The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon 周處除三害 (2023): A Buddhist Allegory About a Pig Who Didn't Know He Was a Pig

If you haven't seen The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon, you've missed one of the most audacious Chinese-language films in years.

Released in 2023, this Taiwanese crime thriller became a phenomenon — not just in Taiwan, but across the Chinese-speaking world. It has been called "the most surprising Taiwanese film in years" and "a violent, absurdist masterpiece that redefines the anti-hero genre."

Yet many people still haven't seen it. Today, I want to change that.

What Is The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon?

• English Title: The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon
• Original Title: 周處除三害
• Year: 2023
• Director: Wong Ching-po (黃精甫)
• Cast: Ruan Jingtian (阮經天) as Chen Guilin, Wang Jing (王淨) as Cheng Xiaomei, Chen Yifan (陳以文) as Lin Luhe (The Venerable One), Yuan Fuwen (袁富華) as The Hong Konger
• Language: Mandarin / Taiwanese Hokkien
• Runtime: 134 minutes
• Box Office: Over 400 million RMB (China mainland only)

But numbers don't tell the full story. This film sparked debates, inspired countless video essays, and left audiences arguing about its ending for weeks. It is violent, poetic, absurd, and strangely beautiful.

The Ancient Story Behind the Title

The title comes from a classical Chinese tale found in the Shishuo Xinyu (世說新語), a collection of historical anecdotes from the 5th century.

During the Jin Dynasty, a young man named Zhou Chu lived in Yixing. He was strong, brave, and completely out of control — bullying villagers, starting fights, and terrorizing the countryside. The people considered him one of the "three scourges," along with a ferocious tiger in the mountains and a deadly dragon in the river.

A village elder suggested Zhou Chu kill the tiger and the dragon. He killed the tiger easily. Then he jumped into the river to fight the dragon, battling for three days and three nights. When the villagers saw he had not returned, they celebrated — finally, all three scourges were gone.

But Zhou Chu emerged from the river, battered but alive. Hearing the celebrations, he realized, for the first time, that he was also a scourge. Filled with shame, he sought out two famous scholars and asked how he could change. They told him: "If you truly want to reform, even if you die tomorrow, it is not too late."

Zhou Chu did reform. He became a respected general and died in battle, serving his country.

The original story is about self-awareness and redemption. Director Wong Ching-po took this ancient framework and placed it in modern-day Taiwan. But he changed one crucial thing: in the original story, Zhou Chu survives and becomes a hero. In the film, the protagonist does not survive. And whether he becomes a hero — that is the question the film leaves for you to answer.

The Modern Story: Chen Guilin

Chen Guilin (Ruan Jingtian) is a mid-level triad enforcer. He has killed people. He is wanted by the police. He lives in hiding, caring for his elderly grandmother but unable to visit her.

One day, his underground doctor tells him he has late-stage lung cancer. He has only months to live.

At first, Chen wants to turn himself in. He goes to a temple dedicated to Guan Yu, the god of loyalty, and asks for guidance. He throws divination blocks — the traditional "poe" used in Taiwanese folk religion. He throws nine times. Every single time, the answer is yes.

At the police station, he notices the "Most Wanted" list. He is ranked third.

"If I'm going to die," Chen thinks, "I want to be remembered. I want to be number one."

He decides to hunt down the two criminals ranked above him — "The Hong Konger" (ranked #2) and "Lin Luhe" (ranked #1). He will kill them both. He will become famous. He will not die forgotten.

This is the film's central irony: Chen Guilin's "redemption" begins not from a desire to do good, but from vanity and pride. He doesn't want to save anyone. He wants to be remembered.

The Three Scourges: Pig, Snake, Pigeon

The film's English title reveals its Buddhist framework. In Buddhism, the Three Poisons are the root causes of all suffering:

• Pig (豬) — Ignorance (痴) — Delusion, confusion, not seeing reality — Chen Guilin
• Snake (蛇) — Hatred (瞋) — Anger, violence, aggression — The Hong Konger
• Pigeon (鴿) — Greed (貪) — Craving, attachment, desire — Lin Luhe

Chen Guilin wears a pink children's watch with a pig on it. It belonged to his grandmother. He treasures it. But the pig also symbolizes his ignorance — he cannot see his own evil. He thinks he is a hero. He is not.

The Hong Konger has a snake tattooed on his arm. He is violent, quick to rage, and sexually abusive. He keeps a young woman named Cheng Xiaomei as a captive. He is hatred incarnate.

Lin Luhe — the Venerable One — has a pigeon tattooed on his back, hidden beneath his white robes. He runs a spiritual retreat center called the "New Mind House." He preaches peace, forgiveness, and detachment. In reality, he is a con artist and a cult leader — greedy, manipulative, and utterly without conscience. He is greed incarnate.

The film's structure is simple: Chen will hunt the snake, then the pigeon. But along the way, he will confront his own pig — his ignorance about who he really is.

Part One: The Snake

Chen tracks The Hong Konger to a small coastal town. He learns that The Hong Konger controls Cheng Xiaomei, whose mother went to prison protecting him years ago. Xiaomei has been trapped ever since.

The fight between Chen and The Hong Konger is brutal. Knives. Glass. Blood everywhere. Chen kills him — but not before being stabbed.

Bleeding, exhausted, Chen frees Xiaomei. He takes her to the beach. He tells her she is free. She can go anywhere.

She asks him: "Why are you doing this?"

He doesn't have an answer. Not a good one, anyway.

Part Two: The Pigeon

Chen travels to a remote rural area where Lin Luhe's "New Mind House" is located. He arrives weak, sick, and still bleeding.

The Venerable One welcomes him with open arms. He offers Chen food, shelter, and spiritual guidance. He tells Chen that his illness is a gift — a chance to become a "new creation."

For a while, Chen believes it. He attends ceremonies. He sings hymns. He feels peace for the first time in years.

But then he discovers the truth. Hidden beneath the spiritual facade is an underground bunker filled with cash and luxury goods. The Venerable One is a con artist. He poisons his followers to make them sick, then "heals" them with special water. He takes their money, their property, and their lives.

When Chen confronts him, the Venerable One tries to kill him. Chen is beaten, drugged, and buried alive in a coffin.

He survives.

The Scene That Shocked Everyone

Chen returns to the New Mind House. He stands before the followers and says: "Anyone who wants to leave, leave now. I'm only here for him."

Some leave. Most stay.

Chen shoots the Venerable One. Then he turns to the remaining followers. "Go," he says. "I'm giving you one more chance."

They don't move. They begin to sing — the same hymn, louder. They will not leave.

Chen reloads the gun. And then — scene by scene, bullet by bullet — he shoots them all.

This sequence lasts less than three minutes. It has no dialogue, only the haunting melody of the hymn playing over the gunfire. It is beautiful. It is horrific. It is the most controversial scene in recent Taiwanese cinema.

What is the film saying? Is Chen a hero? A monster? Both? Neither?

The film refuses to answer.

The Performance: Ruan Jingtian

Ruan Jingtian's performance in The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon is one of the best of his career.

He plays Chen Guilin as a man of contradictions. Violent, yes — but also childlike. He wears a cheap pink watch. He cries when he thinks of his grandmother. He is bewildered by kindness. He is terrifying and vulnerable, often in the same moment.

Watch his face during the temple scene, when he throws the divination blocks nine times. He starts confident. By the ninth throw, he is trembling. Sweat drips down his face.

Watch his face in the New Mind House, when he is being "cleansed." He cries like a child. He wants so badly to believe.

And watch his face at the end, when he is led to his execution. He smiles. A genuine, peaceful smile.

Ruan Jingtian won Best Actor at the Taipei Film Awards for this role and was nominated for the Golden Horse Award.

Why This Film Matters

1. It Reimagines a Classical Story for Modern Times

The original Zhou Chu story is about redemption through awareness. Chen Guilin's story is darker. He never fully reforms. He never fully understands. He kills for fame, not justice. And yet, along the way, he does good things — he frees Xiaomei, he kills a violent criminal, he exposes a dangerous cult.

Is he redeemed? The film says: That's for you to decide.

2. It Confronts the "Three Poisons"

The Buddhist framework gives the film depth. The Hong Konger (snake/hatred) and the Venerable One (pigeon/greed) are obvious villains. But Chen (pig/ignorance) is the film's real subject.

And yet, the film suggests, even the pig can change — can begin to see. Not fully. Not perfectly. But enough.

3. It Critiques Cults and Groupthink

The New Mind House sequence shows how easily people can be manipulated — how kind words and simple rituals can turn into chains. The followers are not stupid. They are desperate. They have lost children, spouses, jobs. They come looking for hope. Once inside, leaving becomes impossible — not because they are locked in, but because admitting they were wrong would destroy them.

4. It Explores the Meaning of "Redemption"

Chen kills the Venerable One and his followers. Then he turns himself in. At his trial, he says: "My name is Chen Guilin. I am number one."

Even at the end, he is still chasing fame.

But then — a quiet moment. Cheng Xiaomei visits him in prison. She is free. She thanks him. She tells him she will remember him.

And for the first time, Chen's face softens. He has been seen — not as a killer, not as a hero, but as a person.

He walks to his execution smiling.

Final Thoughts

The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon is not a comfortable film. It is violent. It is unsettling. It does not offer easy answers.

But it is honest. It is beautiful. And it will stay with you.

The film asks hard questions:

• Can a bad man do good things for the wrong reasons?
• Does redemption require transformation, or is intention enough?
• Are some people beyond saving?
• And — most painfully — what if the person beyond saving is you?

The original Zhou Chu story ends with a man becoming a hero. This film ends with a man becoming a corpse. And yet, somehow, it also ends with hope.

If you love cinema. If you love films that challenge you. If you want to see what Taiwanese cinema is capable of — watch The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon.

Bring tissues. But also, bring questions.

Have you seen The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon? What do you think — is Chen Guilin redeemed? Let me know in the comments.

Tom De · The Movie Prince 🎬