Text/Bianren Guo Wei
's "Assassin Ye Yinniang" is not a martial arts film, let alone a scenery film.
If you can accept that "The Three-Body Problem" is a kind of brain supplement of modern Chinese history on a cosmic scale, then you may accept the direction of the brain supplement for "Assassin Nie Yinniang" in this article.
It is not the adventures of Yaoqi, but through the experience of Yaoqi in just a few days, it condenses two thousand years of historical fragments, and then projects the dilemma of today. Its pattern is so open that it is difficult for most Chinese-language films to compare, and it is indeed a once-in-a-decade masterpiece.
Literature, art and politics are never mutually exclusive, on the contrary they are never half-assistance. Politics also contains the charm that fascinates artists.
Clothing, props, architecture, and lines are left to more professional friends to appreciate. This article only talks about the plot.
(1)
I don’t know if Hou Hsiao-hsien deliberately caused the audience and the censors to fall into the clouds. Because we have long been accustomed to the fact that the story is king, the techniques are not novel, the conflict is not sharp, and the senses are not stimulating, it is difficult for us to be happy.
Storytelling is a daunting task.
The story of "Assassin Nie Yinniang" itself is not exciting. When your story elements are very conventional, your means, your background, your destination, and your story carrier must be extraordinary. Personally, I think this is a movie that tries to talk about big history, and every clue serves the macro narrative, rather than trying to tell the story of Yao Qi's assassination of Tian Ji'an wonderfully.
Movies, books, and historical facts are three intertwined and distinct threads. To understand what Hou Hsiao-hsien wants to express, a basic method is to compare the three, see what was deleted, added, and adapted from the film, and then analyze his purpose for doing so. To spy on its deep intentions, it requires a knowledge reserve of historical biases, and the audience's thinking is probably mostly left behind from here.
I'm even thinking, if the prototype of the story is not based on the three towns of Heshuo, but Jingke's assassination of Qin or the battle of Chibi, would the audience not be confused?
Wei Bo really existed, and it existed for two hundred years, longer than the Northern Song Dynasty. If Wei Bo's history is the main line, a grand epic could also be made, but Hou Hsiao-hsien did not do that. Note that in the opening credits explaining the background of the story, he put the word Wei Bo in quotation marks.
This is the first hint in the whole article: "Weibo" is not Weibo, or not just Weibo.
The story of the movie "Assassin Nie Yinniang" unfolds when Wei Bo's Jiedushi is passed to the fourth Shitian Ji'an (Zhang Zhen), at a time when Wei Bofan town is facing a major political crisis.
In the mid-Tang Dynasty, the vassal towns fought against the central government, and the most arrogant ones were the "Three Towns of Heshuo" - Youzhou, Chengde and Wei Bo.
In March of the fourth year of Yuanhe (809), the Jiedushi envoy Wang Shizhen (Khitan) in Chengde Fanzhen died of illness, and his son Wang Chengzong established himself as the acting Jiedushi envoy. In order to gain recognition, Wang Chengzong offered Dezhou and Dizhou to the imperial court, but under Tian Ji'an's instigation, he not only quickly repented, but also imprisoned Xue Changchao, the prefect of Dezhou, to prevent him from taking over Dezhou. Tang Xianzong Li Chun advised Wang Chengzong to let Xue Changchao return to the town, but Wang Chengzong refused. In the fifth year of Yuanhe (810), Emperor Xianzong sent Hedong, Yiwu, Youzhou, Henghai, Weibo, and Zhaoyi six towns to attack Chengde, and 200,000 government troops planned to attack Chengde through Weibo.
Xianzong does not appear in the film, but his meaning is very clear - showdown, those who obey will live, those who disobey will die.
Was it called to crusade against Wang Chengzong? Or unite with Wang Chengzong against the imperial court? For the six feudal towns, this is a life-or-death decision. The lines and power struggles of various people in the film revolve around this crisis, because all the contradictions can no longer be covered up.
If you can't read this crisis, you can't read this film.
Hou Hsiao-hsien didn't talk much about the crisis, only the two scenes in the chamber. But without these two scenes, the whole movie would really become a story of Yao Qi's pursuit of kendo. The first scene took place before the crisis and was fictional, while the second scene was cut and reproduced according to the records in the New Book of Tang. After watching these two scenes, I have no doubts that Director Hou Hsiao-hsien has read the relevant passages of "Zizhitongjian" in detail, and a lot of details are taken care of by historical records.
Such strictness is by no means arbitrary.
In fact, Yao Qi (Shu Qi) is not the chivalrous woman Nie Yinniang in "Legend" written by Pei Zhen of the Tang Dynasty. Hou Hsiao-hsien only borrowed part of the character setting and historical background of the original text, or compared with the original book, the film and historical facts closer. The film is dealing with serious historical facts - which I guess is Hou Hsiao-hsien's point of view.
First, let's strip away the rest and start with the political thread. Here, Yao Qi (Shu Qi) is not the protagonist, but a pair of onlookers.
(2)
The three towns of Heshuo were the focus of the Tang Dynasty to cut down the vassal. Whether or not to instigate Wang Chengzong was Wei Bo's choice of whether to maintain political independence or not. Hou Hsiao-hsien showed Wei Bo's political ecology incisively and vividly in the first scene of the House Chamber. This was not an ordinary discussion, but a murderous political line-up. Tian Ji'an stared coldly at everyone present.
The first person to speak was a veteran. He talked eloquently about not embarrassing the imperial court. He treated the lord like a nephew and was not very respectful. Although Tian Ji'an looked contemptuous, he did not suffer. The unknown veteran was carefully arranged by Hou.
Tian Xing, who was the second speaker, showed a high level of emotional intelligence and intelligence. The change Wei Bo was facing was conveyed to the audience through the mouths of him and Lao Jiang - "the imperial crusade army in full swing" just wiped out the Sichuan Festival The imperial envoy Liu Pi and Jiangnan Li Qi, and many vassals and towns were all attached. The imperial court had the ability, confidence, and willingness to eliminate all those who failed. The military pressure Wei Bo faced was enormous.
This passage states such a historical fact: after Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, he made great efforts to govern, reuse the virtuous, and reform the maladministration, thereby achieving the staged results of Yuanhe’s reduction of vassals and reinvigorating the prestige of the central government, historically known as “Yuanhe Zhongxing”. Tian Xing vaguely reminded Tian Ji'an not to move against the current in the face of Xianzong, who was determined to end the separatist rule of the vassal towns.
However, Tian Xing did not directly persuade Tian Ji'an to surrender, but changed the subject and analyzed from Wei Bo's standpoint that the failure of Liu Pi, the Sichuan Jiedu envoy, was due to the short period of separatism and the low level of employment, so that the Tang army fell down and scattered as soon as it arrived. "We have their own situation in the three towns of Heshuo, which is different from Wu and Shu." It has been more than 50 years since the establishment of the vassal (another hint), and after several generations of management, the soldiers and the common people have been cherished for generations and have worked together. The court will not Take Wei Bo to open the knife.
"Although Wang Chengzong and Xue Changchao are not in harmony, they are in-laws after all, and the conflict between the two cannot be outside the vassal. Xue Changchao's interests are still in Heshuo, and they must not be completely instructed by the court. At this time, the lord instigated Wang Chengzong to pursue Xue Changchao, which angered the court in vain. The heavy army came and put Wei Bo in danger." Tian Xing tried his best to imply that he also supported the independent status quo, but only for Wei Bo's sake and should not be an enemy of the imperial court.
This implicit remark still angered Tian Ji'an.
Later, when Emperor Xianzong attacked Wang Chengzong, the "New Book of Tang" recorded that Ji Anmou said: "Wang Shi did not cross the river for twenty-five years, now Yue Wei (referring to Wei Bo) attacked Zhao (referring to Chengde), Zhao Chenglu, Wei Yi What's the matter?" Tian Ji'an was worried that Chengde was indeed the enemy of the imperial court, so was Wei Bo not? Once Master Wang crosses the river, even if there are no jades and stones all burned, Chengde's fall will be a cold one. People are swords and I am fish, and the court will not let Wei Bo go.
Before Tian Ji'an could speak, Tian Xing directly explained to him that Wei Bo didn't have to worry about this situation. Obviously, he had guessed Tian Ji'an's mind, and it was an empty promise to say that unity could escape disaster.
These two points were unbearable for Tian Ji'an.
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Lu Su said to Sun Quan on the decision of whether to surrender or not: "If Su and others surrender, they should return to the township party with Su, because they are tired of officials, so they will not lose the prefectures and prefectures. Where do you belong? No more than a prince, no more than one chariot, no more than one horse, and no more than a few people, how can you be called lonely in the south! Everyone’s wishes should be considered for themselves, and they should not be listened to. Generals should make plans early.”
Coincidentally, Sun Quan in the movie "Red Cliff" is also played by Zhang Zhen, who is in a similar situation to Tian Ji'an. Therefore, for the same point of view, the veteran said directly and disrespectfully that he could endure it, but Tian Xing, the cousin of the uncle, said it euphemistically, but it made him furious. Tian Ji'an's eyes were ferocious, and he suddenly roared and threw Leopard Town in his hands, and quickly demoted Tian Xing to appeasement on the grounds that the Linqing border was troubled.
On the night that Tian Xing was demoted, Tian Ji'an told his concubine Hu Ji that these old people actually spoke for the court. He could not tolerate the "imperial faction" who cherished loyalty to the central government, while being detached from himself.
At that time, there was a third important official in the council room, and that was Yao Qi's father, General Nie Feng. In the whole scene, Mr. Ni Dahong, who played Nie Feng, didn't say a word, or even changed his eyes and movements, but the audience couldn't feel Nie Feng's existence all the time. He is the one who accurately grasps Tian Ji'an's mentality. His maturity has preserved the "imperial faction" and the overall situation. Chengfu is obviously deeper than Tian Xing.
Four people, two paragraphs, smashed a leopard town. It tells about the changes in the historical pattern, expresses the position, mentality, city government and character of everyone caught in the whirlpool of history, explains the relationship between them, and at the same time promotes the plot and fits the history. Clouds are turbulent, undercurrents are surging, swords and bloods are shadows, and thunder is silent. This is the level of a master.
Seeing this, Tian Ji'an, who punished the "imperial faction", seems to have been labeled as the spokesperson of the "Weibo separatist force", which is undoubtedly a stumbling block to the unification of the Tang court. The story of Yao Qi actually revolves around whether to remove this stumbling block for Tang Ting.
If you don't have a good understanding of the history of the town, you may have no idea what complicated situation Yao Qi is facing.
(3)
From Tang Xuanzong Li Longji to Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, in the period of about 250 years, there is only one word that can be called the key word of Chinese political life - fan town. To explain in modern language, a vassal is a military area set up in the border area, and the main leader of the vassal, Jiedushi, is in charge of the military forces in the area and presides over the local military work.
The backbone of the Tang army was originally the government soldiers. To put it bluntly, they were self-cultivation farmers with military membership recruited by the central government. However, a hundred years after the establishment of the Tang Empire, the line of defense was extended, wars were frequent, and military service was heavy, causing people to evade service and soldiers to flee; at the same time, land annexation became more and more serious, and there were fewer and fewer self-cultivators, which seriously shook the economic and human foundation of the military system. .
By the time of Xuanzong, the government troops were no longer sustainable, but the frontier problems were still dangerous, and they had to change their ways.
The core of Xuanzong's military strategy reform was the vassal town. He greatly expanded the garrison town, and changed the "inside the system" government military system to a "society-oriented" recruiting system. At the same time, the powers of the vassal towns were expanded, and the Jiedushi began to grasp the local financial power to solve the logistical needs and relieve the financial pressure of the central government; the vassal towns had the administrative power of several states under their jurisdiction, so as to effectively carry out military operations. As a result, the military power, financial power and political power of the vassal towns were integrated into one person. The centralization of power in vassal towns originated from the efficiency defect of centralization, and was also a compromise between the county system and the enfeoffment system. The contradiction between centralization and efficiency ran through the entire history of China after the Qin Dynasty, and it remains the same to this day.
However, after the "household contract of production", the fully motivated Jiedu envoys all used the expansion of territory as a means of securing officials and making a fortune, fiercely recruiting troops. The vicious expansion of the recruiting system led to the soldiers leaving with the generals. So it's mainly men who mess up politics, don't put the blame on Yang Yuhuan too much.
Fanzhen's first rebellion against Tang led to the eight-year Anshi Rebellion.
It is impossible to test how many Chinese people died in this war. However, after the Tang army quelled the rebellion, the "Zizhitongjian" recorded that "it is the age of the year, and the Ministry of Households reported that the households were more than 2.9 million, and the mouth was more than 16.9 million." This is the same as the pre-war prosperous Tang's at least 60 million taxpayers. Compared with the statistic, seven out of ten. That is to say, the sum of the deaths caused by the war and the fleeing and separated population should not be less than 30 million. According to the "Old Tang Book: Guo Ziyi's Biography", the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River was desolate and the people were displaced.
The so-called misfortunes do not come singly, and the Tubos took advantage of the fire to rob the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and conquered Longyou, Hexi, and once captured Chang'an. According to the outline of "Assassin Nie Yinniang", the twins Princess Jiacheng (there is a real person) and Princess Jiaxin (the master of Yaoqi) took refuge in Taoist temples during the invasion of Tubo, and Princess Jiaxin also took refuge in the Taoist temple. Thus became a Taoist nun. The Tang Dynasty prospered and declined, and it was stagnant, which eventually led to the complete loss of the Western Regions, marking the complete defeat of Tang in the contest with Dashi for Central Asia.
However, Tang Ting's nightmare did not end. After the rebellion was pacified, there were many new and annexed vassal towns in order to suppress the rebellion, and the military commander Jiuzhen in one place led to the hereditary phenomenon of Jiedushi. On the surface, many feudal towns respected the imperial court, but they had their own set of laws and official titles, and they did not levy taxes, forming an independent regime. The Tian Mansion in "Assassin Nie Yinniang" is splendid, like a palace, and the clothes of Tian Ji'an's family are also luxurious and noble. These are all beyond the etiquette, suggesting that the Tian family did not abide by the royal family. The Tang Empire entered the era of warlords' separatist melee. In "The Change of the Jingshi", Chang'an was once again captured by the rebels, and while the palace was sacked, 77 children of the Tang court clan who failed to evacuate in time were slaughtered by the rebels.
The catastrophe brought by the division to the country and the nation is enormous. Princess Jiacheng, Princess Jiaxin and Tang Xianzong Li Chun all grew up witnessing all kinds of tragedies in the world, and they knew that separatism would eat people, and unification was their common political ideal.
Princess Jiacheng is the melancholy lady who played the qin and told the story of Qingluan in Yaoqi Memories. Twenty-five years before the film started, she married Tian Ji'an's father in order to stabilize the relationship between Wei Bo and Tang Ting. In the film, when she parted with the emperor, she promised not to let the Wei army cross the Yellow River for 20 years to ensure peace.
In the original book "Nie Yinniang", Yao Qi's master was a nun, and the film was adapted as a Taoist nun with a background of the Tang Dynasty royal family, which turned the purpose of the assassination in the original book - Xingxia, into a political murder. As for turning a nun into a Taoist nun, it is a matter of opinion whether it is to correspond to Li Tang's self-proclaimed descendant of Laozi Li Er.
Princess Jiaxin, who had experienced the An-Shi Rebellion, taught Yao Qi to kill a single husband and thief and save thousands of people, so Tian Ji'an, the spokesperson for the "Weibo separatist forces", was punished.
Is that really the case?
(4)
The passages recording Tian Ji'an in the New Book of Tang and Old Book of Tang all mention that he was rather self-indulgent, indulged in alcoholism, jealousy, and was addicted to murder. It is said that Hou Hsiao-hsien also filmed the scenes showing Tian Ji'an's brutality, but they were all cut in the end, which is a very interesting treatment. Whether Tian Ji'an is a good person or not has nothing to do with killing him or not - this is the logic of politics. The reason for killing Tian Ji'an can be made purer only by not showing Tian Ji'an's darn thing - separatist tendencies are not tolerated by the imperial court, this is what Hou Hsiao-hsien wants to tell the audience.
This is also Hou's outstanding point, which transcends the level of general moral criticism. The concept of chivalry in traditional Chinese culture originally refers to the maintenance of morality, benevolence and social well-being, and chivalry needs to occupy the moral high ground. For example, the assassin Wuming in the movie "Heroes" gave up assassinating Qin, just to maintain the unity of justice, for the common interests of the world, and to reflect the spirit of chivalry. The original work "Nie Yinniang" is about a chivalrous girl, but there is almost no virtuous side in the film.
In fact, in the first three paragraphs of Yao Qi's appearance, the description of the first two assassination targets is also consistent. The first officer was marching, the banners were fluttering, and the guards were like a forest. It only indicated that he was a powerful man with military power, but he did not show that he was doing evil. Only the master (Princess Jia Xin) told Yao Qi to kill a single husband and thief and save thousands of people. Yao Qi didn't know who he was, but just obeyed the teacher's orders. Yao Qi is not a person here, but a tool for murder, which is the duty of an assassin. As for the real reason for the assassination of the first official, only Master Jia Xin knew.
In the second paragraph, the first long shot of the whole article appeared, which was used to show the scene where the second officer was playing with the child. No matter whether this person is good or evil, he must be a kind father, all of which are seen by Yao Qi, who is hidden in the beam of the house. Please pay attention to two details - after seeing Yao Qi, the subconscious action of the officer was to protect the sleeping child in his arms; when Yao Qi turned and left, the officer who experienced the moment of life and death did not shout "catch the assassin" or immediately He drew the knife desperately, but first carefully placed the child on the couch, lest he would wake up, and then threw a sword at Yao Qi in a panic. Father's love is like a mountain, Yao Qi's human nature does not allow her to take the life of a senior officer at this time, or the master did not give her enough reasons to kill this person.
The first time was to kill a stranger, the second time was to kill his father, and the third time was to kill his own cousin, which more and more impacted Yao Qi's bottom line of human relations. However, neither the master nor Hou Hsiao-hsien explained the real reason for the assassination, so that many viewers really thought that Yao Qi assassinated Tian Ji'an for the sake of kendo.
What is the reason for the murder? Does this count as a warrior? The predicament of human nature makes Yao Qi a killer who cannot kill.
What kind of person is Princess Jiaxin who asked Yao Qi to kill? She first said "kill a single husband and thief and save thousands of people", which is obviously a righteousness, which is related to her political stance, choice of methods and childhood experiences. Then she instructed Yao Qi, "If you meet this generation later, cut off your love first, and then make a decision." When this happens in the future, kill the child first. When Yao Qi went to assassinate Tian Ji'an, he said, "Your swordsmanship has been accomplished, but your swordsmanship is not yet. Now I will send you back to Wei Bo to kill your cousin Tian Ji'an."
What absurd and brutal logic are these? However, this is the logic of politics. There is no good, no evil, no human relations and bottom lines. There is only "righteousness", and only Tang Ting's iron and blood will destroy all obstructions and restore the unification of the country.
This makes people feel sadness and pain from the bottom of their hearts, but this is the true historical appearance with a fishy smell in the wind, and it is also Hou Hsiao-hsien's expressionless historical criticism. Yao Qi's entanglement and hesitation are the helplessness of human nature in the face of political storms.
(5)
Hou Hsiao-hsien has a deep understanding of politics and history, and some historical facts he did not directly show in the film, we can extend it here. Four years ago, Tang Xianzong Li Chun was forced to abdicate his father Tang Shunzong Li Song to get the emperor's throne. After the abdication, Shunzong died suddenly. Historians generally believe that Xianzong killed his father to consolidate his power, but there is also controversy. We can boldly assume that this is the reason why Princess Ka Shing in the film grieved and hemopated blood and her jewels were broken after hearing the news of her nephew's death. Mother Nie also told Yao Qi that the white peonies that were brought from the capital by the marriage to hundreds of plants, all withered away overnight.
There is no historical record of the scene of Princess Jiacheng's death, but the film's tragic and poignant portrayal of Jiacheng's death through the mouth of Nie's mother is also deeply hidden. The Tang court's clan was cut off from each other, which made Princess Jiacheng, who sacrificed herself for peace, feel extremely desperate. Otherwise, the death of the emperor's nephew would not have brought such a big emotional impact to her who had been married to Weizhou for 20 years. Her sacrifice did not bring peace, but just won Tang Ting a respite for 20 years. Once his strength is restored, Tang Ting will definitely set out to pacify the feudal towns that are not subject to control. The balance of power that maintained the peaceful status quo no longer existed, and the white peony, which symbolized the blood connection between the imperial court and Wei Bo, withered overnight.
The two sides turned hostile, and peace was at stake.
Yao Qi must have learned of Princess Ka-shing's death long ago, but she may have realized the sadness and despair of Ka-shing's death only when her mother told the sad scene. This made Yao Qi burst into tears, covered her face with a cloth, and wept in a muffled voice. The film later mentioned another historical fact through the mouth of the guard Xia Jing (Ethan Ruan): Tian Ji'an's father Tian Xu also killed his cousin Tian Yue's family to seize the supreme power of Wei Bo, and he was suspicious all his life for this. He died suddenly at the age of thirteen.
The troubled times have left everyone scarred, and this is the world in which the characters in the play live.
It is such a court that is determined to end the division with a ruthless iron fist that is about to face off against Wei Bo and other vassals. In the face of this giant beast that has been activated, the world may usher in another catastrophe if it is not careful. On this occasion, before Tian Ji'an instigated Wang Chengzong to fight against the imperial court, Princess Jiaxin had arranged for Yao Qi to launch an operation to assassinate Tian Ji'an, which was obviously a preventive political murder, not a swordsmanship.
Tian Xing was demoted because he was deeply loved by his soldiers and aroused Tian Ji'an's suspicion. But none of these situations are explained, you can't see how sinister Tian Ji'an is, Hou Hsiao-hsien deleted all the damn content of Tian Ji'an, or explained it very vaguely. Then should Yao Qi kill him?
Princess Jiaxin said at the end of the film: "Kendo has no relatives, so I don't have to worry about the saints." Her so-called kendo alludes to the cold rules of survival in the cruel world, and the ethical debate should be left to the saints. Angry-eyed King Kong is the heart of a bodhisattva, saving the common people and giving up their little affections - this is also the logic of King Qin who killed millions of people in exchange for long-term peace in the movie "Heroes".
Seeing that the child is cute, she can't bear to do it, and Yao Qi, who is crying when she hears the princess's sad scene, obviously has the benevolence of women who are generally regarded as derogatory by us, and it is difficult to agree with Jia Xin's worldview. In the government hall, when returning Jue, when saving Hu Ji, Yao Qi could kill Tian Ji'an at any time, but she never started. The act of assassinating her cousin for the imperial court created a tear in her heart.
Another reason is the emotional bond between her and Princess Jiacheng and Tian Ji'an.
The melancholy Princess Jiacheng once taught her the guqin in front of the hall and told the story of Qingluan dancing in the mirror: "The king of Jibin won a Qingluan, but he did not sing for three years. Some people say that when Luan sees the same kind, he sings. Seeing the shadow and screaming, I danced to the mirror all night long, and never stopped."
Princess Jiacheng, who once stopped her twin sister from killing her husband Tian Xu, did not use violence as a means to solve the problem. She believed that her perseverance and sacrifice could bring peace to the court and Wei Bo. To this end, she did not hesitate to marry Tian Xu, a warlord who killed her cousin's family, dismissed the accompanying entourage from Chang'an, and brought up Tian Ji'an, whose biological mother was from a humble background, as her own son, fulfilling her 20-year promise not to let Wei Jun cross the Yellow River, and she ended up alone. To die in a strange land. "One person has no peers" is one of the slogans of this film. Princess Jiacheng refuses to agree with the inhuman logic of troubled times. Blood is thicker than water, human relations can be redeemed, and destruction can be prevented. This is her insistence.
In this troubled world, this great woman has no peers.
When Tian Ji'an was 15 years old, Princess Jiacheng took out a pair of jade pieces presented by her elder brother, one for Tian Ji'an to congratulate, and the other for Yao Qi, the daughter of a general of the "Imperial Court". I hope that the cousins and sisters will form a good relationship, and I also hope that peace can continue in the next generation.
Princess Jiacheng is the spiritual mother of Tian Ji'an and Yao Qi.
Yao Qi knew that she and Jiacheng were of the same kind, but since Jiacheng was dead, she not only became a person who had no kindred, but also destroyed Jiacheng's political ideals by herself through "unparalleled human relations".
The core of the contradiction is Tian Ji'an, who has abandoned the ideal of Princess Jiacheng and made Yao Qi love and hate it.
(6)
Tian Ji'an's whole life was spent in political divisions.
When I returned the jade for seven nights, Tian Ji'an told his concubine that when he was a child, he had a high fever and could not be saved. He also prepared a small coffin, so he tried the local method suggested by his uncle Nie Feng, and wrapped him in a bamboo mat. Standing in a cool place, for three days and three nights, the fever subsided. He remembered that in the gap between the dazed and ignorant bamboo strips, he felt that not far away, there was a gaze that never left. It was Yao Qi's gaze, and no one could pull it away. Ji An understands his adoptive mother Princess Jiacheng's intention to match the two, but his father has his own plans.
Yuan Yi of Zhaoyi Fan Town brought more than 5,000 Ma Lian family members to serve Wei Bo and became a relative. Since Tian Ji'an is not a direct son, in order to ensure that he can successfully inherit the feudal lord and inherit his ideal of guarding peace, Princess Jiacheng agreed to a political marriage with the Yuan family and sacrificed Yao Qi. Yao Yao's departure seventy-three years ago was related to the dissolution of the bond between the Nie Tian family.
Thirteen years later, the reality has proved that Yao Qi's sacrifice is worthless. This is the fate she shares with Princess Jiacheng.
At the beginning, the resistance of Yao Qi and Tian Ji'an's love was power, and even Princess Jiacheng chose to betray her. When she was young, Yao Qi was probably very sad and angry, and staying away from sadness was also the reason why Nie Feng sent her to go with the Taoist nun. Power has brought her a lifetime of pain, and today she has to kill for power. To give an inappropriate example, just like Romeo and Juliet, who cannot be combined due to family blood feud, have to fight for blood feud, which makes her the person she hates the most. She has no one to say about this sadness, only crying in front of her mother with a mask, and crying when the teenager wearing the mirror bandages her wounds.
This is the pain of their youth, and it also alludes to Tian Ji'an's involuntary political life, including marriage. In War and Peace, Tolstoy borrowed the words of Metternich Rumyantsev: Emperors are slaves of history. The higher the weight, the more obedience to the development law of the current situation.
This is Tian Ji'an's destiny.
Tian Ji'an's second scene is also the second scene of his principal, Tian Yuanshi (Zhou Yun). When Yaoqi reconnaissance Tianfu ran into Tian Yuanshi's and his two young sons, Tian Yuanshi had only one very ceremonial appearance. ——This is also the appearance of Yuan Family, another political force of Wei Bo. Tian Ji'an asked about the encounter with the assassin, and the lady Tian Yuanshi only lightly wrote: "The woman in black who Li'er and Xun'er met while playing Ju Ju, doesn't seem to be hostile." As a weak woman, her calmness is surprising. In addition, the information that Tian Yuanshi and Tian Ji'an have three children is also conveyed through the long shot in this scene. Combined with the details of Tian Ji'an letting his eldest son Tian Huaijian sit in the council hall, it can be concluded that the son born by the Yuan family will surely occupy the throne of Wei Bo's heir.
Then came the appearance of the assassin Jing Jing'er, which conveyed two messages. First, Jing Jing'er was related to Tian Yuan's clan. Second, in addition to the seven masters and apprentices, there was another hostile "shadow force" in the film. In the original work of "Nie Yinniang", Jinger and Kong Konger were both subordinates of Tian Ji'an, but in the film they became the forces of the Yuan family.
Both Tian Yuanshi and Jingjinger are played by Zhou Yun, and Princess Jiacheng and Princess Jiaxin are both played by Xu Fangyi. This arrangement obviously implies two sides of one body. Jiacheng and Jiaxin have the same political stance, the difference is their attitude towards violence; the difference between Tian Yuanshi and Jingjinger is only one face and one inside, referring to the two sides of conspiracy and conspiracy of the same political force.
Princess Jiacheng competes for the next generation, and Tian Yuanshi also competes for the next generation; Princess Jiaxin and Yaoqi engage in assassination, and Jingjinger and Kongkonger also engage in assassination. It cannot be said that your brainwashing is noble and mine is contemptible; your assassination is a revolution, and my assassination is a counter-revolution, right? Behind the high-sounding are naked power struggles.
The fundamental difference between the two sides is still the sharp line of unification and division. Tian Ji'an is the one caught in the middle, dancing on several eggs.
(7)
According to the "New Book of Tang", Tian Xu's guest Zuoqiu Jiang, who angered Tian Ji'an for some reason, was demoted to Xia County Commander, and then recalled. Tian Ji'an buried him alive on the side of the road. The movie has made a major adaptation of this - this is no longer what Tian Ji'an did, but implies that the Yuan family assassinated Qiu Jiang. With such a cruel precedent, the audience can see how fierce the struggle between Wei Bo's "clan" Tian family and "foreign relatives" Yuan family is.
Tian Ji'an had a clear understanding of the political situation in the domain, so his anger turned into anger. After demoting Tian Xing, in order to prevent someone from intercepting him halfway, Tian Ji'an ordered Nie Feng to escort Tian Xing to Linqing. Before leaving, he specifically called Nie Feng "uncle" to show that he, Tian Xing and Nie Feng are a family whose blood is thicker than water after all. In addition, she also stared at Tian Yuanshi's eyes and said, "I don't want Qiu Jiang to be buried alive again." The vicious "Fanzhen faction" shouted.
Tian Ji'an could easily dismiss the "court faction", but he could not control the "fan town faction" at all. Wei Bo's political power comparison was quite clear. Although Tian Ji'an was unwilling to submit to the imperial court, he did not attempt to break with the imperial court. Therefore, he had to protect the "court faction" to prevent the "fan town faction" from taking over power and really falling into conflict with the imperial court. Politics outside the domain must be based on serving the politics within the domain.
But the contradiction has obviously intensified to the point of life and death. The Yuan family didn't listen to Tian Ji'an's warning at all, and the killer group that assassinated Tian Xing was still dispatched. If it wasn't for the mirror-grinding boy and Yao Qi to save each other, I'm afraid even Nie Feng would have to join in.
At the same time, the contradiction between the "Fanzhen faction" represented by Tian Yuanshi and Tian Ji'an also intensified.
The cause is a palace fight.
The concubine Hu Ji was pregnant. In order to prevent Tian Yuanshi from being poisonous, she used chicken blood to pretend to be menstruation and tried to get away with it, but the result was noticed by Jiang Shize, the slave of Yuanshi. Yuan Shi immediately asked Kong Konger to use sorcery, trying to take advantage of Wu Ji's weakness to kill her. Wu Ji was rescued by Yao Qi, and then the guard Xia Jing discovered that the paper figurine who hurt Wu Ji was exactly the same as the one his father picked up when Tian Xu died, and believed that Tian Xu might also have died from the Yuan family's assassination. Tian Ji'an immediately sent troops to shoot Kong Konger, who was manipulating the paper figurines, and put on a stance to clear up a fight, killing him happily.
The "showdown" with Tian Yuan's is Tian Ji'an's most meaningful scene. If there is no finishing touch to this scene, the entire paragraph will be a vulgar palace fight.
Facing Tian Ji'an, who drew his sword, Tian Yuanshi was not only fearless, but even had a trace of contempt in his eyes. The eldest son Tian Huaijian also bravely opened his arms to protect his mother, which made Tian Ji'an helpless. You must know that Tian Ji'an was able to successfully sit on the feudal lord at the age of fifteen because of his marriage with the Yuan family. How could it be easy to liquidate the Yuan family? Could he really kill the mother of three sons?
Tian Ji'an, like Yao Qi, cannot cut off human relations.
From a deeper perspective, Tian Ji'an not only needs the "court faction" to prevent the "fan town faction" from completely controlling Wei Bo, but also needs to use the "fan town faction" to check and balance the "court faction" to prevent Wei Bo from completely falling to the Tang court. When the Tang Dynasty government army was about to arrive, Tian Ji'an could not carry out a major purge, and took the initiative to reduce his weight in the game with Tang Ting. Winning the future will also win the present. As long as the fact that Tian Yuanshi's son is Wei Bo's heir does not change, no one will dare to let go of the Yuan family. No one dared to let their hands be stained with the blood of the future lord and mother's family, Tian Yuanshi defended the family with his womb.
It is said in the film that Tian Xu also died in the Yuan family assassination. This adaptation is actually Hou Hsiao-hsien implying that in the dangerous political struggle, the lord may be attacked by his ministers at any time. This kind of "down to the top" thing is actually commonplace in the era of the feudal town. If Tian Ji'an breaks with the Yuan family, it is not known who will kill the deer.
Therefore, Tian Ji'an hysterically smashed the screen and could only scramble out the door, leaving Tian Yuanshi, who was not afraid, to calmly greet the next person to clean up the mess. To put it another way, Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, accomplished the matter of raising his youngest son and killing his mother. This emperor "has the end of human relations and the way of swordsmanship".
After this turmoil, Yao Qi, who was hesitant, recognized Wei Bo's situation. Under the current political situation, Tian Ji'an should not be killed. This is not only a human relationship, but also because only Tian Ji'an can stabilize the situation in the domain. If Ji An dies, his son is young and the situation is out of control, the "court faction" and "fan town faction", "the imperial family" and "foreign relatives", the generals of the Tian clan and the generals of the Yuan clan, who are already armed with swords and guns, will surely fall into a more cruel situation. fight.
Yao Qi gave up the assassination and came to the master to apologize, which was also a great grace. She told her master that if Tian Ji'an was killed, Wei Bo would be in chaos. The master said, "The way of swordsmanship is ruthless, and you don't have to worry about the same as the saints. You have mastered your swordsmanship, but you can't cut off human relations!" In
other words, the master did not accept her reasoning. Master doesn't care whether Wei Bo is chaotic or not, and it can even be understood that Wei Bo's chaos is more conducive to the unification of the Tang army, and the lives of Wei Bo's soldiers and civilians can be sacrificed for "righteousness".
Yao Qi turned around and left, walking down the mountain. The master suddenly attacked from behind, and Yao Qi instinctively fought with the master in an instant. After a moment, the master and the apprentice stopped and stood still, and the master's white clothes had been cut by Yao Qi's horned dagger. Yao Qitou went straight down the mountain without turning back.
She ended up not accepting Master's "kendo".
This scene is also meaningful. When Yao Qi failed to assassinate the second chief officer, the master did not drive her away, and this time there was no sign of driving her away. So Yao Qi took the initiative to break with her master, not because she couldn't kill her relatives righteously, but because she couldn't use her master's "righteousness" to persuade herself to kill her relatives.
Only by breaking with Master completely can we return to human nature from a murder tool.
(8)
But for Wei Bo, Yao Qi's story doesn't solve any problems. The political crisis proposed at the beginning of the film still exists, and Wei Bo still has to face the squeeze of Tang Ting's power to cut the vassal. This is the second scene in the council hall. As mentioned earlier, this scene was copied according to the records in the "New Book of Tang".
Historically, Tian Ji'an's original plan was to annihilate the Tang army in the territory of Wei Bo.
Tan Zhong, the envoy of Wei Bo, who was dispatched to Youzhou Fanzhen, heard about the plan and said to Tian Ji'an: "A few years ago, Wang Shi was able to conquer Sichuan and Jiangnan, and the plan was well planned. It was the strategy of the prime ministers. , instead of sending old ministers and generals, but entrusting them to eunuchs (referring to the eunuch Tutu Chengcui beside Xianzong), instead of mobilizing national troops but using troops from Qindi (around Chang'an), this shows that this is the emperor's own strategy, the purpose It’s to praise the subordinates.”
Because it has nothing to do with the main line, the interesting content of the above insight into people’s hearts has been cut out by Hou Hsiao-hsien, and the emphasis is on the second half.
"If Master Wang has not yet arrived at Da De Fan Town this time, and is eliminated in Wei Bo, it means that the emperor's strategy is not comparable to that of the prime minister. How can the emperor not feel ashamed? Humiliating the emperor will make him angry, and he must mobilize the world's elite soldiers. Cross the river again, and go straight to Wei Bo's shame."
Tan Zhong suggested to Tian Ji'an that the Tang army entering Wei Bo should be rewarded heavily, and Wei army should be sent to participate in the crusade. At the same time, he secretly wrote a letter to Chengde to fight a tacit understanding, and asked Chengde to throw a city to Wei Bojun, so that Wei Bo could dedicate it to Tang Ting to explain the errand, so as to overcome the difficulties at hand.
The movie "Assassin Nie Yinniang" faithfully reproduced the second half of Tan Zhong's suggestion. Tian Ji'an just listened to his generous speech without saying a word, and did not express his position. An open ending, leaving the audience to speculate. Although more than half of the historical materials have been cut out, there is only this passage in the film, which still vividly reflects the social reality of the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the endless battles between the fan towns and the fan towns, the fan towns and the imperial court.
In history, Tian Ji'an obeyed Tan Zhong's advice, and on the one hand, he attacked the town of Chengde with great fanfare, and on the other hand, he secretly conspired with Chengde to obtain Tangyang and dedicate it to the court. Wei Bo fooled the crisis. As for Tang Xianzong Li Chun's massive expedition, due to the false promises of various vassal towns, as well as the mutual communication between the court's traitors and Wang Chengzong, 200,000 troops will return without success. Serious setback.
None of these historical contexts are presented in the film. Regarding the contradiction between unity and separatism, Hou Hsiao-hsien tried his best to avoid implying an ending and revealing a certain political inclination. In fact, this war is far from the end of history. Regarding Wei Bo's fate, let's go back to the original work of "Nie Yinniang".
(Nine)
The Nie Yinniang in "Legend" written by Pei Chen is a chivalrous girl. The main line of her heroic story is that she rescued Chen Xujiedu envoy Liu Changyi many times by fighting Jing'er and Kong Konger bravely. However, there is no such thing in the movie. The role of Liu Changyi appeared. The plot in the movie is that Yao Qi rescued his uncle Tian Xing.
Tian Xing is also a real historical figure. During the Yuanhe period, he was the protagonist of Wei Bo's story.
In August of the seventh year of Yuanhe (812), that is, two years after the end of Nie Yinniang's story in the movie, Tian Ji'an died violently at the age of thirty-two. His son Tian Huaijian was eleven years old, and everything about Wei Bo was decided by Tian Yuanshi, but in fact, the power fell into the hands of the family boy Jiang Shize. Tian Xing, who had been demoted for two years, was recalled and reinstated.
As a result, Jiang Shi treated things unfairly, causing the anger of the three armies, and they all demanded that Tian Xing be established as the military governor. Tian Xing refused to be the Jiedu envoy and asked the soldiers who were begging on the ground to agree to submit to the imperial court, and only then went to the government office to discuss matters. Tian Xing only beheaded more than a dozen people including Jiang Shize, and did not expand the scope of the coup slaughter, thus protecting Tian Ji'an's family, and then made his appearance to the court. Emperor Xianzong soon officially appointed Tian Xing as Wei Bo's military governor, and gave him the name Hongzheng.
The story of Hou Hsiao-hsien's rescue of Nie Yinniang to rescue Liu Changyi and grafting it onto Tian Xing actually casts the shadows of Liu Changyi and Tian Hongzheng on the character of Tian Xing. Both of them are symbols. What they have in common in history is that they are both hard-core "court factions". Although they have the ability and opportunity to separate themselves, they are loyal and stick to ministers' festivals. Both in the original work and in history, they are in line with China's mainstream values. positive character.
This depicts a key feature of the vassal era—the Tang court could eliminate some military envoys, but could not eliminate the vassal system.
As explained in the previous article, the reason why Xuanzong expanded his vassal town was because the social and economic foundation of the government military system had been destroyed. At the same time, the war pressure in the period of the vassal towns did not weaken, but increased, and the central government was simply unable to restore the military system. On the contrary, the imperial court needed financial and military support from the vassal towns, and not all the vassal towns were not loyal to the imperial court.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the vassal towns were divided due to the separatist regime, but the central government was maintained because of the side-by-side confrontation between the vassal towns.
This kind of political ecology of interaction between inside and outside the domain can be seen in the "Assassin Nie Yinniang". When the central government was strong, the vassal towns were more disciplined, and when the central government was weak, the vassal towns became more domineering. This kind of political situation of ebb and flow actually stretched for a whole 150 years - until the fall of the Tang Dynasty and a brief great split. Times, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
The contradiction between unity and separatism, centralization and decentralization runs through the entire history of China.
From the perspective of institutional changes, Chinese history can be roughly divided into two stages. The first stage is the Zhou system based on the enfeoffment system, and the second stage is the Qin system based on the county system. The so-called "every generation implements the Qin system" refers to the evolution of the state system for more than 2,000 years from the time when Qin Shihuang unified China and implemented the county system to the demise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The first chapter of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" said that in the general trend of the world, if it is divided for a long time, it must be united, and if it is united for a long time, it must be divided, which is a dialectical summary of this situation.
If we have to go deep into the truth, it is nothing more than the word "benefit". The so-called "dividing" means sharing, and when combining profits, people's minds are divided.
So Hou Hsiao-hsien put a quotation mark on Wei Bo at the beginning of the film, "Wei Bo" is not Wei Bo, or it is not just Wei Bo. After Qin, all the regions in China were repeating Wei Bo's story. Hou Hsiao-hsien was describing a fate, a state of being torn apart by political disputes, and a unique emotional experience in the history of Chinese civilization.
In this way, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien told a story about a time when the separatist forces of the Tang Dynasty faced reunification. What did he want to express to today's audience, especially the mainland audience?
(10)
The full name of literary and artistic films is literary and artistic films. In addition to art, the emphasis should be on literary quality. The so-called literary, not to the eyes, ears, but to the heart. Whether the method is novels, paintings, photography, or movies, it is not told, but a story that happens in the hearts of the audience, and its beauty is not easy to feel.
So, where is Hou Hsiao-hsien's destination?
In my humble opinion, this is a modern history of Taiwan with the history of the split in the Tang Dynasty as the background and Wei Bo as the carrier.
First of all, I declare that I do not think that director Hou Hsiao-hsien agrees with Taiwan independence. Judging from his previous works, what he has always emphasized is the thinking position that can be called "Taiwan's subjective consciousness". This kind of awareness is different from de-sinicization, and it is also far from promoting Taiwan independence, but at the same time, it is fundamentally different from the values of the mainland people. It is difficult for mainlanders to understand the unique subjective consciousness that Taiwanese have developed over the past century. Such differences exist objectively. Different regions, different political stances, and different ethnic groups are deeply separated, resulting in a lack of common historical memory and understanding of each other.
While clearly adhering to China's position, we should also face up to the objective existence of Taiwan's position.
Fifty years of Japanese occupation, several generations, as the older generation brings nostalgia into the cemetery, many qualitative changes will occur. A very interesting thing, in 1945, when the devils surrendered, many Taiwanese were still crying and listening to the emperor's "Yuyin" broadcast one minute ago, and the next moment they realized that they were the victorious country and welcomed the motherland with joy. Such a distorted historical emotional experience is something that we mainlanders do not have. Compared to the motherland where the warlords were fighting, the Anti-Japanese War was prospering, and the war followed the war, Taiwanese lived a relatively peaceful life, and the vast majority of people did not care much about the situation in the mainland. Immediately afterwards, the Kuomintang reactionaries were overthrown on the mainland and transferred to Taiwan for separatist regimes.
Hou Hsiao-hsien asked Taiwanese after the liberation to sing the "Trilogy in Exile" in "City of Sadness" (recounting the "February 28 Incident"), but the people who tried to imitate everything in the motherland sang it out of tune. This is an obvious political metaphor. Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka developed Taiwan, then the Spaniards came, then the Dutch, Zheng Ming, the Manchus, the Japanese, the Kuomintang, regimes came and went, massacred, suppressed, built and then left . This is different from the history of the mainland of the motherland, so the attitude of Taiwanese to the regime is also different from ours. They do not trust the regime.
The Japanese called them "Slaves of the Qing State", and later the Kuomintang called them "Slaves of Japan". They were both Han Chinese, but they were discriminated against everywhere. This is also the content of Wu Zhuoliu's novel "The Orphan of Asia", a Taiwanese intellectual who is cognitively deranged, and ends in a mad tragedy. "It is said that we are enslaved, are we willing to be enslaved ourselves?!"
Luo Dayou sang in the song "Orphans of Asia" of the same name:
"The orphans of Asia weep in the wind, yellow faces with red mud, black eyes with white terror."
"No one wants to play equal games with you, everyone wants your beloved toy. Dear What is the truth of my mother, what is the truth of my dear mother."
The background of the creation of this song is the period when US President Nixon visited China, the People's Republic of China regained its legal seat in the United Nations, and the representatives of the Kuomintang regime were expelled from the United Nations. years. Taiwan was once again abandoned by the international community. This incident has had a considerable impact on many Taiwanese.
When some extreme Taiwanese talked about the 45 years of liberation, they said that they were just "colonized" again. Historical memory makes the "mother of the motherland" in their eyes not warm, which is one of the reasons why many Taiwanese are deeply indifferent to the cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. All this is still the aftermath of a century of national humiliation.
In "Assassin Nie Yinniang", Hou Hsiao-hsien expressed the Taiwanese's subjective consciousness based on sadness, and he longed for mainlanders to listen.
Because we mainlanders don't really care what Taiwanese think.
(11)
First, let's look at the political crisis Wei Bo faced in the film. Yuan and Zhongxing, the Tang Dynasty re-emerged economically and militarily, and then began to seek political unity. So what is the biggest political change facing Taiwan today?
The rise of the motherland.
Great reunification is the inevitable pursuit of every orthodox regime in the Central Plains. What is the future of Taiwan, which is unable to resist independently? Personal conjecture, Tang Xianzong, Princess Jiacheng and Princess Jiaxin represent the three orientations of the mainland towards reunification of Taiwan. Tang Xianzong represented political and military pressure, and was also the fundamental basis for unity and the will of the country, while Princess Jiacheng represented the gentle policy of maintaining a peaceful situation. As for Princess Kashin, who has been criticized by Hou Hsiao-hsien without revealing it, it represents the central government's omnipotent side for reunification, even sacrificing Taiwan's military and civilians for reunification. I have to admit that the third position is quite marketable among us, and Hou Hsiao-hsien thinks it is "unparalleled".
The descriptions of these three roles actually represent some Taiwanese's complicated understanding of the mainland of the motherland and the reunification process. In particular, Princess Ka-shing, who was portrayed as a great mother, should also be a metaphor for the mainland as the mother of Taiwan's blood and culture, representing the cultural entanglement and blood connection with the mainland of the motherland. At the same time, she left Chang'an to marry Weizhou. Since then, there has been no one of her kind. It may also be referring to the occupation of Taiwan by the First Sino-Japanese War and the eastward crossing of the National Government in 1949.
What condensed on her was the human relations between the two sides of the strait whose blood was thicker than water.
Whether the presentation of ancient Chinese utensils, clothing, and architecture in "Assassin Nie Yinniang" is accurate is not something that I can judge with my knowledge level, but at least I can see Hou Hsiao-hsien's extreme intentions. Perhaps he also wanted to use sophisticated props to express his cultural identity with China.
Tian Xing and Nie Feng undoubtedly represent the unification forces on the island. Didn't Lien Zhan come to participate in the 70th anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War parade? By the way, Lien Chan's father was a Taiwanese who returned to the motherland to participate in the War of Resistance at the behest of his grandfather. There are also veterans from the first military meeting, who clearly represent the old generation of immigrants from other provinces who are dying and dying. Tian Yuanshi, Jingjinger, and the wizard Kongkonger should represent the face and inner child of the independent faction, while Tian Ji'an's three sons represent the next generation who have been completely brainwashed by the independent faction.
In fact, such a political map is not limited to Taiwan? The same is true for the background of the "Occupy Central Movement" in Hong Kong.
Abandoning Yaoqi and letting Tian Ji'an marry Yuanshi means that the Kuomintang can only combine and compromise with local forces in order to consolidate its rule. In fact, even if the "local faction" is in power, is there a good way to face the unified strong ships and cannons? Hou Hsiao-hsien did not raise this question.
Yao Qi was abandoned due to power in his youth, representing Taiwan's abandonment in the Jiawu year. After the liberation, the "February 28 Incident" occurred again, and in the 1970s, it was abandoned by the international community. The superposition of several layers of history led to full of sadness, and to the motherland ( Princess Ka Shing) is both agreeable and full of resentment. He considers himself an Asian orphan, no one can understand him, the motherland wants to take away his independent status, and there is no goodwill.
Yao Qi and Tian Ji'an are actually the same person, a generation with Taiwan's subjective consciousness in the torn Taiwanese society. However, Tian Ji'an has his own political interests to protect, and Yao Qi is a group of people who are unwilling to get involved in bloody political struggles. Killing one or two dignitaries won't change anything at all. It is the whole society that is sick.
So Yao Qi finally chose to leave on behalf of seclusion, because she couldn't change anything.
When it comes to history, most of us are accustomed to words such as the long river of history, the rolling wheels of history, and the mighty world tide. As historical materialists, we are convinced that heaven and earth are not benevolent and take all things as cud dogs, and crushing is always unavoidable. Hou Hsiao-hsien's film attempts to talk about their state from the point of view of the crushed, and to talk about the potential contradictions under the suppression of the collective (uniform) will.
He is different from our mainstream values, but should be respected and faced.
No matter where the future goes, our blood is thicker than water. Only by trying to listen to each other can we slowly start a new, shared historical memory.
In July of the first year of Changqing (821), which is 12 years after the film, Chengde's army rebelled. Tian Hongzheng, then the military governor of Chengde, and more than 300 family members and generals were killed together. He was fifty-eight years old all the year round. Wei Bo returned to the chaos, changed his surname, and passed on for ten generations. After Luo Shaowei surrendered, Liang Taizu Zhu Wen (905), Wei Bo existed in name only.
Two years later (907), the Tang Dynasty fell.
One thing can be quickly overshadowed by another, and Wei Bo's story, no matter how popular it was at the time, was quickly forgotten. Today, it remains in our memory for a long time due to the movie "Assassin Nie Yinniang".
That's the life force of the story.
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