I decided to read the novel because the first four episodes were very good. Once I finished reading, I caught up with the episodes, but what a disappointment. The adaptation is neither faithful nor does it do justice to the original work. The drama went downhill precisely after episode 4. It's just a lazy approach to the original material and a waste of Liu Xue Yi's acting skills. The casting is weak and most scenes they added are terrible. The only reason I'm not dropping it, is because I had already invested my time in reading the novel because of this drama. Ugh, they played me so badly...
I had to pause this drama at episode 4 because I could feel the potential of the high intensity of upcoming angst. I had to pause to go read the novel AND HOT DAMN THE ANGST IS COMING. But I have to finish the novel before starting again the drama. I wasn't expecting so many changes in the drama adaptation, hopefully they will still match the angst of the novel. But I'm glad they didn't keep all those awful scenes ... The writing of the novel, especially the scenes between the cp is very triggering, so many disgusting scenes actually, I'm gonna keep reading just to know how the major events are going to develop ...
I'm loving the cp's chemistry, love how actually smart the characters are ! This drama better give the angst & tension "kill me love me" was supposed to serve !
Some people still want to blame one more than the other when clearly the drama is about the theory of polarities. We are now truly exploring the notion of cause and effect, after the Yin & Yang. HRY & BJS' actions were also led and influenced by many exterior factors, behond determination and free will. For exemple BJS behavior was also influenced by what was expected from him as Yang, as a man but also of his position as Heavenly Lord Dacheng, just like HRY as a woman, as Heavenly Lord Siling and Yin. Cause and effect means that things happen because something prompted them to happen. Expand but also center your perception, if you don't pay attention you would miss the whole point of the drama, just like HRY & BJS did lol. Both are victims and guilty. And "life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards". Some things were inevitable. Make peace with it.
Never underestimate a woman's pain. And never confuse her madness, born of deep dismay, with superficial distress. That's how you end up calling a woman hysterical when nothing in the expressions of her anger is absurd or disproportionate. HRY couldn't care less about "reason", because indeed in the face of everything she'd been through, it meant nothing. Only the truth could calm her terrible grief, and that's precisely what BJS is about to look for.
Wow! Thanks for the detailed explanation of Yin and Yang and how they were associated with the lead characters!
Thank you !! I don't have a detailed knowledge about Ying and Yang tho, but I felt the need to at least make the effort to try to explain my understanding of it. I'm very glad if it can help people maybe, reconsider their own perception of the characters and the story.
Oh don't worry, I will most def put everything I wrote in the comment sections in my review for sure. I have to honor the beauty of the writing of this drama ! 😊🔥
Thank you so much ! The writing in this drama can be so profound, it's been a long time since I've witnessed so much depth and real & complex philosophical layers in a drama.
My thoughts about eps 19 & 20 : I feel like the writers should have introduced the Ying and Yang theory to the audience, especially international fans, because most of them don't get it. They are judging them as if they were random humans beings when they aren't. They are the personification of Yin and Yang energies. "Heaven is an accumulation of Yang, Earth an accumulation of Yin." Yin and Yang are two opposing forces, but they are also complementary.
Ying and Yang, with each other and within themselves, have the ultimate goal of finding harmony while maintaining their respective polarities. If they don't achieve this, it leads PRECISELY to feud! And harmony isn't about being equal, but about accepting inequality and differences. They both need to figure out how to honor the expressions of Ying and Yang in themselves and in each other. They've never truly created a real harmony, within themselves and in their relationship, where Ying and Yang are recognized and accepted. This is why they've never truly connected deeply to each other, because they weren't aware of their own Ying and Yang differences within themsleves. BJS reaches this level of understanding in episode 20, but it was too late. HRY understood this early on imo (she didn't intervene from the get go, but much later), but was deceived by BJS and also by her expectations that he would accept her every action. HRY rebelled against pure ideology, and she was right about it, how can you stay silent in front of someone's sufferings??? But she was right only in the present moment, while BJS is right when in comes to the future. They could have find a compromise, but instead they focussed on their own superior complex of being in the right, not seeing how both are riiiight & wrong !!! They drift apart because they couldn't tolerate how unbalanced they love was appearing to be for each other. Sometimes it appeared he loved her more than she loved him, since she was breaking her promises many times and sometimes it was the opposite, she looked more in love than him because she was persistant in knowing he could understand and accept her way of seeing things. BJ's point of perception is higher in the sky, while HRY's is closer to Earth. She focuses on details that BJS can't even grasp. BJS focuses on a broad understanding too far from reach for HRY.
Both see or perceive their differences as obstacles instead of seeing their beauty, how inner and mutual differences can lead to ultimate truth, how they transform beyond what one expects of oneself. They grew apart when they decided to confront each other as enemies when in reality only their perception was different, their love was still bonding them together. But I think they also hated themselves for their very own differences, how they cannot deny their own nature for the other even though they love each other. When in reality, Ying & Yang have to precisely hold on their individuality and find a way to compromise at the same time to harmonize each other.
The energies of Yin and Yang express themselves more strongly than each other's at different times. They have failed to recognize, accept, and embrace who they truly are, for themselves and for each other, an undiying authentic movement between Yin and Yang, internally and externally. HRJ refuses to live in her Yin because she felt betrayed, which led her Yang to predominate. Thus, her love turned to unmoved hatred. She isn't heartless, she simply refuses to listen to her heart. BJS was never heartless. When he left her after sealing her power, he decided to silenced his heart, ignoring the Yin within himself, which led HRY to see only the Yang in himself.
HRY is yin, cold but gentle and chaotic. Her natural intuition has led her to show compassion for humans. BJS is yang, warm, dynamic but harsh. His logic has led him to act with reason to care about the consequences of one's action in the bigger picture, denying the present moment for the sake of the future. But HRY has within her yang's energy, and BJS is also holding within himself Yin's energy.HRY was too focussed on the expression of her Yin, and BSJ was too obessed with the expression of his Yang. Hate is not the opposite of love. Hate is born from deceived love. And only love can appease hatred. And precisely BJS & HYR child was that love that was supposed to appease HYR's pain from the betrayal she experienced. But that child died, because she couldn't use her power to save him. Why? Because of BJS. Whether he had reasons for acting this way isn't what's important to understand. What's important is to understand that BJS himself betrayed his own nature through his actions toward HYR. How? He ignored the possible consequences of his actions toward her. He failed to see the bigger picture. HRY is the same; she betrayed her own nature by desperately silencing her intuition: deep down, she knew he had never intentionally hurt her, that he hadn't truly abandoned her. She failed to grasp the details of his actions (his true intentions). Conclusion : let the other be, accept them for who they are or just leave them. How can you live as your authentic self if you fail to let the other be who they truly are. You don't always have to intervene, you can't control someone's nature anyway. The meaning of someone's actions is beyond the conscious of good and bad.
This drama precisely wants us to understand that taking one side or the other is useless. But most of you don't understand the deeper meaning of what the writing is trying to convey. Understanding the heart is doomed to a multitude of turmoil, but also simplicity. A simplicity that most fail to comprehend, seeing only the complexity of the outward appearance of the consequences of the heart. Both BJS and HRY are innocent and guilty, but ESPECIALLY, these two simply made MISTAKES. Blaming someone who made mistakes because they didn't think enough or with more perspective doesn't take away the fact that they simply made mistakes. THEY DIDN'T KNOW BETTER ! When someone does mistakes, you have to forgive them, and both failed to forgive each other when HRY betrayed her promises to BJS while BJS betrayed her by not trying to understand her. Both felt betrayed, but they never meant to betray each other.
The purpose of eps 17 & 18 I think was to display an important parallel. During their first time in the mortal world, Bai Jiu Si was missing the importance of life because he was too focussed on his own goal (his love tribulation), and now Hua Ru Yue seems detach from the mortal world, precisely because she is focussed on her personnal goal (her revenge). Life isn't an exam to pass, a check list to complete nor a reality to use for your own plans but a journey to live through meanings & memories. BJS during this second time in what he thinks is the mortal world is the one sincerely getting attached to it (because he's the only one using his magical power to intervene). HRY is only there to win, which echoes their first time there but with an inverse dynamic : she was getting attached to humankind (using her magical power to intervene) while he was indifferent, focussing on his own plan. I do think she trapped him in an illusion she created, the friend, the dog, the son etc everything there is to target BJS's symapathy. During the first time in the mortal world BJS for many decades ignored everyone, and now suddenly he cares enough, precisely because his heart is being targeted imo. During the first time, it wasn't, life wasn't manipulated for him to be forced into a certain direction, where here, he is. So indeed it was easier for him to remain detached the first time, and not now. (It's just a hypothesis ofc) And I think HRY precisely chose to not (pretend to) intervene the second time to let BJS suffer & experience the deep consequences of attachment on himeself, to advance in her revenge of course but also to make him understand her. He failed to grasp the meaning of her actions before. I mean, he understood but through the mind and not with his heart,which are two way of understanding but being able to synchronize understanding with mind and heart is what truly constitutes awakening. And that's what BJS is experiencing now, even if this time it might be an illlusion created by HRY. Just because you live in a lie, doesn't mean your behaviors & emotions aren't.
If you knew life was a lie, would you live that lie or not? Is what I was reflecting on when I finished episode 18. Is HRY as unmerciful as BJS for not wanting to live life in a lie? Because BJS indeed did the same, he refused to get attached the 1st time because he was seeing his time in the mortal world as meaningless, only there for his love tribulation ... They really mirror each other without realizing it, a true ying and yang, thinking they are so deeply opposite, but in the end still flowing the same way, just in different directions. There is her in him, and him in her.
This was a great read. However, I disagree with your conclusion. As a woman, I would have done the same thing…
"She was still punished, but instead of the Empyrean realm delivering justice, it was BJS who did it." I agree, and your comment made me even more realize the way HRY is being overprotective around humand kind is exactly how BJS is with her.
100000x agree!! episode 15 had me on the edge of my seat bc I was literally screaming seeing her screams of pains…
"do we not all act on our own beliefs?" FOR REAL !!! And that's the thing, even empathy doesn't really equal the reality of living the situations in the shoes of the one who is living life and having, not only to bear the consequences of their own actions (and the ones around them) but also to make the choices ... Life is not easy. Being really impartial is impossible. I re-read my own takes, and I found myself disagreeing in some stuff I wrote but also agreeing lol, it's amazing how perception can be challenged and rarely fixed.
I feel like people might find this drama leaning too much on philosophy, not everyone enjoy being challenged with their own beliefs ... especially when real life is already enough challenging. They prefer easy answers, blaming one or another etc
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1 
The adaptation is neither faithful nor does it do justice to the original work.
The drama went downhill precisely after episode 4.
It's just a lazy approach to the original material and a waste of Liu Xue Yi's acting skills. The casting is weak and most scenes they added are terrible.
The only reason I'm not dropping it, is because I had already invested my time in reading the novel because of this drama. Ugh, they played me so badly...
I had to pause to go read the novel AND HOT DAMN THE ANGST IS COMING. But I have to finish the novel before starting again the drama.
I wasn't expecting so many changes in the drama adaptation, hopefully they will still match the angst of the novel. But I'm glad they didn't keep all those awful scenes ...
The writing of the novel, especially the scenes between the cp is very triggering, so many disgusting scenes actually, I'm gonna keep reading just to know how the major events are going to develop ...
We are now truly exploring the notion of cause and effect, after the Yin & Yang.
HRY & BJS' actions were also led and influenced by many exterior factors, behond determination and free will. For exemple BJS behavior was also influenced by what was expected from him as Yang, as a man but also of his position as Heavenly Lord Dacheng, just like HRY as a woman, as Heavenly Lord Siling and Yin. Cause and effect means that things happen because something prompted them to happen.
Expand but also center your perception, if you don't pay attention you would miss the whole point of the drama, just like HRY & BJS did lol. Both are victims and guilty.
And "life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards". Some things were inevitable. Make peace with it.
That's how you end up calling a woman hysterical when nothing in the expressions of her anger is absurd or disproportionate.
HRY couldn't care less about "reason", because indeed in the face of everything she'd been through, it meant nothing.
Only the truth could calm her terrible grief, and that's precisely what BJS is about to look for.
I'm very glad if it can help people maybe, reconsider their own perception of the characters and the story.
The writing in this drama can be so profound, it's been a long time since I've witnessed so much depth and real & complex philosophical layers in a drama.
I feel like the writers should have introduced the Ying and Yang theory to the audience, especially international fans, because most of them don't get it. They are judging them as if they were random humans beings when they aren't. They are the personification of Yin and Yang energies.
"Heaven is an accumulation of Yang, Earth an accumulation of Yin." Yin and Yang are two opposing forces, but they are also complementary.
Ying and Yang, with each other and within themselves, have the ultimate goal of finding harmony while maintaining their respective polarities. If they don't achieve this, it leads PRECISELY to feud! And harmony isn't about being equal, but about accepting inequality and differences.
They both need to figure out how to honor the expressions of Ying and Yang in themselves and in each other. They've never truly created a real harmony, within themselves and in their relationship, where Ying and Yang are recognized and accepted. This is why they've never truly connected deeply to each other, because they weren't aware of their own Ying and Yang differences within themsleves.
BJS reaches this level of understanding in episode 20, but it was too late. HRY understood this early on imo (she didn't intervene from the get go, but much later), but was deceived by BJS and also by her expectations that he would accept her every action. HRY rebelled against pure ideology, and she was right about it, how can you stay silent in front of someone's sufferings??? But she was right only in the present moment, while BJS is right when in comes to the future. They could have find a compromise, but instead they focussed on their own superior complex of being in the right, not seeing how both are riiiight & wrong !!!
They drift apart because they couldn't tolerate how unbalanced they love was appearing to be for each other. Sometimes it appeared he loved her more than she loved him, since she was breaking her promises many times and sometimes it was the opposite, she looked more in love than him because she was persistant in knowing he could understand and accept her way of seeing things.
BJ's point of perception is higher in the sky, while HRY's is closer to Earth. She focuses on details that BJS can't even grasp. BJS focuses on a broad understanding too far from reach for HRY.
Both see or perceive their differences as obstacles instead of seeing their beauty, how inner and mutual differences can lead to ultimate truth, how they transform beyond what one expects of oneself.
They grew apart when they decided to confront each other as enemies when in reality only their perception was different, their love was still bonding them together. But I think they also hated themselves for their very own differences, how they cannot deny their own nature for the other even though they love each other. When in reality, Ying & Yang have to precisely hold on their individuality and find a way to compromise at the same time to harmonize each other.
The energies of Yin and Yang express themselves more strongly than each other's at different times. They have failed to recognize, accept, and embrace who they truly are, for themselves and for each other, an undiying authentic movement between Yin and Yang, internally and externally. HRJ refuses to live in her Yin because she felt betrayed, which led her Yang to predominate. Thus, her love turned to unmoved hatred. She isn't heartless, she simply refuses to listen to her heart. BJS was never heartless. When he left her after sealing her power, he decided to silenced his heart, ignoring the Yin within himself, which led HRY to see only the Yang in himself.
HRY is yin, cold but gentle and chaotic. Her natural intuition has led her to show compassion for humans. BJS is yang, warm, dynamic but harsh. His logic has led him to act with reason to care about the consequences of one's action in the bigger picture, denying the present moment for the sake of the future.
But HRY has within her yang's energy, and BJS is also holding within himself Yin's energy.HRY was too focussed on the expression of her Yin, and BSJ was too obessed with the expression of his Yang.
Hate is not the opposite of love. Hate is born from deceived love. And only love can appease hatred. And precisely BJS & HYR child was that love that was supposed to appease HYR's pain from the betrayal she experienced. But that child died, because she couldn't use her power to save him. Why? Because of BJS.
Whether he had reasons for acting this way isn't what's important to understand. What's important is to understand that BJS himself betrayed his own nature through his actions toward HYR. How? He ignored the possible consequences of his actions toward her. He failed to see the bigger picture.
HRY is the same; she betrayed her own nature by desperately silencing her intuition: deep down, she knew he had never intentionally hurt her, that he hadn't truly abandoned her. She failed to grasp the details of his actions (his true intentions).
Conclusion : let the other be, accept them for who they are or just leave them. How can you live as your authentic self if you fail to let the other be who they truly are.
You don't always have to intervene, you can't control someone's nature anyway. The meaning of someone's actions is beyond the conscious of good and bad.
Understanding the heart is doomed to a multitude of turmoil, but also simplicity. A simplicity that most fail to comprehend, seeing only the complexity of the outward appearance of the consequences of the heart.
Both BJS and HRY are innocent and guilty, but ESPECIALLY, these two simply made MISTAKES.
Blaming someone who made mistakes because they didn't think enough or with more perspective doesn't take away the fact that they simply made mistakes. THEY DIDN'T KNOW BETTER !
When someone does mistakes, you have to forgive them, and both failed to forgive each other when HRY betrayed her promises to BJS while BJS betrayed her by not trying to understand her. Both felt betrayed, but they never meant to betray each other.
Life isn't an exam to pass, a check list to complete nor a reality to use for your own plans but a journey to live through meanings & memories.
BJS during this second time in what he thinks is the mortal world is the one sincerely getting attached to it (because he's the only one using his magical power to intervene). HRY is only there to win, which echoes their first time there but with an inverse dynamic : she was getting attached to humankind (using her magical power to intervene) while he was indifferent, focussing on his own plan.
I do think she trapped him in an illusion she created, the friend, the dog, the son etc everything there is to target BJS's symapathy. During the first time in the mortal world BJS for many decades ignored everyone, and now suddenly he cares enough, precisely because his heart is being targeted imo. During the first time, it wasn't, life wasn't manipulated for him to be forced into a certain direction, where here, he is. So indeed it was easier for him to remain detached the first time, and not now.
(It's just a hypothesis ofc)
And I think HRY precisely chose to not (pretend to) intervene the second time to let BJS suffer & experience the deep consequences of attachment on himeself, to advance in her revenge of course but also to make him understand her. He failed to grasp the meaning of her actions before. I mean, he understood but through the mind and not with his heart,which are two way of understanding but being able to synchronize understanding with mind and heart is what truly constitutes awakening. And that's what BJS is experiencing now, even if this time it might be an illlusion created by HRY. Just because you live in a lie, doesn't mean your behaviors & emotions aren't.
If you knew life was a lie, would you live that lie or not? Is what I was reflecting on when I finished episode 18.
Is HRY as unmerciful as BJS for not wanting to live life in a lie? Because BJS indeed did the same, he refused to get attached the 1st time because he was seeing his time in the mortal world as meaningless, only there for his love tribulation ...
They really mirror each other without realizing it, a true ying and yang, thinking they are so deeply opposite, but in the end still flowing the same way, just in different directions. There is her in him, and him in her.
Hopefully more people will give this xianxia a try, it's imo the best one I tried since the past 3 years.
I agree, and your comment made me even more realize the way HRY is being overprotective around humand kind is exactly how BJS is with her.
And that's the thing, even empathy doesn't really equal the reality of living the situations in the shoes of the one who is living life and having, not only to bear the consequences of their own actions (and the ones around them) but also to make the choices ... Life is not easy. Being really impartial is impossible.
I re-read my own takes, and I found myself disagreeing in some stuff I wrote but also agreeing lol, it's amazing how perception can be challenged and rarely fixed.
I feel like people might find this drama leaning too much on philosophy, not everyone enjoy being challenged with their own beliefs ... especially when real life is already enough challenging. They prefer easy answers, blaming one or another etc