Focus on Ya Qing: I drowned myself in darkness

[trobadora]

Ya Qing: Crow Tribe chief, would-be revitaliser of the Yashou, villain - and the only one who doesn't wind up dead one way or another. For the majority of the drama she's working against the heroes, but turns around at the end and changes sides. For me, she's one of the most fascinating side characters in the drama - and and of course it doesn't help that she's gorgeous! All in black, with feathers and veil and a fantastic pair of gloves, she definitely left an impression on me. Not to mention her flair for the dramatic - who else can eat an apple quite as aggressively as she does when talking to Zhu Jiu? *g*



Note: I know nothing about her in the novel - I'm not even sure she exists there. (Can anyone confirm/add more info?)

Revitalising the Yashou: the end justifies the means

From her first appearance, Ya Qing makes it clear that everything she's doing is in service of one goal: revitalising the Yashou tribes. She doesn't seem to hate humans the way Zhu Jiu does - or at least, the way she talks about Dong Nan doesn't sound like it; she sounds more bemused by it than disapproving:

Ya Qing: "I watched Dong Nan grow up. She was eccentric from childhood. Rather than rise with the Yashou she wanted to live like a human." (episode 26)

But she's deeply dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. The drama isn't very explicit on what exactly the source of her dissatisfaction is, but my interpretation is that she feels her people are being pushed further and further back while humanity advances - that as human population grows and civilisation expands, there's less and less space for the Yashou to live independently.

And from her perspective, both the isolationist Snake Tribe and the intensely non-interventionist Flower Tribe are utterly useless in combatting this state of affairs. In addition, Fourth Uncle mentions "decades of disintegration" among the Yashou (in episode 21). So it's to Ye Zun that she's turned in order to gain the power she believes she'll need.

We don't know how far back this goes. Ying Chun, who knew her from childhood, says she's changed - and now she's fully dedicated to her goal, willing to do anything from murder to breaking the treaty that forbids the three races from interfering in each other's affairs:

Ya Qing: "Following those old rules, the Yashou will never be revitalized." (episode 13)

She works with Zhu Jiu and later with Wang Xiangyang, but but doesn't seem to think highly of either of them. She does also talk directly to Ye Zun, though, addresses him as "boss", and kneels to him. She follows his plans, and works to free him, all because she believes it'll aid her own goals. She's walking into her villainy with eyes open.

And she's not acting alone - her tribe is with her. Her Crows play a big part in keeping an eye on events, spying and delivering information, and when Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan confront some Crow Tribe men, they're firm in their support of their leader:

Crow: "Elder Ya Qing works hard towards the revival of the Crow Tribe. We believe in her." (episode 28)

For a long time, she holds on to the belief that working for Ye Zun will gain her what she wants - and that that goal justifies any means:

Ya Qing: "As long as the Yashou become strong again, I'm making the right choice." (episode 30)

Until, of course, she has to realise she's chosen the wrong path.

Turning back: not too late

Ya Qing, unlike the other villains with the exception of Sha Ya, is seen having doubts right from the start. When Ying Chun confronts her in episode 13 and begs her to reconsider, she's visibly affected, and her clenched fist is shaking when she says "It's too late." And when she's talking directly to Ye Zun in episode 30, Ya Qing thinks it again: "I can't turn back any more." But it's not in fact too late, even if her turning point doesn't come until she's holding the sacred branch and it fails to sprout.

Ya Qing: "Ancestors of the Yashou Tribes, if you recognize my efforts to revitalize the Yashou Tribes, please make this Sacred Branch sprout! - How is that possible? In order to revitalize the Yashou tribes, I even drowned myself in darkness. Is even that not enough?" (episode 37)

Until that moment, even though she's turned away from Ye Zun and his Dixingren after realising they are only using her, she truly seems to still believe her efforts were correct and will be rewarded. But of course Da Qing is right when he tells her the problem isn't that she didn't do enough - what she did was just fundamentally wrong from the get-go. Not only has her end failed to justify its means - all her efforts did nothing to further her goals, and instead led to near-disaster as she aided Ye Zun who's about to bring destruction on them all.

Her change of sides, when it comes, is decisive. Soon we see her fighting side by side with the Snake and Flower Tribe leaders and Zhao Xinci/Zhang Shi, and when offered the opportunity to retreat, she refuses and takes responsibility:

Ya Qing: "I have to fix the problems I caused myself." (episode 39)

And the last image we see of her is in a meeting with the other Yashou leaders, everyone laughing/smiling, her included. Of the villains, she's the only one who gets to change her mind and live, ending up in a good place. Thematically speaking I think that's pretty important - showing at least one instance where it's not only not too late to turn back, but where that change of heart also doesn't equal death. Where turning back means living with the consequences of her choices, and actually having to try and make up for them. Personally, that's one reason why I appreciate Ya Qing's story so much.)

Convictions: loyalty, dignity, gratitude

Ya Qing is very "end justifies the means", yes - but that's not all we know about her convictions.

• She's unhappy with Zhu Jiu's fanaticism, and appalled when Zhu Jiu won't support Bao Laosan even though they're both Dixingren. Of course, on the other hand, she does kill Jia-ge, the Snake Tribe boy who's guarding the entrance to the restricted area, and she threatens Zhu Hong's life, even though they are Yashou too. But loyalty is an important part of her worldview. As she says to Sha Ya:
  
  Ya Qing: "Now you've chosen your side, you should be loyal for life." (episode 28)
  
  Not that it turns out to work like that for her - when it turns out her loyalty isn't returned, she eventually does turn away from Ye Zun.


• Ya Qing also has limits to what she's willing to let someone suffer, as we discover with Kong Jing. He's been begging to die so he won't hurt anyone any more, and she kills him even though that will will undo the personality virus and revert the SID people to normal, aiding her enemies:
  
  Ya Qing: "It wasn't necessary to destroy his last shred of dignity." (episode 25)
  
  I think it's also significant that we see her capable of showing kindness here, even if it takes this form - it's more than we see from Zhu Jiu, Wang Xiangyang or Ye Zun.


• She is willing and able to be grateful to an enemy, to the point of offering a boon when Guo Changcheng is there for Dong Nan as she dies:
  
  Ya Qing: "We are opposing forces, but I still want to thank you for being with her in these last moments."
  
  She is clearly fond of Dong Nan, and grateful Guo Changcheng could make her smile in her final days. She also seems indulgent of Dong Nan's eccentric behaviour, wanting to "live like a human" (episode 26) - she's not all "us versus them", the way Zhu Jiu is, and she's not isolationist the way the Snake Tribe seems to be. She must be well versed in human technology, given that she knows how to use Cong Bo's computer to make all the SID info public, which also speaks to her not being closed off from the modern human world.

Some questions:

1. How do you think Ya Qing ended up working for Ye Zun? Given her low attitude towards Zhu Jiu - in episode 13 she calls him a psycho and tells him she wouldn't give him the time of day if it wasn't for Ye Zun's orders - I doubt it was via Zhu Jiu ...


2. I mentioned my own interpretation above, but how do you see Ya Qing's urgent desire to revitalise the Yashou - what's the cause of her dissatisfaction, and what other options could have been open to her?


3. Outside of the near disastrous results, do you think Ya Qing regrets any of what she did? She's been, not merrily, but unapologetically, aiding and contributing in murder and mayhem left and right - and what she says in episode 37 makes it clear she knows that was pretty damn dark. But does she feel any guilt over it, or only over buying into what Ye Zun was selling?


4. Several years ago (the subtitles say "decades", but the Chinese only has 这么多年 "so many years"), the three leaders of the three Yashou tribes agreed to leave the seat of the High Chief empty:
   
   Fourth Uncle: "We haven't had a High Chief for so many years. At the time, the three of us decided for our three tribes to take time out from worldly things." (episode 19)
   
   (休养生息 means "recuperate and build up strength", according to Baidu.)
   
   Did Ya Qing agree because she'd already given up on the Yashou tribes working together to revitalise them? Was that the last straw? Or did the issue not feel quite as urgent at the time?


5. Relatedly - did Qing have her eye on the position of High Chief prior to the scene where she agrees to the election? She seems very convinced the ancestors would approve of her actions, but my own impression was that she'd actually given up on the Yashou alliance as a unified body until the subject of an election was brought up. What do you think?


6. Given that her tribe willingly followed her, and clearly bought into her "revitalising the Yashou by any means" strategy - how do you think they're reacting to her turnaround, and the realisation she's nearly led them right into causing the end of the world? Will she have to work hard to convince them to continue following her, or will they continue to trust her regardless?


7. And speaking of the future: how will Ya Qing deal with Zhu Hong becoming High Chief? Will she genuinely be willing to listen to Zhu Hong? Will she try and gain Zhu Hong's trust, or will she not care? (Or will she merely pretend to not care? *g*)


8. Ya Qing's interactions with Ying Chun are very slashy, with Ying Chun runs after her, shouting "Qing-jie!", appealing to her better self and their former closeness, and Ya Qing clearly regretting the loss even as she is the one to turn away. But I also think the intersection of Zhu Hong's coming into her own as Yashou Chief with the aftermath of Ya Qing's terrible choices would make for an amazing dynamic - and Ya Qing might be just Zhu Hong's type, with her superficial cockiness and sincere intentions underneath, no matter how misguided. Who do you ship Ya Qing with, if anyone?

Some links

Fanfic

hidden costs by spookykingdomstarlight
An introspective Ya Qing piece about how she ended up on Ye Zun's side.

Protect your heart, protect your head by china_shop
This is Zhu Hong-focused gen, but Ya Qing has an excellent role in it, with a great use of the show's theme of misdirected blame.

The Marriage of Lightning and the Lake by Branch
Ya Qing/Zhu Hong. I haven't read this since it's set in a novel fusion AU, which isn't my thing, But I skimmed it before linking it here, and it looks so good, OMG.

You Once Were, You Someday Will Be, You Are Now by wrote_and_writ
Zhu Hong and Ya Qing, pre-series.

Welcome, Spring by ExtraPenguin
A sweet Ya Qing/Ying Chun scene.

And my own: Listen (it's late, it's late, but listen) by Trobadora
Ya Qing/Ying Chun set during episodes 39/40, with Yashou politics.

Meta

There's some interesting discussion about the Crow tribe in general, and Ya Qing in particular, in the Dong Nan discussion post.

Fanart

I've only found one piece of artwork, but it's gorgeous:

Ya Qing art by abyss_valkyrie

Some icons

I wasn't able to find many - anyone have more? These are from the Guardian character battle and from here:

abyss_valkyrie	china_shop	naye

So - come and talk about Ya Qing! 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 Ya Qing.

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!

Comments

[tinny]

I have made three Ya Qing icons:



As to novel references, the only thing I remember about the crow fairies is that their leader is female. They never get a name, afaik. They appear in chapter 63/64/65 at the Fairy Market.

Here's the relevant quote that describes them:

The leader of the Crow Tribe is a woman, but in this tribe, apart from the half-fairies, all members are of small stature, with big noses and wrinkled faces. One simply cannot tell whether they are young or old, pretty or ugly.

Her eyes are slanted and it is hard to tell whether she is impassively looking at Zhao Yunlan or simply glancing in his general direction. Her dark eyes sparkle with a subtle light.

[trobadora]

Icons! Thank you so much for linking them - I went looking through yours for a bit but couldn't find any. I love the colour in the third one especially.

And that's interesting about the novel - so Ya Qing and everything about her was entirely written for the drama! No wonder it all resonates so beautifully with the drama's themes. :D