[admin] February 2006 themes

[cynic-in-charge.livejournal.com]

team7 asked lacewood and I to post our set of wuxia related themes this month. Be careful what you ask for; you might actually get it. XDXDXD

Once Upon a Time in China: The Spinning Moon
a set of wuxia themes compiled by cynic_in_charge and lacewood

February 01: long lost fables

February 02: child found crying in the winter tree

February 03: lemongrass summer

February 04: drowned fields

February 05: midnight market

February 06: the lady that found the moon

February 07: cross my palm with silver, I cannot tell a lie

February 08: the concubine's laughter

February 09: mad in the teahouse

February 10: pick my love up with chopsticks

February 11: at the sight of the ki-lin

February 12: the chrysanthemum promise

February 13: a killing dance

February 14: 4

February 15: embroider me with tears

February 16: ghost bride

February 17: unbound hair

February 18: bone flute

February 19: the fairy's wish/demise

February 20: the blood that drips from heaven

February 21: a thousand li

February 22: the ox's kindness

February 23: a bridge of magpies

February 24: candlelight under the waters

February 25: the sea king's palace

February 26: tricked fox

February 27: the filial child

February 28: return my heart when I am dead



The themes themselves are, well, kinda frou-frou and bombastic, but we figured that was the point of having wuxia themes. The problem with having a set of themes that are as narrow as these is that a lot of them are drawn from mythological or cultural references that aren't exactly common knowledge. Thus, we have a Lot of Notes. XDXDXD


07. cross my palm with silver, I cannot tell a lie
It's more of a gypsy thing than an actual wuxia theme, but it deals with fortunetelling on the streets, usually.

08. the concubine's laughter.
It's an old myth. The Emperor made his favourite concubine his wife, but she never smiled. He took her on a trip and she saw signal fires being ignited and began to laugh. People thought that they were being summoned to war, and thus came, but were angry that the fires were being ignited for nothing. As time passed, the Emperor discovered that his Empress would never laugh unless the signal fires were lighted, and it got to a point where when invaders really DID come and the fires were ignited, the people did not gather together and thus China was conquered.

11. at the sight of the ki-lin.
Confucius' mother was said to have been visited by the ki-lin, the Chinese version of the unicorn. She was told that her son would grow up to be a king among men, but without a throne. Generally speaking, the ki-lin is said to be a good omen and would appear to select people on rare occasions.

12. the chrysanthemum promise
21. a thousand li
"The Chrysanthemum Promise" is the name of a folktale. I know there's a Korean version of it, and I think there's a Chinese one as well, though the variations are pretty similar, I believe. The story goes: a scholar falls gravely ill while in the Capital, and is nursed back to health by a fellow scholar and friend. He recovers, but not long after, is summoned back to his home province and must leave. Before his departure, the friends make a promise to meet again one year later in the Capital.

One year later, the friend prepares for this meeting, laying out a feast and waiting. The scholar finally appears in the hours before morning, and reunited at last, they speak together. As dawn approaches, however, the scholar must take his leave again, and even as the morning light falls on them, the friend realises that he is a spirit. He tells his friend that caught up in the affairs of his home province, he had forgotten of their promise, and remembered only on the night itself. With no other way to travel a thousand li ('li' is a way of measuring distance) in a single night and keep his vow, he had slain himself on his sword, that his spirit may keep his promise for him.

14. 4
The number 4 in Chinese sounds very similar phonetically to the word "death." It's considered a bad luck number.

16. ghost bride
There are a few stories connected to this. Originally, we were thinking of the story of how if a couple is engaged and the groom dies before he can go through with the marriage, a rooster is brought in to take his place and the marriage still goes on. We went, "hey, if there can be a GHOST GROOM, then there can be a GHOST BRIDE!"

But another myth connected to this is that of the white-haired girl. It was adapted into an opera later on, but essentially, it is about a farmer who sold his daughter to a lord. She suffered under the lord, fell in love with a soldier, and fled to the mountains, where her hair turned white, and was later reunited with her lover. It's said to be an allegory of how ghosts can turn human again after society has been cleansed or something similarly Shakespearean.

19. the fairy's wish/demise
The Jade Emperor issued an edict in Heaven that no one may fall in love, and that the punishment for falling and acting on their love would end in death.

22. the ox's kindness
Again, several myths associated with this. In the story about the zodiac, the rat leaps onto the ox's back, which enables it to take first place. In the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver, the ox tells the Cowherd to kill it so that the Cowherd could make a skin that would enable it to go to Heaven.

23. bridge of magpies
Related to the story of the Cowherd and Weaver, it is said that once a year, magpies would fly to Heaven and form a bridge so that the Cowherd and Weaver may meet

27. filial child
This is really a dimly remembered story from the depths of my childhood imagination, but I'm pretty sure this is a legitimate myth. XD It's the story of a wicked woman who was sent to the eighteenth level of hell for her ways, but her son, a pious monk and faithful son, descended into hell and said that he would take her place. They were both eventually released, and the mother was reformed.

28. return my heart when I am dead
As crazy as this one is, it's said that when someone dies, all their organs must be with them at the time of burial.

Feel free to tell Pei Yi and I that we are complete psychos for coming up with this list. Also, ignore the notes if they don't quite fit in with whatever idea that was a-brewin' in your brain when you first read the themes. We won't mind. Really.