A Song to Drown Rivers

Over the course of the novel, Xishi learns a hard lesson about the reality of war. As she begins her mission, she believes that she as an individual must do something to further the cause of her kingdom and enact revenge against the kingdom’s oppressors. By the novel’s end, she has adopted a completely different philosophy, believing that her individual contribution makes no difference in the larger scheme of things either for herself or her society as a whole. Amid the celebrations, Zhengdan’s mother expresses this theme: Wars are carried out to satisfy the ambitions of kings. In the lives of ordinary people, they bring nothing but grief. 

In the beginning, the memories of her sister’s death and the destruction of her village are fresh. The Wu soldiers are still present, often hurting and killing children and destroying property for fun. This creates a legitimate and strong sense of anger in Xishi. She blames the Wu as a people for her pain, and she believes that the appropriate response is to bring war on the Wu in retaliation. Zhengdan’s mother later explicitly rejects this framing when she says of her husband that “He was not killed by the Wu […] He was killed by the war. By the will of kings” (300). With this statement, Zhengdan’s mother reframes Xishi’s understanding of the political landscape: Her enemy is not the Wu, but the kings who oppress all common people, regardless of which kingdom they belong to. Moments later, the Yue king Goujian confirms this view by having Xishi killed. She has almost single-handedly saved his kingdom, but her success has only convinced him that she is a threat, and he rewards her with murder. 

Zhengdan’s rage against General Ma is another example of the destructive nature of war. Zhengdan’s rage and passion for revenge against General Ma is strong, righteous, and ends in apparent success. Though she humiliates him in combat and succeeds in holding a sword to his throat as she vowed to do, his political power is undiminished, and he simply assuages his bruised ego by having her killed. 

Fanli, too, pursues vengeance against the Wu for both personal and nationalistic reasons, but his dedication does not result in healing or satisfaction. By doggedly following his plan for revenge, he misses his opportunity for love and a happy life with Xishi. Even the kings aren’t immune to the negative effects of war. Fuchai voices how lonely he is and admits that the war he’s waged against the Yue has caused stress and anxiety, leaving him vulnerable to anyone able to give him comfort. Meanwhile, Goujian spends the rest of his days after victory paranoid and haunted by those he’s killed.

By the end of the novel, Xishi is persuaded that war and revenge are pointless, not only for individuals but for societies. She has seen humanity in the enemy, not only in Fuchai but also in those with economic backgrounds similar to her own. The maids and people in the streets of the Wu kingdom have had experiences of death and sadness similar to hers. The society she has seen as monstrous turns out to look very much like her own. She also sees the way the world goes on after Fuchai’s death and, after hearing her friend Zhengdan’s mother’s words, realizes that nothing has changed despite the king being killed. Society will continue, the only difference being the name of the king or the country. She experiences the twisted nature of her own King Goujian and realizes he is no better than what was believed of King Fuchai. The world will go on, and the individuals continue to suffer because of the violent ambitions of the powerful.