lone bird is alone again. He has lost his companion for the night, his “You”. We know something more about the relationship between the narrator and “You” from this: the narrator doesn’t have the power to change the nocturnal nature of “You”; he doesn’t have the ability to transform “You”, overnight, into his company under the sun. All he can do is to bring “You” small morsels of light, in the form of small fires under bamboo covers, of lights from fireflies. The lyrics tell us what these two lights, both much dimmer, and weaker than sunlight, stand for: the stories the narrator can chat about, the small joys he has picked up during his (daytime) journey. 

The narrator and “You” are not soulmates. Not yet. Their separation at sunrise explains why the narrator doesn’t know certain things about “You”, such as “You”s name. That the narrator wishes for happiness for “You” (LV 3:57), no matter where one goes (the lyrics actually doesn’t specify who’s the one going)—the phrasing making this a well-wish—not only suggests that the narrator and “You” are parting ways, it also suggests the narrator doesn’t always have a clear knowledge of where “You” will be. 

But the narrator wants them to be soulmates. Exchange not only their heart 心, but their true heart 真心 (LV 1:14). Despite his unfamiliarity with certain parts of “You”, he also has insights about “You” that run deeper than names and locations; he knows “You” hasn’t made peace with the Lonely Nights like he has—it’s one of the reasons of “You”’s sadness, along with the passage of time, along with the carelessness of Spring (LV 4:07). He comforts “You”, tells “You” not to cry (LV 4:17). The tree branches where Lonely Nights renews itself, he says in the end, will not only be the time they shall meet again, but where beauty and goodness 美好 returns, along with Spring (LV 4:21).

This doesn’t sound like a happy story, does it? Moreover, some of you must be thinking, mumbling as well — Huh??? So Dd is singing a song about a bird and some … nighty grassy thing? What does that have to do with him? With anything?

Here’s when I refer to the poems at the start of the post. They are there, of course, for a reason.

You see, the lone bird — the lone migratory bird, in particular — has had a long history of symbolising uprooted people in Chinese literature. By uprooted, I mean the people have been separated from their homes, their home towns, and it doesn’t matter whether the separation is voluntary. Natural disasters like floods, man-made disasters like wars may have forced them to leave, or they have moved because better opportunities present themselves elsewhere.

Like the Sunshine is, I believe, about this lone bird, this displaced group of people.

True, the lyrics never specifies the kind of bird, but the narrator’s awareness of the seasons is the first, if faint clue of its migratory nature. The second, more significant clue is in the stage art — the existence of wide bodies of water and the creatures living in it, neither of which are found, or even implied, in the lyrics.  

This bird flies across, or above the waters (PV 3:49):

Still, you may ask, there are many migratory birds. Why have I picked poems about the lone swan goose? Why am I imagining it as the narrator of the lyrics? My reasoning is this: while two species of migratory birds have made frequent appearance in ancient Chinese poetry—the sparrows and swan geese—it’s often the latter that was alone. Poets of old tended to depict the sparrows as happy birds, with the sight of their migration signalling the arrival of Spring. As importantly, perhaps, they were usually portrayed as flying in pairs. The swan geese, on the other hand, were associated with the autumn migration, the impending winter and the less-than-happy sentiments from long journeys away from home. Their calls were described as wails. They were often portrayed as messengers carrying morsels of news, of deep yearning, from loved ones who were too far away. Swan geese naturally fly in flocks. They also mate for life. The lone swan goose therefore suggested separation and abandonment. Loss.

But but but ..., you may argue. Why can’t it be … single and available?

* Smiles *. As a culture that heralds collectivism, being alone is rarely, if ever, considered a choice in traditional Chinese thinking. In the old times, in particular, it was considered, assumed to be a less-than-ideal thing that had happened upon the individual. At best, it was some sort of misfortune; at worse, it was a bout of irresponsibility. Both poems about the lone swan goose that started this post are more than a thousand years old. Both are depressing.

This has something to do with what a home means in traditional Chinese culture.

In the Western world and in the 21st century, we associate flying away alone from our childhood homes as part of growing up. It has its challenges, but it’s also exciting. It’s about having an adventure and seeing the world. People don’t think of it as an act of abandoning one’s home, or one’s home abandoning them. The location of the physical home doesn’t matter as much as where those who love you, and those who you love back are.

Home is where the heart is. That’s the saying.

Meanwhile, home in traditional Chinese culture is more accurately described as where the bloodline is. It’s where your ancestors are buried, where you bow before row after row of memorial tablets on Qingming. Where the elders expect their descendants to not only take care of them, but shoulder the responsibilities of maintaining the house and the bloodline, and bring glory to them all.

To be away from home for any reason, even if it’s out of necessity, therefore evokes feelings of guilt, in addition to the sadness and loneliness of being a permanent stranger somewhere else. The longstanding belief that home is where one’s ancestors are means assimilation is next to impossible, both socially and emotionally. Others in the new place don’t think of the migrant as one of them. The migrant doesn’t think of themselves as one of them.

The traditional term for people who live away from their birthplace, their ancestral hometown, is 羈旅. Many of you may be familiar with 羈 — it’s the same character as in Wuji 無羈, and originally means a bridle. 旅 means to travel. Putting the characters together, 羈旅 is a bridled traveller. In ancient times, a bridled traveller could’ve lived in his new town for years—decades, even—and be still considered a guest in the town and his house, little more than a restraint that had kept him there. The consequence of such lifelong alienation was that the deathbed wish of many such migrants was to be taken back to their home towns for burial. 落葉歸根, they called it. The fallen leaf returning to its roots.

Fallen leaves are considered uprooted, rootless.

Fallen leaves appear in the lyrics of Like the Sunshine as well (LV 1:17), describing the passing of Lonely Nights.

In 2023, China has, inevitably, absorbed some of the Western perspectives about leaving home, the independence and self-reliance it nurtures, the freedom it brings. But the old thinking remains, stubborn and at constant war with the new. The Chinese word for freedom 自由 didn’t enter the Chinese lexicon until the 19th century, as an import from Japan. Chasing one’s dream, often the cause of leaving home, is also a contemporary concept—in old Chinese usage, to dream is not a particularly good thing. Ancient Chinese preferred something more tangible. More practical. 

The dream in Like the Sunshine is an example. The dream isn’t a particularly good one—snow is a danger for the green grass.

Whereas, Confucius was already preaching filial piety, laying out its rules and rituals 2,500 years ago.

Government policies also reinforce the feelings, and “guest” status, of the modern bridled traveller. Chinese are attached to the provinces of their birth by their 户口 hukou, a household registration system that allows the government to control the flow of its population within the country, which is arguably necessary due to the vast disparity in resources from province to province, and between the villages and the big cities. When a Chinese moves somewhere else—to a big city like Beijing, for example—their hukou doesn’t move with them. Without a Beijing hukou, the migrants’ rights to buy a house, even a car, in the city are restricted. They are often overlooked by companies, which prefer to hire Beijing hukou holders, while the migrants already have little safety net should they fall into economic hardship, not being eligible for most of the local government assistance programmes. Children must go back to their hukou’s province for their college entrance exams, when top universities admit students with a Beijing hukou at a much, much higher rate — in 2011, Beijing University’s admission rate for Beijing hukou holders was almost 30 times that of Dd’s home province, Henan.

While a points system is in place for those who wish to apply for a Beijing hukou, the latter remains so difficult to get, so coveted that there is a black market for it—the price tag justified by the need to “make the right connections within the government”, i.e., to bribe. The current price isn’t something I’m privy to, but back in 2012, the state media reported that it was already at 500,000 RMB (72,480 USD).

It’s a sum of money the poor can't afford, not to say such a purchase is, of course, not exactly legal.

Yet, there are still so many modern bridled travellers in China that they have a collective descriptor: 漂族 The drifting race. 漂, meaning to drift and pronounced “piao”, also appeared in the lyrics, describing the fallen leaves that, in turn, describe the Lonely Nights (LV 1:17). Fallen leaves, as mentioned before, have been used to describe the rootless—and specifically, those approaching the end of their lives.

Drifters who have drifted to Beijing are known as 北漂 — 北, or North, is from 北京 Beijing, which literally means The Northern Capital. In 2021, this population amounted to more than 8 million people, or 38.5% of the city’s permanent residents.

This population also includes Dd and Gg. Dd and Gg may be stars, but at the end of the day, they are just another two youngsters who have left their homes for a big city to try their luck.

For Dd, in particular, Beijing isn’t even the first place he has drifted to. His first was not only another city, but another country—South Korea. Of his short 25 years on this planet, he has spent 14 of them as a bridled traveller, and many of these days he wasn’t even bridled, his home being a hotel room somewhere. Everywhere. Meanwhile, expectations remain that he should view his birthplace, the city of Luoyang in Henan, as his home. He has been repeatedly asked to perform in Luoyang / Henan’s dialect, even though he has, also repeatedly, said he isn’t fluent in it (two examples from CQL’s promotional period alone: Vid 1, 1:55; Vid 2, 5:47). His selection of Cola Chicken Wings as his favourite dish for Chinese New Year (Vid, 3:56), being a cute candy aside, also suggested a certain degree of detachment from his supposed home city. Most people would have named a dish from their home place without prompting.

Yet, strangely perhaps, Dd has also exhibited a strong affinity to Home, as a concept. When it matters, his connection to his ancestral home seems almost tighter than other’s. There are hints, too, that he’s meant to be living in a home-is-where-the-heart-is home, when, with his history, many may assume that he’s comfortable, if not more comfortable with being uprooted, being rootless.

Dd was there to help with the rescue effort for the floods in his ancestral home of Henan. He was there despite of the skepticism he must know he would get, and he did get it. Meanwhile, his years drifting in S. Korea, in Beijing haven’t appeared to have assuaged his fear of the dark, which may, perhaps, be as well understood as his need for companionship. Not the “let’s go party together” kind of companionship—Dd doesn’t have a reputation as being a party animal, not even in the most gossipy, most vile of YXH blogs—but the “let’s-be-together-when-it’s-dark-and-silent” kind of companionship, the kind that requires far more closeness … intimacy, if one will, and trust. As night falls, he appears to require the presence of another human being to feel safe, to fall sleep. On record, he had sought such presence by tactile confirmation, as his old team mate once pointed out (0:44), or by finding an imitation—the voice from a non-hostile, trusted source such as the CCTV Sports Channel (23:15).

I can’t help but feel: both of these are pale substitutes of what Dd can get from a home-is-where-the-heart-is home.

Some people don’t mind being alone. Some even enjoy being uprooted. Dd doesn’t seem to be one of them.

He isn’t the only one. There are many other young Chinese drifters who have elected to drift, but also wish for an ancestral home, a home-is-where-the-heart-is home, to return to at the end of the day. The hardship of the drifting race has been well documented. Many spend the night alone in the tinniest, cheapest apartments in their new city, exhausted from a day of “rushing”, depressed from missing their loved ones and anxious about their new environment, their new job, their being from a poor province that big cities tend to look down upon.

They worry. Many have promised their families back home that they will mail back money with their higher income in the city. After all, a good fraction of them only manage to secure employment in the big cities after their family—their parents, their grandparents—exhausted most of their savings to pay for their college education. They want to repay these elders who love them. They want to bring glory to their blood line. These expectations, both from others and from themselves, have never gone away.

They cry. At night, mostly, when nobody can see them, because they must put on a brave, mature face when the sun is up. With the guilt associated with leaving home, with the investment of time and money and effort required, the decision to leave is seldom made lightly, and many of them are set on making their journey a worthwhile one.

As one Beijing Drifter from Chongqing said: Even if I have to get on my knees, I’ll take this path to its end. (Vid,13:38)

If time and space are limited, how would I succinctly describe these drifters? How would I depict them with a simple piece of artwork? I’m no artist, and so, Google is my friend and perhaps, this is what I'll find and show:

(An off-angle shot of this in the performance is found at PV 4:28)

The hunched back, overladen with guilt and anxiety, and often, too, with the weight of expectations. The paper plane, representing their pursue for a better life. Flying high while being small, childlike and vulnerable.

The last three years of Zero COVID policy have not helped with the drifting race’s predicament. Chinese New Year is usually the time the drifters travel home to visit their family, but many didn’t for the last three years. Leaving the capital city, especially, had been heavily discouraged by the local government, for fear those who did would bring back the virus when they returned. Travelling also created a risk of being subjected to involuntary quarantine, or of being given a yellow or red COVID health code that would bar them from returning to the city, too often for long enough to jeopardise their employment.

These lone, migratory birds are, I believe, what Like the Sunlight is about, and who Like the Sunlight is for. The teary faces these drifters don’t allow to see the day, that stay awake and silent after night falls, is the “You” of the song — young (green), worried about their future and the challenges it will undoubtedly bring (winter snow), still not used to the lonely nights and wondering if anyone cares, realising that even the kindest souls can only do so much for them with their own obligations to keep, their own routines to follow (Spring).

The “You” doesn’t have a name because it’s actually a part of the lone migratory bird, the narrator. The “You” is both familiar and unfamiliar to the narrator because it harbors his deepest, most hidden if also the most unadorned and sincere feelings—feelings that must leave, return to the dark when the sun is up.

The Chinese work environment is very much survival-of-the-fittest. Competition is fierce. Work load is brutal. Youth and immaturity, sadness and fears have no place there. 

I imagine, Dd chose this song because he, too, has been one of these migratory birds, one who left home at an even earlier age than others, who flew even further away than others. At 25, he has already spent more than half of his life drifting, and this experience must have left a mark on him, he who was (is) so adversed to being in the dark and being alone. One may argue that Dd is so much luckier, that his job now pays so handsomely that the financial woes that plague most other drifters will never touch him again. That is true, but no compensation can alter the fact that his job is also among the most isolating. His every move is watched, his every associate placed on a scale and judged—is Dd too good for him, or not good enough? His hastened journey, his flight through the stormy clouds of c-ent is further darkened by the thick wall of hounding paparazzis and sasaeng fans.

As turtles, we believe his heart has found actually found a home. But we also know that he’s separated from that person for most of the year. We know, too, that because of the common practices in his line of work, because of cultural norms and government policies, he can’t turn himself from a lone migrating swan goose into half of a pair of happily migrating sparrows. He can’t even be seen in the same camera shot with his him. He may not have to worry about money, but he has to worry about the ever fickle, ever brutal public opinion. He may not be anxious about his next pay check, but his industry has been ailing, and many relies on him, directly or indirectly, for their pay check.

At some point, I imagine, there’s got to be a “You” in Dd too. A “You” that is his actual age, not the age of his maturity. A “You” that, after the night falls and all is still and quiet, frets about what will come and that, just like other humans, is prone to being brokenhearted when its trust is misplaced.

A “You” that still doesn’t want to be in the dark, to be alone.

And he must have talked to this “You”, comforted this “You” inside him. He must have done so in the lonely nights, which he has made peace with after so many years of travelling, the lonely nights that he now sees as benign—always returning, true, but isn’t it just like the seasons, with their falling, drifting leaves, followed by their constant renewal on the branches? He must have shown this “You” the morsels of joy he picked up during his day time journeys. A cool skateboard trick he mastered, maybe. A new dance move. A freshly delivered box of limited edition Lego. The company he kept when these things happened; the company that made these thing happen.

He must have wished his “You” happiness. He must have wished it to be like sunlight, to be something that can be out there in the open for all to see and is light and free enough to dance on the journeys with him after the sun rises, at the many crossroads he must pass. To me, what this performance practically shouts to the world is: Dd may be taciturn, but he’s expressive. There are things deep inside him that he wants people to know, to understand, if just so that others who feel the same can whisper “Me too”. He must have been disappointed before, despaired that that hasn’t happened, that his “You” has remained in the night, that this soft, gentle part of him has to be wrapped up and hidden from public eye and he must put on a brave, mature face when dawn breaks. But he’s making peace with that too. After all, the “You” that stays in the night keeps him company when there’s no one else. He recalls the small joys of his life for it, recounts the small joys of his life to it. He exchanges his true heart with it, acquaints himself with his deepest, most unadorned, natural feelings—feelings that he keeps from other humans, from civilisation.

Despite dreading winters, this “You” in him has helped him through the winters.

I would insist that Like the Sunlight is a positive song, in that it’s about acceptance and healing—not the outcome of healing, but the process of healing. At the same time, I also recognise that it isn’t a positive song the way positivity is conventionally defined in their country: that everyone is living a happy, inspirational life, that wounds are no more than plot points leading to a climatic preaching scene. I see open wounds in the dance performance. I see pain, and I appreciate it not because I enjoy seeing anyone hurting, but because unlike so much of their country’s entertainment, it doesn’t pretend that such wounds don’t exist, or that they can be healed and numbed by some stock phrases of encouragement, a few slogans, a chant of core socialist values.

To pretend such things is to make light of pain, to diminish the humanity that makes the pain.

Healing isn’t a game of mathematics, in which fortune in one area cancels out the misfortune in another. Just because one has an illustrious career, or even, an enviable romantic life, doesn’t mean they can’t be hurting somewhere still. Healing is slow. Healing is difficult. Healing is patching a wound, the deep hollowness within, with one firefly light after another. Healing is to have the wound ripped open again and again at the most unexpected, most inconvenient of times, and still believing, insisting that the wound will close one day.

Healing is learning to accept that the hollow is there. To make peace with it. To see it as part of oneself.

Healing is to wait, to be patient season after season.

These aren’t viewpoints that public figures in China can express freely, or at least, without great care. Recognition of the existence of real, open wounds, of the pain they inflict, may be misconstrued as dissatisfaction about the country’s way of life, and the powers that be that make their way of life the way it is. Public figures in entertainment, in particular, are far better off in 2023 being talked about as role models of the government-approved kind of positivity, their work as vehicles for warm fuzziness and slogan-y life lessons. Sunlight is everywhere, always. Sunlight is a reality, never just a wish. Embraces happen under the sun and with the sun, not in and with the darkness (PV 0:40). And such things are to be represented as observations, as what the audience sees, even though the lyrics doesn’t say it, the stage art doesn’t show it, the dance choreography doesn’t suggest it.

Chairman Mao was the Red Sun.

How far does this insistence of positivity go? The following is a digital banner photographed in a Chinese hospital a week ago. The bright red banner looks, and is, congratulatory. Something very happy has happened! What is it about?

This: Good News! On 2022 December 21st, Our ER department has served more than 2 million people (Source).

The surge in patient visits was due to the country’s 180-degree turn in its Zero COVID policy, and the associated surge in hospitalisations and yes, deaths. 

The next day, a crematorium’s notice wrote the following about the doubling of corpses it had processed over the course of a week: 受到了群眾的好評和領導的肯定 ... 確保年底前各項工作任務圓滿收官、爭創佳績. (The work) has been well received by the masses and affirmed by the leaders... (we shall) ensure all our year-end responsibilities will have a perfect curtain call, and strive for the best results.

This is how strong the country’s insistence on positivity is. Humans are behind the banner, the notice. Do they understand the less-than-happy, less-than-inspirational sentiments behind the ER visits, the deaths? Of course they do. But this is how much people are being pressured into saying happy, inspirational things these days. This is the length people are going to avoid saying things that are otherwise, at the intersection between 2022 and 2023.

And so, I shall say this again—the above interpretation is entirely my own, from my angsty fic writer’s brain, and have nothing to do with any interpretation, explanation or review available on the Chinese social media, which are all happily, inspirationally and most importantly, appropriately positive. It’s my being obstinate and ridiculous and delusional that makes me disagree with them, that makes me confess the following: 

I have doubts about the … honesty of certain things that have been said.

The explanation offered by the studio about the stage art, for example. The explanation says, the art depicts a fantasy, which culminated to the narrator finding his lost home and that union leads to a finale of golden light passing through the clouds, waking up millions of lives and souls. 

I have doubts because I have trouble matching it to what I saw. While the exact moment can’t be pinpointed due to the camerawork, the shade of red on Dd’s face suggested that the sun, the golden light, started shining at the PV 3:28 mark. At that moment, the creatures, the lives and souls remain on screen, thriving in the dark, in the nature. As the sun continues to rise, they are lost, transformed into (lifeless) objects from civilisation—things like furniture and laundry lines. Finally (PV 4:24), the lone man appears, united with his home in that he’s carrying it like a burden on his back. Not one life or soul appears after the man and the house did. Dd’s final interaction with the stage art is to walk towards the man, the uprooted house that just had a paper plane fly out of its window. 

The stage art thus presents a story that is almost opposite of the explanation given: the rising sun, in fact, drives away the creatures, the lives and souls and nature that accompanied the narrator before. The civilisation the narrator returns to has nothing but a home that is rootless—in contrast its being rooted at the beginning of the performance (PV 0:10)—and its paper plane carrying, one may presume, a fragile childlike dream.

Winter is turning the corner, the explanation says in its conclusion. Warmth has arrived, unexpected. The stage effect, meanwhile, is a wild dance of drifting, yellow autumn leaves. Winter may indeed be turning a corner, but it’s more likely to be doing what the green grass has been dreaming of, afraid of. It is lurking, waiting for the right moment to bring in the cold, the snow.

As such, the stage art goes well with the lyrics—assuming my interpretation isn’t too off the mark. As such, the stage art also, in my (obstinate, ridiculous, delusional) opinion, sets the explanation’s pants on fire.

The thing I can say about the explanation is … it’s positive; it’s a good thing to say on record. Even the flood isn’t real.

Another thing I can say is: to everyone reading this, please trust your senses. Please believe whatever the performance makes you feel is real. Don’t let anyone tell you, this is the proper interpretation. Don’t listen to anyone who says, this is how you’re supposed to think. Including me. Including this post. Even if a language barrier exists, music is universal. Art is universal. Movements are universal.

Okay, this is getting ridiculously long, which is hardly surprising 😊. One last thing. Some may be asking (assuming you haven’t all fallen asleep)—do I think there are candies in this performance?

Frankly, I don’t think there are any on the surface. Not in what was sung, or illustrated, or danced. However …

If you’re a lover / follower of LRLG like I do, you may remember the famous episode (#6, published 2020/12/25) that talked about Dd keeping Gg’s ring in his pocket while he sang. Another confession: the ring part was never my favourite from the episode. Instead, it was this tiny piece of conversation that few likely recall:

(Context: Dd had to make an overnight car trip to somewhere else after the show. Gg was staying. They just joked / wishful thought about Dd bringing Gg with him.) ❤️: You know what to do after you get on the car? 💚: Didn’t you say you’re leaving with me? ❤️: Turn on video conferencing. I’ll watch you sleep.

While fake rumours are officially fake, certain elements have made repeated appearances—such as, Gg and Dd often have their video conferencing on, even when they are doing their own things. They keep each other company that way. And this snippet from LRLG isn’t the only one that further specifies what happens at night—that when they are apart, Gg and Dd would have their video conferencing on when Dd goes to bed, and Gg turns it off after Dd falls asleep. This candy made a strong impression on me because I recalled how much Dd disliked the dark, and being alone, and I thought, how comforting it must be to him for that dislike to be acknowledged, to be taken seriously as a thing to be addressed. I’m an aroace; I can’t say I know much about romantic love. But something I do know about love—any kind of love—is this: it’s to give the other person what they need and not what I think they need; it’s to not question why they need it, to not brush the need off because it doesn’t apply to me, because I don’t understand it.

This three-line conversation was filled with love. Gg, offering what Dd needed matter-of-factly. Dd, being comfortable enough with the offer for him to keep the silliness going.

This offer had to have been made many times before. This offer had to have been received, and appreciated, many times before.

Imagine Dd on his journey after this conversation, him drifting off into slumber while clutching his cellphone, the latter dimly glowing in the dark vehicle as Gg watched him. Who can say that Gg wasn’t, at that moment and at every other moment like this, being the firefly light in Dd’s palm?

He must have made so many firefly lights for Dd. The firefly lights that Dd shows his “You” in lonely nights.

He must have been the fire under the woven bamboo. He in his long coat and oversized scarf, his eyes playful and twinkling like embers, his smile bright and warm and sweet like the fallen petals that mark the passage of time. He must be very good at fighting off winters—he who can’t make a proper snowball to save his life.

And when the lonely nights visit again, when Dd’s “You” is awake and silent and waiting to hear stories, Dd gets chatty.

We all know this, right? Dd always gets annoyingly, adorably chatty when this fire under the bamboo lights up. 💚💚💚

#pie metas

[accio-victuuri]

CPN : about this “matching” post for china television arts committee

( these photos have nothing to do with the post but i want to use it cause lei yu x gu yiye pairing is so hot 🔥🔥🔥 also to capture everyone’s attention 😂😂😂 )

a bit of a background, these are their learnings from a symposium the committee held related to the two sessions. yibo was captured in one of these video call meetings and that was our first hint of this event. tho at the time, we didn’t know XZ was part of it too. It is a professional working group for the national television performing arts under the leadership of the China Television Association ( also under the care and guidance of the Central Propaganda Department and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles ). if you’ve been in this fandom long enough, you’ll know it’s good for them to be a part of organizations like this.

okay, time for the sweets ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. The very obvious fact that they are in this group together. sure, you can say that a lot of people in the industry would want to sign up for it but the way they are both featured in this recent effort is nice to see. It just shows that no matter how many antis are out there, they are still on the good side of the powers that be. I wonder what other creative groups they belong to, and this information we usually don’t know unless they are brought out to actively promote it. I’m also curious about that video call. lol. I wanna know what session XZ joined cause they were obviously not on the same one. But what about others? Imagine if these committees had meetings before and the 2 were on there. Oh to be a CPF who is on that video call!

2. Matching outfits! White inner shirt / Black coat. It’s not enough for the combo to be that, even the coat looks like the same style! 👀

people are saying that artists submit their photos for promotional work like this and i have to agree. you wouldn’t want for anyone to just pull random photos of you, so why submit theirs that look like this? at first i thought maybe they were told to send something with them wearing black and white. a simple white shirt and black coat so all the men will have a uniformed look. but no.

here are the other artists featured over at their douyin account. i can see black & white but anyone can look at this and pick up on the not very subtle similarity between their clothes. what kind of coincidence is this. they are trolling us. wyb have been using this photo alot tho, so my cpn brain is thinking that the conscious “matching” is on ZZ’s side.

link to their actual douyin homepage

3. The BGM used for their video, XZ’s is Guangdian ( light spot / we are made to love ) and WYB’s is Light Chaser ( the one who chases the light ). Again we don’t know if these were chosen with permission from the artist themselves but you would WYB will choose LTS since it’s his latest single. But no. XZ can also select a song that’s more “CCP friendly” if you will but he didn’t. Same theme in the title right there, the Light! It’s not enough for couple outfit, the BGM should match too? Okay. We understand.

4. Their “learnings” both have that element of wanting to improve, it’s their theme of “getting better”. How many times have we heard this from them? They really strive for excellence and have no problem in accepting criticism so they can work on their weaknesses. It’s what i love about them! They care more about being actors and bringing good works for the audience than being a “celebrity”. As I observed with them, the “celebrity” part of their life is their least favorite thing.

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here folks im just clowning like i always do

[chaos0pikachu]

Hi Pika, I don't know if you've been following gmmtv's take over of wabi sabi, I just want to ask you: given that so many companies are part of TBLC which is like a Thai BL content association, do you have any idea why gmmtv isn't a part of it? BOC, DMD, Star Hunter, Copy A Bangkok, Channel 3 are all part of it, I'm just wondering why gmmtv isn't even thought it's the biggest bl company? Wabi Sabi was/is a part of it. (idk exactly)

I can't emphasize enough that I am NOT an expert on this snaps lmao so anything I say that isn't like a direct link to an article or further reading source is speculation on my part. You're a sweetheart Anon but I just wanna let you know that like if you wanna know about the American publishing or entertainment industry but I don't wanna present myself as like ~an expert~ when my ass ain't ya know?

So my short answer is fuck if I know lol I hadn't even heard of the TBLC till this ask

For folks interested in it, here's the livestream they hosted for it (it's 45ish minutes) and it doesn't have subs though. But it seems to be connected to Thailand's soft power committee, here's an article on that:

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who chairs the committee, tasked deputy chairwoman Paetongtarn Shinawatra with leading two national initiatives: One Family One Soft Power (OFOS) and the Thailand Creative Content Agency (THACCA). The goal of the initiatives is skills training to create 20 million jobs that will generate annual income of 4 trillion baht. OFOS and THACCA will be implemented in three phases: First, to boost human resources, 20 million children, adults, and seniors in under village and community funds will get free training in fields such as food, Muay Thai, arts, performance, singing, design, fashion, e-sports, and more, free of charge.

For folks who may not know, soft power is a term coined by political scientist Joseph S. Nye Jr. in his article Soft Power published by Foreign Policy magazine.

"In the 1980s, political scientist Joseph Nye Jr. coined the term soft power, defining it as a country’s ability to influence others without resorting to coercive pressure. In practice, that process entails countries projecting their values, ideals, and culture across borders to foster goodwill and strengthen partnerships." (source)

Soft power is a form of governmental influence internationally, and works conjunction with "hard power".

Examples of "soft power" are the American space program, athletes performing at the Olympics, and on the media side, military propaganda films like Captain Marvel, (yes I consider Captain Marvel a military propaganda film the film opens with a freaking air force ad lmao).

You see other countries using similar tactics as well, for every Top Gun there's China's Wolf Warrior 2 or Hidden Blade. For South Korea, BTS and k-pop is most definitely used as a source of soft power. This is just something governments do.

Okay so like, gmmtv and BL we've been hearing for a minute now that BL and GL are part of the Thai governments plans for soft power.

Mile and Apo have spoken about this specifically when promoting Man Suang and here's a recent video of them working in conjunction with the government on Shine:

(source)

Even Mew's talked about Thailand's soft power in interviews before (context, Mew was the first Thai musician to break into the American Billboard charts):

(source)

It's not just BL either, Idol Factory's Freen and Becky of The Gap fame got in on this too:

So like, it sounds like this meeting/committee in general is just an extension of the Thai governments plans for expanding their soft power which includes how to better support this now highly in demand industry (BL/GL shows) b/c the government sees its international value.

I can only assume that like, gmmtv feels it doesn't need~ government support as a production company? They're the biggest BL studio in the game and have an annoying stranglehold on territories like America and Latin America already. It doesn't really matter what the quality of the shows even are, gmmtv have that sweet parasocial grip on audiences.

[my forever frustrations with gmmtv and how they sell idols and parasocial relationships not BL/GL shows is a totally different post so lemme stop]

Other companies don't really have that same hold on international audiences. At least not consistently? And the biggest concern is funding.

I think anyone with eyeballs can see Kinnporsche is the best well produced BL that's come out of Thailand (argue with the wall) in terms of overall technical quality. But that level of quality is expensive, the CGI in The Sign is freaking expensive, The Next Prince's pilot is so obviously pricey as all fuck you can tell the studio is banking on it selling.

Which is why studios like Idol Factory, Domandi or BOC only come out with a one or two shows a year in comparison to gmmtv's like 16. They need funding, not just for filming the show but also marketing. Filmmaking is hella expensive.

[I'm not talking about whether y'all liked this show or that show, I'm talking about technical quality, shows like Kinnporsche, The Sign, Pit Babe are all better on a technical level than stuff like 1000 Stars, Only Friends or Cooking Crush.]

Why didn't gmmtv attend the event or participate, baby I legit do not know. I can't answer that with any sort of certainty only their execs could answer that, I can only guess.

And my best guess is b/c the company feels confident they're fine on their own. They don't need funding assistance, nor assistance reaching an international market (tho maybe some assistance in getting their contracts straight hope Ossan's Love doesn't face the same distribution issues as Cherry Magic lmao).

For more information on the event itself I really liked this post on reddit that I felt broke everything down very well.

Anyway sorry this got so long Anon but I hope it at least provided some interesting information!

#chaos pikachu speaks #asks #anon ask #gmmtv #be on cloud #thai bl

[jackdollnan]

Poro Analysis

i know this is an art blog mostly but on occasion i like to make it a graphic design blog. Behold with only the finest graphic design heres my poro unicorn lore board. Contains Spoilers for all of the Music Festival Arc, Heart Breaker, Deviculum

I mostly was curious on what irl lore of the unicorn got added or adapted into poros creation. I'll go more specific about my points Under the cut. Lord i hit undo on this editor and it erased almost everything i wrotei had to rewrite most of the post :',C

Ars Goetia Amduscias Demon

The Ars Goetia describes Amduscias taking the Appearence of a Unicorn, as well as: all manner of Trumpets and Musical Instruments to be heard but not soon or imediately, and can cause the trees to bend and incline according to the Exorcists will. And Amduscias is often described as the one playing or in charge of the music that can be heard through hell, as well as having a thunderous voice and being asscoiated with thunder.

Poro's Character greatly tracks with the music Theme. Poro is shown to be a Sound and Music Specialist, giving Critique and concerning Invites to Students after their Performances. Poro's own Claim to Fame was being Delkira's personal Musician giving a battle Concert with Delkira.

Poro's own Character Design with that Piano lookin Cut, Cello Detail and Pinstripe Suit, Notes on the End of those side hair pieces, and carrying a Conductor's Baton

Poro's yells loudly once getting to the School about the Crime, according to Poro, of re-allowing the use of the Royal One(talk about a thunderous Personality). Poro at the End of the Arc, once convinced, and painfully, for Wett defects with Kirio and Wett of the Six Fingers who answer to the Thunder Lord, Baal.

The last bit about being able to cause trees to bend, in the last panel Poro with Kirio and Wett are seen entering Brush to exit Babylus. The thought of such tall dark Brush, despite atleast the spaced out Center of Babylus's Campus, covering an Individual as large and tall as Poro for a masked Exit- no Clue if controling Trees is part of Poro's Powerset but still an interesting coincidence alluding back to Amduscias.

Qi Lin

I wish i had more historical/primaray sources to look from but alas modern feng shui websites will have to do

The Qi Lin has stories about the Rarity of its Appearences. The Qi Lin only showing up when a great outstanding Ruler is present in Time or when a great Sage(mostly Confucius mentioned) dies. There is also a legend that an Emperor of China was at the Yellow River and saw a Qi Lin on the Water, as it walked it cleared the River and Surroundings of all the Dirt and Stuff and the Emperor saw the Symbols on its Back and used them to create the first chinese writing System.

The Bit about the outstanding Ruler and Sage seems to match up well with Events and Characters. Poro being very Loyal, even to Poro's own Detriment, to Delkira as, when ever someone mentions Delkira most Demons admire Delkira in this demon Kingdom(?) Country(?).

It even matches with Iruma's Setup, Sully calling on Poro to see Iruma in hoping Poro will be impressed to rank Iruma. Plus we all know Iruma will become the next Demon King via the Prophecy, Poro is witnessing the fledgling King.

Not that all Qi Lin have to have exclusively one Horn but with the overlapping Traits of its Dragon like Features, Poro's Design echos back to the Qi Lin with Poro's Tail having a smooth Underside, spikey hairy Outterside, not to mention the clattering Heels in lue of Hooves

As an aside the Ming Emperor, Emperor Yongel, was gifted a Giraffe, that was called, equated to, and or associated with the QI Lin, very smart on the gifters part. I thought this was so funny given Poro's size, no clue if Nishi intended to it to match up with Poro but lucky for Nish-sensei it works out.(3rd picture of section of court painting of said Giraffe)

European Medieval Unicorns (i recomend skipping to the Poro paragraph and back reading this one)

Unicorns had a variety of many myths, associations, and metaphors attached to them but the Myths from Medieval Europe stand out most prominently here. Its been a variety of Animals over the Years, its Predessor being an Ox, the Re'em from the Bible, Goats,Asses (Donkeys), Horses, overall some sorta hoofed Creature and one Horn.

The first main Attribute to this Unicorn Myth is the Unicorn's Horn having Properties to purify the sick and ill, specfically treat and cure Diseases and Poison. Those who were able to successfuly find and hunt would gain such a treasure.

Later on it gained another Adaptation - The Unicorns purifying Power later becoming intertwined with the Purity of virgin Maidens, that a wild Beast would only allow itself to be near/in the Arms of a Virgin Maiden because the Unicorn could sense/was in awe of a Maiden's Purity(and or the maidens Purity matched that of the Unicorns), only for it to be a Trap, for a Group of Hunters to come out from Hiding to chase/capture and the slaughter with perhaps some Level of Immortality from the Unicorn for the Unicorn to not fully die after all that. Other versions of the story have the virgin naked and the Unicorn does some sorta sexual encounter with the Virgin.(i can't make this up)

Later the whole Saga became Metaphors for Sex/Love/Marriage. People being reigned in and tamed by the Love or down -badness of their Partner/Spouse as a wild Unicorn is tamed in the arms of a Virgin. People eventually settling down and finding Love. - no relation to the modern practice/notion of a 3rd person joining only in the sex lives of a married couple.

There also became a very Christian Metaphor to emerge along side the love Metaphor. The power/essence of Christ was reigned in by a virgin Mary, mirring that of a Unicorn being allured to a Virgin. That the whole Hunt of the Unicorn was a metaphor for the Crucifixtion and Ressurection of Christ, with wild purifying powerful Unicorn parralleling the Goddlyness of Christ, its Hunt for the Crucifixtion, Its slight immortality with the Ressurection from the dead, and circling back with the purifiying Power of the Unicorn being drawn as a Metaphors for Christ the Redeemer.( i also wish i couldve made this up)

Lets get back to M!ik

Seeing Unicorns being described as wild Asses seems stunningly on Brand for Poro, with Poro's Abbrasiveness at times and trying to beef with kids this coincidence is pretty funny.

Poro's major Arc of the Music Festival is coping with the Loss and the never return of Delkira as Poro regrets never getting the chance to technically date Delkira and never being able to see him again. It's all the more highlighted when in Sully's flash back when Poro, in a sour Mood expresses how its been too long since Delkira's Disappearance. Despite finding more Comfort with Change after Iruma and Co's Performance Poro hard flips back into Copium once Wett talks about reuniting Delkira. this all reads to me of Poro being wild all around unless Delkira is present to be the one true love of Poro ala wild Unicorn and love Metaphor.

There seems to be a bit of confusion about Poro's gender based on Poro's Presentation and specifically language Presentation. English Pronouns i can't really say anything about not least since the manga is being translated from Japanese with different Features and Practices- no doubt this gave the translators some trouble on how to adapt the wording, maybe a bit more cumbersome to other Languages than English. For whatever its worth Poro mentions being a Maiden and a Lady in EN fan translation.

tho i did start a paragraph about Poro's Gender this speaks more about the Purity and maiden Aspect of the Myth with the Unicorns sensitivity of/purity matching that of a virgin Maiden's. The comparison feels most matching when Poro apprehends Wett after Wett tailed Poro and Poro goes(paraphrasing), I was feeling a yucky presence a maiden can sense that type of stuff, it's alluded to it being Poro's ability to hear the heart beat Pattern and read that off to the overall Mood and intentions (based on action) of a Person, but it also matches well sensing/reading Wett and the Antgonists' unpure Intentions and drive up their villiany Status.

this part is a bit more head cannon-y: Poro was doing a bit of maiden sensing on Eliza when she says, we'll pierce you with the finest sound, and Poro's own Quest/Hunt for Love, a kindred spirit to Eliza's, finding Love for Love's sake.

another head cannony one is Poro's lines crying, that Delkira despite not giving personal attention to the women around him, Poro still says he did eventually(and like a simp still be wanting Delkira). If Poro was reading Delkira's Purity or smth. This line kinda reads a little ambiguously with that whole maiden/purity sensing idea in the background, vs the idea that Sully had a secret love child with Delkira and it became Iruma. lmao you heard it guys Poro believes in the Iruma is a direct descendant of Delkira theory, just kidding. Too bad Poro couldn't sense Delkiras heart beat when Delkira ghosted them at the office.

a little incongruous to the previous point of Delkira being the one and only for Poro- is Poro's Preferences(not for Men in general) but the inclusion of the younger Students in Babylus, who are, i guess, Boys and, as Poro puts it, young Men.(Poro is so desperate for hitting on high schoolers at this age.) Poro seems quite Old being Contemporaries with even Sullivan and with the Students of Babylus seeming rather inexperienced with Romance it seems to track with the Myth, the Unicorn is sensing the purity of/allured by Virgins, or at least, those who have far less romance Experience. This is Unfortunetly why i argue Poro's influence to be aligned with this Version of the unicorn Myth, Poro's odd combo of a romance thru-line despite hitting on kids, and lines with equating to be a maiden it feels like it matches beat for beat of the medieval Unicorn myth.(Unless the qilin also has meanings of sex love and romance which it might, i could use more details).

And now its time for the Jesus metaphor, Oh man you thought i was done.

Going back to the Christian Metaphor for the Maiden lures a Unicorn, only for a band of huntsmen to begin pursuit and the Unicorn gets Injured and kinda dies but then lives. The Europeans found a way to Pack in a Jesus metaphor with the Wild Unicorn and its purifying Power repping Christ the Redeemer, the Unicorn only appearing in the Presence of Virgins Of course Mary, the subsquent Hunt repping the Crucifixtion dyin for ya sins and purifying horn, and the Unicorn living cause semi immortality and Christ live-dying with god or what ever the point of that story was.

Guess who else was invited to do some ressurecting, it is part of Baals plans to recruit Poro for Delkiras "reuniting," for Baal just straight up power grab. (honestly i didn't know much about unicorns before hand was not expecting jesus or the virgins thing to come up.) Blehh that means Iruma, Ali and Delkira, could be like the unholy demonic Trifecta, (Delkira)the Father (Iruma) the Son (Ali) the Holy Spirit not expecting to see iruma with another jesus parallel.

crack theories: Poro cleared Kirio of his Debuffs. It'll be a race see who will get to Delkira first catch Delkira as a Deer, or Ali or Delkira go full vampire Mode.

ok im done congrats for reading this far now you too get this cursed info

#amduscias poro #character analysis #m!ik manga #m!ik spoilers #mairimashita! iruma kun #mairuma #M!ik theories #was not expecting so much time on this #was not expecting saucy unicorns #was not expecting jesus reading #theres a few very scary pictures on google of vampire jesus #even if nishi didn't want to put the full oompf of all the unicorn lore into Poro im still impressed that they all refernce back to it.

[rkdaily]

The Reunion made its premiere in China January 2024, achieving resounding success. Across 11 mesmerising performances at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center Beijing @ 北京天桥艺术中心 and the Shanghai GrandTheatre @上海大剧院 The Reunion delighted over 17,000 incredible musical theatre supporters.

The Reunion is an evening of entertainment brought to life by a collective of highly acclaimed Broadway, West End and internationally musical theatre performers. Brilliant artists performing songs from musicals they love, have starred in and even originated.

CHINA :

Presenter IMIC Media and ROYO Entertainment Ltd in association with Mercy Productions Limited

#ramin karimloo #the reunion #the reunion china #instagram

[lorei-writes]

Nǐ hǎo! (Please excuse spelling and grammar errors, English is second language!) Could I request headcanon with (Chinese) contortionist MC? With Nobunaga and Kenshin or Mitsuhide (either one works, I have no preference). Chinese contortionist is very neat, and often times people don’t realize China invented it! Thank you very much.

Hello, Anon!

Sorry it took me so long to get to this. And no worries about errors -- English isn't my first language either, so I get that it can be hard to use it sometimes. As long as we can communicate, all is good.

Chinese! Contortionist! MC

Characters: Nobunaga & Kenshin

Content Warnings: none

Nobunaga

When she said she wanted to perform, he thought she meant a dance. Everything seemed to align with that -- the music, her taking a stance... Nobunaga sat back, a cup of sake held firmly in his hand.

The cup of sake did not stay in his hand for long.

Actually, it met the floor with record speed.

Kimonos aren't exactly ideal in regards to allowing for the range of movement necessary to perform contortions. Her undressing? First unexpected thing. But it did not occupy his mind for long, no.

Truth be told, Nobunaga didn't even take notice of her costume. It just didn't register for the longest time. He knew she was not naked, but... The reality sort of, kind of, dissolved itself before him. It just did not seem to be real. He had to be dreaming.

Except it wasn't a dream.

He did not know human body could move like so. His mouth was hanging open the entire time while he just tried to comprehend how it was all possible.

He failed at that miserably.

Truth be told, Nobunaga did not get to appreciate her first performance at all. He was just too stunned to pay attention to the way her movements aligned with the music, or to any finer gestures for that matter.

He took it upon himself to examine whether she was unhurt afterwards. (In a strictly medical sense of the word. He found it just that hard to believe, and wanted to be absolutely sure).

Overall, Nobunaga remained curious of it. He asked her to perform for him again. And again.

Eventually it grew to be something of a personal little thing they share. He developed some understanding and appreciation of this form of art.

Nobunaga performs for her in turn -- however, he can "only" dance.

Kenshin

When she wanted to perform for him, he was open to the idea. However, as soon as the actual performance part started, Kenshin panicked.

He wasn't used to seeing anything similar in healthy people. It just... scared him, a little? Not because the art itself is scary, no. It was more so because it was her, his lover, and what he saw brought forward rather gruesome images from his psyche. It as an unfortunate association, but he couldn't help it.

Kenshin asked her to stop.

He needed to see that she was well. That she was safe, unhurt, very breathing, and still very very much alive.

That was where it all ended that day. However, Kenshin didn't mean to hinder her interests, so inevitably, the topic resurfaced eventually.

He asked her to teach him, so that he could experience it for himself.

Of course, he didn't reach her level of mastery. But he didn't need to. He just wanted to assess that it was possible while also being safe.

And it was! Except! His bum! Was! TOO! FREAKING! STIFF!

He did terribly at first. Absolutely awfully. He never before realised that his body was that rigid.

In the end, it only increased the amount of respect he felt towards her. He understood what levels of dedication and self-discipline one must have to practise this art.

Kenshin didn't learn to do contortions, but stretching became a part of his daily routine. He managed to do splits eventually.

After several weeks, he worked up the courage to ask her to perform for him again. This time, he watched her with marvel and admiration she deserved.

Tag List: @cilokgoang @violettduchess @the12thnightproject @oda-princess @tele86

#answered #Anonymous #kenshin uesugi #ikesen kenshin #ikemen sengoku kenshin #ikesen #ikemen sengoku #ikemen series #nobunaga oda #ikesen nobunaga #ikemen sengoku nobunaga

[bluebirdmuppet]

Zhang Zhehan Clarifications - Twitter Archive

These twitter posts contain posts, resources, and sources clarifying the smears against Zhang Zhehan in August 2021. In the space of two days, a large number of false smears against Zhang Zhehan were posted by marketing accounts on Weibo, creating a wave of misinformation about Zhang Zhehan. Many of these claims were clearly false and the work of malicious capital, seeking to destroy a rising star.

#zhang zhehan #zzh #张哲瀚 #word of honor #山河令 #ZhangZhehan #813 clarifications #CAPA #China Association of Performing Arts

[ziseviolet]

I posted 5,832 times in 2022

That's 1,413 more posts than 2021!

30 posts created (1%)

5,802 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fouryearsofshades

@rongzhi

@hanfugallery

@fuckyeahchinesefashion

I tagged 5,828 of my posts in 2022

#r - 5,765 posts

#hanfu - 3,786 posts

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Longest Tag: 96 characters

#i'll always associate this song with the giant dancing ginseng from that one chunwan performance

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

In wuxia I see that they have half their hair up and the other half down. Is there a certain period where this hairstyle directs from?

Hi, thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply!

The half-up, half-down hairstyle that you often see on both male & female characters in Chinese guzhuang (period costume) dramas is not based on historical hairstyles. Rather, it is a fairly recent styling convention, most likely originating from late 20th century wuxia TV shows from Hong Kong (x). Over time the hairstyle has become normalized and commonplace in Chinese costume dramas, especially in the wuxia and xianxia genres (because these genres are not necessarily aiming for historical accuracy in the first place).

Below, from left to right: Wang Hedi in Love Between Fairy and Devil, Deng Wei in Miss the Dragon, Xiao Zhan in The Untamed, Gong Jun in Word of Honor: 

As @niteshade925 explains in this post, for male characters, the main idea of the hairstyle is to make the character look attractive, and also in some shows/context, to hint at the character’s personality, as in maybe they do not adhere to traditional customs and are free-spirited/spontaneous. For female characters, it is usually just a regular hairstyle without deeper meaning :P

For more information on this half-up half-down hairstyle, and historical hairstyles in general, please see the following posts:

The historical accuracy of half-up half-down hairstyles

The historical accuracy of ponytails

Historical hairstyles for men

Hope this helps!

528 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

#4

Dior Mamianqun Controversy

I received the following message via chat from a follower, that I would like to share here:

Hi, 小紫, do you know that Dior appropriates the modernized mamianqun designed by some hanfu brands in china? link of discussion about Dior 2022 A/W show on weibo: https://weibo.com/6323095999/LChcJyPTa?refer_flag=1001030103_&type=repost#_rnd1657858224778 , I think Dior indeed directly referenced the structure of how it's pleated and inner cutouts of mamianqun which has a long history dated back to ming dynasty and influenced the shape of qing dynasty skirts as well, it is sussy, look how the DIOR model turned around when the skirt spread to reveal the split style, this is indeed the unique inner structure of mamianqun, a more rigorous examination requires DIOR to show the flat design, but Dior is not responding, it claims on the official website that this is their exclusive style launched this year, yet the same style of mamianqun has been prevalent among young people in China for several years, there are several taobao stores making exactly this kind of modernized mamianqun since 2018 or even early (metal leather buckle belt + fabric suitable for autumn and winter + long skirts), such as 四时景, 你好美荔, etc., I don't know how to make it an anonymous ask for you to post my question but I would like to listen to your and other followers' comments on this, thank you 小紫(also feel totally free not to post this one, it's your blog and you make the call ❤️

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1,167 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

#3

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1,262 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

#2

Hi! I'm really fond of researching about hanfu and its history, and I found a lot of interesting information on this blog. But I can't help it and keep wondering about the reason for qipao/cheongsang not be considered a hanfu? When I researched about it the most common argument is the Manchu influence on it. However, there are a plenty of hanfu styles that were influenced by other cultures. Is there a more especific reason for not consider the qipao?

Hi, thanks for the question, and glad you like my blog! (x)

I want to start off with an important disclaimer:

The term “hanfu” as we use it today (defined as “traditional Han Chinese clothing”) does not have the exact same meaning as when it was used historically. As @audreydoeskaren explains in this post, “while it is true that the term “hanfu” was used in some historical texts, they were often used in opposition to clothing worn by foreign peoples...and not as a standalone term”. Today, there is no central organizing body or law that states exactly what is & what is not considered hanfu. Rather, such categorization is done by the members of the hanfu community - and the hanfu community is not a monolith. Ever since its inception in 2003, the hanfu revival movement has been a grassroots, bottom-up movement with members of various backgrounds, ideologies, and opinions. It is a movement that is built upon, and driven forward by, constant dialogue and debate among its members. Thus the question of what garments are considered hanfu is under continuous discussion, and is subject to the hanfu community’s views and ideas on culture, clothing, and history.

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2,167 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What exactly does Dunhuang style mean?

Hi, thanks for the question! (x)

Dunhuang/敦煌 style refers to the art, fashion, and culture depicted in the Dunhuang Murals/敦煌壁画 of China, which are located in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. From the 4th to 14th century, the caves were constructed by Buddhist monks to serve as shrines with funds from donors. These caves were elaborately painted, the cave paintings and architecture serving as aids to meditation, visual representations of the quest for enlightenment, and teaching tools for Buddhist beliefs and stories. The major caves were sponsored by patrons such as important clergy, local ruling elite, foreign dignitaries, as well as Chinese emperors (x). Below - painting from the Dunhuang Murals (x):

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3,306 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #ziseviolet #personal #2022 #hanfu #qipao #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #chinese fashion #chinese culture #china #s

[xtruss]

This Lunar New Year Is the Year of the Dragon: Why the Beast Is a Big Deal in Chinese Culture

— By Chad De Guzman | Wednesday February 6, 2024 | Time Magazine

A traditional Chinese New Year dragon dance is performed in Liverpool’s Chinatown in January 2023.Getty Images

The last time China’s birth rates peaked was in 2012: that year, for every 1,000 people, there were 15 live births, a far cry from 2023’s 6.39. It was a statistical anomaly, considering the country’s ongoing state of demographic decline, which has proven extremely difficult to reverse. But 2024 may just see another baby boom for China, for the same reason as 12 years ago: it’s a Year of the Dragon.

Dragons are a big deal in Chinese culture. Whereas in the West dragons are often depicted as winged, fire-breathing monsters, the Chinese dragon, or the loong, is a symbol of strength and magnanimity. The mythical being is so revered that it snagged a spot as the only fictional creature in the Chinese Zodiac’s divine roster. And the imagery pervades society today—whether in boats, dances, or the stars.

International discourse about China’s economy or politics also often references the country as a “red dragon,” which critics have said subconsciously panders to Orientalism and fears of communism. But many Chinese proudly embrace the connection: China’s President Xi Jinping told former President Donald Trump in 2017 that the Chinese people are black-haired, yellow-skinned “descendants of the dragon.”

That’s why, in Years of the Dragon (which happen every 12 years), spikes in births tend to occur in China (as well as other countries with large Chinese populations, such as Singapore), as many aspiring parents try to time their pregnancies to result in a child born with the beast’s positive superstitious associations.

A Symbol of Prosperity

Where the Chinese dragon first came from is still debated by historians and archaeologists. But one of the most ancient images of the loong was unearthed in a tomb in 1987 in Puyang, Henan: a two-meter-long statue dating back to the Neolithic civilization of Yangshao Culture some 5,000–7,500 years ago. Meanwhile, Hongshan Culture’s Jade Dragon—a C-shaped carving with a snout, mane, and thin eyes—could be traced back to Inner Mongolia five millennia back.

Marco Meccarelli, an art historian at the University of Macerata in Italy, writes that there are four reliable theories for how the loong came to be: first, a deified snake whose anatomy is a collage of other worldly animals (based upon how, as ancient Chinese tribes merged, so did the animal totems that represent them); second, a callback to the Chinese alligator; third, a reference to thunder and a harbinger of rain; and lastly, as a by-product of nature worship.

Most of these theories point to the dragon’s supposed influence on water, because they are believed to be gods of the element, and thus, agricultural numen for a bountiful harvest. Some academics have said that across regions, ancient Chinese groups continued to enrich the dragon image with features of animals most familiar to them—for example, those living near the Liaohe River in northeast China integrated the hog into the dragon image, while people in central China added the cow, and up north where Shanxi is now, earlier residents mixed the dragon’s features with those of the snake.

A Symbol of Power

Nothing cemented the Chinese dragon’s might better than when it became a symbol of the empire. The mythical Yellow Emperor, a legendary sovereign, is said to have been fetched by a Chinese dragon to head to the afterlife. The loong are also said to have literally fathered emperors, or at least that’s what Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han dynasty (202-195 B.C.), made his subjects believe: that he was born after his mother consorted with a Chinese dragon.

“The dragon totem and its corresponding clout were employed as a political tool for wielding power in imperial China,” Xiaohuan Zhao, associate professor of Chinese literary and theater Studies at the University of Sydney, tells TIME.

From then on, the loong was a recurrent theme across dynasties. The seat of the emperor was called the Dragon Throne, and every emperor was called “the true Dragon as the Son of Heaven.” D. C. Zhang, a researcher in the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, tells TIME that later dynasties even prohibited commoners from using any Chinese dragon motif on their clothes if they weren’t part of the imperial family.

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) created the first iteration of a Chinese national flag featuring a dragon with a red pearl, which was to be hung on Navy ships. But as the Qing Dynasty weakened after several notable military losses, including the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and Boxer Rebellion of 1900, caricatures of the dragon began to be used as a form to protest against the government for its weakness, says Zhang. But with the dynasty’s fall after the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC)—which would then become Taiwan—in 1912, Zhang says the pursuit of a national emblem was temporarily cast aside.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), there had been renewed calls to find a unifying symbol to boost morale, and the dragon was among several animals considered. But when Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the quest for a unifying symbol for the Chinese was forgotten again, as the country pivoted priorities toward rapid industrial development.

A Symbol of Unity

Outside China, the dragon motif may have quickly caught on, but inside it, the dragon was not as influential until the 1980s, says Zhang. In 1978, Taiwanese musician Hou Dejian composed a song entitled “Heirs of the Dragon” as a means to express frustration over the U.S.’s decision to recognize the PRC as China’s legitimate government and sever diplomatic ties with the ROC (Taiwan). Lee Chien-fu, a Taiwanese student at the time, released a cover of the song in 1980 that grew immensely popular on the island.

Despite being a song decrying Taiwan’s disappointment, the song managed to cross the strait and also resonated with citizens of the mainland. Zhang says “China was becoming stronger” and its government tried to co-opt “Heirs of the Dragon” as it needed an emblem for unification and prosperity “which would be apolitical and would be inclusive to all Chinese nations even for those living abroad.” Hou, who had since moved to China, sang the song in a Chinese state variety show to usher in the Year of the Dragon in 1988.

But the song’s popularity also led it to be used against the Chinese leadership. Dissidents turned “Heirs of the Dragon” back into a protest anthem before the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to the South China Morning Post, with Hou even changing some of the lyrics according to Zhang. Hou was deported back to Taiwan in 1990, but his music stayed with the ethnically Chinese and the Chinese diaspora, Zhang says.

The song as well as China’s overt efforts to create a national symbol that transcends borders, Zhang says, play a large part in the lasting cultural significance of the loong. And the dragon’s historic regality has certainly helped boost the mythos, symbolism, and popular sentimental attachment for Chinese people today, says University of Sydney’s Zhao. “The basic characteristics, features, beliefs and practices associated with dragon totem and clout remain largely unchanged,” he says. “It’s very much a living tradition.”

#China 🇨🇳 #Chinese Culture #Chinese Symbolism #Chinese Dragon 🐉 Symbolism #Lunar Year #Year of Dragon 🐉 #Beast #Big Deal #Chad De Guzman #Time Magazine #Chinatown #Symbol of Prosperity | Power | Unity

[asanee44]

“Reading Them Bones”

Reading bones or osteomancy is the art of divination by interpreting the bones of animals and other materials. The word osteomancy comes from two Greek words: osteon, meaning “bone,” and manteia, meaning “divination.” Bone readings can be used as a predictive tool or simply to give clarity in specific situations.

This process is often called “throwing the bones,” though all bone readers don’t actually throw bones when performing this form of divination. Some practitioners read bones based on their clients’ selection during the divination process. Others strategically place bones on a mat and use them as part of the global reading process that often involves other tools and techniques.

Bones are also incorporated in amulets and fetishes, which typically protect readers during readings and when they engage in other activities. Though this concept is not considered part of bone readings, it indicates the overall importance of animals in African spiritual practices.

READING BONES

Osteomancy has been around for centuries, and it is still practiced in some parts of the world today. In ancient times, it was a popular form of divination. It was used in many cultures and religions, such as those practiced in Ancient Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, the Middle East, Greece, Serbia, and China.

In African traditional religions (ATRs), the reading of bones is common. It is effectively part of every African tradition in some form or other. Though, it is not the primary divination tool in all traditions. This practice has been passed down from one generation to the next.

In the U.S., reading bones is typically associated with Hoodoo and made popular by books, movies, and TV shows about secret societies such as Freemasonry. But, the practice predates European influences by hundreds of years. It has been part of ancient civilizations throughout the world long before Europeans arrived in these lands.

Osteomancy is also mentioned in the Bible when Jacob used it to tell his son Joseph’s future (Genesis 50:2). The Bible is also used within folk magic systems like Hoodoo, which relies heavily on bone reading. Though, foundationally, Hoodoo originated from West African traditions. Thus, bone reading practices in this tradition are African-derived though reinforced and encouraged through Biblical record.

BONE SET STRUCTURE

Reading bones is typically accomplished by interpreting the pattern in which bones fall during divination. Chicken bones are traditionally part of most bone sets. However, the bones of almost any animal can be used in this process. Aside from chickens, the most commonly used animal bones are from cows and pigs.

Though, bones are not the only constituents in a typical osteomancy set. These sets likewise contain materials such as rocks, stones, shells, coins, sticks, feathers, etc. Many bone readers construct their own bone sets, which can vary considerably. Though, it is becoming more commonplace for practitioners to sell osteomancy sets in brick-and-mortar and virtual spiritual shops.

Curating an osteomancy set is primarily an intuitive process. Many people are led to the materials for their bone sets by their spirit guides. Thus, there is no universal guiding force on how many bones should be part of a set or which items must be selected.

BENEFITS OF PRACTICING OSTEOMANCY

Some people shy away from this form of divination due to misconceptions about its complexity. However,  there are many benefits to adding bone readings to your divination toolkit. One of the major benefits is that bone sets are highly personalized divination tools. You don’t have to rely on someone else’s creative skills if you select your own bone set. You can assign meaning to each bone and use this tool to best suit your personality.

It can be free or fairly low cost, depending on where you obtain your bone set. In cases where people collect bones from nature, osteomancy sets are entirely free. However, even if you purchase select items for your toolkit, you usually contain the cost to a large degree.

Additionally, bone reading typically has a low learning curb. Bone readers usually assign their own meaning to each bone. And they can use a more free-flowing interpretation of the process in contrast to other forms of divination like tarot or horoscopes.

https://asanee44.com/

#african spirituality #hoodoo #african traditional religions #traditional african religions bone reading

[la-muerta]

(1/4) Hi there! first of all i want to thank you for the translation of ZZH video, I was really surprised when I saw the updated and the subs helped me understand the situation better. I've been a woh fan for a while now, but I've never really followed GJ or ZZH outside of that context, and only very recently (and by chance) came to learn about everything that happened to ZZH. There are some things I'm still trying to understand, because I'm very confused about some aspects of the situation

Hi! No problem, I'm happy to answer your questions about this.

So I assume you know that Zhehan was essentially banned from China internet over the supposed photos at Yasukuni Shrine, all his works have been deleted or at least his name has been removed from the credits. Even now, posting anything with his name, face, or voice on China's social media platforms will result in your post being deleted, or your account being suspended.

Gradually, it became clear that the entire thing was pure slander. There is a whole list of things he was accused of that were all false. For example, the park that he took photos in were part of the standard route for admiring the sakura blossoms in Japan, recommended by China government media, and an old lady he took a photo with is Dewi Sukarno, not Dewi Suharto, and the public was misled because the Baidu entry (kinda like China's wikipedia) was maliciously edited.

In November 2021, a famous director and producer named Li Xuezheng started questioning the circumstances around Zhehan's cancellation and took Zhehan's side. His main beef was with an association called China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), which is NOT an official government organisation although it had misled the public to think that it was, and CAPA was the one that had called for Zhehan's cancellation. Mr Li was subsequently muted, and his account was banned completely in April 2022.

The rest of things I'm going to state here are facts, as objective as I can:

1. CAPA has an exclusive collaboration with a talent management agency called Haixi Media, and Gong Jun is under Haixi, with his mum holding 16% of shares in the company.

2. Since August 2021, Gong Jun has repeatedly used Zhehan's elements to sell products he endorses, such as quoting Zhehan's previous interviews, having events to do with 511 (Zhehan's birthday is 11 May), and vague-posting in a way that real-people shippers have interpreted as confirmation that he is really in a romantic relationship with Zhehan. He has also, for some reason, used Zhehan's childhood photo in place of his own in an interview programme. It is clear now that he did not obtain Zhehan's permission for any of that.

3. Zhehan and his family and friends have been the victims of vicious cyber-bullying since August 2021. Some of this has been led by paid influencer accounts, but a lot of those participating are also Gong Jun's fans. Note that the same influencer accounts (called yin xiao hao, or yxh) that are slandering Zhehan are also praising Gong Jun.

4. Gong Jun is known for buying "water armies", basically like bots and zombie accounts, to boost his own follower and engagement count on China social media. (It's really obvious when you scroll through his comments and they all say the same thing, posted at the same time ^^;)

5. As of now, Zhehan has filed a police report for defamation, but we don't know anything about the progress of the case, and Zhehan is obviously not obliged to tell us anything.

6. Zhehan has stated that any interaction he had with Gong Jun was for work only, and even then they have had no interaction since June 2021.

This is the gist of it, and I think like Zhehan says, time will tell. For now, we can only wait to see if there are any further developments on Zhehan's case, and in the meantime leave the poor guy and his family alone.

#zhang zhehan #gong jun #SHL cast #word of honor cast #张哲瀚