Platinum Fox

Besides Nirvana in Fire, this is my favorite cdrama. Everything was just spectacularly done.

I totally agree with you on the way LBY treats her, but it just makes him so human and a realistic character. I understand why he didn't want her family involved, but to me he should have either told her what he was going to do and let her help him or get his revenge and then court her. This is the one drama that I get something from each time I watch it.
Thanks for the discussion.

Thanks for your response. I understand and many posters have felt like you, myself included. Before I began my journey to understand this drama, I rated it a one. Your questions and insights are where I started from along with why she talked and acted like a child for most of the drama. Also, I wanted to know the importance of the fox, bear, and dog plushies; the book The End of Eternity; and several scenes (doorway, dorm, car, and hospital). Those scenes to me were the most important. Also, why did they go back to when he first met her in episode 25?

For me, the drama is actually a social commentary on the age of consent in China which is 14 and asks the question, "when is the right age for a girl to start her sexual journey and with whom?" There are many scenes in the drama that lead me to this conclusion. Your comment about how he could turn from "brother" to "boyfriend" in such a short time was one of them and also the book The End of Eternity. The book was shown multiple times during the first three episodes. I actually read the book and came to better understand what was happening in the drama. Most people will not go that far to understand a drama, but I know Zhao Lu Si never plays shallow parts. I had to know why she played this part.

Thanks for the discussion. For me, now, there is a lot more going on in the story than meets the eye. Even the math they are doing is important to the story.

Thanks for the discussion.

The aunt didn't want a girl to raise. She wanted a boy. If the mom had not had twins, then third brother would have been left behind to ward off the calamity. It seems that Aunt Ge could not have a boy of her own. She even tried to adopt a nephew, but even that fell through.

In hindsight, the mother should have left third brother because he is very much like the grandmother with his fortune telling. Shao Shang with her innate talent to create and refine gadgets would have been very useful on the battlefield.

For me, the message is let children be who they are and don't force them to be something different. Nurture what is their innate talent. But back then girls were only good for gaining marriageable status for the family. It was the boys who were able to go out and obtain a name for themselves. This is why Aunt Ge wanted a boy.

No, Mo Yuan is not a prince. That much I remember. Yes, Mo Yuan and Ye Hua are twins. When they were born, something happened and only Mo Yuan was born. The father saved Ye Hua in the lotus flower that Bai Qian takes care of when she becomes a disciple of Mo Yuan's. When Mo Yuan dies, Ye Hua is born. Thus, he takes Mo Yuan's place. Both men fall in love with Bai Qian, but Bai Qian falls in love with Ye Hua. Mo Yuan and Ye Hua are both played by Mark Chao. No, Mo Yuan is not the son of Hao De.

You're right. The hospital scene was very much one of the social commentary scenes in this drama. You missed the doorway scene when she was 14 and he is 19 and the first part of when she is 17 and he is 22. This show does have depth. Think The End of Eternity.

I understand what you mean and know that young girls were married off at 15. However, mom didn't seem in too much of hurry to marry SS off. I believe from mom's own experiences that she understood that SS was not ready for that kind of commitment or that SS even really understood what marriage was all about. Thus, why she fought against it so much.

A poster on Hidden Love wrote that his 16 year old friend had to go back to China to be married off. He never heard what happened to her. I think "too young" marriages still happen in China even though the marriageable age is 20 for females and 22 for males. With the age of consent being 14, "too young marriages" can still happen. For me, this is Zhao Lu Si's social commentary on having females wait until they are at least 21 to get married just like Shao Shang.

This is just my opinion. Zhao Lu Si plays roles that speak out against some social norm. I think it is interesting that she used a historical drama as well as a modern one to say the same thing.

In episode 32 can't help but think of James Bond and all of his gadgets when the 3rd division is handing Fan Xian all his gadgets:), just waiting for a decked out carriage.

Enjoyed the first part of this drama and most of the second half, but the ending was pretty weak. However, I can say the second half did get me out of the drama slump I was in.

My understanding of General Wan is that he loves "souvenirs" from all of the places he has fought battles. The map of Shu was a "souvenir" that he bought at one of his battles. Remember General Wan and General Cheng have been fighting rebels for 15 years. It is only because the emperor has declared peace that the two were able to bring their families home.

The map is important because it shows the layout of Shu and places where the bandits (rebels) are hiding. If General Wan hangs on to the map, then it would symbolize that he is a part of the conspiracy to overthrow the present emperor. General Cheng could also be implicated because he and General Wan are sworn blood brothers.

General Ling does not need the map, but it would go a long way in helping them strategize on how best to defeat the rebels. The grandmother (to Qi QI) realizes this and allows Shao Shang to take the map. General Wan's mother beats him for his foolishness.

The scene is important for two reasons. One, it shows that parents should discipline their children at any age, especially if it affects the whole family and others. Secondly, it allows LBY to use Shao Shang again as a pawn to get what he wants. When she turns in her great uncle, Shao Shang has already "said" to LBY, "Use me, use me as a pawn". He continues to do this throughout the drama. Sometimes Shao Shang knows she's being used, but most of the time she doesn't. That's why Ling Bu Yi is not a nice guy.

Everything in the drama has a reason for being there, especially the first half. The second season mirrors the first season at the political level.

Funny, he is the last person who would get her. He tried to persuade her with logic and love is not logical. Also, when he breaks the shao shang string on the zither, it symbolizes that he will never have her. But I see where you are coming from opposites can attract.

It is my understanding that Wan Song Bai paid for the map thinking it was a treasure map. The map is related to the rebellion to over throw the present emperor. If Wan is found to have it and refuses to hand it over to help bring peace to the empire, he will be considered a traitor which could also lead to the Cheng family since the two fathers are sworn brothers.

Ling Bu Yi gets Shao Shang to retrieve the map from the grandmother's room, so that neither the Wan nor Cheng family can be considered traitors to the emperor. The grandmother realizes what is happening and allows SS to take the map. The Grandmother punishes Wan for his stupidity and greediness.

Eleison, you are not the only one who feels they should have cast a "younger" version of DJX when she was 14. At 19 he is considered an adult , so they are correct in him playing himself the whole way through the drama. Her on the other hand, they needed the 11 year old actress for her height. It was to show how much Sang Zhi had grown between 14 and 17. Remember her narrative at the beginning of the drama, "Time has its own magic. It brings us closer in height and distance."

Fun facts: Zhao Lu Si often plays 14/15/16 year olds. In her most famous role, she is 15. But she couldn't play the role of 14 year old Sang Zhi because she was too tall, and she couldn't have "grown up".
The 11 year old actress who plays Sang Zhi at 14 has played a younger version of Zhao Lu Si in Who Rules the World and also inThe Story of Pearl Girl.

His height at the time she was 14 and he was 19 was suppose to annoy viewers. The writers wanted people to think about the inappropriateness of this age difference at this time because he would look like her dad. This is commented on during the doorway scene, and again at the field day scene. Legally their relationship if it had been sexual would not have been wrong. However, there is the moral question of whether it is right or not when she is 14 and he is 19. In her eyes, he is like a god. It is why the sun is shining on him when she meets him at both 14 and 17, but not at 18. He looks appealing, but the age gap at these times have problems connected to them: the differences in their height and intelligence when she is 14 and their different intelligence levels at 17 and 22. This is why at the at the beginning of the drama, Sang Zhi says, "Time has its own magic drawing us closer in height and distance." When DJX hits on her when she is 17, he gets called a dog because he is chasing after a girl who is younger than him and is not even considered an adult, yet she is old enough to consent to sex. These two ideas are incongruent or incompatible.

Her voice is the same way. Throughout most of the drama she is legally considered a child. She does turn the age of majority (18) and is considered an adult in the business world and in some social aspects. However, she is still too young to get married, but again she is old enough to consent to sex. The age gap at 18/19 and 23/24 is not as bad, but according to marriage laws she is still a child. Throughout the entire drama DJX is an adult (business world and then socially). When he is 19, he is not old enough to get married. It is the only time they are legally both children, and both are able to consent to sex.

So that is why I agree with you. The age gap of five years when she is 14 and he is 19 and then again when she is 17 and he is 22, is troubling and needs to be thought about very carefully. A good social commentary does not come right out and say something is good or bad. It presents the issue and all of its problems and allows the audience to decide.

Writers cannot come right out and say the age of consent law is wrong. People have tried to get it changed, but have not had any luck.

Thanks for the discussion.

I think it is interesting that they are using a sci-fi concept in a historical fiction drama.

I am from the U.S.

Siyue, there is a specific reason why Zhao Lu Si could not play the role of the 14 year old, even though she has played 15/16 year olds before. She is too tall. The girl who plays 14 year old Sang Zhi is actually only 11 at the time of filming. They needed her height to show how much Sang Zhi had grown when she turned 17.

Also, they could not cast a younger version of DJX when Sang Zhi is 14 because most males are fully grown (in height) by the age of 19. They show his youthfulness through his actions, clothes, and hair. Just like they show later on his age through his clothes. In addition, they needed DJX's height to show that if he and Sang Zhi had hooked up when she was 14, he would look like her dad instead of her boyfriend. That is what bothers viewers and it's suppose to.

The only reason I ask is sci-fi in my country is used as a way to talk about the issues of the day using futuristic ideas. I was wondering if JoL is doing the same thing, climate change and outdated beliefs.

For me, this is one of the best ways to do a social commentary, and they have Isaac Asimov's book The End of Eternity (TEE) to thank for it. You're right no character comes right out and says, "The age of consent law is bad and needs to be changed." However, the drama does a great job of saying why the age of consent at 14 is not a good thing. First, a 14 year old is still a child (thus her childish actions and speech). Secondly, the brother and her comment on her height (a running gag throughout the drama) that she looks like an elementary student instead of a 14 year old. People mistake her brother for her dad. If DJX and her got together when she is 14, DJX would look like her dad instead of her boyfriend. He could get in trouble with this until she could prove she is of the age of consent. This dialogue is in the doorway when the two boys are leaving and she has asked DJX to be her brother at school the next day.

When she turns 17, the dad issue is brought up again at the school field day when she hurts herself jumping over the high jump. Her height is again made fun of, but in a different way. The teacher is confused about how her biological brother is her dad when her brother and dad look the same age, and she is no longer a child in height. Yet, at 17 she still speaks and acts like a child because the law says that she is. She is not the age of majority 18 and she is not of marriageable age (20). But she is able to consent to sex. However, there is a problem at this age because a 17 and a 22 year old are very different in intellectual status. Thus, the reason for the book TEE and her saying, "I can read the words, but I don't understand them."

A good social commentary does not come right and say something is good or bad. It just points out the issues that can arise. Again, thank TEE for this. However, you do know that the writers of this drama wanted to make it clear that it was morally wrong to have sex with a 14 or 17 year old by having numerous characters shut DJX down. We know she would have consented at 17 (the fox picture tells you this), and she and he would have been perfectly legal. The question remains is it morally right on his part due to him being full blown adult and she is still a child in eyes of the law. Again, that is TEE.

Let's take another example, South Korea's age of consent was 13. A movie called Silenced about the sexual abuse of deaf children helped change the age of consent to 16. South Korea has one on the highest age of consent laws in the world. South Korea is also a democracy, but China is not. You must be mindful of your audience.

Thank you for your thoughts, I see where you are coming from, I just do not agree after all the research I have done on this topic.

Many people have commented about mom, but notice mom was not in too much of hurry to have her marry. Mom knew that SS was not ready for that kind of commitment. Mom understood that SS just wanted to explore the world and get out of the environment she had been in for the past 15 years. I have noticed that historical dramas now are pushing the age of marriage, even though that wasn't the norm. I think it is a way to get the message out that teenagers are still children and need time to grow up and mature. They shouldn't be forced to marry just for status which still happens because the age of consent is 14.

Thanks for the explanation. I think I get it. Is this an attempt at sci-fi?