Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 liddi:

Can you please explain your interpretation from the article, because I cannot see how it could be possible?

In my previous post, I raised the question about XY's stage of mind. I think she was unconscious after he fed her blood (similar to the last treatment in 37 year), so she didn't know he undid the bug. But she might conscious (her mind) before his blood feeding. I did compare her physical properties between chapter 22 and chapter 48.

 AH :

XL extend his hand to XY when she is on Furball's back and he is in the middle of the ocean. Even though XY was a great swimmer, we know from chapter 13 that if XL had left her stranded in the middle of the ocean, she might not have been able to survive. And yet, without hesitation, she took his hand and joined him on the ocean's surface. She trusted him to not abandon her and to return her safely to shore. Even though she has trust / abandonment issues, and even though it was very early on in the story.

Yes! Beautifully said, thank you.

 AH :

And nothing compares to being in the middle of the ocean at night. The ocean and the night sky are so vast, and a single person is comparatively so miniscule. 

Exactly. The drama beautifully captures the quiet companionship, the meeting of two lonely souls bathing in the glorious beauty of the sight before them, and I love it. 

The novel on the other hand, has an added element of implicit trust in him in this strange, frightening world around her where everything is uncertain, making the view all the more precious when it finally appeared. 

No matter which version, I wish the xingxing mirror could have brought them back to the way it was during this time, their companionship and trust simple and true, before their lives changed beyond recognition.

 HLCYXNFILMS:

I read the book only after watching S1 so, I wasn't aware of the scenes they cut; for S2, while I understand they have to cut or rewrite specific scenes because of censorship, I really hope they won't give his scenes to other characters. I love other characters as well but really, each of them already have their own iconic scenes - hopefully, there isn't any shifts... 

Totally agree with what you said. While not ideal, I can even accept a more watered down version of a scene, but I truly balk at taking what belonged to one character and giving it to another. And the whole theme of the narrative skewed beyond recognition, negating 2 out of 3 things Xiang Liu gave his all to ensure, just because they decided to change the plot or give what he did to another character. That really rubs me the wrong way. Hopefully all fears are unfounded and my hair and eyes remain intact when S2 does air. Fingers crossed!

 H19279:

Tong Hua for sure wanted to tell something via the chapter titles. I read some interpretation of some. What I realize is the poems that TH used can be interpretated in different ways. It is quite ambiguous. At the first glance it can be easily linked to XY-Jing or XY-CX. but in many chapter if we look deeper, it can also tell something about XY-XL. Similar way that XY hid XL in her heart and mention Jing to cover it.  

You give a compelling argument as to how elements in the poem can be attributed to Xiang Liu as well as Jing. Good points about the references to the willow, peach blossoms, silver lamp, the moon, silver lamp.

However the issue I have with this argument is that no one reading the book without a knowledge of classics or specifically the entire poem, would know about all these extra elements. The title literally refers only to the last line of the poem, which is a fear that the reunion is not real, but merely a dream. And this title does not belong to the chapter where Xiang Liu healed her and killed the lovers bug, but the following chapter which clearly shows Jing's return into Xiao Yao's life. As such, I am still of the opinion that the title refers to Xiao Yao and Jing's reunion.

To me the poem makes me think of chapter 20, when XY drank quite a lot and sang the forever togheter never apart song under the moonlight în front of Jing. Now re-reading that chapter, I can't help but wonder if she really sang that song for Jing, I mea  what drove her to pick a sad ballad when things were starting to get better between them?  Why the repetead mention of the full moon and her willow dance? Why the mention that despite having a high tolerance for alchohol, this time her mind was addled too?  Also, they were în a forest or something similar to a forest, she first sang that song when she met XL for the first time, în the forest... I don't quite remember, but was she really that into Jing în chapter 20?

Chapter 20

"I’ll sing a mountain ballad for you guys!”

Before they could answer Xiao Yao start singing.

Xiao Yao sang a song about a woman who was missing her beloved and longing for him and wanting only to be together for all of eternity.

The final verse she sang three times: together forever, never apart.

It was a clear night with few clouds, the moon bright and the stars dim. Within the evergreen forest, the flowers and trees were glittering and the fragrance wafted over them. Xiao Yao sang and danced as lithe as the willow and as light as the spring water. She moved along with the moon and when she sang the final verse three times, she put all her heart into it and her voice was as lingering as silk in the air.

For a moment all three listening were in a daze.

Xiao Yao sat back down and felt her face was burning hot and her heart was beating fast. Xiao Yao put her head in her hand and laughed “My head is so dizzy, this whole table is wobbly.”

Xing Yue sighed “It really is like what Gege said, drinking is really more fun after getting drunk.” She raised a cup “Xiao Yao, a toast to you. 

 Xiao Yao drunkenly picked up her cup and gulped down her wine.

Xiao Yao had a high tolerance and even when she was drunk physically her mind remained clear. But today even her mind was addled. Xing Yue started step dancing and called Xiao Yao to join her.

Xiao Yao stood up to go when her knees buckled and she pitched backward into Jing’s arms. Xiao Yao smiled at Jing and there was laughter in his eyes. Xiao Yao wanted to reach out to touch his brows but her eyes closed and she fell asleep."

 H19279:

In one of the most famous poem story in Vietnam, the author used tons of known-stories, images. Without the explanation appendix, normal people can't understand. So I don't know if the complete book of LYF included full poems in the appendix. 

No. At the very least, my copy which is the latest edition, does not have any details of classic poems that are referenced in the text. What the appendices only contain are the names of special characters, places or creatures, particularly those that are seen in the Mountain and Sea Classics, the universe from which Lost You Forever and Once Promised is based off.

As such, I am still hard pressed to accept that the unreferenced stanzas in the poem are meant to be the hidden meaning of the novel. It is one thing to extrapolate what is hinted at but never specifically described in the novel, but it is another thing altogether to refer to unseen lines of a classic poem and expect the reader to infer from them. 

 H19279:

We can revert this question: why did TH have to make the title of each chapter as such and linked to other famous source? Just make a statement with more or less similar meaning. Probably I should really read "dream of red chamber" to see if similar approach was used. 

If that were the case, then only readers who have knowledge of the classics are able to glean the full meaning of what she is trying to imply, which certainly excludes me. As such, I can only infer from what hints I can see from the text itself, and not some unseen lines from poems of bygone years which I never read, and probably would not understand without someone to explain it to me.

Time to go back to school...