sid_guardian | Focus on Wang Zheng: I know your past

I know nothing about Wang Zheng in the novel, other than that she's presumably an actual ghost rather than an energy being, so this is strictly about the drama version of our ghostly SID member/Hanga princess:

"Wang Zheng, deduct his bonus!" - The Present

When we meet her, she's very much living in the modern world, and a part of the SID crew: she uses a computer, eats popcorn, gossips with Zhu Hong and Lin Jing, teases Chu Shuzhi about being an Envoy fanboy. But she's been in the present for at most three years: Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing found her in the mountains outside the city, without any memories, and we know everyone currently in the SID apart from Da Qing joined after Zhao Yunlan became chief.

Now she's the SID's human resources person - this cap identifies Wang Zheng's position as "人事", and she's the one always called upon to deduct Lin Jing's bonus - but she also seems to do general secretarial work like answering the phone. None of which she would have known the first thing about when she woke up in the present! I wonder if she came by her SID job in the same way Sang Zan did: by Zhao Yunlan deciding that since she clearly had no other place in the present, she needed an official one with the SID, and handing her the first not-already-taken job he could think of. *g*

She also has a weird sense of humour sometimes - in episode 30, when everyone's upset that Zhao Yunlan is kicking Lin Jing out, she says Lin Jing has been hard-working and did nothing wrong - except for being late 99 times, leaving early 44 times, being absent 18 times, and taking naps 27 times!

"I want to go home." - Regained memories

When she regains her memory, she's immediately ready to drop everything and go back for Sang Zan: "Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I will leave the SID. There is something I have to do."

Of course Zhao Yunlan tells her the SID will help her, and she's happy not to be losing her friends - but she didn't hesitate in her decision, and didn't even think to ask for help. Wang Zheng, you're fitting right in with the rest of them!

And when the disembodied spirits of her tribe are after her, she's immediately ready to meet them on her own. Lin Jing and Shen Wei protect her - but that doesn't stop her: she drugs everyone to be able to go out on her own and face what she must.

Shen Wei: "I think she does not mean to betray you, but is planning to sacrifice herself to ensure our safety."

Yep, definitely fitting right in with this bunch of self-sacrificial, must-shoulder-everything-alone heroes who are learning to be a family. *g*

"You died one hundred years and seven months ago." - Ge Lan in the Past

Ge Lan is sheltered and optimistic: she's completely baffled by the bad things Sang Zan says about her brother and father, but willing to listen to him. Even after the slave rebellion has started, she's still hoping to get Sang Zan and her father talking. Instead, Sang Zan kills her father and her brother - because they had killed Sang Zan's sister and brother.

Wang Zheng comments on the irony of the person who killed her father and brother becoming the only one who can protect her, and we see the strain on them in the flashbacks. The tension only breaks when Sang Zan asks her to run away with him. But of course she's executed before they can.

Sang Zan's attempt to revive her with the Mountain-River Awl leaves her as a shapeless energy being, and she watches him as he takes revenge, as the tribe turns against him, as as he uses the Awl and rocks ~~fall~~ break open and everyone dies.

"I waited for you for a hundred years." - Parallels

The drama uses the Wang Zheng/Sang Zan relationship for parallels with Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan in a lot of ways:

the themes of separation and reunion, remembering/not remembering, not letting go of each other in life and death

the drama's ending theme, which is all about lovers being separated - it's obviously about the drama's main relationship, but it's used as a Wang Zheng/Sang Zan song both in the flashbacks and in a very OTT-romantic scene in the present

Wang Zheng's "I waited for you for a hundred years" echoes Shen Wei's "I searched for you for ten thousand years":

SW: 我找了你一万年 - wǒ zhǎole nǐ yī wàn nián
WZ: 我等了你一百年 - wǒ děngle nǐ yī bǎi nián

And while the separation between Wang Zheng and Sang Zan can be mapped onto the ten thousand years between YOHE and the present, it can also be mapped onto the separation happening at the end of the drama. After all, Ge Lan was executed and buried - which means "they literally died, and that wasn't the end of their story" is already explicitly part of the show. ♥

Some questions:

Once she regains her memories, do you think she thinks of herself as Wang Zheng, or as Ge Lan? Does it change after she returns to the SID with Sang Zan?

Despite the tension between them before Ge Lan died, and everything she watched Sang Zan do, when they're reunited, they seem a cute, happy, conflict-free couple. Why do you think that is?

Does Wang Zheng go into the mountain of her own accord, or is she being manipulated by Zhu Jiu? Rewatching, when she's going into the mountain Wang Zheng looks almost like she's in a trance. Is she going entirely of her own accord, or is she being manipulated by Zhu Jiu somehow?

Disembodied Ge Lan was present and aware after her death. Do you think she had any awareness between Sang Zan being empillared, and waking up memoryless? Or did she skip the time entirely?

In the past, there was always a significant power differential between Ge Lan and Sang Zan, one way or the other. When they're reunited, they're the most equal they've ever been. How do you think that affects their relationship?

Energy beings! Let's talk about energy beings. Da Qing knows of them, so are there other ways for them to be created, beside the Mountain-River Awl? Or has the Awl been de-bodying people all over history? How? Any thoughts?

If there are any Chinese speakers reading along, I was wondering about Wang Zheng's modern name - what would have gone into naming an amnesiac ghost 汪徵?

I'm also curious about how different her story is in the novel. Anyone want to talk about that?

And last, but certainly not least: What's your favourite parallel? :D

Some links

Fanfic

to recognise the heart in every person that you see by

china_shop
Wang Zheng and Zhu Hong have a girls' night out.

Self-Defense (Won't Protect the Heart) by

extrapenguin
Zhu Hong teaches Wang Zheng self-defence.

with their hearts open wide by

teaotter
Wang Zheng/Sang Zan, spying on Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan.

Awl Things, Bright and Beautiful by

china_shop
This isn't strictly a Wang Zheng fic - it's Da Qing time-travel fix-it - but Wang Zheng has a significant part in it.

Fanart

chitsuu

kitshunette

Some icons

These are mainly from the Guardian Character Battle:

abyss_valkyrie	china_shop	enviropony	extrapenguin	lynndyre


naye	tassoss	teaotter	tinny	tsubame_17

So - come and talk about Wang Zheng/Ge Lan! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Wang Zheng.

Important: If you're commenting with meta/discussion/thoughts, please say whether you're coming from a novel perspective, a drama perspective, or a blend of the two, so we don't end up talking past each other. Thanks!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Supplementary question (re Wang Zheng coming to the SID and adjusting to modern life): do you think she has a cellphone? She never leaves the SID so technically she doesn't need one, but not having one means no texting, which could be inconvenient at times...

She spends the entire drive staring out blankly - not sure if she's feeling guilty, or sad, or just overwhelmed.

And crying. But true, I'm conflating "feeling guilty" with "feeling responsible". Presumably she's also marinating in suddenly remembered past trauma -- it's a pretty bloody history. But she feels responsible enough that she drugs everyone else and goes into the mountains alone (presumably expecting not to come out again?). Not willing to let the others help resolve the situation or take any risks on her behalf.

But she might be feeling guilty for her naiveté, which did make things worse at times. If she'd understood there was no chance of Sang Zan and her father coming to any kind of agreement ... Well, I'm not sure what that might have solved, but I could see her thinking that.

Yes. She was practically a child, then, but guilt is rarely rational, and we don't know what kind of abuse of slaves she might have ignored or taken for granted (like her bodyguard's life being on the line).

I wonder how she feels about slavery now, having grown up with it being completely taken for granted, and then learning how violent and cruel and unjust it is. If she was designing a society, what kind of society would she create?

Teacher is true, but even when she's teaching him it doesn't seem parental to me.

I was thinking in the transactional analysis sense, rather than at all literally. But fair enough. :-)

When her father was alive, she was a princess and he was a slave.

Mm, though he had worldliness. Her cluelessness left her helpless, as you say. And she didn't seem to have any social bonds beyond her family whereas he had righteousness and awareness of the way of the world, as well as all the other slaves at his back (to start off with).

...I think I'm better at thinking about relationship dynamic equality than external status equality. :-)

Digression: Speaking of their different social statuses in the past, and all their star-crossedness, in the Wang Zheng & Zhu Hong story, I had Wang Zheng say that Zhao Yunlan is the first person who's ever tried to help them stay together. I think that is a huge part of their loyalty to him, and why they're so willing to throw themselves in harm's way for him in the end.

Edited (icon!) 2020-04-19 00:15 (UTC)

Supplementary question (re Wang Zheng coming to the SID and adjusting to modern life): do you think she has a cellphone?

Huh. I don't think we ever see her use one? But yeah, I would assume she has one, at least for texting.

Presumably she's also marinating in suddenly remembered past trauma -- it's a pretty bloody history. But she feels responsible enough that she drugs everyone else and goes into the mountains alone (presumably expecting not to come out again?).

Definitely true about the suddenly remembered trauma! And also, she's just remembered Sang Zan and wants to find him again, but presumably isn't sure what exactly she'll find when she gets there.

The drugging and going alone only happens after the Hanga warriors go after her, though. I don't think she knows that's going to happen?

Yes. She was practically a child, then, but guilt is rarely rational, and we don't know what kind of abuse of slaves she might have ignored or taken for granted (like her bodyguard's life being on the line).

I admit I'm not sure what exactly Ge Lan would have known/seen and taken for granted. She had no clue about that her brother and father raped slaves and whipped them to death, and she says she thought the slaves all wore masks because they were ugly ... but I really have trouble imagining how she would have managed to be so completely ignorant while also being able to run around freely, as we see her do.

I wonder how she feels about slavery now, having grown up with it being completely taken for granted, and then learning how violent and cruel and unjust it is. If she was designing a society, what kind of society would she create?

A good question, but I honestly have no clue.

I had Wang Zheng say that Zhao Yunlan is the first person who's ever tried to help them stay together. I think that is a huge part of their loyalty to him, and why they're so willing to throw themselves in harm's way for him in the end.

Oh, yes, that's a great point. Wang Zheng is already so touched when ZYL says they'll help her get back to the mountains - as if they'd ever have just abandoned her! - and then he takes Sang Zan in entirely unprompted ...

Focus on Wang Zheng: I know your past