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Empress Bayan is a character on 기황후 who I really don't like. She looks and acts way too much like a problematic relative of mine. Like this problematic relative, she has a facade of super sweetness to the point that it could give you diabetes, but in reality, she is actually quite toxic and vicious. Like diabetes, ha ha ha!
Like my problematic relative, Empress Bayan is great at discreetly instigating fights by playing the role of the martyrly victim. Her end goal is to get all the rewards and sympathy, which often happens with my problematic relative, but something Empress Bayan fails at when it comes to diverting Emperor Toghon's attention. And because she reminds me so much of my problematic relative, it feels so very, very gratifying.
Empress Bayan's virtue signalling really gets under my skin because I would go as far to say that she is much worse than Empress Danashiri. At least Empress Danashiri was transparent. What you see is what you get. With Empress Bayan, she has people believing she is sweet and innocent, when she is in all actuality, a snake in the grass.
She does indeed "get it" in the end, and I'm admittedly rejoicing as she's facing the consequences of her insidious actions. However, in spite of her reminding me so much of this problematic relative of mine, I have to admit she is a strong character at the other extreme. She is the Mongol Controlled Yuan Dynasty mean girl. I go out of my way to point out the Mongol aspect because I have found many Americans assuming that the Yuan Dynasty was controlled by the Han Chinese, which opens the door to a major flood of misinformation. Since I have some American followers from Instagram who come over here to read what I write, I had to make sure that this distinction is in place. A weak spot in the American feminist movement is that we immediately tend to discredit the women we don't like for exceedingly petty and superficial reasons. This is not helpful to the movement AT ALL. It is also not helpful to the movement to force an unquestioningly supportive, perpetually agreeable, and sappy sisterhood. Instead, acknowledge that you don't agree. Acknowledge the strong points that you admire. Take ownership of what you don't admire, and express in a mature fashion, why. Just don't resort to inflammatory, bullying tactics to tear that person down, and make yourself feel like the great and virtuous savior, without taking ownership of the unholy way you went about it. All that does is make you look bad and untrustworthy in the long run. Instead, acknowledge the disagreement, but model by example, and do better.
So, what are the strengths of Empress Bayan that I am so reluctant to admire? Being an empress for one thing and managing to keep an image of virtue and class, even when your husband is blatantly favoring another woman. That seriously cannot be easy for anyone. Being believably persuasive, even though the intent is to destroy 기숭냥.
So, she has her powerful qualities, even if there are many I disagree with.
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