The unacknowledged conflict between “zhiji” and “lover”
a video essay by QiJunXiaoSu, titled: “Film school student analyses WOH ending – Zihiji? Lovers? ‘Hear the thunder that arises from silence’”. Video link.
(for preface and all other posts in this WOH-meta series, click here)
QiJunXiaoSu is a film school student and a high quality content creator on bilibili. The scriptwriter of Word of Honor, XiaoChu Nada, also follows her work.
t/n: This article will use the term “zhiji” rather than “soulmate” in order to isolate the particular meanings that belong to the original Chinese term. 知己 is zhiji is “the one who knows and understands me”.
After watching the ending of Word of Honor yesterday, I cried my eyes out. I felt deeply satisfied and at peace, as if the bustle of the world had nothing to do with me. But I see that there is still much debate surrounding the ending, so I will take a look at these issues.
The first point I want to discuss is the much used “zhiji” and “lover” concepts. Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu: are they ultimately zhiji or lovers? In fact, there is no answer to this question.
In the creation of story, a common storytelling method is to use the opposition between identities to create conflict - good vs evil, enemy vs enemy etc. It is the same with Word of Honor. “Zhiji” and “lover” seem at first harmonious identities but are in fact at inherent conflict with one another - “zhiji” is self-oriented, “lover” is other-oriented. Much of the drama towards the end of Word of Honor arises from the collision between these two identities, but this is a conflict of superior quality. When the majority of other stories are merely exploring superficial oppositions, I have been surprised by the deep uncovering of human nature in Word of Honor.
So long as one watches Word of Honor carefully, one can see that they, Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, have always understood each other. I need to emphasise here that understanding one another is not equivalent to being able to do everything that the other desires.
In my previous episode, I analysed the concept of zhiji. On the one hand, WenZhou completely understand the deepest desires of each other and know that they are each willing to die for the other. On the other hand, they are also lovers. They can accept giving up their own life in order to die with the other, but they cannot accept letting the other die with them when they are dying themselves. This is actually a very simple problem of human nature.
Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu. “Zhiji” is their foundation, “lovers” is their essence.
Once they understand the deepest desires of the other, conflict begins to manifest. Love is selfless, they are willing to die for the other. But in the face of choice, they will both choose for the other to live. After Zhou Zishu removes the nails, he asks Cheng Ling to lie to Wen Kexing. In the end, Wen Kexing lies to Zhou Zishu. What they choose is the same.
The idea of “zhiji” has been overlaid with an otherworldly glow, while “lovers” belongs squarely in the world. In love, people are vulnerable, they have worries, they have cares. To summarise in a sentence: I understand, but I’m sorry, I love you.
A conflict such as this can really tear a person’s heart in two. I’ll provide an example. In episode 36, Wen Kexing chooses to give up his life for the sake of Zhou Zishu. Does he not know that Zhou Zishu does not desire to survive alone? He said “The person who is left behind suffers most.” Wen Kexing understands everything, but please remember, the choice to accompany him in death can only be made by Zhou Zishu, the choice to accompany Zhou Zishu in death can only be made by Wen Kexing. The right to make this choice is forever in the hands of the other person. Wen Kexing has lost too much in his life, he would save Zhou Zishu in spite of the knowledge that Zhou Zishu does not desire to survive alone, but nor would he stop Zhou Zishu from dying with him after he saves Zhou Zishu. How real is this love! So real that my heart feels pierced.
I understand, but I love you. This is a classic structure of emotional dilemma, an undergoing of maximum inner suffering that brings out the full magnetism of the character. No one can finish the show and claim that there is no love between Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, they are lovers who know each other’s heart.
The second point I want to discuss is the one that shook me the most – the scene in the armoury. After the intense tragedy of ep 35, I thought I was already emotionally exhausted, who knew that I would once again undergo a round of emotional torment. If one compares the red wedding to a sudden blow to the head that leaves one dazed, then the finale of the double cultivation is a sharp knife that cuts one bloody.
Even on first viewing, I noticed that Laowen’s behaviour was out of the ordinary. His entire demeanor was off, from his complaints to A-Xu, to his mocking tone, to his unusually calm reaction to A-Xu removing his nails, he was like a tightened string that was on the brink of snapping. Gong Jun once said that he felt the saddest during the scene in the armoury. Having watched it, I now begin to understand.
If one looks carefully, Laowen’s eyes are always glistening with tears, his eyes seem to yet seem not to linger on A-Xu, like the final intimate moments before a farewell. Many people have said that, in the last few episodes, Laowen’s love, care and regret towards A-Xu are not shown. I utterly disagree with this. I will say it again, “hear the thunder that arises from silence.”
He just stands there, love and despair eating him alive, grabbing onto the last moments he can to act a little coy and whiny with his lover.
When he opens his eyes for the final time, I burst out crying. How can it be so painful. “The one who is left behind suffers most. You are my senior, please allow me.” This the most painful farewell I have seen in recent years. Wen Kexing lost his parents, lost his daughter and son-in-law, lost almost everything, he cannot lose A-Xu as well. This line, after an entire life of living in the wrong moment, is his last stubbornness.
The final look in A-Xu’s eyes is even more painful than that in ep 32. The director really knew what he was doing. The two shots of the slowly sliding hands are silent messages of the highest beauty, expressing heartache through the most subtle of ways. Compared to one hugging the other in sobbing tears, this hurts me even more. Fortunately, fortunately they did end up together. Wen Kexing’s hands that slowly slide down are firmly caught by Zhou Zishu, both times.
They are both covered in scars and injuries, how could I fret over logic in this moment? That they can always be together, that Cheng Ling established Four Seasons Manor next to their snowy mountain, what more can I ask for?
The third point I want to discuss is characterisation I often hear people say that some characters are mere plot devices to other characters. As someone who also writes stories and scripts, I was so angry I had to laugh. Firstly, a character’s charisma lies in its clashes and conflicts with other characters. Why do so many people like to ship characters? Because so often the attractiveness of a certain character appears only in relation to another character. If it weren’t for the extremeness of Wen Kexing, how does one show Zhou Zishu’s compassion? If it weren’t for the maturity of Zhou Zishu, how does one show the naivety of Wen Kexing? If this is reducing a character to mere plot device, then all characters would be.
I will say this forthrightly. Many people have complained that the scriptwriter has made the lives of the characters’ too unbearable. But if their story did not contain such tragedy, would you really be attracted to them? To love beauty, to admire strength, to feel pity – these are three basic qualities of human nature, hence why characters that embody “beauty, strength and tragedy” continue to fascinate us century after century.
Wen Kexing’s tragic past evokes great pity from audiences; Zhou Zishu’s loneliness evokes empathy from so many people. This is essential to bringing out the magnetism of characters.
What audiences experience is the presentation of the whole story. Perhaps the last few episodes were not able to satisfy everyone, but remember that ep 12 and ep 27 are also the achievements of the scriptwriter. If the high points lifted your expectations high and therefore you begin to hurl abuses at the scriptwriter for the other plot points that do not satisfy your expectations, notice I say hurl abuses, not constructive criticism, then one begins to lose heart. How is this any different to the actions of Long Xiao? The comments under the scriptwriter’s Weibo have left me depressed. As someone also in the industry, if you care about the future of cinema and drama in China, then please spare some sympathy for those in the industry, give them some basic respect because they do not work solely to please audiences.
The story of Word of Honor is not perfect. Are there plot holes? Certainly. But this does not mean that this is not an excellent drama. Word of Honor is not a godly masterpiece, it is simply Word of Honor. A small-budget web series. A surprise that arrived in spring and made me walk outside my door to enjoy the sunshine. I am very grateful for Word of Honor.
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