In many Asian countries a story known as the legend of the red thread continues to resonate as an echo of oral culture passed down from generation to generation. It is believed to be very old and to express the way in which various Eastern civilizations understood the world of relationships and the role that destiny plays in them.

Despite the time that has passed since it was first told, or perhaps precisely because of this, the story of the red thread is still very much ingrained in countries like Japan or China, and in a way it influences the way relationships are perceived.

Whether this interpretation is more or less faithful to reality is open to debate and, of course, it is not a narrative that should be taken literally; expresses through symbolism how we experience emotional ties .

Let’s see exactly what the red thread is and how its story is told. But first, we need to understand exactly what this symbol means.

The red thread and the predestined encounters

Tradition says every person has an invisible red thread tied to the little finger . This thread remains attached to our body since we are born, since the gods are in charge of fixing it to the finger by means of a ribbon every time a boy or a girl is born.

Thus, from our first days the thread already becomes part of us, and it will never be untied or broken. It accompanies us throughout our life journey, more or less tightened.

But… what’s at the other end of this fine rope? On the other side there is a person we are destined to meet and who has the same thread tied to one finger that doesn’t separate from us.

Whether he is near or far, even if he lives on the other side of the world, the red thread goes there and remains always tied to that person. It is the materialization of a very important bond in our lives that exists even before we are aware of it and that is embodied in a mythical tale about an emperor.

The story of the emperor who wanted to marry

It is said that long ago, when stories were told more by oral repetition than through books, there was a very young emperor who, moved by the restlessness of adolescence and anxious about the need to marry in order to maintain the power to command and keep his lineage alive, wanted to find some way to see the invisible red thread that bound him to his soul mate, the person who was destined to be his wife .

After doing some research, she learned that in faraway lands there lived a mystic whose contact with the supernatural allowed her to see that fine thread, so she ordered that she be taken to her palace.

When the mystic was in the presence of the emperor, he ordered her to use her magical powers to follow the red thread and lead it to his future wife, so they quickly set off. The emperor considered that temporarily abandoning his responsibilities at the head of the country was a necessary sacrifice in order to meet for the first time his soul mate, the person who would rule with him.

After traveling for several days on the strangest roads, the mystic arrived at a market and pointed in the direction of a poor peasant woman who was trying to sell her products badly with a baby in her arms.

The emperor was furious after recapitulating and coming to the conclusion that the mystic had decided to mock him for trying to defy the rules of nature from his position of power, and blinded by anger he ran over both the peasant girl, whose baby fell to the ground and hurt her forehead, and the mystic, who went head first into a mountain of apples, and decided to give up the idea of knowing her destiny.

Years later, the emperor’s court informed him that the daughter of a very influential general wanted to marry and that it would be a good strategic move to perform the marriage bond. When on the day of the wedding the emperor met his wife and removed the veil that covered her head, he noticed a curious scar on her forehead that reminded him of times past .

Beyond our prejudices and expectations

The legend of the red thread contains a story full of symbolism about relationships, love and destiny, but it also tells us about the way in which, as human beings, we experience these phenomena and accept them as part of our lives .

Specifically, it tells us about the way in which affective and loving bonds are guided by a logic of their own that has nothing to do with our expectations , nor with what seems more sensible, nor with what we would initially wish before meeting that person or with the types of love we hope to give or receive. Even if we think we don’t deserve a certain relationship, love pulls its strings.

If we believe in destiny, this should not be a belief that leads us to think that our future is going to be a complete stereotype, something totally predictable. Soul mates are soul mates in that the force that unites them surpasses all the elements of life that, under normal conditions, would suggest to us that such a bond is totally impossible. Otherwise, the concept is meaningless.