Astronomy I-
I finally found an English-Language explanation of What Happened in the novel 镇魂 Guardian by Priest! It had been hidden in video…and I had refused to watch any reviews until I had finished watching the drama…
So! If you happen to be as confused as I was after reading (loving!)(confused loving!) Zhen Hun, here’s another person to commiserate with about how unfathomable (illogical) the plot of the novel truly is (but we still don’t care. We just want more WeiLan).
https://youtu.be/jfOH0kFvDuQ
Un unexpected crossover:
Also remember when the WWX nendoroid was announced and everyone made the joke that LWJ would buy all of them? Well it wasn’t that much of a headcanon:
By Priest. Translated into English by 7 Seas.
My notes, pages 203 - 245.
Cultural notes, mostly, and a little commentary:
It’s slightly more derogatory in Chinese. The original is “…都不知道‘放虎归山’四个字怎么写。” which translates slightly more literally as “….but none know how to write ‘allow a tiger to return to the mountains’”
More under the cut.
It’s actually a really big deal that Gu Yun, this crass brawny military brat (commander), actually has excellent calligraphy, so excellent that people sell reproductions of it for children to learn from and the emperor himself wants Gu Yun’s calligraphy in the palace.
From asiasociety.org: In China, from a very early period, calligraphy was considered not just a form of decorative art; rather, it was viewed as the supreme visual art form, was more valued than painting and sculpture, and ranked alongside poetry as a means of self-expression and cultivation.
It’s a big deal. Gu Yun’s calligraphy shows that he’s an exceptional scholar and a good person.
滚 also means “boil” (boiling, roiling water) and “somersault / roll.”
I’m actually super ignorant of Chinese curse words. They all sound like nice normal words to me: your mom, somersault, ghost, death. I just yell 鬼!(ghost / monster) a lot when I’m grumpy.
Baby peacock! So cute!
Gu Yun may be crude, but he’s never sloppy.
More idioms. 天马行空 is one of my favorites. You can practically see the Heavenly Steed dancing and soaring from cloud to cloud, totally ignoring the Celestial Horse Keeper desperately trying to get it back into the paddock.
I wish we had more Cao Niangzi!
Shen Yi is actually a kind of superhero, developed from decades of dealing with Gu Yun and having to fulfill all of Gu Yun’s flippant (but totally deadly consequential) promises.
Sigh. No more hot nights out on the town for Gu Yun.
Stars of Chaos - All The Notes List
All The Seven Seas Books Masterlist
Help I can’t get over this show and this DAZZLING SMILE ™ 😢✨💗
By Priest. Translated by 7 Seas.
Pages 249 - 281
Cultural and translation notes.
Yah. Gu Yun is being his usual, trying to be cute and naughty and a good dad all at the same time.
As for that word “catch” vs “trap/cheat”: there is no good connotation to the word 骗. 😝
More under the cut.
The first time I read 光棍 I thought it was some obscene joke. Then I saw that it’s just the casual, colloquial way to refer to single men. Hmmmm.
I love 妖 ♥️。
难看 sometimes means ugly, and other times it just means that the person doesn’t look as happy and healthy as usual. Gu Yun is never “unpleasant” to look at!
大师 Dashi is a title. Just a title. Liao Ran is nobody’s “master.”
Nothing about Chang Geng is nauseating! He’s just… a little clingy of late.
I got confused for a moment if “old” meant “in the old days” vs “old people.”
It means “old people” here.
Shen Yi is respectful to Gu Yun the way a best friend and work-partner is respectful — intimate and deep (and full of nagging advice)(and wary of getting punched in the nuts at any moment); not distanced and absolute in the way that Military Chain of Command usually requires.
Nearly everyone calls Gu Yun by his title, 大帅 dàshuài = commanding general, commander-in-chief, “Big General,” Highest Military Leader in the Land. But where everyone else means it sincerely, the Shen Yi in my head always says it half-sarcastically (unless they are in battle. Then it’s sincere). They’ve been best friends since they could read and write. There is no distance between Gu Yun and Shen Yi.
Stars of Chaos - All The Notes List
All The Seven Seas Books Masterlist
Pages 137-198
(That was just me sitting there for a second, wondering who “he” was referring to, then wondering if anyone else was momentarily confused by the ambiguity of pronouns.)
More under the cut :)
Back to my Masterlist
MXTX's danmei are getting increasingly popular, and the fandoms are getting more fic-happy. I've noticed that some writers seem interested in writing their own fics but are concerned of making mistakes with niche honorifics and titles. I've noticed some that have jumped right in, but have made innocent errors that I'd like to correct but fear coming off as rude or presumptuous. And so I've made this list of terms that covers the basics and also some that are a little more niche since they're usually directly translated in cnovels.
DISCLAIMER: This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything one needs to know or would want to know concerning ancient Chinese honorifics and titles, merely what I myself consider useful to keep in mind.
Titles
Shifu: 'Martial father'; gender-neutral
Shizun: 'Martial father'; more formal than 'shifu'; gender-neutral
Shimu: ‘Martial mother’; wife of your martial teacher
Shiniang: ‘Martial mother’; wife of your martial teacher who is also a martial teacher
Shibo: elder apprentice-brother of your shifu; gender-neutral
Shishu: younger apprentice-brother of your shifu; gender-neutral
Shigu: apprentice-sister of your shifu
Shizhi: your martial nephew/niece
Shimei: younger female apprentice of the same generation as you
Shijie: elder female apprentice of the same generation as you
Shidi: younger male apprentice of the same generation as you
Shixiong: elder male apprentice of the same generation as you
Shige: elder male apprentice of the same generation as you, specifically one who has the same shifu as you or is the son of your shifu
Zhanglao: an elder of your sect
Zhangbei: a senior of your sect
Qianbei: a senior not of your sect
Wanbei: a junior not of your sect
Zongzhu: Address for a clan leader
Zhangmen: address for a sect leader
Daozhang: Daoist priests or simply a cultivator in general; gender-neutral
Daogu: Daoist priestess or a female cultivator; not as commonly used as 'daozhang'
Xiangu: Daoist priestess or a female cultivator; not as commonly used as 'daogu'
Sanren: a wandering cultivator
Xianren: 'Immortal Official'; a title of respect and power like 'General'
Xiuzhe: 'Cultivator', can be shortened to 'Xiu'
Xianjun: 'Immortal Master/Lord'
Xianshi: 'Immortal Master/Teacher'
Dashi: 'Great Teacher', address for monks
Xiansheng: Teacher/Sir; in ancient China, the connotation is very scholastic
Houye: address for a duke
Jueye: address for a noble lord, ei. a duke, marquess, earl, etc.
Wangye: address for king/imperial prince
Daren: address for imperial officials
Furen: Madam; the wife of an imperial official/nobleman OR a married woman granted a rank by the royal family
Nushi: Madam; the counterpart of 'xiansheng', connotation is scholastic
Taitai: Madam; address for an old married woman of the gentry, either wife or mother to head of household
Laoye: Old Lord; Address for an adult man with adult children of the gentry; possibly head of household
Nainai: Madam; Address for a married woman of the gentry, possibly wife of head of household
Ye: Lord; address for an adult man of the gentry, possibly head of household
Shaonainai: Young Madam; address for a woman married to a young man of the gentry
Shaoye: Young Lord; address for a young man or boy of the gentry, generation lower than head of household
Xiaoye: Little Lord; can be a synonym for ‘shaoye’ OR the son of a shaoye if ‘shaoye’ is already being used within the family
Xiaojie: Young Mistress; address for an unmarried woman or young girl of . . . the gentry and only the gentry, I believe. Correct me if you know for certain this is incorrect. (WARNING - It's an archaic term that should really only be used in an archaic setting if being used as a title instead of a suffix, because the modern vernacular has it as a term for a prostitute in mainland China. [Surname]-xiaojie is fine; Xiaojie by itself should be avoided.)
Gongzi: ‘Young Master/Lord/Sir'; ‘Childe’; young man from a household of the noble or gentry class
Guniang: 'Young Master/Lady/Miss'; ‘Maiden’; an unmarried woman or young girl from a household of the noble or gentry class
Laozhang: 'Old battle'; polite address for an unrelated old man of lower status than you
Laobo: polite address for an unrelated old man of a higher status that you
Laotou: 'Old man'; informal but not derogatory, implies fondness/closeness
Laopopo: 'Old woman'; informal but not derogatory, implies fondness/closeness
Please note that all of these listed above can be used as stand-alone titles or as suffixed honorifics.
Strictly Prefix/Suffix
-shi: 'Clan'; the suffix for a married woman, essentially means 'née'. (ex. Say Wei Wuxian was a woman and married into the Lan clan through a standard marriage. She would be called 'Wei-shi' by her husband's contemporaries and elders when not in a formal setting. It implies lack of closeness; used by acquaintances.)
a-: A prefix that shows affection or intimacy.
-er: A suffix that shows affection or intimacy; typically for children or those younger than you
-jun: 'Nobleman'; a suffix for a greatly respected man
-zun: 'Revered One'; a suffix for a greatly respected man
-ji: A suffix for a female friend
-bo: A suffix for an older man of your grandparents' generation
-po: A suffix for an older woman of your grandparents' generation
what if i told you that a lot of “Americanized” versions of foods were actually the product of immigrant experiences and are not “bastardized versions”
More little clarifications :)
The Appendix has a “Time” section, but I always forget what each time period is called, so I wrote the times in here.
下不为例 is an awesome phrase. Nearly-literally, it means “this is not setting an example for the future.” Formally speaking, I’d translate it as “Don’t take this as precedent.” Here, I felt that “Just this once” conveys the feeling of the message best.
(“There will be no next time” is what I threaten my children with when they severely mess up, which is not the case here.)
More under the cut.
Please don’t refer to bone-bits as crumbs. I eat cookie crumbs with a spoon. I smoosh bread crumbs together and pop them in my mouth like little biscuits. I live off brownie crumbs for breakfast.
No bone crumbs, please.