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sid_guardian2021-12-05 12:34 am
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2021-12-05 12:34 am
Entry tags:
Focus on: the episode 1 intro narration
Location of scene: episode 1, 2:09 - 4:00
The very first bit of the drama, after the opening credits! It sets the scene, provides basic worldbuilding context for the drama's world, and satisfies censorship, framing the drama explicitly as sci-fi rather than the novel's fantasy from the start.
(It's hard to say at which point this genre switch was decided on, since IIRC when they started working on it the supernatural had not yet been banned. We do know Dixing was named "Dixing" very late in the game, dubbing the name over whatever they used in the original dubbing, and it may have been renamed more than once. Rumour was that it was originally 地府 - Difu, aka Hell - but what's certain is that at this trailer has it as 地界 - Dijie. 地星 "Dixing", with 星 - star, which is a component in all Chinese planet names, is definitely the more sci-fi name. *g*)
At any rate, let's get started!
Haixing, an ancient planet. Tens of thousands of years ago, an alien race came to this planet on a spaceship.
海星，一颗古老的星球。几万年前一群外星异族乘坐天外飞船 来到这个星球上。
Notably, it's "an ancient planet" and not just "a distant planet" - putting our setting at a quasi-mythic remove, a bit like "a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" ... *g* At any rate, whether 几万 is a rhetorical exaggeration or not, this arrival is clearly meant to be a long time before the meteor strike.
And we don't see any continents on this planet, so it's entirely possible Haixing is far more covered by ocean than Earth. *g*
(I'm not sure whether 一群外星异族 is just "a group of aliens" or whether the phrasing implies they're all the same species - 异族 means "different tribe" according to my dictionary; Baidu says it also means "alien races". This will become relevant in a moment. *g*)
Among them, some of the aliens' genes fused with Haixing's plants and animals, and mutated, giving them the same traits as those the plants and animals. They even evolved so far that they could shapeshift at will. We call them Yashou Tribespeople.
其中，一部分外星异族的细胞，与海星的动物，植物，发生了基因序列的融合，重组，使得他们拥有着与动物相同的习性。甚至进化至，能够随意变形的能力。我们称他们为 亚兽族人。
(Note the narrator's "we"! This will also become relevant in a moment. *g*)
First off, this is phrased passively - we don't know whether the ancestors of Yashou chose this gene fusion or whether it unexpectedly happened to them.
Second, the shapeshifting ability is illustrated with familiar faces: a woman who is probably Ya Qing (though she can't be seen very clearly) transforming into a crow; Ying Chun transforming into her half-morphed tree-woman form (not her full winter jasmine form), and finally Da Qing (with his YOHE look) transforming into a cat.
Notably, the Snake Tribe (who we never see transform during the drama) does not appear here either, even though it's one of the three tribes that will be relevant as a group over the course of the story, from Fu You to Zhu Hong.
And another portion of the aliens chose to settle deep underground on the planet. Thus, they are called Dixing people. The climatic conditions there caused a fascinating chemical reaction in them, which prompted those Dixingren's genes to produce equivalent mutations.
而另一部分外星异族，则选择定居在星球的地底深处。地星人因此得名。那里的气候条件与他们产生了奇妙的化学反应，促使了这些地星人的基因 同样产生了变异重组。
This (one portion, another portion) very much makes it sound like the aliens were one group that split in two, one part staying on the surface and another going underground - I promised to come back to this, and here we go: when this subject comes up in episode 34, Da Qing says that when the spaceship came to Haixing, half of its passengers were Dixingren, the other half Yashou, as if they were already separate groups. (He may only mean that half of them were the ancestors of Dixingren, the other half the ancestors of Yashou, but still, I thought I'd point it out.)
Very interestingly, while settling underground is framed as a deliberate choice, the mutation here is definitely described as due to their environment, not something deliberately sought. The narration also makes note that both species developed equivalent powers, which does make you wonder whether that's something that was already latently present in their ancestors.
(Of course we do eventually find out that Haixingren are also capable of having such powers, but for them it takes deliberate intervention with a serum derived from research on Dixing powers.)
Also interesting: the illustration we see here of ancient Dixing being settled doesn't look much different from modern-day lightless Dixing, with the fire aesthetic and all. *g*
Although their appearance was similar to ours, the powers inside them began to awaken, so they could manipulate rainwater, thunder and lightning, break down natural elements and even control people's minds, or all kinds of other abilities.
虽然他们和我们有着相似的容貌，但是他们体内的能量开始觉醒，可以操控雨水雷电，分解自然元素 乃至掌握人心，或是其他形形色色的能力。
It's literally "energy in their bodies" awakening, which works great with the whole concept of black and white energy. *g*
We see far less direct illustrations for Dixing powers here than we do for the Yashou transformation - perhaps because such things are less easily shown in a glance, but at the same time, we see a lot of Dixingren with varied powers over the course of the show. And here, again unlike with the Yashou, we're shown no familiar faces. (There is one person in a black robe, but they are not clearly visible.)
We were once afraid of this phenomenon, but because there were far fewer of them than of us, and everyone lived in different places, they lived in harmony.
我们曾经惧怕过这种现象，但因为他们人数上远沅少于我们，大家也曾分地而居，相安无事。
Here's where I want to bring up the question of POV! This narration starts out sounding as if it's a neutral outside observer, but here it's explicitly "we" and "us", the narrator aligning himself with Haixingren, which sort of colours the whole narration in retrospect.
However, with the impact of a giant meteor, everything changed. This meteor destroyed Haixing's ecosystem; Haixing's underground resources began to be scarce.
然而因为一颗巨型陨石的冲击 这一切统统改变了。这颗陨石摧毁了海星的生态体系，海星哋底深处的资源开始匮乏。
I'm not sure about the connection between the ecosystem being destroyed and specifically underground resources growing scarce. You'd think resources would be scarce everywhere.
One by one, Dixingren escaped to the surface. Some ambitious Dixingren began to invade the lands of Haixingren and Yashou for their natural resources. Finally, war broke out.
地星人纷纷逃上地面。其中一部分心怀野心的地星人 为了抢夺资源 开始向海星人亚兽族人活动的范围侵略。战争终于爆发。
Here we see scenes that bear no resemblance whatsoever to what we'll see later during the flashback episodes: horses, huts with thatched roofs, battle scenes involving bows and arrows and swordfighting. But interestingly, there as here, what we don't see is a war being fought with Dixing powers.
It wasn't until Haixingren drew energy from the meteor and forged four Holy Tools that they finally defeated the Dixingren.
直到海星人通过吸取陨石能量 打造了四件圣器 才最终打败了地星人。
Two things that are remarkable about this: one, this makes it sound like a unilateral effort - strictly Haixingren defeating Dixingren. There is no mention of an alliance, or even of Yashou being involved in any of this (even though we're told their lands were also invaded).
This story of Dixingren being defeated comes up several more times. I remember two instances in particular. First, later in episode 1, when Da Qing explains the situation to Guo Changcheng, he tells him that when the Dixingren were defeated back in the war, Haixingren and Dixingren signed a peace treaty. There's no mention of Yashou at all. And second, in episode 6, when Shen Wei talks to Ying Chun, he also mentions defeated Dixingren being driven out, and even specifically says that the Yashou who came to Haixing along with Dixingren could still live peacefully with Haixingren because they stayed neutral during the war.
None of this fits with the flashback episodes, where we see a very different picture - an alliance of Haixingren, Yashou and Dixingren against rebel Dixingren. On the one hand, this is clearly an inconsistency - Da Qing's memory may be unreliable, but Shen Wei certainly knows what actually happened, and his words don't fit. On the other, not being as they seem, and stories being unreliable, is a major thematic strand in the drama, and in episode 34, Zhao Yunlan does remark on one part of this inconsistency. He says he wasn't aware the Yashou played such an active part. (Da Qing tells him that extremists are undermining peace between the three species, so of course they have to deal with it together!)
(Also, as usual, the Guardian Lantern has no wick here.)
Haixingren, Yashou tribespeople, and Dixingren established a peace agreement between the three parties. From then on, they lived in harmony ... until today.
海星人，亚兽族人，地星人三方缔结和平协议。从此相安无事直到今天。
Love the ominous "until today" at the end. :D
Questions:
So, let's talk about this scene! Tell me any and all of your thoughts, I would love to hear what everyone thinks!
The very first bit of the drama, after the opening credits! It sets the scene, provides basic worldbuilding context for the drama's world, and satisfies censorship, framing the drama explicitly as sci-fi rather than the novel's fantasy from the start.
(It's hard to say at which point this genre switch was decided on, since IIRC when they started working on it the supernatural had not yet been banned. We do know Dixing was named "Dixing" very late in the game, dubbing the name over whatever they used in the original dubbing, and it may have been renamed more than once. Rumour was that it was originally 地府 - Difu, aka Hell - but what's certain is that at this trailer has it as 地界 - Dijie. 地星 "Dixing", with 星 - star, which is a component in all Chinese planet names, is definitely the more sci-fi name. *g*)
At any rate, let's get started!
Haixing, an ancient planet. Tens of thousands of years ago, an alien race came to this planet on a spaceship.
海星，一颗古老的星球。几万年前一群外星异族乘坐天外飞船 来到这个星球上。
Notably, it's "an ancient planet" and not just "a distant planet" - putting our setting at a quasi-mythic remove, a bit like "a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" ... *g* At any rate, whether 几万 is a rhetorical exaggeration or not, this arrival is clearly meant to be a long time before the meteor strike.
And we don't see any continents on this planet, so it's entirely possible Haixing is far more covered by ocean than Earth. *g*
(I'm not sure whether 一群外星异族 is just "a group of aliens" or whether the phrasing implies they're all the same species - 异族 means "different tribe" according to my dictionary; Baidu says it also means "alien races". This will become relevant in a moment. *g*)
Among them, some of the aliens' genes fused with Haixing's plants and animals, and mutated, giving them the same traits as those the plants and animals. They even evolved so far that they could shapeshift at will. We call them Yashou Tribespeople.
其中，一部分外星异族的细胞，与海星的动物，植物，发生了基因序列的融合，重组，使得他们拥有着与动物相同的习性。甚至进化至，能够随意变形的能力。我们称他们为 亚兽族人。
(Note the narrator's "we"! This will also become relevant in a moment. *g*)
First off, this is phrased passively - we don't know whether the ancestors of Yashou chose this gene fusion or whether it unexpectedly happened to them.
Second, the shapeshifting ability is illustrated with familiar faces: a woman who is probably Ya Qing (though she can't be seen very clearly) transforming into a crow; Ying Chun transforming into her half-morphed tree-woman form (not her full winter jasmine form), and finally Da Qing (with his YOHE look) transforming into a cat.
Notably, the Snake Tribe (who we never see transform during the drama) does not appear here either, even though it's one of the three tribes that will be relevant as a group over the course of the story, from Fu You to Zhu Hong.
And another portion of the aliens chose to settle deep underground on the planet. Thus, they are called Dixing people. The climatic conditions there caused a fascinating chemical reaction in them, which prompted those Dixingren's genes to produce equivalent mutations.
而另一部分外星异族，则选择定居在星球的地底深处。地星人因此得名。那里的气候条件与他们产生了奇妙的化学反应，促使了这些地星人的基因 同样产生了变异重组。
This (one portion, another portion) very much makes it sound like the aliens were one group that split in two, one part staying on the surface and another going underground - I promised to come back to this, and here we go: when this subject comes up in episode 34, Da Qing says that when the spaceship came to Haixing, half of its passengers were Dixingren, the other half Yashou, as if they were already separate groups. (He may only mean that half of them were the ancestors of Dixingren, the other half the ancestors of Yashou, but still, I thought I'd point it out.)
Very interestingly, while settling underground is framed as a deliberate choice, the mutation here is definitely described as due to their environment, not something deliberately sought. The narration also makes note that both species developed equivalent powers, which does make you wonder whether that's something that was already latently present in their ancestors.
(Of course we do eventually find out that Haixingren are also capable of having such powers, but for them it takes deliberate intervention with a serum derived from research on Dixing powers.)
Also interesting: the illustration we see here of ancient Dixing being settled doesn't look much different from modern-day lightless Dixing, with the fire aesthetic and all. *g*
Although their appearance was similar to ours, the powers inside them began to awaken, so they could manipulate rainwater, thunder and lightning, break down natural elements and even control people's minds, or all kinds of other abilities.
虽然他们和我们有着相似的容貌，但是他们体内的能量开始觉醒，可以操控雨水雷电，分解自然元素 乃至掌握人心，或是其他形形色色的能力。
It's literally "energy in their bodies" awakening, which works great with the whole concept of black and white energy. *g*
We see far less direct illustrations for Dixing powers here than we do for the Yashou transformation - perhaps because such things are less easily shown in a glance, but at the same time, we see a lot of Dixingren with varied powers over the course of the show. And here, again unlike with the Yashou, we're shown no familiar faces. (There is one person in a black robe, but they are not clearly visible.)
We were once afraid of this phenomenon, but because there were far fewer of them than of us, and everyone lived in different places, they lived in harmony.
我们曾经惧怕过这种现象，但因为他们人数上远沅少于我们，大家也曾分地而居，相安无事。
Here's where I want to bring up the question of POV! This narration starts out sounding as if it's a neutral outside observer, but here it's explicitly "we" and "us", the narrator aligning himself with Haixingren, which sort of colours the whole narration in retrospect.
However, with the impact of a giant meteor, everything changed. This meteor destroyed Haixing's ecosystem; Haixing's underground resources began to be scarce.
然而因为一颗巨型陨石的冲击 这一切统统改变了。这颗陨石摧毁了海星的生态体系，海星哋底深处的资源开始匮乏。
I'm not sure about the connection between the ecosystem being destroyed and specifically underground resources growing scarce. You'd think resources would be scarce everywhere.
One by one, Dixingren escaped to the surface. Some ambitious Dixingren began to invade the lands of Haixingren and Yashou for their natural resources. Finally, war broke out.
地星人纷纷逃上地面。其中一部分心怀野心的地星人 为了抢夺资源 开始向海星人亚兽族人活动的范围侵略。战争终于爆发。
Here we see scenes that bear no resemblance whatsoever to what we'll see later during the flashback episodes: horses, huts with thatched roofs, battle scenes involving bows and arrows and swordfighting. But interestingly, there as here, what we don't see is a war being fought with Dixing powers.
It wasn't until Haixingren drew energy from the meteor and forged four Holy Tools that they finally defeated the Dixingren.
直到海星人通过吸取陨石能量 打造了四件圣器 才最终打败了地星人。
Two things that are remarkable about this: one, this makes it sound like a unilateral effort - strictly Haixingren defeating Dixingren. There is no mention of an alliance, or even of Yashou being involved in any of this (even though we're told their lands were also invaded).
This story of Dixingren being defeated comes up several more times. I remember two instances in particular. First, later in episode 1, when Da Qing explains the situation to Guo Changcheng, he tells him that when the Dixingren were defeated back in the war, Haixingren and Dixingren signed a peace treaty. There's no mention of Yashou at all. And second, in episode 6, when Shen Wei talks to Ying Chun, he also mentions defeated Dixingren being driven out, and even specifically says that the Yashou who came to Haixing along with Dixingren could still live peacefully with Haixingren because they stayed neutral during the war.
None of this fits with the flashback episodes, where we see a very different picture - an alliance of Haixingren, Yashou and Dixingren against rebel Dixingren. On the one hand, this is clearly an inconsistency - Da Qing's memory may be unreliable, but Shen Wei certainly knows what actually happened, and his words don't fit. On the other, not being as they seem, and stories being unreliable, is a major thematic strand in the drama, and in episode 34, Zhao Yunlan does remark on one part of this inconsistency. He says he wasn't aware the Yashou played such an active part. (Da Qing tells him that extremists are undermining peace between the three species, so of course they have to deal with it together!)
(Also, as usual, the Guardian Lantern has no wick here.)
Haixingren, Yashou tribespeople, and Dixingren established a peace agreement between the three parties. From then on, they lived in harmony ... until today.
海星人，亚兽族人，地星人三方缔结和平协议。从此相安无事直到今天。
Love the ominous "until today" at the end. :D
Questions:
- Do you remember what you were thinking the first time you saw this? Did it surprise you, or did you already know about it? And is it just me, or is the narrator speaking very fast? (Why? Could they not spare a few more seconds? :p)
- I have to admit, even though it's censorship-caused I really like what the script did with the sci-fi framing of the drama. I love aliens, and that approach - making Dixingren a different species - opens up some of the themes of the drama which are very important to me. (Everything about refugees and immigration and bigotry, and people being people ...) How do you feel about it?
- What do you think about the ancestors of Dixingren and Yashou? One group or two? Any speculation on why they came to this planet and settled here - or why some of them chose to live underground? (The environment doesn't look all that hospitable!) Or why they were so susceptible to mutation?
- What happened to their spaceship? The visuals suggest it didn't actually land, but instead beamed people down - is it still around somewhere?
- For the war, I wish we'd have seen something more like this in the flashbacks! Something that felt more like there was actual fighting going on. Do you think these fight scenes were what they had planned for originally? (I alwasy wondered if the script for the flashback episodes had to be cut down to bare essentials at the last moment ... they're so condensed!)
- About the inconsistencies about who fought and who won - on the one hand, given that the narrator of this intro explicitly aligns himself with Haixingren, you could take this for the official Haixing narrative. That would account for a lot of discrepancies and also the focus on Haixingren winning! But on the other, Shen Wei definitely knows better, and Fu You is still revered among the Yashou, so you'd think Ying Chun would, too. Is there a way to reconcile this, if only for the purpose of fic? (Help! *g*)
- Conversely, if things had been more like it's suggested here, the flashbacks would have had to be very different. What would Shen Wei's role have been, in a world with no alliance? Any thoughts?
So, let's talk about this scene! Tell me any and all of your thoughts, I would love to hear what everyone thinks!
no subject
Even though, like you said, it's because of censorship, I'm also fond of the sci-fi framing. It's just really rich, thematically and from a worldbuilding perspective.
And speaking of worldbuilding, all the things about Dixing losing the war don't necessarily read as inconsistencies to me, because:
a) at no point in the flashback does Shen Wei seem like an equal partner in the Alliance,
b) but mostly because we have Shen Wei's Dixing troops and the rebels, but are those all the Dixingren? Which ones are representative of the Dixing people? And I think there are several possible answers to that. The Treaty was signed by one of Shen Wei's people and that's the official Dixing faction. Or maybe, most Dixingren supported the rebels, or even were only opposed to the Alliance, so the end of the war and the signing of the Treaty signified a defeat, and that's what Shen Wei is referencing.
As for the Yashou, Fu You's intention was to retreat from Haixingren, so maybe that's a deliberate alteration in the narrative. In their conversation, both Shen Wei and Ying Chun know better, but they're adhering to the official version of events.
In any case, I like the ambiguity of it all.
Thank you for the write-up!
no subject
Right? I love what they did with it - they really went and ran with it, making the most out of it. Which they did with everything, to be fair! It's pretty impressive. ♥
That's an excellent point about the Dixing side of the alliance not feeling like an equal partner, and who counts as representative of Dixingren. Da Qing's YOHE opinion probably isn't everyone's! So from that side of things, it definitely isn't necessarily inconsistent.
The Yashou side is a bit tougher, but that's an excellent thought that this is the "official version" Shen Wei is referencing, rather than actual historical fact. He knows Fu You was one of the main leaders of the alliance, but Fu You did want to retreat, and Yashou have maintained that distance for apparently 10,000 years. So it probably wouldn't have been very politic to say anything else to Ying Chun. (And also, it's no guarantee that current-day Yashou even know how central Fu You was in the war ...)
Thank you so much for helping me work out how to approach this! The more I think about it, the more I like the ambiguity as well.