#只

[roca404]

. MI JI RO GI MO SE ZU #侘び #只 #がんばらない #墨絵 #rkgk #illustration DAY564 https://www.instagram.com/p/CoFEvxKvock/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sasasatumblog]

只見線　本名駅〜会津川口駅

[cynosurus]

Preparing for the last exam I had kept a special eye out for treacherous little buggers like 练 so it was 只 zhǐ instead. I wrote it like 兄 and thought "no that's xiōng​ like in 兄弟 xiōng​dì (bro), but what am I missing? The 'box' should definitely not be open because then we would end up with 见"​.

I didn't figure it out during the exam, but instead, groundbreaking for me, left well before the time was up.

(My brain helpfully provided me with all the things I hadn't figured out during the exam on the bike ride home.

But the teacher didn't even notice/care my 只 "legs" were too wiggly and I still got almost full marks…

Would have still been worth it not to overexert myself otherwise though.)

Look at this, no wonder I was confused about dong and yue/le on my recent exam:

乐 yue/le (as in yinyue = music or kuaile = happy) 东 dong (as in dongxi or east)

I knew 乐 had two pronunciations, and felt that the dong character was similar, but I knew it couldn't have a third pronunciation. And I couldn't for my mind figure out what to change with 乐 to make it into the dong character without it becoming 车.

[zeantipyretic]

J'ai Trouvé L'amour

「 ♡ 熱 愛 発 覚 中 ♡ 」

[rinbylin]

莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook ep. 17

[thirrith]

A guide to Dream of the Red Chamber for English speakers

I've been posting about a book called Dream of the Red Chamber for a while. I'm kinda obsessed with it but the tags here on tumblr are pretty much barren. I want to get more people to be interested in it, so here's something more informative with minimal screaming.

Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) is a 18th century Chinese novel by Cao Xueqin. It isn't very well-known outside of the Sinophone aka the Chinese-speaking world, whereas where I come from it's considered a masterpiece and classic and is so well-known and holds so much cultural significance even the people who haven't necessarily read the book make references to it - like, basically everybody knows about the book. It certainly deserves to be known and loved by more people - that's why I'm making a post about it. This post is NOT going to be an attempt to cover everything, though, because there is just so, so much to the book; instead, I am creating a guide to make it easier for people to get started if they are interested.

What is Dream of the Red Chamber about? Why do people love it?

The best way to sum it up is calling it a family saga mixed with a bit of fantasy. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a big and powerful family, focusing on the story of the young girls, the maid servants, and the wives that all live together and run the household. The only male main character Jia Baoyu is a young heir of the family, who grew up among these women and girls. He loves and understands them, loves being surrounded by them, and deeply identifies with them. My dad, who is also a fan of the book, loves saying that Baoyu 'has the heart of a maiden'.

The book is funny and full of drama, and at the same time it's also poetic, tragic and profound, and the tragedy of the characters is written in such a kind way, as if the author wants you to love them and remember how wonderful and alive they are despite the fact that a gloomy fate will claim them all.

The book is also so queer in a way that no other Ming/Qing dynasty Chinese novels can compare. Obviously there are no modern queer labels because it was written in imperial China, but there are characters who are interested in both men and women, characters who are interested in no one, and affairs between boys and between girls; many main characters have the kind of relationships with their gender that make my Chinese transgender heart sing with empathy.

If you want to hear from English speakers who fell in love with the book and learn more about the context and literary/cultural value of the book, I recommend starting with 'Why is China’s greatest novel virtually unknown in the west?' by Michael Wood on The Guardian and 'Why you should read China’s vast, 18th century novel, Dream of the Red Chamber' by Josh Stenberg on The Conversation.

Dream of the Red Chamber is a long novel with many different versions and possibly hundreds of adaptations. How should I begin?

There are two translations that I know have received good reviews:

A Dream of Red Mansions translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. My partner is reading this version. It's a very faithful translation with footnotes to make up for the language and cultural barriers. (Note: the Yangs finished their translation in prison in China during the Cultural Revolution.)

The Story of the Stone translated by David Hawkes and John Minford. It's a translation that takes more artistic liberties than the Yangs version. For example it differs in the way it translates character names and its writing style. Hawkes wanted to recreate the experience of reading the novel in Chinese for English speaking readers, but it may also be harder for you to talk to those who read the book in Chinese about certain characters and details.

There is also a public domain translation by H. Bencraft Joly, which was first published in the 19th century, and you can find it on Project Gutenberg.

The 1987 36-episode TV adaptation Dream of the Red Chamber is well-loved and considered by many Chinese people to be the best adaptation of the book. Every later adaptation would be compared with the 1987 one and found lacking. I personally love this adaptation a lot, and I think out of all the adaptations I've seen (including TV series, films and Chinese opera) it has the best interpretations of the book and the characters. It also has the best songs, which were adapted from the poems in the book. You can stream the series with English subtitles on the Internet Archive.

If you want something shorter that covers the main romance plot line and includes a few iconic scenes from the book, I recommend the 1977 film adaptation The Dream of the Red Chamber casting legendary actress Brigitte Lin as Jia Baoyu (she also portrayed an iconic classic wuxia character as a trans woman in another film franchise, but I digress). You can find the film with English subtitles on Youtube.

This is not all, but it's a good start. If you ever decide to give it a go, it doesn't matter if you watch one of the adaptations first or read the book first. Don't stress, take your time, and enjoy the ride!

[houki703]

[scarletlich]

Some very quick thoughts on handwriting vibes for the Xianle four. From right to left, Mu Qing, Feng Xin, Hua Cheng, Xie Lian (labelled in red). The poem is the one that Hua Cheng says is his favorite, it is a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Zhen.

曾经沧海难为水，Once [I] have seen the ocean no other body can be considered water, (Mu Qing)

除却巫山不是云。Other than Mount Wu nothing else counts as clouds. (Feng Xin)

取次花草懒回顾，[I] pass often through fields of flowers yet don't bother to look back, (Hua Cheng)

半缘修道半缘君。Half because of cultivation and half because of you. (Xie Lian)

[kusanagihaku]

tohma thoughts time!! 🪜🪨

as usual I very much enjoy tkdb’s character naming and I like how tohma’s name (磴 塔真) fits him and tells me more about what he might be like!!

his last name 磴 means step (as in stepping stone, stepstool, steps of a ladder etc). he’s jin’s stepping stone in making sure the place runs smoothly. he plays the perfect role of the vice captain that is solid and sure and there when he’s needed.

the character also can be split into two characters, 石 (stone) and 登 (to climb). he’s not climbing up based on luck or flattery - he’s making his way up step by step through solid skill and genuine hard work. there’s foundation to how he rises up the ranks. it’s also echoed in the last character, 真, can mean to be solid, to be real or to be true.

but the 塔 in his name offers a really nice twist!! when putting his last name and the first half of his name together, 磴塔 means to climb a pagoda. which is !!! because famously, pagodas are hollow and don’t have stairs! I think it offers a great insight into his ambitions and his personality - if there isn’t a way up, he’s going to forge it himself.

it’s also reflected in his 五格 - his 总格, which reflects the way he approaches his professional life, is 40. It basically translates to: he’s someone who carries out his promises and won’t go back on his word, and will earn everyone’s trust that way. he’s straightforward without any pretences. he doesn’t like to use flattery to get what he wants. even though he might not be everyone’s cup of tea at first, he will gain everyone’s approval in the end. he won’t be successful overnight, but he’ll get there step by step.

which reads to me as very tohma! he’s trustworthy and gets where he wants to go by building trust and by working hard. he carries out his duties with jin and despite tohma supposedly transferring in from vagastrom and jin healing from a ?betrayal jin is slowly beginning to trust tohma.

his 人格, which describes his interpersonal relationships and his character, made me laugh: he’s constantly worried about his children (chaos duo, anyone?). he takes an active role in his work, and has high expectations of others. he doesn’t leave out a single detail, and is a very strict manager. he is someone who will keep a tight rein on the household, prepares many back-up plans and enjoys being the one giving directions. which is so !!! because isn’t this just tohma sitting in his vault with his paperwork running the frostheim household and planning balls!! we can also see this side of him during the first frostheim chapter, where he monitors the chaos duo’s mission from afar and has a back-up plan for when things go wrong.

his 人格 also reads that he’s the kind of person who would die for his friends. suffering for his friends is nothing to him, and he doesn’t mind if he gets his knuckles bloody for them. which WOOOOH smells like both vice-captain!tohma AND vagastrom!tohma to me!!

also this is a small thing but this detail in his 总格 made me laugh too: he will constantly squabble with his partner. i’m not saying it sounds like him & a certain captain but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyway tkdb character naming and design slaps as always, big fan

[kangturu07]

My honest opinion the novel's plot in nutshell

Novel : The Demon Lord Only Wants to Follow the Script (魔尊只想走剧情)

[staries]

i dont think i uploaded this here before but sticker sheet i made a while ago

[fishbloc]

[sasasatumblog]

只見線　早戸駅〜会津宮下駅

[time-sound]

天呢画lucius同人快两年了，等两年整了我要庆祝一下来一张惊天地泣鬼神的图🤗🤗【【【

[boydswan]

三船敏郎 | 悪い奴ほどよく眠る (1960, 黒沢明)

[douyinvids]

chipichipi chapachapa~

by 一只糯米 @ nuomi0623