Introduction
I will divide this editorial into two parts in one article. The first part is my theory on the ending of When Destiny Brings the Demon ( 献鱼 ). I read reviews and comments, and how people think the ending is happy, sad, open, or bittersweet. So I would like to share what I am convinced about the ending, and to prove my theory. The second part is a brief explanation of why there is no Chinese fantasy drama with a (real) time-travel theme. This part doesn’t contain any spoilers for the drama or any drama. Therefore, it’s safe to read if you haven’t watched the drama, or you want to explain to others the reason China doesn’t produce drama with a (real) time-travel theme. Just use the Table of Contents at the beginning of the article to go directly to the second part.
Part One: The Drama Ending Theory
To start, I wanted to clarify that this part is my inferences of what I observed while watching the drama. An inference is a conclusion, idea, or opinion reached by using evidence, existing knowledge, and logical reasoning to figure out something that isn’t stated directly. Therefore, I will add proof from the drama scenes and/or subplots to support my theory.
The Origin of Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan’s Love Story
This is my proposition of what happened in ancient times. It uses the same timeline and plot, minus Zou Yan’s time travel. If you already watched the drama, you can omit this part.
The Immortal Realm
The origin started with Sima Jiao falling for Liao Tingyan, his pure and kindhearted maidservant/disciple who came from the Serene Vale Clan. He chose her because he found her honest to the core (after using the truth spell several times). She was actually a cold fish demon who was supposed to assassinate Sima Jiao, but became amnesiac and thus forgot her mission. With her cold nature, Liao Tingyan cooled Sima Jiao down when he suffered from the burn and pain from the Spiritual Fire. Liao Tingyan died in the immortal realm, when Sima Jiao destroyed his enemy’s properties and caused a huge earthquake and firestorm.
The Demon Realm
After Liao Tingyan’s death, she was taken in by Shi Qianlu in the Demon Realm as his so-called daughter Shi Yan, and brainwashed to fight against Sima Jiao. As we know, Sima Jiao found her again after 18 years of searching, and she eventually regained her memories. During the showdown with the Demon Lord, his spiritual core entered Liao Tingyan/Shi Yan. She became the new Demon Lord and thus the new leader of the Demon Realm. In this realm, Sima Jiao eventually died because of the conflicting two spiritual fires in his body. But not before he made a meticulous plan of his reincarnation and infused the Spiritual Fire into Liao Tingyan’s body.
The Mortal Realm
19 years later, Sima Jiao was the future Emperor of Hu State in the mortal world. Meanwhile, Liao Tingyan was the Grandmistress of both the demon and the immortal realms, and both realms were at peace. She eventually found Sima Jiao again. Sima Jiao eventually regained his memory during his coming-of-age as the Emperor of Hu State. He planned this time and event by infusing his memory in the emperor’s crown. After marrying Liao Tingyan/Madame Yan and made her his empress, they fought the Demon Lord and Marquis Nanyan, killed the latter, and sealed the Demon Lord to bring forever peace in the three realms. However, because of the conflicting demonic spiritual core and the Spiritual Fire, Liao Tingyan sacrificed herself and died.
Sima Jiao After Liao Tingyan’s Death
There was no scene of Sima Jiao after his wife’s death and before he we see him again as Wei Jiao. However, he already promise Liao Tingyan before her passing that he would find her again, whether in heaven or earth. Therefore, it makes sense if Sima Jiao did these things to prepare for his reunion with Liao Tingyan for the fourth lifetime:
Prepared and appointed the future emperor
It’s unlikely that he would remarry to produce an heir to the throne. The future emperor of Hu State would have to come from somewhere else.
Went to seclusion to cultivate
We know that after his coming-of-age ceremony, he conjured the rejuvenation spell to give Liao Tingyan flowers. Therefore, he had a cultivation skill, although it was weak at that time.
Moreover, he managed to strengthen himself when he was sealed for 500 years. He could strengthen himself again in the seclusion.
Looking for the reincarnated Liao Tingyan’s whereabouts
Once Sima Jiao gained enough cultivation power, he could locate Liao Tingyan’s spiritual core, like he did before when looking for her in the Demon Realm. At this time, there wouldn’t be Shi Qianlu who could disguise her trace. The search would be so much easier.
Planned for his reincarnation
In the real world, we cannot choose the family we’re born into. However, Sima Jiao could choose to have a biological mother who looked like Sima E, his mother in the immortal world. He also chose to be born in the royal family of Hu State, because the founder of the kingdom came from the Fengshan Clan. Moreover, the Hu State was the entrance of the Nine Nether Purgatory where the Demon Lord planned to break in to release his demonic soldiers.
With the above examples, once he knew that Liao Tingyan was in the modern world as Zou Yan, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Sima Jiao also planned his reincarnation in the modern world to reconnect with her easier.
The Reincarnation of Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan in the Modern World
Liao Tingyan was reincarnated as Zou Yan in the modern world, and Sima Jiao was reincarnated as Wei Jiao. You might think this was my wild guess, but not without any supporting proof:
- Liao Tingyan was reincarnated as Shi Yan in the Demon Realm.
- Sima Jiao was reincarnated as the Prince of Hu State (later Emperor) in the Mortal Realm.
- Wei Jiao was the CEO of Sanshan ( 三山 ) Tech. Three Sacred Mountain ( 三圣山 ) was Sima Jiao’s property. A coincidence?
- The reincarnation, not the time travel, also supported the fact that the company should be established for some time, not overnight, by Wei Jiao.
Wei Jiao, the CEO of Sanshan Tech
There is also a video on TikTok (link) about the snake image and the tree with pink flowers in the lobby area next to the staircase. The snake is a reminiscence of his loyal subordinate Hei Nianjiu, and the tree with pink flowers is a reminiscence of the tree in Liao Tingyan’s Spiritual Mansion. Unfortunately, the video is in Vietnamese, so I don’t understand the details of the explanation. I tried to look closely at the image on the left from different scenes, but I couldn’t identify whether it’s a snake or not. Logically, if you work at a company with a giant snake image displayed by the staircase, wouldn’t you feel creepy? I’d rather see an otter, lol! As for the tree, it was okay, but it looked tacky in comparison with the sophisticated interior of the building.
Is Wei Jiao a Mortal or an Immortal in the Modern World?
There was no supporting evidence whether Wei Jiao was a mortal or an immortal. If I have to choose, I pick that Wei Jiao was a mortal with the following reasons:
- He wanted to live free and no longer had to bear the responsibility of being a Sima Clan member or a Grandmaster. Besides, he already gave his Spiritual Fire to Liao Tingyan.
“If possible, I’d rather be an ordinary man, enjoy life’s simple pleasures, carefree (untroubled) and free (unchained).”
- Liao Tingyan also wanted Sima Jiao to be free.
- The master villain, the Demon Lord, was already sealed forever.
- The people in the Immortal Realm and the Demon Realm live peacefully.
- The leadership in both realms is in the good hands of Hei Nianjiu, Ye Ruling/Hong Luo, Mr. Yuan Che, Chi Anhe, Mu Nisheng, among others.
- Zou Yan is a mortal. Were Wei Jiao an immortal, he might live longer than her.
Nianjiu and Ruling were proven loyal to the Grandmaster and the Grandmistress, even after they left the Immortal World for the Mortal World.
The Preparation for the Reunion in the Modern World
As Wei Jiao found the reincarnated Tingyan, Zou Yan, she didn’t have any memory of her previous lives. No matter how handsome or powerful he is as the Sanshan Tech boss, Zou Yan might not fall for him. Thus, there were divine interventions Sima Jiao prepared for Zou Yan to get her memories back before meeting him.
Zou Yan’s overnight business trip to Sanshan Tech
At first, I didn’t pay attention when her boss, Lily, sent Zou Yan to Sanshan Tech overnight, so Zou Yan could meet Wei Jiao first thing in the morning. After rewatching the scene, I saw the surprise look on Zou Yan’s face. I could imagine that she was probably wondering why she had to rush there to meet Wei Jiao. Now that I thought about it, the accident site was close to Sanshan Tech. Why? Because after she was transported to the cultivation world, a senior disciple from Serene Vale Clan told her that she had trespassed the Three Sacred Mountain, which was the Grandmaster’s (Sima Jiao) training ground.
The lightning strike and the automobile accident
While Zou Yan was riding in a taxi, the lightning struck the stoplights, causing a collision between her taxi and another vehicle. Before she lost her consciousness, at a glimpse, she saw a glowing bead (Sima Jiao’s ankle bead) and his blurry face.
Although we don’t like to think that Sima Jiao planned or caused the accident, this was the most logical option. The reasons?
- He wanted to take Zou Yan to her memories of her past lives.
- When she was back in the modern world, she only had a mild concussion, was unconscious overnight, and the ER doctor discharged her the next day, around midday or early afternoon.
- It’s most likely that the other auto accident victims were okay, too. Why? When the immortal generals built the dam to aid Sima Jiao/Prince of Hu State, they were ordered by Liao Tingyan to avoid farmlands and villages so people wouldn’t suffer as Sima Jiao had worried about.
The dream or the time travel
When Zou Yan entered the cultivation world, she came as herself. And we got all the hilarious adjustments in her ‘vacation’ and funny phrases that confused people.
So, was it a dream or a time travel?
It really doesn’t matter if it was a true time travel or a mere dream, because Sima Jiao could make either happen for Zou Yan. Below are some examples in the drama where Sima Jiao or other powerful immortals could recreate places and situations for time travel or a dream.
- Sima Jiao infused dreams into his reincarnated self as the Prince of Hu. Since little, he kept dreaming about Liao Tingyan/Madam Yan. The dreams kept him from loving another woman.
- After plucking a Moonshade Bloom, which belonged to Sima Jiao’s mother’s pearl bone, Liao Tingyan was transported to the past through Sima E’s memory.
- The Demon Lord created the Grain Rain Vale paradise in the Demon Realm to trap Sima Jiao, Liao Tingyan, and others. Even Sima Jiao was tricked.
- The immortal man who tied the beat anklet on Sima Jiao, created Mindscape Lake for him to recuperate from fighting the immortals and to bond with Liao Tingyan. The place was gone after Sima Jiao was healed.
Zou Yan’s return to modern times
Whether a dream or time travel, Zou Yan got all the memories of her past lives. She only had a mild concussion, as the ER doctor said, because of the divine protection. She was discharged the next day by the ER doctor. When she walked out of the ER, she was on the phone with her boss. Either Lily called her first, or she called Lily because she missed the morning appointment with Wei Jiao; we didn’t know. However, I thought something was interesting about her boss.
The boss’ demand
At first, I thought, how heartless her boss was, that she didn’t care about Zou Yan’s well-being and only about the company’s profit if the company’s proposal would be selected by Sanshan Tech. Zou Yan had to meet the CEO now! However, after thinking more about it, it was not Lily who wanted Zou Yan to meet Wei Jiao; it was Wei Jiao himself. Could it be that there was an immortal entered Lily’s body, or became Lily temporarily, rebuking Zou Yan about her missing chance, and demanding she take the proposal to Wei Jiao personally right after she was involved in an auto accident the day before? Ye Ruling perhaps?
Speaking of immortals temporarily entering people’s bodies, or becoming someone else, we saw quite a few examples in the drama already. For example, Sima Jiao changed himself and Liao Tingyan to be the Mu siblings when they avoided the immortals. Sima Jiao changed to Yan Huan to find out about Shi Qianlu’s crime. Chi Anhe pretended to be Preceptor Wei Xianyu and was killed by Marquis Nanyan to reveal his crime.
The Reunion
It was clear that Wei Jiao was waiting for Zou Yan to meet him. You could see that:
- After the proposal meeting was over, Wei Jiao asked his assistant if other companies would be presenting. In which the assistant mentioned Zou Yan’s company, who was requested to come before 6:30 pm.
- Wei Jiao was willing to wait for Zou Yan to come. Normally, a busy businessman would just leave, especially if he had to catch a flight. A normal businessman would just tell his assistant to tell Zou Yan to email the proposal to the company or set another meeting date.
- By the way, was there really a flight tonight? Who knows, that was what Lily said. As I wrote, Lily might be an immortal who pretended to be her to urge Zou Yan to meet Wei Jiao.
- Wei Jiao took his time to walk downstairs slowly (not using the elevator) to the coffee shop, and took his sweet time for a coffee break. The salted-fish was waiting for his beloved not-so-salted fish. I admire Zou Yan, because after her time travel/dream, she didn’t appear to be a salted-fish anymore. Judging by her effort to be at the presentation meeting before 6:30 pm, speeding with the electric bike during a traffic jam, and running up stairs two steps at a time.
- I was wondering why Wei Jiao didn’t just wait in the meeting room for Zou Yan. The possibility of catching her was higher than waiting by the staircase. What if, after seeing that the room was empty, Zou Yan left through the elevator? Their reunion on the staircase definitely was a reenactment of their first time meeting.
- Wei Jiao was also waiting for the confirmation that Zou Yan knew that she was Liao Tingyan. From her wish for Spirit Dew (her favorite drink from the Serene Vale Clan) to her lament: “Is the dream so long that I can’t tell dream from reality now?”, he heard them all. Time to meet!
If You’re Still Not Convinced It’s a Happy Ending
This is my last proposition to convince you about my belief that When Destiny Brings the Demon has a happy ending. To pass the censorship review, Zou Yan/Liao Ting Yan’s adventure to the cultivation world was regarded as only her dream after passing out in an automobile accident. Her meeting with Wei Jiao was not emotional, and there was no mention of “Sima Jiao” or “Liao Tingyan” names. There is still a possibility that Wei Jiao is only a Sima Jiao look-alike/doppelgänger, or that Wei Jiao is Sima Jiao’s reincarnation, but he doesn’t remember Liao Tingyan, like he did in the Mortal Realm.
The filming crew (director and editor) carefully displayed that, although it was a dream to please the censorship review, Wei Jiao is Sima Jiao, and he knows that Zou Yan is Liao Tingyan
Sima Jiao’s first glance versus Wei Jiao first glance at Liao Tingyan/Zou Yan
The setup of their reunion was similar to when they met for the first time, with Sima Jiao looking down at Liao Tingyan. The editor cleverly inserted the scene to compare their first meeting and this reunion. You noticed that his glances were different. When seeing Liao Tingyan for the first time, Sima Jiao was cynical and suspicious because everyone either wanted the Spiritual Fire or Bloodseal Bloom. The girls who were offered to him to be his ‘disciples’ by clan leaders were either spies to kill him or seducers to bed him and produce Fengshan Blood/Sima Clan descendants.
When he glanced at her in this reunion, he was no longer cynical and suspicious, but more likely anxious and uncertain if she would acknowledge him.
When Zou Yan/Liao Tingyan said, “I found you again.”
The first sentence Zou Yan blurted out after the shock was NOT:
- “Are you Mr. Wei?” Zou Yan didn’t know that he was Mr. Wei, but she knew he was Sima Jiao.
- “Finally, I found you.” Because this might indicate that she was looking for Mr. Wei before.
- “Sima Jiao!” Because this would cause a NO pass review from NRTA.
The script was cleverly written: “I found you again,” which means Zou Yan found Sima Jiao before in the Mortal Realm, and she found him again in modern times.
After Zou Yan said that sentence, Wei Jiao smiled a little. An uncertain smile.
Wei Jiao reaction versus Prince of Hu reaction
When Prince of Hu State saw Liao Tingyan for the first time, she looked like the woman he had always dreamed about since little. However, he was suspicious that she might be a demon who had infiltrated his dreams. Until his mother, the Empress Dowager, advised him that he and Madam Yan/Liao Tingyan might be fated together.
On the contrary, Wei Jiao’s expression was gentle, though he still wanted to be sure that she knew that he was Sima Jiao. If he didn’t know or didn’t remember her, he would ask: “Who are you?” or “Are you Miss Zou Yan?” after seeing the presentation materials in her hands.
His question was more seeking assurance that she knew he was Sima Jiao. When she said “Of course I do”, Wei Jiao then smiled.
Their facial expressions showed us what we wanted to know. It’s a happy ending!
Part Two: Why China Doesn’t Produce Real Time Travel Dramas
In this second part, I would just briefly explain the reason Chinese drama production companies don’t produce real/true time travel dramas anymore. I had my wish that one day I could write an in-depth editorial article about this issue, complete with drama examples. But for now, this part should answer the question.
In 2011, marking the 90th anniversary of China’s ruling political party CCP, China’s media authorities, SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television), posted its mandatory guidance about time travel. FYI, now the agency is no longer called SARFT but NRTA (National Radio and Television Administration). While the guidance is not a law, no film or drama production company would go to jail or be fined heftily if they insisted on producing time-travel themed shows. However, since NRTA regulates Chinese film, television, and internet content, it gives review and approval of the drama and film production before the release. Any drama or film with a true/real-time travel theme will not pass the review. Then the production company has to go back to do edits and post-production to change or delete the scenes according to the review. The delay costs money. Moreover, since the Chinese entertainment industry is quite harsh with cancel culture, there is still a future risk that the leading or supporting actors or actresses may be involved in scandals, incidents, or tax evasions. The dramas or movies the actors and actresses act in may face cancellation or delay, as the production companies have to reshoot, delete, or edit their projects.
You can read the news article about the 2011 SARFT regulation through the link below:
In 2012, China’s worry about time-travel dramas caused disrespect for history to worsen after an incident in which two teenage girls committed suicide to travel to the Qing dynasty. The news has shocked and angered many people in mainland China. You can read the full article through the link below:
That was way back in 2012, and I couldn’t find any newer articles or news about people in China committing suicide after watching time-travel dramas/movies. There was no ban on time-travel themed novels or manhua; therefore, there were still many written or created with such a theme. Those novels/manhuas often became popular that drama/film production companies chose to adapt them into their projects. Unfortunately, the time-travel theme has to be changed. Besides altering it completely, thus there is no longer time travel, the setting may also be changed into:
- A dream, such as in When Destiny Brings the Demon, when the protagonist is sleeping, unconscious, or in a coma.
- A script or an idea/fantasy of a scriptwriter or a novelist
- A virtual game project
- A medical or science test, for example, to heal PTSD, the protagonist goes back in time to change his/her life.
If there is a romance genre in the time-travel theme shows, the ending of the adaptation is changed to an open or ambiguous ending. There is never a clear indication that the main couple reunites or gets together. Again, When Destiny Brings the Demon‘s ending falls into this kind of implied happy ending. Viewers just have to imagine it.
Please note that the time-travel theme that is banned is from modern time to ancient time, the future, or a fantasy realm (xianxia/xuanhuan).
If you’re curious about what other topics are censored or banned, mjf314 and I wrote an article on a brief history of Chinese dramas on MyDramaList, linked below:
Conclusion
My advice is that if you enjoy watching Chinese dramas, especially historical ones (historical fiction or historical fantasy), you may encounter some ‘tropes’ that are strongly influenced by the NRTA’s mandatory guidelines or the opinions of Chinese netizens, which you might not like. Still, the production companies use them to make sure that their hard labor won’t be a waste and come to fruition with financial gain. As long as there are no changes from the entertainment authorities, you may just take it or leave it.
