Is there more to the radical Legend of Zu than what seems to be yet another dazzling special effects extravaganza? It appears that Tsui Hark is trying to use the visual images, characters and events in the story to represent various aspects of life. This article examines the interpretations on some of the symbolisms of the movie, of which not necessarily represent Tsui Hark's ideas, but at least it offers a look at the movie from a different angle.

The Heaven Striking Sword and the Flaming Sword of Thunder represents two extreme and opposite forces - Yin and Yang. Yin relates to the feminine, gentle side of human nature and the darkness; Yang relates to the masculine, tough side and the light. The merger of the two swords signifies the achievement of balance between Yin and Yang, or walking on the middle path, which leads to enlightenment.

The Sky Reflector which stuns anyone when its light is shone on them exemplifies reflection of one's deeds and mistakes. It shocks Blood Demon of Asura Spring immensely when light from the Sky Reflector falls on it for the former is too horrified to see how horrendous its mistakes are. 

The weapons may possibly be metaphors for their owners' personalities. In the case of Golden Wheel of Moon and Sun, the Moon is connected to aloofness, coolness and mysticism while the Sun represents selflessness and self-sacrificing, and these qualities are relatively evident in both Abbess Crescent Moon (Cecilia Cheung) and Xuan Tian-Zong (Etkin Cheng). The Flaming Sword of Thunder is synonymous with being straight-foward, frank and a little obstinate, while Heaven Striking Sword is beautiful yet complex and inscrutable. The Divine Dragon Guillotine is as confusing and complicated in appearance as Dan Zhen-Zi's mind.

When Dan Zhen-Zi (Louis Koo) is given the task of guarding the entrance to Blood Cave, he becomes very lonely. He begin to questions about his purpose of guarding the cave and Sprite Vermillion Corpse (Lin Hsi Lei) appears and taunts him. Sprite Vermillion Corpse is a symbol of evil thoughts within oneself. Dan Zhen-Zi's battle against her represent his inner conflicts. When Dan Zhen-Zi is possessed by her, it symbolises that he has yielded to his greed of ruling the world and his jealousy of Xuan Tian-Zong who gets appointed as the next Chief of Er-Mei when he is no less in capability that the latter. Eventually, Dan Chen-Zi forces Sprite Vermillion Corpse out of his body with the aid of Xuan Tian-Zong and crushes her with his very own hand. This signifies that friends may come in handy and reminds one against turning bad but ultimately, it is still up to oneself, one's responsibility and will-power, to overcome one's bad habits and desires.

The curious aspects of life and reincarnation are the subjects that are constantly being brought up through-out the movie. Where does one come from? What happens to one after one dies? If one has past lives, why doesn't one remember anything? Is there an exit to the cycles of life and death? Li Ying-Qi (Cecilia Cheung) is the reincarnation of Abbess Crescent Moon and bears striking resemblance to her. However, when one is reincarnated, one's memory of the past life is also erased. Li Ying-Qi leads a worry-free life since the erasure of her past life when she was reborn entails that she needs only take care of her present life and not be complicated by matters of her previous life. Moreover, her partner in sword-practice, Chang-Kong Wu-Ji, has been carrying a torch for her. What good does it do to her if she were to know that she was in love with someone else and that she was killed by the Blood Demon of Asura Spring iin her previous life?

All is well until Xuan Tian-Zong comes into the picture. When Xuan Tian-Zong sees her, he is intrigued and wonders if Li Ying-Qi is in anyway related to his beloved Teacher, Abbess Crescent Moon. Xuan Tian-Zong, who is unable to put the past behind him, inadvertently rakes it up and results in the three persons being troubled by affairs of the hearts. As a result, Li Ying-Qi and Chang-Kong Wu-Ji are unable to unite the two swords, which is to say, their balance in life is upset. Chang-Kong Wu-Ji ends up dead and Li Ying-Qi injured.

Later, before White Brows (Sammo Hung) leave the world, he tells Xuan Tian-Zong that Li Ying-Qi is indeed the reincarnation of Abbess Crescent Moon. When Xuan Tian-Zong informs Li Ying-Qi, she remains skeptical for she doesn't remember anything. But does her inability to recall her previous life mean that she doesn't have any past lives? And when she starts to recall her past life, does it bring her more troubles, worries and sorrows. Would she be able to handle them? 

Meanwhile, Chang-Kong Wu-Ji is reborn as Lian Xing (Wu Jing). Just like a newborn baby, Lian Xing is innocent and pure in thoughts, yet at the same time playful and obstinate. Because of his simpleness, he gains enlightenment rather quickly and unexpectedly. That Chang-Kong Wu-Ji is entirely different in character and appearance may yet represent another aspect of reincarnation - one may not necessarily be the same person after one is reincarnated.

Before Lian Xing becomes enlightened, Xuan Tian-Zong tries to take control of the Flaming Sword of Thunder though he is not the chosen one. He ends up being charred by its flaming thunder. Does it illustrate that only the chosen few can be the world's saviours? 

Cheng Le-Tian (Zhang Zi-Yi) typifies a person who is in search of answers to life. Does her discovery of magical powers after having spent sometime in the Zu Mountains embody that being with practitioners of Tao uplifts oneself to a higher level and that it is possible to cultivate oneself even in the mortal world?

In the end, Li Ying-Qi and Lian Xing manage to merge the Heaven Striking Sword and Flaming Sword of Thunder. They have to enter Blood Demon of Asura Spring's body and attack it from within before finally being able to defeat it. This is equivalent to self-introspection, ridding oneself of evil,  thoroughly cleansing one's mind while maintaining a sound, balanced and harmonious state of life.

And what is it like to be living forever? Does immortality relate to living for thousands of years or does it relate more to the eternity of one's soul?

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