There's been lots of really good commentary on Zhao Xinci here, and it has made me think over my opinion of him in a few ways. But my bedrock pov is always going to be Zhao Yunlan's, and that really forces the question: why is Zhao Yunlan so adamantly estranged from his father? If Zhao Xinci has such a - mostly - okay character, what does this say about Zhao Yunlan's distaste for him? That Zhao Yunlan, at his age (28 or 31) and level of demonstrated responsibility, caring, and insight, is still an immature child at heart?
I have to either accept that Zhao Yunlan isn't really grown-up enough yet to get over his childhood traumas as he ought to, or that Zhao Xinci was a pretty bad example of a father. Zhao Yunlan's statement "haven't seen him in 15 years" (I can't find the quote, I hope I'm not misremembering it) means that he left Zhao Xinci's household when he was no older than 16, a minor, and that Zhao Xinci did not get him back. Whether Zhao Yunlan ran away, lived with a relative (who?), or went to boarding school, this looks like a pretty telling indictment of Zhao Xinci. Zhao Yunlan is obviously still carrying wounds from his childhood, and there's really nobody else around to blame for them but Zhao Xinci.
This doesn't make Zhao Xinci less interesting or well-developed as a character! I see him as man devoted to duty, who is not suited for any kind of emotional engagement. He says as much in the flashback to Shen Xi that little Yunlan witnesses. He has no idea of how to be a father, and probably not much interest in learning to be a good one. He loves Zhao Yunlan in the most detached way, as his duty as a father, but without affection. (I would be interested to hear of any evidence to the contrary!) I'm pretty sure that any affection or caring we see coming from Zhao Xinci is actually Zhang Shi.
I had a recent thought that the Regent and Zhao Xinci perform analogous roles in their respective spheres of control. They are the representatives of administrative control in Dixing and Haixing, primarily concerned with the stability and continuity of the system. They are the upper-level bureaucrats who survive calamity, living to see, and perhaps to control, the new order.
More trivially, has anyone else recognized that Zhang Shi is a Tokra?
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I have to either accept that Zhao Yunlan isn't really grown-up enough yet to get over his childhood traumas as he ought to, or that Zhao Xinci was a pretty bad example of a father. Zhao Yunlan's statement "haven't seen him in 15 years" (I can't find the quote, I hope I'm not misremembering it) means that he left Zhao Xinci's household when he was no older than 16, a minor, and that Zhao Xinci did not get him back. Whether Zhao Yunlan ran away, lived with a relative (who?), or went to boarding school, this looks like a pretty telling indictment of Zhao Xinci. Zhao Yunlan is obviously still carrying wounds from his childhood, and there's really nobody else around to blame for them but Zhao Xinci.
This doesn't make Zhao Xinci less interesting or well-developed as a character! I see him as man devoted to duty, who is not suited for any kind of emotional engagement. He says as much in the flashback to Shen Xi that little Yunlan witnesses. He has no idea of how to be a father, and probably not much interest in learning to be a good one. He loves Zhao Yunlan in the most detached way, as his duty as a father, but without affection. (I would be interested to hear of any evidence to the contrary!) I'm pretty sure that any affection or caring we see coming from Zhao Xinci is actually Zhang Shi.
I had a recent thought that the Regent and Zhao Xinci perform analogous roles in their respective spheres of control. They are the representatives of administrative control in Dixing and Haixing, primarily concerned with the stability and continuity of the system. They are the upper-level bureaucrats who survive calamity, living to see, and perhaps to control, the new order.
More trivially, has anyone else recognized that Zhang Shi is a Tokra?