Who is Shou Hua, First Lady Li

My motivation for writing this text was the excessive criticism that the character Shou Hua receives. The most recurrent criticisms classified her as a proud, spiteful person. I understand that her attitudes may have been interpreted in this way, eclipsing what really defines her in the context of the human plane. She is not stubborn, spiteful. It is necessary to evaluate this legitimate behavior in the context of a period 1,064 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (when women still  had some autonomy, its splendor was in the Tang Dynasty): abandoning one's wife in the marriage bed was a serious moral misconduct. Confucianism, which excels in severe morality, was in its splendor, it was revitalized precisely in the Song Dynasty (and to this day it is the moral pillar of China), it is not a mere grudge, but an attack on morality.

The SH's plot is very rich, the writer used all his skill to construct her as a cultured, refined woman, with a discreet, silent and monastic nature. Behind this construction, there is a vast, sophisticated and subtle universe. Her narrative weaves together the best of Chinese literature (poetry), painting, and philosophy, indicating that she also possesses cultivation. There are countless quotes from works that are pillars of Chinese culture.

The musical background dedicated to her (leitmotive-literally leading motif), is composed of the guqin, which is the instrument par excellence of scholars, its practice is part of cultivation, it is an intimate instrument, suitable for reflection, and the Xiao flute in E (Mi), the lowest tone for this instrument (vertical blown bamboo flute), the sound is deep and velvety. Bass sounds are associated with an introspective, dark and low-light atmosphere. The choice of the guqin to perform the musical work that characterizes SH's leitmotive (leading motif) is not a random choice, but fulfills the role of harmonizing with SH's monastic nature, in perfect tune with the scholar DYX. She is always involved in domestic tasks and generally in scenes with discreet movements, such as when she is weaving, grinding grains, embroidering. The objective is to evoke, to reproduce Chinese paintings. SH has a lifestyle similar to the life of monks in the temple. Their relationship takes place on a level of deep spirituality in conflict with their human flaws. The environment where their plot unfolds is austere, sober, few objects, few colors, at most a fruit bowl on the table, reminiscent of still life paintings, the surroundings have ocher colors and their entire palette of tones, pastel tones with an aura of linen and parchment, that match the detached and silent character of the scholars. The couple's story is extremely delicate, lyrical, subtle, wise, elegant and sober, these traits are characteristics of scholars, they differentiate themselves from other couples because they draw us into the field of reflection. The other couples are solar, passionate, emotional, fun, noisy, have a bright color, and are naturally assimilated more quickly.

Shou Hua deserves to be understood as a woman who asserts her dignity at a time when women were nullified and according to the law of the time, they were worth less than men. The most ironic thing about this criticism of Shou Hua is that precisely the women who accuse the series of misogeny are the ones who most criticize this character who gives stature and dignity to women.

*Leitmotive: musical term, in German, which means 'leading motive', a concept created in the 19th century, by scholars of the work of Richard Wagner (German musician, 1813-1883), who introduced the concept of associating a melody for each character of the opera. Since then, it has become a practice in operas, theater, telenovels, films, series, advertisements.

 Iwaktaya:

Very insightful analysis of Shou Hua's character. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on this.

Thank you very much for reading my text! I'm very happy to find people, like you, who share the same vision of this complex, delicate and noble character.

Nice thread.

 Dnm_4211:

Nice thread.

Thank you very much for reading the text!

Yes, absolutely!!!  🥰🥰🥰

Shouhua also bears some of the burden of being a 2nd mother to her siblings. She's the definition of the dutiful eldest daughter, and hence has taken on more responsibility for the family for them. This has reinforced her more reserved and introverted personality, probably further honed by her first marriage, where because of the power differential in the home, I suspect she could never stray from being absolutely flawless. 

From her PoV, her marriage to Du Yang Xi  was initially merely a means to save face for both families, so she never really hoped for love, but she was willing to settle for a cool, but respectful relationship. She expected as a scholar, that he would be happy with the same, so when he turned out to be actually quite passionate, if utterly clueless in many regards, she was completely disarmed and really didn't know how to handle him.

I've a feeling most of the people who don't like Shouhua may not be able to understand/see all the nuance her character contains, as due to her nature, her actions are all far quieter than her siblings, who are all.....very, very unsubtle in comparison! 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you for this insightful text! Shouhua is actually one of the characters that I loved the most in the whole series, I didn't know people were hating on her. 

What is there to hate? She is educated, cultivated, intelligent, compassionate when she needs to be, but also firm in her principles. To be honest, I loved her and Yangxi's storyline. The way he slowly started realising just how important and valuable she was, and how she then started yielding to her new husband and stopped feeling guilty towards her deceased one... Also, they had some cute and more playful exchanges that showed that they are actually not an old serious couple and, in particular, that Yangxi is a bit younger than her and wants to steal her heart and for her to admire him, because he really admires her.

To be honest, I think most of the characters in the series show development in one way or another without losing their own essence. I feel like that is a pretty difficult thing to achieve in a series, so kudos to the writer(s).

Thank you so much for replying with such a courteous and beautiful comment. Your writing is wonderful, I am also truly happy to have such civilised and fulfilling exchanges such as this one :)

Oh, I have not watched The Double, but knowing that we coincide in many of our opinions and likes, I will put it on my "Plan to watch" list right this instant.

To be fair, I have tried to watch other Chinese TV series, but I have failed to finish them because some feel very theatrical to me and I cannot get immersed enough. It was not the case with Perfect Match, so I hope it won't be the case either with The Double.

Thank you once again for sharing your knowledge about Chinese culture, as it is clear how vast it is, and I will gladly read your article when I have finished watching The Double. I hope I can find a good website to watch it, as I believe it is not on Netflix.