The Tushan Tree of Bitter Love
Pledge of Love or Heart Oath (转世续缘 起誓 zhuanshi xuyuan qishi, literally 'resurrection oath') allows a human and yaoguai to love each other for eternity by allowing the human to reincarnate and find their lover again. The lovers make the pledge under the Kuqing Tree in Tushan using a special item called a fabao.
How it works[]
It is explained in detail by Tushan Rongrong in Episode 3 of the donghua:
When a human and yaoguai love each other they can go before the great Tree of Bitter Love in the center of Tushan and make a Pledge of Love. Because human lives are so short, a union between a Spirit and human would be especially short lived and result in much sorrow for the Spirit at the human's death.
To help solve this problem, the Tushan Matchmakers developed a method of reincarnation to allow this love to persist beyond the grave. By pledging memories and Spirit Power, the Spirit can bring their plight before the Tree of Bitter Love and with the words of a prayer ask the Tree to allow them to join their union in the human's next reincarnation.
Their spirit power is then taken and placed into a vessel which is traditionally of significance between the two, it is then split in two and the Spirit retains one half while the human will be reincarnated with the other half after they die. The more spirit power the Spirit chooses to give up in exchange for completing the Pledge the more likely it is for the Pledge to work and their union be reunited. This method is the only reliable known way of allowing a human to reincarnate and regain their memories of their previous life.
If their wish is granted, their vessel or pledge token (法宝 fabao) will be split into two pieces and the yaoguai's spirit power pledged will be stored in the halves.
The Pledge[]
Yan Rayu and Jianwen make the vow.
The words of the Pledge are:
"I [Spirit's name], am willing to pledge [an amount] percent of my spirit power. Please let us meet in the next life."
我【名】愿意使用【数】成妖力，起誓让我们来生相见。
The human may then respond if they are willing as well.
Exceptions[]
Despite making such a vow, it cannot guarantee that the two will be reunited in the humans next life. They must still work toward that love mutually in the human's next life and the Pledge of Love merely provides them a chance that it will be possible. To help make this happen Tushan Matchmakers offer their services in helping yaoguai and human couples be reunited and recover their memories and fall in love again. Many spirits wait in Tushan, enjoying the resort, while they wait for their human companion to be reincarnated.
Also, if the yaoguai dies, the heart pledge also ends.
Example couples[]
- Fan Yunfei and Ice General make a pledge of love using the Water Bead Jewel as their fabao.
- Wang Fugui and Qing Tong make a pledge
- Dongfang Yuechu and Tushan Honghong use Yuechu's Void Tear as fabao
- Shi Kuan and Yuyao Princess
- Yan Ruyu and Miss Wen use Yan's Serene Amber Horn as fabao
- Luolan and Pingqiu Yuechu use two Violet Gold Love Bells as fabao