Hello :) Can you explain what Xie Lian's famous words "body in abyss, heart in paradise" mean?
Essentially, what this phrase means is maintaining a virtuous heart (“heart in paradise”) even when experiencing overwhelming hardships (“body in abyss”). It’s a stance that’s very much inspired by Taoism and also Stoic philosophy, which both promote living in accordance to nature in all its unpredictability (go with the flow) while holding onto basic values such as compassion and modesty. In the face of overwhelming suffering where all your attempts to do good end up meaningless, holding onto hope and morals can be incredibly difficult. It would be so much easier to give up and simply externalize that pain by lashing out at the unfair world around us. That’s exactly what happened with Jun Wu, whose despair led him to become the first Supreme Demon. And it nearly happened with Xie Lian as well.
But Xie Lian was able to recover from his downward spiral because he was reminded that human kindness still exists. While he was in the “abyss” (figurative and literal since he stayed down in that self-made hole), he had someone pull him out. That simple act of compassion was enough to uplift his whole attitude towards his banished life, and let him break free of White No-Face’s corruption.
What’s highlighted from this is that your suffering doesn’t define you, and no matter how bleak your circumstances seem, it is possible to rise above despair if you have so much as one meaningful connection to support you. Life can be chaotic, and the topic of luck is explored repeatedly to illustrate the reality that some things are beyond one’s control in life. However, what is always within an individual’s control is how they decide to face whatever life throws at them. Jun Wu was unable to move on from his past suffering, and grew monstrous from his resentment and loneliness. That’s why he could not stand to hear Xie Lian’s vow to stay moral no matter how tough life gets.
Xie Lian’s life during his second banishment wasn’t physically easier than his life during his first banishment in any way. But he still lived in a way that embodied “body in abyss, heart in paradise” because he learned to accept hardships as an inevitable part of life without losing sight of the simple kindness and connections that still makes life meaningful. Maturing in his worldview is what enabled him to let go of his past grievances and go forth cheerfully in life with compassion, frugality and humility, AKA the three fundamental values of Taoism.
One more point I wanna touch on is that while this phrase is understood to be Xie Lian’s life motto, the two people who imo best exemplify this notion are actually Yu Shi Huang and Xiao Ying, two ladies who are distinct Xie Lian parallels.
Both Yu Shi Huang and Xiao Ying have had their share of misfortunes and died untimely deaths as mortals, but neither have ever been embittered by that. They never thought to have revenge against those who’ve wronged them, only wanting to help those they care for. Particularly in Xiao Ying’s case, even though she never accomplished anything, Xie Lian still shows great deference towards her as someone he sees as much stronger than him due to how kind and caring she managed to stay no matter what.
Moreover, Yin Yu, as another, even more striking Xie Lian parallel, would be another person who can be said to embody “body in abyss, heart in paradise” because he also managed to hold onto his principles even though he was filled with resentment against Quan Yi Zhen. But even so, the connection that remained between Yin Yu and Quan Yi Zhen still proved to be meaningful enough that it let Yin Yu recover the pride and glory of his youth during a decisive moment and deliver one hell of a “F*ck you” speech to Jun Wu for trying to drag him down to his level.
I honestly think Yin Yu said it best here: “I DO RESENT HIM! I DO HATE HIM!!! BUT, SO WHAT?”
It’s quite reminiscent of Xie Lian when he said “I haven’t forgotten! But–IT’S NONE OF YOUR SHITTY BUSINESS!!!”
Both of them have experienced the pain and humiliation of failure, just like Jun Wu. But unlike the latter, they both pulled themselves out of despair and regained their pride by no longer letting past suffering define them. And it’s noteworthy that Jun Wu, who stayed stuck to his past, is always noticeably perplexed by Xie Lian and Yin Yu being like “who cares?” when he tries to corrupt them by bringing up their past hardships.
What happened in the past can’t change, but it is possible to gain a new outlook and move on from that ✌
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