Original, Zang Fou, Qin Shuo Moments
As a costume drama that triggered a craze a few years ago, "The Second Season of Qingyu Nian" has had a significant impact since its launch, and has also aroused a lot of discussion.
One view is that the second season was so much fun that it didn’t "taste right" until around episode 7;
Another view is that compared to the rollercoaster-like emotional experience of the first season, this season’s excitement seems to be insufficient. A closer look at these two opposing views explains what it means to be blind and feel the elephant, that is, to understand things incompletely and stubbornly, and speculate.
In my opinion, the tone of "Qingyu Nian Season 2" has not changed at all. Humor is just the shell of the plot, and its core is consistent, that is, the idealism of the protagonist and the practice of combining knowledge and action.
Many viewers will think that the second season is too funny. In fact, the further they look back, the more they will find that its comedy color is much less than the first season, and it involves more conflicts in the inner values of the characters. The joke points are placed in the front, one is to give fans a sense of familiarity, and the other is to neutralize the overall narrative tone. The emotional trend belongs to "desire suppression first".
But compared to the first season, this season’s "Celebration of More Than a Year" was indeed different. The biggest change in the series was actually to increase the thickness of the content, which was reflected in the plot, which increased the difficulty of the protagonist Fan Xian’s "clearance".
Viewers who have watched the first season of "Qingyu Nian" know that the key to its attraction lies in the "big background" and "golden finger" of the protagonist, that is, "the father is the emperor, the mother is Ye Qingmei, the adoptive father is the official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, with the support of (the head of the spy) Chen Pingping, and the (peerless master) Wuzhu as a bodyguard. If you want to die, you can’t die."
But at the beginning of the second season, on the way back from the mission, the protagonist was already in trouble everywhere.
This increase in the difficulty of consciousness is also accompanied by the increasing burden on the protagonist. The more he cannot do whatever he wants, the closer he is to the center of the storm.
In the words of star Zhang Ruoyun:
"Fan Xian in the first season never thought that he could become the embodiment of idealism, but when the world impacted his values, he wanted to protect more and more things, and inevitably fought against the outside world. Until one day he found that his former retreat no longer existed, and he could only take a solid step forward, which was to move forward to the world depicted by the idealistic Ye Qingmei."
I am reminded of Ken Lodge’s "The Waves of Wheat," about the Anglo-Irish War. Damian, played by Killian Murphy, struggles to see his partner being tortured and killed by the British army, but still embarks on a train to study medicine in London. However, at the station, he again sees British soldiers beating the elderly conductor. Damian stepped forward to support the old man, and finally strengthened his determination to resist.
The relationship between the previous incident and the next incident is not serious, but rather cumulative. It is this accumulation that ultimately shakes the character’s compromise position.
The same is true in the second season of "Qingyu Nian". The end of the lives of every little person at the bottom has forced Fan Xian to rethink the meaning of struggle and give up the concept of being alone in the past.
If the theme of the first season was "seeing oneself", then the second season had entered the stage of "seeing heaven and earth", "passing through is like climbing a mountain, one step at a time", from the dragon wagging its tail to the hidden dragon in the abyss, such internal requirements are bound to increase the seriousness of the plot.
At the drama level, this means that the IP of "Qingyu Nian" has advanced from the idea of "Shuangwen-Game" to the idea of "Literature-Drama". The two modes have completely different requirements for content. The former is a subjective VR perspective, emphasizing "self-interest", and everything serves the protagonist to upgrade and fight monsters; while the latter is an objective panoramic perspective, emphasizing "altruism", with rich side narratives, full of layers of supporting roles, and a serious and complete world view.
Such an internal improvement is not only in line with the long-term thinking of literary and artistic creation, but also in line with the overall thinking of domestic dramas at this stage.
As a full-scale costume drama, the "Yuan" elements of the story of "Qingyu Nian" cover the traditional Chinese martial arts narrative. Such as the domineering true qi in the character’s body, the escort of flying over the eaves, and the easy-to-use poison skills, these settings are all trump cards for the protagonist to perform chivalry and righteousness.
But unlike most costume dramas with martial arts elements, the main battlefield of the "Qingyu Nian" series is in the court, not the rivers and lakes. Especially in the second season, as Fan Xian’s participation in the power game increases, he is more involved in the mystery of the court party and government. Heroes from ancient times to modern times are "born", only Lord Xiao Fan is "entering the world".
In "Han Feizi · Five Worms", it is said that "Confucianism and literature are chaotic, and chivalry is prohibited by force." In "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", Ouyang Chun, the northern hero, will not enter Kaifeng Mansion for the rest of his life. Privilege and Ren Xia are like two sides of a magnet of mutual exclusion. In the second season of "Qingyu Nian", the screenwriters have dug deep into the feasibility of combining them, which is the difficulty of its play and the point of its plot.
The historian Wu Si has specifically analyzed that local novels are rich in martial arts – such as Jin Gu Liang Wen Huang, while Western novels are more about the super rich – such as "Million Pounds", "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Great Gatsby".
Unlike Western readers who devote their fantasies to becoming billionaires, Eastern martial arts projects a supernatural ability to both protect themselves from violence and punish others at will.
Of course, the true masters of chivalry would never abuse violence. Instead, they would scrape and punish evil, do justice for the heavens, see injustice in the road, and draw their swords to help. From Guo Jing, Qiao Feng, Linghu Chong to Fan Xian in "Celebration of More Than Years", this is the case. And with this ability, social status and rewards will follow.
In Wu Si’s opinion, the deep-seated factor for the prevalence of martial arts novels is that in a social environment that lacks property security and order for a long time, the illusion of profitability is not as fundamental as the illusion of harm ability.
After all, without the latter kind of self-defense ability, no amount of wealth can be comprehensive.
In "The Second Season of the Year of Celebration", Fan Xian’s thoughts are on re-establishing order, just like the inscription left by his mother Ye Qingmei:
"I hope that the law of rejoicing in the country will be established for the people, not because of noble tolerance, not because of poverty, no injustice, and no crime imposed. Obeying the law is like a sword, breaking the ghost and worshiping it, and not seeking the gods."
The ninth episode of "Qing Yu Nian Season 2", Deng Ziyue’s heartfelt expression in the hospital, the reason why he can resonate is that he has encountered all kinds of last resort, those who are forced to go with the light, as the audience, we are not unfamiliar.
The story is about ancient people, but it seems to be everywhere today. This is not only a tacit intertext, but also a different kind of expression – some people are still ancient people living in modern times, and in the words of Gu Hongming, "invisible braids grow in the heart"; still others are ancient people, but their thoughts have long been out of their time.
Herman Bloch wrote in The Sleepwalker:
"The world is full of people who belong to different centuries, but they have to live together, even contemporaries. That may explain why they are so unstable and difficult to understand each other reasonably. Nonetheless, there is a sense of solidarity, an understanding that spans time."
The focus of "Qingyu Nian Season 2" is on this: how the protagonist can defend his heart and maintain his values as a modern person in a society where imperial power is supreme.
Regarding equality.
In Fan Xian’s values, the prince should commit the same crime as the common people when breaking the law, and could not regard human life as grass mustard, which was a disagreement that he could not reconcile with a group of powerful people. In the first season, Teng Zijing died to save Fan Xian, and for the adults, "the death was just a guard". In the second season, the vegetable farmer Lao Jin and his daughter were killed one after another. Fan Xian would firmly remember these injustices in his eyes.
About fairness.
Emperor Qing instructed Fan Xian to preside over Chunxi, with the purpose of implicating the fraud cases in previous years and investigating the responsibility of the latter’s prospective father-in-law, Lin Xiang. Emperor Qing’s move killed Fan Xian with one stone and two birds, and it was difficult to care about Fan Xian. If he protected his elders, then he would violate his own moral philosophy; if he enforced the law impartially, he would not only lose his pillar in the dynasty, but also make enemies on all sides and become a complete lone servant.
In the eyes of all those in power outside Fan Xian, the examination room is just a formality, and who can be on the list has long been determined, but in Fan Xian’s view, the Spring Festival is not only an examination, but also a leap in class, which determines the bottom line of social fairness.
Killing relatives with righteousness or giving justice to ordinary students has become a classic "trolley problem". Only by throwing such a situation to Fan Xian can we truly investigate the choices of characters in the face of conscience and interests.
It’s about communication.
No matter for Teng Zijing, Wang Qinian or Gundam, Fan Xian always regards them as individuals with equal personality like himself. His willingness to make friends and refute his royal history is based on his appreciation of the latter’s upright character.
Throughout the plot, Fan Xian has always adhered to this interpersonal principle: don’t talk about using friendship, and don’t use ladders as friends.
Putting together a circle of grass and returning a fortune can only exist in a friendship that treats others with sincerity, not driven by power or interests. Interacting with others for profit can only make relationships, not friends. This path seems shrewd, but it is actually short-sighted.
Because interest relationships were the most fragile, unstable, and least worth investing in. This relationship only existed when both parties had a common interest in something, and when the common interest changed slightly, the relationship would be destroyed in an instant. But even when the relationship existed, deep trust could not be established between each other.
However, in the cognition of a considerable number of people, the relationship of interests is the most reliable relationship. It can only be said that this is a difference in the three perspectives. If such a perception is placed in "Qingyu Nian", it will most likely become Fan Xian’s enemy.
It’s about love.
Fan Xian and Lin Waner, two people who were married by the saint were able to fall in love at first sight, and they fell in love. It was their luck that they met by fate.
But apart from luck, the two had already exchanged opinions. They pursued free love and rejected the idea of family. As for inheriting the financial rights of the "inner treasury", it was even less worth mentioning in Fan Xian’s eyes. Including the eldest prince’s return from the border and his order to marry Northern Qi, he actually made plans to escape the marriage early in the morning.
All those who act honorably in the play, such as Fan Xian and the eldest prince, have a modern view of love, while the second prince who acts deceitfully has a view of love that is not beyond the context of the times. This cannot be regarded as a coincidence on the character, but is actually a masterpiece laid by the creator.
Even Yan Bingyun’s talk of "Qing Guo is more important than His Majesty" is a typical modern value. This is enough to show that the stereotypical Xiaoyan Young Master is not blindly loyal, and his position is not based on fear of power or greed for power, but on the sake of the people under the overall situation.
It is worth noting that many of the values that Fan Xian has maintained, even in contemporary society, are still an ideal that has not been fully realized. It is precisely because the ideal has not been fully realized that this road of loneliness in Fan Xian’s second season is particularly pioneering in practice.
This is precisely the most valuable aspect of the whole story.
//END///
No.5805 Original First Article | Author, Zang No
Original title: "The Second Season of the Year of Celebration": Don’t watch it for free.
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