One
Most people who hold a materialist view of history agree that violence is the fuel for history to move forward.
In the context of various brainless cool dramas, sweet dramas, and fresh meat dramas, "The Knife Line in the Snow" does not use male small fresh meat, and the second does not need to be led by popular traffic actresses, which has to make people have a long-lost sense of freshness.
What is even more rare is that some insights into history that flash in this drama, whether light or dark, will also bring surprises to the audience. Its popularity has made the public reminisce about a heroic era of the rise of the commoners and the tail of the nobility in an entertaining way. Its exaltation, happiness and affection undoubtedly make the current oppressive atmosphere full of class solidification and the supremacy of money, adding a little "happy air".
There are several plots in the film that make people move. Xu Fengnian's heart has always missed the "Old Huang" who was a lowly and humble groom who accompanied him to wander the people, not the "Sword Nine Yellows" who later defeated Wang Xianzhi; after restoring his status as a son of the world, Xu Fengnian could have returned to the North starlings after touring the nations to successfully inherit the throne, but insisted on risking his life to challenge Wang Xianzhi in Wudi City, only to retrieve the sword box left by the "Sword Nine Yellows" when he died in battle; Xu Fengnian protected a folk girl and brought up a folk literati who was ostracized by the aristocratic literati because of his grassroots status." Poor acid", he did not hesitate to insult the entire Jiangnan establishment literary circle; Xu Xiao, Xu Fengnian father and son would go to visit an ordinary starling veteran in the North Starlings every New Year's Festival, and his equality and dear love were like family.
These plots are undoubtedly all aimed at portraying a clear lord who has a true disposition, loves the people equally, and wants to break the aristocratic hierarchical order. The rise of the Northern Starlings, which killed countless old aristocratic forces, gave the commoner class unprecedented upward mobility space, and thus also attracted the general hostility of the old literati who controlled public opinion. The author even borrowed the mouth of Chen Xiliang, a "poor acid" literati during the debate in the literary circles, to criticize the "empty talk" atmosphere that was still prevalent in the literary circles at that time, accusing them of being indifferent to the suffering of the people of Li and the people at present, except for nostalgia for the so-called ancient moral order, and having no ability to use them in the world.
Stills from "Knife Row in the Snow"
Attaching importance to the common class, being close to ordinary soldiers, daring to open the knife to the old aristocratic forces, despising the mediocre establishment of scholars and scholars, being good at excavating and promoting grassroots literary and martial talents, and crossing classes, Xu Fengnian seems to be the desire of the people in any era.
Two
There is a text in the junior high school textbook called "Japanese Heijia Crab", which mentions the legend of the Japanese Heishi samurai family turning into a crab after the sea. It is not known whether the screenwriter and author of "The Sword In the Snow" were inspired by some of the ancient history of Japan.
However, the author is reminded of the Japanese drama "Hei Kiyomori", which begins with the traditional and strange artistic ability of the Japanese, borrowing the mouth of Thera Kiyomori's enemy Genji, and highly praising the contribution of the Hira family to the rise of the samurai class.
In the opening chapter, the Genji soldiers have just learned the news that the Heike family has been destroyed by genji, and are cheering, but the genji family owner screams and says, "Without Hira Kiyomori, there would be no era of samurai." This spirit of not forgetting to dig wells is certainly touching, and genji, in the sense of class struggle, is right to say that Genji, who gave the pennant to his late opponents, was right. After the Hei family was destroyed by Genji, Genji "took over the mantle" and ushered in the shogunate era, and Japan officially entered the samurai era.
Stills from the Japanese Ōkawa drama "Hei Kiyomori"
Heisei Kiyomori lived in the era at the end of Japan's Heian period, a period of social transformation in which feudalism completely replaced slavery.
At that time, the Japanese nobles, like the seven "idlers" of the bamboo forest during the Jin Dynasty, were keen to discuss metaphysics such as yin and yang masters, and were busy with beautiful things such as alchemy and medicine cultivation. Moreover, in order to ensure the noble and pure blood of the royal family, the marriage of close relatives prevailed, resulting in a large number of low-energy phenomena of the descendants of the royal family and nobles.
The samurai class, represented by the Heijia and Genji, was at the bottom of the ruling class at that time. They did all the dirty work of life, but they were coldly ostracized by the nobility in terms of hierarchical order. While suppressing rebellions for the imperial family, the samurai class also continued to gather peasants and displaced people from all over the country for their own use, which objectively became a force that promoted class mobility and social progress at that time.
The moral qualities of self-denial, tenacity, and loyalty promoted by the samurai class became the representative of the "new culture" compared with the decay and degeneration of the nobility, and gradually evolved into the mainstream values of the Japanese feudal era.
Three
It is said that the background of the writing of "Sword In the Snow" is set in the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, which is also in the transition period from slavery to feudalism. In real history, Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms and popularized the feudal system, and after Liu Bang overthrew the Qin Dynasty, he still practiced the Qin system, which is also quite similar to the sympathy of Genji and Pingshi in "Pingqingsheng" in terms of class stance. The roles of Xu Xiao's father and son, like the Japanese Heike Genji, are newly emerging samurai forces and progressive groups of that era.
In previous martial arts works, the monastic power of the temple was generally portrayed as a neutral character who was not involved in politics. In "The Sword In the Snow", the political participation of the temple is also clear. This is also in line with the real historical logic, in Chinese history, it is not uncommon for temples to rise and fall into power disputes, and it is even more difficult to use political power to suppress different sects. There is no gratuitous little obedience, and the reason why China's temple power has not risen in several recent dynasties is because it has experienced many suppressions by previous dynasties such as the extermination of Buddhism. As for the participation of monastic forces in politics, Japanese history is even more described. In the final analysis, it is because of the power of the temple, as a superficial NGO organization, because of the large number of farmers, monks, and believers, it seems to be a member of the ruling class.
The refutation and antipathy of the original establishment figures is also a commonality in the similar themes between China and Japan. In this regard, the two dramas can be expressed through the second grade, the rebellious Xu Fengnian and Ping Qingsheng.
Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, the scholar-doctor class in the old system has never been the main promoter of historical evolution, the upper ones are reforming and repairing, the middle ones are mediocre and conservative, the lower ones are forming parties to engage in private corruption and degeneration, and at the time of the changes of the Song and Yuan Dynasties and the Ming and Qing dynasties, the main body that recognizes thieves as fathers is also mostly scholars. What really leads the historical evolution is the new elite representing the new system, and with it comes the most important historical window period for the upward mobility of the marginal groups and the bottom groups in the old system.
In the play "Sword Line in the Snow", it strives to highlight the righteousness of the Northern Starling Army, portraying the difference between Xu Fengnian and the old nobles of the imperial court. Compared with Ping Qingsheng, who later became corrupt and degenerated to the point of extinction, Xu Fengnian may be a good master. But the historical limitation of that era was that as the second generation of the Northern Starlings, he was already part of the ruling class, and despite his efforts to get close to the common class, would his children and grandchildren be separated from the corruption and degeneration of the masses? Therefore, there is still no institutional guarantee. The deep and melancholy music and narrative tone of the play also seem to express a sigh of history.
Class mobility and counterattack and change of life will always be one of the most enduring themes of literary and artistic works, which contains the audience's expectations for an ideal world.
Literary and artistic works cannot be taken seriously, whether it is a network drama or a big river drama, it is still far from the real historical logic.
However, as a commercial literary and artistic work, it is already a surprise that it can bring people a considerable degree of beneficial thinking.