Ge You, as Governor Ma, says shortly after he first enters Goose Town, "No good, we're too late, the previous governor has already preempted the tax to 90 years from now, it's 2010." The original story takes place in 193X, and was deliberately changed to 1920 by Jiang Wen.
Question 2: Is Huang Silang just a landlord bully? It's not that simple
When Huang Silang handed the fake pazi (Hu Jun) the landmine, he said a lot: "I don't know about Northern China, but there are only two of these limited edition landmines in the whole of Southern China"; "The first one blew up the first time during the Xinhai Revolution." "Shocking, moving the earth, but also weeping ghosts and gods"; "1910, made in U.S" The Xinhai Revolution took place in 1911, and this was only produced in 1910. Huang Silang not only knew what type of mines were used in the Xinhai Revolution, he also owned the only twin mine. What role did Huang Silang play in the Xinhai Revolution? Huang Silang was involved in the core planning of the Wuchang Uprising in and was a veteran revolutionary of the Xinhai Revolution! Don't believe me?
Question 3: Was Pocky Zhang just a bandit? Of course not. The movie makes it very clear that Zhang Muzhi, who followed General Songpo (Cai E) in his early years, was a pistol captain under his command when he was 17. He was a member of the military academy (for Cai E, it should be the Yunnan Army Military Academy, founded in 1909). After Cai E's death in Japan (1916), Zhang Muzhi returned to China and fell into exile.
Cai E who? Liang Qichao senior apprentice, the founding father of the Republic of China, the protector of the military god. Zhang Muzhi followed him in his early years and was considered a veteran of the Xinhai Revolutionary Party. Zhang Muzhi and Huang Silang were also comrades in arms during the revolution? The movie gives obvious clues
Question 4: What was the 1900 connection?
When Zhang Muzhi and Ma Bangde went to Huang Silang's Hongmen Banquet, Huang Silang said. "20 years ago, I had a one-sided relationship with Zhang Mazi". From the movie, we can see that Huang Silang knew from the beginning that the fake governor was Zhang Muzhi was Zhang Mazi. This one-sided acquaintance is a deliberate knockout punch that he points out. The movie conclusively takes place in 1920. Twenty years earlier it was 1900.
Huang Silang and Zhang Muzhi met in that year? What happened in that year? Let's continue with Zhang's 17th year as captain of Cai E's pistols.
The question is, how old is Zhang Muzhi now, and what year did he meet Cai E? Cai E was born in December 1882, 1899 in the school of current affairs of the teacher Tang Cai Changde funded to study in Japan, graduated in 1904, graduated from the Japanese Army Sergeant School. After returning to China, he successively practiced in Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places. If Zhang is after 1904 to see Cai E, then in 1900 when Zhang Muzhi not more than 13 years old. Such a child should not have attracted Huang Silang's attention. And at 33 years old in 1920, he seemed to be a bit too young. Cai E was only thirty-seven years old when he lived. Before 1899, Cai E was just a student under 16 years old, and although his reputation was already not weak, he was not worthy of a pistol captain, was he? The meeting between Zhang and Cai should have happened when Cai E was studying abroad from 1899 to 1904. 17-year-old Zhang Muzhi, why would he be a pistol captain for a foreign student? I found out that in 1900, Tang Cai Chang planned to start a "Self-Rising Army Uprising" in Wuhan. When Cai E heard about it, he went back to China to respond to his teacher. But Tang thought he was too young, so he sent him to Hunan to deliver a message. Later, Tang Cai Chang was killed by Zhang Zhidong, and Cai E escaped from Hunan and went back to Japan (this is when he changed his name to Cai E and studied military affairs). I think this was the year that Zhang Muzhi became Cai E's pistol captain. I think Tang Caichang didn't trust Cai E to go alone, and sent Zhang Muzhi, a young man of his age, to be his bodyguard - "Pistol Captain" (presumably a bald captain). Calculating this way, Zhang Muzhi was 37 years old when the movie took place in 1920, which also fits the characterization. There are two possibilities for Huang to have known Zhang Muzhi in 1900: 1) Huang was also involved in the Self-supporting Army revolt, and had met Cai E and Zhang Muzhi in Wuhan or Hunan. 2) Cai E had taken this pistol boy as a friend of Zhang Muzhi. 2) Cai E brought this little pistol-packing soldier with him to Japan, where he had a meeting with Huang. I'm leaning towards the latter, because both Huang and Zhang apparently spent a lot of time in Japan.
Question 5: Did Zhang Muzhi and Huang Shilang both spend time in Japan? I think so. They were both familiar with kaiju
First, let's introduce kaiju:
Japanese harakiri practitioners have a trusted friend act as a "kaiju" (介错). The kaiju stands behind him with a long knife and cuts off the head of the suicidal person the moment his short knife cuts into his belly. Hara-kiri is familiar to everyone, but the "mediator" is relatively unknown. Not to mention that in 1920, when there was no internet or TV, if you weren't quite familiar with Japanese culture, you couldn't even say those two words, could you? At the Hongmen Banquet, Huang Shilang said, "If these three men give me up, I'll commit harakiri and ask you to be my kaikou". Zhang Muzhi said, "You're wrong, the person who is the mediator is using a long knife". Both men should have been in Japan for a long time. Especially Huang Shilang, a good Chinese who can not be involved in harakiri. For Zhang Muzhi to be hanging out in Japan, it could only have been 1900-1904. Because in 1904 Cai E returned to Japan after not much to go to Japan (in fact, I'm not familiar with, blindfolded), as Cai E's pistol captain, Zhang Muzhi also can not go to Japan. In August 1916, Cai E was seriously ill and went to Japan for treatment, Zhang Muzhi must have followed him to Japan, but it is estimated that during this time he was not interested in studying what harakiri. Not to mention that Cai E died of illness in early November.
After answering these five questions, let's look at Huang Silang again. He had stayed in the West and in the East. He loved to speak in Chinese, and he had a good knowledge of Chinese culture. If you think of him as a landlord, these settings are obviously lame; but if you think of him as a revolutionary who followed Sun Yat-sen in his early days, these settings are appropriate. Huang Silang is more than a simple landlord. He's a corrupt ex-revolutionary, now in power. In Goose Town, he is the voice of the "government".
Summarizing the dark line:
In 1900, Zhang Muzhi followed Cai E to Japan and had a meeting with Huang Shilang. (That's why Huang always mentions Siu Fung Sin to Flora, Cai E and Siu Fung Sin ah.)
1900-1911, Zhang Muzhi and Huang Shilang were in the same revolutionary camp, but did not cross paths.
October 10, 1911: Xinhai Wuchang Uprising, with Huang Silang as a core member. On Oct. 30, Cai E launched the Chongjiu Uprising in Yunnan, with Zhang Muzhi counted as a core member.
1911-1920. After the victory of Xinhai, the revolutionary Huang Silang, began to use his power to enrich himself. He defected to the powerful warlord Zhang Jingyao (or was it Zhang Zongchang?). Actually I didn't hear it clearly. After he joined the powerful warlord Zhang Jingyao (or was it Zhang Zongchang? I didn't hear him clearly.), he became more and more unscrupulous and imposed exorbitant taxes, and he even used his hometown of Goose Town as the foundation to control half of the tobacco trade in the Republic of China and made a huge fortune.
After the victory of Xinhai, the revolutionary Zhang Muzhi, who did not seek power and money, continued to follow Cai E. He was a member of the Nationalist Party of China (NPC). Cai E died in Japan in 1916, after which Zhang Muzhi, disappointed with the current situation, simply fell into hiding.
In 1920, Zhang Muzhi's black horse Bond came to Goose Town and the movie began. Zhang Huang fight, set off a small Goose Town Uprising, after the victory of Zhang Muzhi pennies, the beloved woman and his brothers went away together. This "revolution", just like the Xinhai Revolution, he gained nothing, and even lost a lot. He sat on the chair, also by other man resistance away.
This is Jiang Wen's political metaphor in this movie. Who will join the revolution? Heroes like Cai E, lords like Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Shikai will be the one who gets the power; men like Zhang Muzhi, speculators like Huang Silang, but Huang Silang will be the one who gets the profit. When Zhang Muzhi started the Goose Town Revolution again, he did not do it for wealth nor for power, nor for women nor for the public. He said to Huang Silang, "It's important to me without you."
If that metaphor isn't enough for you, there's another line from the Hongmen Banquet. "The other moment?" "Just like the here and now."