So, back on my “MDZS is a symbolic masterpiece” grind, and the topic that’s entangled my mind today is possibly the most infamous bit of symbolism in the entire narrative - Chenqing, the Ghost Flute
Woah, Ghost Flute ? Surely the spiritual weapon named that must be something truly powerful and malicious, right ? Something befitting the great Yiling Patriarch ?
Except… spiritual weapon ? That can’t be right. Wei Wuxian doesn’t have a core. How could he wield a spiritual weapon ? Even if he could, somehow, pull a Nie Sect and use residual resentment to power Chenqing, where would he have crafted her ?
Something tells me the Burial Mounds aren’t exactly teeming with high-level soulforging facilities, after all.
Not to mention, as we already know - Wei Wuxian doesn’t produce resentful energy. He redirects already-existing resentful energy. Again, not something compatible with the concept of sentient weapons.
…so does that mean that Chenqing isn’t a powerful spiritual weapon, then ? That it’s just a bamboo flute that’s been lacquered black, and that all its power comes from it’s wielder ?
Well, we do see Wei Wuxian manipulate the dead without Chenqing. Hell, we see him do it with nothing more than his voice at several points. Chenqing, despite receiving the terrifying name of “Ghost Flute” is really just a cool-looking flute Wei Wuxian owns, and not particularly powerful in its own right.
Hey, wait a second - someone misunderstanding a being whose power comes primarily from redirecting or channelling energies that already exist, rather than producing energies themselves, giving them a terrifying alias and assuming the worst about them ? Now, where have I heard that before ?
Well, doesn’t that get us off to a pretty neat start !! Now for the real meat of this whole metaphor - the name
Chenqing. What is Chenqing ? Where does it come from ? What does it mean ?
The answer ? The classics. And a whole lot.
The term 陈情 Chenqing has two meanings. The first would be to reminisce past relationship (former friendship), and the second would be to provide a full account of (an issue).
To dive further into this, we have to look at the context of the term - it comes from the Chu Ci (楚辞), a selection of poems attributed to the poet Qu Yuan, who lived during the Warring States Period.
Qu Yuan is a legendary poet of ancient China, the first to have their name attributed to their work, the first to deviate from the norm of the strict, uniform four-character poetry popularised by works like the Shi Jing, allowing for more expressive and vibrant work (cough cough cough). During the Han dynasty, Qu Yuan became established as a heroic example of model behaviour for a scholar-official denied public recognition suitable to their worth (COUGH COUGH COUGH)
Qu Yuan belonged to the State of Chu. A fervent patriot and a loyal supporter of the King of Chu, he served as Left Minister under both King Huai and his father, King Qingxiang. And both betrayed him and exiled him, though neither incident diminished his love for his state and it's leader (hint hint)
The first exile happened under the reign of King Huai (Xiong Huai) and it was the one that was repealed, with Qu Yuan being invited back to the King's court after a period in exile. He wrote a poem about his relationship to this King called Li Sao.
Li Sao is an excellent work of poetry, in which our intrepid poet laments that his own righteousness, purity, and honor are unappreciated and go unused in a corrupt world. Qu Yuan alludes, too, to being slandered by enemies and being rejected by the king he served (sound familiar ?)
In the end, Qu Yuan - or his poetic mouthpiece - does not return to Huai's court, instead choosing to go off to "where Peng and Xian dwell". This has been widely debated to either refer to the God of the Sun (for instance, the Wen Remnants, the Wen symbol being famously the Sun) or, simply, seclusion.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Qu Yuan, in reality, did not in fact, go off to join the Sun - at least, not immediately. After a period of exile to the North of the Han River (which is the region of Hubei and Shaanxi, or, in other words, where MDZS puts Yunmeng and Qishan - the stomping grounds of the Jiang and Wen), he was called back to the court of Chu.
Alas, this was not to last. Soon enough, King Huai would be succeeded by his son, King Qingxiang (Xiong Heng), whose father - King Huai - was once held hostage by King Hui of Qin, and died in his captivity despite managing to escape momentarily. Qin would later become expansionist and seek to subjugate all other states, before falling rapidly apart (cough cough nudge nudge Qingxiang is Jiang Cheng and Qin is Wen cough cough)
(Hey, fun fact - did you know that the Qin state ruled over the region of modern-day Shaanxi ? You know, exactly where the Qishan Wen are portrayed as ruling ? I'm sure that's just a coincidence)
A Prime Minister in Qingxiang's court slandered Qu Yuan (much like how everyone slandered Wei Wuxian after his return from the Burial Mounds (read : North of the Han River)) and Qingxiang, often portrayed as paranoid and traumatised after his father's death, exiled him again. This exile would not be repealed, and Qu Yuan would die in it (hint hint cough cough nudge nudge)
To make a long story short, soon enough, the Qin state invaded Chu (I have no neat poetic allegory for this, but I would like to note that the Jin are noted multiple times to be "taking the place of the Wen") and, grief-stricken, Qu Yuan wrote his famous poem Lament for Ying, and killed himself (for posterity, allow me to note that several adaptations of MDZS portray his death as effectively a suicide). Popular legend has it that villagers carried their dumplings and boats to the middle of the river and desperately tried to save Qu Yuan after he immersed himself in the Miluo but were too late to do so
The Lament for Ying is from the Jiu Zhang section of the Chu Ci (九章, Nine Pieces). Know what else is from that section ? The poem known best as "Alas For the Days Gone By", 昔往日, the poem from which we get our name - Chenqing
And, finally, at long last, we return to our subject matter - the flute Chenqing. So, what is Alas For the Days Gone By ?
In short, it is a lament... for the days gone by, yeah I know
It is a loyal minister lamenting his exile from his king's side, of how good men are so easily supplanted by the wiles of the wicked and cunning, of how his king has been fooled and tricked. A lot of these we've already covered in our interpretation of Qu Yuan as a parallel to Wei Wuxian.
So, instead, let's hyperfocus on the lines that we're actually concerned with, and some of the preceding -
指蕙纕以为不逊兮， (They point to my orchid girdle and call it unfit) 嫉佳冶之芬芳。 (They are jealous of a true beauty's fragrance.) 嫫母姣而自修兮， (Mo Mu preens herself and claims to be lovely) 西施忳而内伤。 (While Xi Shi is filled with grief and inner pain.) 愿陈情以白行兮， (I wished to set forth my thoughts and explain my actions) 得罪过之不意。 (I little dreamed that this would be held a crime.)
So, line by line !!
First - "They point to my orchid girdle and call it unfit/Have called orchid and azalea unfit to wear at a girdle" :
This symbolises the corrupt officials in the court who possess no integrity. They mock the poet's high standards, claiming his "fragrant" (virtuous) behavior is unworthy of being worn as a decoration, meaning they find virtue to be impractical or stupid.
The flowers of orchid and azalea symbolise moral purity, virtue, and high ideals. For the purpose of our interpretation, it's important to note that orchid in Chinese is "lan"
Second - Mo Mu preens herself and claims to be lovely/Jealous of true beauty's fragrance, Mo Mu preens herself on her comeliness
Mo Mu is a figure from Chinese legend known for being incredibly ugly but having a very high opinion of her own beauty. She stands for the jealous, corrupt court officials. They are ugly in character but arrogant about their standing. They are jealous of the "true beauty" (the poet's virtue) and try to overshadow it with their own fake virtue
In MDZS context, she probably represents people like Jin Zixun, or Su She - who know nothing yet attempt to show that they're better than Wei Wuxian
Third - While Xi Shi is filled with grief and inner pain/But if you have Xi Shi's lovely face, the slanderer will get in and supplant you.
Xi Shi was one of the most beautiful women in ancient Chinese history. The world is turned upside-down - those without virtue (Mo Mu) are happy and hold power by flattering the king, while those with "beauty" (virtue) are filled with grief. This highlights the hopelessness of trying to be a good person in a corrupt court, as the evil will inevitably try to destroy the good. (Single-plank bridge, anyone ?)
Fourth - I wished to set forth my thoughts and explain my actions: / I little dreamed that this would be held a crime
The famous, the legendary "愿陈情以白行兮，得罪过之不意", here at last !! From this, we get our name "Chenqing". And this line symbolises Qu Yuan's situation - He tried to advise his king, explaining his loyal, virtuous actions (setting forth thoughts) to improve the state. nstead of being rewarded for his loyalty, he was slandered and punished. His righteousness was treated as a "crime" by the corrupt, who turned the king against him.
That symbolises Wei Wuxian's situation pretty well, doesn't it ? With the mind of his beloved king - the Jiang Cheng allegory - poisoned against him by the virtueless and corrupt.
I could go on and on about this poem, but for the interests of all our sanities, let's instead zoom into just that phrase "Chenqing" (陈情)
Chenqing as a phrase means literally, solely "setting forth one's thoughts and explaining one's actions.". Remember, for all that the majority of this symbolism was put in place by MXTX, Wei Wuxian was the one who named his flute. And he named it "to present my case" ?
Metaphorically, it's because he wants the flute to be what he cannot be. Powerful enough to protect those he loves, and - most of all - able to confess Wei Wuxian's case. Wei Wuxian cannot tell Jiang Cheng his case - cannot "set forth his thoughts and explain his actions". So, he names his flute, as though the music alone can - and, indeed, it does, but incorrectly. Instead of telling Jiang Cheng that he turned to the ghostly path to protect his loved ones, it tells him instead that he turned to it for power, for strength.
There's only so much a simple flute can do, after all
