#character: ding hui

[heymeowmao]

一念关山 | A Journey to Love ° E13 & E18 :: Jealousy (≖⌣≖)

[movielosophy]

后浪  | Washing Tou Tou

[fwoopersongs]

卜算子·我住长江头 - Song of Divination · I live at the Long River’s head

by 李之仪 (Li Zhiyi, 1048 to 1117)

我住长江头 君住长江尾 wǒ zhù chángjiāng tóu, jūn zhù chángjiāng wěi I live at the Long River’s head, you live at the Long River’s tail end.

日日思君不见君 共饮长江水 rì rì sī jūn bùjiàn jūn, gòng yǐn chángjiāng shuǐ Day after day, missing you but not seeing you, together, in the Long River’s water we partake.

此水几时休 此恨何时已 cǐ shuǐ jǐ shí xiū, cǐ hèn hé shí yǐ The time when the water’s flow ceases is when resentment for this passes.

只愿君心似我心 定不负相思意 Zhǐ yuàn jūn xīn sì wǒ xīn, dìng bù fù xiāng sī yì May your heart be as mine. The love from which this longing springs shall not be in vain.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Notes

TITLE

The tune pattern for this song is卜算子, commonly translated as Song of Divination. The character卜 (bǔ) is a pictogram often explained as a representation of the cracks that appear on scorched tortoise shells, one of the methods of ancient Chinese divination. And to 算 (suàn), to calculate, is of course another method of divination. There are some different opinions of what this tune pattern is named for. Some say that 子 does not refer to a person, and instead is short for 曲子 - a little song, some say it’s named for ‘a person who does divinations’. Undeniably, there is divination in the name, and a ci is a song. So that’s what I went with!

There are several famous songs with this tune pattern, by Su Shi / Su Dongpo and by Lu You (we should know him quite well by now), of which I would say Li Zhiyi’s might be the most simple yet deeply romantic. This is probably why it’s super famous… that and the fact that it’s in the 300 Song Lyric collection.

// random thought re: 300 Tang Poems, 300 Song Lyrics, 300 Yuan Songs, maybe they were all collected into these anthologies of 300+ works because the Classic of Poetry was originally called 300 Poems?

I love Su Shi’s song for it’s stubborn loneliness in the cold and also its calm. But Lu You’s is just !!!!!!!!!! makes me want to curl around it like a loving cat. Thinking about them both makes me want to share them too!!! 

Some other day perhaps. 

These are so famous I had no idea they were all using the same tune pattern - and I can’t explain how this one works because Song lyric tune patterns are still a mystery to me. Will share if I ever figure it out, but yeah… I’m nowhere near that point now ahahah. 

BACKGROUND

Li Zhiyi, courtesy name - Duanshu, was a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty and an important member of the Su Dongpo circle. 

(My man Su Shi was very popular and very beloved in his time with many students and even more admirers, we have talked about how he made friends wherever he gets exiled, how he has a good sense of humor and makes fun of himself too). 

Born in 1048 and later becoming a student of Fan Chunren, son of Fan Zhongyan (also a very cool dude! He writes amazing things /cough不以物喜不以己悲cough/, so let’s talk about him someday ~) and passed the imperial exams to become a jinshi in the year 1070 at the age of 22.

Sixteen years later in 1086, Fan Chunren effectively became the prime minister while Li Zhiyi became a scribe at a military division for the central government, and then magistrate for Yuan Prefacture not long after. It was after this time that he began interacting frequently with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and others from that clique. Li Zhiyi also worked for Su Shi in his Governer’s Office while he was the Governor for Ding Prefecture. 

(From Su Shi’s Baidu entry: In 1093, Empress Dowager Gao passed away, so Emperor Zhezong was in power and the new faction rose in prominence again. Su Shi was eventually relegated far from the capital to Hui Province in 1094, and then Hainan Island in 1097.) 

And so, in 1099, when Li Zhiyi was promoted to supervisor for the vault for incense herbs - a subdivision under the Minister of Revenue, he was censured for once working for Su Shi and suspended from his position. Unfortunately for him, at some point afterwards, he was recommended for the position of Envoy for Hedong (here’s an interesting article in Chinese on the position of Envoy), but struck from the list when he offended the new prime minister in 1101 with an epitaph for Fan Zhongyan, the use of which was disallowed, and was exiled for a time. At least that’s what I’m interpreting from 东都事略, Summary of Events in the Eastern Capital, a book chronicling Northern Song dynasty (960–1126) history, written by Wang Cheng, a Southern Song official in the historiographic compilation bureau.

He was then posted with his family to Taiping Province, where he stayed for four years. In his own words as referenced from 姑溪居士文集, Collected Works of Guxi Hermit, Volume 1 Chapter 21: In the first year, his son and daughter in law left this world, in the second, he fell ill, Spring and Summer passed like trudging through water and he was doing very poorly, in the third year, his wife died too. In the beginning of the fourth year, he suffered from a skin disease and other conditions. 

From 挥麈录 Records of a Horsetail Wisk by Wang Mingqing, a court official of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chapter 6, it seems Li Zhiyi was eventually reinstated as a court official after he was granted amnesty. Cross referencing with events in Emperor Huizhong of Song's rule (he was half-brother of Emperor Zhezong and succeeded the throne after his brother’s death in 1100), it seems that in 1107, there was to be a change of Era Name in the next year and the Emperor had offered sacrifices to the Jade Emperor, Haotian Shangdi (the highest deity in Daoism and Chinese religion from Tang Dynasty onwards); a general amnesty was granted to all as well. But Li Zhiyi did not return to his post, and instead remained in Taiping Prefecture. And this is where someone new and important enters the picture. 

Backtracking five years to 1102, Yang Shu (杨姝) was a courtesan of Taiping Prefecture at this time. We know more about her because Huang Tingjian, courtesy name Luzhi, the well known calligrapher, artist, scholar, government official, and poet of Song Dynasty (mentioned earlier as being close to Su Shi, just in case you forgot), wrote her several poems while he was Prefect there for nine days in 1102. 

Who else was in Taiping Prefecture in 1102? That’s right! Our friend Li Zhiyi.

They played a little poetry writing game, the results of which were recorded in his Collected Works of Guxi Hermit, Chapter 47 as well: 好事近 · 与黄鲁直于当涂花园石洞听杨妹弹履霜操鲁直有词因次韵, (To the tune of) Good Tidings Approach · With Luzhi at Dangtu Garden’s Stone Cave Listening to Yang Shu Pluck Treading in the Frost, Luzhi has lyrics for doing a ciyun. This ciyun just involves writing lyrics according to the rhyme pattern of the original lyric; usually one person writes the first and then another composes a reply in the same pattern. In this case, Huang Tingjian went first, and Li Zhiyi followed. (Let me know if you’d like to see what they wrote!)

During that same period, or perhaps thinking of this day some time after, Li Zhiyi wrote her two more poems to the tune of popular songs. Huang Tingjian wrote one for her as well, calling her a ‘little singer’ in the short prelude to his lyric 好事近, 太平州小妓杨姝弹琴送酒, (To the tune of) Good Tidings Approach, Taiping Prefecture’s Little Singer Yang Shu Plays the Qin and Brings Wine.

And again, from Records of a Horsetail Wisk, we learn that Li Zhiyi, childless and widowed, remarried Yang Shu and brought her home. He was in his late fifties, probably nearing his sixties by this point, and she was his junior by many decades. Miraculously, they had a child together. But it was also this union that was the soft target for trouble to be brought upon them some ten years later - Guo Xiangzheng (郭祥正) who was an enemy of Li Zhiyi had someone accuse their family of falsifying the parentage of this child, such that he could be conferred privileges. (And I assume this is because Li Zhiyi is technically still a court official? If it was something else, I’m unable to track it down…) For the second or third time - I’ve lost count - Li Zhiyi’s name was struck from the court’s records and Yang Shu was sentenced to caning. 

We have a poem from the delighted Guo Xiangzheng to learn of the aftermath:

七十馀岁老朝郎 | Seventy and more, the old court official, 曾向元祐说文章 | in Yuanyou era, essays he did compose. 如今白首归田后 | Now white-haired and retired, 却与杨姝洗杖疮 | instead, he washes Yang Shu’s cane welts.

…bro… :/

Yes, we know they were wronged because Li Zhiyi’s nephew and student eventually helped overturn the case and reveal the truth. The text says ‘wife and child were returned to him’, so I imagine they were either jailed for the ‘fraud’ or returned to Yang Shu’s original class and separated from Li Zhiyi. Again, his official status was restored to him and in addition, the post of Grand Master for Court Discussion, but he declined this in favour of his retirement life. 

After so much reading, I am still not able to pinpoint a year in which卜算子·我住长江头 was written. Only a general time period of ‘much later in life’ and possibly after having met Yang Shu simply from its place in his Collected Works of Guxi Hermit, Chapter 45. What seems to be certain though, is that it is written for her, and I am glad to hear however indirectly that these feelings were sincere. 

Only in the fiercest fire, do you know what’s real gold and all that… 

POEM

I would never have guessed that these words were from an old man, because they’re so bright, the emotions so fiery and all the more so for their simplicity.

There is drama in that hyperbole of distance. The Long River is 6300 km long. But how unreachable and impossible is the distance between them, is also how they are connected. Like how we might look up at the sky when a loved one is far away and take comfort in the fact that that they are under the same sky, or looking up at the same moon. Feelings are ‘entrusted’ to a moon, the stars, a river. 

I feel like making or forcing this connection figuratively or via physical action of drinking the water from the same river, is absurdly childish yet charming. ‘思君不见君’ Thinking of you but not seeing you is a common lament, and then… here’s something that’s (not) going to make you feel better! 

How Not Better are we? 

Well... how likely is the Long River to cease its flow? 

The resentment springs infinitely like water from the river’s source, what is the source of the resentment though - that’s love. Hence, this love will stop when the roaring river stops: never. 

And the thing to remember, at least from how I read this poem, is that it’s one sided. ‘只愿君心似我心’ I only wish that your heart is as mine. He doesn’t know, but he knows. The second part of this line is not a condition but a promise, a statement of fact emphasized beautifully in that 定 ‘for sure’.

Source

[384302]

I just saw Everything Everywhere All At Once

This is one of the best films I have ever seen.

I will not spoil anything about the plot or content because everyone deserves to see it as unspoiled as I did, but I will vaguely gesture at themes and premise to try to briefly say what's so great about this film. My brain is buzzing with what I just watched and I have to get something down.

I've never seen a film switch genres this well and this frequently. It's an action movie with expertly inventive martial arts sequences. It's a compelling sci-fi story and family drama. It's briefly an effective horror movie. It's perhaps most frequently a comedy, partly because the core message is about dealing with an existential absurdity, and so a lot of what's on screen is deliberately absurd, but I lost track of the amount of times my screen audience was lost in full-throated laughter. And not the laughter of "witty banter" or "occasional punchlines" or even "tension relief". The uncontrolled and unrestrained laughter of a crowd completely lost in how funny what they're watching is. And yet that same crowd, after spending what feels like half the movie laughing their head off, was in tears for much of the final act. The emotion, the beauty, the sadness and empathy of the overall message and the resolution... I can't remember the last time a movie made me feel like that.

It's so well put together. I never truly felt that I knew where the movie was going to go next (even though, in at least one vague way, the movie tells you the journey it's going to take you on right from the end of the prologue) and yet I got to the final credits with the full sense of a satisfactory and perfectly crafted story. It uses the full spectrum of filmic language to convey meaning and theme: there are visual tricks that could have come straight out of an Edgar Wright movie; there are tricks with framerate and aspect ratio that a small part of my brain consciously noticed while the rest of my filmwatching brain drank it all in; there's several sequences which actually justify and do something original with the 'series of extremely quick cuts' style of filming that permeates action scenes; there's one perfectly timed pan with a line of dialogue that had me (and others) screaming with laughter. In an early scene there is a mirror shot which is technically 'wrong' and which mirrors the other side of Michelle Yeoh's face and which I know will get a fucking Cinema Sins *ding* and yet anyone who is actually watching the movie will immediately get what the scene is telling them and it's brilliant.

Every performance in this is incredible: this movie feels like an actor's dream in which almost every actor gets to show off their range and play at least two different characters, sometimes with a costume change, sometimes with nothing more than a look. If the world was just and Ke Huy Quan got the opportunity to play Superman, it would immediately put an end to 90% of complaints about Clark Kent's disguise being unconvincing. Michelle Yeoh tears up in a GQ interview talking about reading the script and understanding what this film would allow her to do, and you can see why when you watch the movie and she knocks it out of the park with every line and every scene. Stephanie Hsu deserves to become a god damn superstar, the gulf between the roles she has to perform in this film is perhaps the greatest and yet she pulls it off while still making it clear in both performances that she is playing the same person, which is absolutely critical to the point of the movie. And the supporting cast - especially Jamie Lee Curtis and James Hong - absolutely shine as well.

This movie should destroy the bullshit suggestion that we cannot appreciate the stories of different people in cinema. The central setup of this movie is the life experiences and relationships of a middle-aged Chinese-American woman and it made a white millennial British man tear up for a good thirty minutes.

This movie manages to be entirely original in a cinema landscape defined by adaptations and remakes, but also uses the multiverse concept to weave in both subtle and blatant references to other movies, both for comedy and to point to the theme.

This movie's budget was an eighth of the budget for the other multiverse superhero movie in cinemas at the moment, and it deserves to make eight time as much money and win all the awards.

This movie is something I will be thinking about for a very long time and everyone should see it.

[zhaolie-the-benevolent]

Evaluating Wu: Zhuge Liang's campaigns parts 1 and 2

I’m not going to tell you who Zhuge Liang is because everyone knows who he is. I would say he’s the most famous character in this story, or at least on par with Cao Cao. A brilliant man, Zhuge Liang was enfeoffed as the Loyal and Martial Marquis (Zhongwuhou, 忠武侯). This is exactly what we’re going to talk about, the wu in Zhuge Liang’s title, the military career of the Marquis. I have decided to split the piece in 2 parts so as to not make it too long. In this first one I will describe Zhuge Liang’s career until the end of the Third Northern Campaign, and part 2 will talk about Wei’s invasion and Zhuge Liang’s final 2 campaigns, as well as my appraisal once the context of each and every campaign has been explained. Let us go.

The Northern Campaigns is definetely my favorite part of this time period, and I will talk about them properly. However, let’s briefly introduce Zhuge Liang’s first campaign.

Zhuge Liang’s military career starts at around the year 215, when Liu Bei was besieging Chengdu. The Marquis led the multiple armies from Jingzhou upstream from the Changjiang, sending the two generals Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to take Jiangzhou and Jiangyang, respectively. They then moved on to Chengdu, whereby they united with Liu Bei’s troops (SGZ 35). That’s it.

The Southern Campaign of 225

A more significant campaign was his Southern Campaign. Previously, at the death of Zhaolie, Yong Kai used the tensions between the tribes and the Han government to rebel in the south. He joined up with king Gao Dingyuan of the Sou tribes and Zhu Bao in Zangke commandery. As a result, the commanderies of Zangke, Yizhou and Yuexi were in rebellion. The ZZTJ also mentions that there were 4 commanderies in rebellion, so perhaps Yongchang in the far south was one of them as well.

The rebellion wasn’t put out immediately, and the Marquis decided the better strategy was to rest the people, gather supplies and train the soldiers.

Zhu Bao, the Grand Administrator (taishou) of Cangke, and Gao Ding, the King of the barbarians at Yuehui, both revolted and responded to Yong Kai. Because of the recent death of the Emperor of Han, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang temporized with them all and did not dispatch a punitive expedition against them. He paid attention to agriculture in order to increase production; he closed the passes in order to give rest to the people. Only when the people were put as ease and provisions became abundant did he employ them.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang (ZZTJ)

In 225, Zhuge Liang’s preparations were complete and he launched his southern campaign. Zhuge Liang’s strategy was to invade the rebels from three separate directions: He himself would go west to Yuexi, Li Hui south to Yizhou and Ma Zhong east to Zangke.

Zhuge Liang marched on river, and upon his arrival at Yuexi, he camped at Beishui. His strategy was simple: he had hoped to wait the enemy to gather their forces in one place so that he could defeat them in a decisive engagement and crush the rebellion in one blow. Gao Dingyuan prepared his defense at Maoniu and Yong Kai also wished to engage the Chancellor.

The plan went better than expected when Gao Dingyuan had Yong Kai assassinated and Meng Huo, a man that held considerable influence over the southern peoples, was named leader of the rebellion.

With a new leader taking over, Zhuge Liang made use of this new development to strike at Gao Dingyuan’s forces, greatly defeating him. He was then captured and executed.

I have seen other people narrate this particular incident as follows: Gao Dingyuan and Yong Kai join up at Yuexi, Gao Dingyuan kills Yong Kai and then Gao Dingyuan surrenders to Zhuge Liang, after which is executed. This is false, as the sources only claim the following:

The troops of Gao Ding-Yuan killed Yong Kai and others, including gentry and common people. Meng Huo succeeded Yong Kai as ruler. Zhuge Liang put Gao Ding-Yuan to death.

Huayang Guozhi as written in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang.

At no point it is mentioned that Gao Dingyuan surrendered to Zhuge Liang. The following passage goes into more detail:

后主建兴元年(223)，杀郡将军焦璜，举郡称王，与益州郡雍闿相呼应。三年三月，当诸葛亮帅兵南征时，率属下自旄牛(今四川汉源县)、定筰县(今四川盐源县)至卑水(今四川美姑县至宁南县中间地区)置垒抗拒，并获雍闿军援。后彼此矛盾，使部曲杀闿。七月，被蜀军击败，为诸葛亮所杀。

On the inaugural year of Jianxing (223) during the reign of the Later Sovereign, he killed the garrison commander Jiao Huang, named himself king and worked with Yong Kai of Yizhou. On the third month on the third year, when Zhuge Liang was leading men on an expedition south, he led his men from Maoniu (today’s Hanyuan county in Sichuan), Dingzuo county (today’s Yanyuan county in Sichuan) to Beishui (today’s area between Meigu and Ningnan counties) and established defenses to repel the enemy, also receiving reinforcements from Yong Kai. Later they had a disagreement and with his troops killed Yong Kai. On the Seventh Month, he was attacked and defeated by the troops of Shu, killed by Zhuge Liang.

Historical Dictionary of China’s Minority Peoples, page 1915, Gao Wende. My translation.

Meanwhile, Ma Zhong successfully defeated the rebels of Zhu Bao at Zangke and quickly pacified the commandery, while Li Hui was surrounded and outnumbered at Yizhou. Li Hui managed to break free using a clever ruse by which he pretended to surrender. The rebels believed him, for he was isolated from the rest of the army, so they relaxed the encirclement. Li Hui violently charged and marched to Zangke, joining with Ma Zhong.

The southerners believed this, so the besiegers became neglectful. Therefore Huī went out and attacked, and greatly defeated them, and immediately pursued the defeated men south to the river Pán, to the east joining the forces at Zānggē and restoring communication with Liàng. 

Biography of Li Hui, translated by Yang Zhengyuan

Zhuge Liang marched to Dianchi and defeated Meng Huo. The Annals of Han and Jin describe how Meng Huo was captured 7 times, but it’s unlikely his men would have let him lead after being captured 7 times.

Regardless of the details, the south was pacified and Zhuge Liang treated the southerners with leniency, appointing the locals to fill administrative posts.

Some one advised Zhuge Liang against this measure. Zhuge Liang said, “If we leave behind outsiders, we must also leave soldiers with them, and the soldiers back there will not have any provisions. This is the first difficulty. Then, the barbarians have lately suffered injury and destruction, their fathers and elder brothers being killed. Leaving behind outsiders and no soldiers would be certain to bring calamity. This is the second difficulty. Lastly, the barbarians have frequently committed the crime of deposing and killing governors and they are aware how serious their misdeeds are. If we leave behind outsiders, they will never be at ease. This is the third difficulty. Now I intend to leave no soldiers behind nor transport provisions, and yet to bring about the same government and to make both the barbarians and the Chinese live more or less peacefully with each other. Hence my measure.”

Annals of Han and Jin

This is just as Ma Su had adviced prior to Zhuge Liang’s depart:

Xiāngyángjì states: Jiànxīng third year [225], [Zhūgě] Liàng campaigned against Nánzhōng. Sù escorted him for several tens of lǐ. Liàng said: “Though we have made plans together for many years, now I can again ask you a favor for a good plan.” Sù answered: “Nánzhōng relies on its rugged terrain and distance, and has been disobedient for a long time. Even if today they are defeated, tomorrow they will again rebel and that is all. Now you lord are about to gather the whole state for a Northern Expedition to deal with powerful rebels [Wèi], so they [the Nánzhōng rebels] will learn the government’s authority is weak inside [while Zhūgě Liàng is away in the north], and their rebellions will also accelerate. If all their tribes and kinds are exterminated to remove future worry, that is not the way of the benevolent, and moreover could not be done quickly. In the way of using troops: attacking the heart is best, attacking cities is worst; hearts battling is best, soldiers battling is worst. I hope you lord will focus on subduing their hearts and that is all.” Liàng accepted this plan, and pardoned Mèng Huò to comfort the south. Therefore to the end of Liàng’s life, the south did not dare again rebel.

Biography of Ma Liang, translated by Yang Zhengyuan.

It’s important to note that the last sentence is not correct. Trouble in the region did not stop in its entirety.

Through the use of good tactics, Zhuge Liang quickly broke the rebel forces. I would also like to bring attention to Zhuge Liang’s choice of personnel. Li Hui proved to be a resourceful and courageous warrior, and shortly after the troops left, he successfully quelled further unrest in the region.

Ma Zhong, more importantly, was also an excellent choice, because not only was he capable, he was also politically conscious:

Third year [225] Liàng entered the south and appointed Zhōng as Administrator of Zāngkē. The prefecture Deputy Zhū Bāo rebelled. After the rebellion, Zhōng brought relief and reasonable government, and deeply had authority and kindness.

Biography of Ma Zhong, translated by Yang Zhengyuan

Ma Zhong was well aware of the strategy to be followed and continued the policy of leniency as laid out by Ma Su before the campaign.

The First Northern Campaign, 228

In the year 226, the usurper Cao Pi succumbed to illness, leaving Cao Rui on the throne. With troubles with the Qiang tribes brewing in the western frontier of Wei, Zhuge Liang decided it was the appropriate time to launch his campaign and march from Hanzhong on 228. He previously contacted Meng Da so that he may join him in coordination with his campaign, but he was attacked and killed by Sima Yi.

Let us look at a map of the Han-Wei border to discuss maneuvers:

Ignore Zhuge Liang’s arrow moving to Chencang for now. Zhuge Liang’s strategy was to march from Mount Qi into the west of Liang and the Wei River valley. This area is known as Longyou (west of Long Mountain). In order to accomplish this, he wanted to have General Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi march towards Mei as a decoy force, while the main army under the Chancellor moved towards Longyou.

The arrow on the east, as it is stated there, is indeed Wei Yan’s rejected proposal. I have already talked about this plan here. I criticized his plan as not being viable due to the difficulty of retreat caused by harsh terrain, as well as the defensive nature of Chang’an. Wei Yan requested 10 thousand veteran troops to march them through the valley and attack Chang’an with this surprise maneuver, hoping the presumably cowardly Cao Mao would flee in terror upon seeing him.

I have somewhat warmed up to this proposal. I still think it is not viable: 10 thousand men is too few a number for taking Chang’an, and if it fails it would mean the end of both Wei Yan and his army. However there is some merit to the attitude displayed here. I will elaborate on this later.

The Weilve states:

Now, after the Emperor Liu Bei had died, complete quiet had reigned in Han [i.e., in Shu] for some years, so Wei had not made any preparations at all. Hearing of suddenly Zhuge Liang’s exodus, both the court and the country at large were frightened and awed.

Weilve, Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms by Achilles Fang as seen in passage 6 of year 228 (ZZTJ)

Zhuge Liang’s invasion shook the west and as a result, the commanderies of Anding, Tianshui and Nan’an revolted in favor of the Han.

It is in this moment when Zhuge Liang made the biggest mistake of his entire military career. Advancing to the Longyou area, he had Ma Su act as the vanguard. Ma Su camped at Jieting, and faced off against Zhang He’s troops.

Ma Su had camped on a hill, cutting off his own water supply. Zhang He easily encircled the enemy and dealt a devastating defeat to Ma Su. It was the actions of Wang Ping that earned the most merit, as Wang Ping was the only general to orderly retreat and rally the scattered troops back home.

The army was completely scattered, and only Píng’s command of a thousand men, shouted and drummed to maintain themselves, and Wèi General Zhāng Hé suspected there were hidden troops, and did not pursue. Therefore Píng slowly gathered the scattered camps to escape, leading the officers and soldiers back.

Biography of Wang Ping, translated by Yang Zhengyuan

With the defeat at Jieting, the campaign was called off. General Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi were both defeated. This is no surprise, as they were to be used as decoy forces and thus their objective was to pin down Cao Zhen at Mei while the main army took Longyou. Thanks to the command of General Zhao Yun, the decoy force safely withdrew without suffering significant losses, for which he was commended (SGZ 36, biography of Zhao Yun). The population of the rebelling counties followed the Marquis back home as well.

Killigrew brings attention to Zhuge Liang’s inability to reinforce Ma Su despite not being too far away from Jieting, and the ZZTJ describes Zhuge Liang arriving but being unable to take any positions, meaning that he had arrived too late.

After the failed incursion into enemy land, Zhuge Liang then memorialized the throne and requested his demotion:

“The  fault  is  mine  in  that  I  erred  in  the  use  of  officers.  In  my  anxiety  I was  too  secretive.  The ‘Spring and Autumn’ philosophy has pronounced the commander such as I am is blameworthy,  and  whither  may  I  flee  from my fault?  I  pray  that  I  may  be  degraded  three degrees as punishment. I cannot express my mortification. I humbly await your command” So  the emperor demoted  Liang  to  General  of  the  Right  but  acts  as  the  Prime Minister and commands  the  army  as  before.  

Biography of Zhuge Liang, translated by Lucy Zhang and stephen So.

In contrast to his southern campaign, Zhuge Liang’s first expedition against the northern rebels did not show a particularly good choice of personnel. General Zhao Yun was used effectively, as by his command the decoy force was secured and suffered no major setbacks, essentially fulfilling his role properly.

However, in hindsight, the choice of Ma Su was a really bad one. He disobeyed Zhuge Liang’s orders (ZZTJ, year 228 passage 11 of Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) and did not listen to Wang Ping’s admonitions, making his already difficult situation even more precarious.

Using Zhuge Liang’s perspective the choice of Ma Su was not entirely unwarrented. He trusted the man and he had proven to be a pretty intelligent fellow if his southern strategy is anything to go by.

I am not going to be dishonest, though. Even if we take Zhuge Liang’s perspective into account, the choice of Ma Su simply does not work. Regardless of his talents, Ma Su was not experienced in warfare and he had to go up against Zhang He, one of the most veteran rebel officers in the land.

Ma Su’s tactical mistakes and conceit are his own, but he should not have been put in such a position to begin with. It is no surprise that Ma Su was defeated. This is a rare case of Zhuge Liang engaging in nepotism. It is clear to me that the fondness he had for Ma Su played an important part in this choice. And yes, Ma Su was an intelligent man. But being intelligent is honestly not the most important thing. Yuan Shao could have been a king among hegemons if he just had some more humility and acted more quickly. Ma Su certainly had the necessary gifts, but he did not cultivate them before he was thrown in a position of certain defeat.

Ironically, Ma Su’s closeness to Zhuge Liang spelled his doom, as Zhuge Liang clearly saw the error of his ways and had Ma Su executed. This is in line with Zhuge Liang’s legalist inclinations: the law had to be upheld, and he had to be particularly harsh with Ma Su precisely because he was his close friend. If those close to the Chancellor could get away with disasters of that nature, martial discipline would not be upheld and the troops will be loose and insubordinate.

There is a famous anecdote about Sunzi, author of the Art of War, that I think is quite fitting in this context. The story goes, roughly like this: the king summons Sunzi and asks him about his lessons and whether or not they could be applied to women. When Sunzi said that his teachings could indeed be applied to women, the king then gave him “command” over his concubines.

Sunzi divided the concubines into two groups and assigned one of the king’s favorites to command each group.

When Sunzi began the drill and his orders were not obeyed even after being repeated several times, he arrived to the conclusion that his orders were indeed quite clear, and the subordinate “officers”, in this case the leading concubines, were being too lax on discipline.

Sunzi had these “officers” executed immediately and appointed new ones. Both groups performed the drill with perfect precision.

Ma Su could be compared to the king’s favorite concubines. If he were allowed to live, the army would not take the consequences of negligence seriously and matters would be confused. The army would be lax and ineffective and his authority as commander diminished. He was very well aware of this fact.

The Second Northern Campaign, 228

The second campaign began shortly after the first one, but it’s much less grand and eventful.

This campaign started how all good things should start: by Emperor Da of Wu achieving merit. A clever ruse by Lu Xun led to the disastrous defeat of Cao Xiu’s troops.

With a hit taking place in the east, an opportunity arose later in 228 and the Marquis marched once again from Hanzhong. The map above describes this fruitless campaign. Zhuge Liang besieged Chencang, with the rebel Hao Zhao in charge of the defense.

Despite Hao Zhao’s inferior numbers, he managed to counter every one of Zhuge Liang’s tactics. Zhang He was sent to reinforce Chencang and he made note of Zhuge Liang’s lack of supplies:

(Cao Rui) He asked Zhang He, “Is it not possible that Zhuge Liang will have captured Chen Cang when you, General, arrive?”

Zhang He was aware that Zhuge Liang had penetrated deeply but lacked provisions; counting with his fingers, he said, “When I get there Zhuge Liang will already be gone.”

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang.

Zhang He was indeed correct, as after his attempts at taking Chencang proved to be inadequate, the Marquis retreated.

Zhuge Liang’s tactical acumen was once again in display when the rebel general Wang Shuang pursued him. Falling into an ambush, Wang Shuang was killed and the Han troops retreated.

Chencang was an important hub of the Silk Road as well as controlling communications with the Wei River (Killigrew, Zhuge Liang and the Northern Campaign of 228 - 234).

Given the Marquis’ cautious nature, it is likely he saw the attack not worth pursuing anymore when reinforcements for Hao Zhao arrived . We are told how Zhuge Liang appealed to Hao Zhao and compelled him to surrender, as well as provoking him into battle:

Zhuge Liang had had Jin Xiang (靳詳), a man from the same county as Hao Zhao, exhort Hao Zhao from outside the wall of Chen Cang. From a turret of the wall Hao Zhao answered him, “You are well aquainted with the laws of the House of Wei, and you know very well what kind of man I am. I have received much grace from the state and my house is important. There is nothing you can say; I have only to die. Return and thank Zhuge Liang for me; he may launch his attack.”

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang

My conclusion is that Zhuge Liang had hoped to earn a quick victory owing to Wu’s success at Shiting, taking the strategic point of Chencang and thus securing Tianshui in the process, but Hao Zhao’s defense proved to be formidable and, as a result, he was compelled to abandon the campaign so as to not face a strong enemy and to not put further strain on his already scarce supplies. The fact that Zhuge Liang didn’t bring a lot of provisions proves he was not very committed to this campaign to begin with and was simply using an opportunity to get some gains.

Zhuge Liang’s retreat is revealing in that, despite his losses in the first campaign, he did not relax the discipline and training of his men, for he orderly withdrew his forces and managed to kill Wang Shuang in the process. While Wang Shuang is not a very notable person, the fact still remains that Zhuge Liang made preparations in retreat and was adept in the use of ambush tactics.

The Third Northern Campaign, 229

The third of Zhuge Liang’s campaigns was somewhat successful, but to a pretty limited extent. Zhuge Liang sent Chen Shi to take the commanderies of Wudu and Yinping as a first step towards the conquest of Longyou.

Guo Huai was sent by Zhang He to meet Chen Shi in battle, but Zhuge Liang encountered Guo Huai in Jianwei, Wudu commandery, and defeated him.

Killigrew’s paper explains that, after his defeat at Jianwei, Guo Huai took a defensive position at Mount Qi, in close proximity to Jianwei. Because Mount Qi was a defensive screen that protects Tianshui and the Longyou area, Zhuge Liang decided the campaign would be too resource intensive and, once again, withdrew back to Hanzhong. Emperor Xiaohuai rewarded him, restoring him to the office of Chancellor.

This third campaign saw some minor success in the conquests of Wudu and Yinping, but these locations aren’t particularly valuable on their own due to the lack of population in the area.

(Part 2 begins below)

So last time we took a look at the first few of Zhuge Liang’s campaigns. This time we will be looking at the end of his career. Once you have read everything you will have the context for my final evaluation. If by any chance you don’t, I condensed everything into a short chronology immediately before the conclusions. Let’s go.

The rebel invasion of 230

The third campaign left our Chancellor with a tactical victory that didn’t yield impressive strategic results, to say the least. In 230, Cao Zhen proposed to invade the Han, a proposal that was accepted by Wei’s sovereign.

The plan was to launch a three pronged invasion of Hanzhong from land and river. The original arrangement was modified due to Chen Qun’s admonition, but the campaign was still started.

The Emperor accepted his proposal. When Cao Zhen was on the point of starting for the western expedition, the Emperor in person bade him god-speed. He left Chang'an in the eight month (August 27-September 24) and entered southward by the Ziwu[-gu] route. Sima Xuanwang sailed up the Han river and was to meet him at Nancheng; the various other generals were to enter either by way of the Yegu route or Wu-wei.” (This Wuwei, according to Hu Sanxing, is an error; the correct name would be either Wudu or Jianwei.)

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, notes on passage 8, year 230

Emperor Xiaohuai’s biography describes the invasion in a slightly different way:

八年秋，魏使司马懿由西城，张郃由子午，曹真由斜谷，欲攻汉中。丞相亮待之于城固、赤坂，大雨道绝，真等皆还。是岁，魏延破魏雍州剌史郭淮于阳溪。

Autumn of the eighth year (230), Wei used Sima Yi from Xicheng, Zhang He from Ziwu, Cao Zhen from Xie Valley, wishing to attack Hanzhong. The Chancellor Liang waited for them at Chenggu and Chiban, great rains cutting off the roads and Zhen and the rest all returned. This year, Wei Yan defeated the inspector of Yong Province Guo Huai at Yangxi.

Biography of the Later Sovereign (Liu Shan), my translation.

A memorial by a Wang Su states that Cao Zhen, after a month of marching, was still in Ziwu valley. It’s obvious, then, that the arrangement described in Xiaohuai’s biography is outdated. The first passage quoted here also mentions that there were groups invading from Wudu and Jianwei. Since Wang Su’s memorial talks about Cao Zhen’s difficulties across Ziwu, then it is likely that Zhang He was supposed to invade from Jianwei and Wudu in the west. Xiaohuai’s biography may be describing the invasion plans that were modified after consideration with Chen Qun.

Let’s look at a couple of maps for clarification’s sake:

Basically, Cao Zhen’s plan was to have Sima Yi sail upstream from the Han river into Hanzhong, joining up with Cao Zhen who would be coming from the Ziwu valley, and together striking at the east of Nanzheng. Zhang He would be marching from Jianwei and Wudu and strike the west of Nanzheng. Once Hanzhong is taken, Shu would be exposed.

In the end, the invasion was stopped because of continuous rain, as Xiaohuai’s biography states. Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were thus prevented from moving.

Despite this development, Zhuge Liang was more than prepared to met them:

Zhuge Liang, the (Chancellor) of Han, moved his headquarters to Xiayuan in Nanshan. He built Hancheng at Mianyang and Luocheng at Chenggu.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang, year 229. I changed cheng-hsiang for Chancellor just for consistency.

Killigrew’s paper on the Northern Campaign states that Zhuge Liang prepared defenses along 200 kilometers in Hanzhong, from the bank of the Mian river to a fortress on the side of a mountain, 7 kilometers in diameter (Killigrew, 1999:68).

So, as the above map’s location indicates, the east of Nanzheng was guarded by Luocheng, which was built at Chenggu and where Zhuge Liang was awaiting the invasion. After the arduous march through the valley, Zhuge Liang’s rested men would be eager and ready to meet their exhausted enemy. This didn’t matter, for the awaited enemy did not arrive.

What about the western front? Zhuge Liang had also taken care of that:

Eighth Year [230], he sent Yán west to enter among the Qiāng. Wèi General Fèi Yáo and Yōng Province Inspector Guō Huái with Yán battled at Yángxī, Yán greatly defeated [Guō] Huái and the rest.

Biography of Wei Yan, translated by Yang Zhengyuan.

Wei Yan was sent to the Qiang tribes in order to trade with them, thus bypassing Zhang He’s positions and disrupting his rear. Because Wei Yan was also rallying the Qiang against the Wei regime, Zhang He was at risk of being outflanked and thus unable to move from his position without addressing the threat posed by Wei Yan.

In other words, Zhang He was pinned down. He then decided to send Guo Huai to defeat Wei Yan and eliminate the threat to his rear. As the above passage indicates, however, Guo Huai was greatly defeated, and Zhang He’s predicament was thus accentuated. (Killigrew, 1999:69).

With Hanzhong secured, Zhuge Liang marched west and defeated Guo Huai, joining up with Wei Yan. He did not press the attack on Zhang He’s positions, for he considered they were too well defended. (Killigrew, 1999:70)

The Fourth Northern Campaign, 231

Zhuge Liang’s fourth campaign began in 231, the year following Wei’s failed invasion. Marching north, he left Li Yan in charge of supplies and attacked Mount Qi, once again hoping to gain access to the Longyou area. According to Killigrew’s paper, Mount Qi and Shanggui were very defensive and more than ready to meet Zhuge Liang’s incursion. Wei had made defensive preparations.

The arrow going through Baoxie valley refers to the fifth campaign. We’re not talking about that just yet.

This year, Cao Zhen became ill and Sima Yi took over the defense of the west. We all know of Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang’s legendary encounters. Unlike the romance, however, it’s only in Zhuge Liang’s last two campaigns that both men clashed.

Zhuge Liang’s opening move was to besiege Mount Qi and leave the rest of his army in reserve. Sima Yi likewise marched and garrisoned Shanggui, near Tianshui. He left some 4,000 crack troops to defend Shanggui while he sent the rest of the army to Mount Qi (ZZTJ, 231, passage 8).

Zhuge Liang then decided to take the garrisons around Tianshui. Leaving part of his army besieging Mount Qi, the Marquis marched towards Shanggui. Guo Huai, who was located in the northwest of Tianshui coordinated with Fei Yao in Shanggui itself to attack Zhuge Liang from both front and rear while he was on the march. With this pincer attack, they hoped to catch Zhuge Liang in a difficult situation and greatly defeat him. (Killigrew, 1999:71).

Well, the opposite happened. Guo Huai and Fei Yao were defeated and Tianshui was left defenseless. Zhuge Liang, however, decided to stop the march and claim the harvest to feed his army. Sima Yi, hearing of the defeat of Guo Huai and Fei Yao, went back to Shanggui with Zhang He:

Zhuge Liang sent a detachment to attack Qi-shan; he himself encountered Sima Yi at Shanggui, Guo Huai, Fei Yao, and others joined battle with Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang defeated them, and he took the opportunity to mow their wheat extensively. He encountered Sima Yi east of Shanggui, but Sima Yi drew back his troops and found protection in defiles, so that no battle could be joined.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang, year 231, passage 8

As this passage indicates, Sima Yi chose a pretty defensive position and Zhuge Liang considered those positions to be too hard to attack, as he had done several times in previous campaigns. With that, Zhuge Liang retreated back to Mount Qi.

Sima Yi wished to pursue the retreating army of the Han, but Zhang He advised caution while keeping some form of pressure on the enemy. Because Zhuge Liang hadn’t lifted the siege of Mount Qi since the beginning of the campaign, Zhang He’s advice makes sense. They would keep the enemy on their toes and the men of Mount Qi would see that the Wei armies still have the initiative.

Zhang He’s proposal was ignored and Sima Yi followed Zhuge Liang’s men. Both armies clashed at Lucheng, where Zhuge Liang enticed Sima Yi to battle. Sima Yi, however, was cautious and took the high ground, while sending Zhang He to relieve Mount Qi (Killigrew, 1999:72). His men ridiculed him for this:

Sima Yi did not follow his advice, but pursued Zhuge Liang as before. But when he came near to Zhuge Liang, he went up a mountain and dug out camps, being unwilling to fight. Jia Xu (Not that one) (賈栩) and Wei Ping (魏平) repeatedly requested him to fight; they said, “Your Excellency fears the Shu as if they were tigers, and the whole world laughs at you.” Sima Yi was vexed at this. The various generals all asked to fight.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang, year 231 passage 8.

Sima Yi, so as to appease his critics, decided to abandon his defensive positions and attacked Zhuge Liang. This proved to be a mistake. Sima Yi was greatly defeated by Zhuge Liang at the battle of Lucheng. Making use of Wei Yan and Wu Ban, the troops of the Han broke Wei’s army and forced it to retreat in disarray:

Han Jin chunqiu mentions that “They [the Shu troops] killed three thousand armored men, taking five thousand pieces of black armor and thirty-one hundred cross-bows made of horn.”

Han Jin Chunqiu, as is translated by Achilles Fang in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms

Zhang He was unable to fulfill his role and was repelled at Mount Qi.

Things were looking up to Zhuge Liang. However, a single incident put an end to his campaign. Remember that I said Li Yan was put in charge of supply transport? He failed in this task. Supplies did not reach the frontlines and Liang’s troops had to deal with diminishing supplies. This is not entirely Li Yan’s fault, for the rains made it difficult to transport supplies from Hanzhong.

What is his fault, however, is the way Li Yan handled the situation. He sent a letter to Zhuge Liang ordering him to go back to Chengdu as the emperor dictated. This proved to be false, and when Liang indeed made it back home, Li Yan recriminated him for retreating and slandered him, unwilling to accept responsibility. Li Yan was therefore removed from office and reduced to commoner status:

Ninth Year Spring, Liàng’s army was at Qíshān, Píng supervised transport matters. During autumn and summer, it happened to continuously rain, transports and grain was not connected, Píng sent Advisor to the Army Hú Zhōng and Commander of the Army Chéng Fān to inform and call Liàng to come return. Liàng thus withdrew the army. Píng heard the army withdrew, and then acted alarmed, saying “The military provisions are ample, why then return?” wishing to relieve himself of the blame of not managing, and make prominent Liàng’s fault of not advancing.

Li Yan’s biography, translated by Yang Zhengyuan. Li Yan had changed his name to Li Ping, therefore Ping in the text refers to Li Yan.

Before Zhuge Liang had retreated back to Hanzhong, Sima Yi, once more against Zhang He’s better judgement, pursued him on his way home. Despite his unwillingness to pursue, Zhang He had no choice but to obey Sima Yi’s command:

Wèilüè states: [Zhūgě] Liàng’s army retreated, Sīmǎ [Yì] Xuān-wáng sent Hé to pursue them, Hé said: “In army methods, in besieging cities one must open an exit road, a returning army is not pursued.” [Sīmǎ Yì] Xuān-wáng did not listen. Hé had no choice, and therefore advanced.

Biography of Zhang He, Yang Zhengyuan.

Zhang He’s worries were proven to be true when he encountered Zhuge Liang at Mumen. Taking the high ground, Liang’s men surprised the pursuing Zhang He and completed decimated his force (Killigrew, 1999:73). Zhang He was struck in the leg by an arrow and shortly after died of this wound.

And this was the unceremonious end to the fourth of Zhuge Liang’s campaigns: forced to retreat, victim of Li Yan’s tricks. At least he had eliminated Zhang He.

The book of Jin, however, tells a different story, stating that Sima Yi managed to inflict casualties of 10,000 men while Zhuge Liang was retreating.

帝攻拔其围，亮宵遁，追击破之，俘斩万计。天子使使者劳军，增封邑。

The emperor attacked to relieve his encirclement. Liang by night escaped, he was pursued and greatly defeated. Those captured and killed numbered ten thousand. The Son of Heaven sent an envoy congratulating the army and increased the size of his (Sima Yi’s) fiefdom.

Book of Jin, volume 1. My translation.

I do not believe this account in the slightest. Killigrew states that Zhuge Liang’s force Mount Qi was about 30,000 (Killigrew, 1999:71). Considering that a portion of that army was left behind to maintain the siege, and that Zhang He was unable to break through it when he was sent by Sima Yi to relieve the garrison stationed there, Zhuge Liang must have left a significant enough amount of men so as to keep the pressure.

The ZZTJ mentions that Sima Yi had earlier left Shanggui with 4,000 veteran troops as a garrison while the rest of the army was to relieve Mount Qi. Let’s assume that Mount Qi’s garrison was of a similar size. Chapter 3 of the Art of War says:

Consequently, the art of using troops is this: When ten to the enemy’s one, surround him. When five times his strength, attack him. If double his strength, divide him. If equally matched, you may engage him with some good plan. If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing. And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him, for a small force is but booty for one more powerful if it figths back recklessly.

Taking this into account, Zhuge Liang’s force had to be larger than the besieged garrison at Mount Qi. Let’s assume that Zhuge Liang divided his forces equally and marched with 15,000 men, leaving the remaining 15,000 besieging Mount Qi. That means that after fighting Guo Huai, Fei Yao and Sima Yi, the latter was still able to pursue him in the end and crushing his army so heavily that he lost two thirds of it, implying no casualties were taken when fighting the battles at Shanggui and Lucheng.

I don’t know the exact numbers, but let’s assume that Ma Su had suffered casualties of 10,000. Ma Su was executed and Zhuge Liang himself was demoted by three ranks for making a poor choice. After his return, however, Zhuge Liang did not face any political repercursions. Had he suffered such a tremendous loss, not even Li Yan’s debacle would be enough of a distraction to drive attention away from such a military disaster. This account is nonesense and should not be taken seriously.

Zhuge Liang’s Fifth Northern Campaign, 234

Let’s use the same map as before:

With Sima Yi now in charge of the west, he decided to prepare his defenses against Zhuge Liang, improving the local agriculture and employing the tuntian system in the area for better access to supplies. This system had been used in the past, most notably by Cao Cao, and consisted in soldiers tilling and farming the land, allowing them to supply themselves as well as defending the crops.

Zhuge Liang used a similar system for Hanzhong. Not only that, but Zhuge Liang also invented some sort of boat, the “flowing horse”, that was going to be used for supply transports on water. This would allow him to supply his armies across the Wei river as well as facilitating the supply lines across the plank roads of Hanzhong. Previously, continuous rains had impeded supply transports, so these flowing horses would also be useful in case the ways out of Hanzhong flooded.

After years of preparation and in coordination with Wu, Zhuge Liang launched his final campaign in 234 through Ye valley, accross the Qinling Mountains. Sima Yi, in order to meet the invading army, crossed the Wei and camped, setting up his defenses. Zhuge Liang then arrived at Mei and prepared to establish communications on the river so as to bypass Chencang by water (Killigrew, 1999:76). Guo Huai feared that if Zhuge Liang moved west and crossed the river, the Longyou area would be cut off:

If Zhuge Liang straddles the Wei and climbs Bei-yuan, connecting his forces with Bo-shan, the route in the region of Long will be cut off, the aborigines and Chinese people will be shaken. This would not be to the advantage of our state.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang, year 234, passage 8.

Guo Huai was therefore stationed at Beiyuan, a strategic location that controlled communications with the Longyou area (Killigrew, 1999:76). Zhuge Liang was unable to take it and was forced to retreat, camping at Wuzhang plains.

Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang had a final showdown at Wuzhang plains, but no significant fighting took place. Zhuge Liang had repeatedly provoked Sima Yi to come out of his encampment and fight, but Sima Yi refused.

So as to maintain the stalemate, Zhuge Liang carried out the tuntian system to supply his army and avoid supply constraints.

Although Zhuge Liang had indeed issued forth many times before, his aims had not materialized due to lack of steady transport of provisions. So he divided his troops and settled them in military agricultural colonies as a foundation for permanent encampment. The troops who tilled land were mixed among the inhabitants on the bank of the Wei; the people lived in peace, the troops showing themselves no partiality.

Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Achilles Fang, year 234 passage 9

With his health worsening, however, Zhuge Liang ordered a retreat. On the eighth lunar month, Zhuge Liang departed to the Nine Golden Springs.

Sima Yi, hearing news of Zhuge Liang’s death, decided to pursue the army. Jiang Wei, however, turned the flags and beat the drums so as to meet Sima Yi in battle and he retreated, giving enough time for the Han troops to successfully withdraw.

Shortly after, when Sima Yi could confirm that Zhuge Liang had indeed died, he inspected Zhuge Liang’s camps and exclaimed: “What a genius he was!” (ZZTJ, 234 passage 28).

Chronology

225: Zhuge Liang marches south. Through water he arrives and camps at Beishui. He sends Li Hui to Yizhou and Ma Zhong to Zangke. Gao Dingyuan and Meng Huo are defeated, pacifying the south.

228: Zhuge Liang launches his first Northern Campaign. He sends Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi through the Qinling mountains into Mei. Ma Su marches to Jieting but is defeated by Zhang He. Ma Su is executed and the campaign ends in failure. Later that year, Zhuge Liang tries and fails to take Chencang. He retreats and ambushes Wang Shuang, killing him.

229: Zhuge Liang sends Chen Shi to Wudu and Yinping. Guo Huai attacks Chen Shi, but Zhuge Liang’s reinforcements arrive and defeat Guo Huai at Jianwei. Guo Huai takes defensive positions and Zhuge Liang retreats.

230: Wei invades. Cao Zhen and Sima Yi are unable to get through Ziwu and the Han river, respectively, due to the copious rains. Zhuge Liang guards his fortress at Chenggu, then sends Wei Yan to bypass Tianshui and trade with the Qiang, as well as disrupting Zhang He’s rear. Guo Huai attacks Wei Yan but is defeated at Yangxi, and later joins up with Zhuge Liang. Both return to Hanzhong.

231: Zhuge Liang besieges Mount Qi. Sima Yi garrisons Shanggui and Zhuge Liang leaves part of his force besieging Shanggui, he himself leading men to Shanggui. Guo Huai and Fei Yao pincer Zhuge Liang, but they are defeated. Sima Yi takes defensive positions east of Shanggui and Zhuge Liang goes back to Mount Qi. Sima Yi sends Zhang He to lift the siege at Mount Qi, while he himself pursues Zhuge Liang and is greatly defeated at Lucheng. Li Yan is unable to deliver supplies and recalls Zhuge Liang. Sima Yi sends Zhang He against his will to pursue Zhuge Liang, but is ambushed at Mumen and dies.

234: Zhuge Liang marches to Mei through the Qinling Mountains. Sima Yi crosses the Wei river and takes a defensive position. Zhuge Liang tries to take Beiyuan and cut off Wei’s communications with Longyou, but is defeated by Guo Huai. Zhuge Liang and Sim Yi face each other at Wuzhang plains. Zhuge Liang starts using the tuntian system, but falls sick and orders a retreat. Zhuge Liang dies and Sima Yi pursues, but retreats after thinking Zhuge Liang is alive. Wei Yan’s mutiny is put down and the army returns to Hanzhong.

Conclusions

And that’s the Martial Marquis’ career. Hopefully I have been thorough and clear enough so as to give you a good understanding of the type of commander he was. What’s my final evaluation?

I think Zhuge Liang is an underrated commander in historical circles. His campaigns were not very successful, the northern one, at least, but he still showed several traits that are incredibly useful for a commander. As I explained in part 1, he didn’t let anyone get away from punishment if their mistake was serious enough. Discipline is an incredibly important part of any army, and Zhuge Liang excelled at keeping his men in line. Not only can that be seen in his orderly retreats, but in his final campaign as well. The army blended with the local populace seamlessly and their presence did not affect the people’s livelihood.

Zhong Hui and Yu Jin too had this traits. Yu Jin, after the incident that brought the death of Cao Ang, executed troublesome Qingzhou troop commanders so as to maintain discipline and Zhong Hui executed Xu Chu’s son because he had failed to fulfill his task and the commander could have died. They were both accomplished, and Zhong Hui was the only general in that invasion that actually completed his task successfully. Coincidentally, he too was an admirer of Zhuge Liang.

Perhaps Zhuge Liang’s biggest flaw was his high degree of caution. Across all of these campaigns you have seen how Zhuge Liang’s tactical victories were not taken advantage of. Guo Huai was defeated on the third expedition, yet the momentum wasn’t taken advantage of. Fei Yao and Guo Huai likewise were defeated, yet Tianshui was not seriously attacked. The western commanderies had risen up in his favor during the first campaign, yet he did not make use of this opportunity.

His careful approach is why I think Wei Yan’s more daring strategy has some merit. I repeat, I do not think the details of his plan were correct, but to violently strike Wei and shake the Nine Provinces while Wei does not expect an attack from the west could have turned the tide. The political implications of a great defeat to Wei at the beginning of Wei and the loss of the western territories could have severely weakened Wei’s internal legitimacy, an opportunity that could have been used by the southern states to topple the rebel regime and restore the house of Han.

However, Zhuge Liang did not exploit his advantage. He did not follow up his numerous tactical victories to obtain significant strategic advantages, and that’s what doomed him in the end. In the end, Wei was ready to met him in battle and his lack of flexibility meant he would not seize opportunities after a great victory, and it’s a shame.

This is not to say he was a poor strategist, however. He had moments of sheer brilliance like the way he completely checkmated both Cao Zhen’s and Zhang He’s plans to invade the Han. By predicting where the enemy would invade, he prepared fortifications and then pinned down Zhang He until he could go to the relief of Wei Yan.

And not only that, but Zhuge Liang was also a good tactician. He crushed the forces of Gao Dingyuan and Meng Huo, defeated Guo Huai multiple times, dealt important losses to Sima Yi, decimated Zhang He and ultimately killed him. Zhuge Liang definetely had the tactical prowess to put up a good fight against Wei, but ultimately his strategic approach doomed him and he was unable to achieve his goals.

For a moment it seemed that Zhuge Liang could have made progress in the Fourth Northern Campaign, but alas, Heaven was not on his side.

This concludes my write up on Zhuge Liang’s military career. It is my wish that those skeptical can now see him in a more positive light, but even if I failed to convert you, I still thank you for your time and hope that, even if you disagree with my conclusions, you still learnt something and can look at the man from a slightly different perspective.

[drwcn]

How To Name Your Chinese Characters: 

1) LAST NAMES: 

I’ve pasted the Top 100 common last names in alphabetical order, and bolded the ones that appear in CQL:   

B: 白 Bai C: 蔡 Cai ; 曹 Cao ;  常 Chang ; 曾 Ceng ;  陈 Chen ;  程 Cheng ;  崔 Cui ; D: 戴 Dai ; 邓 Deng ; 丁 Ding ; 董 Dong ; 杜 Du ; F: 范 Fan ; 方 Fang ; 冯 Feng ; 付 Fu ; G: 高 Gao ;  葛 Ge  ; 龚 Gong ; 顾 Gu ; 郭 Guo ; H: 韩 Han ; 何 He ; 贺 He 洪 Hong ; 侯 Hou ; 黄 Hua ; 胡 Hu ; J: 贾 Jia ; 蒋 Jiang ; 姜 Jiang ; 江 Jiang ; 金 Jin ; K: 康 Kang ; L:  赖 Lai ; 李 Li ;  黎 Li ; 廖 Liao ; 梁 Liang ; 林 Lin ; 刘 Liu ; 陆 Lu ; 卢 Lu ; 路 Lu ; 吕 Lü ; 罗 Luo ; M: 马 Ma ; 麦 Mai ; 毛 Mao ; 孟 Meng ; N:  倪 Ni  ;  牛 Niu ; P: 潘 Pan ; 彭 Peng ; Q: 钱 Qian ; 秦 Qin ; 邱 Qiu ; R:任 Ren ; S: 邵 Shao ; 沈 Sheng ; 史 Shi ; 石 Shi ; 施 Shi ; 宋 Song ; 苏 Su ; 孙 Sun ; T: 陶 Tao ; �� Tan ; 唐 Tang ; 田 Tian ; W: 万 Wan ; 王 Wang ;  汪 Wang ; 魏 Wei ; 吴 Wu ; X: 邢 Xing ; 夏 Xia ;  蕭 Xiao ; 谢 Xie ; 徐 Xu ; 许 Xu ; 薛 Xue ; Y: 阎 Yan ; 严 Yan ; 杨 Yang ; 姚 Yao ; 叶 Ye ;  余 Yu ; 于 Yu ; 袁 Yuan ; Z: 张 Zhang ;  赵 Zhao ; 郑 Zheng ; 钟 Zhong ; 周 Zhou ;  朱 Zhu ;  庄 Zhuang ;  邹 Zou ;

Above are all single character last names, but there are some double character Chinese last names, seen below (list not exhaustive): 

独孤 Du’Gu ;  公孙 Gong’Sun ; 南宫 Nan’Gong    欧阳 Ou’Yang ;  司马 Si’Ma ; 上官 Shang’Guan ; 宇文 Yu’Wen ; 长孙 Zhang’Sun ; 诸葛 Zhu’GE ; 

2) GIVEN NAMES/COURTESY NAMES

《Elements》: 

Light*： 光 (guāng) - light，  亮 liàng - bright / shine， 明 (míng) - bright， 曦 (xī) - early dawn， 昀 (yún) - daylight， 昭 (zhāo) - light, clear，照 (zhào) - to shine upon，

Fire: 焰 (yàn) - flames， 烟 (yān) - smoke，炎 (yán) - heat/burn， 烨 (yè) - dazzling light，  

Water: also see “weather” OR “bodies of water” under nature; note the words below while are related to water have meanings that mean some kind of virtue: 清 (qīng) - clarity / purity， 澄 (chéng) - clarity/quiet， 澈 (chè) - clear/penetrating， 涟 (lián) - ripple， 漪 (yī) - ripple， 泓 (hóng) - vast water， 湛 (zhàn) - clear/crystal， 露 (lù) - dew， 泠 (líng) - cool, cold, 涛 (tāo) - big wave，泽 (zé)，浩 hào - grand/vast (water)，涵 (han) - deep submergence / tolerance / educated

Weather: 雨 (yǔ) - rain， 霖 (lín) - downpouring rain， 冰 (bīng) - ice， 雪 (xuě) - snow，  霜 (shuāng) - frost 

Wind: 风 (fēng) - wind

* some “Light” words overlap in meaning with words that mean “sun/day”

《Nature》:

Season: 春 (chūn) - spring， 夏 (xià) - summer， 秋 (qíu) - aumtum， 冬 (dōng) - winter

Time of Day: 朝 (zhāo) - early morning / toward， 晨 (chén) - morning / dawn， 晓 (xiǎo) - morning， 旭 (xù) - dawn/rising sun，昼 (zhòu) - day，皖 (wǎn) - late evening，夜 (yè) - night 

Star/Sky/Space: 云 (yún) - cloud，天 (tiān) - sky/ heaven，霞 (xiá) - afterglow of a rising or setting sun，月 (yuè) - moon，日 (ri) - day / sun，阳 (yáng) - sun，宇 (yǔ) - space，星 (xīng) - star

Birds: 燕 (yàn) - sparrow， 雁 (yàn) - loon， 莺 (yīng) - oriole， 鸢 (yuān) - kite bird (family Accipitridae)，羽 (yǔ) - feather

Creatures: 龙 (lóng) - dragon/imperial

Plants/Flowers:* 兰 (lán) - orchids，  竹 (zhú) - bamboo， 筠 (yún) - tough exterior of bamboos， 萱 (xuān) - day-lily， 松 (sōng) - pine， 叶 (yè) - leaf， 枫 (fēng) - maple， 柏 bó/bǎi - cedar/cypress， 梅 (méi) - plum， 丹 (dān) - peony

Mountains: 山 (shān)， 峰 (fēng) - summit， 峥 (zhēng)，

Bodies of water: 江 (jiāng) - large river/straits， 河 (hé) - river， 湖 (hú) - lake， 海 (hǎi) - sea， 溪 (xī) - stream， 池 (chí) - pond， 潭 (tán) - larger pond， 洋 (yáng) - ocean

* I didn’t include a lot of flower names because it’s very easy to name a character with flowers that heavily implies she’s a prostitute. 

《Virtues》: 

Astuteness: 睿 ruì - astute / foresight， 智 (zhi)， 慧 (hui)， 哲 (zhé) - wise/philosophy, 

Educated:  博 (bó) - extensively educated， 墨 (mo) - ink， 诗 (shi) - poetry / literature， 文 (wén) - language / gentle / literary， 学 (xue) - study， 彦 (yàn) - accomplished / knowledgeable, 知 (zhi) - to know， 斌 (bīn) - refined， 赋 (fù) - to be endowed with knowledge

Loyalty: 忠 (zhōng) - loyal， 真 (zhēn) - true 

Bravery: 勇 (yǒng) - brave， 杰 (jié) - outstanding, hero

Determination/Perseverance: 毅 (yì) - resolute / brave， 恒 (héng) - everlasting， 衡 (héng) - across, to judge/evaluate，成 (chéng) - to succeed， 志 (zhì) - aspiration / the will

Goodness/Kindness: 嘉 (jiā) - excellent / auspicious，磊 (lěi) - rock / open & honest， 正 (zhèng) - straight / upright / principle，

Elegance: 雅 (yǎ) - elegant， 庄 (zhuāng) - respectful/formal/solemn， 彬 (bīn) - refined / polite， 

Handsome: 俊 jùn - handsome/talented 

Peace: 宁 (níng) - quietness/to pacify, 安 （ān) - peace, safety

Grandness/Excellence：宏 (hóng) - grand，豪 (háo) - grand, heroic，昊 (hào) - limitless / the vast sky，华 (huá) - magnificent， 赫 (hè) - red/famous/great， 隆 (lóng) - magnificent， 伟 (wěi) - greatness / large，轩 (xuān) - pavilion with a view/high，卓 (zhuó) - outstanding

Female Descriptor/Virtues/Beauty: 婉 (wǎn)，惠 (huì)， 妮 (nī)， 娇 (jiāo)， 娥 (é)， 婵 (chán) (I didn’t include specific translations for these because they’re all adjectives for women meaning beauty or virtue) 

《Descriptors》:

Adverbs: 如 (rú) - as，若 (ruò) - as, alike，宛 (wǎn) - like / as though，

Verbs: 飞 (fēi) - to fly，  顾 （gù) - to think/consider， 怀 (huái) - to miss, to possess， 落(luò) - to fall, to leave behind，梦 (mèng) - to dream， 思 (sī) - to consider / to miss (someone)，忆 (yì) - memory， 希 (xī) - yearn / admire

Colours: 红 (hóng) - red， 赤 (chì) - crimson， 黄 (huàng) - yellow， 碧 (bì) - green，青(qīng) - azure，蓝 (lán) - blue， 紫 (zǐ) - violet ，玄 (xuán) - black， 白 (baí) - white

Number：一 (yī), 二 (er) - two, 三 (san) - three,  四 (si) - four,  五 (wu) - five, 六 (liu) - six, 七(qi) - seven, 八 (ba) - eight,  九 (jiu) - nine, 十 (shi) - ten

Direction: 东 (dōng) - east， 西 (xi) - west， 南 (nan) - south， 北 (bei) - north，

Other: 子 (zǐ) - child, 然 (rán) - correct / thusly

《Jade》: *there are SO MANY words that generally mean some kind of jade, bc when ppl put jade in their children’s name they don’t literally mean the rock, it’s used to symbolize purity, goodness, kindness, beauty, virtue etc*  琛 (chen), 瑶 (yao),  玥 (yue),  琪 (qi),  琳 (lin)

《Spirituality》

凡 (fan) - mortality 

色 (se) - colour, beauty. In buddhism, “se” symbolizes everything secular

了 (liao) - finished, done, letting go 

尘 (chen) - dust, I’m not… versed in buddhism enough to explain “chen”, it’s similar to “se”

悟 (wu) - knowing? Cognition? To understand a higher meaning

无 (wu) - nothing, the void, also part of like “letting go” 

戒 (jie) - to “quit”, but not in a bad way. In buddhism, monks are supposed to “quit” their earthly desires.

极 (ji) - greatness, also related to the state of nirvana (? I think?) 

[svchengss]

hey barista! | l.dh

summary | befriending the barista from your local cafe doesn’t seem too bad

pairing | lee donghyuck x fem!reader ft. jaemin who’s a rlly cute side character in this :(

genre | fluff, angst, slight humour (?)

warnings | a kiss?? i don’t think there’s any but if i missed anything do lmk !!

word count | 3k+

s. tg | @hyuckefi [my apologies since i didn’t release a proper teaser for this 🙏🏻]

author’s note | this is my first fic exceeding 1k words so if u enjoyed reading this, please leave some feedbacks !! rb’s are also appreciated :D ALSO I SUCK AT SUMMARIES LMAO PLS IGNORE THAT

just another day of working at palm coffee, the same old routine. cleaning the countertop and tables before opening up the cafe, prepping the ingredients - more for top favourites! - and examining the machines to make sure they’re working properly. that’s some of hyuck’s daily routines as a barista. he didn’t mind them though, he loved his job. he couldn’t specify the reason why but all these tasks are genuinely interesting to him.

seeing you drop by the cafe is a normal occurrence for him. since you are a regular customer after all, the rest of the staff already know you well. heck, they’re even good friends with you. jaemin hangs out with you more than he does despite being jaemin’s childhood friend. except for him, he doesn’t really know why. he’s not really shy, considering the fact that he’s a social butterfly. he just couldn’t bring himself to say anything to you, the only times he did so was to take your orders when the rest of the workers were busy in the store.

upon hearing the doorbell chime which signals a new customer entering the cafe, hyuck blurted out the usual line. “hello, welcome to palm coffee! how can i help-“, looking up from the cash register only to find you in a disheveled state. “-you?” he eyes you up and down, noting how a few strands of your hair were out of place, the nude lipstick smeared on the left corner of your mouth and your outfit looks really rushed. 

“sorry, what was your name again, hyuck right?” you quickly glanced at the nametag hanging nicely on his apron. “i’m in a rush right now, can i get a,” you scanned over the menu behind him, “uh, white coffee, please?”. 

“that will be six dollars. you can use the restroom in the meantime to, you know, touch up your makeup and stuff,” he takes the bills from your hand, putting them in the machine in front of him before flashing you with that warm smile of his. you wished him a quick thanks before disappearing into the back of the place.

now that was embarrassing.

your eyes scanned over the hall to find your friend before hearing her shout your name from across. damn, why does she have to be so loud? stares were directed towards you as you walked up the stairs to your designated seat. all the chatter going on in the lecture hall became quiet as soon as your professor placed her things on the desk, which means class has started. 

after hearing a two-hour lecture and writing some notes - where suddenly song lyrics and scribbles appear - the words you’ve been waiting to hear finally echoed through the speakers. 

“class is dismissed, thank you everyone for listening,” mrs. hui’s voice later being flushed out by the buzzing voices of the students walking out the hall, determined to finish their own activities. you stuffed your ipad and papers into your light yellow jansport backpack before going out to meet vic who’s waiting for you outside. 

“i’m exhausted, what did she even teach just now?” vic sighed to her heart’s content. you can’t blame her, today’s topic was quite complicated. circuits analysis or something? you can’t really wrap your head around it, your brain being stuffed with all the information. vic kept on ranting  about the problems she faced from the moment she woke up, making you giggle at some comments she made. 

“wait for me, i’m almost done,” he folded his apron neatly before shoving it into the drawer and grabbing his bag from the counter to join jaemin, who’s waiting at the front door with the keycard. hyuck accepted jaemin’s request to help him with some shopping for his sister’s birthday party next week. obviously, the rest of the staff were also invited. 

jaemin divided the shopping list into two, allowing hyuck to find the rest of the things with ease.

“now where are the streamers…” he muttered out loud enough for himself to hear, crouching down to browse through the party decorations on the shelf. or he thought so, as you could hear him sighing clearly in dire need of the certain decoration, that you decided to help him out. 

“um, hyuck? i think the party streamers are in the aisle beside this one? you look a bit troubled there,” you chuckled lightly. the heat flushed to his cheeks, feeling dumbfounded. 

“really? uh, thank you for the help,” he gave you a small grin that could hardly be seen if you didn’t spot the corner of his lips. and with that, he’s long gone with his shopping basket.

you are fond of the atmosphere you’re in right now. the decorations left you in awe - white and pink silk hanging from the wall with silver letter balloons spelling out happy birthday stitched onto them. you can see jaemin’s sister, eun-ji, being carried out of her room with a small flowy white dress and wearing a golden bow on her head, her brunette hair being tied into ponytails. the na family really adore their youngest girl.

meanwhile, there are only a couple of adults your age attending the party -  jaemin’s co-workers, some of his other friends which you aren’t familiar with and hyuck. he looked rather chill, with an oversized beige sweater and white jeans to suit the party’s theme. you’re not quite bad as well, your hair combed nicely and kept neat with a headband, a white sundress with strawberry patterns on it fit nicely on your figure, complemented with a heart-locket necklace placed on your collarbones. before reaching jaemin’s house, you made sure to drop by a local store to get some gifts for eun-ji. she’s a very well-mannered kid which made you adore her very much.

“y/n? very glad to see you here,” hyuck said as he approached you, offering you a plate of cake which he cut.

“i could say the same to you too, mr. lee,” you let out a soft laugh. he made sure to keep a mental note over how pretty you looked today.

“y/n, hyuck! glad you two broke the ice, did you know how hurt i was seeing you two act like strangers whenever y/n came by the cafe?” jaemin enveloping you into a small hug before fake pouting. you can only laugh at the fake debate the two guys in front of you were having. after conversing with hyuck and jaemin for quite some time, you realised that he’s a cool person to talk to, where all this time, you thought he hated you for some reason. before leaving, you made sure to thank mrs. na for hosting the party and off you went home. 

following the previous encounters, hyuck felt much more comfortable around you - even hanging out with you during his shift where you would do your assignments at the cafe he’s working at. every now and then, he would also invite you to hang out with him and jaemin. however, what he didn’t realise was how he slowly pent up feelings - romantically. 

ding dong!

he pressed on the doorbell button with a box of doughnuts in his left hand. the three of you were supposed to be having a movie night, but jaemin got caught up with his groupwork which leaves the two of you alone. 

“hey hyuck! come in,” you gestured, arranging the cushions on your sofa to make it look more organized. the interior of your rented apartment is calming, the light grey walls suiting the navy blue sofa and furniture with darker undertones. the walls are also not left empty, with modern art portraits hanging from it. 

“i brought donuts, your favourite, right?” he opened the box, placing it on the coffee table while you set up the television. you wished him a quick thank you before grabbing two canned drinks from the refrigerator, handing one to him and pressing play on the remote control. you two weren’t quiet throughout the whole movie, with snarky comments on how hot the actors were or how stupid they were being were made. 

he didn’t know you were sleepy though as all of a sudden, he could feel the weight of your head on top of his shoulder. it was a rather awkward situation as he didn’t move at all so you could sleep comfortably. before long, he joined you and dozed off to wonderland. the next morning, you were more than embarrassed to find yourself cuddling up to him, with the next movie still playing on the screen.

seeing your figure outside the front door made hyuck more excited to greet you today. after making a quick order for a green tea latte, you fished out your purse from your handbag, feeling frantic if you’ve lost it outside. luckily, you were the only customer in line as the rest of them were already seated and carrying out their own businesses.

“sorry, but i think this might be yours,” you turned around to find a tall-looking guy handing out your black purse. a wave of relief washed over your soul, thanking the latter profusely.

“mind if i buy you a drink? i hate feeling like i owe someone,” you offered, which he gladly accepted. 

“i’d like a double espresso, please,” he kept his hands into his pockets. 

“and your name, sir?” hyuck looked mildly bothered.

“yukhei,” he ran his slightly blonde hair through the slender fingers. hyuck hated how cocky he looked, feeling more annoyed than ever over the scene that was played in front of him just now. he hated how yukhei looked at you. 

why should he get jealous? he’s just a mere friend to you, that’s all. you have to stop overreacting, hyuck. 

those words kept running through his mind all day.

“dude, are you okay? you looked-” jaemin opened the staff room, interrupting him from the self-talk he was having, “-distracted,” finishing up his sentence. 

“nope, i’m just fine,” he said, bringing the honey smile back onto his face. jaemin nodded before disappearing back to the front to serve the customers. 

stop being so jealous, hyuck. you’re just a friend. not more, not less. 

“jaemin, how do you know if you like someone?” that question is kind of shocking to him, especially if it’s coming from hyuck. of course, he’s had a crush before but it was during middle school. just a silly, little crush. growing up, he’s never had one - not even in high school.

“you’ve asked the right person,” jaemin managed to do his obnoxious voice, even while driving the car. he’s right, he is the matchmaker of the friend group, just how many relationships worked out because of him? eyes still focused on the road - he’s a responsible driver of course, he began to explain the feeling to hyuck, making his points loud and clear.

“first of all, you start feeling a little too happy whenever you’re around them. and no, this is not the oh-we’re-best-friends-forever type of happy, it’s the i’ll-make-you-the-happiest-person-on-earth one. not to forget, you will also experience some kind of turbulence in your heart, expect them to be jumping around a bit. or a lot, whichever suits you the best.

you also tend to feel nervous around that person. like, stuttering your words in obvious or non-obvious ways, feeling faster heartbeats than usual, you name it. oh! if you’ve ever felt jealous whenever they are around someone else, i mean, in affectionate ways, you might have one. however, my tip is for you not to act out of your mind. you don’t want to ruin whatever relationship you have currently, do you?” even when driving, he still managed to deliver his points with full precision and accuracy. 

nodding his head, hyuck took some mental notes to be thought through when he gets home. 

hyuck stared at you, whose figure is snoring soundly on his lap. he assumed you must be feeling exhausted, mid-terms just ended after all. while threading his fingers through your hair, he remembered what jaemin said to him weeks earlier.

1. being happy around them

like jaemin said, it is normal to be happy around your friends. but being with you, it kind of gave more joy for him. not to mention that he started to catch himself smiling over your texts and being reminded of you over small things - your favorite donut topping, the name of that one stray puppy you gave. 

2. feeling nervous around them

his heart would beat a lot faster whenever you get closer towards him, whether accidentally or to mess with him. 

3. getting jealous over someone else

he shouldn’t be jealous of how yukhei looked at you. but he seriously can’t help it. and the way he’s always there during your hangouts. he doesn’t care if he seems petty, yukhei just isn’t in his favour.

his deep thoughts came to a halt when you called out his name, eyes still half-closed, attempting to open them a bit more. 

“did i interrupt you or something? gosh, i’m so sorry,” you quickly stood up but he pulls your body back onto his lap, asking for you to stay.

“what are we?” that question caught you off-guard. the same one that has been at debate in the back of your mind these days. 

i don’t know hyuck, it’s complicated. 

“what do you think we are, hyuck?” you shot the question back at him, your gaze piercing through his soul.

“i don’t know. it’s just-” 

“are you sure?” a deep sigh left your lips. have you been interpreting his body languages wrong? did he only see you as a normal friend, nothing more? 

“sorry, i’m not feeling well. see you later hyuck, bye,” you tried your best to shoot the sweet smile of yours but only a faint one seemed to appear. once you stepped out of the room, he buried his face into his hands. 

god, what have i done?

“don’t feel too down, y/n. maybe there’s something more that he couldn’t bring himself to say?” vic suggested, handing you some tissue.

“i don’t know, i seriously have no idea. why can’t he just say it?” you continued to sob into her arms, she pitied you, especially in your condition right now. but she can’t do anything to help you, other than consoling and listening. 

jaemin knew something was wrong, from your rare visits to the cafe to hyuck not being himself lately. something was definitely wrong and it’s between the both of you. sure, hyuck might be saying that he’s fine again and again, but his expressions can’t lie. the sweet smile of his is long gone and his jokes are no longer heard. whatever it is, jaemin is determined to solve it. he just wants his best friends back. 

looks of dismay can be read all over hyuck’s face when the person facing him is no other than the guy himself, yukhei. still, he tried to control his composure, not making his inner feelings any more obvious.

“so what brings you here?” he took a sip of the mineral water, still making his throat rough from the tension hanging in the air. 

“look, i’m not here for any fights. i know you like y/n, everybody can see it. and honestly, you were oblivious to your own feelings,” he rubbed his hands together. the latter’s puzzled face made him continue his words.

“i’m not trying to make her like me, or whatever you’ve been assuming. sorry if i gave the wrong message but you are the one who should make a move. i can see from the way she looks at you, the feelings are mutual,” he straightened up the denim jacket outside the white shirt wrapping his figure. 

letting out a heavy sigh, hyuck’s face begins to soften up. “no, i should be the one who’s sorry. i’ve been such a prick to everyone around me lately, especially you,” he took of the cap from his head, messing up his hair. 

“no problem, bro. it’s understandable, i guess. now good luck with her, please treat her well,” the two guys exchanged a fist bump for the problem solved. jaemin leaned his back against the wall, smiling and feeling satisfied.

you called out jaemin’s name but to no avail. he invited you to his apartment but seeing that the lights are out, it’s clear enough that he hasn’t finished whatever he was doing yet. just as you were about to leave, you saw hyuck at the other side of it, both your faces mirroring the same look of confusion.

“so, uh, how have you been doing these days? it’s been a while since we talked,” he chose to break the silence. now, you two were sitting facing each other by the balcony. inhaling the breeze, you paused for a moment before responding to his question.

“i’ve been feeling, not as usual. definitely not happy but not that sad,” you pushed some of the loose hair strands hanging on your forehead behind your ears before asking about his.

“you know what, i’m just going to be direct with you. i, lee donghyuck have been holding feelings for you since i don’t know when. yeah sure, i wasn’t really sure at first about what i was going through. i guess i was just scared of how you would react,” he scratched his ears which are not feeling itchy at all, but rather an attempt to distract himself from the overwhelming emotions deep inside him. 

not wanting to waste time any longer, you placed your right hand onto his cheek, standing on the heels of your feet to bring your two lips together. the kiss was short before he pulls you back in for another, this time a more passionate one. he could feel you smile against his lips before enveloping your body into his arms.

“i’ve missed you, you know?” he whispered, his voice tender, directing right into your ears before you replied with how you missed him more. the both of you continued to whisper sweet nothings while embracing each other’s presence. 

jaemin looked at the both of you from a distance, his heart swelling with pride. 

— another pair of lovers matched, cupid jaemin signing out.

[accidentallyadramablog]

Review: Down With Love (2010)

I felt a little nostalgic this week and decided to rewatch Down With Love, a romcom out of Taiwan featuring Ella Chen (from Hana Kimi) and Jerry Yan (Meteor Garden).

This is more of a brain dump as opposed to a real review. More below the cut.

Let me just start with the fact I love dramas with tomboys, gender benders, and gender non-conforming women and girls in general. I'm a 40 yr old gnc bi-woman, so some of these storylines really resonate with me - despite the trend of making those female characters glaringly stupid and pitiable.

Tags: Nanny, Love Square, Tomboy, Male Chases Female First, Sismance, Rich Man/Poor Woman, Pretends To Be Gay, Single Parent, Sisterhood, Boss/Employee Relationship

Our girl Ella Chen plays tomboy Yang Guo. Yang Guo works, has friends, and a shitty boyfriend of 5 years. She acts naïve, but she actually has a lot of life experience due to a *tragic backstory*. After her mother died, her father ruined the family business. Their family plunged from riches to rags and their father abandoned them. Yang Guo is 6 when this happens and it falls on her older sister Yang Duo to raise them both while homeless, starving, and navigating the homeless camps in the parks of Taipei.

Yang Duo (Kelly Huang) has raised her little sister by herself, beginning from poverty and homelessness to having a house and making a life for themselves. They bicker good-naturedly, but Yang Duo is very protective and supportive of her sister. She's managed to earn a job at a prestigious law firm as an admin assistant with strong accounting skills. She is seen as frugal, clever, and competent. Several characters make comments throughout the series about how it was a shame that she didn't go into certain careers because she's so accomplished despite not having a formal education. It's obvious that Yang Duo has put her own dreams and happiness on hold to make sure that she and Guo have financial security. Yang Duo is my favorite character btw. She is a supporting character that is multi-faceted and has her own character arc. I really like seeing her growth in this drama, and she gets some cute side couple action later in the series. Skip the last episode.

Due to growing up in poverty and scrabbling to lower-middle-class, the two girls work nonstop. After Guo is fired from her job waiting tables, Duo gets Guo a job as a nanny for her boss Xiang Yu Ping by lying and saying Guo is a lesbian.

Xiang Yu Ping (Jerry Yan) owns his own law firm and is seen as cold and overbearing. He is raising his dead brother's kids and none of the nannies he's hired have lasted either due to being chased off by the kids (a la the Sound of Music) or by trying to seduce him because he's a rich handsome lawyer. Relieved to have found a nanny who definitely wouldn't seduce him (because he thinks she's a lesbian), he just pays an unreasonably huge salary to keep her there with the kids despite their abuse.

Supporting characters: Amanda Chu as the best friend Yan Ling with the messy dating life is also delightful, but I've enjoyed all her roles. I may rewatch Lion Pride for her, now that I'm walking down memory lane. The office of 'just some lawyer dudes being dudes' are funny. I love when they gather around to watch drama and place bets on what's happening. They're also slackers. I would love/hate to work with them.

So that's the setup.

Honestly, I hate the 'pretends to be gay' plots. It's typically really offensive and this was no exception in a lot of places. (It's not at the same level as Personal Taste, but it's bad.) One of the cases Yu Ping takes on is unlawful termination and blackmail of a gay teacher and he asks for Yang Guo's advice to help the man. Taiwan was trying in 2010, but it wasn't exactly good representation to have a fake lesbian help an actual gay man faced with employment discrimination and blackmail over his orientation. When I compare this with Love is Science (2021 twdrama) that has two out lgbt characters employed in their office with significant roles, I'm just so happy that lgbtq media representation is still progressing.

I don't care about Yu Ping's best friend Qi Ke Zhong or Yu Ping's ex-girlfriend Ding Hui Fan because they're both terrible people that don't deserve forgiveness and their only purpose was to drag out our leads getting together. Since this was a rewatch, I knew how much I hated their scenes and skipped them as much as I could. You're not missing anything. Someone on YT needs to just make a Yang Duo/Xiang Yu Ping cut, tbh. Also? Go ahead and skip the deadbeat father.

The nanny bit only lasts three episodes (the kids are adorable), but it's long enough for Yu Ping to catch feelings and think his lesbian nanny is cute. He actually is not cold and overbearing as episode 1 makes him out to be. Yu Ping is supportive and tries to be a good friend to Guo. When he thinks her 'girlfriend' is cheating on her, he absolutely flips out because he feels she deserves to be respected and loved in her relationship. He learns about her family. He learns about her friends. He knows where to look for her when she's upset. He knows how to cheer her up and later, he knows how to make the perfect date. When he finds out she lied about being a lesbian, he's not even mad. He admits it was his fault for making certain demands in the employment contract. He's just upset that he's lost chances to flirt and court her.

Listen. It's a dumb premise in this drama and the misunderstandings suck. But it's so refreshing to see male leads be decent to women that are romantically and sexually unavailable to them. The bar is so low, in RL and in dramas, that Yu Ping belongs in the top tier of male drama leads. This dude was just going to continue in a supportive friendship for an undetermined time, both when he thought she was a lesbian and later when his shitty weasel of a best friend dated her under false pretenses. He didn't burden her with a confession until her relationship was over. And whenever she asked for space, he gave it to her. And when she confronted him on instances of jealously, he apologized and gave her space.

Yu Ping never tries to change Guo. He doesn't give her a makeover. She has a makeover scene that is instigated by another character and all he does is try to make her comfortable when she's so obviously uncomfortable. Then he cheers inwardly when he sees her overcome her awkwardness and have confidence. But by the end of the drama, she is still dressing and acting the same as in act 1. It honestly reminded me a little of Coffee Prince in that the fancy male lead is still just as enamored with his gnc woman by the end and the way she presents herself doesn't have an effect on their romantic relationship. Again, this is content catered to me as a bi & gnc woman in a relationship with a cis-het man. I often am mistaken for a man when I go out with my spouse and he's still super into me so let's normalize gnc people with gc people already it's 2021.

Anyway, if you watch romances for kisses, there's really only a couple of pecks and one nice passionate kiss and they're all in basically the last 3 eps of the series.

The last episode sucks. Stop at episode 15. Seriously. Don't watch episode 16. Why oh why do you let terrible people back in your life? Qi Ke Zhong and Ding Hui Fan are toxic and should but cut out of their lives. The end of ep 15 had a happy ending with a family-style breakfast for our two sisters with their boyfriends. Ep 16 threw in some more misunderstanding, jealousy, and separations followed by a time skip for no reason and brought back my two least favorite characters.

Anyway, I will live in my little world with Yang Duo and her sweet lawyer boyfriend Liang Zhi Hao (Ian Yim/Cyran Yan/Yan Yi En yeah, this actor has three stage names) that supports her interests and self-determination while they save money on mass transit by using his motorbike. And they build her dream home that she designs. Perhaps they put aside funds for her to pursue a degree in what she's passionate about.

[bookofjin]

From the Annals of Guangwu

[From HHS001. Commentary in (italics) by Li Xian (655 - 684)]

The Generational Founder [shizu](1),the Shining and Martial[guangwu] August Emperor, taboo Xiu, courtesy name Wenshu, was a native of Caiyang in Nanyang(2). He was a ninth generation descendant of Gaozu, springing forth from Emperor Jing who begot King Ding of Changsha, Fa(3). Fa begot Marquis Jie of Chongling, Mai (4). Mai begot the Grand Warden of Yulin, Wai(5). Wai begot the Chief Commandant of Julu(6), Hui. Hui begot the Prefect of Nandun, Qin(7). Qin begot Guangwu. Guangwu was aged nine sui when he became an orphan [in 4 AD], and was raised by his junior uncle Liang.

He was seven chi, three cun tall. He had a beautiful beard and eyebrows, a big mouth, arched nose, and a “sun horn” forehead(8)[A]. He was by nature attentive to sowing and harvesting(9). However his older brother Bosheng was fond of gallantry and supporting gentlemen, he often frowned at Guangwu's affairs and farming activites, and compared him to Gaozu's older brother Zhong(10). Middle of Wang Mang's Tianfeng era [14 – 19](11), he therefore went to Chang'an. He took in the Highest Documents and roughly gained access to their great righteousness.

(1: The rites: “A Founder has merit, and an Exemplar has virtue.” Guangwu was a restorer, and for that reason his temple was called the Generational Founder. The rules of posthumous titles: “To be able to carry on a prior legacy is called Shining. To overcome and settle calamity and chaos is called Marital.” Marquis Fu's Commentary on the Past and Present says: “The character of xiu秀 refers to the blooming and accomplished. Bo 伯 [lit. “Elder”], zhong仲 [“middle”], 叔shu [“third”], and ji季 [“last”] is the sequence of older and younger brothers. The oldest brother was Bosheng, and next was Zhong. For that reason his courtesy name was Wenshu.)

(2: Nanyang was a commandery, now a county in Deng province. Caiyang was a county. The old city is now south-west of Sui province's Zaoyang county.)

(3: Changsha was a commandery, now a county in Tan province.)

(4: Chongling was the name of a district, originally belonging to Lingling's Lingdao county, which is located now north of Yong永 province's Tangxing county. In the time of Emperor Yuan they moved to Nanyang, but kept the title Chongling. The old city is now east of Sui province's Zaoyang county. The affair is drawn up in the Account of Four Kings from the Ancestral House.)

(5: Yulin was commandery, now a county in Gui貴 province. The Former Book says: “Commandery Warden was a Qin official, his salalry was two thousand shi. Emperor Jing altered the name to Grand Warden.)

(6: Julu was a commandery, now a county in Xing邢 province. The Former Book says: “Chief Commandant, originally Commandery Commandant, was a Qin official. He was in charge of aiding the Warden, and directed military duties. His salary was equal to two thousand shi. Emperor Jing altered the name to Chief Commandant.)

(7: Nandun was a county belonging to Nan commandery. The old city is now west of Chen province's Xiangcheng county. The Former Book says: “Prefects and Elders were both Qin officials. [Counties] ten thousand households and above had a Prefect, his salary was between a thousand shi and six hundred shi. [Counties] not fully ten thousand households had an Elder, his salary was between five hundred shi and three hundred shi.)

(8: “Arched” is high. Xu Fu states: “The nostril tip is the nose.” Zheng Xuan's Commentary on the Middle Marquis of the Highest Documents states: “With 'sun horn' one speaks of the bones in the middle of courtyard [?] rising up, shaped like the sun.)

[A: In physiognomy, a “sun horn” refers to the centre of the frontal bone being raised into a sun-like shape.]

(9: Planting is called “sowing”. Collecting is called “harvesting”.)

(10: Zhong is the Marquis of Heyang, Xi, his abilities were in the profession of production. See the Former Book.)

(11: In Wang Mang's 6th Year of Shijianguo [14 AD], he changed [the era] to Tianfeng.)

(12: The Records of the Eastern Watchtower says: “He took in the Highest Documents from the Middle Grandee Xu Ziwei of Lujiang. When his wealth was spent and gone, he and his fellow resident scholar Master Han combined their money to buy a donkey. They made it move for hire, and used it to provide for their various public expenses.)

At the end of Mang there were Under Heaven continuous years with calamities and disasters, robbers and bandits rose up in swarm(1). 3rdYear of Dihuang [22 AD](2), Nanyang was desolated and hungering(3), and many of the various families' retainers became minor bandits. Guangwu escaped the magistrates in Xinye, and following that sold grain in Wan(5). Natives of Wan, Li Tong and others, used maps and prophecies to advise Guangwu, stating:

The Liu clan rises again, the Li clan will help!(6)

Guangwu at first did not dare to attend to it, however alone he recalled his old brother Bosheng had a long-standing connection with carefree guests, and would surely raise up the great affair. Moreover, Wang Mang's defeat and destruction was already foretold, and Under Heaven would soon be in chaos. Thereupon he and them settled their plans, and he hence traded for military crossbows.

10th Month[A], he and Li Tong's junior cousin Yi and others rose up at Wan. At the time he was aged twenty-eight.

(1: The text tells that the thieves pointed鋒 and sharp contended to rise up. The character is sometimes written 蜂, the analogies are many.)

[The characters 鋒,“spear-point”, and 蜂,“bee”, “bee-swarm”, have the same sound. I have therefore chosen to translate 鋒起 as synonymous to 蜂起 “rose up in swarm”.]

(2: 6th Year of Tianfeng [19 AD], changed [the era] to Dihuang.)

(3: The Outer Accounts on the Han Poetry says: “The first time the grain does not ripen is called a dearth. The second time the grain does not ripen is called a hunger. The third time the grain does not ripen is called a scarcity. The fourth time the grain does not ripen is called a desolation. The fifth time the grain does not ripen is called a great famine.)

(4: Xinye belonged to Nanyang commandery, now a county in Deng province. The Continued Book of Han says: “Bosheng's retainers plundered people. The Sovereign escaped the magistrates at the house of Deng Chen of Xinye.)

(5: The Records of the Eastern Watchtower says: “At the time there was in Nanyang drought and hunger, and the Sovereign's fields alone were harvested.” Wan was a county belonging to Nanyang commandery. The old city is now Deng province's Nanyang county.)

(6: “Maps” is the River Map. “Prophecies” are books of auspicious fate. The prophecies were proof. The text tells that one who is king accepts verified proofs of fate. The Map of the Spirit of the Changes' Kun [hexagram] says: “Han's subject Li Yang.”)

[A: It's not entirely clear to me if the text is using the Xin calendar, or retroactively the Han calendar. The 10th Month was 15 October – 12 November 22 in the Xin calendar and 13 November – 12 December in the Han calendar.]

11th Month [A], there was a comet in the Extension [lunar lodge](1). Guangwu thereupon brought along his retainers to turn back to Chongling. At the time Bosheng had already assembled the multitudes and risen with his troops. Earlier, the sons and brothers of the various families were apprehensive and afraid, everyone absconded and fled to hide themselves, saying

Bosheng has killed us!

When they saw Guangwu's scarlet clothes and great cap(2), all in surprise said:

The prudent and solid one is also then doing it.

Then they somewhat calmed themselves. Bosheng hence summoned the Xinshi and Pinglin Troops(3), and together with their leaders Wang Feng and Chen Mu went west to strike Changju [“Chang Settlement”](4).

Guangwu at first rode an ox, he killed the Commandant of Xinye and therefore obtained a horse(5). He advanced to slaughter Tangzi district(6), and also killed the Commandant of Huyang(7).

Within the army they allotted the wealth and things unfairly. The multitudes were livid and resentful, they wished to turn around and attack the Lius. Guangwu collected the things obtained by the people of his clan, and fully gave them out to them. The multitudes were therefore happy.

He advanced to take Jiyang. He and Wang Mang's Grandee of the Van Passage[sui隊](9), Zhen Fu, and the Subordinates Corrector Liangqiu Ci(10) at Xiao-Chang'an [“Little Chang'an”](11). The Han army was greatly defeated and turned back to protect Jiyang.

[A: 13 November – 12 December in the Xin calendar, 13 December – 10 January 23 in the Han calendar.]

(1 The Former Book's Sounds and Meanings says: “A comet shines rapidly and short, in a tumble-weed way. “Extension” is the lunar lodge of the souther region.” The Treatise of Continued Han says: “Extension is the land of Zhou. The comet was in Extension, and travelled south-east to precisely the division of Wing and Chassis. Wing and Chassis are the land of Chu. Thus the land of Chu was about to have warfare and chaos. One year later, in the 1st Month, Guangwu rose with troops in Chongling, attacked Nanyang, beheaded Fu, Ci, and others, and killed their multitude soldiers, several ten thousand people. Guangwu's capital was Luoyang, which is located in the land of Zhou. It was an apparition of removing the overgrown and spreading out the new.”)

(2: Dong Ba's Treatise on Carriages and Dress says: “The 'great cap' refers to the military cap, The cap of military officials.” “The Sovereign at the time [wore] scarlet clothes and great cap, a General's dress.”)

(3: Xinye was a county belonging to Jiangxia commandery. The old city is now south-east of Ying province's Fushui county. Pinglin was the name of an area, it is now north-east of Sui province's Sui county.)

(4: The Guangya says: “jù 聚 [“settlement”, MC: dz- + -ju C] is a location. Pronounced cí 慈[MC: dz- + -i A] +yù 諭 [MC: (y- + -ju C].” The Former Book's Sounds and Meanings says: “Smallerr than a district is called a 'settlement'”.)

(5: The Former Book says: Commandant was a Qin official, his salary was between four hundred shi and 200 shi.)

(6: The Norms says: “When many are executed and killed it is called “slaughter”. Tangzi district has Tangzi Mountain. It is now south-west of Tang province's Huyang county.)

(7: Huyang belonged to Nanyang commandery, now a county in Tang province. The Records of the Eastern Watchtower says: “Liu Zhong falsely claimed to be a magistrate of Jiangxia, and persuaded them to kill him." [that is, the locals to kill the Commandant])

(8: The name of a county, belonging to Nanyang commandery, it was on the sunny-side of the Ji River. The ancient state of Xie. The old city is now north-west of Tang province's Huyang county. Jí棘 [MC: k- + -ik D] is pronounced jǐ己[MC: k- + -i B] + lì力[MC: l- + -ik D].)

(9: Wang Mang set up six passages[sui隊], and in [each] commandery set up one Grandee with duties like a Grand Warden. Nanyang was the Van Passage. Henei was the Rear Passage. Yingchuan was the Left Passage. Hongong was the Right Passage. Hedong was the Altar Passage, and Xingyang was the Prayer Passage. 隊 is pronounced suì遂.)

(10: Wang Mang in each passage set up one Subordinates Corrector with duties like a Chief Commandant.)

(11: The Continued Book of Han says that Yuyang county has a Xiao-Chang'an Settlement. The old city is now south of Deng province's Nanyang county.)

[theadusa]

All the dramas I’ve watched in 2020

These are all the dramas that I watched in 2020, with some review there should be NO Spoilers. I think I watched a lot more than usual probably because what else am I supposed to do between school and quarantine. So this is gonna be a long one...

Crash Landing on You (Lee Jung-hyo, 2019-2020)

Main Leads: Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin

Episodes: 16, 70 to 110 Minutes 

Thoughts: I enjoyed this drama, and it was a good one to start 2020 with. I thought it was a perfect blend of romance, comedy, heartfelt, found family, action, and some tragedy. I would highly recommend it, especially for those who are new to Kdramas. Also fun fact this is my first Hyun Bin drama. Rating: Fun and adorable

Tale of Nokdu (Kim Dong-hwi, 2019)

Main Leads: Jang Dong Yoon and Kim So Hyun

Episodes: 32, 35 minutes

Thoughts: I actually started watching this when it was airing but I stopped around episode 13 because of my busy schedule and finished it in the new year. I adore the main couple, the romance, comedy, the found family, and the women center story. I thought it shined the brightest when it was focused on the group and its funny and warm moments but once it got too political it kinda fell flat. I loved the ending, however. Also, I really like Jang Dong Young as an actor, I saw him in Solomon’s Perjury (2016) and Mr. Sunshine (2018) and I loved how he played Nok Du too. Rating: I love a women’s only widow village

I’ll Find You When The Weather is Nice (Han Ji-seung, 2020)

Main Leads: Seo Kang Joon and Park Min Young

Episodes: 16, 60 minutes 

Thoughts: I really liked this drama, probably one of my favorites this year. As you will notice I enjoy quieter and more slow-burn stories. Also, I am a fan of Park Min Young she tends to pick more interesting and strong-willed female roles, so it is really enjoyable to watch.  Rating: makes me want to own a book store.

King: The Eternal Monarch (Kim Eun-sook, 2020)

Main Leads: Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun

Episodes: 16, 70 Minutes

Thoughts: Confession; I am actually not the biggest fan of Lee Min Ho, nothing against him I just hate rich bratty characters and he tends to play them. However, I surprisingly really liked his character, he wasn’t a rich brat he actually was likable. I also really like Kim Go Eun, she is actually one of the main reasons why I watched and also with all the hype around it. Woo Do Hwan, who I have always liked, stole the whole show, however. I didn’t hate it like a lot of people, I really liked the characters, I liked the romance and the action. Also, Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun’s hugs were absolutely fabulous. It wasn’t my favorite and there were too many product placements, but I don’t think it was the worst drama this year. Rating: Lukewarm 

A Piece of your mind (Lee Sang-yeob, 2020)

Main Leads: Jung Hae In and Chae Soo Bin

Episodes: 12, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I actually really liked this drama despite the low views, again I’m big on slow burn stories and character focus. I believe the episodes were cut from 16 to 12 I don’t know exactly why maybe because of the Pandemic or due to viewership or a mixture of both. Despite its being cut short I really liked the ending, and I thought the two leads were sweet. Rating: Wish we had more time to develop the characters.

Its Okay not to be Okay (Park Shin Woo, 2020) 

Main Leads: Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Yea Ji and Oh Jung Se 

Episodes: 16, 70 to 85 minutes

Thoughts: Out of all the dramas I talked the most about this one. I have always been a fan of Seo Yea Ji since Save Me (2017) and Lawless Lawyer (2018) and I am happy to see her getting more recognition because of this role. The entire cast was amazing and I think I cried every episode. Such a good and heart-wrenching drama which is why I chose to watch it before work every time. Rating: I would let Seo Yea Ji stab me with a knife anytime.

Mystic Pop up bar (Jeon Chang-geun, 2020) 

Main Leads: Hwang Jung Eum and Yook Sung Jae and Choi Won Young

Episodes: 12, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I actually watched this while I was watching Its Okay Not to Be Okay and it was a nice balance to it because this was more of a found family story with less heartbreaking moments. Though it did have its share of heartbreak. I really liked all the characters and their relationship. Also, I am a sucker for bureaucratic fantasy/ magic, and kdramas are so good at it. Rating: I wish it was 16 episodes. 

When the Camila Bloom (Cha Yeong Hoon, 2019) 

Main Leads: Gong Hyo Jin and Kang Ha Neul

Episodes: 20, 63 to 75 minutes

Thoughts: I liked the story overall, the romance was cute and the mystery was interesting but I thought the family expectations was the best part of the story. This was not my favorite drama, but it was enjoyable and heartfelt. I watched it right after It's Okay Not to Be Okay and while I was watching Flower of Evil (2020) which probably is why I was so underwhelmed by it. Rating: Sweet romance and adorable found family.

Flower of Evil (Kim Cheol Kyu, 2020) 

Main Leads: Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won

Episode:16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: This was my favorite drama of this year. I went into this drama not thinking much of it, and I mainly watched it as a post drama blues drama. It was an action and thriller which I mainly don’t get attached to plus I am a huge fan of Lee Joon Gi. I should have known better, I cared so much about all the characters, the acting phenomenal, also every time they showed their hands I cried. This drama left me shriveled and empty inside. Rating: Lee Joon Gi will literally kill me one day. 

Put Your Head On My Shoulders (Zhu Dongning, 2019) 

Main Leads: Xing Fei and Lin Yi 

Episodes: 24, 40 to 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is the first Chinese drama on this list. I thought it was cute, I liked the couple and thought it was alright. I started to dislike the male lead later in the series but it was overall fine. It was basic and sweet with very little drama. Rating: It did its job.

The School Nurse Files ( Lee Kyoung Mi, 2020)

Main Leads: Jung Yu Mi and Nam Joo Hyuk

Episodes: 6,  45 to 57 minutes

Thoughts: This is probably my second favorite drama. I couldn’t tell what happened in the drama but I loved it. I thought it was weird and fascinating, and just so magical. I loved the children and just how the whole school was just off its rocker. I also think that Nam Joo Hyuk does really well in serious roles, and I thought he did a really good job here. Rating: 1 jelly heart.  

Mr. Heart (Park Sun Jae, 2020) 

Main Leads: Cheon Seung Ho and Lee Se Jin

Episodes: 8, 11 Minutes

Thoughts: This was 8 episodes of start fluff and I adored it. Apparently, it is apart of a BL series by Park Sun Jae and there is a movie version that I haven’t watched. If you want to destress and watch just fluff this is the show for you. Rating: If it is any sweeter I would be going to the dentist. 

You are My Destiny ( Ding Ying Zhou, 2020) 

Main Leads: Xing Zhao Lin  and Liang Jie

Episodes: 36, 45 minutes

Thoughts: I hated this drama, I thought it was the worst thing ever. I don’t know why I even watched all 36 episodes. Apparently, it is a remake of a popular 2008 Twaniese drama Fated to Love You and there is a Korean remake of it as well. I have watched neither of them, so I was brand new to this story. I hated, despised the male lead. He was whiny, entitled, and an asshole. The only good part of the drama was the male and female lead actually had a lot of chemistry, unfortunately, they are playing awful characters. Rating: This was made in 2020???

First Romance (Ding Pei, 2020) 

Main Leads: Wan Peng and Riley Wang

Episodes: 24, 45 Minutes

Thoughts: This is another Chinese drama. Similar to Mr. Heart (2020) this show was super fluffy. I really liked the main couple they seem to respect each other and they both had adorable crushes on each other. I loved the whole dumb jock and dumb artist dynamic it was so funny. Rating: Cute!!! 

Lost Romance ( Eri Hao, 2020) 

Main Leads: Marcus Chang and Vivian Sung

Episodes: 20, 70 minutes 

Thoughts: This is the only Twainese drama on this list. I think I liked this drama, I actually only remember very little of this drama. I like the CEO in the real world more than the book world, and I also really liked the female lead except she lowkey stalked the CEO like that was not okay. Rating: I think I liked it???

When We Were Young ( Deng Ke, Liu Guo Hui, 2018)

Main Leads: Neo Hou and Wan Peng and Gala Zhang and Pan Mei and Ye Marcus Li

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: I really liked this film, I loved all the characters and thought it was all very heartfelt. I cried like a baby, and Hua Biao was such a touching and relatable character. And the whole grandma story hit so close to home. Rating: Made me cry like a baby.

Moment of 18 ( Sim Na Yeon, 2019)

Main Leads: Ong Seong Wu and Kim Hyang Gi

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I really liked this drama, and I thought the romance was so cute. I also really liked the relationship between the moms and was sad that the rich mom was a bitch and ruined the friendship. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending, but I loved the rest of it. Rating: The main lead is part of a boy group because he had a random singing moment. 

Perfect and Casual ( Li Shuang, 2020) 

Main Leads: Miles Wei and Xu Ruo Han

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is another Chinese drama on this list. I’m pretty sure it's considered an Idol drama so that sets your expectations. I really liked this drama a lot, I am a big fan of contract marriages and I thought the leads were so cute together. Also, this is the first contract marriage drama where the leads don’t break up which I like. A lot of the drama came from outside of the relationship. Rating: You can’t analyze love.

Le Coup De Foudre ( Wang Zhi, 2019) 

Main Leads: Janice Wu and Zhang Yujian

Episodes: 35, 45 minutes

Thoughts: My favorite Chinese drama on this list. I loved this drama, I thought it was sweet and simple and the main couple was so realistic. Unpopular opinion I disliked the second couple and the best friend I thought she was annoying and brattish. However, I adore the main couple and their relationship. Rating: Realistic sweet romance. 

More Than Friends ( Choi Sung Bum, 2020)

Main Leads: Ong Seong Wu and Shin Ye Eun

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I enjoyed the overall story and characters. I loved the group and their relationships. Also, Young-Hee made me cry, and her relationship with Hyun Jae was so sweet. The main leads were also sweet, and I related a lot to Lee So. I just didn’t like the back and forth. Rating: How many times can we break up in a drama. 

Be With You ( Zhou Miao, 2020) 

Main Leads: Ji Xiao Bing and Zhang Ya-Qin

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is the last Chinese drama I watched this year. It was alright, the romance was sweet, I really like the female lead, and the male lead was nice to look at. It was okay. Also, the second couple was so ??? She was his boss, enemy, and older than him, what?? Rating: Sometimes you need to fall in love to be creative. 

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo ( Kim Kyu Tae, 2016) 

Main Leads: Lee Joon Gi and Lee Ji Eun (IU) 

Episodes: 20, 60 minutes

Thoughts: I know I am really late watching this, but I finally did. I went in knowing this would hurt me and Lee Joon Gi already scared me this year ( damn this man) so I was fully prepared. I really wasn’t,  it so much. (SPOIlERS) When Wang Eun and Park Soon Deok died I sob like a baby (SPOILER ENDING). It took me a long time to finish this show because its heart so much, like it physically hurt me. The show was really good, and heartbreaking, and the ending stabs me in the heart 20 times. Rating: Lee Joon Gi is trying to kill me with tears. 

Persona ( Lee Kyoung Mi, Yim Pil Sung, Jeon Go Woon, and Kim Jong Kwan, 2019) 

Main Leads: Lee Ji Eun (IU) 

Episodes: 4, 19 to 27

Thoughts: This is a collection of mini-films by directors. 4 separate stories are starring Lee Ji Eun. I thought all of them good, especially “ Kiss Burn” and “Walking at Night.” There isn’t much else to this, more than it is an artistic display of filmmaking. Rating: Hipster Kdrama

Come and Hug Me ( Choi Joon-bae, 2018) 

Main Leads: Jang Ki-Yong and Jin Ki-Joo

Episodes: 32, 35 minutes

Thoughts: I actually just finished this show today. I really liked it, I thought it was both sweet and heartwarming/wrenching. I hated that one journalist and the public like why are they blaming a victim. I didn’t watch it with my full mind because I’ve been distracted lately, but I did enjoy it. Rating: another cute but sad couple. 

Movies I watched this year: 

Spell Bound ( Hwang In Ho, 2011)

Main Cast: Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Thoughts: I watched this at like 12 am after a bad day and it was cute. I love RomCom fantasy, which I think Korean media does really well. I don’t know what else to say except it is a really cute romance. Rating: Is it the ghost or the butterflies

The Host ( Bong Joon Ho, 2006)

Main Cast: Song Kang Ho and Byun Hee Bong and Park Hae Il and Bae Doona and Go, Ah Sung

Running Time: 119

Thoughts: This film I had to actually watch for class. It was a really good film which is expected from Bong Joon Ho. I love monster films and I thought this was a good rendition of this film. Also, The monster was so cool especially from 2006. I thought it was heartbreaking, stirring, and so beautifully shot. Rating: Oscar-worthy Direction 

Little Forest ( Yim Soon-rye, 2018) 

Main Cast: Kim Tae Ri  and Ryu Jun Yeol and Moon So Ri and Jin Ki Joo

Running Time: 103 minutes

Thoughts: I really, really liked this film. It reminded me so much of I’ll Find You When The Weather is Nice (2020) that I thought that it was based on this film but it isn’t. I have watched this film 3 times since October and every time I watch it have made bread. I really just love everything about this film, how quiet it is, the cinematography, the acting, just everything. Rating: Three loaves of bread. 

Always ( Song Il Gon, 2011)

Main Cast: So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Thoughts: I thought it was okay, I watched it while I was knitting so I was distracted a bit. But I thought the couple was sweet, and the characters were interesting. Rating: It's Okay.

       Currently watching 

True Beauty ( Kim Sang-hyeop, 2020-) 

Main Cast: Moon Ga Young and Cha Eun Woo and Hwang In Yeop

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes 

Thoughts: This is currently an ongoing series that is actually really popular. Apparently, it is based on a webtoon, which I haven’t read. I like it so far, I always liked Moon Ga Young and I think she is a great actress. She plays Im Ju Kyung in a likable and insecure way, instead of someone annoying which could easily happen. I will be continuing watching. Rating so far: Okey dokey yo.

Live On ( Kim Sang-woo, 2020-) 

Main Cast: Jung Da Bin and Hwang Min Hyun

Episodes: 8?, 60 Minutes

Thoughts: I really Like this show. The main couple is sweet and supportive. I really like the female lead, I like that she is cold and kinda quiet, but with a sweet spot if you are not a dick. I really like the main relationship conflict comes from friendship instead of romance, I think it makes the show more interesting. Rating: I want to Join a Broadcast group.  

On My List: 

I actually don’t have anything else on my list so if anyone has recommendations please tell me. I am thinking about watching Mr. Queen ( 2020) because I really like Shin Hye Sun. I also want to watch Sweet Home (2020) the Netflix series. But please recommend me some dramas!!!

This is such a long list, and I had fun doing it and going back over all the dramas. I hope everyone has a good New year and that we will have many more good dramas in 2021!

[the-archlich]

So you’ve done your ideal roster for Shu, what about Wei, Wu, and other?

I have received a couple variations on this question.

For each faction I had to ask myself what story I’m trying to tell. Some characters are there because of their achievements; others are there because of the way they would act as foils to other characters. It’s also important to understand that in any given story, you’d see a lot of NPCs who also have importance.

Wei’s story is probably the most straightforward one. It’s all about the Cao’s conquests; pretty simple. Most of the characters are there to support that, while some are included for personal reasons.

Jin’s was the hardest to cut down, in large part because DW only gives them 13 characters and I decided to stick to that restriction. I decided that story would need to focus on the rise of the Sima family and their unification of the former Han empire. This ultimately meant that a lot of people who I wanted to make playable (like Dowager Guo and Xiahou Xuan) got cut - to keep the numbers limited most of the Sima family’s enemies got put in the NPC category. The remaining ones are the people I thought were absolutely essential to the overall narrative.

Wu’s was also very difficult. They also got less characters than Wei and Shu (though not as few as Jin) and have the longest continuous story to tell. While I originally considered restricting that story to a limited span of time that ultimately just didn’t satisfy me. So I focused on having a broad group of characters who could be used to tell every part of the kingdom’s story. Longevity was often an individual’s best friend.

For Others the question was which groups interacted with at least 2 of the 3 main factions. This immediately excluded a lot of groups (like the Nanzhong leaders or Liu Yao’s army); longevity was often a factor in choosing which individuals would best represent those groups. None of these were easy decisions; characters who could reasonably be put in this category but later joined one of the main factions were also favored.

I’m constantly second-guessing these lists, BTW. I’m always asking myself “Okay this person was IMPORTANT but is this a perspective we need to get the story from? Or could their importance be represented as an NPC? Why does this character need to be PLAYABLE instead of just important?” But that’s contradicted by the question of “Will this character actually seem appropriately important if they aren’t playable? Would I just be asking ‘If this person is so important why aren’t they playable?’ Is playability a measure of importance?”

WEI

Cao Cao

Cao Pi

Lady Bian

Guo (Nuwang)

Cao Jie

Xiahou Dun

Xiahou Yuan

Cao Ren

Cao Xiu

Cao Zhen

Xiahou Shang

Xun Yu

Xun You

Jia Xiu

Zhong Yao

Zhang Liao

Yue Jin

Yu Jin

Zhang He

Xu Huang

Zang Ba

Man Chong

Guo Huai

JIN

Sima Yi

Chen Tai

Wang Ji

Guanqiu Jian

Wen Qin

Deng Ai

Zhong Hui

Du Yu

Sima Zhou

Hu Fen

Hu Lie

Zhang Hua

Jia Chong

WU

Sun Quan

Lady Wu

Bu Lianshi

Zhang Zhao

Zhou Yu

Lu Meng

Cheng Pu

Jiang Qin

Ding Feng

Zhu Ran

Lu Fan

Lu Xun

Quan Zong

Sun Luban

Lu Ju

Zhu Yi

Lu Kang

Zhuge Ke

Teng Yin

Wu Yan

Zhuge Jing

OTHER

Yuan Shao

Yuan Tan

Tadun

Shen Pei

Yuan Shu

Sun Jian

Liu Biao

Huang Zu

Zhang Xiu

Wen Ping

Lu Bu

Chen Deng

Ma Chao

[sunshine304]

I am so so sorry that it took me this long to continue my LoF watching posts! RL, y’know. Ep 26 felt like a good place to take a breather, as well, so that’s what I did.

 Anyway, let’s move on to eps 27 and 28!

It’s exposition time! Zhou Fei and ChuChu are at a tea house and hear about an army deserter who was trained on the Mountain of the Immortals (has this been mentioned before... IDK), was poisoned and became a monk. A-Fei thinks this story sounds familiar (indeed it does, indeed it does...) and ChuChu remembers having read sth like this in a book (the book of ... Peng Lai? I think?).

Oh look, Huo Fort becomes relevant again! I forgot about them. Anyway, Huo Lintao, who is now the boss and seems to not be well liked basically everywhere, wants to fight Disha and invites people from Jianghu to his Destroy Disha Assembly (God, I just love that name XD). Li Sheng & 48 Strongholds get an invite and he wants to investigate. Huo Fort is also... attacked by random cultivators I guess?

Meanwhile, let’s check in on Yin Pei! He still can’t deal with his internal injury (loss of internal power? still not sure; I’m assuming it’s sth like severe damage to a golden core in xanxia or even complete loss of one) and scours Old Daoist Master Chongxiao’s rooms for the Phoenix Pill, which... I think gives you lots of power but is also really super dangerous? 

This show sure has lots of useful but also dangerous power restoring/improving pills and needles, huh?

Anyway, Yin Pei takes the pill. He does not feel so good. Uh oh.

Li Yan and Yang Jin go in search for A-Fei again – uhm, didn’t A-Fei simply go into town with ChuChu? Why are they searching for her again, other that Yang Jin wants to fight her because one obvious defeat isn’t enough? I'm guessing there has been a time skip again...

Meanwhile, at Disha Manor! Shen Tianshu is nursing his wounded ego I guess, while Chu Tianyu, an older member, is now supposed to take care of all this drama, but he doesn’t really want to because he’s retired. How many weird members of Disha are there?

Oh okay, so Yin Pei goes kinda crazy because of the scabbard since it seems to be gone, takes more of the Phoenix Pills, which is a fucking stupid idea, we get some exposition that this might turn him into a demon of some sort, and then he kills Chongxiao for the scabbard because he thinks that the old master wants it for himself.

Which, you know, isn’t true, but that’s what you get for being so secretive, I guess. Chongxiao actually wanted the scabbard so a forger could make lots of copies of it, so that Yin Pei can keep the original one. *sigh* Well, too late now. Yin Pei also meets that evil guy from way back in ep 7 or 8 who’d fought Chongxiao and Li Sheng, who calls himself the Black Judge (I’m too lazy to look up his name and hope he doesn’t really become that relevant). 

I’m kinda sad that Yin Pei simply seems to go the “Oops I’m super crazy now“ route instead of having a more interesting redemption arc. I also... don’t really know what he wants to do now? He’s got the scabbard of his father... Are there still people alive he could take revenge on? Disha I guess?

But! The song that plays while Yin Pei confronts Chongxiao is awesome! I'm in love.♥

Back to the main characters, thank you! Xie Yun is really ill and freezing, the poison taking its toll. He’s at the same inn as two new characters (noooo, no more characters, have mercy!) Zhu Chen and Zhu Ying of the small Zhu sect, who are there for that assembly. They eye XY and feel sorry for him. We instantly know that these are Good People.

Aaaaaand introducing another new character, Ying Hecong, Poison Doctor! I know he’s relevant because he’s got a poster!

Of course Zhou Fei just misses Xie Yun in that inn. *sigh* But then she meets Li Yan and Yang Jin there, which is nice. 

Yet another new character!  He’s Black Tortoise Ding Kui and has henchman that are dressed in a rather peculiar way. Is this now the same as with that Azure Dragon guy, and I don’t really have to remember him? He’s from the 4 Guardians Mountain (speaking of which, where tf is Mu XiaoQiao!?).

Okay okay I see now. Everyone is in LingLing for that meet up with the Huo family! Madame Nichang is there too! Ah my beloved! ♥ She tells Xie Yun to follow his heart, and not be stupid and only think of his end. 

Xie Yun is all evasive of course, and then he meets up with Cheng Zichen who of course is also there! Because of this he finds out that Zhou Fei is there, too, which puts him into a conflict. Because his running away was going so well, dammit!

On to Ep 28!

Xie Yun hides out in the carriage with Ling Yu of the Feather Robe Troupe, who slyly comments on him running away from Zhou Fei. He’s sad and says that it’s not A-Fei’s fault and that he’s just an unlucky person who is not good for her. T_T Kill me, why don’t you.

A-Fei has learned a lot and notices XY’s ruse, yay go my heroine!♥

She catches him and they fight, and she asks him about the poison. Zhou Fei obviously suspects ahhhh! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ But of course when XY seems happy that she was looking for him, she goes all haughty again and is like, “It’s only because of the HYTS!“ (although no it was mainly because of him and she looks light she might burst into tears any moment now, too...)

They get distracted by the procession of Black Tortoise Master walking by and A-Fei knocks XY out. They’re even now! XD

Nice to see the whole gang together as A-Fei drags the unconscious Xie Yun to an inn! ChuChu my beloved! ♥

OMG Li Sheng and Yang Jin getting into this peacock fight! XD Li Sheng scolds his sister and Yang Jin is super pissed about it. Li Yan is looking sooo smug, like “Yep that's my very own protective himbo!“ XD

Then Li Sheng is sent off to find Madame Nichang because she at least might know what to do about Xie Yun.

Ding Kui arrives at the Hui Fort. If I understood correctly... Hui Lintao wants to... kill all the cultivators when they arrive for his assembly? Or just those other cultivators that are randomly attacking him? There's traps in the forest they have go through. He specifically mentions that the traps are set after Daoist Master Chongxiao’s design, so hm might Li Sheng be of great help here later? Anyway, that old guy from Disha is there and seems to find all of this very funny. I’m confused.

Mu Xiaoqiao my love!!!!!!! He’s back!!!!  For about 5 seconds but there he is, looking fabulous! ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Ding Kui (who... has left the Huo Fort I guess) wants to work with him and reminds him of his debt to the Huo Fort. I had forgotten about that.

Oh let’s check in for about a minute on Yin Pei, who is still crazy and slaughters some people... uhm somewhere. He also now calls himself the true Master of Clear Light. [at least I think it’s supposed to be his new name?] Nicely written on the door in blood. Okay then.

But the instrumental of his song plays in the background, making all of this much more epic, so it’s fine.

Madame Nichang arrives, is shocked, and states that Xie Yun is poisoned, as A-Fei feared, and he has a year if he doesn’t use his internal force anymore. A-Fei is devastated and we get their love song while she rubs his (supposedly) ice-cold hand. Oh my heart. T_T

Ying Hecong arrives because he wants to see the poisoned guy! XD He has never heard of tact. 

Since A-Fei is desperate she lets him in, and we get some exposition in bits and pieces. Ying Hecong first assumes that XY must’ve been poisoned about a month ago (which fits the fight against Disha, where he used the needle), but wonders how that could be because Lian Sheng (the poisoner known for bone piercing blue) has been missing for a while longer. He lets slip that he isn’t actually a doctor, uhm yeah....

Oh not A-Fei is so sad and crying, nooooo T_T She’s angry at XY, asking why he had to meddle in her affairs and then leave to just die somewhere alone. Oh nooooo.  ಥ_ಥ ಥ_ಥ ಥ_ಥ

(side note: easy scene for Wang Yibo, just lying there the whole time, no lines for once XD)

A-Fei gets the Tianmen Lock from Madam Nichang (a special lock that has a double lock mechanism that is very difficult to open. Md. Nichang actually alludes to this lock being very useful for lovers and I’m like... okay XD). YunFei are kinky as ever, nothing new here – A-Fei is so pissed at XY that she doesn’t want him to have the chance to run away again. XD

Loved how XY complained about the lock destroying his posture. XD And how Zhou Fei’s like, “It’s not my fault you’re bound like that, Li Sheng is to blame!“ while the flashback tells us, that uhm no, he’s not. XD

Ending with A-Fei telling Yang Jin about the Hai Tian Yi Se. Ah they’re important relics it seems. Well whatever. XY listens in.

I really need to keep on watching, it seems stuff is happening.

[knightofhonnor]

Random 3k thoughts and opinions

So, while I was away for three weeks due to no internet and BT’s terrible service, I decided to play some 3k games/media and here are some random thoughts.

First, Dynasty Warriors 7 and XL - still the best DW game, hands down.

The whole benevolence thing in Dynasty Warriors 7 would be somewhat fixed if they defined it as “caring for the people’s welfare” rather than “the feelings of the people”; it would keep the sentiment while actually making sense. Aside from that, the Shu story isn’t the worst.

The Wu story is interesting, even if Sun Quan lacks in the character department somewhat (also, DIng Feng in the ending of Dongxing in 7XL is sad and a good character moment - however they still need more later Wu officers, such as Zhuge Ke and Sun Chen).

The Wei story is the Wei story. Enough said, although the ending is still perhaps the best ending.

The addition of Jin is great, although it is amusing that 3 of the characters they added (Zhuge Dan, Xiahou Ba and Zhong Hui) were killed by what the game defines as “Jin”.

Then, due to be being interested in the “Jin” story for reasons I’ll get to in a minute, I decided to see how Dynasty Warriors 8 handled it.

Badly is the key word. How is it easier to save Xiahou Ba than it is to get the Battle of Hefei Castle? Jia Chong exists to steal the roles of Wang Yuanji and Zhong Hui. Deng Ai barely says anything, which is sad. Zhuge Dan is just worse, and his rebellion (my favourite Jin stage in 7) is a boring, non nonsensical stage.

Concering the hypotheticals, the fact that if you do all the requirements but then go historical means that the game struggles to come up with a reason why it happens. Like Xiahou Ba fleeing after Sima Shi dies, for some reason, and then launching a campaign against Wei (which makes less sense than it would do if you didn’t “save” him).

Speaking of Jin hypotheticals, hey, at least it has the Conquest of Wu!

Finally, I played one other 3k bit of media, and it just so happens to be engaging and interesting, not to mention the best coverage the second half of the period has seemingly gotten. I am, of course, referring to the Legend of Cao Cao mod, Legend of Jiang Wei.

It helps I like the original and the gameplay style. The characters are interesting, and it raises issues and factors I would have never have considered (like how Shu Han had three power groups). It’s a shame that this part of then period doesn’t get as much coverage. 

It’s a shame that the hypothetical path, atleast early on, is effected by leveling issues, which existed in the base game too, so I can’t be too angry.

Also, I can’t seem to “win” Zhong Hui’s rebellion which will always be funny to me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna play Romance of the Three Kingdoms X for the first time, I got Cao Zhi on the personality test.

[shijiujun]

[Eng] History3: Trapped Diary Logbook - Days 18 to 21

♡  Days 18 to 21 of Filming History3: Trapped

Note: These are my translations! Please do not repost anywhere else. I’ve added the photos but I couldn’t scan HQ versions because I didn’t want to damage the book haha sorry about that guys!

Highlights:

Jiang Chang Hui (Steven Chiang), the guy who plays the teacher in History2: Right or Wrong, makes a cameo

This is all I need to say:

Day 18

In the confrontational scene between Hong Ye and Ah De, the most important props were red wine and cheese. The scent of Blue Cheese saturated the air and everyone jokingly said that they thought someone stepped on something (foul). Hong Ye really worked hard eating cheese the whole morning, and when they took a break for food, Diane said that her stomach is all filled with cheese, there’s no more space for rice!

In the few scenes in the morning, Ding Chun Cheng (who plays Dao Yi) didn’t have any lines, and the challenging part was how to perfectly act out his emotions without any lines. The truth of it was that Ding Chun Cheng already looks like a piece of art just quietly sitting there, and Diane joked, “Just now I accidentally met his eyes and I was so nervous that I forgot my lines”. From this we can see that we really should not make light of the amount of charisma Ding Chun Cheng has.

And while today was Hong Ye’s first day of filming, it was also the day she had to cry the most, and Hong Ye said, “Gu Dao Yi, the person who hurt me the deepest, is actually you! It’s me who got used to it, who got used to you protecting me and this habit turned into liking you”. 

During the filming, the director continuously tried to guide Diane through her emotions, so that she could better express the pain and hurt in Hong Ye’s heart. In the end, Hong Ye cried so well that even I as the editor was saddened, and the camera guys at the side also said that the scene was very heart-wrenching.

Steven Chiang came to visit the set! When Steven was filming for Right or Wrong, Diane also visited him on his set, and on that Steven was actually filming his bed scenes. This time, it’s Steven’s turn to visit, and Diane is filming a very important emotional scene. Both filming for the both of them required a lot of thinking to grasp the character and scene, and from History2: Right of Wrong to History3: Trapped, we can see that both of their relationships with the director are very good, and not only do they joke around and chat, but will also exchange thoughts on acting.

Day 19

It’s here!!! The much anticipated Feitang CP intimate scene is finally here! (Make some noise~)

In order to take back the lead on Tang Yi, Shao Fei already made his stand to Vixen Ah De early in the morning, saying “Today I’m going to make out with Tang Yi, bye!” Shao Fei obviously wants to piss off poor Ah De.

On this day of filming, the scene where Tang Yi presses Shao Fei to the wall really scared Officer Meng. When Chris, who’s so much taller than him, pressed him to the wall, all Officer Meng could think at that point was, “I’m done for! I’m about to be attacked!”

Jake said that he was really stunned to his soul, and this was as expected of Tang Yi - his power and aura was so strong, Shao Fei you’ve got to work harder! He definitely can’t lose on his spirit, although that is inevitable considering that the person he loves just had to be a gang leader.

And today’s focus was the main CP’s first intimate scene. From the very first take, Jake and Chris were half naked and showing their torsos until the very end. During the filming process both Jake and Chris would exercise every time they could, so that they could present their best selves to the camera. As for how it ends, everyone please go and watch <<Trapped>> to find out!

Day 20

Team Three’s two dazed and confused members are usually inseparable when they work, and even when they’re dismissed from work they’re still glued to one another, bantering during dinner and making so much noise incessantly.

During one of the scenes where the both of them are seated at the dining table and snatching the meal bento from each other, although in the show the only cut shown was the both of them snatching food and insulting one another, but the director didn’t shout ‘cut’ for a long time, letting the both of them continue to bicker with each other and improvise their lines. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zi began to develop another storyline as he suddenly asked, “How were you taught at home? Don’t tell me the Meng Family’s standards are only just like that?”

Shao Fei of course gave as good as he got, and since the director didn’t shout ‘cut’, he would act with Zhao Zi until the end. “Don’t you speak of my family! I told you not to say that!”

And then Zhao Zi asked again, “Oh that’s right! You’ve never talked about your family, what do your dad and mom do?”

At the sudden turn of script, as the both of them started to delve into each of their character’s backgrounds, Shao Fei replied, “They’re both dead, are you happy now?”

The mystery of their births made everyone on set have to control their laughter, and that was really tough.

After the director shouted ‘cut’, the both of them still continued to discuss their birth, and when they were both studying their characters, the character backgrounds were designed for Shao Fei and Zhao Zi to both have their parents dead, and for both of them to have grown up under the care of their grandparents. With such similar backgrounds, no wonder Zhao Zi and Shao Fei are the best partners, from police academy all the way to now!

Day 21

You want me, Officer Meng, to accompany you to shop? And I’ve still got to carry your big and small bags, isn’t this such a waste of talent on a small matter?!

Jake and Diane originally were classmates from Q Place, but this is the first time they’re working together on a show, and both of them said that acting with each other was really easy and a relaxing experience, with the both of them feeling really comfortable with each other. Their very first show together they are enemies, and they have to argue and bicker with one another noisily in the department store. Hong ye even helped Shao Fei to pick out a pig-print pair of underwear in a lingerie store. There’s a huge story behind this pair of underwear - and the director agreed that Shao Fei should be wearing this kind of underwear! Afterwards, the wardrobe department really bought this underwear, hoping that they would be able to use it during the scenes at the back, even though they ended up not using it.

[offtoljubljana]

118. Het regent pijpenstelen.... in Animal Crossing

18/06/2020

Zo, herinneren jullie dat deze week zeer regenachtig hoorde te zijn? De laatste twee dagen hadden zeer goed weer. 

Ja. De laatste twee dagen. Gisteren is niet echt belangrijk. Merengue is ingetrokken.

Maar ze had geen goed weer.

Gisteren heb ik de hele dag in mijn pyjama gezeten, want waarom ook niet? Dinsdag was al druk genoeg. Ik heb ook Sociologie weer opgepakt nadat ik twee chill dagen heb gehad. Ik moet terug in de flow komen, want ik heb Sociologie 2 maanden laten liggen om te focussen op de andere vakken.

De andere vakken zijn nu voorbij (op de RU vakken na), dus hier ga ik weer. Oh damn, ik heb hier echt geen zin in. Ik ga de hele tijd tussen twee mindsets heen:

“Ik ben zo ver gekomen, nu moet ik het wel afmaken!”

vs.

“... als ik de rest gehaald heb, dan hoef ik dit vak niet meer te halen.”

Ik probeer me vast te houden aan de eerste mindset, maar aan de andere kant wil ik ook gewoon de laatste maand gewoon chillen zonder dat boven mijn hoofd te hebben hangen.

Gelukkig heb ik het rustiger dan bij Jonathan.

Maar ja, het einde komt eraan. Roni, één van de Finse dudes, is terug naar Finland gegaan. 

Dus gisteren was chillen en studeren en verven.

Soms moet je even verf swatchen. In de avond had ik ineens de neiging om de film Love, Simon te kijken en het leek erop dat het universum me hoorde, want toen kwam ik erachter dat Love, Victor online stond. Love, Victor is een spin-off van Love, Simon, dus met nieuwe personages, maar in dezelfde setting. Dus daar ging mijn avond. Ik heb tot half 2 s nachts Love, Victor afgekeken en het was goed, maar ik heb ook best veel scènes met side-characters overgeslagen. I just didn’t care.

Aan de andere kant heb ik de scènes van Victor in New York met Blue en Simon inmiddels 5 keer gezien. 

Dus ja. Love, Victor? I do recommend, maar er was te veel focus op de bij personages. Ze waren niet slecht en de storylines waren oké, maar er was zoveel drama en ik wilde gewoon op Victor en zijn verhaal focussen. 

Woensdag was dus chill dag. Op donderdag (vandaag) werd ik relatief vroeg wakker en het regende weer op Animal Crossing.

Maar buiten dus niet. Huh. Alsnog, het zou keihard regenen, maar de zon was heel fel. 

Ik ging verder met Sociologie en ik ben bijna klaar met mijn kritiek over QAI/CEE, maar ik moet nog maar één deel schrijven. Raad eens wat? De fucking conclusie. 

Rond 15:00 besloot ik dus om naar de stad te gaan voor Open Kitchen. Ik nam de city bike, want nu dat mijn fiets gestolen is, heb ik een jaarabonnement op de city bike genomen. Het kost 3 euro voor een jaar en ik had het nooit eerder gedaan, want ik had al een fiets!

Hah.

De city bikes zijn zeer oncomfortabel, maar er was ook een ander ding. Het irritante gedeelte is dat er soms geen fiets beschikbaar is. Ik kwam aan op de fiets plek en een vrouw pakte de laatste fiets.

Gelukkig kwam er 5 minuten later een nieuwe bij, maar ik woon bij een station dat veel gebruikt wordt. Ik nam dus die nieuwe laatste fiets en ik reed naar het centrum en het was zo warm. Het was niet eens zo warm op dinsdag. In het centrum zie je hoe warm het is op een paar schermen en het was dus 26 graden en felle zon. Het was zo warm dat zelfs de stenen in de schaduw zeer heet waren.

Ik kwam dus aan in het centrum en ik zag al heel snel dat Open Kitchen er niet was. Ik was verbaasd en ik was even bang dat het toch woensdag was, maar nee. De site van Open Kitchen gaf me een antwoord: Open Kitchen was geannuleerd wegens het slechte weer.

Uhhhh.

UHHHHH.

Ik begrijp waarom, want op maandag was er dus een zeer slechte weersverwachting voor vandaag, maar uhhhhhhh.

Dan maar plan B of C. B was die poffertjes. C was McDonald’s kipnuggets. Ik besloot om eindelijk die poffertjes maar te nemen. Nou, cash only. Ik had al besteld, dus ik rende snel naar de ATM. Na vijf maanden ben ik nog steeds niet gewend aan dit cash gedoe. In Nederland zou ik zelfs 50 ct. pinnen (en dan zeg ik vaak: “kan ik deze hele 50 cent pinnen?”), maar hier is er veel cash. Ze gebruiken hier ook nog 1, 2 en 5 centjes. Ik had namelijk mijn kleingeld uit mijn beurs gehaald om te kijken of ik het kon betalen, maar nee en er zijn zoveel bronzen muntjes.

Goed. Poffertjes met poedersuiker, warme witte chocolade en aardbeien:

Dit heb ik willen proberen voor zo lang en hier is mijn “review”: het was goed, maar het was te duur. Het kost extra om toppings te nemen en ik had twee toppings. Het kostte €5 in totaal en het was echt lekker en ik was ook verbaasd dat de combinatie van poffertjes, warme witte chocolade en aardbeien zo goed was. Het vulde niet. De poffertjes waren heel luchtig en het was €5. Is dat duur? Ik kan me oprecht niet meer herinneren wat de normale prijzen in Nederland zijn (maar ik weet zeker dat bijv. een flesje cola in Nederland duurder is dan hier), maar ik denk dat het duur is voor Slovenen.

... hoeveel kost een flesje Coca Cola van 500 ml in Nederland? 

Ah, volgens Google is het €1,45 bij de Spar. Hier is het 69 cent bij de Spar. Nice.

Maar oké. Puffy L’il Pancakes. Het was het lekker, maar het was het niet echt waard. Het is meer Instagram worthy, dan voedsel worthy. Mam kan het waarschijnlijk goedkoper doen. 

Dus ik had nog steeds honger. Dit was geen satisfying lunch en er liepen mensen rond met fruitsmoothies, dus daar had ik ineens zin in. Ik ben normaal niet zo’n smoothie persoon, maar het was mega warm en een koude, fruitige smoothie klonk goed.

En ik weet dat het ook geen geweldige lunch is, maar fuck it. Ik wist echt niet waar ik een smoothie hier moest halen, maar ineens had ik het idee om naar de Maxi Mercator te gaan en dat is gewoon een grote ondergrondse Mercator supermarkt in de fancy Maxi shopping centre. Ik ben er niet meer geweest sinds voor de lockdown. Je kan het vergelijken met de Albert Heijn XL of die mega grote Jumbo in het Maankwartier.

De verse fruitsmoothies stonden meteen voor mijn neus, maar ik keek er overheen, dus ik heb eerst 10 minuten door die hele supermarkt gelopen voordat ik weer bij de ingang kwam. Ik nam mijn aardbeiensmoothie mee naar het universiteitsplein, aangezien dat park dus nu een beetje mijn fave plek is geworden, en het was gewoon warm. In de schaduw was het te doen.

Oh en toen kwamen er 5 politieagenten om een dronken man te arresteren. Wat een dag. Na een tijd nam ik mijn smoothie mee om rond te lopen en ik kwam weer terecht op het plein waar ik mijn poffertjes at. Een kindje zat belletjes te blazen.

Rond 17:00 ging ik terug naar huis en uh ja, ik heb 2 uur op Animal Crossing gezeten om een flower field te maken. En toen moest ik helaas koken, want er was dus geen Open Kitchen.

Shit.

[fffwng]

2019 Golden Pin Design Award Open from Bito on Vimeo.

2019 金點獎頒獎典禮開場影片｜23:59的饗宴

以17SDGs聯合國永續發展目標為題，結合金點獎LOGO和多元風格，創作出17幅與人類景況息息相關的海報圖像。

開場影片即是運用這17幅圖像為材開展出的故事。

輕盈的青鳥就像人類，承受地球環境日漸嚴峻的反撲壓迫，23:59 已然逼近。設計師是否還有創造改變的機會？

The concept of Golden Pin Design Award this year is “Gala @ 23:59,”which raises awareness about the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Bito wants to inspire the design community to take urgent action for sustainability by following #SDGs. We believe that positivity is essential to overcoming this apocalyptic challenge we all face together, and therefore he calls it a “Gala”, linking it together with the time “23:59” to signify the last moment before a new dawn.

The blue bird is like human, undertaking the pressure by severe changes on earth. “23:59” is ticking, do designers really have a chance to change this?

Opening Film Directed by Bito Client：台灣創意設計中心 Taiwan Design Center Creative Director：劉耕名 Keng-Ming Liu Copy Director：黃心怡 Vicki Huang Design Director：莊宜蓁 Jen Chuang Art Director：蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su Producer : 劉妤暄 Tammy Liu Assistant Producer : 林妍欣 Freda Lin

Ideation：劉耕名 Keng-Ming Liu/ 黃心怡 Vicki Huang / 蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su / 王璿甯 Hsuan-Nin Wang /呂秉真 Binbin Lu / 謝鎮璘 Chen-Lin Hsieh /邵偉豪 Wei-Hao Shao / 蔡易廷 Eating Tsai

Design：蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su/ 王璿甯 Hsuan-Nin Wang/ 呂秉真 Binbin Lu/ 謝鎮璘 Chen-Lin Hsieh/ 邵偉豪 Wei-Hao Shao/ 蔡易廷 Eating Tsai/ 郭怡辰 Yi-Chen Kuo/ 賴又綺 Lai-Yu Chi

Storyboard：蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su/ 呂秉真 Binbin Lu/ 邵偉豪 Wei-Hao Shao

Cel Animation： 呂秉真 Binbin Lu/ 林晉葦 Allen Lin/ 黃耀邦 Huang Yao Pang/ 蔡易廷 Eating Tsai / 盧丁衣 Ding-Yi Lu

Painting Artist：王璿甯 Hsuan-Nin Wang/ 蕭惠心 Huei-Sin Xiao/ 蔡香蘭 Hsiang-Lan Tsai/ 周依汝 Yi-Ju Chou

Animation: 蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su/ 黃省元 Olaola Yuan/ 黃鈺凱 Steve Huang/ 邵偉豪 Wei-Hao Shao/ 王璿甯 Hsuan-Nin Wang/ 謝鎮璘 Chen-Lin Hsieh

3D animation: 蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su/ 邵偉豪 Wei-Hao Shao/ 黃鈺凱 Steve Huang/ 高慶和 Chin Ho Kao/ 游家廳 Chia-Ting yu/ 張雅惠 Ya-Hui Chang/ 詹游丞 Yo-Cheng Chan/ 賴姮鳴 Henmi Lai

Editing：蘇暉凱 Hui-Kai Su

CG Character Animation CG Supervisor: 黃思豪 Triston Huang Pipeline TD: 賴大維 David Lai Rigging: 許博翔 Skywalker Xu Animation: 石均宇 Stone Shih Modeling & Texturing: 林哲孝 Tommy Lin

Music & Sound Design: 韓承燁 Cheng-Yeh Han Special thanks: 陳世霖 Shih-Lin Chen (Cellist)