Ravages of Time - 544th chapter analysis

544 starts with the clash between 'official pronouncements' (propagandistic accounts by regimes that nonetheless involve some level of plausibility so that they're accepted or taken for granted more easily) and 'unofficial speculations' (basically unproven opinions and rumors, but some of which may happen to be in line with events as we have seen them unfold in the past chapters) compounded with the divergence between what the series portrays and what the source texts attest

the apologist has a fair point regarding the necessity to station more troops in the south even if things are going well (in the historical account Cao Cao is said to have sent some forces to reinforce the southeastern frontier and defend against the Sun clan, and Ravages alludes to it in discussions about the fallout of Liu Bei handing over Jiangxia to the Sun clan) only that the pronouncements happen to cover up the actual situation of stalemate (not to mention the casualties in the secret battle)

the detractor on the other hand is reasonably alleging that the reports may very well be part of some conspiracy to conceal what really happened (the significant loss in that secret battle) in the scramble for Jingzhou in the process insinuating that the coverups help explain counterfactually why the historical account as we receive it makes no mention of the secret battle

 

even as the debate turned to the matter of morality and governance, both sides ended up appealing to the authority of received historical texts to bolster their point (the apologist compares Cao Cao to a hero pacifying all under heaven like the 'good models' of history, the detractor compares Cao Cao to a tyrant oppressing the people like the 'bad models' of history) in effect essentially re-enacting the favorite pastime of the 3K fandom and indirectly conveying the point that what is received is still subject to litigation by those who receive them

whereas the first part grapples with issues around representations of events and outcomes, the second part deals more with the interplay between 'heroic legends' and eyewitness testimony and subsequent biographical reports (packaged alongside iconic callbacks for theatrical effect to delight readers)

ostensibly Xiahou Dun tells 'scary stories' about Lu Bu to new officers, who reasonably (from their position) scoff at the tales since they have no way of corroborating them anyway although the irony here is that their manner of dismissal is grounded more upon received accounts and tropes about 'righteous heroes' and 'brainless brutes'

 

now upon seeing the exchange the simplistic track would be for readers (with privileged access) to simply revert back to the authoritative revelation of past chapters and enjoy basking in the glory of the callbacks, but there's more to the conversation than just a bunch of newbies being schooled

we can also compare how they treat Lu Bu's legend to how Sun clan treated Zhao Yun' legends while standing in front of him - Sun has cocky attitude of disbelief, while Cao squad is looking at it as unapproachable legends, in a sense that its far away from their reality. Chen Mou teases readers that way, but the trick is to go beyond the nostalgia and maintain critical distance the way Chen Mou approaches the sources, haha

for one thing, there's something curious about how many of the disseminated Lu Bu stories (milked for callbacks) still emphasize his marital might to the point of exaggeration and in effect downplaying his multifaceted portrayal in the series as a top-notch schemer and thus even with the cautionary notes about distorted depictions the very format of the heroic tales still encourages listeners to focus on the power levels

furthermore, Xiahou Dun's own retrospective account of Lu Bu's execution may very well be mixed with subsequent re-imaginings and emotional associations that may not have been present in the actual event (he even gives the game away by admitting that he considered the feelings of the listeners with the way he retold the story with latent horror elements) although these complex feelings and distortions in the testimonies can also be viewed as indirect and hard to articulate 'traces' of how Lu Bu may have impacted and traumatized the witnesses

in addition, Xiahou Dun reiterates how historical accounts also have to accommodate considerations of morale management (the added nuance this time though is not simply that historians are mere functionaries of hegemonic factions or that the texts are tools of warfare and statecraft, but that those compiling or redacting the accounts are themselves schemers in their own right in a similar way that composers of stories plot and scheme to manipulate readers into going along and passing the story on to others)

and even after the chapter, Chen Mou's own remark has to do with how Ravages resembles or refracts contemporary struggles (a wink and a nudge that Ravages can function as social commentary)

Here we see how the reputation of merchants were drained and thus painted by them repeating the same thing, as if they were patriotic and as if Cao Cao is a helper of talents, while instead he is just draining everyone around him, forcefully or not. This guy right here is openly criticizing Cao faction, which basically warrants a death sentence, but he is probably enough into melancholy and alcohol to ignore that fact. He is unfortunately to him on Cao's territory or else he would enlist in Liu's army but oh well, he lost the family already. On the other hand we also see how Cao's internal propaganda works but its barely standing and he has to change the war, for which Xun Yu is against and will have to face the consequences

I also like how that guy who is criticizing the Caos is right and presented as such, while in LOGH he would have been presented as a rapist instead

There was also another character introduced from the novels, who was sold out and it was a pretty cheap scheme, but here we see him already decoding the family problems and deceptive schemes that are being played out right now

In another scene, we have soldiers talking to commanders, which basically showcases for how hard it is for commanders to not let the overconfidence be cultivated in faction, so as to say that, like, whenever in generic stories geniuses are being blamed for being overconfident - while not really everything is up to them and its all just part of a propaganda that the commanders can't fight against, when your soldiers are just some battle hardened dudes

Thats why Liu's squad stand outs for being full of opportunists and actual people who fight for their country on their own, which for some reason should have been more presented in Logh's democratic side but was not there

The last thing are the callbacks that are not just mere repetition of older frames, because its more grander, as the whole structure is being repeated in mirror fashion - in the previous arc it was the case of Sima clan massacre which was immediately followed by Lu Bu's Xiapi arc, with in between Liu Bei's development of finding his own "waters" as a fish - Now, as they mentioned what happened in Xiapi, Ma Chao appeared, whos body shape is purposely drawn as Lu Bu's body shape and according to history, its supposed to be a bloody arc, in which Cao Cao will butcher a family, about that he was already called out as a hypocrite in Xiapi... Here is also Lu Bu's right hand man and another legacy looking at "himself", as a mirror, with a stance with which he was introduced at first as " Lu Bu's clone"