Facing Death to Live: The Tragedy of the Three-World Love Story in Immortal Samsara

The world of tarot is rich with symbolism and a deep intuition, connecting it with the human experience. Films that draw inspiration from tarot cards often explore themes of fate, choice, and the mystical forces that shape our lives. And there is nothing more fitting to these themes than the tragic love story in the Chinese drama "Immortal Samsara". In this post, join Qiyu Kong as she draws The Lovers from our deck, uncovering the heart-wrenching lessons thought through Yan Dan and Tang Zhou and how they can guide us in our own relationships.

Yan Dan and Tang Zhou.

The First Life, a Beginning of Love, Pain, and Consequences Yet to Come

Many believe the tragedy of the first life lies in Yan Dan's leap into the Wuyao Abyss. However, in my eyes, the cruelest blow was hidden beneath the suffocating layers of heavenly rules, and behind Lord Ying Yuan's perpetually calm mask. The root of this tragedy was a heavy "curse." Millennia ago, the mistake of Lord Ying Yuan's mother, Princess Ran Qing, who fell for a demon lord and nearly destroyed the world, became a thorn in his heart. It was the very reason he dared not reciprocate Yan Dan's feelings; he feared repeating history, fearing this love would become the fuse to destroy the world.

When Ying Yuan, severely injured, imprisoned himself in the Di Ya cave, it was Yan Dan who accompanied him, disguised as a man. In that moment, he let down his guard, and his vulnerability and tenderness became the trap that made Yan Dan fall. She cut out half her heart to save him, thinking it was a noble sacrifice, yet unaware this "half heart" would later become the evidence used to frame her.

The most heartbreaking climax arrived.

At the execution grounds, Yan Dan asked, "Have you ever had feelings for me?" Ying Yuan remained silent. At that moment, we might have hated his coldness, but later we realized how precarious that silence was. He couldn't speak. To admit it would mean a death sentence for Yan Dan; to show emotion would mean utter ruin. He could only use indifference as armor, even going so far as to stage a "fake execution" to deceive the world, all just to save her life. Yan Dan didn't understand; she thought it meant he didn't love her, so she resolutely leaped into the Wuyao Abyss. At the moment Ying Yuan jumped down, he wasn't just saving her life, but his own shattered soul.

But what haunts me most about this first life was that "mutual self-sacrifice."

Yan Dan entered the Ye Wang River. It wasn't that she didn't want to forget, but that she couldn't. Eight hundred years of soaking in the river meant disintegration if she couldn't forget, yet she stubbornly held onto those memories. On the other side, Ying Yuan, for protecting her, was discovered to have fallen in love and suffered unspeakable torture. To ensure he wouldn't forget her, he ruthlessly sealed his memories into his immortal soul; unless he turned to dust, he would never let go. In the end, it was Ying Yuan who personally sealed Yan Dan's memories and sent her to the reincarnation. At that moment, he wasn't just sending away his lover, but cutting off all his own possibilities for happiness. He returned alone to the Yan Xu Palace, gazing at the stars they once watched together, guarding a love he could never speak of, becoming the loneliest god at the highest peak of the world.

The Second Life, a Face from the Past

If the tragedy of the first life stemmed from "Heavenly Rules," the tragedy of the second life is a complete "misunderstanding." Ying Yuan descended to the mortal realm, becoming the demon hunter Tang Zhou. Fate played a trick; he lost his memory and fell sincerely for Yan Dan, while she regained her memories but was burdened by the knowledge of his destined return.

Tang Zhou loved her so passionately and clumsily. In his heart, he was just a mortal demon hunter who wanted to protect his beloved. For Yan Dan, this demon-slaying master repeatedly defied the heavens, even willingly discarding his cultivation just to escape with her. Even when Yan Dan, burdened by her memories, rejected and distanced herself from him time and again, Tang Zhou stubbornly stayed, his words "But Yan Dan, I am not him," encapsulating all his sadness and confusion; he didn't know who he was, nor why his lover tortured him so, but he only knew that he loved her.

The most heartbreaking moment of this life was the magnificent meteor shower.

As a demon hunter, his spiritual power was his foundation; every bit used was a deduction from his life. Yet, to cheer Yan Dan up on his friend's wedding day, Tang Zhou overexerted himself, using his last reserves to create a sky full of stars. That meteor shower was for the world to see, yet amidst the dazzling light, he only held Yan Dan's hand, bringing her close to this romance that belonged only to them. At that moment, though he was already on his deathbed, he gave her all his tenderness. It was not just his proposal, but his soul's final swan song.

Tang Zhou didn't know that after regaining her memories, Yan Dan understood that only if "Tang Zhou" died could the Divine Ruler Ying Yuan return and save the world. For the greater good, and to save the trapped soul, Yan Dan had no choice but to raise her sword. Tang Zhou died by his lover's sword. Until his last breath, he didn't understand why the one who loved him moments ago was now taking his life; he didn't know that his words "Yan Dan, I am not him," had become an unsolvable deadlock. He died with love and confusion for Yan Dan in his eyes. In this life, he lost to fate, losing to the identity of "Ying Yuan" that he didn't know. Yan Dan personally killed Tang Zhou, the one who loved her most; that pain is more suffocating than death itself.

The Third Life, War and Conclusions

The third tragedy struck after the final battle. Unable to control his Asura bloodline, a threat to the Three Realms, he chose to end his life. Witnessing his sacrifice, Yan Dan followed in devotion and ended her own life beside him.

Looking back at these three lifetimes of tragedy, from prisoners of celestial rules to victims of misunderstandings, Ying Yuan and Yan Dan seemed to drift endlessly in a cycle of "missing" and "sacrificing". Ying Yuan gave his life to save the world and protect Yan Dan; Yan Dan, shattering her heart to follow him, did not do so out of weak devotion, but as a promise that transcended life and death. When their souls reunited within the agarwood cauldron, and when that lotus bloomed anew in the human realm, all the hues of tragedy were washed away. It is precisely because they died once that they finally earned the "right" to live. This time, free from the responsibilities of a Heavenly Lord, the humility of a celestial servant, or the curses of the Asura, they could finally just be "Tang Zhou" and "Yan Dan".