There are too many unnecessary bows, and the actors' ceremonial gestures appear stiff, clearly a result of the director's self-indulgence. In crucial moments, such as when Cao Pi usurped the Han dynasty, Liu Xie performed the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows, yet Cao Pi turned his head away, ignoring it. This suggests that the Chinese people do not realize that the recipient of a ritual must also observe proper etiquette for the ceremony to be valid.
When Bai Lingyun's maid first appeared, she stared at Sima Yi with her big eyes-just like modern Chinese people, who lack any sense of propriety. Since China's reform and opening-up, capitalists of proletarian origin have gradually risen. Like monkeys wearing crowns, they are acutely aware of their lack of foundational roots. In an attempt to establish legitimacy, they praise Sima Yi's power strategies (which are actually mere clever tricks), hoping to transform their class origins into the new "gentry" of the post-communist era. However, they forget that Sima Yi himself was well-versed in both civil and military affairs, and that the scholarly traditions and private armies of the aristocracy are things they will never be able to obtain.
