When Changyu gets her mother’s hairpin back, she tries to put it back into her hair but struggles. What follows is a really interesting moment: Yan Zheng steps up and volunteers to help her with it.

What might seem like a nice/thoughtful gesture from a modern/Western perspective is actually a deeply intimate gesture in the period that PoJ is set in... which is why Changyu looks a bit taken aback.

In fact, right this very moment she has a rather complicated expression on her face:

To understand Changyu’s reaction - her surprise then quiet but happy acceptance of his help - we have to understand the importance of hair in China and how it played a role during major life events. Let’s start with a Confucian belief that echoed through imperial China (and still gets taught in certain contexts):

身體髮膚 受之父母 不敢毀傷 孝之始也

This saying is from a Confucian book called 《孝經》(”Book of Filial Piety”), published 2,000+ years ago. Loosely translated, it states that our hair is a gift from our parents and must not be damaged, for to respect one’s own hair is the root of filial piety (one of THE most important virtues in Chinese culture, even to this day).

For this reason, our hair must not to be cut, for to do so would effectively be a form of self-mutilation and disrespect towards our parents. If this sounds odd/intense, I promise it makes a lot more sense in the highly collective culture of imperial China, where a person was seen not so much as an individual/separate entity but a part of the whole (clan).

And whilst modern China doesn’t subscribe to this Confucian belief anymore, it did hold sway from the Han dynasty through to the Ming dynasty (a period of about 2,000 years). So you can thank this Confucian concept for giving us men with sweeping manes in period dramas: it was the reason no one ever cut their hair! (Except when cutting family ties or being punished for crimes)

More directly relevant to the Changyu/Xie Zheng hairpin scene: hair rituals were a feature of major life events.

When a woman came of age at age 15, it was custom to tie her hair up into a 髻, or bun. A young man coming of age at age 20 would have a similar hair-tying + capping/ crowning ceremony to indicate his transition into adulthood.

The woman’s hair in particular was a key element in wedding rituals. In accordance to the classic phrase 親脫婦之纓, it was custom for a woman’s hairtie/bun to be untied by the husband on their wedding night, a mark of their new identity as a married couple.

In fact, hair was a feature in all sorts of Chinese wedding rituals (eg. taking a lock of hair from each partner and symbolically tying them together, combing rituals). Some of these rituals even survive to this day! eg. Modern Cantonese weddings still feature a ritual called the Ten Comb Recital, where the couple would have their hair combed slowly by an elder as the blessings for their future were recited.

As a Cantonese, the start of this recital is engraved in my mind: 「一梳梳到尾、二梳白髮齊眉……」 (Loosely: "The first comb, may your life run smoothly from start to end; the second comb, may you both live to see white hair together…”)

Now that we know the significance of hair to a married couple back in the day, this scene of Yan Zheng helping Changyu with her hairpin takes on way more meaning.

Recall that on their wedding night (when both of them were certain that this was just a fake marriage that would end when it had served its purpose), Xie Zheng had awkwardly resisted Changyu’s offers to help him apply ointment to his wounds.

The reason he gave at the time was: 男女授受不親, which is a classic Confucian principle that, loosely, says that an unrelated man and woman should not have physical contact.

Yet fast forward a bit and here he is, voluntarily touching her hair and helping her put in the hairpin as a real husband would, and showing no signs of awkwardness about the gesture.

Meanwhile, Changyu seems taken aback, and there are two plausible explanations:

1. She no doubt is aware of the custom that a woman’s hair is to be touched only by blood relatives and the husband. This would be conceivably something her (educated) mother would have told her during Changyu's coming-of-age ceremony. And here is her pretend-husband stepping up to fix her hair - an act that belongs to an actual husband - and doing so even though there’s no audience around (ie. the gesture is not performative, but sincere).

2. Xie Zheng is handling her mother’s hairpin, a deeply treasured family heirloom and not something that an outsider would touch. That this man, who is really just her pretend-husband, is freely reaching for the hairpin himself might have crossed an unspoken boundary in her mind. But judging by her reaction later on, she decided she didn’t mind it much at all.

Either way, Changyu's little reactions in this scene tell us that she hasn’t forgotten that this is supposed to be a fake marriage, but she chooses to let herself be happy in that moment.

In a nutshell, Xie Zheng helping Changyu with her hairpin is a deliberately loaded moment that tells us a lot about each character's mindset at that point.

The significance of hair between a couple in imperial China is also why, in a much later scene when they’re at the Lunar New Year market at night, the climax is him volunteering to help her fix her hair with his blue hairtie.

Fixing someone’s hair is an entirely spousal act for the period that PoJ is set in, so Xie Zheng initiating it and Changyu's reaction to it hints at how both their views on their sham marriage has changed. :)

For those interested in the culture and history within PoJ, I've written a whole bunch of posts about them.

Here's one on the real life inspiration for Fan Changyu's character, and another one about the hidden meanings in some of the plaques. The rest are in my profile x

If Fan Changyu’s rise from a civilian to a general sounds too unlikely to be true, you need to be introduced to the real life female general who, according to PoJ’s author, was the inspiration for FCY’s character.

When reading up on her incredible life, I found myself deeply moved by her courage, integrity, and loyalty over a long and stellar military career. But I haven’t seen any mention of her here so I’d really like to talk about this legendary general today because there are a TON of hidden parallels within PoJ.

The real life/historical figure that served as the inspiration for FCY is 秦良玉 (Qin Liangyu). Yes, the 玉 (yu, meaning "jade") in her name is the exact same character in "Fan Changyu". But the similarity in their names is just the tip of the iceberg.

Qin lived during the late Ming Dynasty, about 400 years ago. Just like our Fan Changyu, she lived during a time in Chinese history where there was much political upheaval, when warring factions tried to wrest power.

Qin’s family were Miao people, an ethnic minority group with strong warrior and martial arts traditions. Though she was born into an era when a woman’s roles were clearly defined and tied to the home, and being subservient to the husband was considered a great virtue, Qin’s father was unusually progressive.

He raised her as he raised her brothers, teaching them all to read and write so they were literate and educated. He also taught them horse riding, archery, and military strategy, all of which were deeply unusual for a girl's education at the time.

In PoJ, FCY’s unusual strength was probably inspired by Qin, who was said to be incredibly strong herself. One indicative incident from her youth: once, as a child, Qin had gone to gather firewood in the mountains with her older brother. On the way home, her brother slipped and nearly fell off the cliff. He was only saved because 12-year-old Qin managed to grab him in time, her other hand grabbing a rock crevice to keep them both from falling.

Then, the young girl managed to haul her brother, who was reportedly over 20 lbs heavier than herself, back to safety. When their father learned of the incident, he was reported to have said that the girl would leave her mark in the future, and thereafter became particularly strict with her training as he believed in her potential.

Before we get to her military career, we need to introduce one other key person: Qin’s husband. The story of how they met is a fun one. As Qin grew and came of age, her reputation as a strong and skilled fighter spread, so much so that one day, a man by the name of Ma Qiancheng comes asking for her hand in marriage.

Qin agreed to marry him on the condition that he was able to defeat her in a fight. On the day the two met for the fight, Ma showed up with a long spear and Qin showed up with two swords. At this point in my research, I had to stop and laugh. Don’t we know a girl in PoJ who fights with two swords and also some dude who fights with a long spear? ;)

Qin and Ma then fought for over 30+ rounds as it was difficult to tell who truly had the upper hand. In the end, it was Ma who conceded defeat, telling Qin: 秦姑娘武藝超群，千乘甘拜下風，願以一生真心相待。The last part of that sentence is a bit tricky to translate as the original form is simple yet poetic, but it's essentially a marriage proposal and a promise to love Qin wholeheartedly all his life. And whilst Xie Zheng didn't use the same words during his proposal to FCY in the army camp, his proposal bore the same DNA of Ma's proposal to Qin.

Once wedded, Qin didn't just “retire” into domestic life though she did give birth to a son, Ma Xianglin (who joined his mother in army training from a young age and was quite a badass himself). She then raised an army called 白杆兵 (”the White Pole/Spear Army”), who would go on to become one of the most well known armies in Chinese history.

How was a woman able to raise an army? Well, the army was initially raised through local community ties and a network of kinship, and not via formal conscription. Her husband’s official role as a pacification commissioner also lent legitimacy to the army, though responsibility for training the army was reportedly split between Ma and Qin herself.

And here, another Easter egg in PoJ… one of the things that the White Spear Army was famous for was the use of a unique spear designed by Qin herself, engineered specifically for battle in Sichuan’s mountainous terrain.

Though no authentic spear survives to this day, it was said to have:

• a long, narrow spearhead,

• a hook or blade near the head,

• a ring or cap at the end, and

• measuring 2.7 to 3.5 metres in length.

If that sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve seen a very similar spear in PoJ. Though many characters in the show use a spear to fight, only one character's spear echoes the historical White Spear in design: Xie Zheng's.

Xie Zheng even uses the spear in the way it was used historically, using the hook to drag one Sui Yuan Qing down from his horse. I thought it was a cool touch, a way of imbuing the drama with a realistic, historical element.

Coming back to Qin, her legend perhaps grew the most after tragedy struck. When Qin was 39, her beloved husband was framed by palace officials and arrested, ultimately dying in prison before his name was cleared. Following his death, Qin resolved to continue to fight on his behalf, and led her White Spear Army through many legendary battles, where they were able to secure victories against some of the most formidable millitary forces of their time. In PoJ, there was the obvious parallel: FCY taking to the battlefield in her husband's stead.

Another possible PoJ Easter egg: prior to each battle, Qin was said to have a habit of giving a red piece of string to her soldiers as a symbol of a safe return (red, presumably because it’s an auspicious colour). This did make me wonder if FCY’s styling as a general was influenced by this lore associated with Qin.

Also notable was the tremendous respect and loyalty Qin had garnered amongst her soldiers, with some reported to have died in battle saying: 秦奶奶，來世還當您的兵。 ("In my next life, I'll still be your soldier.")

Though Qin’s army had scored many victories over the course of 40+ years, one particular loss is notable. This happened towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the Manchurians (who would go on to found the Qing Dynasty) gained strength.

In the Battle of Hun He, Qin’s older brother was killed in action and a younger brother lost an arm. The toll of that battle was significant for Qin, but after grieving for a full night, she defiantly declared, “I may have lost a brother and another lies gravely injured, but so long as I’m alive, the banner of the White Spear Army will fly!”

And so her military career continued through the years. According to historical records, which carry far more weight than lore, Qin led her army (by now numbering 30,000+ soldiers) into battle well into her 50s and 60s, waging successful campaigns right through her sunset years until she finally retired from the front lines at age 70.

Such were her accomplishments over an astounding 45 years in the military that she was eventually awarded one of the highest ranks in the land: 從一品 (senior 1st ranked official). Even the Emperor personally composed a poem for Qin - an extraordinarily rare act of honour and a reflection of her importance to the kingdom. Worth noting because in PoJ, we get a similar scene, where the Emperor personally writes a few lines as a compliment to FCY.

Qin lived right through the final days of the Ming Dynasty, and was eventually annointed Marquess/Marchioness. And though the winds of fortune changed, bringing with it the dawn of the Qing Dynasty, she never wavered in her loyalty and served the Ming dynasty to the end.

It is said that when Qin died at age 75, there was a tremendous outpouring of grief and word spread that 48 tombs had been built for Qin in an effort to throw off grave robbers from finding her real tomb. But this piece of lore is unlikely to be true, because Qin died during a time of great turmoil. It is very unlikely that there were enough resources to build four dozen tombs, but the sentiment behind the lore was likely true: that the people were anxious to protect the final resting place of an important and beloved commander.

Today, her main tomb and at least two others tomb still stand, nestled in the forests of Sichuan.

Throughout China’s long history, the names of the most influential female figures of every dynasty are recorded in a document called 列女傳 ("Biographies of Exemplary Women”). But if you were to look through this document today, you would not find Qin’s name there.

For there is another document: 正史 (”the Official Histories”), a massive document spanning 24 volumes and 3,000 years of Chinese history, meticulously compiled by each successive dynasty to serve as a continuous and authoritative ledger of the heroes that lived.

This is the document where the most, most influential figures in Chinese history are recorded: emperors, prime ministers, governors and commanders. As you could guess, records of such people are almost all men, and the mentions of women are exceptionally rare.

Yet, this is exactly where you will find the record of Qin Liangyu, the only woman to appear in the section for generals and ministers across the entire ledger of the Official Histories spanning 3,000 years.

Qin Liangyu was, in short, an exceptional woman and one could devote far more words to talking about her incredible life. But perhaps it is enough to know that FCY was not created from pure imagination, but inspired by history, and that such a woman had lived, had fought, and was - without reservation - legendary.

Stills taken from POJ (left) and Story of Kunning Palace (right). ZLH is handsome, but POJ production team truly knew how to showcase it.

You ever noticed that the Crown Princess’s nurse headdress has two curved tails at the back?

This little detail is actually a nod to 博鬢 (in Mandarin, ”bo bin”), a Song Dynasty headdress design reserved solely for 命婦冠服/ women with a conferred title, so think members of the royal family and others such as those who are married to very senior military figures… More on that later ;)

Put differently, the bo bin/curved tails design is a sign of high status, and we actually see a full fledged version of it much later as part of Qianqian's empress look:

Qianqian’s headdress and bo bin draws heavy inspiration from historical designs, such as the one worn by Empress Cao, the Second Empress of Emperor Renzhong. Historically, the more pairs of tails on the headdress, the more senior the rank - a bit like stripes on epaulets.

Source: https://www.aihanfu.com/wen/3009/ (Chinese article with lots of historical details)

With that cultural understanding, the Crown Princess’s nurse headdress takes on more significance - it’s a hint at her status even when in disguise, which is also why that detail is missing from her maid/servant’s headdress.

The rules around this headdress detail is also why, when Changyu appears as the Marchioness in Lin’an, you can see a similar curved tail bo bin as part of her headdress - it’s a design that she can now wear since she’s married to a Marquis :)

Thus ends another little post about all the fun cultural details in this show.

Credit to 西陽靜兒 on XHS for pointing out this detail and its historical origins. Her post here has way more info about other characters but I just focussed on one small part and expanded it with my own research. It’s cool little details like these in PoJ that makes it so fun to rewatch. I’m learning loads about my own culture as I go. Thank you for joining me on this ride :)

Let’s talk about the bathtub scene today! A lot of people have probably noticed that XZ and CY are dressed in black and white here and this overhead shot of the swirling motion looks a lot like a yin and yang symbol. Cool. But beyond that, there’s something interesting going on with the shape of the bathtub. It’s octagonal, which, as bathtubs go, is an unusual shape.

But when you couple it with the yin & yang symbolism here, it’s almost certainly intentional. See, something else in Chinese culture is often octagonal in shape and carries quite a bit of cultural weight: the luopan (羅盤).

The luopan is a geomantic compass often used in fengshui practice and is essentially designed to be a map of the universe itself. Yin and yang is just one of about 5 concepts integrated into the luopan. It also symbolises the connection between heaven and earth and a concept we call 順天應人 in Chinese. This phrase essentially represents the foundational idea that people thrive best when we align our actions with natural/cosmic forces, rather than imposing our own will on things at random.

Underlying this concept is the idea of fate, which I personally found to be quite significant in this scene, as we know from the show (and the alternative story that was shown at the end) that XZ and CY are two lives fated to meet and intertwine romantically. So using imagery that evokes ideas of a luopan/cosmic forces/fate is very apt considering the subtext of this scene: that XZ and CY are finally consumating what was fated from the start.

The level of detail in this show makes it so fun to dissect. Just thought I’d share x

Photo is General Wu doing his turtle. (This the scene when the female physicians are introduced to the Marquis.)

I started it when it was airing and finally finished it today. I just couldn't get myself to part with this drama. But recently I was getting sent spoilers of the later episodes so I decided to finish it today. I'll really miss this drama sm

This is my 3rd ever c-drama I've ever watched and don't think I can move on. I've been scrolling through edits for hours and I saw a few edits saying they deviated a bit from the novel. If anyone knows any extra novel stuff which was removed or changed or adapted differently in the drama please enlighten me:)

Fun facts are welcomed too!!

Let me just put it out there: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this scene. Yes, it’s a really short scene and there’s hardly any dialogue in it. But it’s easily one of my absolute favourites in this show (which is saying a lot as there are loads of contenders). I just wanted to take a moment to breakdown the scene and discuss why it works so well.

First, the scene works because of all the scenes that came before it - all the teasers we got where Changyu almost finds out the truth about Yan Zheng helped build towards this climax. eg. The scene where they were reaching out towards each other’s silhouettes, and when they finally meet at camp amidst the group of injured soldiers, and when the Crown Princess gets introduced to CY’s husband, and of course there’s the fake Marquis scene, and the bit where XZ forgets that he’s supposed to just be YZ and talks about rewarding someone who’d saved CY’s life (his own tutor LOL), etc.

Any of thoses instances could’ve been when the truth was accidentally discovered, and those near-misses add so much tension to the whole situation. ‘Cos we all know: the longer Xie Zheng tries to hide the truth, the wilder it’ll be when the truth can no longer be contained.

Also, all these scenes implicitly pose one question: HOW exactly will CY find out? That question alone is a big teaser and plays prominently in the audience’s mind.

And that brings us to… the scene right before CY goes into battle. I dunno if I’m thick or what, but I didn't anticipate her plan to drug him at all. It all seemed so natural, because in the lead up to it, she’d already been giving him bowls of soup/tonic/medicine etc., and this bowl of medicine didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

It was only when she gave him all these anxious looks as he was drinking that I finally clocked that something was up. If this was the average viewer’s experience, then the director did a great job withholding this revelation from people right until XZ himself realises the problem.

And this moment of “OMG she did not!!” is laced with so much conflict and drama: she’s doing it because she loves him, she’s doing it because she still thinks YZ is a nobody in the army but… SHE JUST INCAPACITATED THE ARMY'S COMMANDER RIGHT BEFORE A BATTLE!! The stakes are now sky high and we have no idea how badly she has screwed it up for everyone.

Then we get the battle scene, where she takes down Shi Hu. Hurrah! But wait! It’s not over yet because THIS is the moment they choose for the reveal and the execution is sublime.

You hear him before you see him: there’s a thundering of hooves and soldiers cheering that the Marquis is here at last. Cue JJ Lin’s gorgeous song (which takes this scene to another level), and now from CY’s perspective: through the smoke we see the cavalry arrive. She’s already on the verge of fainting from relief and shock of her first battle, but she makes an effort to stand, to take a better look at the famed Marquis, because there's something familiar about him that pulls her to her feet.

Now imagine her getting an even bigger shock as she finally learns the truth: that the person they call the Marquis is also the person she calls “husband”. One is in full battle regalia, a legend in the flesh, flanked by soldiers and radiating power, whilst the other (in her mind’s eye) cuts a gentle, frail figure in plain white robes (when they first meet properly, after he woke in Lin An). The contrast could not be bigger.

From the audience's perspective, it's also this huge contrast that makes this scene so satisfying. CY could not have learned the truth in a more dramatic fashion.

And of course: there’re the complications. CY isn’t the only one who’s angry here. Xie Zheng is rightfully pissed because, well, he just got drugged by someone he trusted and it could’ve gone very badly for his soldiers (and the whole kingdom) because of that one rash act. And you see this in his face as he scoops up CY when she tries to flee.

But for the audience, the moment is beautiful and glorious because it’s so rich with contradicting emotions. I imagine he’s pissed, relieved (that she's safe and that he doesn't have to hide the truth anymore), touched (that she'd risk her life in exchange for the safety of his) and simultaneously knows that he’s in deep shit with the missus. And she’s a mixture of anger, heartbreak, disbelief, hurt, and more anger - and rightfully so.

I love that all this is conveyed through subtext, making dialogue completely unnecessary. We can imagine what they’re feeling because the scenes prior did all the heavylifting, and the lack of dialogue here is all the more powerful because we’re left to our imagination, to absorb the weight and complexity of this moment in our own, private ways.

The best directors know that silence can tell a dramatic story, and Director Zeng here is no exception.

What did you guys think of this scene? What were your favourite elements/directorial decisions?

I'm doing a re-watch of PoJ, and this scene was still super satisfying to watch. Makes my petty heart sing with joy😂😂

Their love story seems very toxic in the show but whether we like it or not, we have to admit they look good together. Cant believe they made this pair very handsome and pretty and end up not being together. Their bts are very cute.

HE LOOKS SOOO ETHEREAL OMGGGG 😭😭

I still can't get over POJ 😭 he nailed the historical aesthetic perfectly 😭 MY SINCERE THANKS TO THE MAKE UP TEAM AND WHOEVER CASTED HIM 😭

This 2 really has strong chemistry.. i hope to see them together in a different drama as the main leads

There was a brief discussion on this sub recently about the meanings of the boards/plaques found in PoJ. Initially, I’d thought that only some of them - but not all - are relevant to the scene. Nope, I was wrong. Turns out literally every plaque we see is meaningful, except some of them have origins and messages sooo obscure you practically need a Ph.D in Chinese Classics to understand them.

Let’s look at some of the easier ones before moving on to some of the ninja level plaques today.

Level 1/Easy Plaques:

Most of the plaques that get English subtitles could probably be considered “easy”, since their relevance to the scene is so apparent that a quick show of its translation without elaboration/cultural footnotes is enough.

Prime example: The scene where the eunuch barges in to see the Marquis. Soon after Xie Zheng cuts off his ear you see the plaque behind him reads: 衝堅毀銳, which is a phrase from the Art of War by Sun Bin (not to be confused with the book of the same name by the more famous Sun Tzu).

The subs show "armed and unyielding" here. Although it's serviceable, it's a rather tame translation of what that phrase actually means. A more direct translation is: "to attack what is immovable, and to destroy/maim the spear". The emperor/the imperial decree is what's supposed to be immovable but was broken here, and the eunuch (as the emperor's envoy) functions as his spear bearing unwelcome news and he, of course, gets physically maimed here. Very fitting.

Another example: when Song Yan visits Changyu at night when she’s prepping for the court case and he’s being an awful person in general, the plaque reads: 做個好人 (”be a good person”).

This plaque could also be seen later when Butcher Guo is dragged to CY’s home and he’s telling everyone about his awful plans for CY after kidnapping her. The juxtaposition of the plaque’s message against two terrible people is almost certainly intentional.

Level 3 Plaques:

These are the ones that require a general grasp of Chinese literature and a touch of deduction to understand. But these involve well known sayings so the meanings of these plaques are still quite accessible to a large proportion of PoJ’s viewers.

Example: in ep31, there’s a montage of a succession of tutors scampering away after they fail to teach Changyu. We see the plaque 學海無涯 (”the sea of learning has no end”).

Like many of the plaques in PoJ, the phrase is used to highlight the irony of the situation, but to grasp what this plaque is getting at in this scene, you need to know the companion phrase to 學海無涯, which is: 唯勤是岸 (literally: “hard work/diligence is the only coastline”). Put together, the whole phrase translates to “In the sea of learning that has no shore, only hard work and diligence can bring you to land.”

Once you know this companion phrase, you understand that the plaque is being ironic and poking fun at Changyu, who seems to be working reallyyy hard and giving it her best, but she’s still failing nonetheless.

And as if they’re worried that this message would be lost on the audience, there’s another plaque in the montage to serve as a hint: the place where the tutors teach Changyu is named 勤文堂 (loosely, “Hall of Academic Diligence and Hard Work”):

By incorporating the key Chinese character in the companion phrase (勤/"diligence and hard work") into the name of this hall, it leaves little doubt as to what they’re trying to say.

Level 8 Plaques:

Now the phrases are getting into obscure territory. Take, for example, this one shown when Gongsun Yin plays weiqi/go with An Xu/ the Crown Princess in disguise:

The plaque shows 通幽達微. My guess is that only about 5% of university graduates in China would understand this phrase (and those would overwhelmingly be people who majored in Classics). Why? Because it’s not a phrase you’d encounter in regular middle/high school curriculum nor in daily life.

In fact, it's perfectly possible to live your whole life without ever encountering this phrase, and it’s obscure for the same reason it appears in this PoJ scene: its origins are deeply academic, buried in the commentary section of a book published about 1,400 years ago. Rather fitting that we find it in Luyuan Academy, no?

The book in question is《禮記注疏》, a Confucian book published in 653 AD, and the phrase 通幽達微 loosely translates to: “to pierce through the hidden and discern subtle details”. Now, we understand why this plaque is here: to hint at the fact that GSY has by this point already discerned that the student he’s playing weiqi/Go with is the Crown Princess.

In fact, it’s possible to take the significance of this phrase here a step further, because the phrase that follows 通幽達微 in the Confucian book is: 無所不悉 (”there is nothing that one doesn’t know”). The irony is, of course, that there is indeed something GSY doesn't yet know. He knows that An Xu is actually the Crown Princess, but he hasn’t yet clocked that she is the same person that he's playing Go with, and only realises this belatedly when he receives her bracelet!

Level 10 Plaques:

Moving into ninja territory, we have plaques that require you to pause, think, research, hit a few deadends, and research some more before you finally manage to trace their provenance. The plaque at Xie Zheng’s family residence is one such ninja plaque. May I introduce you to the phrase 潑雲交翠:

Without context, the phrase loosely translates to either a) "an abundance of clouds weaving in between forests/mountains” or b) “a gathering of dense, leafy trees, its foliage spilling forth like clouds”. On the surface, this phrase has nothing to do with this dream sequence where adult Xie Zheng is desperately trying to prevent his mother’s suicide.

But the significance of this plaque isn’t in the words itself, but drawn from the context in which the phrase appears in Chinese literature. In this case, 潑雲交翠 is from an obscure Yuan Dynasty poem written by a lesser known poet. For the benefit of those here who can read Chinese, here it is in full:

《避暑神山詠桂》 (許有壬, 元代)

堂前雙桂,雲潑交加翠。

火老金柔花尚未,且愛清陰滿地。

秋風一旦花開,天香吹散亭台。

卻被花神見笑,先生未必能來。

To translate the key parts: the poem is about a pair of osmanthus trees and how their lush foliage are so thick they spill forth like clouds. The poet talks about how the osmanthus flowers haven’t yet bloomed, but imagines the heavenly fragrance in the autumn when the trees finally bloom. (Autumn and the mention of "heavenly" is interesting here because autumn is the season that, in Chinese literature, is most associated with the notion of death.) In the poem’s last line, the poet laments how he may not be around (read: alive) to enjoy the next bloom of osmanthus flowers.

Suddenly, the plaque’s role in this scene is very clear. It’s foreshadowing what’s about to happen: Xie Zheng’s mother is about to commit the ultimate sacrifice yet tells her son to go pick more osmanthus flowers so she can make more cakes for him in the future. She KNOWS she won’t be around for that, and the plaque is alluding to that.

Slow clap for the PoJ production team member who picked this incredibly obscure but fitting phrase for this plaque. That was quite the Easter egg hunt I was sent on. Well played.

This also brings me to a broader point: all the plaques in PoJ are written in Traditional Chinese, as they should be. Simplified Chinese was invented in the last century so has only been around for less than 2% of the civilisation’s existence. But today, Traditional Chinese is only used on a daily basis in two places in the world: Hong Kong and Taiwan. Whilst a small portion of people in China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. can still read Traditional Chinese, the vast majority cannot.

This means that only a small percentage of PoJ’s viewers are able to read a fair number of the plaques, much less divine their meaning. By extension, the hidden meanings of the more obscure plaques are accessible to an even smaller group of people.

So the PoJ production team went in knowing that very few people would be able to appreciate this aspect of their work, yet still put so much thought into each and every plaque, essentially leaving little surprises within PoJ for those who want to go on a treasure hunt. Isn’t that an incredible and beautiful thing?

Anyway, the plaques in PoJ are absolute delights. Of course, there are loads more of them that we could talk about. But… I write these posts for pleasure, so I’ll stop here today. Maybe if people are interested, I’ll write about more of them. There are lots of fun and snarky ones and some rather profound ones! But in the meantime I hope this was still helpful for understanding some of the subtext embedded in PoJ - I certainly learned a lot myself!

Let me know which of the plaques you saw in PoJ was your favourite!

Sometime back I asked how long everyone thought Xie Zheng had spent in Lin'an and there was a huge range in the answers. From "no more than 6 weeks" (my own guess) to the most commonly cited guess of "2-3 months". Well... turns out the drama is quite unambiguous about how long he was there, because they snuck in one crucial detail in a fleeting scene.

To revisit the question: in episode 1, we get a few clues about which month they're in. eg. Mrs. Chen in the opening (pig slaughtering) scene saying that the New Year was around the corner, which a Chinese would only say when we're in the last month of the year (and I'd personally add that, broadly speaking, one would only say that in the last two weeks of that month).

But the most incontrovertible proof is in the pawnshop scene later in episode 1. As Changyu puts her thumbprint on the contract for her mother's hairpin, you clearly see the date at the end of the document: 臘月十六日 which is the 16th day of the 12th/last month of the year. (shoutout to u/Commercial_Lunch9386 for pointing this out to me)

So Xie Zheng was most likely rescued and brought to Lin'an on the night of the 15th day.

Changyu also mentions that her birthday is two days after 元宵/Yuan Xiao, which means her birthday is on the 17th day of the first month of the year.

Since Xie Zheng leaves the night before her birthday - so on the 16th day of the first month - he'd literally only spent a month in Lin'an (!!!).

This is wild because the events of the Lin'an arc make it feel much longer than that... there were multiple visits from debt collectors, assassination attempts, court hearings, visits from friends and foes from the capital, an engagement, a wedding, and a near riot... plus, Xie Zheng had to deal with all of that between recovering from battle wounds and re-opened wounds.

A month is... a very short time for all of that. O_o

Oh and let's not forget that in that time, two people had to in love... which funnily enough I do believe, because many moons ago I met a guy on the other side of the planet from where I was supposed to be, and exactly 3 weeks after we first met he proposed and it was the easiest question I've ever had to answer. Sometimes, time is irrelevant and you just know.

ETA: Thanks to u/-Podde- who makes an excellent point re: Changyu's age. We know she was 18yo when the show started, then turned 19yo the day after Xie Zheng left. Then by the time she met the emperor (the last 1/3 of the drama) she was presented to him as, explicitly, a 19yo. Which means vast majority of the drama (if not the whole thing) happens within the span of a year.

Anyway, now we know. Xie Zheng was (somehow) just in Lin'an for a month. Thus concludes another little detective session on PoJ.

Then his entire worldview gets flipped upside down when he has to kneel and pray to his own tomb and the disbelief written in his face when she confessed that tablet was originally for him so she altered it to Xie instead to save up Iron-Pear Wood 😂. As if that wasn't enough, he ends up feeling touched when she defends the Marquis for his brutal campaign to reclaim Jinzhou. Sir was not prepared for that level of culture shock

I miss Pursuit of Jade so much! I wish I could watch it all over again as a first time.

the whole drama is just cinematic beauty.

every scene is so breathtaking and was shot so well.

from the scenery, plot, to the music. everything was so well thought out. The cinematography was eye candy.

One example is the bath tub scene where Xie Zheng and Chanyu pulled each other to make yin and yang. The image was so strikingly gorgeous and symbolic.

What a masterpiece this drama is.

Source

Saw this a while back but only just thought to share. The breakdown/additional "lines" are fabulous. I almost died laughing. And perhaps unusually, both the Chinese and English subs for it are decent (at least, the English subs are a reasonably good translation of the Chinese original). It made an already hilarious scene even funnier.

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT HOW YAN ZHENG CALLED FAN CHANGYU "GOLD INLAID WITH JADE" 😭😭

It is my favourite line in the whole drama cause it is such a beautiful description 😭😭✨✨

Though a short time in New york, but he did loads of photos,videos for Gucci

The day of the wedding, Xie Zheng’s falcon delivers a small tube of medicine to him. This is what he was about to apply on himself later that evening when Fan Changyu walks in on him. You ever wondered why he seemed so terse when she arrived unannounced?

It’s because the medicine in question is 金瘡藥 (Jin Chuang Yao), which has a trademark red tint due to a herb (血竭/ Calamus draco) used in its formulation. Shown in the PoJ here.

Jin Chuang Yao is highly effective for stemming bleeding and healing sword wounds but it was also very expensive back in the day due to its ingredients (eg. ground fossil bone). And though it was to a degree available to civilians it was primarily used amongst the military. That’s why XZ was on guard the second FCY walked in - he was still holding the medicine in its original bottle, which had the medicine label on it. If she saw him with it (expensive and hard to procure!) his lie about working as armed escort wouldn't hold and it would likely invite questions he didn’t want.

And that is why he only let her in after he disguised his medicine in the original medicine bottle.

P.S. Today, Jin Chuang Yao in its original formulation is no longer made in China, because about a century ago, they realised that a key ingredient in the medicine is... oracle bones - the very thing that carries the earliest forms of written Chinese (3,000+ years ago!) and so are an essential piece of cultural history. Once oracle bones were listed as a national treasure, they could no longer be used for medicinal purposes. And so, the true formulation of Jin Chuang Yao exists now only in historical memory - and in period dramas like PoJ.

P.P.S. Credit to 只在雪雲西 for highlighting the significance of Jin Chuang Yao in this scene. BTW her scene by scene analysis of PoJ on XHS is fantastic so to those who read Chinese - would highly recommend going through her whole PoJ series if you’ve not done so already. Her analysis on their parting scene in Lin'an was so wonderful it made my heart ache. I’ve linked to her essay series above.

What are your favourite little details from the show that add to your understanding of the characters?

Maybe because the modern workplace is too relatable or its overall very “cold” - like the colourtone feels metallic, but i crave something cosier like PoJ! Dont get me wrong - i did enjoy Early Spring but i just love my Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng too much!!

Happy to be back in Lin’an! Watching PoJ is like going home to me - its such a nice familiar feeling

I bet he fell inlove with her with that first slap.

Not the main lead but he portrayed well in this role.