I saw several requests below for this information. Killer and Healer is based on the following poem: “Picking Mulberries” by Lu Benzhong (1084 - 1145) of the Song Dynasty. There are two translations and each line of the poem/song is numbered to the right.
Poem
I grieve that my love is not like the moon over the riverside tower: 1
South and North, East and West, 2
South and North, East and West, 3
Only constant companionship and no separation. 4
I grieve that my love is all too like the moon over the riverside tower: 5
A brief waxing, and then a waning, 6
A brief waxing, and then a waning, 7
I wait for the full circle of union—but how short-lived! 8
Song (Ci Poetry from the Song Dynasty, characterized by repetition and rhyme; e.g. a song poem)
I’m grieved to find you unlike the moon at its best, 9
North, south, east, west. 10
North, south, east, west, 11
It would accompany me without any rest. 12
I’m grieved to find you like the moon which would fain 13
Now wax, now wane. 14
You wax and wane. 15
When will you come around like the full moon again? 16
(As translated by Xu Yuanchong)
Hate your Lord is not like Jiang Louyue, 17
North-south east-west, 18
North-south east-west, 19
Only stay with you. 20
I hate the king like Jiang Louyue, 21
Temporarily full and still losing money, 22
Temporarily full and still losing money, 23
When will you be reunited? 24
Metaphors:
1. Jiang Lou Yue (see line 17 above) means “moon over the riverside tower” (see lines 1 and 5 above) or since a riverside tower is also called a pavilion, “moon over a pavillion”. From the Chinese dictionary, it appears “Jiang” means river; “yue” means moon, and “lou” means love. Every member of the Song literati owned a pavilion, as did Lu Benzhong (often abbreviated Lu Ben).
2. The moon is a contrasting dual metaphor of love. A full moon (See lines 1-4 above) is a metaphor for love that stays with you wherever you go (see line 4 and line 20). The speaker laments that his/her love is not like the full moon over the pavilion. The moon can also be a metaphor for love that is transitory; e.g., unclear (see lines 5-8 above). The speaker laments that his/her love might be short-lived and end in darkness (see lines 8 and 24). The meaning of moon and its crescents is discussed in #4 below.
3. The north-south-east-west is a metaphor of wandering far from home and away from loved ones where waiting for reunion sustains them (see lines 2-3, 10-11 and 18-19 above), even if only for a short period of time (lines 8, 16, and 24 above).
4. Wax and Wane refers to new moon crescents that are only visible right before sunrise (“waning” crescent) and right after sunset (“waxing” crescent) but are otherwise not visible at all. See lines 6-7 and 14-15 above. The speaker laments that his/her love is like a new moon.
As it applies to Killer and Healer: Chen Yu Zhi is forced to betray Jiang Yue Lou to save his sister. He laments (paraphrase), “I hate that I am not like the moon above the river tower pavilion that can be with you always and follow you wherever you go”. The implication is that their love is more likely to end than flourish.
I can’t figure why this production team asked viewers to invest a month and a half in a drama that ends with such superfluous and gratuitous violence? Isn’t the goal to increase market share and audience participation? I don’t get it. On the other hand, I loved the adaptation of Lu Benzhong’s “Picking Mulberries”. The dual metaphor of loving and losing; e.g., the moon above the river pavilion, applies to every relationship in this drama, from the virtuous Chen Yu Zhi and the bipolar Jiang Yue Lou to ill-fated Zahn Jun Bai and Yu Tang Chun, Jiang Yue Lou and his wayward mother, Jiang Yue Lou and Commissioner Bai, Chen Yu Zhi and his little sister, as well as Chu Ran and her unrequited love for Jiang Yue Lou. Even “Jiang Yue Lou”, a contrasting metaphor in the poem, is perfectly personified in the drama as a bipolar detective named Jiang Yue Lou. I can’t speak to technical details but I think this storyline is very well conceived and would have attracted far more viewers in its original version.
Finally, the screen chemistry between Mao Zi Jun and Ian Yi is legendary; second to none. It was a pleasure to watch. This couple will stay in my head forever.
This is the result of many pieces of information that I had to combine into what I hope is a cogent post, but, if I got something wrong, please correct it.
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