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vxensays · 2 years ago

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(Adressing both original post and discussion in comments)

WWX canonical murder:

(1) Wen cultivators, who were actual soldiers partaking in a war of conquest in order to put cultivation world under their ideals and censor them and take their freedom, all done ALONGSIDE the cultivation world

"the War Does'Nt WoRk tHis way" hello, it's ancient china, forced labor is not an option[TM]

What was happening to Wens in Jin camps was designed for humiliation, IF we are talking in superman standards here, if one would like, then there should have been war tribunal happening for both Wen Remnants and WWX, BUT OH wait a second, it's almost like it's a point in the story!

JGS lied about who the Wen remnants were, then he and his supporters lied about WWX was building an army which is a false accusation and manipulation which turned WWX into somebody who "cultivation world needs to protect themselves from", WWX conveniently "became loose and dangerous" around time when cultivation worlds very own war crimes were about to be exposed

/and no, we can not compare morals of MDZS world with world of Superman (and there whole other story and moral dilemma about that type of no-killing archetypes EVEN speaking specifically abt Superman. Why do you think superheroes fight aliens and stuff in their stories, but don't take action in humans wars? Because there lies moral dilemma that characters in MDZS have to face, and enough for western ideals, they are non existent in this setting. And also there entire series which includes superman and this dilemma, where, wow he actually killed/

(2) Jin cultivators, who ambushed him on his way to a civil gathering + ACCIDENTAL murder of JZX, which is there in the story excatly for the reason to highlight how innocent are hurt by war and power play (in here JZX and WWX are victims in different ways, but for the same reason, come on people, WWX wasn't like "oh, Jins in general and JZX in particular, I hate them, time to go boinks", i repeat, he was in compromised state of mind because of the ambush, they literally brought him onto themselves and JZX was in wrong place in wrong time

(3) Again, cornered into the wall, in compromised state of mind, after he was proclaimed villain for things he had done FOR cultivation world and WITH THEIR BLESSING, he kills in self-defense, even though he doesn't really want to, but this is "kill or be killed" situation + accidental death of JYL happend basically the same way as JZX, except she was there willingly (what a woman, who is not an active fighter was doing there aniways? No one could have forseen her sacrifice)

Points 2 and 3 had been very well discussed in the comments, i don't see there's need to elaborate further again

Jian Cheng canon merdering:

(1) the same Wen cultivators, no questions, #justified ,okay

(2) The Wen Remnants, during the first siege, when he HAD KNOWN that they are innocents, and not an army, he just DIDN'T CARE and that is another point in the story which highlights how the best of cultivation world are not morally right, that the "right" side is not always right, and how rumors (and propaganda) work

No one, not even Jiang Cheng, who visited before in civil and quiet setting, stopped before ruthlessly killing anarmed Wens (in contrast to always armed cultivators, who were agaimst WWX) and also disrespecting their bodies, by throwing them into blood pools, ultimately not letting them rest in peace

(3) Unknown amount if people that he tortured in civil times, without much evidence on them being reincarnation of WWX, which is serial murder kind of shit

And it is where usually comparison to torture of WC, WZ and WLJ pops up. And while both are bad in our modern (and mostly western) point of view, they are percieved differently in frames of the story and its worldbuilding. WWX took revenge, "an eye for an eye", and basically in term of the story just got rid of dangerous criminals, no one except of LWJ cared about the actual way it happend, not even JC.

While all tortures that JC comitted were quite questionable and gained him a reputation of a cruel person among people, they were scared of this rumors. And, most importantly, that was not a decision made in a "heat of the moment" during war, that was a concious choice made by JC mislead by his own resentment.

So, yeah, when actually circumstances are broken down, all this things are suddenly not the same.

I don't like the use of "muderous nutjob" because it oversimplifies the point, but if we would use that:

Murderous nutjob - a person, who is carelessly, whithout a double thought, goes to an extremes in his rampage (even if justified in their mind)

Then its clear, that WWX is not a nutjob he was being painted as in the story by cultivators, and now by some of the fans. While be killed excactly the same way as the rest and also made his mistakes in compromised state of mind, none of this was careless and not thought about, while JC absolutely didn't care about what is not imporatnt personally to him.

So yeah, WWX wasn't murder crazy, he just fought the war by the means accessible to him (besides tortue of WC, WZ and WLJ it wasn't even stated, that he was cruel to these extremes) and kill all the same as the rest, then he again killed in self-defense, where happend unforseen casualties (because they were casualties, JZX and JYL willfully engaged in these dangerous situations, which had gone awfully bad by a lot of circumstances).

What is in reality conveniently forgot (or actually dropped down, to fit the point) that while WWX had no other options to act otherwise, while many other characters including JC could act differently

[Which second-handedly proofed by all the fanfics where JC doesn't act like a blind asshole, and that allows the story progress differently.]

WWX is not morally grey period

Jiang Cheng is asshole blinded by years of build up negativeness and did nothing about it, because he is fine with the way he is, its just everybody else who is wrong

Its fine to like or dislike character no matter what, i just don't get why would one need to post opinion contradictive even to word of an author in a tag that includes word "canon"

Like, MXTX said that WWX is a moral compass. Thats it.

(Repeat again just in case, our modern morals and values are different to ancient China inspired world, they do not apply. Only thing we can do is to judge through the lens of storytelling, and in MDZS its absolutely clear)

“Plenty of other people in MDZS (namely WWX) go through way worse shit than JC and none of them turn into murderous nutjobs.”

Babes, Jiang Yanli died and Wei Wuxian literally committed a massacre, maybe it wasn’t the thousands that they later claimed, but it probably was still a lot. As a response to the Lotus Pier massacre and getting dropped in the burial mounds he tortured Wen Chao, Wen Zhuliu and Wang Lingjiao in such an extreme way that they started cannibalizing themselves and each other for it to stop. Wen Chao had his genitals bitten off. Like, this is not me saying they didn’t deserve it, but Wei Wuxian canonically very much turned into a murderous nutjob himself before he died.

#canon jiang cheng #i hope that was cohesive enough #english is not my first language #it is first time in years on tumblr that i make a post of my own wow i forgot the feeling

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stiltonbasket · 4 years ago

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but ALSO okay so first of all thank you so much for the ficlets so far they are Adorable and i love them so much. second of all i am so glad you opened prompts again bcuz. i have. smth ive been wanting to read for a WHILE. so. prompt: junior generation post-canon, they all have super high standards for romantic partners cuz they spend time with Super Lovey Dovey WangXian. not like jiang cheng's List but smth a la Tenille Arts's Somebody Like That iykwim

i hope its not too late to insert a detail to my prompt!!! (i ran outta chara space in the og prompt message and then forgot ^^" ) but theres just one thing!! i really wanna see!!!! in the wangxian spoiling each other bit!!!!! (and the juniors being all That is Love Why Should We Settle For Less) -- i want lan zhan walkin around at one point with his hair in a braid and flowers braided in!!! and if asked he gets all soft and looks at it and is like "wei ying did it" ahhh i love the image <3

can anybody find me (somebody to love)

by stiltonbasket

“Wei-qianbei, we’re getting old enough to go courting now,” Jingyi says eagerly; but he’s a horrible liar who lies, because he and Sizhui are only nineteen, and Jin Ling doesn’t come of age until early winter. “What do you think we should put on our list of requirements?”

(Or, the one where Jin Rulan visits the Cloud Recesses, contemplates his love life, and gets a new point of view on the Lan sect's taxation policy.)

Jin Ling is seventeen the year his dajiu marries Hanguang-jun, and finally gives Jin Ling the right to call Lan Sizhui his cousin. Sizhui’s always been his cousin, of course—they’ve been cousins since Jin Ling was born, even if neither of them knew it—but he couldn’t say so, because that would mean telling everyone that Sizhui was born a Wen. And telling everyone that Sizhui was a Wen would lead to terrible things, so Jin Ling keeps his mouth shut until after his dajiu’s wedding.

“You could just say that he was born to us during the Sunshot Campaign!” Wei Wuxian laughed, when he finally heard why Jin Ling wanted him to hurry up and take his three bows with Hanguang-jun. “Half the cultivation world already thinks he’s ours, anyway.”

But regardless of whether he could call Sizhui his biao-ge in public, Sizhui is first and foremost a very dear friend; and so are Lan Jingyi and A-Qing and Ouyang Zizhen, though Jin Ling’s best friend is probably Zizhen, just like Sizhui’s is Jingyi. He visits them in Gusu as often as he can, since all of them save Zizhen live there, and even Zizhen hangs around the Cloud Recesses more often than not.

“Don’t you have a clan of your own?” Jin Ling frowns, when he visits his dajiu around midsummer to find the younger boy eating xiaolongbao in the jingshi’s new kitchen. “How come you’re still here, A-Zhen? The lectures ended weeks ago!”

“I’m almost sixteen,” Zizhen yawns, reaching for a shallow dish of black vinegar and soaking a salted mushroom in it. “Father says I’m old enough to go where I like, and Lan-xiansheng said I could keep studying with the Lan disciples as long as I stayed.”

“You’re just here for the food,” grumbles Jin Ling. His dajiu is a good cook when he doesn’t cover everything in chili peppers, and Jiujiu once told him in confidence that Wei-dajiu’s food was the closest Jin Ling would ever get to having his mother’s. But a steaming plate of xiaolongbao lands in front of Jin Ling before he can really start thinking about that, and then his baby cousin crawls into his lap and steals one of the soup dumplings.

“Ling-gege pays taxes,” three-year-old Lan Yu says serenely, poking a hole in the xiaolongbao and sucking out the broth. “Xiao-Yu can have one more?”

“Taxes?” Jin Ling stares at him. “What in the world does he mean?”

Wei Wuxian laughs and comes back over to give him another succulent soup dumpling to replace the one Xiao-Yu stole. “He’s pretending to be the sect leader,” he explains, ruffling Jin Ling’s hair on his way back to the stove. “And he found out about tax management this morning, since Lan Zhan and Xichen-ge are thinking about lifting the luxury tax on goods from some of the minor sects. But A-Yu thinks taxes are presents for the sect leader, so…”

“One more bao tax for xiao-Lan-zongzhu!” Xiao-Yu says imperiously, holding out his chubby hands. “Ling-gege give, please?”

“That is not polite, Xiao-Yu,” Hanguang-jun scolds, sweeping into the kitchen with A-Yuan and Jingyi behind him and A-Qing bringing up the rear. He lifts Xiao-Yu into his arms and sits him down on the bench next to Zizhen, and then he reaches up for a stack of patterned bowls and passes them around to the others.

Jin Ling still hasn’t gotten used to eating at the Chief Cultivator’s table, even if Hanguang-jun is technically his uncle now. Sometimes Hanguang-jun even does the cooking, and feeds Wei-dajiu with his own chopsticks while everyone else watches, and then Jin Ling tries to choke himself to death on the bamboo shoots in his yan du xian before deciding that Lanling can’t afford to lose the first decent zongzhu it’s had since his great-grandfather’s time.

“I wish I was married,” Ouyang Zizhen sighs dreamily, resting his cheek on his hand as Xiao-Yu tries to steal his dumplings next. On his other side, A-Qing’s cheeks flush crimson, and she stares resolutely down at her hands while Hanguang-jun offers her a plate of savory vegetables. “It looks so nice, Wei-qianbei.”

“It is nice,” Wei-dajiui winks—and oh, gross, because Hanguang-jun is blushing now, and staring at Wei Wuxian as if he’s the most amazing thing in the world. “Marrying Lan Zhan is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Mm,” Hanguang-jun says quietly, putting a heaping spoonful of potato congee into his husband’s bowl. “Wei Ying is the best thing that happened to me, too.”

Ouyang Zizhen wails.

“What, you want an arranged marriage?” Wei-dajiu frowns. “ I never went through the process myself—” and Hanguang-jun reaches out and squeezes Wei-dajiu’s waist, as if even thinking about Wei-dajiu seeing a matchmaker was too much— “and I don’t really know anyone who did, since Yunmeng’s a lot freer about these things. Are you sure, Jingyi?”

“I’m not asking for a matchmaker,” Jingyi says, tossing his long ponytail over his shoulder. “I want to know what to look for if my love of a lifetime comes along. So what were you looking for?”

“Nothing when I was your age, A-Yi. I thought I would spend my whole life at Lotus Pier, and marry one of the shijies or shimeis who liked me. But then I met Lan Zhan, and…”

And then his ideal became Hanguang-jun, Jin Ling finishes, chewing on a mouthful of mustard greens. Everyone knows that, Jingyi!

Unfortunately, the conversation doesn’t end there. It goes on for the better part of an hour, and all through the course of coconut pudding Hanguang-jun made for dessert, and Jin Ling can’t even leave because that would be rude, and the food is too good to pass up even if Ouyang Zizhen wants to ask about kissing now.

“How old is old enough to have your first kiss?” he inquires, while Lan Sizhui giggles into his hands and elbows Zizhen to make him stop. “I’m sixteen, so is that too young?”

“I was thirty-eight when I first kissed Wei Ying,” Hanguang-jun says dryly. “I would advise patience, unless Ouyang-gongzi already has a beloved one in mind.”

Jin Ling wants to die. Why is his extended family like this?

“Pudding tax,” Xiao-Yu announces from his lap. “Ling-gege, can A-Yu have a bite?”

“I’m Sect Leader Jin, though. I don’t have to pay you taxes.”

Xiao-Yu gives him a serious little nod before turning to Sizhui. “Yuan-gege, pay pudding taxes.”

“You’ve had enough pudding,” Sizhui scolds; and indeed, the dishes are mostly empty now, except for the serving bowls in the middle of the table. “Come on, A-Yu. Let’s go visit the rabbits.”

They end up at the rabbit field about ten minutes later, after Jingyi and Sizhui help Hanguang-jun with the dishes. Jin Ling thinks it must make a very strange picture: after all, one doesn’t often see three Lan juniors, one Ouyang sect heir, one Jin sect leader, and one Lan baby lying in the grass with bunnies climbing over them. But the peace and quiet is beautifully welcome after the political unrest in Lanling and the dog food in Wei-dajiu’s tiny kitchen, so Jin Ling closes his eyes and settles down for a nap with a small white rabbit on his chest.

“I think Shufu was right,” he hears A-Qing say. “There’s no point in having a list of requirements. Look at what happened to Jiang-zongzhu.”

“His first list was terrible, though,” Zizhen objects. “And he’s going to be married by next spring, so it worked for him in the end. After he fixed his requirements, I mean.”

“Gossipping is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses,” Sizhui says tranquilly. “And what Father meant was that having a list means you might miss your fated one when they come along, so it’s best to think about what you want, instead of what your beloved should be.”

“I’d like it if my wife liked to eat my cooking,” sighs Zizhen—he’s an excellent cook, too, and Jin Ling knows for a fact that A-Qing’s favorite food is the shrimp and water spinach Zizhen’s mother taught him to make. “Then I could cook, and she could wash our children’s hands and bring them to the kitchen when I was done, and we would all eat together.”

“I think I’d like a husband who knew how to do my hair,” A-Qing says, not even trying to be subtle. Jin Ling has seen the combs Zizhen keeps giving her, even if they’re far too young for a courtship, and Zizhen is always the first to offer assistance whenever A-Qing’s hair falls out of its bun. “Even a plain bun is too hard for me, since my hair’s so bushy.”

Zizhen nearly drops his rabbit. “Oh,” he whispers, blushing so hard that his neck turns red. “That’s good!”

Jin Ling wants to die. He can’t stand visiting Lotus Pier because his jiujiu is obviously courting, even if he won’t say he is, and now he’s going to have to watch A-Qing and Zizhen flirt until Zewu-jun and Ouyang-zongzhu give them permission to get married.

“What about you, Jingyi?”

“Huh? Oh, I want to marry someone who won’t mind how loud I am,” Jingyi shrugs. “Or someone even louder than me, so we can make trouble together. A-Yuan?”

“I haven’t really thought about it, actually,” Sizhui sighs. “I’m Zewu-jun’s heir, so I have to get married, but I’m not sure if I want to.”

A moment of silence.

“Then you won’t have to,” Jin Ling says. Everyone stares at him. “Zewu-jun didn’t get married, and Hanguang-jun wouldn’t have if Wei-dajiu didn’t come back to life. You can just choose an heir born to one of your cousins, since Jingyi was going to inherit the sect before Hanguang-jun adopted you.”

The others swoop in to assure Sizhui that no one’s going to make him get married, and Jin Ling folds his arms behind his head and wonders if his biao-ge could possibly be like Zewu-jun: a yi xin yi shen, whole in heart and body, who eschewed marriage in favor of cultivation. It would explain a lot, Jin Ling thinks, because even he knows what it feels like when someone makes his heart beat fast and his face turn pink, and Sizhui’s never felt that way.

(Jin Ling tries not to think of Nie-zongzhu’s hot-tempered archivist, who knocked him into the dust with her saber the last time he visited Qinghe and then told him he had pretty eyes. Nie Shiyong is a few years older than him, and he usually ends up nursing several new bruises each time he meets her, but Jin Ling is man enough to admit to himself that he likes her. Maybe.)

“Xiao-Yu is sleepy,” little A-Yu says, interrupting his embarrassing train of thought before it can go any further. “Yuan-gege, I have a nap?”

“You can just sleep here,” Jingyi suggests. “The grass is soft enough, right? And you can use one of us for a pillow.”

“Jingyi,” Sizhui chides, and Jin Ling hears the long grass rustling as his cousin gets to his feet. “Come on, A-Yu. I’ll take you home to A-Niang.”

“No need,” someone else says; and that’s Hanguang-jun’s voice, coming up the hill from the direction of the jingshi. “I am here. A-Yu, come.”

Jin Ling scrambles up to greet his uncle by marriage (sect leader or not, jiujiu would kill him if he greeted the Chief Cultivator from the ground) and then he reels back and blinks in surprise, because Hanguang-jun’s hair is up in a loose braid instead of a half-topknot, and somebody seems to have decorated the braid with a row of half-bloomed lotus flowers.

“Wei Ying did it,” Hanguang-jun says, with a small, soft smile that makes Sizhui and the others gasp. “He will do the same for your hair, too, if you ask.”

And then he lifts Xiao-Yu up into his arms and carries him away, leaving Jin Ling still frozen mid-bow with Jingyi and Zizhen gaping behind him.

“I think what Hanguang-jun meant is that the first requirement for marriage is love,” Lan Sizhui remarks, when Jin Ling finally snaps his mouth shut. “And that no matter what we want, or think we want, we shouldn’t settle for less.”

(Jin Ling is the first of his friends to marry, and he never forgets his biao-ge’s advice until the end of his days.)

#wangxian #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #jin ling #my fic

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krysaniar · 4 years ago

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Wei Wuxian and arrogance

I have read many mentions of Wei Wuxian’s arrogance, of his hybris to believe that he could face the whole Cultivation World and, while I have seen quite some arrogance in the way he presents himself, I can’t say that the actions themselves are the production of arrogace or even close.

(To be utterly honest here I have just seen the live series and merely skimmed the book, so anything contrasting what I will write from now on I’m VERY open to hear it)

I will start from the first major act of his that can be considered arrogant:

The Golden Core Transfer.

It is absolute truth that he did this without his brother’s concent but, beyond the initial question if Jiang Cheng was in the mental state to give or decline that concent, let’s examine his options if he had brought it to his siblings, like in an ideal relationship: 1: Jiang Cheng declines -and so its now up to Wei Wuxian to restore and lead the Jiang Sect, a thing he had been taught since he was a child to abhorrent- --Never mind that it would mean death or permant harm to one or both of his siblings-- -He wasn’t a child of the Jiangs he was a ward (and a very begrudged one at that) the first Disciple of the jiang Sect -- and both jiang parents (even the good one) told him--facing death--that it was his very life’s purpose to die for his siblings, if it ever came to that. How would Wei Wuxian, with what mind what heart, could ever go against that?

2: Yanli offers her own Golden Core: How could ever Wei Wuxian even contemplate the possibility to hurt his beloved sister to spare his golden Core??

3: Jiang Cheng accepts: In that case Wei Wuxian would have had to accept that he wasn’t nothing but a soldier to his siblings, that while they were his siblings they didn’t truly see him as theirs that every emotional comfort he build his life so far was a lie.- Some things can be borne as sacrifices but never ever as open decisions.-

Regarding the Wens:

What would/could have been different if Wei Wuxian had tried/was more humble regarding the Wen affair? Lets’s start by the banquet...

First and foremost: he had no idea that Wen Ning was already dead/dying by the time he interrupted the banquet, he still hoped to retrieve him alive, so time was of the essense.

Secondly: what kind of help could he realistically expect if he had done this politically/gently? What if he hadn’t burst in demading answers but had instead taken aside Jiang Cheng and/or Lan Wangji? The best probability I can came up with is that it would involve all Sect leaders and a leghty political debate --all while Jin cultivators/soldiers would have been quietly sent to finish the job and cover all and any evidence-- There is of course the possibility that said talk would have gone swiftly and they would have been able to uncover enough to save the rest of the remaing Wens, exept the poor Wen Ning--

But what exacty were the facts Wei Wuxian knew???

In the Live Action Series is abysanly known: The Jins used live Wen prisoners and the Sect Leaders nearly didn’t bat an eye--not a single protest there--I believe that enough told Wei Wuxian what he could expect from them.- In the book may not have been that blattant but what Wei Wuxian certainly known was that the Jiang sect was utterly destroyed by the war and they needed the Jin money to rebuild, Jiang Cheng couldn’t/wouldn’t help him/them even if he desperately wanted it. The other Sects, exept Qinghe (who loathed the Wens) were very much in the same possition, why would they help him???

Burial Mounds:

As it was stated before both Wei Wuxian’s brother and sister knew why he was doing what he was doing, both ethically and emotionally (if not of the opeation, the harboring damn mattered) and they helped as best they could, while Jiang Cheng accepted the money and the alliance and Jiang Yanli became the young Madame Jin (and no, I truly believe they did the best they could, especially Yanli, according to their power and maturity) Still the best Jiang Cheng came up with were some money and a: ‘’Let them die and come home, I can’t protect you otherwise.’’

What could have helped him/his siblings/the Wens if Wei Wuxian was more humble? If he accepted the money, maybe begged for more, maybe even let it slip that he didn’t have a Golden Core--would they have helped more, would the guilt have worked when everything short of that hadn’t been enough? Or would they have simply done the exact same things ridden with guilt and helpleness??? Was Wei Wuxian arrogant in protecting his siblings as best he could -- and believing that they loved him and they were doing the best they could too???

Other major Secrs -- The Lans:

Come back to Gusu with me...?

Irregardless if it is out of love or if it was out to punish him, like Wei Wuxian believed, nothing in this offer holds even the margiest protection towards the Wens. More to the point Lan Wangji visited the Burial Mounds, saw the truth, and never came to the Burial Mounds until after the massacre, when it was already too late (bar A-Yuan). He had either not found the words to convey it to his brother and uncle or they didn’t care/couldn’t afford to care--and told no one nothing.-

Now if it was Lan Wangji’s fault he paid for it: he mourned for 13/16 years and lived those years and the rest of his life in the steps of the one he loved helping the weak and living righteously and without further regrets.

But if it was the Lans’ fault, if they found Wei Wuxian too demonic and the Wens too irredeemable, why it was arrogance of Wei Wuxian to not reach out to them, to beg and scrap for their help--and most probably reveal the Golden Core secret, to soften them up towards them---and shame, possibly destroy his brother’s reputation--when actual righteousness (which their whole Sect supposedly advocated) wasn’t enough to motivitate them?

So No, Wei Wuxian wasn’t arrogant. He was an idealist and cared to the point of suicide, as well proud within the frame of said idealism, but not arrogant.

He did what he did because NO ONE ELSE was going to do it, not because he believed himself better than everyone else.

#wei wuxian #the untamed #meta #cql meta #cql #mdzs #mdzs meta

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red-talisman · 4 years ago

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okay i'm loving human guardian lion jiang cheng i am BEGGING for more tidbits about this

okay you know that tendency of fic writers to put themselves through the torture of writing A Story just to be able to write That One Scene in their heads

it started when i was driving last night around 2am listening to metal and jiang cheng is already my Problematic Fave, so The Daydream Scenario became some epic thing in which lotus pier is attacked for some handwavey reason post-canon and JC is able to pull some super BAMF showy magic bullshit - not because he’s now some OP gary stu but because during reconstruction, he and his disciples took the time to build up the defenses to a ridiculous degree. i also adore the fanon that the yunmeng disciples have a little more leeway with their sect leader, which means that in this Scenario, JC and his disciples have actively trained to respond to threats to their home as a cohesive collective that can act in unison.

so then i was thinking that the yunmeng trio is still the trio during that time, for a little while, and i can’t believe that WWX and yanli wouldn’t have had significant input, so the Scenario became an opportunity to also go into yunmeng trio feels:

jiang cheng is effective at pragmatic offense/defense

WWX would be the trickier, more unconventional guy who would find the weaknesses in more conventional strategies but be kept from getting too complicated and end up sabotaging his own traps by JC’s pragmatism

yanli would remember the human elements - what about food rationing? medical supplies? while the gentry are fighting, how are the non-gentry going to protect themselves? is the strategy you two just proposed actually reasonable to ask of living humans who still need to sleep sometimes?

this means that post-canon when everything has sucked for JC for over a decade and he still hasn’t untwisted himself on the inside, his siblings’ legacies are still built into the very bones of the lotus pier that jiang cheng walks every day of his life. (does that make things better for him or worse? oof.) YANLI IS PROTECTING HER FAMILY EVEN AFTER DEATH. (ಥ_ʖಥ)

and like the trio themselves, there’s a lot to balance out here:

how to improve defenses without losing lotus pier’s unique aesthetic, as much a part of his family’s legacy as the jiang sword forms and bells, and turning into another unclean realm-looking fortress?

how to avoid giving away too many signs of lotus pier’s capabilities so that enemies could figure out their weaknesses, but not be so subtle that enemies believe they’re easy targets?

how do you incorporate complicated arrays and talismans without interfering with more straightforward defensive/offensive options? (security which is too complicated will just sabotage itself, lol.)

how can you utilize the natural qi flows of the land itself to make your spiritual wards both more efficient and also that much stronger for having the lakes and plains themselves on your side?

i just can’t believe that someone with JC’s particular hangups around Family (TM) and some of his specific traumas/other issues wouldn’t make the most of having to rebuild by being like, “we going to do everything that is humanly possible to make sure this Never Happens Again >:|” and i think he’s absolutely the type who could pull off some BAMF shit purely because he has no sense of self-preservation in the name of Protecting His Specific People. (which i always found an interesting difference between him and WWX: CQL seems to characterize WWX as being loyal to an ideal and JC to loved ones, and neither one is better or worse but boy howdy is that a meaty philosophical difference to explore [and for JGY to exploit].)

so having WWX’s trickery and yanli’s talent for balance/seeing the larger picture are all built in as deeply as any of jiang cheng’s own ideas, and if he can’t have his family in person, then at least he can pretend - secretly, privately, never breathing a word to anyone else - that they’re still home and safe with him in other ways.

#i have more but this is already getting long orz #guardian lion jc #i briefly considered making that literal guardian lion jc rather than using it as a metaphor #but that would tell a different story i think #and frankly i don't know enough lore to feel confident in telling that sort of story #in a way that's appropriate and meaningful #although if someone else wants to do magical creature!jc then i am Here For It #jukebox fic

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fanyiyimdzs · 5 years ago

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Mo Dao Zu Shi: Chapter 6

Masterpost

Previous chapter

Once the sky darkened further, it would be impossible to navigate the forest without a torch. Wei Wuxian continued for a while into the mountain but, surprisingly, encountered barely anyone. Did so many houses really decide to stay in Fojiao Village, arguing and playing armchair general instead of hunting? And had other houses, like the people he had met earlier, really reached their wits’ end and decided to return empty-handed?

Suddenly, cries of help echoed somewhere ahead of him.

“Someone! Please!”

“Rescue us!”

Some of the voices were men, some were women, but all had the panicked, helpless tone of people lost in the wild mountains. There was an eighty to ninety percent chance that this was the work of evil spirits, attempting to lead ignorant naifs into their traps. But Wei Wuxian was very pleased.

The eviler the better! He was only afraid that they wouldn’t be evil enough.

He slapped the donkey and rode toward the sounds’ origin. He saw nothing in any of the four directions, but when he looked upward, he discovered that there were, in fact, no monsters, demons, or ghosts, only the family of small time cultivators he had met near the rice paddies, who were now hanging from the trees in brilliant golden nets.

The middle aged man had originally brought his descendants with him to scout the area, but they didn’t encounter any of the prey they had expected. Instead, they had stepped in some rich person’s net, they didn’t know whose, and were captured and dangled from the tree branches, where they could only complain bitterly and wait for rescue. Sensing someone approaching, they were suddenly overjoyed, but when they saw the person was the lunatic, they immediately lost hope. The binding nets were made of very thin ropes but high quality material; thus, they held fast and didn’t break. Once they caught you, whether you were a god or a ghost or a demon, you had to struggle for a long time in order to break free. Only other, better spiritual tools could cut you out. The lunatic said he’d help them get down, but who knew if he even knew what he was dealing with.

Just as they were about to shout at him to find help, the sound of agile feet dashing over branches and leaves approached them. Through the black mountain forest swept a youth wearing a light, pale robe.

This young master had a vermillion mark between his eyebrows. His features were delicate and pretty, yet also harsh and unkind, and he was very young, around Lan Sizhui’s age. He was still half a child, but held a longbow in his hand, wore a quiver of arrows on his back, and a long sword which shined with golden light and glittered with gemstones. The embroidery on his clothes was as exquisite as any, uniting into a white peony over his chest, the golden threads slim glimmers in the night.

Wei Wuxian sighed and muttered, “Rich people!”

The boy was surely some young master from the Lanling Jin Clan. Only that clan used the white peony as its emblem, suggesting that their own beauty was comparable to the flower’s. The white peony was also the king of flowers, and thus through it, the Lanling Jin Clan also subtly advertised that it, too, was the king of cultivators. The vermillion mark on their foreheads represented “enlightenment and ideals illuminating the world.”

The young master had originally nocked an arrow on his bow, itching to shoot, but upon seeing that the binding nets contained only people, he was sorely disappointed. He whipped around suddenly, irritation written across his face. “Every single time it’s you idiots. There are over 400 binding nets hanging around this mountain and none of them have caught anything, but already you people have ruined nearly twenty of them!”

Wei Wuxian’s thoughts continued to be, “Rich people!”

A single binding net already cost more than a humble sum, but this boy had used four hundred in a single go. The price was enough to ruin a slightly smaller house—the boy was sure worthy of the name “Jin.” But this kind of abuse of binding nets to capture prey hardly counted as night-hunting, which meant their true purpose was to keep people away and give them no opportunity to take a share of the spoils. It seemed the cultivators who had withdrawn earlier had done so not because the prey was too tough, but because offending an old, illustrious house like House Jin was more trouble than it was worth.

After journeying freely for a few days and eavesdropping on interesting conversations in Fojiao Village, Wei Wuxian had heard more than a little of how the tides of fortune had turned in the world of cultivation these past few years. The Lanling Jin Clan had emerged as the primary winner of the period of chaotic clan warfare preceding his death, and now was the leader of all the clans and houses of cultivation—even their Clan Chief was now called Chief Cultivator. Prior to this, the Jin Clan had already possessed haughty airs and an inclination towards ostentatious displays of beauty and magnificence; since they had risen higher and higher these past few years, amassing even more wealth and power, their children had developed a tendency to run amuck. Even if the brats humiliated weaker houses, those houses could only swallow their anger and hold their tongues. These small village cultivators stood even less of a chance, so though this youth’s language was cutting and their faces were flushed red, the people hanging in the nets dared not bite back.

The middle aged man calmly and respectfully said, “Please, Young Master, help us out and free us.”

The youth, impatient that his prey was taking so long to appear, vented his anger on the country bumpkins. Clenching his fist, he said, “How about you just hang here? That way you won’t randomly run around and get in my way! Once I’m done catching the soul-eating creature, I’ll cut you down if I still remember.”

If they were forced to hang here the whole night and whatever was prowling around Dafan Mountain happened to find them, they had no hope of getting away and their souls would be sucked dry. The round-faced girl who had given Wei Wuxian the apple became scared and started loudly crying. Wei Wuxian originally sat crossed-legged on the donkey’s back, but when the donkey heard her sobs, its long ears shook and it suddenly leapt up.

After it had leapt up, it let out a long bray, and if only the bray didn’t sound so ugly, to compare its relentless, heroic charge to that of a legendary steed would have been no exaggeration. Caught off-guard, Wei Wuxian was thrown off the donkey’s back and narrowly avoided cracking his head and bleeding all over his own face. The donkey looked forward, lowered its big head, and rushed straight at the youth, as though it firmly believed its skull could send him flying. But the youth’s arrow was still nocked, and he had just begun to pull back the bowstring. Wei Wuxian didn’t want to be forced to find a new mount so soon, so he repeatedly yanked on the donkey’s reins with all his strength. As the youth caught a glimpse of Wei Wuxian’s face, shock flew across his expression, which immediately melted into disdain. His lip curled. “Oh. It’s you.”

His voice was one fifth astonishment and four fifths revulsion. Hearing it, Wei Wuxian could only blink. The youth then said, “What, so once you were kicked back to your old home, you went insane? Look at how ghastly you’ve made yourself look. I can’t believe they had the guts to let you out and let other people see you!”

What ridiculous thing had he just heard?!

Was he really…?—Wei Wuxian slapped his thigh. Was Mo Xuanyu’s dad not some random, small-time house leader, but actually the renowned Jin Guangshan?!

Jin Guangshan had been the Lanling Jin Clan’s previous Clan Chief and had long since died. It was a long story. He had a highly celebrated and fearsome wife who was widely known to dominate his personality. But despite his fear of her, he couldn’t stay away from other women, and no matter how fearsome Lady Jin was, she couldn’t keep an eye fixed on him twenty four hours a day. Thus, on the surface, they were a fine and illustrious loving family, but behind the curtain, Jin Guangshan wandered the wilderness and the countryside, satiating his carnal lusts—as long as he could have a girl, he wouldn’t let her slip by. Moreover, because he so carelessly trampled around the grass, picking flowers and sowing his wild oats, he had acquired a herd of illegitimate children everywhere and in all directions. He was also extremely fickle, loved novelty, and hated habit. Once he became bored of a woman, he tossed all thought of her out of the window and did not feel a tingling of responsibility anywhere inside his head.

Even his death was unseemly. Confident that though he was old, he was vigorous, and wanting to challenge himself, he decided to fool around with a whole flock of women simultaneously. But unfortunately, he lost his own challenge and died amidst the throes of passion. Of course, this was far too embarrassing for House Jin to let pass through their lips, and thus the Lanling Jin Clan reported to the rest of the world that their old Chief had worked himself too hard and died of exhaustion. Hence, a tacit understanding developed—all houses would act as though they didn’t know. In short, this was the true reason for Jin Guangshan’s “renown.”

After Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangshan had made the second biggest contribution to the Siege of the Burial Mounds. Now Wei Wuxian occupied his illegitimate son’s body, and it was hard to say who had ultimately come out ahead.

Noticing that Wei Wuxian had zoned out, the youth, filled with hatred, said, “Fuck off! Why haven’t you fucked off yet? Just looking at you makes me sick. Gay piece of shit.”

In terms of lineage, Mo Xuanyu was probably this youth’s uncle or something similar, a generation above him, yet the boy still tried to humiliate him. Wei Wuxian thought that he really had to return the humiliation, if not for himself, then at least for Mo Xuanyu’s body. He said, “Your mom may have had you, but she sure didn’t raise you.”

Immediately upon hearing these words, two rage-filled flames flashed within the youth’s eyes. He pulled a longsword from the sheath on his back and said menacingly, “You—what did you say?”

The blade shined with brilliant golden light—it was a rare, first-class weapon. Many houses could toil for an entire lifetime without touching a sword its equal. Scrutinizing it, Wei Wuxian found it looked unexpectedly familiar, though on the other hand, he had seen more than his fair share of golden-tipped swords. Consequently, he didn’t consider it further and instead began turning the small cloth pouch in his hand.

This was a “spirit-locking pouch,” which he had put together out of a few scrap materials he happened to pick up the past few days. The youth hacked at him, but he pulled out a small sheet of paper cut in the shape of a man, sidestepped the swing, and slapped it onto his opponent’s back.

The youth’s movements were very quick, but Wei Wuxian had a great deal of practice with things like tripping opponents and slapping paper seals on their backs—he was even faster. The center of the youth’s back went numb, then his entire back grew heavy, and then he had no option but to fall face first onto the ground, his sword clattering down beside him. However hard he tried, he couldn’t get back up, as though he were being crushed by Mt. Tai.1 A gluttonous dark spirit lied atop him, pressing down on him until he was gasping for breath. The little ghost, though weak, was more than enough to handle this kind of brat. Wei Wuxian picked up the boy’s sword, weighed it in his hands, and sliced through the binding nets above his head.

The members of the family looked quite pathetic as they dropped down. Without a word, they bolted. The round-faced young woman looked as though she wanted to thank him, but was yanked away by one of her seniors for fear that this Young Master Jin might come to bear a more bitter grudge against them if they spoke too much. The boy on the ground said angrily, “You gay piece of shit! You failed at developing your spiritual power, so now you’ve taken the evil way instead? You better watch out! Do you know who’s here today? Today, I…”

Wei Wuxian clasped his hands over his completely insincere heart. “Ah! I’m so scared!”

Though his old practices attracted widespread castigation and, over the long term, damaged the practitioner’s body and mind, they had rapid results and weren’t limited by innate skill or spiritual strength. Thus many were extremely tempted—there was never a lack of people who secretly craved shortcuts. This youth assumed that after Mo Xuanyu had been chased out of the Lanling Jin Clan, he had decided to walk the crooked path. It was a reasonable, fair suspicion, and allowed Wei Wuxian to avoid a lot of needless trouble.

Bracing himself against the ground, the boy tried and failed to crawl back up a few more times. His face now thoroughly red, he gritted his teeth and said, “If you don’t remove this curse I’ll tell my uncle! He’ll kill you!”

Finding this odd, Wei Wuxian said, “Why your uncle and not your dad? Who’s your uncle?”

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him, grim, cold, and bitter like a wintry forest. “I’m his uncle. Do you have any last words?”

Upon hearing this sound, all of the blood in Wei Wuxian’s body seemed to rush toward his head at once, then completely evacuate it shortly thereafter. It was fortunate that his face was already as white as death—if it got any whiter, no one would notice.

A young man sauntered towards him, clad in light, violet robes with hemmed in sleeves,2 his hand pressed against the pummel of his sword. A silver bell dangled from his waist, but when he walked, Wei Wuxian couldn’t hear any ringing.

The young man’s apricot eyes were topped with slim, sleek brows and gave the impression of sharp, penetrating beauty. His gaze was heavy; a faint aggression burned beneath the surface, and to meet his eyes was to be struck by two cold bolts of lightning. He walked until he was ten paces from Wei Wuxian, then stood in silence, his expression like an arrow on a tight bowstring. A conceited arrogance emanated from his countenance as he waited.

Frowning, he said, “Jin Ling, how much time are you going to waste? Do you need me to go over there and invite you back? Look at your sorry state—why the hell haven’t you gotten back up!?”

Once the initial shock passed, Wei Wuxian’s conscious awareness rapidly returned. He curled his fingers inside his sleeves and recalled the paper man. Jin Ling, sensing the burden on his back lightening, immediately rolled, grabbed his sword, and scrambled up. In a flash, he was by Jiang Cheng’s side, pointing angrily at Wei Wuxian. “I’m going to break your legs!”

As he saw the uncle and the nephew standing side-by-side, Wei Wuxian could indeed make out some similarities in their features—in fact, they looked like brothers. Jiang Cheng gestured and the paper man escaped from Wei Wuxian’s grasp, flying into the Clan Chief’s hand. He glanced at it, spite burst in his eyes, and he clenched the paper between his fingers. A spurt of flame engulfed it, and the spirit inside screamed as it was burned to ashes.

Jiang Cheng said darkly, “Break his legs? Haven’t I told you that if you come across someone who practices these sinister things, you should just kill him and feed him to your dog?”

Wei Wuxian didn’t even remember to hold onto the donkey’s reins as he rapidly backed away. Originally, he had thought that, however much Jiang Cheng had despised him so many years ago, by now the Clan Chief’s hatred, like fog or smoke, should have been scattered by the winds of time. How could he have known forgiveness or even forgetfulness would hardly come at such a low price? Not only did Jiang Cheng’s hatred fail to dissipate, it had aged like wine, growing stronger and stronger as the years passed. He had started to take it out on any cultivator who imitated his despised former friend!

With someone behind him to protect and support him, Jin Ling swung his sword all the more viciously. Wei Wuxian’s fingers probed the entrance of the spirit-locking pouch. But just as he was about to take action, a flash of blue sword-light swept past him like lightning, clashing with Jin Ling’s blade, shattering the weapon’s golden rays in an instant.

The outcome did not result from a difference in the quality of the swords, but rather the vast disparity in the wielders’ strength. Wei Wuxian had originally timed his trick perfectly, but, unexpectedly thrown off step by the tip of a blade sailing past, stumbled and crashed into the ground right in front of a pair of snow white boots. He froze for some time before slowly lifting his head.

The first image that shined into his eye was the edge of a blade, glittering and translucent like ice.

In the world of cultivation, this sword was very renowned. Wei Wuxian had learned of its might from countless fights, both shoulder to shoulder and face to face with its wielder. The hilt was forged out of silver with a secret technique known only to the smith. The blade was extremely thin and as clear as the purest crystal; icy air emanated from it like breath and iron parted before it as though it were no more than clay. The entire sword was graceful, agile, and awash in enchanted mist. But contrary to its light appearance, it was leadened with weight; an ordinary person was entirely unable to swing it.

—“Bichen”3 was its name.

The tip of the blade swung around, and a shing sounded above Wei Wuxian’s head as it returned to its scabbard. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng’s voice rang from far away. “I was wondering who it was, Second Master Lan.”

The pair of white boots circled past Wei Wuxian, neither hasty nor slow, then walked forward three steps. Wei Wuxian raised himself up. As he brushed past Young Master Lan, their gazes met briefly. Wei Wuxian pretended it was unintentional.

The young man’s whole body was draped in white silk that shined like moonlight. On his back he bore a seven-stringed guqin, which was uncommonly narrow and made of a soft, raven-feather black wood. A white, cloud-patterned ribbon was tied around his forehead, and his skin was fair and unblemished. Like polished jade, he was both extremely beautiful and extremely refined.

His eyes were very light, as if made of colored glaze, making his gaze appear cold and detached. His expression was tinged with frost and snow, and was solemn but not quite stiff. Though he saw Wei Wuxian’s ridiculous appearance, not a single reaction rippled across his placid face.

Not a single speck of dust soiled his appearance, nor was a single hair or thread out of place, nor did a single point in his countenance breech etiquette. Despite all of this, two words jumped into Wei Wuxian’s head:

“Mourning clothes!”

They really did look like mourning clothes. No matter how many people extravagantly praised the beauty of the Lan Clan’s uniforms, as though they were flowers floating on the breeze, and no matter Lan Wangji’s reputation as a man of peerless, once-in-a-century beauty, his appearance still resembled that of a widower nursing a deep, bitter hate.

The year was inauspicious, and enemies traveling along a narrow road were bound to meet. Blessings always came alone, but misfortunes, never unaccompanied.

Without uttering a word or glancing away, Lan Wangji stood face-to-face with Jiang Cheng, motionless. Jiang Cheng himself was an exceedingly handsome man, but compared to the one before him, his beauty was indeed somewhat inferior. Impatiently, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Hanguang Jun, you’re undoubtedly deserving of your fine reputation for ‘appearing where the chaos is,’ so how do you have the time to visit these old forests and mountains today?”

Elite cultivators like them normally disdained to take notice of low level prey, but Lan Wangji was an exception. He was never selective about what he hunted, and would never refuse to go after a monster or demon just because it wasn’t violent or fierce enough for killing it to improve his reputation. Ever since he was young, as long as someone requested help, he would come. Thus, “appearing where the chaos is” was the phrase everyone used to describe Hanguang Jun’s night-hunting habits, and a form of praise for his character.

Jiang Cheng’s tone was therefore remarkably rude. The flock of juniors who followed behind Lan Wangji, upon hearing the Clan Chief’s words, grew quite uncomfortable. Lan Jingyi, habitually blunt, said, “But isn’t Chief Jiang here too?”

Jiang Cheng replied coldly, “Tsk, when your seniors are talking, is it your place to interject? The Gusu Lan Clan boasts of having the utmost concern for etiquette, yet it teaches its disciples like this.”

Appearing uninterested in arguing with him, Lan Wangji glanced at Lan Sizhui, indicating that the juniors should settle this among themselves. Stepping forward, the boy said to Jin Ling, “Young Master Jin, night-hunts have always been fair competitions between clans and houses, but you’ve hung up these nets everywhere around Dafan Mountain. It makes it difficult for other cultivators to navigate the forest for fear they’ll fall into a trap. Doesn’t this violate the rules?“

Jin Ling’s frosty expression was the exact same as his uncle’s. “They’re the ones who stepped into the net,” he said immediately. “It’s not my fault they were stupid. If you have a problem, wait until I finish catching my prey first. Then we can talk.”

Lan Wangji wrinkled his brow. Jin Ling was about to continue speaking, but suddenly found he could no longer open his mouth, nor could his throat produce any sound. Startled, he turned pale. Jiang Cheng looked at his nephew and saw that his lips were stuck together, inseparable by ordinary methods. His face began to grow red out of anger, and his words lost any veneer of politeness they had previously had. “You with the surname Lan! What do you mean by this? Jin Ling isn’t yours to discipline! Undo it!”

This silencing spell was used by the Lan Clan to punish disciples for making mistakes. Wei Wuxian himself had fallen victim to the trick on several occasions. Though it wasn’t a complicated, high-level spell, no one but members of House Lan could undo it. If someone forced their mouth open, either their lips would be shredded and start to bleed, or their throat would be mute for several days. Thus, the victim was forced to stay quiet, keep their mouth shut, and reflect on their shortcomings, until the entire period of punishment passed. Lan Sizhui said, “Chief Jiang, there’s no need to be angry. As long as he doesn’t try to break the spell by force, it will undo itself in twenty to thirty minutes.”4

Jiang Cheng was just about to open his mouth when a man in a violet Jiang Clan uniform bounded out of the forest, shouting, “Chief!” When he saw Lan Wangji, his face turned hesitant. Mockingly, Jiang Cheng said, “What’s the bad news you’re bringing to me this time? You may as well spit it out.”

The messenger said quietly, “Not long ago, a blue sword flew around and ruined the binding nets you set up, sir.”

Jiang Cheng glowered at Lan Wangji, the fury in his heart rapidly leaking into his expression. “How many?”

The messenger very carefully said, “…all of them…”

Over four hundred!

Jiang Cheng seethed.

He very much hadn’t expected this outing to be so wretched. Originally, he had come to help Jin Ling, who would turn fifteen this year and should be embarking on his career and competing with other juniors for experience and reputation. Jiang Cheng had carefully sifted through the options before choosing Dafan Mountain as their hunting grounds, and then covered the area with nets to scare off cultivators from other houses. Because the nets would make navigation very difficult, they would have no option but to leave, thus eliminating the competition and leaving the prey to Jin Ling. Though four hundred binding nets cost an exorbitant price, it wasn’t much to the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. The actual destruction of the nets was a small issue—the big issue was the loss of face. The fact that Lan Wangji had done such a thing made bitter resentment bleed from his heart and circulate up towards his head—the higher it got, the more resentful he became. He narrowed his eyes, and unconsciously or not, began stroking the ring around his right index finger with his left hand.

This was a dangerous motion.

Everyone knew that ring was a fierce, deadly weapon. Once the Chief of Clan Jiang began to touch it, he intended to kill.

__________________

Translation notes:

1 A mountain in northeast China, one of its “Five Great Mountains,” and an important religious and ceremonial site.

2 Literally “arrow sleeved,” a style of sleeve with a narrow wrist opening, unlike traditional hanfu sleeves.

3 Literally “to avoid dust.”

4 Literally “in the time it takes an incense stick to burn,” which is twenty to thirty minutes.

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Masterpost

#mo dao zu shi #MDZS #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang cheng #jin ling #wwx #lwj

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giancarlonicoli · 5 years ago

Link

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/june-4-tiananmen-square-massacre-five-truths-still-arent-widely-known

Via The Epoch Times,

Following the sudden death of a beloved political reformer, Hu Yaobang, 200,000 students gathered at Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989, to await the hearse carrying Hu’s body - but it never arrived. The mass of students were angered, and their burning desire for freedom could be contained no more.

For the next few weeks, Tiananmen Square was occupied by these student protesters, who aimed at making reality their dream of ridding the country of communist tyranny and bringing democratic reform to China. Their non-violent demonstration perhaps brought a glimmer of hope … until the army moved in. Although martial law was declared on May 20 that year, what caused the army to suddenly go on a killing rampage on June 4?

L: Thousands of Chinese gather on June 2, 1989, in Tiananmen Square around “The Goodness of Democracy,” demanding democracy despite martial law in Beijing. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images). R: “The Goddess of Democracy,” a 10-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty created by students from an art institute to promote the pro-democracy protest against the Chinese government. (TOSHIO SAKAI/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Mass-Murdered by the Chinese Regime

At least 10,454 people were mass-murdered by the Chinese communist regime on Tiananmen Square, according to an unnamed source from the Chinese State Council. The figure is far greater than the “official” fatality count of 200.

On June 4, 1989, students were gunned down in droves and “mown down” by tanks. “APCs (Armored personnel carriers) then ran over bodies time and time again to make ‘pie’ and remains collected by bulldozer. Remains incinerated and then hosed down drains,” reads part of a declassified statement, which was obtained by Alan Donald, Britain’s ambassador to China in 1989.

It’s still unconfirmed how many more were massacred during and after the students’ unarmed protest.

Waving banners, high school students march in Beijing streets near Tiananmen Square on May 25, 1989, during a rally to support the pro-democracy protest against the Chinese regime. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)

2. The Ringleader Is Still Alive

In addition to rolling over the students with tanks, the army fired high-explosive shells that expand on impact, also known as dum-dum bullets, (forbidden by the Geneva Convention) to kill the students in the most harm-inflicting way possible.

The question remains—what kind of a human being would order such a brutal mass murder of freedom-seeking civilians?

Former leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin (Feng Li/Getty Images)

Former paramount leader of the party Deng Xiaoping was impressed with Jiang Zemin’s iron-fisted proposition to use the army to crack down on the students, and promoted him from Party Chief of Shanghai to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party days before the massacre, giving him free rein to do as he liked.

Jiang Zemin, the mastermind behind the massacre, ordered the army to carry out his bloody strategy on June 4. The “gate of heavenly peace” was suddenly turned into hell on Earth.

Taken care of by others, an unidentified foreign journalist (2nd-R) is carried out from the clash site between the army and students on June 4, 1989, near Tiananmen Square. (TOMMY CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)

3. Ruthless Abuse of Power

The Tiananmen Square Massacre was just the start of Jiang’s ruthless abuse of power. He went on to commit the most heinous crimes that couldn’t bear the light of day. In the bloody wake of the massacre, Jiang became Deng’s ideal heir for the next Party Chief, a position Jiang secured in 1993.

Jiang, a Marxist hardliner and ex-senior spy for the KGB’s Far-East Bureau, had only begun to show his true colors with how he dealt with the protesting students and went on to orchestrate even bloodier campaigns. In 1999, Jiang sought to “eradicate” Falun Gong—a popular spiritual practice—after the number of people practicing it rose some 100 million, outnumbering the then 70 million Party members, according to state-run reports at the time.

Falun Gong practitioners doing the group exercise in Guangzhou, China, in 1998. (Minghui)

Under Jiang’s rule, an adroit misinformation campaign inundated China, turning public opinion against Falun Gong by subjecting the spiritual practice to extreme vilification—including the infamous Tiananmen Square “self-immolation” hoax, which successfully deceived the nation—paving the way for Jiang’s next phase: to forcibly “transform” or “eliminate” the meditators who refused to give up the practice.

In response to Jiang’s genocidal policy, believed to have caused a widespread yet unascertainable amount of state-approved killings, including forced organ harvesting, over 209,000 lawsuits have since been filed against Jiang, making him the most sued dictator in history.

Falun Gong practitioners at a rally in front of the Chinese embassy in New York City on July 3, 2015, to support the global effort to sue Jiang Zemin. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)

4. Horrifying Accounts Kept Secret

A Blacklock’s Reporter obtained secret telex messages concerning horrifying accounts of what really happened on Tiananmen Square that day via access-to-information laws.

“An old woman knelt in front of soldiers pleading for students; soldiers killed her,” the Canadian embassy in Beijing reported at the time.

Blacklock’s writes: “A boy was seen trying to escape holding a woman with a 2-year old child in a stroller, and was run over by a tank”; “The tank turned around and mashed them up”; “Soldiers fired machine guns until the ammo ran out.”

An unbelievable amount of bullets were fired on civilians at Tiananmen that “they ricocheted inside nearby houses, killing many residents.”

“The embassy described the killings as ‘savage,’” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“They are now entering a period of vicious repression during which denunciations and fear of persecution will terrorize the population,” reads another cable obtained.

Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun on June 5, 1989, as tanks took position at Beijing’s key intersections next to the diplomatic compound. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Diplomats added that some 1,000 executions took place following the massacre, but an exact figure is unconfirmed. “It was probably thought that the massacre of a few hundreds or thousands would convince the population not to pursue their protests. It seems to be working,” reads a statement by the diplomats.

The secret British cable, obtained by news website HK01, reveals more detail about the crimes of the 27 Army of Shanxi Province on the day.

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“27 Army ordered to spare no one and shot wounded SMR soldiers. Four wounded girl students begged for their lives but were bayoneted. A 3-year-old girl was injured but her mother was shot as she went to her aid as were six others who tried.”

“A thousand survivors were told they could escape via Zhengyi Lu but were then mown down by specially prepared M/G (machine gun) positions.”

Ailing student hunger strikers from Beijing University receive first aid treatment under a makeshift tent set up on May 17, 1989, at Tiananmen Square as students enter the 5th day of a marathon hunger strike as part of a mass pro-democracy protest against the Chinese government. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)

5. “June 4”: A Highly Taboo Subject in China Today

Despite Hong Kong lighting up every evening on June 4 in an annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the massacre, Chinese mainlanders across the border are without such freedom of speech. Talking about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or even mentioning “June 4,” or “6.4,” could have one disappear.

In 2007, Zhang Zhongshun, a lecturer from Yantai University, showed his class a video of the massacre he obtained from an overseas website. He was subsequently jailed for three years by Laishan City Court on Feb. 28, 2008.

Tens of thousands of people hold candles during a vigil in Hong Kong on June 4, 2018, to mark the 29th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)

“I imagined that the worst case would just be that the university president would criticize me in front of my colleagues in a meeting. I would not have thought that the communist regime would imprison me,” Zhang told The Epoch Times in an interview after his release from the detention.

“Is it illegal even if I include a historical event into my lecture?” he asked.

A student displays a banner with one of the slogans chanted by the crowd of some 200,000 pouring into Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989, in Beijing in an attempt to participate in the funeral ceremony of former Chinese Communist Party leader and liberal reformer Hu Yaobang. His death in April triggered an unprecedented wave of pro-democracy demonstrations. The April-June 1989 movement was crushed by Chinese troops in June when army tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square June 4, 1989. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Who’d dare raise this for discussion in China knowing the consequences? This year marks the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Will the current Chinese leaders redress the issue and bring Jiang Zemin to justice for his litany of crimes? Only time will tell.

#tiananmen square #china #june 4

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talabib · 5 years ago

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How To Inspire Confidence In The Workplace.

We live in a knowledge economy where success is a matter of solving problems and coming up with the next big idea. It’s not enough to be smart or hard-working, either. Organizations need their employees to collaborate, experiment, and respond to business needs that are constantly changing.

But in many offices and boardrooms, people lack the confidence to do exactly this, silenced by the fear of failure, judgmental colleagues, or unapproachable bosses.

This post introduces the concept of psychological safety and why it should be a feature of every work environment. Through research and examples from prominent businesses, this post breaks down the ways in which a culture of openness and support enables success, and what leaders can do to develop this in their own organizations.

Worrying about how we’re perceived prevents us from doing our best work.

Imagine you’re sitting in a strategy meeting. Your boss has shared some of the challenges that need to be addressed, and now she’s asking the team to come up with suggestions. You’ve got an idea, but you’re worried that others will think it’s no good. So, rather than risk it, you keep your thoughts to yourself.

Whether it happens in a meeting, a classroom, or even around a dinner table, most of us have experience of having something to say but holding back in case it made other people think less of us. We learn to do this early; as children, we start caring what our peers think and avoid saying or doing anything that could make us look silly, weak, or not as cool as everyone else.

By the time we’re adults, the habit of silencing and restricting ourselves is almost unconscious, and it prevents us from speaking up when we have ideas, questions, or concerns at work.

In a 2003 study into people speaking up in the workplace, academics Frances J. Milliken, Elizabeth W. Morrison, and Patricia F. Hewlin found that 85 percent of study participants felt unable to approach their bosses with concerns about work. The most common reason for this? The participants didn’t want their bosses to see them in a negative light.

Even seemingly confident people experience this. Take business innovator Nilofer Merchant; she was labeled a visionary by CNBC, and in 2013, she was awarded the Future Thinker Award by Thinkers50. But in a 2011 Harvard Business Review article, Nilofer shared that while working at Apple, she would keep quiet about problems she noticed because she didn’t want to be wrong. She’s quoted as saying, “I would rather keep my job by staying within the lines than say something and risk looking stupid.”

When fear gets in the way of people speaking up at work, it’s not only the individuals keeping silent who miss out. Companies also lose opportunities to generate new ideas, and this is especially dangerous in a world where businesses need to innovate if they want to succeed.

Psychological safety leads to better performance by both individuals and teams.

Let’s revisit that strategy meeting you were sitting in. But this time, instead of worrying that your idea won’t be received well, you know for sure that your boss and colleagues will respond positively. If they like the idea, they’ll tell you so. And if it doesn’t hit the mark, they’ll give you constructive feedback.

In this ideal scenario, you and your colleagues have psychological safety – the shared feeling that you can freely express your thoughts and ideas, or make mistakes and ask for help without receiving negative reactions.

Author, Amy Edmondson came across the concept of psychological safety in the 1990s while studying medical errors in hospitals. At first, she was surprised to find that the best medical teams seemed to make more mistakes than lower-skilled teams. But a closer look revealed that they weren’t making more mistakes; they were just more open and willing to report them, which led to discussions about better ways of working.

Refined work processes aren’t the only benefit of psychological safety – it also helps unleash creativity and innovation. A 2012 study by Taiwanese researchers Chi-Cheng Huang and Pin-Chen Jiang demonstrated this. They surveyed 60 research and development teams whose work demands innovative, outside-the-box thinking, and learned that teams with psychological safety performed better, while members of the other teams were too scared of rejection to share their ideas.

For further proof, consider one of the world’s most innovative companies – Google. In 2016, a New York Times article shared the tech giant’s research on what factors made the best teams. After studying over 180 Google teams, researchers found that the most important characteristic of a good team was, in fact, psychological safety.

Now, innovating is difficult no matter what; when you then add different personalities who often have to work across distances and cultures, it becomes significantly harder. But where there is psychological safety, these challenges are easier to navigate.

Why? It comes down to communication. In 2006, Professor Christina Gibson of the University of Australia and Professor Jennifer Gibbs of Rutgers University studied innovation teams with members scattered across the world and found that psychological safety helped teams communicate more openly. When teams can not only share their thoughts openly but work through them together, they’re much better prepared to tackle whatever challenges come their way.

The absence of psychological safety can have terrible consequences for a company, its employees, and its customers.

Have you ever noticed something not right at work? Maybe your supervisor has made a mistake in a presentation. But she has a reputation for being harsh, so instead of pointing anything out, you go along quietly, afraid to rock the boat.

Unfortunately, many bosses think fear is a good leadership strategy. While the atmosphere that this creates is no picnic, there can be far worse consequences.

When leaders use fear to motivate, people can turn to extreme and sometimes dangerous methods to get the job done. Take the employees at Wells Fargo. In 2015, Wells Fargo was the leading bank in America thanks to its community banking division’s impressive sales. On average, every customer was signed-up to about six banking products, around double the industry average.

But as it turned out, these impressive figures were the result of sketchy sales tactics. Employees were under pressure to hit an incredibly ambitious target of eight products per customer, and those who failed were publicly ridiculed or even fired. Scared of speaking up about the unrealistic targets, they instead opened accounts for customers without permission or lied about certain products being package deals. Two million accounts and credit cards were set up this way, and when the practice was discovered, the scandal cost Wells Fargo $185 million in settlements.

Fear in the workplace doesn’t always lead to unethical practices, but it can prevent staff from being upfront about a company’s challenges, stopping them from finding solutions before it’s too late.

Nokia learned this the hard way. During the 1990s, it was the top cell-phone manufacturer globally, but by 2012 it had lost this spot, along with over $2 billion and 75 percent of its market value.

How did this happen? Well, in 2015, graduate business school INSEAD published a study of the company’s fall, revealing that Nokia’s executives didn’t communicate openly about the threat from emerging competitors Apple and Google. At the same time, managers and engineers were afraid to tell their bosses that the company’s technology couldn’t compete in an evolving market. As a result, Nokia missed the opportunity to innovate and soon became irrelevant.

Businesses like Nokia and Wells Fargo are cautionary tales for any leader who thinks fear is the best way to get the most out of their teams. So, if fear has taken root in your workplace, the first step in creating psychological safety is to root it out – for good.

A fearless workplace starts with reframing failure and redefining the boss’s role.

How many times have you been told to do your best? We get this advice throughout our lives, from parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and even anonymous quotes on the internet. Rarely are we ever told to fail.

But being OK with failure at work is the first step in creating a fearless environment. When team leaders and bosses start talking about failure as something that happens often and as a learning opportunity, people become comfortable with taking risks, trying out new things, and openly discussing their mistakes.

While failure seems like the opposite of what any company wants to do, some of the most successful ones have made the belief that it’s OK to fail a key part of their work practices.

Animation studio Pixar is behind 15 of the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time, and co-founder Ed Catmull makes a point of telling staff that every movie is bad in the early stages. This reduces their fear of failure and makes them more open to feedback. And in a completely different industry, Christa Quarles, CEO of restaurant reservation company OpenTable, encourages her team to fail often and early so that they can quickly find new strategies.

In fact, being comfortable with failure is so important that Smith College and other schools in the United States now offer courses to help students understand failure not as a setback but as a step toward learning.

Failure isn’t the only thing we need to redefine. In many workplaces, leaders are seen as authorities who know best, giving instructions, and judging how well they’re carried out. But in a fearless workplace, leaders instead set the direction and goals, then encourage people to contribute their own ideas and insights.

A great example of this approach is Cynthia Carroll, a former CEO of the mining company Anglo American, who wanted to lower the number of mining injuries and deaths. But instead of just sending an order down to workers, Cynthia chose to organize meetings with thousands of the mine’s employees and find out what they felt was needed to improve safety. This input shaped new safety guidelines, and after these were implemented, mining deaths reduced by an impressive 62 percent between 2006 and 2011.

When leaders are curious and admit that they don’t know everything, people are encouraged to speak up.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “No one likes a know-it-all,” and it can definitely be annoying to be around someone who thinks they have all the answers.

However, when the know-it-all is your boss, they’re not so much annoying as they are intimidating. Leaders who think they know everything intimidate people out of expressing ideas and opinions. And so a key component of a fearless workplace is a boss who openly says that they don’t have all the information or all the ideas. This makes it clear that they’re open to learning and hearing from other people.

Former chairperson and CEO of Xerox Anne Mulcahy was so comfortable with saying she didn’t know the answers that people nicknamed her the “Master of I Don’t Know.” This gave Xerox employees the confidence to engage fully in tackling the company’s challenges, and under Mulcahy’s leadership, Xerox came back from the brink of bankruptcy.

However, even when the boss admits they need help, getting people to share their thoughts and ideas isn’t as simple as asking them.

To encourage participation, leaders should ask questions in a way that shows genuine interest in what others have to say. This can be accomplished by avoiding questions that only have “yes” or “no” answers, and asking thought-provoking ones that motivate people to reflect and think creatively.

The art of asking questions also involves knowing that different situations call for different kinds of questions. If you want to widen your understanding of an issue, ask people what they think is missing or invite those with different perspectives to chime in. If your aim is to get a deeper understanding, ask people to share the reasons behind their thinking or to give examples.

Another way leaders can create a culture of participation is by setting up structures specifically for sharing information. These can be regular workshops, focus groups, or meetings.

When the food company Groupe Danone started holding conferences to encourage information sharing between different departments, management noticed that people not only started generating new ideas, they were also more comfortable with speaking up and asking for help.

Once people start taking action and providing input, the feedback they receive is key to maintaining psychological safety.

When people take risks and speak up, it’s important for leaders to respond productively.

Picture a group of five-year-olds learning about shapes. Their teacher asks if anyone can name the shape on the chalkboard, and when a child shouts out the wrong shape, he’s instantly and bluntly dismissed. Do you think that child will try again? Probably not.

In the same way, people in the workplace can be discouraged if leaders don’t respond to input in the right way.

A good place to start is by showing appreciation. Speaking up or taking action takes courage, so whether the outcome is good or bad, first thanking people for their effort helps maintain the feeling of psychological safety.

For instance, imagine a nurse who isn’t sure that the doctor is giving a patient the right treatment. The nurse is nervous about speaking up because he’s heard the doctor respond negatively to questions from other colleagues. But if he were to say something despite his reservations, and the doctor thanked him for the input before going on to explain her decision, the nurse would feel more confident and continue sharing his thoughts.

In the same way that input requires the right response, so does failure. But it’s important to keep in mind that failure comes in different forms, and there are appropriate ways to respond to each one.

When people fail because they tried something new and didn’t get the results they hoped for, they should be encouraged, and their experiences discussed and learned from. At the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, they go as far as throwing parties to celebrate and share failed experiments. This may seem extreme, but cementing the idea that failure is a positive thing ensures that people don’t continue to waste time and resources on experiments that aren’t going anywhere.

On the other hand, there are preventable failures, and learning from these means trying to make sure they don’t happen again. This can be through training or putting new systems in place. But if the failure happens because set processes weren’t followed or company values and boundaries were ignored, then the response should be a fair consequence like a sanction, suspension, or even firing, if necessary. When employees know that they always face fair feedback and consequences from their leaders, the feeling of psychological safety is strengthened.

You don’t have to be a leader to help create a fearless work environment.

What would you do if you ruled the globe for a day? You probably have lots of great ideas for how to improve things if you were in charge but can’t imagine making a difference in the real world because you’re not in a high enough position of authority.

This frustrating feeling happens in the workplace, too. But the good news is that if you want to work in a less fearful environment, there are small steps you can take to help make this happen, even if you’re not the boss.

For one, you can show your colleagues that you’re curious about what they have to say and slowly create safe spaces for them to speak up. Make a point of regularly asking them for their input and expertise; this works especially well when you direct your questions to specific individuals. The next time you speak up in a meeting, hand the baton over to someone else by asking them what they think.

Now, sharing an idea or voicing an opinion doesn’t mean much if no one is listening. And so another way you can contribute to psychological safety is by actively listening to people, whether or not you’re the one asking the questions. When your colleagues speak up, listen attentively and respectfully, even if you don’t necessarily agree with them. This shows interest and appreciation for the effort they made, as does providing feedback and building on their ideas.

Finally, you can improve the feeling of safety and support in your work environment by allowing yourself to ask for help when you need it, and letting others know that you’re available to help them. Start using phrases like, “I need help,” “I don’t know,” “I made a mistake,” “What challenges are you facing?” and “What can I do to help you?”

When people realize that others around them can be vulnerable and that there’s always help at hand, they’ll eventually start sharing ideas and being bold enough to reach their full potential.

Today, success at work means being able to take risks and have conversations that lead to innovation, but this is impossible to do when people feel unsupported and afraid. When leaders and colleagues alike start inviting other voices to the table and encouraging people to learn from failure, the result is a workplace in which people and ideas thrive.

Action plan: Play to win. A lot of the time, we play it safe and avoid being vocal or trying new approaches because we don’t want to risk failing or being judged harshly. This mindset is called playing not to lose, and it’s the reason we miss out on opportunities that come our way. Start adopting a play to win mindset by focusing not on what you stand to gain if you step up to the plate, rather than what could go wrong.

#How To Inspire Confidence In The Workplace.

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