Shangguan Qian - Tumblr Posts

I just realized @randomingoftherandomness that Weishan's golden embroidery on her white robes is a stole to designate her as a gold-tier candidate. The other gold candidate also has a similarly embellished stole. I don't read Chinese so I'm not sure what the tablet says but maybe those flowers are ones that have some meaning like "victory" or "chosen one"?

Once chosen, she is predominantly dressed in black with gold and red accents and designs. @romchat said that it is to tie and complement the wardrobe colouring on Ziyu’s clothes, and I agree.

And the few times Weishan and Ziyu don't match are either when his trust in her wavers OR he knows she's deliberating whether or not to leave (like when she gives him the saber hilt named after them). So it makes sense that during her final showdown with Huanyu, she's dressed in that lilac number as a confirmation of her desire to stay with him.

(Side Note: I love how the first scene above is one of the few times we see similarities in the cut and color of Ziyu and Shangjue's costumes because they both smell bullshit from our Wufeng assassins. And this tentative agreement is reinforced by the fact that they're standing in the background together because they're rarely positioned next to each other, on the same plane, facing the same direction, etc.)

Also, Director Guo is really going for broke emphasizing the tragedy by mirroring these two back-to-back scenes with Ziyu/Weishan and Shangjue/Qian, no? From the costuming to the actor blocking to the composition:

Other costume observations: One of my pet theories about the show is its symbolic use of bare skin. Throughout MJTY, we see the vulnerability and honesty of "baring it all" paired with the characters lying:

Weishan in the bride hostel pretending to be ill with a rash and then showing her naked back to distract the guards

Yuanzhi slipping Qian false intel about Shangjue while she is treating wounds on his naked back

Huanyu lying about his imprisonment while showing his naked back

And one of my favorite editing moments of the show is in Episode 6 when Shangjue gently chides Yuanzhi about allowing Qian to get the better of him after stealing his poison pouch. He warns Yuanzhi, "There is someone from Wufeng still hiding in the Gong residence" and then the show cuts to Weishan dressing. Ha.

And speaking of baring it all, the bath scene between Qian and Shangjue: Qian came underdressed and ready to seduce Shangjue with all that creamy healed skin, but when he confronts her with his own “nakedness” (of his body, desire, post-coital personality) she actually opens up about her past and motivations once they become clothed again. It’s their most direct conversation up until that point in the series and she’s bashfully gripping her robes closed because of it. It’s much harder to trade her nakedness.

(Side Note: It still tickles me that one night with Young Master Jue got Qian rethinking her whole revenge plot. He dickmatized her that good.)

The original meta thread between @romchat and I was getting a little too long so I thought I would take the initiative to start a new one 😌

So here are my thoughts about the light colours in Yun Weishan’s wardrobe as per that original thread. I won’t be talking about all the wardrobe choices, just the ones that stood out to me.

We start off by seeing her start her journey into the Gong family in red. That’s the colour that she carries with her into The Valley and that’s how Ziyu sees her for the first time. Not much to say here, just establishing her as a bride candidate.

Then we see her as she is living in the hostel. She’s dressed in white. To signify purity? A crossroad of choices? What’s fascinating is the embroidery there. I can’t make out what it is, but I’m sure it was an intentional and deliberate choice. This show doesn’t do accidents, I feel.

Once chosen, she is predominantly dressed in black with gold and red accents and designs. @romchat said that it is to tie and complement the wardrobe colouring on Ziyu’s clothes, and I agree.

I like that the red is just a cut of colour on her. Not dominant in her colour palette but just there. Enough to remind you that she is meant to be here to marry into the family (red) but it is hidden under subterfuge (black).

Then we also get this one. I love how the red bled through a lot more in the fight between her and Jin Fan. An indication of her shifting loyalties? A wavering of the foundation?

From the looks of it, this one had a bit of purple injected into it. Subtle enough that in certain lighting it still looks black, but upon closer inspection, you can see the way it flashes.

Then we come to this scene. Her and Ziyu were like two peas in a pod and I think it is in this scene that they’re the most complementary in colour palettes to each other. I deeply adore the golden stitching of clouds on her clothes. Don’t you think they look a little like clouds at a sunrise?

Then we come to this number. A lilac shade. Following the theme of a sunrise perhaps? @romchat had pointed out that between this and the mint number she wore when getting poisoned by the trickbox given by Lady Wuji, these are the two “lighter” colour shades we see on her.

Fascinating when you think it’s definitely standing out from the rest of the darker & heavier draped characters.

Rom said that it perhaps symbolises her acceptance of her freedom and her place by Ziyu’s side. I’d like to also agree on this point and add that it is possibly her way of coming out of the night (divorce with Wu Feng) and firmly settling into the new era of her life.

Also, can we just also appreciate how different Esther Yu is on this show? I’ve only ever seen her in very happy, bright, and sunny roles, which kinda befits how she portrays herself in her public persona. It’ll be interesting to see what other type of roles she could possibly grow into in the future.