Commentary: Prince Guo (Guo Jun Wang)
Prince Guo (real name: Yun Li) is a free-spirited prince who did not participate in the struggle for power. He chose to live a happy and peaceful life. His favourite hobbies are reading/writing poetry, playing the flute and riding horses. He is the most charming male character, with a total of five females falling in love with him in the drama even when some of those encounters were short-lived. In this article, I voice out my opinions on Prince Guo in the drama.
Free-spirited or playing safe?
Prince Guo is known to be free-spirited. He opts not to participate in politics, choosing to devote his time to his hobbies instead.
Prince Guo doesn't conform to societal norms as he is often late to royal banquets and often makes his entrance drunk. In episode 13, Prince Guo makes his entrance while playing the flute. Other scenes show him arriving late to royal banquets. Despite the obvious breach in rules, Prince Guo never got punished by the emperor.
In my opinion, I think Prince Guo is trying to play it safe. Yongzheng, after emerging as victor of the power struggles, sought to eliminate his competitors, including some of his brothers. Naturally, Prince Guo who was favoured by Emperor Kangxi and thus a strong candidate to be the Emperor, would not have been spared. Therefore, Prince Guo had to lay low and signal implicitly/explicitly that he is not a threat to Yongzheng's throne.
By immersing himself in poetry and other "fun" pursuits, he signals that he is not interested in dealing with matters of the country.
His mother is a Han Chinese, who taught him more scholastic skills (poetry and calligraphy), while his brothers were born to Manchurian/Mongolian concubines who preferred to engage in activities that display physical strength, like archery and hunting. As the Tenth Prince puts it, "Manchurians conquered China via archery and hunting". Because he is not pure Manchurian, he would stand less of a chance of being the Emperor. Engaging in Han Chinese activities would also emphasise his Han Chinese identity, and seem less of a threat to Yongzheng's throne.
By defying societal norms, being late to royal banquets and drinking all the time, he is providing material for other political opponents to defame himself. Who would devote time to eliminate someone like Prince Guo when there are more threatening competitors?
By downplaying his talents (archery, horse riding), he is signalling that he does not have the natural talent to be the Emperor.
On the rare occasion where Prince Guo has to lead an army (to quell rebellions from the Tenth Prince and General Nian), he downplayed his contributions and requested the emperor to not involve him in leading an army anymore. General Nian was once the capable general who helped Emperor Yongzheng attain his power, but now Prince Guo had to eliminate him.
Prince Guo knew the dangers of showing his talents in front of the Emperor. As he grew up with the Emperor, he knows that the Emperor is paranoid and will do anything to secure his power.
- Yongzheng killed or imprisoned his brothers who participated in the struggle for power.
- General Nian was an outstanding general who helped him to stabilise his rule as the Emperor. And yet Prince Guo has to lead the operation to remove General Nian's influence.
And Prince Guo is right. Zhen Huan's father, who was instrumental in helping remove General Nian, was sent to prison, their whole family subsequently exiled. General Long'keduo, a key figure who helped Emperor Yongzheng attain his power (together with General Nian), was subsequently poisoned to death.
Prince Guo managed to avoid that kind of fate... for the time being. This leads me to my next point.
Rash in the name of love
It seems quite illogical that someone as smart as Prince Guo would die in the hands of the Emperor. In the second half of the drama, Prince Guo made a lot of stupid decisions.
In Episode 60, Prince Guo met Zhen Huan alone and confessed that he could not get over her. She was the Emperor's concubine, her reputation has taken a hit since she came back from the monastery. There were already rumours that her children were not of the Emperor's and she worked hard to quell those suspicions. Why did he do something that will confirm these suspicions? While he missed her, his actions have put her in danger.
In Episode 65, Prince Guo dropped a small bag which contained a paper cutting of Zhen Huan. Huan Bi lied that this was a paper cutting of her, and that they were in love for 7 years, thus averting suspicions that Prince Guo liked Zhen Huan. After the Emperor was pleased with this explanation and wants Prince Guo to marry Huan Bi, Prince Guo mentions that he likes another female? Would this not make the suspicions of Prince Guo?
In Episode 73, the Emperor told Prince Guo he wanted to marry her off to Mongolia. This was Yongzheng's schemes to test if Prince Guo lusted after Zhen Huan. He raised an army to prevent Zhen Huan from being married off, falling for the Emperor's schemes. Since Prince Guo was so smart, would he not know that raising an army for an Emperor's concubine crosses a boundary? He is a married man with a son. Why would he raise an army and risk his life? He is proving that he is attracted to Zhen Huan and will do anything to prevent anything bad from happening to her.
As Prince Guo failed the 'test', the Emperor sends Prince Guo to the borders. The act of raising an army has proved the Emperor's theory that he was attracted to Zhen Huan. Sending him to the borders is a way of implicitly warning Prince Guo not to lust for his concubine, his favourite one at that. Also, by raising an army, Prince Guo shows potential for rebelling against the Emperor's rule and usurping his throne. Sending him to the borders is an effective way of putting Prince Guo in his place and reducing his military might.
But what did Prince Guo do? He ended off every letter to the household with greetings to Zhen Huan.
Not only that, but he also looked for Zhen Huan immediately after he returned from the borders, instead of going back to his house. A normal man devoted to his family will go back to his house the moment he goes back home, especially for Prince Guo as he has a young son.
It is proof of his devotion to Zhen Huan. But the palace, no matter its size, has no room for true love. His devotion has put Zhen Huan into danger numerous times and ultimately he paid the price with his life.
Gentlemanly or a player?
The drama depicts Prince Guo as a gentleman who is nice to ladies, but only loves Zhen Huan. Let's review the females who developed an interest in Prince Guo.
Love interest 1: Huan Bi, Zhen Huan's personal maid. She developed feelings for Prince Guo when he praised her for her fashion sense after she got humiliated by the Emperor. She schemed to marry him but he never loved her.
Love interest 2: Lanyi, a lowly servant who trains animals. When Lanyi was still a lowly servant, Prince Guo ordered a physician to treat her when she was sick, thus saving her life. She developed feelings for him then.
Love interest 3: Meng Jing Xian. It is unclear how they met, but she was devoted to him and insisted to be married to him. She stayed single for a long time until her father begged for her to get married to Prince Guo. This was at a time when women were urged to get married early.
Love interest 4: Zhen Huan. They met when Zhen Huan was Yongzheng's favourite concubine, but only started a relationship after Zhen Huan was banished from the palace. She became pregnant with his children. She was the only one he loved and put himself into risky situations for her.
Love interest 5: Cai Ping, a woman who works in Prince Guo's mansion as a servant. Huan Bi sends her to the Emperor as a concubine, but she dies after Yongzheng's son openly expressed his love for her.
While it looks like he is devoted to Zhen Huan, the question is: why did so many people develop an affection to him? Did he do something to attract the females, for example, by complimenting their looks and actions?
At the beginning of the drama, when Zhen Huan is the Emperor's concubine, he made hints that he liked her, and made comments about how nice her feet looked (akin to sexual harassment at that point). He repeatedly hinted to her that he is attracted to her, even when she was the Emperor's concubine. That's actually quite creepy of Prince Guo.
My opinions about Prince Guo
Prince Guo is a smart and handsome prince, devoted to the one he loves.
To me, he is a player and acts rashly, especially towards the end of the drama, where he eventually pays the price with his life. While Zhen Huan left the palace, Prince Guo can technically do what he wants with her. But after Zhen Huan returned to the palace, I think he should not have approached her alone, sent her any gifts, or keep the paper cutting of Zhen Huan with him all the time. If he did not overstep his boundaries, there would be a higher likelihood that Prince Guo would not be killed by the Emperor. There are other ways for Zhen Huan and Prince Guo to reunite, by the time Zhen Huan becomes Empress Dowager and Prince Guo gains more political power/might.
Prince Guo seems too perfect. He's well-liked by many women, is a rich prince, devoted to his lover, and has many talents/skills. This character doesn't feel realistic to me, unlike other well-rounded characters like Zhen Huan and Consort Hua. But I think there are two main reasons why Prince Guo is included in the storyline:
- To be a contrasting character to the Emperor. Unlike the Emperor who is surrounded by many women and doesn't truly love any of them, Prince Guo is young, handsome and devoted to Zhen Huan only. Every drama needs a prince charming, and Prince Guo serves that role.
- As an obstacle in the relationship between the Emperor and Zhen Huan. When the Emperor first met Zhen Huan, he pretended he was Prince Guo. While Zhen Huan eventually learns that he is the Emperor, the way in which they met have raised suspicions. Did Zhen Huan like the Emperor because he pretended to be Prince Guo, or was it because she liked the Emperor as a person rather than an authority figure? If Zhen Huan really developed a relationship with the Emperor while he was acting as Prince Guo, did he cheat?
The actual Prince Guo
The character is modelled after Prince Guo, Yongzheng's seventeenth brother. He was born with the name Yinli but had to change his name to Yun Li to avoid naming taboo. The character "Yin" is the same character as the one in "Yinzhen" (Yongzheng's personal name). Prince Guo's mother was not a favoured consort, as she only rose to the status of an Imperial Concubine after 21 years (one rank lower than a Consort, as portrayed in the Legend of Zhen Huan).
The actual Prince Guo has a lot of scholastic achievements. He was in charge of managing the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Revenue (in charge of taxation, tributes, land, etc) when he was a Prince of the Second Rank. He also authored several works of literature, such as a chapter in Engineering Practices, one of the only two engineering books officially published by ministries in ancient China. (There were two other books authored by him but I couldn't find much data on them)
In the drama, Prince Guo was poisoned to death during Emperor Yongzheng's reign. The actual Prince Guo died at the age of 42, 3 years after Yongzheng's death.
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