This is a work in progress.

Titles are always interesting to analyze but since I’m not Chinese, I had to rely on google to figure out what “The First Jasmine” or “Mo Li” meant.

I came up with four possible explanations.

The first is the simplest one. The title is a derivation of the names of the two lead characters. Mo is taken from the male character’s last name, Mo Xiu Yao, and Li is taken from the female lead’s first name, Ye Li.

The second explanation is Mo Li’s English translation is jasmine.

There’s a Chinese folk song called “Mo Li Hua” or “Jasmine Flower” whose melody was used by Puccini in his famous opera “Turandot.” Note: Surely, you’ve heard of the aria “Nessun Dorma” from the opera, but if you youtube “Là sui monti dell’Est” and watch it, then you’ve listened to the strains of “Mo Li Hua.”

But if you’re not into opera, and just wish to listen to the song, then you can youtube Celine Dion singing “Mo Li Hua” with a Chinese singer at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

The folk song goes like this:

Beautiful jasmine flower
Beautiful jasmine flower
Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds
Fragrant and white, everyone praises
Let me pluck you down to give to someone
Jasmine flower, jasmine flower

Source: chinesefolksongs.com

In Chinese culture, the jasmine symbolizes a pure and eternal love. To me, this is the kind of love that Ye Li has shown Mo Xiu Yao. I can easily imagine her as the girl in the “Mo Li Hua” song who plucked the jasmine to give to her beloved.

The third explanation is from a Facebook site called “Chinese Drama Fanatics.” According to the poster, the literal translation of “Mo Li” is “Let’s not separate.” Mo comes from an archaic word meaning “never” and Li means “to separate,” “to abandon,” or “to uncouple.”

To this third explanation, I can add two thoughts.

One, this is consistent with the poster showing Mo Xiu Yao and Ye Li connected with a red string which we all know as the “red string of fate.” This indicates that they’re bound eternally by fate and destined for each other.

And two, [spoiler alert!] when the couple divorce in Episode 31, we know that their separation will be a short-lived one.

Now, the fourth explanation has something to do with the homophone of “Mo Li.”

I read that, in Mandarin, “mo li” sounds like the word for “no profit.” Again, in my opinion, this is the kind of love that Ye Li has shown Mo Xiu Yao. She’s done everything – from studying medicine and acupuncture, to building a prototype of a wheelchair, to eliminating the men who wronged Mo Xiu Yao – with no thought of personal gain or benefit. Her thoughts and actions have all been in service of him. She’s shown him the noblest form of love in her own way.

I need some sleep now. Will add tomorrow.

Let’s enjoy the show.