Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 liddi:

This is probably similar to the "snake in grass, line on dust" technique - she puts clearly on paper just one point, but adroitly hides the other hidden messages she wanted to convey in plain sight. Just my two cents.

"Tong Hua's writing technique of stating one point and leaving nine others" belongs to "writing without writing" or "blank writing". I remember @windiaaa041293 once posted an articles about this technique. This technique works when the author suplied enough evidence or proof elsewhere or some supportive information. 

@windiaaa041293, could you find the link of that post?

 H19279:

"Tong Hua's writing technique of stating one point and leaving nine others" belongs to "writing without writing" or "blank writing". I remember @windiaaa041293 once posted an articles about this technique. This technique works when the author suplied enough evidence or proof elsewhere or some supportive information. 

@windiaaa041293, could you find the link of that post?

Are you referring to this? The link to one of her reposts on writing techniques is found in a separate thread here:

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/121043-about-long-lovesickness-yaoliu?pid=2848957&page=1#p2848957

"Spring and Autumn Brushwork":

The so-called "Spring and Autumn Writing Technique" is a historical narrative technique pioneered by Confucius when he was writing "Spring and Autumn", or it can be said to be an art of using language when writing history. Also known as "small words and great meaning".

Why did Confucius pioneer the "Spring and Autumn Brushwork"? This is because "Spring and Autumn" is a history book, and history books should be written as they should be, and how they should be written. This is the so-called "straight writing" that historians must uphold. But what should you do when you encounter someone the author thinks is a respected person, a relative, or a sage who is at fault? It seemed that I couldn't help my conscience not to write, but it was a bit taboo to write, so I created a writing method that did not explicitly express it through argumentative words, but euphemistically and implicitly implied the author's tendency to praise or criticize in the narrative. It is called "qubi", which is also called "spring and autumn brushwork".

Zuo Qiuming summarized the "Spring and Autumn Writing Technique" as follows: subtle but revealing, ambitious but obscure, euphemistic but not smeared, punishing evil but encouraging good.

Later, it was continuously developed and expanded by scholars in the dynasty, and it was summarized into more detailed sub-items: writing without writing, one word of praise and criticism, explicit praise and implicit criticism, one blow and two hits, true and false words, etc.

As for the application of this technique in "Sauvignon Blanc", I have listed the following items:

1. "Writing without writing": The author deliberately leaves a certain detail or character relationship blank, does not mention it at all or mentions it in one stroke. You may ignore it at first glance, but after careful reading, you can get something that the author did not explicitly say. information. This technique is often used when there is an obvious intentional omission of plot details or the presentation of character relationships.

"Not writing" is just a way of expressing blank space. In fact, it ultimately comes down to "writing". Therefore, a typical writing technique without writing should have at least three characteristics: first, there must be clear traces of intentional blank space, so that people can at least notice that the lack of narrative here is an anomaly; second, it must be found elsewhere Support for the above-mentioned "writing without writing"; last point, generally speaking, the possible reason for the blank space here can be inferred from other details of the writing. Only in this way can the writing without writing be logically tenable in the entire text, instead of being a rootless piece of writing that can be interpreted at will.

For example: Tong Hua used a lot of "writing without writing" on the plot details of Xiaoyao and Xiang Liu.

@Liddi,

Yes, that was the one

 liddi:

Therefore, a typical writing technique without writing should have at least three characteristics: first, there must be clear traces of intentional blank space, so that people can at least notice that the lack of narrative here is an anomaly; second, it must be found elsewhere Support for the above-mentioned "writing without writing"; last point, generally speaking, the possible reason for the blank space here can be inferred from other details of the writing. Only in this way can the writing without writing be logically tenable in the entire text, instead of being a rootless piece of writing that can be interpreted at will.

Moreover, the "snake on grass and gray lines on dust" was extensively used too. The two techniques can be combined (especially used "snake on grass and gray lines" for the last point of the "writing without writing" 

Examples of writing without writing: 

1. The second night that FFB stayed in XY's boudoir. TH didn't mention anything about what did they do. We can guess that they still shared the same bed. (Chapter 17)

2. I believe there was "writing without writing" in the beginning part of chapter 49. XY saw white figure and thought of XL. And later when CX saw her in the room one day before the ceremony "staring outside, as if she was admiring the view, but also playing with a peach blossom branch and plucking all the petals off as if she were impatiently waiting for someone.". In XY's "death" in the assassination in the Plum forest, her spiritual consciousness was well describled. But in her suicide case, TH didn't mention anything about "spiritual consciousness" 

3. The way TH used the poem for chapter titles is also a kind of "writing without writing"

 MengXiang:

Sorry for the late reply. I have been catching up and I think someone mentioned that XY doesn't find out the true nature of the bugs in the drama

I don't remember that much.

However, in the drama, the way XY helped Jing's grandmother was changed. There was no Se Mai Er, the physician beside Jing's grandmom. In the novel, she gave XY some hint about the name of bug - lovers' bug and some of its characteristics after Jing's grandmom died. But it was not included in the drama. By the end of S1, XY knew nothing specific about the bug

 liddi:

Xiao Yao (爱慕 loves and adores Xiang Liu, 爱情/夫妻 has a love relationship with, or married to Tushan Jing)
Xiling Jiu Yao and Wen Xiao Liu. Xiling Heng and Chi Chen's daughter. When she was young, she mistakenly thought that Shao Hao (Gao Xin king) was her real father. She thought she was abandoned. In the end, she understood her parents' love. She and Cang Xuan treat each other as extremely close brother and sister, depending on each other in life and death. She has love for Xiang Liu 有情 but mistakenly thinks that Xiang Liu hates her. Her lifelong wish is to have someone who wholeheartedly protects each other for life 相护. In the end, she marries Tushan Jing.

Hi @Liddi,

I just recalled the conclusion about the words used in the diagram last week. Among main characters of LYF, the word love - [ai] was only used for XL (to XY) and for all other characters (except XY and XL) the word [xihuan] was used. For XY, the word 有情  was used (XY-XL). 

I come across the lovers' bug (chapter 37) and I found that that word was used for the lovers' bug. 

也不见巫王有何动作，想来是用自己体内的蛊虫在探看。巫王眉头紧皱，喃喃说：“的确是情人蛊！怎么可能呢？‘有情人养情人蛊，断肠人成断肠蛊’，情人蛊和其他蛊都不同，必须要一对情人心甘情愿，才能种蛊，他若不是你的情郎，你怎么可能给他种下情人蛊？” (Chapter 37)

XY herself had never acknowledged her feeling for XL. Is that the reason that the confirmed word for the lovers' bug -有情 is used for XY?

(有情人 means people who 有情)

有情人养情人蛊 = lovers raise lovers' bug

My interpretation is

as did Xiao Yao and Shi Qi. Only by understanding the foundation of their love can you understand what "eternal longing" is.

Just like Xiaoyao and Xiangliu. Only by understanding the foundation of their love can you understand what "eternal longing" is.

So what I catch, when Tonghua says "you can understand what eternal longing is" is Who is "He" in sauvignon blanc, just by comparing the two relationships

Yes..I don't deny that in the end xy loves or cares for Jing..but I don't agree if xy loves Jing romantically (between a man and a woman) if that happens, all logic about the Lover's bug will collapse.

Tonghua had already given the answer, when XY and Jing were kissing.
"The kiss was like the nectar of a phoenix, the phoenix flower was CX's older brother, the sweetness of family affection. In the end, he broke up with his older brother and drank the poison of the phoenix nectar.
So xy's feelings for Jing are the same as xy's feelings for cx. Family love.

 windiaaa041293:

Yes..I don't deny that in the end xy loves or cares for Jing..but I don't agree if xy loves Jing romantically (between a man and a woman) if that happens, all logic about the Lover's bug will collapse.

This is my interpretation as well. I'm sure I sound like a broken record about this by now. Like you, I think having Xiao Yao "love" Jing in that way negates the set-up of the Lovers Bugs. As long as the Lovers Bugs didn't turn she and Xiang Liu remained "one-hearted" - i.e. there's no one else on par with Xiang Liu for her. That scene with the Voodoo King supported that, IMO.  Now maybe you could argue that once the Lovers Bugs were removed, we can no longer claim that with certainty.

 windiaaa041293:

Tonghua had already given the answer, when XY and Jing were kissing.
"The kiss was like the nectar of a phoenix, the phoenix flower was CX's older brother, the sweetness of family affection. In the end, he broke up with his older brother and drank the poison of the phoenix nectar.
So xy's feelings for Jing are the same as xy's feelings for cx. Family love.

This is an interesting pick-up and appeared in line with the "writing without writing", and "snake in the grass, line on dust" techniques that we discussed.

I recalled that scene when Jing kissed her, her memory drifted back to childhood and dinking the phoenix flower's nectar. She compared the sweetness of the kiss to the sweetness of the nectar. Childhood was romanticized and idealized for Xiao Yao - Xiao Yao's search for someone who will never leave her is like wanting to return to childhood before all the "abandonment" happened. Kind of like how she compared being with Jing feels like having her mother by her side in the spider-web scene. 

Jing giving up everything for her obviously makes her feel secure (again, this is about her psychological shortcomings due to childhood issues); which is why he meets her only requirement when looking for a companion. But is this love in the romantic sense? And is it a good thing, a sustainable thing? I guess, each reader will have their own conclusion.