Kat wrote: > On Tue, Sep 21, 2004 at 03:32:00PM -0700, David Silberstein wrote: > > >I did like the moral tone (which reminded me of Antoly<sp> > > >in the musical Chess), but I didn't much care for the way > > >the Emperor was carrying out his unification. Nice idea, > > >lousy execution. > > > > But I thought that *was* the moral - since his intentions were > > sufficiently "noble", implementing them was worth any number of > > massacres. > > I agree - it was a "we are going to make all of you stop skirmishing with > each other by *conquering* you and partially destroying your native culture > by forcing you to adopt another language" tone. Unity over freedom. Not > suprising, coming from China. As I said, the Emperor's policies/actions were wrong, no matter how "noble" his intentions. But the main character's decision was much more reasonable, the lovers' romantic, and the idea that a country or land (and its people) is more important than any one person ideal and moral. But then, I've always maintained a weird sense of morals, given the standards here, China, or elsewhere. (I'd go into more detail, perhaps, but it would give serious spoilers, and I'd feel bad about that.) :-) Chris