Opening the Coffin

A story set in a time of peace and prosperity. The one who is pursued seeks the way of healing, while the pursuer schemes to rule the world. It explores acceptance and letting go, memory and forgetting in love. It isn’t too heavy, and is in keeping with my recent style. In my view, it has a happy ending. There are many kinds of love in this world. One kind “makes people pledge their lives to each other”: you die for me, and I repay you with my life. One gives their life, and the other returns the favor. It is done with composure, and is the most direct expression of love. The title, The Coffin Opens, suggests death, but this is a love story. Love and death truly are eternal themes. The title comes from “Huashan Ji,” which says, “At Huashan Ji, since you died for me, what use is there in my living on alone? If you loved me, then the coffin would open for me.” The full story is recorded in Gujin Yuelu, and is considered one of the earliest versions of the tale of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Updates are always slow, so this will remain on hiatus forever...