千秋

edit 2 (04/24/2020): i would just like to say that this novel has completely ruined my life

edit: upon finishing, most of my emotions are the same.
i feel like the extras were a little disappointing (they sort of two-dimensionalize shen qiao and yan wushi's relationship) and preferred leaving off at the end of the novel rather than at the end of the extras. some of the extras were really good though–there was a short passage of yan wushi's thoughts during chapter 45 that made me so angry i almost cried (lol) and two others where shen qiao is briefly reunited with his shizun. the others were all right. i'm not incredibly on board with the two of them as a romantic couple but as a weird, twisted soulmate thing...

original review:
i am currently on chapter 93 of this work and have a lot of things to say. first thing is that this rating is closer to a 4.5 than a 4 but i decided to round down because idk. i felt like it. things will inevitably change i think but i have a strong feeling that these emotions i'm putting down right now won't.

there aren't any huge plot spoilers so don't worry.

this is the first novel i've ever really powered through in Chinese (with my dictionary + baidu ha ha ha...). i read the translations that were available up to ch. 43 and though they were quite good and informational, the original beauty of the writing style was almost completely lost...i'd say maybe 20% of it showed through in english translations. and it's not the fault of the translator, it's just a really hard novel to translate.

as background, i've made attempts to read other danmeis, but i really disliked the style of writing + the tastelessness that specific genre often takes on. more on that later.

more and more do i realize that 千秋 has a lot of aspects about it that don't necessarily make it a very typical danmei (aka–makes it significantly better lol)...the writing style is one of the most telling qualities, as well as the rich historical background that lends another dimension to the pugilistic world depicted in this novel. the whole work has this melancholic tone that you can attribute to these two things.

it is one of the most turbulent periods of Chinese history, and meng xishi doesn't shy away from reminding readers. the common people are suffering, while their leaders are more concerned with their own politics to care. in between this is the pugilistic world, divided into numerous sects that support various leaders to further their own interests and only occasionally pay attention to commoners. our main character, shen qiao, comes from this world, as well as most of the cast.

shen qiao is a great mc, and incredibly likable. he is kind, gentle, charitable. his foil is yan wushi, who is the opposite–selfish, cruel, arrogant. 千秋 is a character-driven novel, so their interactions are especially interesting. i enjoy their banter most. shen qiao is straightforward and polite in his speech, while yan wushi is such a smartass lol...i've highlighted many of his lines just because they're so funny.

the novel is often summarized as shen qiao, who believes in human nature as being kind and good, challenging yan wushi's strong belief that human nature is evil and selfish. it sounds so kitschy at first, it does! but i'm often surprised by meng xishi's handling of what could easily be a hard-to-read cliche. for one she often reiterates that neither of them are right, but also that both characters continue to (at this point in the work and i assume to the end from what i have heard) retain their beliefs and only refine them somewhat with the introduction of the other party. yan wushi doesn't really let up on thinking that all people are evil and selfish, while shen qiao does not let the evil he experiences in the novel to change him. however, the two of them do learn from the other, and what they learn adds a new dimension to their life and their decisions, which is both rewarding and very realistic.

additionally neither of them are exactly...the epitome of goodness/evil. shen qiao is kind, but he is assertive and just; he isn't kind out of pity. yan wushi is selfish and doesn't care for others' well-being, but he isn't a sadist. he can be cruel (ch. 45 is where he is at his worst), though not for the sake of cruelty. this complexity makes 千秋 more interesting to read because sometimes it becomes more a character study than a novel, and i think that is great fun... meng xishi is consistent in her portrayal of both characters and even with a romantic subtext between them, neither characters' essence is lost. they both feel very real.

one other central theme of this work that i notice few people touch upon is the question of “fate”, and how many of the characters–especially shen qiao–make sense of the tragedies they experience as a part of a whole. i know stories that encourage battling fate and destiny are quite popular. i can't help but feel that 千秋 is not necessarily one of them. instead, the novel seems to focus on what we gain in our losses, who we become as a result of our mistakes and misfortunes, and the significance of these tragedies in shaping ourselves...that is not to say that tragedy is necessary, but, in madeleine thien's general words, if we could draw a straight line from a point in our past to our present location, it would be dishonest, because it would ignore all of the turns and detours that we took. i really love this theme and find that it resonates with me.

i can't help but emphasize the literary quality of the (raw) edition of this novel as well. many reviews on douban also reinforce this, often saying this comes close to “real” writing (lots to unpack there lol). there are many references to medieval poetry of that period, many passages with powerful diction + vivid imagery with very few words. lots and lots of 成語, lots of rhythm. it's very fun and educational to read. it is quite plot-heavy though, and deals quite a lot with martial arts. though as someone who knows very little, i found it accessible and not a significant drawback, though some reviewers say it's a bit of a drag, which i can understand.

of course there are drawbacks, and many of them are a result of the danmei genre/audience. was the forceful kiss between yan wushi and shen qiao necessary? why are there so many passages that describe various characters' desires (mutipo, sang jingxing, and to a lesser extent yan wushi) to “ruin” and “dirty” shen qiao, the latter who is often described as pure? these moments are uncommon and incredibly sparse, but when they appear it sort of takes you out of the entire experience. i am interested in this genre (danmei) because i want to read more historical Chinese works with lgbt relationships, but since many are written by straight women who often fetishize these relationships, they come up quite short in a variety of ways and to see 千秋 fall into this same pit–though significantly less so–is very sad, and would be the only reason why i do not rank this novel a 5/5.

in any case, i love this work very much, and i'm excited to see what my thoughts are upon finishing it.