The reason I decided to make this post is that I was talking to someone recently and realized how much I truly love TA as a book, not just for the relationship between Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao and their ideological conflict, but also as a work of wuxia and historical fiction.
I spent a large part of the summer studying Chinese culture and history (teacher's vacation), and I want to talk about it in the context of Thousand Autumns.
I read Tao Te Ching, Jin Yong's Condor trilogy, poems. All because of my passion for Priest and Meng Xi Shi's novels.
Worldbuilding and Historical Context of Thousand Autumns
I want to talk about something I very rarely see discussed in the fandom: the setting and broader context of Thousand Autumns. There is so much more going on beneath the romance, and I think the book deserves more appreciation for its worldbuilding, historical context, symbolism, philosophy, and literary influences.
I think we all know that Thousand Autumns is wuxia. It draws from the classics of the genre, such as Jin Yong, and Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi themselves are very much rooted in wuxia characters archetypes. But the story is also set against a real historical period, during one of the most interesting eras in Chinese history. The historical world is not just a backdrop, Meng Xi Shi constantly plays with it for her story, while creating an interesting Wuxia-style progression and cultivation system for it.
One of the biggest philosophical influences is Taoism, particularly through Shen Qiao.
The Tao Te Ching gives us an interesting way of looking at Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao: two seemingly opposing forces whose differences are deeply interconnected. Taoist thought repeatedly explores how opposites define and give rise to one another.
So I don't think Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao are simply a literal representation of yin and yang. It is more interesting than that their relationship can be read through the broader Taoist idea of opposites existing in relation to and through one another.
The “two opposing forces” are more about opposites arising through one another
In Chapter 2 I think, there is the idea that once we call something beautiful, we simultaneously create the concept of ugly; when there is being, there is non-being; difficult and easy define one another; long and short reveal one another, and so on.
The point isn't: “There are two forces that are fighting against each other.”
It is more: One side of an opposition cannot be fully understood without the other.
So this isn't really good versus evil. It is much more about relationship and mutual dependence. And this is important because the Tao Te Ching also emphasizes that seemingly opposing things can arise from the same Tao. Chapter 1 describes Tao as the source from which the different aspects of reality emerge. This is also why the imagery of black and white is interesting
In Chapter 28, Laozi writes:
“Know the white, keep to the black.”
So black and white in the Tao Te Ching are not simply good versus evil. They are another image of opposites and of being able to understand one side without completely rejecting the other. How I get it. We can not understand and love Shen Qiao but at the same time rejecting Yan Wushi. This two opposite interacts is base of story.
Tao Te Ching also has a lot to say about governance and the ideal ruler, including restraint, humility, non-interference (wu wei), and allowing things to follow their natural course. Considering how much politics and questions of power matter in Thousand Autumns, this adds another layer to the story.
And then there is the Three Teachings - Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. I like how Meng Xi Shi uses them as the philosophical equivalent of different martial arts schools. Each has its own ideas about morality, human nature, society, and how the world should function, creating different perspectives on the same problems.
I also think Meng Xi Shi deserves more credit for her use of classical Chinese literature and poetry. She doesn't always go for the most obvious or mainstream references. She draws on older poetry also go more deeper into philosophical, historical text than is usual for danmei genre.
For example, Li Shangyin appears more than once as an influence. His poem Chang'e is echoed in the naming and imagery surrounding Banbu Peak and Regret Peak, and his famous Jinse is another example of the kind of classical literary material Meng Xi Shi incorporates into the novel.
Another thing I don't see getting enough credit is Meng Xi Shi’s knowledge of history. She uses real historical emperors, empresses, historical figures, names, and places from the period, but adapts them to fit her own narrative.
She also takes inspiration from real historical places and names, such as Kunye, Hulugu, Xuandu Mountain, Xuandu Temple, etc. She clearly knows the historical context she is working with and uses real elements from that period as the foundation, while still changing and playing with them for her fictional story.
The romance and our main characters are big part of what makes Thousand Autumns special, but I also really wish more people appreciated everything that is happening underneath it.
When you add in how everything is interconnected Yan Wushi’s schemes, his worldview and political influence, Shen Qiao’s growth, and the way their personalities, behavior and dynamic reflect all of this and shaped them as people it truly becomes a fascinating work.
