Red at the funeral
Aug. 22nd, 2016 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamer_easyI've been watching a Chinese Web drama (老九门 "The Mystic Nine"). There must be countless places where an important piece of information, something that would be obvious to a Chinese viewer, goes right over my head. I think this is one of them: a character wears red at a funeral. I knew that white was the colour for mourning, so it struck me as a little odd, but I've only just found out (from Wikipedia) that red is a celebratory colour which is forbidden at funerals. So the character's outfit is actually huge deal.
So here's one of my Kpop boys, Lay, as Er Yue Hong, pissed with the friend he blames for his wife's death:
("He has come with hostile intent," announces a servant.)
As you can see he's wearing the traditional white. But later, at the funeral:
That's the missus's coffin behind him. Here are two of his friends who've shown up to pay their respects:
This is 1903, so there's a visually appealing mix of traditional Chinese elements and Western elements, typified by the clothes here - Zhang Qi Shan (the bloke, whose nickname is "Mr Buddha" IIUC) and Yi Xin Yue wear Western dress, but he's in traditional white and she's in Western-style black.
Anyway. Now, before this, Er Ye basically went to pieces and was discovered partying at the brothel. Moments after we see the red outfit - what I guess would have been a surprising moment for Chinese viewers, perhaps one where they think he's lost it completely - we have an explanation, I think, as Er Ye recalls his wife's words to him: "Didn't you want me to keep living with a smile?"
And he does.
The romance! *clutches heart*
(Shortly thereafter he falls down an unsuspected pit trap in his wife's tomb, in a triumph of unanticipated drama and unintentional hilarity.)
So here's one of my Kpop boys, Lay, as Er Yue Hong, pissed with the friend he blames for his wife's death:
("He has come with hostile intent," announces a servant.)
As you can see he's wearing the traditional white. But later, at the funeral:
That's the missus's coffin behind him. Here are two of his friends who've shown up to pay their respects:
This is 1903, so there's a visually appealing mix of traditional Chinese elements and Western elements, typified by the clothes here - Zhang Qi Shan (the bloke, whose nickname is "Mr Buddha" IIUC) and Yi Xin Yue wear Western dress, but he's in traditional white and she's in Western-style black.
Anyway. Now, before this, Er Ye basically went to pieces and was discovered partying at the brothel. Moments after we see the red outfit - what I guess would have been a surprising moment for Chinese viewers, perhaps one where they think he's lost it completely - we have an explanation, I think, as Er Ye recalls his wife's words to him: "Didn't you want me to keep living with a smile?"
And he does.
The romance! *clutches heart*
(Shortly thereafter he falls down an unsuspected pit trap in his wife's tomb, in a triumph of unanticipated drama and unintentional hilarity.)
