She Who Became the Sun

The daughter of a Semu general who defected from the Great Yuan to join the Red Turbans, kind and empathetic Ma Xiuying is educated, wise, and wary of the political in-fighting within the Red Turban leadership. As a woman, she is not allowed to participate in the war meetings, but as Little Guo’s betrothed, she can attend as a servant. Allied with Minister Guo because of her father’s connections and her betrothal, Ma is both critical of Little Guo’s foolishness and wary of Minister Chen, as it was political disagreements that resulted in her father’s death. Ma does her best to support Little Guo, but her efforts go unnoticed and unappreciated.

After the battle at Yao River, Zhu convinces Ma to teach her how to ride a horse and values Ma’s insights and advice regarding Lu. Zhu also witnesses Ma’s efforts to protect and aid Little Guo, and her comments lead Ma to begin to question her fate as a woman and her desires. When Zhu proposes to her, Ma initially refuses, believing Zhu to be just like other men. However, once Zhu reveals her gender, Ma agrees.

Concerned about Chen’s schemes, Ma convinces Zhu to stay out of the coup between the Guo faction and the Chen faction, though Ma herself becomes a casualty of the plague and learns that Zhu can see ghosts. Ma in turn helps tend to Zhu after she is wounded by Ouyang. Ma’s relationship with Zhu grows more intimate during Zhu’s convalescence, leading to sex and her realization of her desires. Her feelings for Zhu become so strong they scare her.

After the Mongol recapture of Bianliang, however, Ma senses the growing distance between her and Zhu, thanks to Zhu’s maturing ambitions. The Prince of Radiance is given to Ma’s care. During this time, she experiences a moment of domestic bliss as she cares for her spouse as well as a child—a vision of her aspirations come true. However, this doesn’t last as Zhu kills the Prince of Radiance on her way to reclaim Jiankang. Ma is devastated, as Zhu had promised to return the Prince to her after capturing the city. When Ma finds out from Chang Yuchun what Zhu had done and confronts Zhu about it, Zhu gives her an ultimatum: stay and accept the inevitable sacrifices on Zhu’s path to the throne or leave (408). In the end, Ma decides to support Zhu in her quest to become emperor, again to her detriment. She wears red at Zhu’s final leadership ceremony to convey her remembrance of the Prince (409).

A ruthless and cruel Nanren politician, he is power-hungry and manipulative. At the time Zhu arrives at Anfeng, Chen does not hold the Prime Minister’s favor. At times appearing to support some of the Guo faction’s power moves, he is manipulating them for his benefit. After Zhu’s success at the Yao River and her subsequent mission to capture Lu, he invites her to join his faction.

Chen constantly tests Zhu’s loyalty. After Little Guo’s death, he takes Xu Da hostage even as he congratulates Zhu on her marriage; since she didn’t participate in the coup due to plague, he sends her to lead the decoy force at the Grand Canal while he—now the self-styled Chancellor of State—accompanies the main force to capture Bianliang. His first and final act of trust is to invite Zhu to help him betray the Prime Minister and capture the Prince of Radiance, thereby becoming king. Zhu betrays him to the Prime Minister. After Ouyang and Zhang Shide recapture Bianliang, Chen escapes and develops, the narrator says, “a newfound hatred for both monks and eunuchs” (401) and is left “barely more than a bandit leader. But everyone knew you underestimated Chen at your own peril” (401).

A foil for Zhu Chongba, General Ouyang is a Nanren who desires to be Mongol. In truth, he is much more complex. When Ouyang was a child, his father rebelled against the Yuan. As Ouyang’s family was from Henan, Chaghan-Temur, Prince of Henan, enacted their punishment. Ouyang witnessed the destruction of his family. Determined to survive and avenge them, he pleaded for his life and was instead castrated, enslaved, and given to Esen. Although he cannot see them, he is haunted by the ghosts of his family and senses their presence. As Zhu observes, Ouyang has bound himself to them (375).

Ouyang’s identity grows more complicated with age. The extensive time he spends with Esen allows them to become extremely close, to the point that Esen feels most comfortable with Ouyang and considers him a friend. Ouyang is also a skilled soldier; because of this, Esen convinces Chaghan to make him a general. However, Ouyang’s castration is public knowledge; as he has been quite literally emasculated and women are viewed as inferior, he is constantly insulted as “impure” and likened to a “thing,” an “animal,” or a “woman.” He becomes insecure about his masculinity and develops hatred and contempt for women. Perhaps due to this insecurity and influences from Mongolian culture, Ouyang views mutilation as a punishment worse than death, especially for a man. Mutilation, therefore, is his vengeance against Zhu, whom he blames for initiating the fate that he both wants and doesn’t want. He tells her, “Every time the world turns its face from you, know it was because of me” (315).

Ouyang is fueled by vengeance and pride, and distances himself from others, rejecting his Nanren heritage for a Mongolian identity. However, he is rejected by Mongols for his castration and Nanren heritage. In response, he isolates himself. As evidenced by his destruction of Wuhuang Monastery, his fight with Zhu, and his plot against the Yuan, he holds grudges and embodies the saying “revenge is best served cold.” The people who arguably understand him best are also people he greatly dislikes—Lord Wang and Zhu. Lord Esen, no matter how much Ouyang idolizes, envies, and loves him, is blind to Ouyang’s internal struggles. Although he is the only one to arguably consider Ouyang some semblance of Mongol, he also compares Ouyang to a woman. Ouyang simultaneously treasures Esen and is betrayed by him, which conflicts with Ouyang’s emotions about his plot to avenge his family, but at the same time fuels them. As he manipulates Esen and takes advantage of Esen’s generosity, Ouyang also mourns the loss of Esen’s pure emotions, a casualty of Ouyang’s machinations. When Ouyang’s treachery is revealed and Esen’s obliviousness is shattered, they can finally see and understand each other. At the point of no return, they can at last accept each other for who they are.

Esen is Chaghan’s son. On the surface, he is the epitome of the ideal Mongolian man—he excels at battle, equestrianism, and archery. Because of this, Chaghan favors him. However, these traits and his multiple levels of privilege blind him to the struggles of those he cares about, such as Ouyang and Lord Wang, which complicates his relationships with them and leads to his eventual downfall.

Though Esen cares about Lord Wang in his way, he doesn’t always communicate it well. Esen is shortsighted and doesn’t understand the value of administration or politicking, where Lord Wang’s skill lies, nor does he understand the prejudice toward non-Mongolians. He believes that if Wang just assimilates, his problems will be resolved (136). This shortsightedness becomes more evident later when he blames Wang for Chaghan’s death. He simultaneously hates his adopted brother and depends on him to run the estate, as Esen never bothered to learn any other language besides Mongolian (262). His grief and frustration lead him to channel Chaghan when he’s upset, which eventually alienates him from Wang. Though he often means well, Esen is unsuited to the entirety of the Prince of Henan’s duties and often behaves somewhat like a child.

He is also generous to, and protective of, people close to him. He considers Ouyang a friend—likely more than that, though he never admits it. He also protects Ouyang from punishment after their defeat at the Yao River. Esen faces pressure to have a son to continue the family line but has so far been unsuccessful. He prefers Ouyang’s company over that of his many wives, to the point that Lord Wang insinuates that Esen prefers men, something that, the narrator says, is “not unheard of among Manji, [but] there was little worse for a Mongol’s reputation” (136). While Esen is indeed very generous and forgiving toward Ouyang, he is oblivious to Ouyang’s insecurities. Esen depends greatly but naively on Ouyang’s advice, easily falling into Ouyang’s trap. Even so, when Ouyang’s treachery is revealed, he lets Ouyang kill him, the most honest and intimate moment in their relationship.