Detective: Traces takes a commanding lead: forensic traces and observing things through images

Article

Is there a connection between forensic trace examination and “observing objects to derive images” in Plum Blossom Divination? At the level of reasoning, this article draws a parallel: both infer an unseen event from what remains. The difference is that one conclusion must stand in court, while the other offers direction. One requires a chain of evidence; the other provides a frame of reference.

First, the box-office report. The National Day release season opened on October 1. As of that day’s report, Beacon’s professional service put the day’s total above RMB 150 million, with more than 3.42 million admissions. Chen Sicheng’s crime thriller Detective: Traces led by a wide margin, earning over RMB 62.24 million and accounting for 37.8% of box office, with more than 138,000 screenings on its first day. Based on the real achievements of Cui Daozhi, a July 1 Medal recipient and forensic trace expert, the film stars Zhang Yi, Ma Li, and Chen Minghao. It is about people who solve crimes by examining traces.

The essence of trace examination can be described as observing things and deriving images. An incomplete fingerprint, an unusual scrape, a minute rifling mark on a projectile: examiners work backward from these visible signs to events—the tool, the angle, the sequence. This recalls a classic episode in the transmitted Plum Blossom Divination: Shao Yong observes plum blossoms, sees two sparrows fight over a branch and fall, and predicts that a young woman will break off flowers the next day and injure her thigh. Later explanations unpack the logic: Dui supplies the image of a young woman, Xun in the interlocking hexagram supplies the thigh, and Xun Wood is overcome by Qian and Dui Metal, leading to an injured-thigh interpretation. Each image has a textual basis and each inference a stated rationale; the argument depends on every link.

A parallel does not make the methods identical, and that boundary must be firm. Trace examination tests physical causation; its conclusions must withstand questioning in court, and mistakes can carry legal liability. Divinatory images concern tendencies and possibilities, offering a decision reference to the questioner; an unsuccessful reading may simply be described as a mistaken judgment on that occasion. One looks backward for hard evidence; the other looks forward for direction. Confusing them either mythologizes the ancients—claims that they already knew DNA identification are fanciful—or diminishes modern practitioners.

What NineHound wants to draw from this film is the act of observation itself. Whether an examiner crouches over a footprint or a questioner quietly studies how a situation developed, good observation starts from the same premise: do not predetermine your position; let the signs speak. Experts such as Cui Daozhi devote a lifetime to taking looking as far as it can go. This concentration on mastering one task can be read as a modern version of the traditional investigation of things, gewu. My reading of the film and the audience response is that viewers are honoring a professional commitment to following details through, as well as enjoying a thriller. From that perspective, the RMB 62.24 million reported at publication represents more than one film’s lead.

Revisiting the entire plum-blossom divination story makes its image-based reasoning clearer. On the seventeenth day of the twelfth month in a Chen year, during the Shen hour, Shao Yong was observing plum blossoms in a garden when two sparrows fought over a branch and fell. He predicted that a young woman would break off flowers the following day and injure her thigh. This is a divination case recorded in the transmitted text. Later explanations derive Lake over Fire, Revolution, from the time, find Heaven over Wind, Encounter, in its interlocking hexagram, and obtain Lake over Mountain, Influence, as the changed hexagram. The upper Dui trigram suggests a young woman, breaking, and verbal contention, reflected in the fighting sparrows; the lower Li suggests flowers. Dui is associated with the west and injury; interlocking Xun with the thigh. Xun Wood is overcome by Qian and Dui Metal, hence the injury reading. Each step states where its image comes from and where its judgment leads. This is an analogy about observation, with a different verification method from trace examination: fingerprints belong to fingerprint examination, ballistics to ballistics, and each conclusion needs the relevant signs to support it.

The article describes three successive layers of images in traditional terms. First are physical images: what can be seen and touched, such as fingerprints, footprints, or fallen sparrows. Second are event images: what lies behind the objects, such as the tool that made a mark or when something happened. Third are mental images: whether the observer is calm or biased. People with a predetermined position tend to see whatever they seek as evidence, a pitfall shared by forensic observation and divinatory interpretation. In this reading, the lifelong discipline of a trace expert such as Cui Daozhi includes this third layer: quieting the mind and letting the signs speak. Traditional investigation of things and modern professional discipline meet at that attitude.

A parallel does not make the methods identical; the boundary must remain firm. Trace findings require tests of physical causation, court scrutiny, and accountability for mistakes. Divination concerns tendencies and possibilities and supplies a decision reference; its failure may be described as a reading that missed the mark. One looks backward for hard evidence, the other forward for direction. Mixing them either mythologizes ancient people through fanciful claims about DNA identification or belittles modern technology as nothing special. What NineHound draws from the film is observation itself: a crouching examiner studying a footprint and a questioner quietly tracing a situation both need to suspend preconceptions and let the signs speak. In this cultural reading, the reported RMB 62.24 million expresses an audience tribute to following detail through, as well as support for a suspense film.