死水仍会因风而动

A few days ago on twitter I came across a post talking about the saying "死水仍会因风而动" in the Chinese beefleaf community. Sadly it cannot be translated into english retaining it's original elegance but the meaning is basically "Even dead water will still be moved/rippled by wind" and it's such a good representation of beefleaf so now i'm going to go on a rant about beefleaf and why the saying is so good akhjkjijhñl

For those who don't know, Beefleaf is the ship between He Xuan and Shi Qingxuan in Heaven Official's Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu which is a danmei novel by MXTX (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

SPOILERS FOR BLACKWATER ARC !!

He Xuan is often represented with death and water because of his title "Ship Sinking Black Water". In this saying "dead water" simply means still or stagnant water. Water (especially eerily still water) is also often seen as a dark aesthetic. He Xuan also has a very monotonous and quiet personality which makes "dead water" suit him even more. Much like water, he is only ever calm and unmoving or a raging storm.

Shi Qingxuan is represented with wind because he is the wind master. Shi Qingxuan also has a fresh, kind and outgoing personality which can sort of be associated with wind. Overall, Shi Qingxuan can be compared to a calm and warm breeze. 

To sum up the plot of the blackwater arc; Shi Qingxuan was born and got a spirit attached to him that fated him to a life full of hardship. Shi Qingxuan and Shi Wudu were both cultivators and when Shi Wudu ascended he looked for ways to get rid of the spirit haunting Shi Qingxuan. At this point the spirit had lost Qingxuan, the only thing the spirit knew about him was his gender, date of birth and that he had "Xuan" in his name. Shi Wudu found He Xuan, who had the same birthdate and gender, and found out that he was fated to ascend one day. Shi Wudu swapped the fates of Shi Qingxuan which lead to Shi Qingxuan ascending to heaven when He Xuan was supposed to and He Xuan lived a life full of pain and hardship. He Xuan's suffering was worse than Qingxuan's would ever be because he was poor unlike the Shi family. He Xuan's parents died, he was imprisoned multiple times and often starved, his fiancee and sister were both sold into prostitution and he lived in unimaginable poverty. When He Xuan died he soon became a Ghost King and found out what had happened. He Xuan found Ming Yi when he was about to ascend as the earth master, kidnapped him and took his place, infiltrated the heavens as "Ming Yi" and began an intricate revenge plan on Shi Wudu and Shi Qingxuan.

Needless to say, He Xuan harboured intense hate towards both of the Shi siblings; yet he still became best friends with Shi Qingxuan. He Xuan may deny it yet after the events of the blackwater arc (where Shi Qingxuan becomes a homeless mortal and Shi Wudu is killed) He Xuan still watches over Shi Qingxuan from the shadows. He Xuan has obviously been moved by Shi Qingxuan's kindness towards him and everyone and cannot find it in himself to completely hate him. 

I don't think I explained it well but this is why the quote "死水仍会因风而动 / Even dead water will still be rippled by the wind" describes beefleaf so well.

stay delusional and ship beefleaf despite the blackwater arc happening !!