Song Yinzhang and Her “Insignificant” Struggles

Needless to say, the diversity of female characters is one of Dream of Splendour’s strong suits. The drama is successful in making its viewers empathize with most of its women, especially the leading women. At the helm, we have a fearless Pan’er. When things go wrong, we have San-niang, stable and kind-hearted and always ready to help. And in the middle, there is, well, Yinzhang.

*Some SPOILERS for Dream of Splendour ahead.

Yinzhang is the baby of the group. At first glance, she seems spoiled – which is kind of true — not as strong, and has less determination than her older friends. But let us briefly look at this drama’s representation of ‘strong’.

Pan’er runs a grand business and inspires people everywhere she goes; San-niang can win over most men in a fistfight. But more than a few times, Pan’er and San-niang’s successes happen because the plot is bent to serve their narratives.

It is highly doubtful that you can force an experienced fraudulent realtor to give you back the money he stole just by sticking your hairpin at his neck as Pan’er does. It is also less than believable that a brainwashed son of a city official would be awed and bow to you because you made an emotional speech about your broken family, as San-niang does. Nevertheless, Pan’er and San-niang fight their battles; and due to their likeability, we all root for them to win.

Not to mention a perfect – though occasionally wimpy – male lead who never fails to be there to cheer his ladies on. And when the leading protagonists are too perfectly lovable, we tend to feel frustrated towards any character who causes trouble for them.

That is where Yinzhang comes in. What Yinzhang does in the drama can easily be seen as trouble. She abandons Pan’er, throws tantrums, complains, and, oh, the biggest crime of all according to some loyal passengers of the Pan’er/Qianfan ship: Yinzhang dares to hope that Qianfan might like her.

But despite how things may appear, Yinzhang has her own battle to fight; it is less recognizable, less glorious; but it is arguably a more relatable battle. That is, if we are to go along with the theme of women empowerment as seen in the drama.

Now, as far as beginnings go, Yinzhang has the most tragic – or we should say terrible – start to her story. She marries a man who turns out to be a gambler who would beat and starve her.

Afterwards, Yinzhang is rescued by Pan’er and together with San-niang, they start a tea business. It would seem that all her problems should gradually disappear at this point – a safe home, loving friends, a stable income, what more can one ask for?

But through little moments, the drama shows us that Yinzhang isn’t satisfied. She is held down by her past still and yearns to do something to prove that she has changed, has grown up, and just like Pan’er, can be independent.

She also forms a crush on Qianfan, who briefly appeared like a knight to save her from Zhoushe and since then always keeps an eye out for her and her friends. Is it a silly school-girl’s crush? Perhaps. But it was bound to happen given Yinzhang’s instability at the time. During this period, the drama makes a point to be consistent with Yinzhang’s goal, which is to be more. She is not satisfied with just being a musician at a teahouse, or a teacher at a music school, or a ‘little girl’ in Pan’er’s shadow. She is content, but she feels unfulfilled.

She is also impatient. This is perhaps one of Yinzhang’s most important flaws. She wants success and admiration, she wants to feel a sense of establishment and she wants it right away. It is helpful to note that as a musician, Yinzhang is always seen to be proud and competitive. This trait applies to other aspects of her life. Pan’er’s achievements are a ticking clock by Yinzhang’s ear. The urgency makes her rebellious; quite a familiar notion to anyone who used to be a teenager.

While Pan’er and San-niang certainly handle the heavy tasks: taking responsibility for their business and making a living, neither of them pays much attention to how Yinzhang would like to move on with her life. They can only offer her love and safety, not guidance. Of course, they are not to blame because, erm… there’s the money book to worry about.

Thus, Yinzhang rushes into a relationship with Shen Ruzuo despite how she is clearly not impressed by his idea of romance, hoping to take a leap and shine, only to find out that he too only wants to use her to advance his own career.

This arc, however, could have been written better. After a few tacky flirting sessions, Ruzuo turns out to be a full-on coward with no redeeming qualities. The drama resolves this by having Yinzhang best him physically and run away, leaving us with a less-than-subtle lesson Yinzhang has supposedly learnt: She needed help to beat a man last time, she beats a man up all by herself this time. Girl-power box ticked.

Not quite.

While this event rekindles Yinzhang’s friendship with Pan’er, it also puts Yinzhang’s desire to break free in a negative light. See? See what happens when you don’t listen to your older, wiser, and perfect sister? – this seems to be the drama’s message.

A more effective storyline for Yinzhang would perhaps be: Ruzuo is a good man who loves Yinzhang and wants to help her move on, but she is overwhelmed with ambitions and only sees him as a stepping stone. He then steps back and asks her to figure out what she wants.

Yinzhang then would learn the value of friendship and have a full development arc without the drama demonizing another male character.

Despite these writing flaws, Yinzhang grows up in the end, after all. Her ending is not a happy marriage, fame, or even a love interest. It is just Yinzhang on a stage with her lute, playing her heart out. A fitting scene to emphasize that the mistakes Yinzhang made are essential for her to learn patience and to understand that her journey has barely begun.

Compared to Pan’er and San-niang, whose arcs are heavily about survival and overcoming great grief, Yinzhang’s struggles seem small and insignificant; yet they are more nuanced and closer to real life. With ambitions but no proper mentorship, what Yinzhang faces are certainly questions that young people are forced to ask themselves more than often.

(A useful note: the best way to piss Yinzhang off is to pretend like you know the piece she’s playing.)