by Tao Wong
[12] The exact list is contentious, with varying sources. I’m using a mix of the Wuzazu and Water Margin listing.
[13] Jian—double-edged sword. Shorter, thinner, and lighter than the European longsword. Meant for single-handed use normally, though two-handed jian exist
[14] Traditionally, students were not allowed to teach other students until they received permission from their original Master.
[15] Traditional Chinese culture has five elements instead of four—Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Metal
[16] Literally, mixed egg but used pretty much as “bastard”—except worse than modern day usage. Think 1960s context of calling someone a bastard.
[17] In China, wine was traditionally stored in crockery jars
[18] While traditionally there are numerous ways of addressing someone, for ease of reading and use, I’m going to use the more modern equivalent of Uncle / Auntie. This is generally used for strangers who are not related but older than you as a respectful form of address.
[19] The four books and five classics were the required reading (and quoting) material for the Chinese imperial examinations and are such, considered “must reads.”
[20] Traditionally, Chinese cities were built with four main gates along the compass points and the city lord’s mansion situated in the center. Cities were generally walled as well to increase security.
[21] Literally “light skill.” Comes from baguazhang and is basically wire-fu—running on water, climbing trees, gliding along bamboo, etc.
[22] Traditionally, Chinese families use a much more exact form of address which would immediately denote an individual’s relation to another. For example, this would be “Oldest uncle on my father’s side.” For ease of reading and familiarity, I’m going to stick to “Western” denotations when something like this comes up.
[23] Mount Tai is the eastern mountain of the Five Great Mountains of China and one of (if not the) most famous.
[24] It’s a swear word. Starts with an F. Yes, I even added the intonation here. ��
[25] For those curious, prior to the start of the Ming dynasty, homosexuality in ancient China was not considered wrong, and most religions and philosophies were “neutral”on the matter. It is only in the Ming dynasty onward that opposition to homosexuality increased.
[26] Basically “holy shit”
[27] A very mild curse. Literally “bad egg” or “wicked.” Yes, I’m having fun adding Chinese curses.
[28] Traditional method of bowing where one gets on their knees then places their head against the ground. It’s a very subservient form of obeisance.
[29] The three-ringed dao is a sabre with three iron rings set in the back. This adds to the weight of the weapon and allows blocking and locking of weapons, but it is generally considered a brutal weapon.
[30] Ink rubbings started in ancient China around 220BC. Actual woodblock printing began around the 8th century CE. Moveable woodblock printing started around 10th century CE. Books were significantly more prevalent in China than the West for a long period.
[31] Similar to ancient China’s Imperial Examinations that were the gateway to imperial bureaucracy. The large imperial bureaucracy in China often held power that rivaled that of the emperor himself.
[32] Also known as the Compendium of Materia Medica. This is a real book written in Li Shizhen in the 16th century. The work here is obviously altered to fit a cultivation world.
[33] Ganjiang is in fact a sword in Chinese lore and has a tragic story attached to it.
[34] It comes from a Chinese saying that states that it’s best to have three for drinking tea and four for wine. Three for tea to have proper conversation. Four for wine, so that if one party gets too drunk to continue, the other two can continue while the drunk party is escorted home.
[35] Called the mu ren zhuang. Most likely, you’ve seen a version in Ip Man, but the “wooden man post” has numerous styles to suit the training requirements of the martial art. Can involve one or two hands, springs, weights, and swings.
[36] Literally means Black Cat
[37] This lí is different from the lǐ used in the title. A lí here is a millimeter. The difference is in the intonation and makes more sense when you realize that Chinese is a pictographic language. So these two look very different when written in traditional Chinese characters and sound different due to the different intonations.
[38] Reminder – Wu Ying’s Long is the character for dragon. Thus her reference.
[39] Reminder. Dao literally translates as “the way.” I use the capitalized and non-capitalized versions in the text to show when people are speaking of the Dao (the true way) and the dao (the smaller ways which are part of the greater Dao).
[40] Some of these are real books. Others, not so much.
[41] Chinese coins were strung together on a string through the central hole. A string was basically a tael, so half a string is half a tael.
[42] Listening-in students are students who are not directly taught by the teacher. They “listen in” to lectures
[43] This is a paired joke about the famous “vinegar taster” painting that depicts Confucius (sour), Buddha (bitter), and Laozi (sweet) around a vat of vinegar, tasting it. It is an allegory of their views on life and humanity and their precepts.
[44] The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival on the fifteenth night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The entirety of the seventh month is considered the Ghost Month and is when ghosts and spirits come out from the lower realm. Proper observances are required to avoid lost, wandering ghosts.
[45] The jiangshi are a traditional Chinese boogeyman. More details will be in the story, but they’re highly amusing monsters.
[46] As a side note, while I am using traditional Chinese surnames, I am ignoring clan boundaries and geographic locations since this is a fantasy world. Also, it’d be even more confusing for everyone if everyone started having the same few surnames.
[47] Not actual paper money. Figurative paper money is made to be burnt for ghosts for them to spend in their afterlife. It always makes me wonder about inflation though, considering how much is burnt. Also, modern day funerals add credit cards. But no one ever burns a card reader…
[48] Chinese saying. It sounds better in Chinese, but it’s the Chinese equivalent of caveat emptor.
[49] In traditional Chinese cooking, recipes used to be passed down based off a handful, a pinch, and so on. These sizes were regulated and young women would be trained by their mothers in exacting degree what a pinch, a handful and the like was until the motions were instinctive.
[50] Horse stance is a basic strength, endurance, and stability building stance in many martial arts. Northern and southern styles vary, but generally the stance has feet apart, pointing forward, and the body lengthened upward.
[51] Dragon lines are the Chinese term for the idea of leylines. Natural rivers of chi energy.
[52] Yes, it’s a real flower.
[53] Exploding cucumbers are real too. And edible.
[54] Did you know China had repeating crossbows as early as the Warring States (475 – 220 BC)?
[55] Better known as the Monkey King
[56] Reminder. Long equals dragon
[57] Reminder. While the twelve meridians and eight extraordinary meridians (the energy meridians in my book) are actual meridians in traditional Chinese medicine, I am changing it for the sake of the story. Traditionally, the eight extraordinary meridians are already open.
[58] Remember, a dao is basically the Chinese sabre.
[59] Reminder. One li is half a kilometer roughly. Or somewhat less than a quarter of a mile.
[60] Traditional Chinese writing was written and read right to left, up to down. There is also little to no punctuation in this traditional style. Take that, Oxford comma!
[61] The Chinese calendar is a lunar calendar with twenty-eight days and twelve months (normally). Leap years see the addition of an additional month and that happens ev
ery four years. Generally, the months are roughly one to two months displaced from the Georgian calendar (so New Year’s is in January or February).
[62] Chinese equivalent of cutting your nose off to spite your face.
[63] The huki (colloquially hokou—though that’s actually the actual registration of an individual) is a system of household registration used in China. Pre-modern China had multiple variations of the registration system, ranging from a simple central registrar for the village and individual family registers to more complicated systems involving multiple households. Modern day China also has a much more complicated and political system in place for rural / city-based denizens. Obviously, we’re using a simplified version here. The hokou was used mainly for conscription and taxation in pre-modern times.
[64] The abacus (known as a suanpan in China) is a wooden / bamboo rectangle with beads on sliding wires and split into two sections by a wooden beam—a two-bead top deck and a five-bead bottom deck. Counting is done by moving the beads up and down, with each bead set demarcating a single digit, tens, hundreds, etc. Learnt right, it improves mental math and can be faster than a calculator.
[65] So, one thing to note is that depending on time period, merchants were generally considered the lowest class in society. Very broadly speaking, in traditional Confucian society, it went from noble, scholar, peasant, artisans and craftsmen, then merchants and traders.
[66] Amitoufo is the transliteration of the Sanskrit words Amithaba Buddha. It calls upon the Buddha of Infinite Light to help calm the mind and come from a compassionate place. In this case, Tien Huo is using it as a reminder to Yien Xue to let this go.
[67] Two of the Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology. Cai He supposedly traveled the world, doing good before ascending after getting drunk, while Zhong Li found a jade vessel that took him as an immortal to the heavens.
[68] Equivalent of modern day police or detectives. Sub-prefectures were appointed by prefectures who were appointed by the magistrate. They and imperial censors (who were generally restricted to chasing up corruption in the bureaucracy) were the policing forces of the government. They could be aided by city militia or army personnel, though the amount of help they received from the army varied during the time period.
[69] Traditional form of submission where the individual kneels and places their head on the ground in supplication. Often, this can be seen when worshipping ancestors and individuals of higher rank, with multiple bows indicating greater significance in rank.
[70] Pulled from the proverb about gratitude—“When drinking water, don’t forget who dug the well.”
[71] Mandarin equivalent of the f-word.
[72] This is a reference to a story about a young and old monk. It basically involves an older monk carrying a young noble lady across muddy ground on his back before he was shoved aside without thanks. The young monk continued complaining about the young woman for a long time, until the old monk finally said, “I set the woman down hours ago. Why are you still carrying her?”
[73] Chinese chess, but since you know; they’re Chinese, it’s chess. :P