#there’s something so he xuan about no children btw

[sirlanval]

hand in unloveable hand

[transmascaraa]

random but yes my final thoughts on all the new natlan chars with a conclusion in the end lmao

mualani .

i love her she's so cute help i knew i would love her ever since her first appearance i literally can't wait for her drip marketing tmrw

the tattoo typa things on her skin help?!????!??!? beautiful?!!?!!?!??

hydro women>>

~

kachina .

SHE'S ADORABLE HELP

i love all the genshin children sm they're so precious i swear even dori /p

i love her hair a lot tho

~

kinich .

LOOK.

MY FAVORITE CHARACTER(scara) HAS COMPETITION NOW.

I WILL REFRAIN FROM SAYING TOO MUCH BUT BASICALLY I LOVE HIM. (and ajaw lmfao that little thing about to become like boothill)

~

citlali .

ANYWAYS LOOK AT HERRRR

she's so cute i love her

something about her reminds me about hsr fu xuan but either way she's probably the cutest char from the trailer imo^^

~

xilonen .

help me i can't do this anymore the women are literally top tier(offtopic but she's almost identical to one of my ocs which i won't rant about rn lmao)

THE MAKEUP AND HAIR???? MY FAVORITE WOMAN FROM NATLAN?????????

SHE'S THE DEFINITION OF SMTHN LIKE "in war rn but at least i gotta look hot" AND IT'S TRUE

~

iansan .

somebody help why did we only get like 0,6sec of her😭

still i'm very excited for her

for the design at least since i truly have no idea of her personality lol

~

chasca .

i love this woman already

also the mole she has on her shoulder bro i have the one on the same place

cowboy vibes from her btw??

~

capitano . and ororon(olorun?) .

about capitano; first, i'm very excited, and second, i wish he said more than just "hmph."

about ororon(olorun?); heard that he turned out very bad based on who he references and even his name is very messed up i'm pretty sure?? basically the same situation that happened with candace/kandake EITHER WAY i'm excited to see him more and like will he be the first tall male anemo help lol i like his design

can't wait for them although i have other preferences for now

~ ~

mavuika .

THANK GOODNESS SHE'S NOT LIKE THE LEAKS

i absolutely love her design and everything sm about her literally please don't die and yeah she's now my third favorite archon along with furina and nahida

also despite the outfit not being revealing and all and literally a 10/10, i have a feeling she's gonna get very sexualized because of that zipper😭

~

in conclusion, i absolutely love the characters.

the only problem is that there's not really many dark skinned characters aside from iansan and kinda tanned mualani and xilonen ig

here's a link to a petition to try and stop hoyo from making the skin colors as light as they always do😭 i personally didn't look into it too much at first because of which countries the nations were based off of, but now this is supposed to be africa/south america and there's not really much skin representation

yeah, sure there's representation, but not of skin color other than iansan(and mualani and xilonen too)

finally, i think that all the designs are truly 10/10 it's just the skin colors bothering me aka hoyo's typa racism due to them being a chinese company. again, don't get me wrong, shitty company and i hate racism(as a white person) but the characters are great in all honesty and all the other types of representation are great^^

~

(good thing i personally don't play the game because of my phone storage and i'm just in the fandom from it's release bro and i love the lore so that's how i know the characters and story in the first place)

~

update:

my honest thoughts on the drip marketing(no pictures)

KACHINA IS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE SHE'S SO CUTE AND PRECIOUS TO ME THAT'S IT(what animal is she supposed to be btw??)

MUALANI LOOKS SO PRETTY!!!!!!! I LOVE HER SM PLUS HER SHARK IS ALMOST AS CUTE AS HER

KINICH JUST LOOKS SO GOOD. I LOVE THAT MAN. I AM NOT USED TO LIKING TALL MEN AT ALL BUT HEAR ME OUT...........

I LOVE ALL OF THEM FR I'M SO EXCITED FOR MORE CHARACTERS

~

(is it just me but do they look like they all have the same skincolor on their drip marketings???? like are kinich and kachina a bit darker OR is mualani lighter than she looks???)

[marizch]

just have been here imagining a tgcf band au...

in my mind the main point would be the rock band "ghost city", with hua cheng as its lead singer, composer and guitarist; he xuan as bassist; and yin yu as manager and drummer. of course it was hua cheng's idea to start it and the other two were dragged by him. btw, yin yu might be overworked as usual, handling the bureaucratic and financial situations that involve the band, while he xuan also works as an actor (from where he knows shi qingxuan), but he lost a bet to hua cheng and now have to play with them.

on the other hand we have xie lian. he also used to be part of the music industry, maybe playing classical instruments in the same group as mu qing and feng xin. but after a lot of things went down, they’ve decided to quit it and follow their own paths, maintaining little contact. I can imagine him working in a flower shop now, but still enjoying music very passionately, looking for new bands and stuff, which leads him to being a fan of the upcoming success group, “ghost city”. he's also a longtime friend with shi qingxuan, who's an actress. one day she invites him to go to a show of that band he likes, because her work-colleague, who happens to be a member of it, gave her two tickets, and xie lian gladly accepts.

now thinking about the connection between xie lian and hua cheng. in his best days as a musician, xie lian could have founded a project to bring musical education to children and teenagers in need. that’s how he met hua cheng, a shy teenager wearing an eyepatch, who was very interested in his lessons and showed great potential, gaining his teacher's affection. 

xie lian had many students, as well as volunteers helping with the project, so it would be hard for him to recognise someone after all these years, especially when the person in question has changed so much. however, hua cheng never forgot the man who got him into music, gave him his first guitar and has been his inspiration since then. so it's a big surprise to him when,  after a show, xie lian and shi qingxuan meet the band in the back stages due to he xuan’s invitation.

xie lian also gets very surprised when the enchanting leader of the band shows to recognize him from his years as a classical musician, something that hasn't happened in quite a while, demonstrating also great knowledge about music in general. he doesn’t say anything about their past, but they get along well together since the beginning, to a point in which hua cheng insists that xie lian should open an exception for them and help them produce their next album. although being honored by the idea, the former musician asks for some time to think about it, they exchange numbers and decide to keep in touch no matter the decision. anyway, after some reluctance due to past traumas, shi qingxuan excitedly encourages him, and he decides to accept the offer. so he starts working with them almost daily, while keeping working in the flower shop half shift.

(another detail i think might be funny is that qi rong also auditioned to be part of “ghost city” at some point, but was rejected. since then, he has been working as a metal singer, and he consideres himself a rival to the band, although they never really cared about his attacks - and his music isn't even that good.)

[accio-victuuri]

2017 BJYX Timeline : At First Sight.

Everything starts with a blank canvass. Oh we painted each others lives inch by inch. from black, gray and blue to colors we never thought existed. Two photos from different places, longing to be one. 

Let’s start from the beginning of this whirlwind timeline. There will be very minimal interaction between our boys, but this will also be a good time to see how they were before working together. I wanted to paint a picture of  XNINE’s Xiao Zhan and Idol Wang Yibo. Before their names got tied to the Untamed and each other.

They were doing their own thing, working hard with their careers, no clue that one chance meeting will be so important. Warning, this post is video links, image and information heavy. I am missing some stuff because this hell site refuses to save things and continues to glitch.

🡆 MARCH 2017

03242017 : The story starts when XNINE was a guest in Day Day Up. When asked, they always say that this is the first time they met. However, they did not interact at all.

But there are definitely times on this episode where they pay attention to each other and it’s so cute. You can find different videos that will highlight these moments better than any screencaps can.

1. Web Stealing a glance at GG

2. First meeting

3. Gun heart - This is the gesture GG used when he introduced himself. The hosts all imitated him and teased, that included Web who smiled too. The same love gesture will be seen in the following years as “their thing”.

4. Doing the same steps for the dance.

5. Web allowing GG to pass and did not lift up the bamboo to trap him when it’s his turn.

6. Red string of Fate

7. Love at first sight-ology

When asked about this shooting, especially the segment when they were in the fields— GG said it was too cold. There is also CPN that the bag Web was using was GG’s.

03252017:  Yin Yue V-Chart Interview with XNINE. GG talking about being scolded for not updating his video diaries and updating his fans. 😂   On the same day that this interview came out, he posted a selfie. 

🡆 APRIL 2017

04022017 : XNINE shanghai concert - BE A MAN.  blessing us with this dance from GG. The next one is the one that the Untamed Cast were watching. He also posted a selfie for this night. 

Full video of the concert 

04082017 : The Wolf starts filming. According to GG, this is the drama that made him decide to really be an actor.

04092017 : Web attends the 17th Top Chinese Music Awards and wins Best New Idol. This also blessed us with the blindfold dance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW9gM7tfyFM

04132017: Southern Metropolis Entertainment Interview - XNINE. GG sings Jay Chou’s Love confession on this one ( I died ). We also see his very shy side when people say that he is the Visual of the group. Also, LOL at Peng Chuyue’s face when GG says this.

 https://youtu.be/X8Xoax8dIHM

04162017: Posts a selfie on set of The Wolf in the blistering cold.

04242017: XNINE “Say No” BTS is released.

https://youtu.be/wU_tKzK64Ns

04252017: GG posts a selfie. 

04282017 : Release of Single “Say No” - XNINE 

04292017 :  Wang Yibo X Guan Xiaoton release of the song Once Again for the Once Again OST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0TT8y7VXNk

🡆 MAY 2017

05072017: GG posts himself with that stubble. 

05292017: Another selfie in specs. 

🡆 JUNE 2017

060172017 : Both GG and Web posted selfies for Children’s Day. 

06082017: Zhelife

06222017: Another selfie. I’m side eyeing the date this was posted wtf. 622. 

06232017 : Posted alot of selfies this time. This is one of those. 

🡆 JULY 2017

072017 - Filming for GG’s “Battle through the Heavens” has ended where played the role of Lin Xiuya.

07032017 : GG posted a bare face selfie, wearing Stussy! 

07032017: Adidas NEO CF for Web

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNYqVa58mgg

07102017 : Web CF for Estee Lauder. Our boi in shorts and white shorts, using estee lauder in the morning. 

https://youtu.be/xeTT0QR_iKs

07192017: Idol Interview - XNINE @ Asian Music Gala. They won the Most Popular Group award. This is Where you can see a very quiet GG who does not speak at all. https://youtu.be/7dwA6WwD-5c

07202017: Cute selfie. 

07272017: Posted a selfie photoset which includes the photo he sent to Web, apparently, in 2018. I’m a love at first sight believer, so I don’t buy the story that this was only sent in 2018. hahahah! don’t believe me. 

🡆 AUGUST 2017

08042017: GG posted a Happy Birthday message to DDU for their anniversary. DDU weibo account responded with :

“Thank you handsome and attractive little zhan zhan! ( btw little Day Day won’t tell you that a colleague of us already became your fan. )”

08082017 : XNINE Metersbonwe photoshoot.

https://youtu.be/jM9lla6aF08

08152017: Episode 1 of Love Actually Drama aired with Web acting alongside Joe Chen. He played the role of Zhai Zhiwei who is an IT genius.

08162017 : First episode of the TV program "When we were young" airing. Web guest starred on this, for episodes 16-17 and played the role of Lin Jiayi.

08242017 : Web shoot for Once Again MV the making released.

https://youtu.be/-yn_st5vOO0

08252017: XNINE “be strong girl” campaign message. Have some encouraging words from GG.

08272017 : XNINE performs at Fresh Asia Awards.

https://youtu.be/PzGlTQ3Fga0

08302017 : “Unsurpassed Conference” ; Where we got this absolute gem of him not wanting to talk but ended up being a host on DDU.

Web : I don’t really like talking 

Host : so you went to DDU 

Web : I don’t know why I went too.. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjO5vIfD_PQ

🡆 SEPTEMBER 2017.

09052017 : Wang Yibo and Joe Chen video in an Amusement Park shooting the drama “Love Actually”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__gIWih39Is

09162017 :  Wang Yibo attended the “2017 Asian Influence Awards Ceremony.” and won Best New actor.

09222017: Web interview and photo shoot for Hey idol. This shoot is responsible for that photo where Web eats an orange like an Apple. 

https://youtu.be/wCqVxog9i18

09232017: Selfie time again 

09262017: Web and Wenhan represent UNIQ as they perform in TV Online Video Influence Ceremony

https://youtu.be/lc_cvlLtSaA

09272017: Web AD for KFC. Please watch this. He looks good in Yellow- dancing and eating chicken. I STAN THIS BOI! 

https://youtu.be/ABH3BfZf4dg

🡆 OCTOBER 2017

10102017: Posted cute selfies with him as a cat and a Pig. hmmm. pig? 

🡆 NOVEMBER 2017

11072017: Web’s Just Dance single is announced. This is the Theme song of 4th Xuan Wu Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvsyOxC6cs4

11092017 : Filming of Oh My Emperor has finished. GG plays the role of Bei Tang Moran in this drama that will be broadcast in 2018.

11092017 : Web attends the Ifeng Fashion show event where he won   Most Popular New Actor. 

11162017 : Web recording the song “just Dance”. does the clothes he’s wearing remind you of another recording session? 

11212017 : Web x Fashionable Photoshoot

11262017 : Attending and performing in Star Night of Mister Inke. His style in this one is really Joker-like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75wtl-JAjis

🡆 DECEMBER 2017

2020 : Web is cast in the science fiction drama Super Talent/ My strange friend.

12032027: XNINE performs “ We want what we want”.

https://youtu.be/IJNIgPl8ImI

12032017: Web performs JUST DANCE in Tencent Games Carnival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbIzvMut2CY

12092017: Photoshoot with Rayli 

12122017: Photoshoot with Cheese Fashion 

12132017:  Photoshoot with NTSnap 

12142017 : BEST TASTE releases one of it’s short films that include Wang Yibo. We see two personas in this feature and it’s really interesting.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP83-bEOEv0

This one called “耳” Ear; about sounds. [What we heard can’t take away by time 🕙 ]all the good memories when we were a child, some one them we might not be able to remember what happened, but when you hear the sound/voice of them, they trigger our memories

12152017: Volunteer Union photoshoot / campaign 

12172017 :  Attending Tencent Star Charity Night 

12202017 : Photoshoot feature with our street style AKA everyone's favorite Web flower boi spread. 

12222017: "Just Dance" single MV release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asb8I3oqG00

12222017 : Winter solstice post from both of them. Talking about eating tangyuan. It’s of those mirroring posts, but again, could just be coincidence that they posted something similar.

12312017 : Web Participates in Hunan TV’s new year countdown as a Host. 

*** Note 01 : In 2017, XNINE was transferred from EE media to Long Danni’s Wajijiwa Ent. Company. Some initial problems that they had was that their company was more interested in promoting them as actors and not as an idol group. They were also not kept safe in public venues which will be a recurring issue to GG as we go along other timelines.

*** Note 02 : I wanted to add Web’s Rossi posts and more pictures but it won’t save (will try again at a later date, but I think Web’s awards and projects are more important to highlight here). LOL. Thankfully, GG’s selfies worked. I mainly added stuff that they did in 2017 to give a sense of where they were career-wise. 

*** Note 03 : Looking at how this timeline turned into a monster, I will probably split the 2018 timeline into two parts. Forever Summer Part I & Forever Summer Part 2. Seeing the amount of Activity these two did in 2018 alone is STAGGERING. Plus, this site is glitching with all the content when I save it so splitting it might be better. if you have suggestions, let me know. 

[the-archlich]

Went back to read some of the old spotlights (thank you btw for all the amazing work you put in it’s the only way tumblr blog I’ve read consistently the past few years), in regards to Guanqiu Jian- how much validity do you think the points in the edict he made were against Sima Shi? For a long time military commander who served in countless battles, he would have had to know his rebellion was going to be a suicide pact without a massive army. Just seems like a terrible error of judgment.

Oh god. Old spotlights. Sorry about those. Y’all deserved better quality articles. But moving on...

On the one hand, it was a very political document, phrased very carefully. All of the criticism is leveled at Sima Shi specifically, sandwiched between effusive praise of other members of his family. It’s possible he hoped to convince Sima Shi’s own family to turn against him. Guanqiu Jian may have even been benevolent enough to spare the rest of the family if they did, although it’s hard to imagine any of the Sima would credit that.

Guanqiu Jian was probably thinking the same thing most rebels are. That when he raised his flag and started to march against the evil usurper, others would join him. But history (even his recent history) shows that’s too idealistic. Just look at how many people were content to sit back and let Dong Zhuo do whatever. Most people find it easier to live under a tyrant than fight one.

As for the accusations themselves:

Now Sima Shi, an official in the prime of his life, feigns ill health while he has no real disease, yet has strong troops under his command; he does not serve the sovereign as is proper to a subject. The court officials criticize him and men of principle jeer at him. It is something of which the whole Empire is aware. This is his first crime.

This, I think, is false. We know that Sima Shi did indeed have a major disease that required ocular surgery. And beyond that I don’t think his reluctance to personally lead armies is really a fault. But it was a marked contrast to his father, and no doubt it offended the soldiers.

In preparing to attack the rebels, Sima Yi would have grain for the army unhusked in large quantities and set definite dates for launching his attacks. Sima Shi, as a high official of the State, ought to eliminate the national calamity (i.e. Wu and Shu); as a son he ought to bring his father's work to completion. But he ceased mourning for his father, and had all his work stopped. As a subject, he is disloyal; as a son, he is unfilial. This is his second crime.

Again, I don’t think this one is a fair criticism. There was a long precedent for ending mourning rituals early, and aggressive campaigns against Wu and Shu were always a risky proposition. This is another charge that I think was intended mostly to alienate Sima Shi from the soldiers.

While the rebels withdrew to Dongguan, he mobilized the troops; the three (jiangjun with the word) zheng (in their titles) advanced simultaneously. But our troops were lost and our army defeated; the military preparations of many years went to ruin in one day, so that the rebels were induced to come. The Empire fell into disorder, the people suffered from death and injury, or wandered homeless. This is his third crime.

Here, Guanqiu Jian criticises Sima Shi for Wei’s losses in February 253; most notably the defeat at Lake Chao; and for Zhuge Ke’s retaliatory invasion. Guanqiu Jian himself fought on that campaign, and the losses at Lake Chao forced him to quit the field without achievement. This is actually a fair criticism. Others, notably Fu Jian, had objected to the campaign in the first place. As its architect, Sima Shi does deserve his share of the blame.

The rebels mobilized the entire forces of their State, and with five hundred thousand men, as they claimed, they advanced towards Shouchun intending to proceed to Luoyang. It happened that we and the taiyu Sima Fu proposed the strategy of blockading key positions without crossing arms, and returning to strengthen the defense of Xincheng. The generals and troops in Huainan rushed against spears and trampled drawn swords, defending their positions day and night. They were engaged in this strenuous work for a hundred days, the dead strewn on the ground. Since its very beginning, the Wei army has never suffered a more severe hardship than this. Yet Sima Shi has arbitrarily made no proposal to enfeoff and reward the heroes in this campaign. Power was in his hands, but he did not use it to record the merits of these men. This is his fourth crime.

Guanqiu Jian is referring to the defense against Zhuge Ke in 253. While Jin Shu says that Sima Shi took command of the overall campaign, SGZ seems to disagree. Guanqiu Jian himself names Sima Fu as the commander, which agrees with other accounts. Guanqiu Jian claims that Sima Shi didn’t grant due rewards to those who earned glory during that great battle. This accusation is likely true, although a closer look at Cao Mao’s annals probably could solve that question.

The late zhongshuling Li Feng and others, considering that Sima Shi did not act as is proper to a subject, wanted to denounce and expel him. Knowing of this, Sima Shi invited Li Feng to come to him, and that evening struck him dead, carried off the corpse and buried the coffin. Li Feng and his associates were high officials and in the confidence of the sovereign. Yet he applied brutal measures to him on his own authority, killing him without first having charged him with a crime. Sima Shi did not respect the authority of his sovereign. This is his fifth crime.

Guanqiu Jian criticizes Sima Shi for executing Li Feng and his conspirators without any sort of due process. It’s a fair criticism. While that group was planning to kill him and some action had to be taken against them, Wei had formal structures for such an event. Sima Shi bypassing them entirely is worthy of criticism.

Sima Yi used to express his admiration of the Prince of Qi and would say that he was worthy of being a sovereign; he thus fixed the relationship between sovereign and subject. Having served as guardian for fifteen years, he wanted to hand the power of government to the Prince of Qi: He inspected arsenals and ordered the bodyguards not to leave their posts without permission. Knowing well his own wickedness and iniquities, which secured blessing neither from the spirits nor from men, Sima Shi dethroned his sovereign under a false command from the Empress Dowager, charging him with crimes. Sima Fu, a paternal uncle of Sima Shi, is by nature good and filial; when he bade farewell to the Prince of Qi, he could not control his grief; and the multitudinous officials were all angry at Sima Shi. But Sima Shi was insensitive and did not pay attention to the cardinal principle governing the relationship between a subject and his sovereign. This is his sixth crime.

This one speaks for itself. Guanqiu Jian is denouncing Sima Shi’s removal of Cao Fang under a forged or forced command from the Dowager. That definitely happened. Even if the details are a bit muddled by contradictory sources, Sima Shi certainly used his power to remove an inconvenient sovereign. This is probably the most significant charge Guanqiu Jian could point at him, and arguably the only one that matters.

Then again, the late guanglu dafu Zhang Qi was innocent of any crime, yet he put him, his wife, and his children to death. Even the mother of the State, the Empress, was affected: he pressed the August Person to send her away. At that time, all were grieved and astonished, there being none that did not lament. Yet Sima Shi called it felicitous and rejoiced. This is his seventh crime.

This, too, is related to the conspiracy with Li Feng, Xiahou Xuan, etc. Seems a little sloppy of Guanqiu Jian to put it here.

Since the accession to the throne, Your Majesty, intelligent and martial, has applied his mind to all matters; he wanted to economize and make things simple. The Whole Empire, hearing of this, rejoiced. Yet Sima Shi would not improve and repent, nor practice the due obligations of a subject; instead of doing this, he levied troops and brought havoc to the palace, the feudal lords taking their own protective measures. At the beginning of Your Majesty's accession to the throne, he did not appear at Court to pay homage. When Your Majesty wanted to visit him at Sima Shi's home to inquire after his ailments, he refused to admit you, thus disobeying the laws of the land. This is his eight crime.

This is discourtesy to the emperor. Certainly a capital offense, though I don’t know if we have any evidence of it beyond Guanqiu Jian’s words. Of course, given the circumstances under which Chen Shou’s records were written, there is reason to be a little cautious about what he might have omitted.

Recently the lingjun Xu Yun had been appointed zhenbei jiangjun. Because he had made a gift of government property, Sima Shi impeached and punished him. It is true that he was merely banished, but he killed him by making him starve on the road. Hearing of this, the whole Empire grieved. This is his ninth crime.

Guanqiu Jian criticizes Sima Shi for his treatment of a respected official Xu Yun. This is all accurate. He committed a minor crime and was dismissed, which (indirectly, as Guanqiu Jian admits) led to his death.

The defense of the three quarters had become deficient, but he selected picked troops in large numbers to serve as his guards; the troops in the Wuying had become deficient, yet he would not supplement their number. Arms and weapons he took in quantities for his own barracks. The whole Empire knows of it and every one resents it; rumors course through the highways of the land, and the Empire is suspicious. This is his tenth crime.

Guanqiu Jian charges Sima Shi with building up his personal guard and resources while neglecting the needs of the state. However it should be noted that Guanqiu Jian speaks in terms of rumors and things “everyone knows” so this charge might not be authentic.

By profusely granting leaves of absence to the troops, he would win praise and make the four quarters empty of troops. He monopolizes power in order to exult his vicious intentions. He drafts men for the military agricultural colonies; he distributes rewards and obstructs the military work. He dares to disturb the ancient laws: he has the various feudal princes and dukes assemble in Ye, his intention being to kill them all. On one day he started a coup d'etat and dethroned his sovereign. Since Heaven does not help the wicked, it made his eyes swell, so that his attempts were frustrated. This is his eleventh crime.

In this last charge Guanqiu Jian says first that Sima Shi is taking measures to make himself popular with the army at the expense of its effectiveness and proper conduct. That’s probably accurate. It also reiterates the criticism for removing Cao Fang, which is certainly fair. However Guanqiu Jian also accuses him of planning to kill all the various members of the Cao clan in Ye, which doesn’t seem to have ever been on the table. That part is probably rumor or slander.

So all in all, I’d say that the charges are more accurate than not. Sima Shi was absolutely guilty of the most serious accusations, even if others aren’t quite so straightforward as Guanqiu Jian suggests.