World in Words

CQL as a whole is actually profoundly pessimistic about the way society runs -- the world of CQL is elitist, fickle, irrational, unjust. It lets people like Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan fall through the cracks; there’s very little accountability for the crimes done by people in positions of power (Jin Guangshan, Wen Ruohan); and society often eats its own, uses people up and casts them aside with little gratitude or appreciation for their sacrifice (Wei Wuxian, and I would argue Nie Mingjue as well as Lan Xichen). I think it’s pretty telling that what the show suggests is the happiest resolution for Wei Wuxian is a departure from the world that caused him so much pain. Of course, Wei Wuxian comes back for Lan Wangji, but I still find the leaving, the renouncing of worldly affairs (for however long we interpret it being) a crucial component of CQL’s narrative.

This kind of ‘happy ending’ -- one in which the hero sets down their burden, puts aside their responsibility of giving and giving and giving to a society that will continue to take and take and take with little to no thanks -- is something that... well, I hesitate to characterize it as ‘inherently Chinese’ in any way, but it’s something I’ve seen much more in Chinese media than I have in Western media. The joyful resolution for a character isn’t necessarily found in the wholesale reforming of society in response to the hero’s actions, but rather, the ability to retreat from the world, to live one’s own life in peace and tranquil joy.

In a way, it echoes what Xue Yang says to Xiao Xingchen, moments before the latter opens his throat:

Xue Yang: 你的师尊抱山散人多聪明啊，你为什么不听她的，好好在山上修仙问道？搞不懂这世上的事，那你就不要入世! / Your esteemed teacher, Baoshan-sanren, was so smart! Why didn’t you listen to her and stay on the mountain, cultivating immortality and studying the Dao? If you can’t understand the affairs of the world, then don’t enter it!

Crucially, Xue Yang says 入世 rushi / to enter the world, which is a concept often linked with the Ruist school of thought (入世有为 vs. the vaguely Daoist 出世无为) -- the idea that it’s the right, responsible, and moral thing to do to enter into society/the world and to do good, as opposed to exiting the world/society and larking off to become a hermit somewhere, to farm and cultivate your own morals and be good. Entering the world, especially with the intent to do good and enact reform, is the noble thing to do -- it’s what Xiao Xingchen chose, what Lan Wangji ends up choosing at the end of CQL. Exiting the world is the path of self-preservation, because the world will unapologetically consume you if you aren’t careful. 

All of which is to say that -- I personally thought that CQL was pretty clear on how shitty society is, especially considering that Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang are villains produced by circumstance. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I believe that Jin Guangyao could’ve turned out to be a perfectly nice young man if more people treated him as like, a decent human being. Xue Yang is a little more complicated, because his whole ‘my-finger-is-worth-more-than-your-life’ business is a tricky moral perspective to recalibrate, but I think a Xue Yang who grew up without being consumed by his own vengeance and victimhood would have been vastly different from the Xue Yang we know (and love, and hate) in CQL.

That being said, just because Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang’s villainy are in part produced by societal circumstance does not excuse or justify their villainy.

Because in the end, it’s all about choice, isn’t it? second anon up there (sorry, it took me forever to get to your point, which is an excellent one!) points out that Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang lack a certain degree of empathy that would allow them to perceive the pain of others as equal to or greater than their own. They spend so long stewing in their own resentment and victimhood and dreams of vengeance that they struggle to take the feelings of others into account -- I’m sure Jin Guangyao was perfectly kind and courteous to Qin Su, but the moment her emotions spiraled out of the parameters of her usefulness, he eliminated her, never mind that she, too, was reeling from the incest reveal, never mind that she, too, is a living and breathing human being who feels pain and distress. Likewise, Xue Yang vastly misestimates Xiao Xingchen and his response to pain -- he drives Xiao Xingchen to and past his breaking point, and never for a moment guesses that Xiao Xingchen might choose death over continued existence, because the thought of killing himself has never crossed Xue Yang’s mind (how could he? He still needs to get revenge on everyone who’s ever wronged him).

And this is probably the biggest difference between Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao, Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang -- Wei Wuxian is so goddamn empathetic that one of his signature cultivation moves revolves around his ability to listen to other people’s lives and feel what they feel. Or, to borrow a line from Doctor Who:

All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made [him] kind.

Wei Wuxian goes through so much shit, has to put up with all sorts of terrible, undeserved misery and agony, and instead of becoming bitter or vengeful, he remains kind, loving, forgiving, generous.

Every single person, when they’ve been wronged, has a choice -- what do you do with all of this hatred and resentment and frustration when someone insults your heritage, belittles your achievements, impugns your moral character? Do you turn it inwards and let it fester and ferment into vengeance? Or do you unleash it outwards, spewing virulence and viciousness at the people around you? Do you internalize it, bury it deep down inside yourself until it becomes part and parcel of your personality, a deep and abiding self-hatred that often comes hand-in-hand with lack of self-worth? Or do you externalize it, let it drive you in your purpose and reforms?

Madam Yu internalizes her resentment until it boils over into toxicity and abuse, inflicted upon her own family; Su She externalizes his resentment by simultaneously imitating and slandering the person who (he perceives) did him wrong. Jin Guangyao lets the ugly comments get to him, and uses his long-simmering resentment as fuel for his machinations and manipulations. Xue Yang is so wholly consumed by his victimhood that he goes off the deep end into psychopathy.

Wei Wuxian has the astounding ability to take all the shit the world throws at him, and rather than lashing out with it, accepts the hurt for whatever it is -- and then forgets it. Erases it. Lets go of it. This isn’t to say that he won’t fight back or stand up for himself -- most of the time he gives as good as he gets -- but he won’t linger on the resentment, won’t let it consume him, control him completely. He understands pain, and misery, and suffering in a way that few other characters in the show can compare with, and if someone is hurting, he’ll take their side, regardless of what crimes their sect may have committed in the past.