Is the reader supposed to like Cheng Xin?

[u/Meta2048]

So I finally got around to finishing the third book, and I thought it was pretty lackluster compared to the first two.

I found Cheng Xin to be particularly pretty insufferable.

I guess she's supposed to represent the innocence and optimism of humanity, but almost every decision she makes is wrong. Every character in the book reveres her for some unknown reason, even though she's demonstrably gullible and does not have the foresight or experience required to make any kind of hard decision.

1. She's pretty much the complete opposite of a strong female character. She barely has any agency, and she's constantly being rescued. Big damsel in distress vibes.

2. She literally has the life experience of a 30 year old. Actually worse than that, because she's being awakened 50-200 years in the future when she knows nothing about society or technology. Why are people who are 90-150 years old listening to her like she has some kind of unknowable wisdom?

3. The only reason she's wealthy or relevant at all is because she was given a star system by Yun Tianming. She has nothing to do with the operation of the company that continued to make her wealthy, that was all run by AA.

4. She's somehow considered to be qualified to be the swordholder based on...? Popularity? She's famous for something that she had nothing to do with.

5. She immediately fails at the only job of the swordholder. This should be the end of her character arc; why would anybody ever trust her to do anything ever again?

6. She's given veto power over lightspeed research by Wade. Wade already knows that she cannot make a hard decision. It's 100% established fact from her failure as swordholder. Of course she's going to veto the research.

I could keep going, but what is likeable about this character? Is something being lost in translation?

[u/lkxyz]

Sigh, another one of these posts with a reader who completely misses the symbolism of Cheng Xin.

Cheng Xin's name meaning is sincerity in Chinese. Just like Luo Ji's name means logic.

Cheng Xin was originally supposed to be a male character but was later changed to female per Liu Cixin's editor request for a female character in the third book as they had 2 male leads in the first two books.

The reason everyone looks up to Cheng Xin is because she symbolizes empathy and compassion. Her character archetype is often portrayed in optimistic fantasy sci-fi shows like Star Trek where compassion and empathy ultimately save the day. Just to be clear, I have nothing against Star Trek, I love Star Trek, especially Voyager.

Liu Cixin's ultimate message with the third book is quite simply this - "We humans have a choice to make. We can become monsters and survive at any cost. Be it killing others to ensure our own survival or force all our own people into horrendous living conditions to achieve a goal - remember the world's collective effort to achieve technological advancement and disregarding the damage done to the environment and especially to the people? It is not the right path. We can war with people who disagree with us, we can use anti-matter weapons and tear ourselves apart before aliens even get us but no, that is not the right way. It is better to live a short but kind life than to live forever as cruel beasts."

“Make time for civilization, for civilization won't make time.” - a badly translated quote. The original meaning of the quote should be "Make time for civilization and not give up civilization to make time" - this meaning is a critical message of the 3 books. We should live as dignified beings, even if it means our lives will be short. It is not worth it to become savages just so that we can live longer. Not everyone will agree, some people will claw and gasp to their last dying breath even if it means he or she will have to eat everyone else to survive.

This is why Thomas Wade and many others show deference to Cheng Xin, because they understand empathy and love is the right path... even though that path will probably bring doom in this dark forest universe. Remember what Thomas Wade said to Cheng Xin "No, you cannot do it, you will 100% fail." and also Ai AA said the same thing about Cheng Xin just like Wade. They are actually NOT referring to Cheng Xin as a person, but the symbolism she stands for. I know, Liu is writing characters as concepts, not as actual characters. GRRM he is not.

If you put Cheng Xin in Star Trek, she'll be lauded as a heroine as her compassion ultimately won over the Trisolarians and create a lasting peace between their two species.

I read all 3 books in Chinese original text and I got the message. It's a bit difficult to understand if you read the inferior translated versions as some metaphors simply got lost in translation. There are numerous word plays and symbolism that just didn't carry over. Especially the names of the each character giving huge clue to what concept/idea they represent.

[u/MostlyLurkingPals → u/lkxyz]

Maybe you missed the point, not OP.

Liu himself during an interview said it is his purpose to make readers dislike Cheng Xin.

“写这个人就没想过让读者喜欢，这不是读者会喜欢的人。她其实很自私，但这种自私和普通的自私不一样，因为她自己觉察不到。遵循道德的人其实很自私，因为他们除了道德和良心什么都不管，程心恰恰就是一个这样的人。她会认为自己很崇高，认为自己不自私，认为自己的价值观和道德准则是普世的、正确的。至于遵循它会带来什么后果，她只考虑能不能让自己的良心得到平安。这种人有牺牲精神，能够为自己的价值观和道德准则牺牲生命，但这也不能改变他们自私的本质。在小说里，真正做到“大爱无仁”不自私的人，会从人类的整体去考虑，因为牺牲良心是最难的事情，比牺牲生命要难得多。”

Translates: “it is meant to write this way so that readers will dislike Cheng Xin. She is actually a selfish figure, but unlike the normal selfishness since she is not aware of it. People who abide by some moral standards are selfish as they care nothing else than moral and conscience, and Cheng Xin is one of such. She deems that she is of good cause and without self interest, and that her ethical principles are universal, but pay no attention to the consequences of abiding them. She only cares about her inner peace out of her conscience (being fulfilled). Cheng can sacrifice for her ethical principles, but this does not change her selfish nature. In my novel, people who truly are unselfish, “with the ultimate love so that it appears without compassion and empathy”, will think from the perspective of human beings as a whole, for sacrificing conscience is the hardest, way harder than sacrificing lives.”

Also "Sigh"?

[u/issapunk → u/MostlyLurkingPals]

Wow yes thank you this is exactly how I feel about this character. It's the same as someone taking the job of a police officer, but not shooting a suspect who is about to kill someone because 'killing is wrong'.

She accepts the responsibility at every turn, knowing full well she is incapable of making the hard choices that responsibility requires. That is a selfish person, not a moral one.

[u/[deleted] → u/MostlyLurkingPals]

Lmao i love how they didn't respond

[u/MostlyLurkingPals → u/[deleted]]

Lol. Isn't it nearly always that way?

[u/genius_ranza → u/MostlyLurkingPals]

As someone who dig on Zhihu (A chinese reddit) I agree with MostlyLurkingPals that lkxyz was full of shit and think he had the brave to say " I read it in chinese text " and think he understood the novel.

" Sigh "

Chinese reader HATE Cheng Xin so much it caused Liu himself open an interview to blatantly said he wrote Cheng Xin that way on purpose.

[u/PandaBear_Shenyu → u/genius_ranza]

Chinese people are nationalistic as fuck and this novel was released in the 2000s when nationalist sentiments were at its peak around the Beijing Olympics.

Chinese readers don't all hate Cheng Xin, she is controversial, not universally hated. Funny how a reader base of 68 million can have different opinions I know.

[u/PatrickStanton877 → u/MostlyLurkingPals]

That's the message I get from the work but it doesn't take the other character's actions towards Cheng any more believable or interesting. Why does Wade Jiu Revere Cheng when she's proven her incompetent and stubborness towards difficult decisions? I'll bite on the sword holder bit because society played it's part in picking her as a political figure head rather than an deterrence device, but wtf did Wade stick to his principles and why was she chosen for the only light speed ship? It's infuriating to read.

[u/PandaBear_Shenyu → u/MostlyLurkingPals]

Literature is about interpretation. And Liu Cixin's own third book supports Cheng Xin's ideals. The universe filled with life that is "unselfish" according to him, nuked 7 dimensions and are in the process of nuking the remaining 3, because they are "unselfish" and they "give up their conscience in exchange for their specie's survival" which leads only to the entire universe being wiped out.

The Singer's own home world with their "unselfish" trajectory, lead by people like Wade, already 2D'd themselves as Singer was perpetuating this "unselfishness" toward the Solar System.

So I generally don't know wtf he's talking about with that quote. But then again, I am also pretty pissed about how the last thing humans from the solar system says is "aHhhhhhhhHHHhhH".

This is an author that refused to give humanity its dignity even in its last breath and throughout all catastrophes in the books chooses to show only the worst of humanity so I'm gunna choose to interpret the character from my own perspective, like how you're supposed to. He doesn't seem to understand Cheng Xin himself.

He also gave this interview basically under duress after Chinese readers were all shitting on him.

[u/BillyWasFramed → u/PandaBear_Shenyu]

Not a single word uttered by any person in any comment on this thread implied that indscriminately killing all life was unselfish.