Reading chapter 18, I realized that there is a parallel between these two characters. Mie Jue is a nun, and the master of O-Mei. Xie Xun is a blind old man whose wugong is very powerful. Earlier on, the story of Xie Xun and a Shaolin monk is told. This Shaolin Monk is the teacher of Xie Xun's mortal enemy. He tells Xie Xun to strike him thirteen times, and if he lives, Xie Xun must give up his vengeful quest. If he dies after the thirteen strikes, then Xie Xun's enemy will appear and they will have to resolve all enmity between them.
After Xie Xun strikes the elderly monk 13 times, the monk cannot withstand the force of the attacks anymore and dies. At that moment, he also realizes that he had been tricked. Even as he lay dying, his pupil did not appear. Instead, Xie Xun was so moved by this monk's act of love and forgiveness that he realizes how wrong his past actions were. It is in Xie Xun's arms that the elderly monk breathes his last breath. From that day onwards, Xie Xun promised never to kill another innocent person to force his mortal enemy out of hiding.
About twenty-five years later, Zhang Wuji meets Mie Jue on the way to Bright-Shining Peak. There, Mie Jue and her desciples capture a group of followers of the "evil" Ming Sect. She commands them to abandon their evil past and become good people. They refuse, and she allows her desciples to cut off each person's right arm. After that, if they still refuse to turn against their "evil" Ming Sect, then they will have to suffer the loss of their left arms.
Zhang Wuji begs Mie Jue to stop this torturous mutilation of these warriors, and agrees to accept three strikes from Mie Jue. If he survives, then Mie Jue must release the Ming Sect followers. At the end, Zhang Wuji survives and prevails, yet Mie Jue only grudgingly releases the prisoners. She doesn't even realize that what she and her desciples did was cruel and inhumane. She arrogantly refuses to admit any wrong-doing on her part.
This is one of the prevailing themes of many wuxia stories: followers of an organization that is accepted as "noble and good" in the eyes of wulin may not actually live what they preach. Ironically, followers of "evil and corrupt" organizations may act more chivalrous and more gallantly.
2 comments:
But, who do you think is stronger in a fight? Mie Jue or Xie Xun?
I think Mie Jue would win, but not on physical or martial prowess. Her sense of pride is too strong to allow her to lose to a man she considers a villain. This mindset would lead her to cheat.
Xie Xun, on the other hand, has a very strong sense of honour and would not even contend with the idea of cheating during a fight with a woman in order to win. I think he would believe that he has the ability to beat her without cheating.
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