As I think about it more one may think puppet Ji Ling is a puppet, but tbh, I could never come to terms to him…
It seems to me that discussion on what is identity is a big topic of this series. I recall someone here mentioning Buddhism and no-self in relation to puppet Ji Ling and honestly, as it develops, it is something I wonder about. I find the typical Buddhist topics - such as attachment, karma, and self - being very crucial in this story. It’s not just that the identities of some characters are confusing to the viewer, they seem to be equally confusing to the characters themselves. And source of pain. Are puppet Ji Ling and deity Ji Ling the same person? What about Lu Wuyi and her existence, is she a person? Is there even one answer? I would say that so far this drama says that the way we conventionally frame an identity is not just disputable but altogether irrelevant to the experience itself. I know cdramas, especially this genre, are full of Buddhist and/or Taoist symbolisms and ideas but I don’t remember the last time I found it so integral to the story. Usually, it’s more like the folk part of it - the tradition and myths and cultivation. This feels more contemplative (behind all the tragedy of it).
The beggar (Real Bai Lou ) appearing just before the wedding is really suspicious. The way Shanbao is ten steps…
Oooh - it would make sense that she’s been cooking something since she’s been unto the fake one for quite some time. But … the beggar was brought over by that miss Xu. And that’s a character which I think was outside RSB's radar before. But she also said she would give LJL an explanation after the case is over and I understood that part as - more is coming. Fake YBL is probably the last puzzle piece?
Recent trope that really keeps bugging me is the treatment of love interests of both ML and FL.ML at the first…
I actually thought it was staged for the maid behind them. I think that maid is spying. Later on, when RSB agrees to marry YBL, her cousin seems unhappy. So I read the scene as either the cousin trying to make RSB confront LJL to find truth about it or the cousin being in cahoots with RSB to make a scene so the maid thinks RSB lost interest in LJL. Although I also think the cousin is prejudiced against men because of her childhood experiences. I’m not really fond of romances as the one in this show (it was clear from the trailer what kind of romance it would be) because it's not emotionally rewarding to me. But after thinking about recent episodes, I do suspect that RSB does not believe the rumours regarding LJL but sees it as a good opportunity to use his jealousy to bring him to her. As in - she agrees to marry YBL, pretending in front of the maid that she lost interest in LJL after seeing him with another woman. But at the same time, she knows that once LJL learns about the wedding, he will go to her demanding explanation. And it might be easier to hide their meeting if he’s the one coming, not the other way around (he has sneaked into her rooms undetected before). Then they can device a plan how to stop the wedding or coordinate if she already has one. So I’m waiting for the next episodes to see if I was right or not, I have been wrong many times when watching this show. But I don’t believe RSB is buying the story about LJL's marriage.
I have to say to say, I started this drama only because of tea and HMH and didn’t expect to get so invested…
The list of tea topics covered in epilogues
Ep 1: Zisun Tea (“Purple Bamboo Shoots” Tea) Ep 2: Tea tax Ep 3: The Classic of Tea Ep 8: Tea King Tree Sacrifice Ep 10: Herbal tea Ep 11: Milk tea Ep 12: Making friends through tea and treating people with courtesy Ep 14: Purple Clay Teapot Ep 18: West Lake Longjing Tea Ep 19: Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea Ep 20: Landscape and Tea in Zhejiang Ep 21: Tea and Health Ep 24: Grandmaster of Tea Ep 25: Tea Brick Ep 26: Tea Refreshments
Episodes with no epilogue: 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 23 Episodes with different topics (Chinese tradition without relation to tea): 13 (Five Posions and Fortune Pattern), 17 (Mugwort)
I have to say to say, I started this drama only because of tea and HMH and didn’t expect to get so invested in the story beyond that. But it got me almost addicted now. So much that it even made me create account over here.
Anyway, I saw that some people are interested in the epilogues. I actually waited for a drama that would revolve around tea like this since like forever and so I often rewatch it with a pen and paper in hand. I made a list of which episode covers what topic in epilogue for future reference so I thought perhaps someone else would find it useful too? I’ve been also noting various things from the drama itself but that’s actually much slower process as I have to actually research things, so I can put some notes on that too…
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I find the typical Buddhist topics - such as attachment, karma, and self - being very crucial in this story. It’s not just that the identities of some characters are confusing to the viewer, they seem to be equally confusing to the characters themselves. And source of pain. Are puppet Ji Ling and deity Ji Ling the same person? What about Lu Wuyi and her existence, is she a person? Is there even one answer? I would say that so far this drama says that the way we conventionally frame an identity is not just disputable but altogether irrelevant to the experience itself.
I know cdramas, especially this genre, are full of Buddhist and/or Taoist symbolisms and ideas but I don’t remember the last time I found it so integral to the story. Usually, it’s more like the folk part of it - the tradition and myths and cultivation.
This feels more contemplative (behind all the tragedy of it).
Although I also think the cousin is prejudiced against men because of her childhood experiences.
I’m not really fond of romances as the one in this show (it was clear from the trailer what kind of romance it would be) because it's not emotionally rewarding to me. But after thinking about recent episodes, I do suspect that RSB does not believe the rumours regarding LJL but sees it as a good opportunity to use his jealousy to bring him to her. As in - she agrees to marry YBL, pretending in front of the maid that she lost interest in LJL after seeing him with another woman. But at the same time, she knows that once LJL learns about the wedding, he will go to her demanding explanation. And it might be easier to hide their meeting if he’s the one coming, not the other way around (he has sneaked into her rooms undetected before). Then they can device a plan how to stop the wedding or coordinate if she already has one.
So I’m waiting for the next episodes to see if I was right or not, I have been wrong many times when watching this show. But I don’t believe RSB is buying the story about LJL's marriage.
Ep 1: Zisun Tea (“Purple Bamboo Shoots” Tea)
Ep 2: Tea tax
Ep 3: The Classic of Tea
Ep 8: Tea King Tree Sacrifice
Ep 10: Herbal tea
Ep 11: Milk tea
Ep 12: Making friends through tea and treating people with courtesy
Ep 14: Purple Clay Teapot
Ep 18: West Lake Longjing Tea
Ep 19: Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea
Ep 20: Landscape and Tea in Zhejiang
Ep 21: Tea and Health
Ep 24: Grandmaster of Tea
Ep 25: Tea Brick
Ep 26: Tea Refreshments
Episodes with no epilogue: 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 23
Episodes with different topics (Chinese tradition without relation to tea): 13 (Five Posions and Fortune Pattern), 17 (Mugwort)
Anyway, I saw that some people are interested in the epilogues. I actually waited for a drama that would revolve around tea like this since like forever and so I often rewatch it with a pen and paper in hand. I made a list of which episode covers what topic in epilogue for future reference so I thought perhaps someone else would find it useful too?
I’ve been also noting various things from the drama itself but that’s actually much slower process as I have to actually research things, so I can put some notes on that too…