One of the reasons it was subtle, I think, is that there just weren't any ideologies to set up in opposition to the orthodoxy of king and country. Religion existed, but was still subordinated to the state; scholarship as an end in itself had not yet been articulated; there were no political alternatives, as we know them today. So if Chang Jian was disappointed not to find Wang there, he had no clear reasoning on which to hang that emotion. Wang was going to serve the empire; and that was something Chang himself wanted to do. Blaming Wang wasn't really a possible thought; resenting Wang's success would only be petty.
I think what Chang wants to express is: his excitement at the idea of meeting Wang; his disappointment that Wang is not there; his jealousy of Wang's success; his surprise that Wang would so quickly take a new position; his feeling of betrayal, that Wang would accept a commission from this administration, which had just fired him and had failed to employ Chang.
So without the ability to form a coherent critique of Wang, Chang is left with this image: the white cloud. It ends up embodying many of the things that he would like to say but can't.
One of the reasons it was subtle, I think, is that there just weren't any ideologies to set up in opposition to the orthodoxy of king and country. Religion existed, but was still subordinated to the state; scholarship as an end in itself had not yet been articulated; there were no political alternatives, as we know them today. So if Chang Jian was disappointed not to find Wang there, he had no clear reasoning on which to hang that emotion. Wang was going to serve the empire; and that was something Chang himself wanted to do. Blaming Wang wasn't really a possible thought; resenting Wang's success would only be petty.
I think what Chang wants to express is: his excitement at the idea of meeting Wang; his disappointment that Wang is not there; his jealousy of Wang's success; his surprise that Wang would so quickly take a new position; his feeling of betrayal, that Wang would accept a commission from this administration, which had just fired him and had failed to employ Chang.
So without the ability to form a coherent critique of Wang, Chang is left with this image: the white cloud. It ends up embodying many of the things that he would like to say but can't.
Jealousy?
Nary a tinge.
The man is trying on a little sarcasm for size.