Musings on Sun Ruowei, a life of debt reset to zero
The story starts with Jing Ruowei, child of an official of Ming Dynasty’s Jianwen Emperor. The Jianwen Emperor’s 4th uncle had rebelled against the authority of the emperor, and he emerged victorious by the end as the Yongle Emperor. Ruowei’s parents are killed during a purge of those who served Jianwen. She and her younger sister are saved by a family friend and luck respectively, but are separated in the process.
Sun Ruowei’s initial goal is revenge through the assassination of the Yongle Emperor. When the situation spirals quickly out of control, she is forced to reconsider the value of her goal, and whether the death of Yongle would actually bring anything meaningful into existence. So her early development traverses from revenge to personal sacrifice for the pardon and return of the exiled families of the Jingnan Rebellion.
The personal sacrifice she makes, as a payment for the pardon, is her freedom. Ruowei marries Zhu Zhanji, thus entering and committing to the imperial family until her death.
It’s a bit strange to talk about the Sun Ruowei character. She is, technically speaking, the main protagonist, as the story begins and ends with her. But the other cast members get significant screen time and a lot of development of their own, so the show overall is not extremely focused on Sun Ruowei. There is even a portion of the show developing a bunch of other characters, and Ruowei ends up in the background for that chunk of plot progression.
Because of the awkward pacing of her development, and also a rather drastic character attitude change after the death of her adoptive father, Sun Ruowei comes off as an uneven character. I do think Tang Wei, the actor who plays the part, did her best to grasp Ruowei, but sometimes the character is molded to the necessity of the story (and by extension history, since there is a degree of historical accuracy required by Chinese govt), so her actions often seem to stretch the limits of her personality.
Ruowei gets full time to shine again after essentially the death of 90% of the cast of the first half (40-ish out of 60-ish episodes).
Strangely enough, the early part of her son’s reign is something of a portrayal of the more ‘everyday work’ of a ruler would be. Sun Ruowei shifting through reports late at night, making decisions on the design of currency to be used through the empire, juggling conflicting interests at the court, etc.
What happens in the second half of Ming Dynasty is an exercise in annoyance and absurdity. Ruowei is clearly shown as capable, hardworking, and disciplined. One could even consider her ‘reign’ as how the reign of the short-lived Hongxi Emperor could have been, had he lived longer.
Yet Ruowei’s competence (which is very evident to us, the viewers) makes the additional cast of the second half super frustrating. We are treated to the scheming idiocy of her son, the limited worldview of her mother-in-law, the endless selfishness of her sister, the cowardliness of her nephew, and some quite cartoonish villainy from the eunuch that almost destroys the country.
But of course, it would be total treason and cultural madness to have a Female Emperor. Best leave the country to legitimate sons, even if they are super stupid.
The story arc of Sun Ruowei thus becomes one of tragedy.
Before he dies, Zhu Zhanji asks Ruowei if she regretted her life; Ruowei answers firmly that she did not, that when she sees her parents in the afterlife, she will have the accomplishment of freeing the Jingnan exiles to show them.
Years later, her son staged a coup to claim the throne again, this time from his brother. Sun Ruowei witnesses her son perpetrating the exact atrocity she sacrificed her freedom to repair: the killing of officials because they served his predecessor. Her son callously tells her the only irreplaceable part in the country is the Zhu family at the head.
Afterwards, Xu Bin visits an ailing Ruowei who has lost her will to live. She tells him that her life has been a waste, a stark difference from her confident answer to Zhu Zhanji years ago.
Early in the story, Yongle made his three sons and grandson swear that if they kill another of the Zhu family, they would live short lives and die miserably. The Zhengtong Emperor may not have sworn this oath himself, but he chooses not to kill another Zhu family member. In the context of the show story, ‘Zhengtong’ is only able to exist and be emperor because of the love and forgiveness of others; his release of the officials breaks away from a cycle of revenge, preventing another tragedy.
These are the seeds that Sun Ruowei harvests, at the end. Not a particularly optimistic takeaway, considering the fate of Yu Qian and weaknesses of her son. Those at the top who live rich, sheltered lives, accustomed to power and pampering, would not know or remember to sympathize with those more unfortunate than they. Perhaps leaving with Xu Bin is the best Ruowei could hope for, after spending all of her youth and energy on a family that chewed itself apart.