The Struggle for Narrative Authority
The lines " Wishing to know more, he is bid to listen and hear, / This battle must be told from the very beginning" mark the transfer of narrative authority from the King to Nameless. In the film Hero, this turning point is crucial – by gaining narrative control, Nameless temporarily breaks the King's discursive monopoly, creating the possibility for equal dialogue.
The triple narrative structure employed in Hero (Nameless's version, the King's version, the true version) finds its poetic counterpart here. The promise of "told from the very beginning" in the poem foreshadows the complexity and polysemy of the subsequent story, challenging the reliability of a single authoritative narrative.
Zhang Yimou differentiates the narrative versions through color changes: red represents passion and falsehood, blue symbolizes calm and suspicion, and white embodies truth and purity. This color narrative strategy forms a cross-media correspondence with the "listen and hear" in "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" – just as the poem challenges singular truth through linguistic polysemy, the film also questions narrative objectivity through the变幻 of color.
⚔️ Intertextuality of the Two Poems and the Material Discourse System in Hero
Reading "First Opening of the Sword Box" and "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" together reveals that they jointly construct a complete system of material discourse, forming a deep resonance with the formal aesthetics of Zhang Yimou's Hero.
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The Dialectics of Power: Objects and Discourse
"First Opening of the Sword Box" focuses on the political life of objects, revealing the material basis of power operation through the circulation and display of weapons and tribute within the power field; "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" concerns the ideological function of speech, showcasing the discursive dimension of power construction through the exchange of questions, answers, and narratives between subjects. Together, they constitute the two sides of the same coin of power.
In the film Hero, the dialectical relationship between material and discourse is manifested in various forms: on one hand, there is the materiality of the Qin palace – the endless steps, heavy gates, stern arrays constitute the spatial representation of power; on the other hand, there is the discursivity of narrative – different versions of the story, constantly reversing truths constitute the knowledge representation of power.
More profoundly, when Nameless ultimately abandons the assassination and chooses to sacrifice himself for the ideal of "All Under Heaven," both the material sword and the discursive concept of "All Under Heaven" undergo a reversal of meaning: the sword transforms from a tool of killing into a symbol of peace, and "All Under Heaven" changes from a political slogan into a reason for sacrifice. This transformation is already foreshadowed in the "yet he seems to decline" of "First Opening of the Sword Box" and the "he is bid to listen" of "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" – Nameless's indifference to material rewards and his value placed on narrative authority预示 his transformation from assassin to martyr of an idea.
Poetic Echoes of Body Politics in Hero
The descriptions of body and space in the two poems resonate with the body politics in Hero. The "scrutinizing closely" in "First Opening of the Sword Box" implies power's discipline of the body, while the questioning and answering in "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" embodies power's interrogation of identity.
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In the film, the rituals Nameless's body undergoes – the search, the kneeling, the advance – are all instances of power disciplining the individual body. His narration of his own identity ("Merely a minor official") is a form of resistance at the discursive level. This coexistence of bodily submission and ideological independence constitutes the inner tension of Nameless's character and is highly consistent with the perspective offered by the two poems.
Zhang Yimou intensifies this tension of body politics through cinematography. When Nameless ultimately walks out of the main hall and allows his body to be承受 by ten thousand arrows, he completes the transformation from a body disciplined by power to a body that freely chooses death. This scene stands in sharp contrast to the display of objects in "First Opening of the Sword Box" – the former achieves spiritual freedom by accepting destruction through materiality (arrows), while the latter seeks power's recognition by displaying materiality (weapons).
🎨 The Aesthetic Innovation and Cultural Reflection of Hero Viewed Through Material Narrative
Through the lens of "First Opening of the Sword Box" and "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth," we can gain a deeper understanding of Zhang Yimou's unique contributions in terms of aesthetic innovation and cultural reflection in Hero.
Eastern Aesthetics of Material Narrative
In Hero, Zhang Yimou constructs an Eastern aesthetics of power through material elements such as objects, costumes, and architecture. The black tones of the Qin palace, the cold gleam of weapons, the gold of the rewards not only create a strong visual impact but also carry profound cultural connotations.
Echoing the concise descriptions of the two poems, the material elements in the film are also highly symbolized: the sword is not just a weapon but also a carrier of calligraphy and the martial way; the arrow阵 is not merely a military tactic but the ultimate expression of collectivism; the palace is not only a place of power but also a visual representation of Yin-Yang philosophy.
This aesthetics of material narrative finds its poetic counterpart in the "Golden goblets and fine wine are hurriedly presented" of "First Opening of the Sword Box" and the "The hall inquires: Is the visitor a man of Qin?" of "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth" – objects and discourse jointly construct a Warring States world that is both real and abstract, a power field that is both specific and universal.
Contemporary Reverberations of Historical Narrative
The two poems, "First Opening of the Sword Box" and "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth," together with the film Hero, participate in the reconstruction of contemporary Chinese historical narrative. The "settling scores freely" of traditional assassin stories is replaced by contemplation on the order of "All Under Heaven," and individual heroism gives way to collective rational consideration.
This transformation is subtly reflected in the two poems: the "yet he seems to decline" in "First Opening of the Sword Box" hints at the rejection of material temptation, while the "he is bid to listen" in "Famed, Yet Questioned for the Truth"预示着 the beginning of a grand narrative. Correspondingly, Nameless in the film ultimately accepts Broken Sword's concept of "All Under Heaven," transforming from an assassin into an identifier with order.