{"id":6291,"date":"2025-06-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=6291"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:49:11","slug":"caigao_20250621","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/06\/21\/caigao_20250621\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cEarth and Heav\u00aden\u201d in Rich\u00adly Depict\u00aded Folk Tales\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u56fe\u7247\"
2025 edi\u00adtion cov\u00ader<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The book before us, *The Sixth Day of the Sixth Lunar Month for Dry\u00ading Drag\u00adon Robes* (2025 edi\u00adtion), was first cre\u00adat\u00aded in 1989. It is like\u00adly one of the ear\u00adli\u00adest pic\u00adture books of Chi\u00adnese folk tales cre\u00adat\u00aded by Cai Gao, even pre\u00addat\u00ading *The Fox Spir\u00adit in the Waste\u00adland* (also known as *Bao\u2019er*), which won the BIB Gold\u00aden Apple Award. In April 1989, Mr. Huang Yongyu saw this book and its illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, and hap\u00adpi\u00adly inscribed a mes\u00adsage, prais\u00ading, \u201cIt\u2019s so well drawn! Hunan is blessed!\u201d This became a wide\u00adly cir\u00adcu\u00adlat\u00aded anec\u00addote.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\"\u56fe\u7247\"\n
The 1991 ver\u00adsion of \u201cThe Fox Spir\u00adit in the Wilder\u00adness\u201d<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To be hon\u00adest, I whole\u00adheart\u00aded\u00adly agree with the first state\u00adment, but as some\u00adone who isn\u2019t from Hunan, I\u2019ve nev\u00ader tru\u00adly grasped the mean\u00ading of the sec\u00adond. Is Mr. Huang try\u00ading to say that Hunan is \u201cblessed\u201d because it has pro\u00adduced such an out\u00adstand\u00ading local artist, or because this paint\u00ading style and the way it presents folk tales so apt\u00adly show\u00adcase the local cul\u00adture and cus\u00adtoms? Or per\u00adhaps both?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"
1989 ver\u00adsion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ini\u00adtial\u00adly, this book was part of the \u201cIllus\u00adtrat\u00aded Col\u00adlec\u00adtion of Chi\u00adnese Eth\u00adnic Fes\u00adti\u00advals and Cus\u00adtoms Sto\u00adries\u201d series, telling the sto\u00adry of the Tujia peo\u00adple\u2019s June 6th Fes\u00adti\u00adval cus\u00adtoms. The series pref\u00adace states: \u201cThe col\u00adlec\u00adtion selects fes\u00adti\u00advals from var\u00adi\u00adous eth\u00adnic groups as its sub\u00adject mat\u00adter, delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly depict\u00ading the ori\u00adgins, sto\u00adries, cus\u00adtoms, and tra\u00addi\u00adtions of each fes\u00adti\u00adval\u2026\u201d In oth\u00ader words, the ini\u00adtial inten\u00adtion was pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly to help read\u00aders under\u00adstand the diver\u00adsi\u00adty and vibrant folk cus\u00adtoms of dif\u00adfer\u00adent eth\u00adnic groups. How\u00adev\u00ader, upon deep\u00ader read\u00ading, one can feel a pro\u00adfound depth far exceed\u00ading that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

First, what hits you is a pure folk tale with a strong local fla\u00advor and super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal pow\u00ader. Three years of preg\u00adnan\u00adcy (in the orig\u00adi\u00adnal ver\u00adsion), three gold\u00aden drag\u00adons, three bam\u00adboo poles, three divine arrows, three years and six months, and three days short\u2026 In folk tales all over the world, we can feel the pow\u00ader of \u201cthree\u201d; then, a red ball in the sky, a room full of gold\u00aden light, a new\u00adborn baby grow\u00ading in the wind, jump\u00ading into the water and quick\u00adly grow\u00ading into adult\u00adhood\u2026 This inevitably reminds one of the sto\u00adry of \u201cNezha Con\u00adquers the Drag\u00adon King\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bThen, the sto\u00adry intro\u00adduces intense con\u00adflict and oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion. The omen of the gold\u00aden drag\u00adon offends the impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal court, spark\u00ading a feud over the mur\u00adder of one\u2019s par\u00adents. This per\u00adson\u00adal hatred then spreads to the oppressed vil\u00adlagers, grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly esca\u00adlat\u00ading into divine\u00adly inspired assas\u00adsi\u00adna\u00adtions, upris\u00adings, and great bat\u00adtles, cul\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading in the hero\u2019s sac\u00adri\u00adfice, a dra\u00admat\u00adic shift in polit\u00adi\u00adcal land\u00adscape, and the forced sub\u00admis\u00adsion of the most pow\u00ader\u00adful. Although the sto\u00adry seems to ulti\u00admate\u00adly set\u00adtle on the folk cus\u00adtom of \u201cdry\u00ading the drag\u00adon robe on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month,\u201d what leaves a deep\u00ader impres\u00adsion is the trag\u00adic sto\u00adry of the Tujia eth\u00adnic hero, Qin Hou. If you\u2019ve seen the film *Seed\u00adiq Bale*, you might share a sim\u00adi\u00adlar pow\u00ader\u00adful feel\u00ading.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, Cai Gao\u2019s use of folk cus\u00adtoms and child\u00adlike charm in her nar\u00adra\u00adtive soft\u00adens the sto\u00adry\u2019s inher\u00adent tragedy. When she first paint\u00aded this fes\u00adti\u00adval sto\u00adry, she felt \u201cthe col\u00adors were beau\u00adti\u00adful, the paint\u00ading was live\u00adly, and the fes\u00adti\u00adval rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded an affir\u00adma\u00adtion of life.\u201d The ini\u00adtial ver\u00adsion opened with a vibrant, joy\u00adous drag\u00adon dance scene. The scenes depict\u00ading every\u00adday life and dri\u00adving the sto\u00adry for\u00adward pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly employ the flat per\u00adspec\u00adtive of folk paint\u00ading, resem\u00adbling both chil\u00addren\u2019s draw\u00adings and murals. The col\u00adors and fig\u00adures in the paint\u00adings do indeed evoke Tujia bro\u00adcade and murals\u2014vibrant col\u00adors and rich pat\u00adterns. The strong con\u00adtrast of red, yel\u00adlow, blue, and green cre\u00adates a pas\u00adsion\u00adate and unre\u00adstrained feel\u00ading; the fig\u00adures and pat\u00adterns in the paint\u00adings car\u00adry a strong sym\u00adbol\u00adic qual\u00adi\u00adty, con\u00advey\u00ading a close con\u00adnec\u00adtion to nature and express\u00ading a long\u00ading for a sim\u00adple life and beau\u00adti\u00adful things.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most trag\u00adic part of the first half of the sto\u00adry is per\u00adhaps the mur\u00adder of Qin Hou\u2019s par\u00adents. Yet, we see them buried peace\u00adful\u00adly in the pond; the jade-green water reflects their unyield\u00ading and noble spir\u00adit. The fish, peb\u00adbles, and flow\u00aders in the pond are arranged in neat pat\u00adterns, their flo\u00adral designs sur\u00adround\u00ading the sleep\u00ading cou\u00adple, as if heav\u00aden and earth have spe\u00adcial\u00adly arranged a grand bur\u00adial for them. This also explains why the sol\u00addiers who com\u00admit\u00adted the mur\u00adder fled out of fear and lied to the emper\u00ador, claim\u00ading they had com\u00adplet\u00aded their mis\u00adsion of killing Qin Hou. I think the artist is per\u00adhaps evok\u00ading a sense of awe in the read\u00ader in her unique way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

Look\u00ading back at Cai Gao\u2019s work from 36 years ago, one is quite amazed by her bold explo\u00adration in inte\u00adgrat\u00ading folk art with pic\u00adture book nar\u00adra\u00adtive. For exam\u00adple, she repeat\u00aded\u00adly used the nar\u00adra\u00adtive tech\u00adnique of \u201cparachron\u00adic iso\u00admor\u00adphism\u201d through\u00adout the book, con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00ading events or states that occurred at dif\u00adfer\u00adent times into the same pic\u00adture. This is com\u00admon in Chi\u00adnese folk and tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal paint\u00ading, and it seems very nat\u00adur\u00adal in \u201cThe Sixth Day of the Sixth Month for Dry\u00ading Drag\u00adon Robes.\u201d Lit\u00adtle Qin Hou runs out of the house naked, fol\u00adlowed by his cheer\u00adful father. On the right side of the pic\u00adture is a close-up of Qin Hou hap\u00adpi\u00adly bathing in the moun\u00adtain spring. Mean\u00adwhile, the doll hid\u00ading in the cave jumps into the water\u00adfall formed by his bib and emerges as a \u201ctall and majes\u00adtic young man.\u201d This series of events is also pre\u00adsent\u00aded nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly in the same pic\u00adture.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of nar\u00adra\u00adtive and char\u00adac\u00adter devel\u00adop\u00adment, Cai Gao both absorbed and devel\u00adoped tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal paint\u00ading tech\u00adniques. Regard\u00ading the den\u00adsi\u00adty and arrange\u00adment of ele\u00adments in the com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion, she could bring many ele\u00adments togeth\u00ader dense\u00adly while simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly allow\u00ading oth\u00aders to unfold sparse\u00adly, pure\u00adly for the sake of sto\u00adry\u00adtelling. For exam\u00adple, in the scene of A Hou lead\u00ading the Tu fam\u00adi\u00adly youth in a fierce bat\u00adtle against the gov\u00adern\u00adment troops, the left side of the dou\u00adble-page spread depicts a dense bat\u00adtle scene, while the right side shows a large carp thrown down from the moun\u00adtain. Below the moun\u00adtain are scat\u00adtered tents and tiny, stunned gov\u00adern\u00adment sol\u00addiers, high\u00adlight\u00ading the psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal impact of the large carp. As for the con\u00adtrast in size between ele\u00adments, the most strik\u00ading is prob\u00ada\u00adbly the scene of Tan Hou car\u00adry\u00ading a water buf\u00adfa\u00adlo in one hand and a huge rock in the oth\u00ader. The hero, with his super\u00adhu\u00adman strength, is so large that he almost over\u00adflows the frame, mak\u00ading the water buf\u00adfa\u00adlo look like a kit\u00adten in his hands, and the gov\u00adern\u00adment offi\u00adcials appear piti\u00adful\u00adly small. Chil\u00addren would not only ful\u00adly under\u00adstand such illus\u00adtra\u00adtions but would also enjoy them immense\u00adly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, although I read this sto\u00adry many years ago, I nev\u00ader delved into the sto\u00adry behind it. This time, read\u00ading this new edi\u00adtion with its sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant changes to both the text and the image lay\u00adout, I could\u00adn\u2019t resist get\u00adting to the bot\u00adtom of it. And what I found quite sur\u00adpris\u00ading was\u2026<\/span>The hero Qin Hou in this folk tale is actu\u00adal\u00adly a real per\u00adson in Chi\u00adnese his\u00adto\u00adry!<\/strong><\/span>He was orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly a Tujia chief\u00adtain dur\u00ading the late Yuan and ear\u00adly Ming dynas\u00adties. There are dif\u00adfer\u00ading accounts of his birth year, such as 1309 or 1311, but his death date is gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly accept\u00aded as June 6th of the lunar cal\u00aden\u00addar in 1372 (the fifth year of the Hong\u00adwu reign). His deeds are record\u00aded in local chron\u00adi\u00adcles and genealo\u00adgies, and are also men\u00adtioned in the *His\u00adto\u00adry of Ming*, and even in *The Book of the Advan\u00adtages and Dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtages of the Coun\u00adties and States Under Heav\u00aden*, a polit\u00adi\u00adcal geog\u00adra\u00adphy trea\u00adtise by the late Ming and ear\u00adly Qing schol\u00adar Gu Yan\u00adwu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leav\u00ading aside the exag\u00adger\u00adat\u00aded and mythol\u00ado\u00adgized aspects of lat\u00ader leg\u00adends, focus\u00ading on a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly objec\u00adtive nar\u00adra\u00adtive, Qin Hou, whose orig\u00adi\u00adnal name was \u201cWen Jin,\u201d was born into a Tujia peas\u00adant fam\u00adi\u00adly in Mao\u00adgang (present-day Cili Coun\u00adty, Zhangji\u00ada\u00adjie, Hunan Province) at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. He lat\u00ader led a Tujia upris\u00ading against the Yuan Dynasty, chang\u00ading his name to \u201cHou\u201d (an alter\u00adnate form of \u201cHou\u201d), mean\u00ading \u201cEarth God,\u201d a term of rev\u00ader\u00adence for the land. Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, Qin Hou\u2019s Tujia rebel army joined forces with the rebel armies of Chen You\u00adliang and Zhu Yuanzhang, joint\u00adly over\u00adthrow\u00ading the tyran\u00adni\u00adcal Yuan Dynasty. Qin Hou also sub\u00admit\u00adted to Zhu Yuanzhang and became the \u201cCili Paci\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion Com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader.\u201d How\u00adev\u00ader, after Zhu Yuanzhang estab\u00adlished the Ming Dynasty, the court\u2019s oppres\u00adsive tax\u00ada\u00adtion of the Tujia peo\u00adple seemed to inten\u00adsi\u00adfy. Thus, Qin Hou led the Tujia peo\u00adple in anoth\u00ader upris\u00ading, which even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly esca\u00adlat\u00aded into a pro\u00adtract\u00aded, life-or-death local war last\u00ading sev\u00ader\u00adal years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gu Yan\u00adwu sum\u00adma\u00adrized in his book: \u201cDur\u00ading the Hong\u00adwu reign, the moun\u00adtain chief\u00adtain Qin Hou con\u00adspired with var\u00adi\u00adous vil\u00adlages to rebel\u2026\u201d\u2014From this Han schol\u00adar\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adtive, Qin Hou could be con\u00adsid\u00adered a \u201cmoun\u00adtain ban\u00addit\u201d of a minor\u00adi\u00adty eth\u00adnic group, and the resis\u00adtance he led was of a rebel\u00adlious nature. How\u00adev\u00ader, in the eyes of the local Tujia peo\u00adple, Qin Hou could be con\u00adsid\u00adered a \u201cgod,\u201d and they joint\u00adly wove a near-myth\u00adi\u00adcal sto\u00adry, cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00ading this hero for gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions to come dur\u00ading the fes\u00adti\u00adval on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. In real\u00adi\u00adty, after Qin Hou was exe\u00adcut\u00aded by slow slic\u00ading, the local Tujia peo\u00adple did not give up their resis\u00adtance. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly, the impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal court had to choose a degree of appease\u00adment and com\u00adpro\u00admise, allow\u00ading Qin Hou\u2019s descen\u00addants to per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly reside in Mao\u00adgang and exempt\u00ading the local vil\u00adlagers from exor\u00adbi\u00adtant tax\u00ades. The Qin clan chief\u00adtain\u00adship in Mao\u00adgang last\u00aded for over four hun\u00addred years until it was abol\u00adished dur\u00ading the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty. From this per\u00adspec\u00adtive, Qin Hou\u2019s resis\u00adtance and sac\u00adri\u00adfice were still worth\u00adwhile.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

So, where does the sto\u00adry we\u2019re read\u00ading today come from? In the \u201cCol\u00adlec\u00adtion of Chi\u00adnese Folk Tales, Hunan Vol\u00adume, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Pre\u00adfec\u00adture Sec\u00adtion,\u201d which I found, there is a folk tale called \u201cKing Qin\u00adhou,\u201d col\u00adlect\u00aded in Decem\u00adber 1962 in Day\u00adong City, Hunan (now Zhangji\u00ada\u00adjie City). It has more than nine nar\u00adra\u00adtors, and it\u2019s esti\u00admat\u00aded that there are dif\u00adfer\u00adent ver\u00adsions in var\u00adi\u00adous parts of Day\u00adong. After being com\u00adpiled and edit\u00aded by col\u00adlec\u00adtors Chen Ziwen and Jin Kejian, it reads like a short hero\u00adic leg\u00adend. Almost all the sto\u00adry ele\u00adments we see in pic\u00adture books can be found in this piece. It\u2019s esti\u00admat\u00aded that the 1989 pic\u00adture book edi\u00adtion was an adap\u00adta\u00adtion of this type of sto\u00adry, great\u00adly reduc\u00ading the ver\u00adbose details of the oral nar\u00adra\u00adtion and also mak\u00ading nec\u00ades\u00adsary adjust\u00adments for chil\u00addren.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"
Xiang Hua \u2014 Text Adap\u00adta\u00adtion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u56fe\u7247\"
Wang Yimei \u2014 Text Adap\u00adta\u00adtion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As far as I know, at least three chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture authors have par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded in the relay adap\u00adta\u00adtion of this sto\u00adry. The ini\u00adtial adap\u00adta\u00adtion was by Hunan writer Wu Chaozhu, fol\u00adlowed by fur\u00adther adap\u00adta\u00adtions by Wang Yimei and Xiang Hua, each in a dif\u00adfer\u00adent direc\u00adtion. It would be very inter\u00adest\u00ading to com\u00adpare and study mul\u00adti\u00adple ver\u00adsions. How\u00adev\u00ader, I want to focus on the new ver\u00adsion adapt\u00aded by Cai Gao him\u00adself, which should be the ver\u00adsion with the clos\u00adest inte\u00adgra\u00adtion of text and illus\u00adtra\u00adtions.<\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed that the new ver\u00adsion places the sec\u00adtion on fes\u00adti\u00adval cus\u00adtoms after the main text, as a sup\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary page, so that omit\u00adting it does\u00adn\u2019t affect the over\u00adall sto\u00adry. I think this means the sto\u00adry returns to the focus on \u201cHero Qin Hou,\u201d although not \u201cKing Qin Hou.\u201d Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, Qin Hou was born to his moth\u00ader after a ten-month preg\u00adnan\u00adcy (not three years), adding a touch of real\u00adism to the sto\u00adry. Qin Hou\u2019s old\u00ader sis\u00adter, A Xiu, becomes involved in the sto\u00adry ear\u00adli\u00ader. Fur\u00adther\u00admore, the text is more con\u00adcise, remov\u00ading more details and leav\u00ading more space for visu\u00adal imagery; the dia\u00adlogue has also been sim\u00adpli\u00adfied, remov\u00ading traces of Hunan dialect from the orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n
\"\u56fe\u7247\"
New ver\u00adsion of the scene of strug\u00adgling to pull up bam\u00adboo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u56fe\u7247\"
The old ver\u00adsion\u2019s scene of strug\u00adgling to pull up the bam\u00adboo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new edi\u00adtion has also made many adjust\u00adments to the lay\u00adout, pac\u00ading, image col\u00ador scheme, and details. For exam\u00adple, the first two dou\u00adble-page spreads, which orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly focused the images on a sin\u00adgle page, are now arranged in a 50\/50 split, mak\u00ading the open\u00ading nar\u00adra\u00adtive more relaxed and engag\u00ading. In the lat\u00ader pages where the par\u00adents appear in a dream and Ah Hou retrieves the mag\u00adic arrow and finds the trea\u00adsure bow, the pac\u00ading has been slowed down, and the order of the images has been sub\u00adtly adjust\u00aded, mak\u00ading the rela\u00adtion\u00adship between text and images clear\u00ader and more log\u00adi\u00adcal. I also noticed that in the old ver\u00adsion, in the scene where Ah Hou strug\u00adgles to pull up the bam\u00adboo, he had actu\u00adal\u00adly pulled out the root of a large bam\u00adboo stalk, but this con\u00adflict\u00aded with the nar\u00adra\u00adtive\u2019s descrip\u00adtion of it \u201cnot mov\u00ading an inch.\u201d In the new ver\u00adsion, the bam\u00adboo roots are no longer vis\u00adi\u00adble in the images!<\/span><\/p>\n

The most com\u00admend\u00adable revi\u00adsion is the dra\u00admat\u00adic and icon\u00adic scene where the old\u00ader sis\u00adter, Ah Xiu, throws the chick\u00aden up a tree and chas\u00ades the dog onto the roof. Orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly, Ah Hou\u2019s three mag\u00adic arrows flew from right to left, but on the next page, the arrows flew from left to right to the palace. Now, Ah Hou\u2019s arrows fly in the oppo\u00adsite direc\u00adtion, mak\u00ading it seem as if the three arrows flew con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous\u00adly to the cap\u00adi\u00adtal! This bet\u00adter suits the page-turn\u00ading effect required for a pic\u00adture book.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n
\"\u56fe\u7247\"
Pay atten\u00adtion to the direc\u00adtion of the three gold\u00aden arrows in the new ver\u00adsion\u2019s page turn\u00ading.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In con\u00adclu\u00adsion, the new edi\u00adtion of \u201cThe Sixth Day of the Sixth Lunar Month for Dry\u00ading Drag\u00adon Robes\u201d is more aligned with the read\u00ading needs of con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary pic\u00adture books in terms of text and illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, offer\u00ading greater flex\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for both par\u00adent-child and group read\u00ading. So, let\u2019s return to the basics: what kind of sto\u00adry does this folk tale, adapt\u00aded and passed down through so many gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions in a pic\u00adture book, actu\u00adal\u00adly tell? What do the three gold\u00aden drag\u00adons on Ahou\u2019s body rep\u00adre\u00adsent? Why do peo\u00adple com\u00admem\u00ado\u00adrate him with a fes\u00adti\u00adval?<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe the answer should be open-end\u00aded for read\u00aders, allow\u00ading for dif\u00adfer\u00adent inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions. How\u00adev\u00ader, for the artist con\u00adstant\u00adly retelling this sto\u00adry, there are still some note\u00adwor\u00adthy clues hid\u00adden with\u00adin the imagery. As men\u00adtioned ear\u00adli\u00ader, Qin Hou\u2019s name is derived from \u201cHoutu,\u201d the cor\u00adre\u00adspond\u00ading term being \u201cHuangt\u00adian\u201d (Emper\u00ador\u2019s Heav\u00aden), the for\u00admer refer\u00adring to earth and the lat\u00adter to heav\u00aden. In this book, the emper\u00ador\u2019s first appear\u00adance is always accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by sym\u00adbols of heaven\u2014stars and dragons\u2014while Qin Hou, in con\u00adtrast, is always depict\u00aded with soil, fields, rocks, and streams. The emper\u00ador want\u00aded to elim\u00adi\u00adnate Qin Hou because he feared that the gold\u00aden drag\u00adon would usurp his posi\u00adtion as \u201cthe rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive of heav\u00aden,\u201d but was\u00adn\u2019t the Hong\u00adwu Emper\u00ador of the real world also of hum\u00adble ori\u00adgins? There\u00adfore, this rela\u00adtion\u00adship between earth and heav\u00aden is actu\u00adal\u00adly rel\u00ada\u00adtive and flu\u00adid. The emper\u00ador, who cap\u00adtured Qin Hou through cun\u00adning and force, could exe\u00adcute him, but he also had to bow before the gold\u00aden drag\u00adon that Qin Hou trans\u00adformed into after his death. At that moment, earth and heav\u00aden switched places!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

The new\u00adly added end\u00adpa\u00adpers in the new edi\u00adtion are quite intrigu\u00ading: the entire page is dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by green, inter\u00adspersed with earthy brown, depict\u00ading field ridges, grassy slopes, and mud\u00addy ground, with ris\u00ading mois\u00adture and brim\u00adming with life; how\u00adev\u00ader, the area above, per\u00adhaps rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the sky, is nar\u00adrow and lead\u00aden gray, giv\u00ading a some\u00adwhat oppres\u00adsive feel\u00ading. Per\u00adhaps this is a new clue left by the artist for the read\u00ader.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writ\u00adten by A\u2011Jia on June 21, 2025 in Bei\u00adjing<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"
New end\u00adpa\u00adpers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n

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