殷离练千蛛万毒手

殷离 Yin Li is a character created by 金庸 Jin Yong in 倚天屠龙记 The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

The story goes that Yin Li's mother regretted not having learnt the deadly skill named 千蛛万毒手 "Thousand Spiders Venom Hand" thoroughly, because it involved ingesting poison from spiders which would lead to horrible disfigurement. Yin Li's mother believed that if she had practised the deadly skill well, she would have been able to 'protect herself', mainly from the threat of her husband's second wife. Her husband took a concubine, who bore him 2 sons, because she had been somewhat disfigured by the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand and had later become infertile.

Eventually, the second wife bullied Yin Li's mother and was stabbed to death by the tiny Yin Li. To protect her child, Yin Li's mother entrusted Yin Li to a random old lady, and committed suicide. Yeah... That's sort of how it went.

Of course, her traumatic childhood gave rise to a rather insecure and emotionally-unstable Yin Li who started to practise the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand, as advised by her dead mother. All that effort, to 'protect herself'.

Why do I bother with this somewhat plain character in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber?

Because I see Yin Li and her practice of the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand as a metaphor.

It's akin to how many females think they must have 'career' to protect themselves, make themselves independent etc because men cannot be trusted, other women are competition etc.

In the process, they make themselves 'ugly' and suspicious of others (men and women alike).

I'm not saying being able to carve out a career for oneself is not a good thing. Just like learning a wugong is not a bad thing. However, one has to sort out the intention for doing so.

What's worse was that Yin Li, given her limited 悟性 'potential', could not master her chosen Thousand Spiders Venom Hand well, while it turned her into an ugly girl anyway. She became even more insecure. She was a sweet and pretty girl to begin with.
何必呢？What for?

殷离懵练千蛛万毒手, 毁了自己.