Review of Lady Warriors of the Yang Family (Work in Progress)

Introduction

    You know, there are certain shows that I could never resist popping the VCD in to see it 'one more time'.  Shows like "The Matrix", "Pulp Fiction" or "A Few Good Men", and recently, the cheerleading movie "Bring it On".  I think I have discovered a certain similarity in all those shows:  those shows involve some great dialogue that I always like to use in all occasions :).

    In this aspect, I felt this Yang Men Nu Jiang was one of the best serials I have ever seen while I am in America.   You know, living in a densely white populated state like Iowa is not easy.  I can understand why some Asian Americans here much prefer to mix with White Americans than Asians because, really, we fit the typical definition of a nerd, as seen in movies like "Billy Madison" or "American Pie".

    But that is simply because White Americans never get the chance to see Asians at their best.  And I felt this serial reflects many of those themes.  Man, watching it really makes me never regret struggling through the Chinese language during my younger days.  This serial represents something  that I can be proud of even when I walk among white Americans. 

Of course, watching the adorable Theresa Lee as Yang Pai Feng is a bonus too haha. :-).

Let me list some themes of Yang Men Nu Jiang that made it so appealing to me. If I have time, I will probably write a some deep article aka the Matrix style hehe.
 

1) Chinese women vs Chinese men
 

    No doubt the first theme of this serial that keeps being brought up. We have the typical useless Song male emperor who cannot tell right from wrong. And we have the Liao Empress Siao who proves to be more decisive and capable, even if she could not handle the high priest from her camp in the end.
 

    Secondly, the way the director of this serial kills off Yang Zongbao and Yang An at the end was strange but it further reinforced the above theme. Since this show is titled as Yang Men Nu Jiang, surely the womenfolk must have all the glory in the end hehe.
 

    Thirdly, the contest to test the suitability of sending the Yang widows to battle, especially the one between Yang Bamei, Yang PaiFeng, Princess Chai and Bei Meng Duo, on the other side, was touching to say the least. As the Liao princess spy said, "The way those widows unite among one another and their persistence touches even me." When Yang Bamei remember how Yang An train her, got up and grab the flag even after being beaten to a pulp, the smile and the nod from Bei Meng Duo says it all.
 

    Fourthly, the classic speech made by Jing-er, Yang 7th widow, to all the other widows before a battle where all the widows were so discouraged, really impressed me.
 

    Overall, I feel it is such a pity that Americans do not get a chance to watch and appreciate this show. The typical sterotype of Asian ladies is that they are weaklings, do not speak up and have no brains. If they watch more shows like these, I am sure the impression would slowly change.
 

2) Family
    Another very obvious theme. That Yang Dowager She Sai Hua is really amazing. Watching her handle the rest of the Yang family even taught me a lot of things. Like the way she explain to the young Zongbao, the episode where the 6th Yang General feign death, that deciding whether to punish someone for wrongdoing really depends on whether that someone did it out of a good heart or an evil heart.
 

    And man, the way she handled the brash Mu Guiying when the latter gatecrashed trying to save Yang Zongbao, telling her in such flowery language that she does not deserve to call herself a person with "reason, love and righteousness" deserved an encore. It made the brash Mu Guiying throughly speechless.
 

    The love between Princess Chai and Yang Zongbao is also another example. Princess Chai was so demure and gentle, even confessing her weaknesses to her son. Man hehe.
 

    This family theme is indeed such a strong theme in the entire series. It was that strong that the maid, Yang PaiFeng was willing to be humiliated in public in the first episode so that the wrecking of the Yang Mansion could be delayed. And how all of them unite with the Dowager to resist the wrecking.
 

3) Responsibility
    Being in the Yang family signals a heavy responsibility. They are suppose to die for the Song dynasty in war. Some noticeable incidents in this show

    Firstly, Yang Bamei, being the brash young dude initially, could not understand this responsibility. To the Dowanger, she confessed that she hates seeing the words in the plaque, "Yang Men Zhong Lie". To her, she would rather the Yang family be together, her father and her brothers together with all the family. Hmm, very interesting.

    Secondly, the responsibility of being the wife. Jing-er, the 7th wife, said it nicely to Bamei. "What is it about Yang family that so many women are willing to risk their lives to fight the Liao troops even though those women are not born into the Yang family?"

    Thirdly, the lesson of the Singaporean actress Michelle, as the Liao spy sent to Song was interesting. As she hinted to Bamei, she envy the latter's freedom to do whatever she wants, compared to her. As the elder daugher of Empress Siao, she could not let her sister take on the responsibility of being the concubine. As a result, she suffers the fate of being the emperor's plaything.

    Fourthly, the case of Yang's 4th son. Rescued by the Liao 2nd princess after the war, it was his responsibility to her that he willing suffers the humilation of living among the enemy. Yet, amazingly, he was willing to walk out of the same Liao princess, so as to help save Paifeng's life by obtaining the "phoenix hair" of Empress Siao. He said it best when he told the Liao 2nd princess, "If I am willing to let Paifeng die without lifting a finger to help, I am not the Yang 4th son that u love and deserved to be loved."

    Fifthly, the excellent performance of sob queen, Liao's 2nd princess. Man such excellent acting from Taiwan! She sob and sob throughout but reminded her mother, Empress Siao, how she had to fufill the responsibility of saving PaiFeng, to repay the deceased Liao 1st princess.

    Sixthly, the dangers of having too many responsibilities. The 6th son of Yang is perhaps the best example. After suffering from hallucinations from the Tian Men Zhen, he would rather kill himself than let others know his madness. As he said, he is well decorated general, how can he let his soldiers, who worship him, see him in this state?

    Although the Dowanger did not say so publicly, I believe seeing her 6th son suffers from this responsibility is one of the reasons why she assigned Mu Guiying in charge of breaking through the Tian Men Zhen instead of Bamei; The reason being she do not want Bamei to end up like the 6th son, to be weighed with too much responsibilites, besides Guiying's familiarity with sorcery.

3) Yang Bamei
    What can I say about Carmen Lee? It is refreshing how she pulled this role off after I am used to the silent Dragon Lady in Return of the Condor Heroes, as well as the silent cousin in Demigod and semidevils. She started off as a brash lady who later, made that so inspiring speech to support Mu Guiying as general.
 

    Why does she fall for Jiangbin instead of Yang An? I think Yang An's apology to her says it all. Yang An blames himself for not giving her a choice. I think I have learnt an interesting lesson, that girls, besides being taken care of secretly by their man, also need to be appreciated and maybe even "sweet-talk" by him. Both are necessary conditions. Jiang Bin was obviously more of a sweet talker than Yang An. (To be rewritten for fluency later)


65) Sorcery and Numerical methods (For fun)

    My first impression upon seeing the various plans that Cheng Gang drawn on how to rescue the 6th Son from witchcraft really reminded me of how economists use computer programs to solve problems.

    One of my professor says macroeconomics is like witchcraft. Come to think of it, if Cheng Gang had a Pentium 1Ghz computer loaded with MATLAB, he could design his "Zhen" using it and run simulations to test how a normal human being could tolerate it before fatality, instead of subjecting the 6th son to a trial and error experiment.