Who Does This Picture Belong To, Please? I Found It In My Early MDZS Searches, And It’s Brought Me

I also just read Sha Po Lang! Those weapons and flying ships and wings have been in my head for months now - it’s lovely to see what they look like (according to idledee, which is gospel enough for me).

ive been reading sha po lang!

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼 Vol 1, Notes 4

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

(insp)

the last unicorn lived in a lilac wood,                  and she lived all alone

New Meme Alignment Chart came to me in a fit of Mania this morning. Have fun kids!

魔道祖师 Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Book Annotations

I am reading MDZS trying to pretend that I do not speak Chinese and have little to no knowledge of Chinese culture, while at the same time matching what I feel when reading MDZS in English to what I felt when reading MDZS in Chinese. Any time I see something that doesn’t flow well or that doesn’t match my original feelings, I make a note.  Any time I encounter something that I think will trip up my non-Chinese friends (师叔 shishu?), I make a note.

I love this story, and I don't expect my non-Chinese friends to remember the 5+ different things that Lan Xichen is called, so I have made a lot of notes. Here they are:

Book 1

Notes 1, pgs 1-65

Notes 2, pgs 87-147

Notes 3, pgs 148-209

Notes 4, pgs 210-263

Notes "7," pg 239

Notes 5, pgs 264-341

Notes 6: on the Appendix

Book 2

Notes 1, pages 1 - 86

Notes 2, pages 87 - 160

Notes 3, pages 163 - 198

Notes 4, pages 199 - 279

Notes 5, pages 280 - 318

Notes 6, pages 321 - 351

Book 3

Notes 1, pages 1 - 90

Notes 2, pages 92 - 217

Notes 3, pages 219 - 312

Book 4

Notes 1, pages 1 - 49

Notes 2, pages 51 - 88

Notes 3, pages 89 - 151

Notes 4, pages 152 - 174

Notes 5, pages 175 - 208

Notes 6, pages 210 - 234

Notes 7, pages 236 - 266

Notes 8, pages 267 - 288

Notes 9, pages 293 - 309

Notes 10, pages 310 - end

Book 5

Notes 1, pages 1 - 45

Notes 2, pages 53 - 131

Notes 3, pages 133 - 190

Notes 4, pages 193 - 267

Notes 5, pages 343 - 375

Notes 6, pages 383 - end

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼 Vol 1, Notes 1

pgs 12 - 81

Here are some notes from Stars of Chaos Vol 1. Some are quick translations that don't really matter in the grand picture, but which are really fun and clever and it would be so much better if you could just see and understand it right now!

Here they are:

More under the cut

Did any of you learn the Ballad of Mulan (poem)? Yah. That poem talks about the difficulty of determining a rabbit’s sex, especially when it’s running.

I think “equipped” could be the correct word, but I’ve never seen it used as a verb in this context. It just means he put the thing on.

You will see many, many “Yifu!”s from here on. It’s a non-religious “godfather,” closer to “adopted” or “sworn” than “god.”

Remember: in Chinese, it’s good to be old :)

It’s a 蛟 jiao, not a fancy 龙 long。

Chinese has the Best Euphemisms for death! My favorite is 驾鹤西去: fly on a crane to the west(ern paradise).

Stars of Chaos - All The Notes List

All The Seven Seas Books Masterlist

Who’s The Murderer | Paradise Island “Horror Nursery Rhymes” - Zhou Shen 

Keep reading

MDZS Vol 5 Annotations 1

Part 1 of 6, pages 1 - 45

I finished it! All of the Seven Seas English translation of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation / MDZS / 魔道祖师！ I don’t know if I’m happy or sad. I think I need to listen to the ♥️Audio Drama♥️ again.

This volume flowed a lot more smoothly than Volume 4, but there are still a few places I tripped and had to look back at the Chinese. Here they are, plus an unhelpful comment about the inaccuracy of one of the beautiful illustrations:

More under the cut

Just in case anyone can’t remember the names of all the musical instruments.

This is a minor word-choice quibble, but here it is. I think LWJ limped, as he was not hobbled, just injured.

Re my note at the top of this page: I think it’s similar in Western culture (I know I’ve been steeped in xianxia maybe too deeply when I forget the culture that I’m actually living in), but in Chinese culture it’s especially important to greet people by name/title, especially when you first see them, and again when you separate. It’s a simple, sweet way to acknowledge that you see them and respect them and appreciate them and support them; if they need help with homework or with reaching a high shelf, you’re here to help; if you’re the one who gets help and gifts and tasty treats, then you’re showing that you appreciate everything about them (and you’re ready for more cookies).

Each time I walk into my house it’s like a game of hide-and-seek where I have to find each family member and declare my presence (and demand affection in return); and each time I leave I yell “I’m leaving!” from the door (because I’m late and must go quickly!) so that they know that I am no longer available to help, but I will miss them all and love them from afar.

The illustrations are gorgeous. I don’t know if they would be so gorgeous if JC was holding his little umbrella overhead, like in the text, but you must admit that it’s quite a flex that JC can beat up many people with Zidian while keeping his head and shoulders dry.

You all remember the family / martial-family nomenclature, right?

MDZS Masterlist.

All the Books I'm Annotating Masterlist.

Stars of Chaos 杀破狼

Vol 2, Notes 1. Pages 21 - 46.

A very kind tumblr user had to educate me that, yes, Priest edited her work after it was published (stolen on to?) on pirate websites, and so, yes, the translators were working off of a different version than I read.

But I LOVE the version I read, so I'm sharing it with you. You get BOTH.

Please excuse my angry "MISSING PARAGRAPH!" hand-written notes, as I did not realize that official edits were made post-pirate-publication.

Below are many possibly-unnecessary cultural notes that I think are just really neat, plus differences between versions. (I love the old one!)

Here we go:

Very cool word, 帅。

Usually, I read or hear it in reference to some guy being very cool. Devilishly handsome. Dashing.

Here, 大帅 is used as "Commander-in-Chief," which is the same thing as "Marshal," which can mean (dictionary.com) "a military officer of the highest rank" as well as the one I'm more familiar with, "chief of a police or fire department in some cities."

I just like how, in Chinese, I can also-interpret that everyone is calling him "Big Handsome."

Yah, Chen QingXu is a Boss. Who introduces herself as, like, a snake-oil peddler.

讷于言 The young soldier was bad at words. Not sparing, not careful; just bad.

悬壶济世 hang pot save world, because so much of Chinese medicine is boiling herbs for patients to drink.

No one is putting powder in leather sachets. It's dried herbs.

I usually agree with the Seven Seas' formatting, but I think it would be more clear if those sentences were broken into the original two separate paragraphs.

Top: Gold Tank = container for violet gold. It took me a second to figure that out.

Bottom: 小兄弟. I love how you can combine the "older brother" 兄 with the "younger brother" 弟, add a "little" 小 in the front, and it becomes, effectively, "Bro," but respectful.

In case you can't read my tiny bad handwriting: there used to be another paragraph here about how Gu Yun wants to see Chen QingXu because his meds are losing effect. The effects of drinking the meds used to last for months, then weeks, and now they only last two days.

And on the facing page, in the illustration, Chang Geng should be ON his horse.

It hits a little different, I think, to say You have to bathe and change your clothes just to walk your horse? And it has to be this exact time and place?

锋芒毕露 "sharp point must expose"

After years spent guarding the Silk Road, Gu Yun's propensity to show off had gradually faded...

OK. I think ten is enough for this post. More to come...

My DanMei Literary Adventure Masterpost

Stars of Chaos - All Notes Links