Doing The Right Thing Even When It's Not Easystaying True To Yourself And Your Valuesis A Huge Theme

Doing the right thing even when it's not easy—staying true to yourself and your values—is a huge theme in Tian Guan Ci Fu.

The second and third books in particular spend a lot of time delving into the various ways humans tend to deal with crisis and the consequences, rewards, and overall thought processes before and after of each. It explores the fall of a kingdom and its prince's reaction upon discovering the apathy and greed of the people in his similar position of power. It explores corruption and hypocrisy. You watch as he's told time and time again that it's pointless to try and work against fate, forgetting the fact that those in power often are "fate" when it comes to the common people.

This story does not pretend that doing the right thing will always end in reward and praise. It does not attempt to sew you a story of the endless ways it is easy to be a good person—that it comes as smoothly as breathing. Quite the opposite. You witness as this prince falls from grace—as he is ridiculed and punished ruthlessly for daring to stand against the status quo.

It does not lie. It shows you the pain. It shows you the conflict—internal and external. It shows you the sacrifice and the doubt and the guilt.

But then... just as you expect to be abandoned by it, left to deal with your newly acquired hopelessness and loss of faith in humanity as you lie discouraged and confused on the ground...it extends you a warm hand.

It smiles down at you and tells you it's proud of you.

And you did the right thing.

Tgcf shows you that doing what's right doesn't always feel good. Being kind doesn't always end in reward...

That's okay.

It's still worth it.

There's so much pain and tragedy in this story that it is honestly shocking how it delivers the exact opposite message one would assume.

At its core, it is not a story of corruption and abandonment and evil. It is a story of resistance and bravery and hope. It is a story of defying fate, of choosing third paths.

It is a story that does not sugar coat the suffering and cruelty in this world, but prompts the idea that life is still worth it regardless.

People are still worth it.

Being kind and compassionate and true to yourself is still worth it.

You are still worth it.

In the author's own words, Tian Guan Ci Fu is:

(Previous post which inspired this one)

“A love story. About gentleness, dreams, never giving up, and people who never forget.” - mxtx

just thinking about hua cheng who claims to be apathetic to everyone but xie lian.

he says that, but he secretly has a soft spot for orphaned children roughing it out on the streets, or children who've escaped abusive households by running away. if he comes across them, he disguises himself as hong-er, sometimes teaching them self-defence, or survival skills.

sometimes he hints at a place called puqi shrine, perhaps accidentally dropping a crude map with directions and mentioning how the daozhang there is very kind and might possibly be able to help.

also! head cannon that hua cheng gets along extremely well with these children. like, they love him, right down to his eyepatch. xie lian is well-loved by them too though it's in a more in a parental/ mentor-like manner. but hua cheng's the fun gege that gets in trouble and shoulders the subsequent consequences together with them.

hua cheng likes interacting with children, even if they do get annoying sometimes because he understands that it's just mostly just harmless curiosity. the children don't view him as hua chengzhu, or crimson rain sought flower, or one of the most powerful calamities.

he's just their hong-gege, xie daozhang's husband, and can play a mean game of hide and seek when he hides. (but he always sucks at seeking because "you jingle when you move, hong-gege! you're so easy to run from!")

hua cheng, who never thought that his source of happiness could come from no one but xie lian, is surprised to find his throat tightening and a tiny flicker of heat building his eyes when he sees the carefree smiles from these children finally blossom - in contrast to the bloody, muddied, faces who learnt too early how evil the world truly was just a couple weeks ago when he tipped them off about puqi shrine.

Gege, Happy birthday🎂🎉

https://t.me/kaorinatsumikana ✨

Shi Qingxuan is my babygirl, but sometimes I think it'd be better for Xie Lian's health if he just stopped talking