Deadly tunes, blossom assassins: The fragile art of war in Cdramas
I'm currently watching Whispers of Fate and it made me realise that something that inevitably fascinates me in Wuxia and Xianxia dramas is the use of fragile and delicate objects as weapons of choice - from flutes to fans to parasols to petals. It has some precedent in the naming of martial arts techniques, which often have poetic and often nature-themed names. Still, it's such a stark contrast to Western dramas, which almost always use, well, actual weapons of war.
I think it's the irony of delicate, beautiful items being used for destruction that makes it a powerful image. It can also feel quite satisfying and subversive. Even if it's a villain (I'm thinking of West Palace Master or the Three-Colored Peach in whispers of Fate), it feels empowering to see a fragile, delicate being equipped only with peach blossoms being able to defend herself and cause general mayhem. Does anyone else feel this way?
A list of "delicate" objects I've seen use as weapons or self defence methods:
Musical instruments (harp, flute, guxin, etc).
Fans.
Parasols.
Prayer beads.
Leaves.
Petals.
Flowers.
Silk.
Snow and ice (to be fair, they can be pretty lethal in real life too).
What am I missing?