Demonization of clans can lead to atrocities

As fate would have it, a young and rambunctious sorcerer becomes the target of the most austere of swordsmen as personalities clash. The one, preferring a carefree life, ignores all the rules of the school. The other, finding honor in obedience, seeks to punish the sorcerer into submission to the rules of the clan. But when war breaks out over the land, the swordsman realizes that honor and righteousness are not such simple matters to ascertain.

The powers of dark magic become a temptation during hard times. People begin to vilify that which they can't understand. Revenge is meted out in abundance. Betrayals are made in darkness. Eventually the pursuit of justified revenge becomes corrupted into hate and excesses of cruelty. The powers of darkness get out of control. Everything would seem lost. But the ultimate sacrifice ends up changing the fate of many lives in the end.

"The Untamed" (陳情令) is a great series because it fleshes out some complex archetypes. This "hostile brothers" archetype dramatized the types of things that can happen when one puts politics above brotherhood in their hierarchy of values. It shows how the demonization of clans can lead to collective guilt and the abuse of those who are guilty only by association. It shows that those who fight fascism can, once victorious, also become fascist in their unchecked righteous indignation towards the demonized "other". Morality is not always as simple as it seems.

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Teamwork is a source of strength

The setting of "Douluo Continent" is a magical world where people can grow in their powers by killing magical beasts. The more you kill, the greater you grow in power level. Yet, this way of life offends the conscience of the main characters. Is there a way to grow in power that doesn't exploit innocent creatures? Peaceful methods are explored as they climb the hierarchy and realize that the closer you get to the top, the more brutal the nature of the people you find.


Conspiracy abounds as they traverse the world, fighting corrupt gangs with the power of their team work. There are many secrets about this world that could affect the entire paradigm about the ethics of power. What if the magical creatures are just as sentient as humans? What if the line wasn't so clear? What if the people abusing power are actually those most near and dear to your heart? Is loyalty the highest virtue, or is a commitment to justice and honor even more important?

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Who can the gods pray to when in difficulty?

Visually, Ancient Love Poetry was the most stunning Chinese drama I've seen so far. Philosophically, it was the weakest. Regardless, it was quite intriguing and awe-inspiring at times.

Ancient Love Poetry is an epic that traverses the time from the beginning of the gods to their later fallen state of weakened reincarnation, all the way to the restoration of their status as top gods. The male lead, named BaiJue, is a top God in the highest heaven, tasked with training ShangGu, the destined-to-be top goddess of chaos. BaiJue was raised by the strict and harsh “Ancestral God” who was like a Heavenly Father of the divine realm before he disappeared into chaos. Consequently, BaiJue embodies the temperament of a strict disciplinarian who always sacrifices the pleasures of the present in order to maximize the greater good for the future of all creatures. ShangGu embodies the exact opposite temperament of BaiJue in how she is always living in the moment, developing relationships with friends, and having fun. She is like a big ray of sunshine that warms BaiJue’s frozen heart. For the first time, he learns how to enjoy the moment. As opposites attract, BaiJue realizes that he needs ShangGu’s influence in his life and falls madly in love. Little does he know, per the laws of the universe, every god or goddess of chaos is destined to be required to sacrifice their life to delay the catastrophe of cataclysmic entropic chaos that is constantly trying to consume all of existence. By training ShangGu to develop her mastery of chaos, he is further sealing her fate. By the time the waves of chaos begin crashing in on the divine realm and eating up their kingdom, ShangGu learns of the revelatory voice of the Ancestral God who tells them that the only way to end the rampage of chaos is if a god or goddess of chaos sacrifices themselves to it. BaiJue realizes that his love for ShangGu has flipped his philosophy upside-down. He is no longer willing to prioritize the wellbeing of all creatures. He now wants to prioritize the wellbeing of ShangGu. But it is too late. ShangGu has matured into her role as top goddess and is unwilling to let everything die because of her selfishness.

As the story goes on, the two of them reincarnate in weaker-tier divine forms, but still try to use their powers to help the weak mortals who suffer greatly at the byproducts of the actions of the gods. When the gods war against the demons, comets fall from the sky and cause great suffering and destruction among the mortals. ShangGu takes great interest in protecting them, and they promise to pray to her and worship her in return for her help. But eventually the powers of natural entropic chaos are rekindled and all sorts of natural disasters begin occurring around the universe. ShangGu tries her best to use her powers to calm down the storms so that less people will suffer, but she realizes that even occupying the status of a goddess, she still feels helpless. At this point of discouragement she says, “When mortals encounter difficulties, they will pray to the gods, but what is to be done when gods meet difficulties?” This theological paradigm highlights the lack of omnipotence in the Chinese pantheon of gods. When the gods are no longer all powerful, the philosophic problem of evil is instantly dissolves. We don’t suffer because the gods lack the compassion to help us, we suffer because natural chaos is even more powerful than the gods. This allows us as mortals to empathize with the gods and even root for them in the great cosmic battle between good and evil, order and chaos, yin and yang.

Some disappointing aspects of the philosophies within Ancient Love Poetry are a support for “ends justify the means” theft, murderous revenge for the mistake of unintended collateral damage manslaughter, and child abandonment while grieving for the loss of loved ones. These philosophic errors seem to display a pre-Kantian level of philosophic maturity. Immanuel Kant helped reveal the wisdom in deontology for negating “ends justify the means” conclusions. Kant also revealed the wisdom in nuancing out the intentions behind crimes so that intentional murder can be punished more severely than unintentional manslaughter. Kantian emphasis on morality as “duty” also helps show the immorality of abandoning one’s duty to care for one’s children.

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Bigotry is just an ignorant failure to see the divinity hiding deep within every person.

Eternal Love focuses on the perspective of a highly respected Goddess. She has a warm and trusting heart, yet is betrayed by those who she thought were closest to her. Eventually a bitter war takes her dear master from her and she retreats from the world in her depression. Disaster strikes and the Goddess is injured so badly that she forgets everything and becomes a mortal. The prince of heaven is also injured while fighting and becomes a wounded snake in the mortal realm. The goddess lovingly cares for the snake because she has no other family in the mortal realm to care for. The snake eventually transforms back into a man and they fall in love.

The Prince of Heaven never knows his wife's real identity as the High Goddess of the wildlands. He loves her despite her lack of status. But the corrupt Gods and Goddesses in heaven are bigoted towards this new mortal gaining entry to heaven and plot her demise.

The message behind Eternal Love is to not focus so much on outward appearances and status, since those things are not true markers for inner beauty and character. Bigotry is just an ignorant failure to see the divinity hiding deep within every person. Love is put to the test as conflicts block their ability to see things from each other's perspective. In the end, the ultimate sacrifice is required to save the world. Who should die to save the world? Is saving the world more important than true love?

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Is justified revenge more important than love?

"The Wolf" starts off with a fairytale-esque story of a girl falling in love with a beastly orphan in the wild who was raised by wolves. The story becomes complex quickly as the boy falls to what would be his death, yet is rescued and nursed to health by a power-hungry Emperor who desires to exploit his beastly strength for military conquest. Acknowledging his debt of gratitude to the Emperor for saving his life, he commits many atrocities in the Emperor's name, even to the point of betraying those close to him. Love is challenged over and over again as miscommunications are either unintentional or intentional. The intersection between love and revenge is constantly being explored as characters try to figure out the most righteous way to treat someone that you have betrayed. If revenge is justified and therefore the most righteous path forward, yet treating someone with love and honesty weakens their resolve to take revenge on you, then perhaps kindness is an obstacle to righteousness. Consequently, perhaps treating your loved one with cruelty and lies is the only way you can help them fulfil the righteous path of revenge against you. In the end, which path is truly the most righteous one? Do the ends justify the means? Or was the premise wrong to begin with?

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Beautiful Union of Opposites

As is typical of the Chinese deity genre, this story pits the heavenly realm against the demon realm. We immediately have the striking juxtaposition between a humble, bullied, lonely, extroverted, physically-broken Orchid fairy and a prideful, bullyish, popular, introverted, emotionally-broken Demon Lord.

Fate brings them together and a love curse strikes the Demon Lord, causing him to be spiritually, emotionally and physically linked to the fairy - anything that happens to her also happens to him; if she suffers, he suffers; if she dies, he dies.

Chinese dramas don’t make the mistake of making their heroine strong because of her masculine traits. Instead, our Orchid fairy is strong because she is the ultimate healer and spreader of empathy. Yet, her opposite, the Demon Lord, is the ultimate destroyer and the epitome of someone who lacks empathy.

Orchid fairy expresses courage in her goals, conviction in her morals, and is willing to risk danger and death for what matters! In contrast, Demon Lord expresses cowardice in his goals, is unwilling to risk danger and death for what matters, and is constantly keeping the fairy safe just to protect himself from the love curse.

The love curse works its magic on him, as he is able to see a whole new way of being through the magic that links their souls together. Through keeping her safe, feeling her emotions, and experiencing the purity of her soul, he begins to see the beauty in her soul and begins to want to be like her.

We get taken to Demon Lords backstory where we learn that he was magically tortured as a child in order to purposefully remove his emotions and allow him to be a powerful enough psychopath to successfully rule the demons. Orchid discovers how he is actually an emotionally damaged boy at heart and promptly begins working on healing his soul.

The two prove their love for each other by voluntarily facing magical torture in order to save each other, evincing that the value of love is greater than the cost of pain.

In the end, their relationship triggers a war between the nations, and Orchid must choose between her love and the lives of the people.

Demon Lord loses his hell fire magic when he is healed from his psychopathy. But he gains a new crimson fire magic when he follows Orchid’s path as a hero for the people, symbolizing that often a greater power can be gained when we sacrifice our toxic and manipulative techniques for more friendly and prosocial techniques.

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Is the ability to love worth the pain it brings?

Ashes of Love (Netflix) was quite an intriguing romance to watch. It starts off with the death of the flower goddess after she gives birth to the next goddess. The secret of her daughter's divinity was kept from the 6 realms to protect her from assault. The flower goddess dies as a result of the murder by the goddess of heaven due to her jealousy of her husband's wandering heart. The flower goddess curses her daughter to never experience the feeling of love, under the philosophy that love brings more pain than it is worth.

The two princes of the heavenly realm fall in love with the heir to the flower kingdom, and a bitter rivalry ensues.

Aspects of Buddhist philosophy are explored. Revenge and forgiveness are pushed to the limit. Self-sacrifice for a noble cause is emulated. Love for one another is taken to the utmost extremes in that they are willing to suffer and be tortured on each other's behalf, to atone for each other's sins.

Of the six realms, the heavenly realm takes on the role of the hypocritically sanctimonious hegemony. The demon realm has some unique virtues that destroy the stereotype that all demons are bad - they are the few that are brave enough to stand up against the heavenly tyranny. The floral realm surpasses the others in outward beauty, yet the mortal realm is where inner beauty is cultivated. These immortal gods deign to descend into the mortal realm where they lose their memories and learn how to truly love.

Unique types of magic are explored. Each immortal functions like a human, but they contain the spirit of some unique plant or animal. Their magic is connected to their spirit form and inspires their personalities.

The plot immediately captured me from the first episode, was consistently gripping with complex subplots and schemes along the way, and silenced me in awe at the concluding finale.

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Can love transform into hate?

What happens when your lover disappoints you? Can love turn to hate? What is the limit of that hate? That is what the Chinese drama “Handsome Siblings” explores, as an evil princess, obsessed with her entitlement to the man she wants, is outraged when he has the audacity to elope with her humble servant maid. She kills both her ex-lover and the mother of his twins in her jealous rage and curses their twin boys to a fate of rivalry. Separated by the princess at birth and not allowed to know that they are brothers, one boy grows up in the palace and learns wind style kung fu from the elites, the other twin grows up in a city of criminals, learning all sorts of lies and magic trickery. The evil princess attempts to brainwash them into believing that they are from enemy clans and that their life goal is to kill each other, so that the ghosts of their dead parents can watch in horror as their sons torture each other in pure evil spite for their dead spirits.

The twins face difficult fates that are destined to collide. But what happens if they are able to realize that they are brothers?

Handsome Siblings teaches meekness, care, brotherly kindness, a respect for karma and the universe, empathy for people who fall into evil ways, and the virtue of not lusting after power, money, and pleasure. It teaches that in the end, the universe will reward the just and punish the unjust.

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Are you courageous enough to sacrifice your happiness for world peace?

"Goodbye My Princess" is a dramatization of everything you should NOT do if you want a relationship to be successful. As the title of the theme song goes, this story is a roller coaster best defined by the phrase "love catastrophe". The fundamental message of this show is to warn about the danger of obsessing over revenge. The characters in this show have to deal with many complex geopolitical conflicts that range from genocide, rebellion, war, corruption, assassination, sabotage, and much more. Princes in the kingdom have to resort to extreme deception in their fight for the throne.

Many of the main characters have a deep desire for their loved ones, yet when having to choose between love and revenge, they each make the mistake of prioritizing revenge. In the end, each character learns to regret their prioritization of revenge over love. The princes have a constant struggle between the virtue of honesty and the great importance of accomplishing their goals. Many characters struggle with the lack of freedom they have, how fate has locked them into a tough path, and how they must give up their freedom in order to make the world a better place. The princess must constantly struggle between her duty to maintain world peace via marriage alliances and her desire to also have inner peace. The most heroic lesson of all is learned - to not only be willing to live for world peace, but to also die for it.

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Ultimate displays of true love

I would rate "Love and Redemption" as being almost on par with "Ashes of Love". When it lacks in charm, it makes up for in fantastic displays of feminine heroism. Whether it is trusting the humanity of an outsider, looking for nuance in geopolitical conflict, experiencing betrayal, or facing evidence of lies and deception, "Love and Redemption" puts true love to the ultimate test. Time and time again, the depth of their love is challenged by how far they are willing to go, how much they are willing to sacrifice, how intense they are willing to suffer, how many times they are willing to risk death, or even how much of their morality they are willing to sacrifice for true love. The philosophy of the heroin's deontological morality is juxtaposed against the consequentialist morality of the villain, showing how easy it is for consequentialism to lose its way.

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"I firmly believe that there is a way to resolve this."

Love and Destiny was a charming Chinese drama, and the most philosophically robust I've seen so far. Yet, this drama casts a more fascinating moral dilemma. The main actress, born half heaven goddess and half mountain goddess, is raised by her uncle who never told her the truth about her birth. Being born during the great demon war, as an infant she was separated from her parents during the chaos, only to become victim to the Demon Lord himself. In the Demon Lord’s last act before being defeated by the gods, he infected this infant baby girl with a curse that will allow him to resurrect through her body.

Only one man was a witness to the Demon Lord’s last curse, yet this witness was struck with 50,000 years of being crystallized into ice by his injuries during the war. The infant goddess now grown up, no one is aware of the secret curse contained within her body. This witness reclaims his status as God of War, and inadvertently falls in love with this blossoming goddess. Eventually the clues start lining up and every god in heaven believes that she must be executed before the Demon Lord can resurrect and begin his murderous atrocities once again. God of War must decide if collective peace is worth the execution of the woman he loves.

Episode 20 delves into a philosophic debate between God of War and his esteemed master, the Heavenly Supreme Lord. His master, emanating wisdom in his age and visage, exhorts God of War to do the right thing and allow his lover to be executed in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the masses. God of War stubbornly rejects his proposal, anxious to find another way.

Heavenly Supreme Lord tells God of War that he has already meditated on this problem for ages, constantly in spiritual communion with heaven and earth, and has been unable to find another way. God of War, embracing deontology, explains that the goddess is completely innocent and does not deserve such a harsh punishment. Heavenly Supreme Lord, embracing consequentialism, explains that no one wants her to die, it's just that her fate necessitates it – how can we accept the deaths of the majority in order to spare the minority?

God of War rejoins with the fact that if he can’t protect the goddess, how can he have the audacity to protect the masses? Heavenly Supreme Lord replies, “If you knew that the welfare of all living creatures depended upon your death, would you be willing to die for them?” God of War naturally agrees that he is willing to take this heroic action for all creatures. His master then ensnares him with, “If it's okay for you to die for the welfare of all creatures, why can’t she die for the welfare of all creatures??” God of War now unable to respond, Heavenly Supreme Lord helps him enter a meditative state where he too can become connected with heaven and earth in order to search for a solution.

In episode 21, Heavenly Supreme Lord surrounds God of War with meditation rocks, which send him into a virtual world where he sits at the bottom of a deep well.

HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“Everything in this world has balance in numbers. You cannot force something. You have confusion in your mind, yet you are unable to resolve it. It has pushed you to be trenched deep in the mud, unable to find a way out. You only see what your eyes see, limited by the layout before you. If you observe the sky from within the well, how can you appreciate its vastness? Is the sky only that which you see from within the well? Is the sky that you cannot see not worthy of being considered sky?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord is telling God of War to stop being so narrow-mindedly focused on only his lover (the sky within the well), and forget about the welfare of all creatures (the sky outside the well).

GOD OF WAR:
“Even if I, your disciple, am within that well, how could I not know how vast the sky is? The layout may indeed cover my eyes, but it cannot cover the entire sky. I observe the sky within my heart. I have the world in my chest. The sky is the sky. It does not differ whether I am inside or outside of the well. No matter where I am, if I am missing just a little fragment, it is not complete. Dare I ask Respected Master, this incomplete sky, can it still be considered the sky?”
~God of War is emphasizing the fact that if he loses a fragment of the sky (his lover), then he has still failed to protect the sky.

HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him out of the virtual well and towards the top of a virtual waterfall.*
“One place, one law. There is order in laws, each order has its principles. All creatures have a yin and yang. If you go against the right path, you will never understand one of them. You should think and weigh the importance. Abandoning all of heaven and earth, just for one drop of falling water, is it worth it?”

HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him away to a dusty desert (symbolizing the destruction of all water for a drop)*
“Destroying the world, just for one wrong split-second decision. Since the world is destroyed, how can there still be any falling water? Is that not foolish?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord tries to help God of War see how horrible the world will be if he focuses on just the one water droplet.

GOD OF WAR:
“I have never thought of destroying a portion of the world. And I will not allow part of the world to be destroyed because of me.”

HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“This is a deadlock that cannot be resolved. Don't you see?”

GOD OF WAR: - *Tao Te Ching (老子) Religious text “万物负阴而抱阳充气以为和”*
“I do not. I firmly believe that there is a way to resolve this. All creatures have yin and yang. Even if you walk against the right path, they will eventually converge. Yin and yang may contradict, but naturally flow towards harmony. What I am after is that harmony.”

God of War sits on the deontological side of the philosophic trolley problem, stubbornly insistent on “honoring” his value for life by never allowing it to be harmed unjustly. Heavenly Supreme Lord sits on the consequentialist side, adamant that “promoting” the value for life is more important. God of War is focused on minimizing his involvement with death. Heavenly Supreme Lord is focused on maximizing the welfare of lives. After bantering back and forth, God of War decides to have faith that a synthesis is available. Instead of having to sacrifice one trolley track for the other, he wants to find a way to save both trolley tracks. The rest of the drama explores how God of War attempts to resist this fate in a variety of ways, with tragedy on the horizon if he fails.

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The Power of Forgiveness

A modern era scriptwriter becomes stressed about her deadlines and ends up dreaming up the world of her own creation. Summoning herself into the role of the 3rd princess who is a side-character that is destined to die, she must use all her knowledge of the plot to find a way to escape death.

The main villain of the story is cursed with a heart disease that both weakens him and will eventually kill him. The pain of this horrific fate corrupts his soul, imbibing within him a Machiavellian "ends justifies the means" philosophy that any murder is justifiable if it means he can be cured from this disease. Yet, the scriptwriter is able to empathize with his suffering and find a way to cure him with the least amount of crime possible. She risks her life, her status, her prestige, and her wealth to save him from his fate. The villain is so touched by her efforts on his behalf that he completely transforms and devotes all of his energy and love to her.

In carrying out duties of the state, she encounters a tribe of barbarians that threaten the region with unrest. She has faith in the wisdom of the ancient philosophers and puts her trust in the idea of "defeat them and forgive them 7 times and they will become your ally". This idea of forgiveness (as echoed in Jesus's teachings as "I say not unto thee, forgive until seven times: but, forgive until seventy times seven times." [Matt 18:22]) proves successful and the entire barbarian tribe is converted into valuable friends and allies.

Two of her long standing enemies constantly plot to undermine her due to their grudges against her past mistreatment of them. The scriptwriter, technically innocent of the mistreatment, finds herself inheriting the baggage of the crimes committed by the character she inhabits. Through forgiveness, good deeds, and risking herself for these enemies, her enemies are touched and convinced that she is a new person - a morally upstanding person that is worthy of being followed. Once again, enemies are converted into friends and loyal subjects.

The final villain of the show is her sister who constantly covets her power, right to inherit the throne, fame, adoration, and even covets her lover. Time and time again she tries to comfort her sister but it never registers. Will she be able to also convert this enemy to an ally? Or are some people too stuck in their ways to ever change?

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How to end war? How to achieve peace?

"General and I" had a thrilling plot from the get go. As the invaders arrive, a mysterious woman plays the zither, calculating the weather, and giving prophecies to her army as to how to win. The cunning villain immediately sees that this woman is a threat and ends up kidnapping her. To the villain's surprise, even his cunning nature is no match for her wits. She escapes all of his traps, outsmarting him over and over. Yet, fates begin to shift as she realizes that this villain is the key to peace between nations. If she can persuade him to pursue peace, then great harmony might be possible. She decides that she is willing to sacrifice herself to a loveless marriage if this villain will promise to stop waging war on her people.

Yet, as time goes on, the villain's true colors are revealed, and he proves himself to be an honorable patriot that would die for his people and his moral principles. As one can't judge a book by its cover, the female lead becomes impressed by his passionate character and falls in love. Yet, this love is cursed by her adopted family, the gods, and the spirits of the dead, as her lover is technically the murderer of those closest to her. She feels cursed as fate blocks the two from being together over and over.

When this most powerful general decides that love is more important than the state, he becomes a liability to his emperor. The emperor sets his sights on destroying their relationship at all costs. This general gives a passionate speech to his men about his priorities - “If a man can’t protect his own wife, how can he be worthy of protecting the state?” The men are rallied to his side as they empathize with his passion to not chose his wife over the state, but rather to protect both.

When he solidifies in his role as protector of both his wife and the state, enemies of the state realize that targeting his wife is the perfect way to destroy his battle-ready soul and weaken the emperor's right-hand man. Like a valuable chess piece, she sits and watches as countless pawns die to protect her. She can't bear the pain of causing countless suffering on those around her and desires to retreat from the political arena. Both her and her husband decide that love is more important than power and prestige. As the emperor's kingdom slowly collapses from his lack of wisdom and moral inadequacy, the emperor realizes that those who desire power the least are the most needed in positions of power. He makes it his dying mission to persuade this power couple to come out of retirement to not only save their nation, but to save all of China.

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Touching Devotion and Tests of Character

The Legend of the Condor Heroes begins with the friendship between two legendary fighters and their wives. Pregnant at the same time, they covenant that their children will either marry or become sworn brothers, depending on their sex at birth. A dark conspiracy strikes and the fathers are attacked and the wives are separated.

One boy grows up in the plains of Mongolia. He is slightly dim-witted, but he makes up for it in moral steadfastness and courage. The other boy is adopted into the palace of a tyrannical king and becomes corrupted by that lifestyle.

Time and time again, each character meets difficult value conflicts. Which is more important - protecting your wife, or protecting your friends wife after he makes a great sacrifice to save you? Which is more important - honoring the wishes of your parents, or honoring the wishes of the tribe leader, to whom you are indebted? Which is more important - honoring the wishes of your teachers who invested time and care into your development over decades, or honoring love by disregarding your teacher's desire to separate you from the love of your life? Which is more important - honoring moral rules like "thou shalt not steal", or having compassion on beggars? Which is more important - enjoying the wealth of the palace, or being with the only person who sincerely loves you? Only time will tell which things are truly more valuable.

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