I just finished “Love of the Divine Tree” today, and I really liked it.

Note: There will be some spoilers!

Besides the sole entertaining purpose, I think there are many beautiful messages that we can learn from the characters.

First of all, the male lead, Su Yishui. He had a really traumatized childhood and upbringing, when he was abandoned and abused by his mother, before she sold him to his biological father. The father, who is a very wealthy and powerful man, “bought” him from his mother and tried to turn him into a “weapon” for his own ambitious plan. There is no love, care or understanding; only constant rejection, abuse and hurt. In order to survive, Su has to endure all of those mistreatments and tries to become stronger to be able to protect himself, but all those pains also turn him into a cold-hearted man.

Later, he met and fell in love with the female lead, Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran (her new name in the 2^nd life). After she died trying to protect Yishui, he sacrificed a lot to revive her, and after lots of challenges, they fall in love and live happily. When they first met, she showed interest and care for him, but he was scared of it and tried to run away, because everything she offered, genuine care and understanding, from another person, was so unfamiliar to him. He knew he fell in love with her when she waited, lighted the lamps and opened the door for him. He stood in front of his mother’s and father’s door many times in the past, and all he saw was two tightly closed doors. Now, there is a person waiting and opening the door for him. That is the happiness that he always wanted as a kid but never had. However, this guy suffered a lot, and was traumatized by that one wound, which most of us unconsciously wired into, “not enoughness”.

“Since I am not enough, love is not available for me”…

The female lead Jingge is a very beautiful and talented woman, and of course, she has a lot of admirers. One of them is the Crown Prince Su Yu. Although the female lead just sees him as a friend (and she actually likes Yishui romantically), Yishui still has a hard time trusting it. From the view of a child who is abandoned by his biological parents, it is not hard to understand. He feels angry when she is close with the prince, but underneath that anger is a deep hurt that he does not want to face.

“Who gonna love me when my own parents did not?” “I don’t deserve love” “I must be delutional”…

His self-doubt is later manipulated by people with evil intentions, leading to the death of the female lead. Su faces extreme grief and guilt after she died, and tries his best to give her a chance to be reborn. After they meet again (18 years later), he is always by her side to protect her, teach her how to protect herself, and even sacrificing himself many times just to keep her safe. There was a scene when the female lead shows him all the lanterns she made for him since they first met. Yishui now realizes, that she also had feeling for him even from 18 years ago, that he is not delusional, that it is not unrequited love, that the one he loves also loves him, and he cries. In my opinion, the male lead actor (Deng Wei) did a great job at this scene. As he was crying, I also cried. I could feel his feeling during that scene; somehow, it reminded me of my own story.

Su Yishui is not a perfect character, but he has a good heart. He made mistakes, but when he realizes that he was wrong, he tries his best to change, heal and become a better person, a better version of himself. There are many times when he can just give up and sell his soul to the devil, he still fights back and lets love lead his way. He used to be slandered and misunderstood by a lot of people, but when he himself truly sees his worth and value, he receives the love and recognition he always deserved.

Of course, the female lead played an important role in Yishui’s healing journey. Jingge is a beautiful, confident and talented girl. She knows her worth and her value, and she does not shrink herself to fit others’ standards. During her first life, she was also misunderstood a lot; however, after all those challenges and hardships, she can finally receive all the rewards and recognition she deserves. I think the way this character was built is very healing. One thing I feel impressed is that she can easily forgives her little sister, after all she has done to her. I mean, when you really loves someone, and that person betrays you, it hurts a lot. That pain can be unbearable for many, but Jingge can do it very easily. She has a lot of love for herself, so she can love people easily, and many people are attracted to that.

“True self-love is actually being selfless”…

When you know how to love yourself truly and deeply, you will also offer that same kind of love to others. Jingge is angry and hurt when her little sister betrays her, but she is able to forgive and let it go, because she knows, that is not her fault. She is not meant to suffer and carry the burden of another person’s trauma; that’s why she can easily let it go and live her life to the fullest.

In love, Jingge is also very straightforward and confident. As Yishui is clearly an avoidant, he usually suppresses his feelings for Jingge in the beginning, but she is not stopped by his “rejection”. She is very confident that beneath that coldness and avoidance, he also has feelings for her. Being rejected is probably one of the scariest things to many of us, but with so much love for herself, she handles it so well. Later in the series, he gathers the strength and confesses to her. Even if it is just a one-sided love, I think it is still worth confessing it in an appropriate way, not to pressure the other person, but just to be true to ourselves and our feelings. Because the truth is, noone has the power to reject you, except you. Because we are all enough and everyone is worthy of being loved. Sometimes, rejection is not denial, but redirection that leads you to your true destiny.

Jingge’s sister (Mu Ranwu) is one of the two “villians” of the series. However, underneath all the jealousy and mistakes that she has done throughout the series, there is only a person who is lost and lacks love for herself. After an accident during childhood, her body is not suitable for immortal cultivation anymore, so she cannot reach the success of her sister. Moreover, she has a crush on the Crown Prince, but he only has eyes for her big sister. Without awareness, jealousy fills her heart; she made several mistakes and lost everything at the end of the series.

“Comparison is the thief of joy”…

Ranwu does not have even a happy day. She constantly strives to get what she thinks that is good, but she gains nothing except regret and emptiness. Until the end, when she lost everything, I think she realized that she is actually destined to live a happy life as a normal person, not as an immortal cultivator. She is beautiful and has a big sister who loves, takes care of her, provides for her and protects her. She has a guy who loves her wholeheartedly and is willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to make her happy. However, she can’t realize any of these blessings until the very end. What if she paused, at one point, during her journey, to reflect on what her heart truly wants? What if she can understand, that if something is meant for you, it will come to you with ease, effortlessly, peacefully, without you having to beg, plead or chase it, should she have chosen differently. We usually regret the things we didn’t do, not the one we did. If she has another chance, I think she will choose correctly this time by following what lights her heart, not the things the world said she should have to be happy and fulfilled.

Another “villian” of the series is an immortal cultivator in the series (Dun Tian/Ye Xin). In the series, he is acknowledged as the famous immortal cultivator who saved the world from destruction and acsended to the Heavenly Realm. However, regreting sacrificing his wife and two daughters while trying to defeat the Devil, he secretly descends and tries to destroy the world and create a new one, where his loved ones still exists. Using his power, he manipulates and sacrifices a lot of people for his plan, and ends up losing everything, even his life.

The underlying reason for all his mistakes is the same as Ranwu, unawareness. He chose to sacrifice his loved ones to fulfill his “bigger purpose”, but he blames everyone for his regret, and instead of learning to forgive himself and let go, he projects his emotional burden on everyone else. He always said he wants to meet his loved ones again, but when he actually meets his late wife, now as a soul full of anger and hatred energy, he refuses to accept her as who she is now. The pain of betrayal leaves her wander in life for more than a hundred years, hurting so many people. She stopped right when Yishui protects Jingge from getting hurt and was so angry and confused. “Why did you protect her?” she asked, and left before getting the answer. I know she has the answer for that question, and she may have asked herself many times during those hundred years that, “Why didn’t  you (Dun Tian) save me and your daughters? Don’t you love us?”. For a hundred years, anger and hatred become her life force, and probably, what she waits for all these years is just an apology from the husband she loves so much. However, is it worth living a life fueled by anger and hatred, because of someone else’s mistake? Joy is your birthright; why do you sacrifice it for someone else’s validation? She didn’t do anything wrong; she deserves someone who loves her truly.

Dun Tian wants to create a new world where he made no mistake and has his loved ones by his side, and he lured the Crown Prince to join his plan. At the end, the Crown Prince realized that he made a mistake and sacrificed himself to destroy Tian’s plan. He said one thing to Tian that really hits me (Note: not the exact sentence he said in the series, just rough meaning):

“You can create a new world, but the people is that world has no memories with you. You look like family, but you are just strangers. Is it worth doing all of this?”

Sadly, Tian didn’t want to admit that he was wrong until the very end, until the last and the most beautiful memory comes up as he was living happily and peacefully with his wife and daughters by his side, that shell called “pride” truly collapses.

I myself have been through a lot, and I used to wish that I can go somewhere else, far away from all the people that caused me pain and sufferings. However, deep down, I know there are still people who truly love and support me. If I go to that place, there is no person that hurted me, but there is no person that truly connects with me either. What I can do is to accept the duality of this life, that there will always be people that hurt me, but there are also people who really love me. Suffering is a part of life, so is happiness. Running away from suffering is impossible, but gratefully embrace happiness is possible in every moment. The key is how I choose to respond. The more I grow spiritually and mentally, the more aware I am to observe others, learn from them and not to absorb their projections.

Overall, this series is worth watching. It shows me that we all have the power to choose in every single moment. Just like the two main characters, they have been through hell and back (literally), but they still choose love, not hatred. They choose to learn and evolve from their mistakes, and that is really the most beautiful thing. Same for the other two supporting characters, they also have a choice to listen to their heart and choose differently. We cannot control what is happening to us or how people treat us, but we do have the power to wisely respond to all of it. So, choose wisely, because love wins all.