#han-shan quote

[d-i-x-i-t]

East is just as good as west. Those who know the meaning of this; are free to go where they want.

Han-shan

[lionofchaeronea]

And in my house what do I have? Only a bed piled high with books. -Han-shan (Cold Mountain), tr. Burton Watson

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 漢服]Chinese Tang Dynasty(618-906 A.D)Traditional Clothing Photoshoot

【About Hairstyle “堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]”】

During the Tang Dynasty, Li Shan(李善) quoted "record of the Customs/《风俗通》" recorded : “‘堕马髻者，侧在一边’，......始自梁冀所为，京师翁然皆效之”。

 ( “堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]” is a hairstyle with a side hair bun. It was created by Liang Ji's family and later imitated by the people in the capital.)

The characteristic of this hairstyle is that the hair hangs sideways to the shoulders, and a lock of hair is separated from the bun to scatter freely. If  combine with “啼妆(Makeup that make people look like they are crying)” and “愁眉(sad looking brows)“, it will look like a woman who has just fallen from a horse, which can increase a woman's sense of charm.

The“堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]”appeared again during the Tianbao era(742–756) of the Tang Dynasty, and became popular during the Zhenyuan period(785–805) of the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, some people described the shape of roses hanging down and petals gently touch the ground, like the hairstyle “堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]”. “堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]”has slightly changed from generation to generation, but its basic characteristics, the sideways and inverted shapes, have not changed. “堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]” is mainly favored by married middle-aged women.

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“堕马髻 [duò mǎ jì]” hairstyle originated in the Han Dynasty, during the Han Dynasty, "《后汉书∙卷六十四∙列传第二十四∙梁冀》" recorded:

 “寿色美而善为妖态，作愁眉，啼妆，堕马髻，折腰步，齲齿笑，以为媚惑。冀亦改易舆服之制，作平上軿车，埤帻，狭冠，折上巾，拥身扇，狐尾单衣。寿性钳忌，能制御冀，冀甚宠惮之。”

Translation：

Liang Ji(梁冀)'s wife Sun Shou(孙寿) is very beautiful and good at being "bewitching”. She make “愁眉(sad looking brows)“,“啼妆(Makeup that make people look like they are crying)”,as shown below:

“堕马髻(comb your hair bun on one side)” ,”折腰步(refers to swinging the waist when walking)”, as shown below:

“龋齿笑(Refers to a woman's intentionally contrived smile that looks like a toothache, although is very happy inside, woman don’t laugh out loud)”, she thinking these makeup & action that will make her very cute and to attract men.

Sun Shou is jealousy because she can subdue his husband Liang Ji. Liang Ji dotes on her very much, but is also afraid of her.Sun Shou's actions and the makeup she created were deeply loved by women in the imperial city of the Han Dynasty at that time, and they imitated her. And this trend gradually spread to other cities.

which has record in  《搜神记∙卷六∙梁冀妻》：

“汉桓帝元嘉中，京都妇女作“愁眉”“啼妆”“堕马髻”“折腰步”“龋齿笑。”“愁眉”者，细而曲折。“啼七”者，薄拭目下若啼处。“堕马髻”者，作一边。“折腰步”者，足不在下体。“龋齿笑”者，若齿痛，乐不欣欣。始自大将军梁冀妻孙寿所为，京都翕然，诸夏效之。天戒若曰：“兵马将往收捕：妇女忧愁，踧眉啼哭；吏卒掣顿，折其腰脊，令髻邪倾；虽强语笑，无复气味也。”

But these trend is actually portending a tragic end.

天戒若曰：“兵马将往收捕：妇女忧愁，踧眉啼哭；吏卒掣顿，折其腰脊，令髻邪倾；虽强语笑，无复气味也。”

Translation：

Heaven warned: "The army will come to arrest, the women are sad, frowning and crying; the officials and jailers push and kick, break their waists and spines, and make their hair buns tilt; even if they are forced to talk and laugh, they will no longer have that mood." 

In the second year of Yanxi(159 AD), the whole clan and family of Liang Ji's was exterminated.

In Chinese history, it is not difficult to found that when a kind of makeup or fashion that tends to show"sad”，“crying" etc,and becomes popular among women. In many cases,It heralds the imminent demise of a dynasty.

Just like the "Blood Halo Makeup/血晕妆" in the late Tang era and popular in the Han, Tang and Southern Song Dynasty brows makeup “愁眉(sad looking brows)“.When these makeups appeared, the empire also getting weakened.

Therefore, Chinese literati and scholars of in history criticized these fashion/trend, and believed that it was a sign of the collapse of the country.

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👗Hanfu：@青泠谷汉服工作室

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🔗Weibo:https://weibo.com/3942003133/MvrSj620J

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[ryin-silverfish]

So I did a brief review of when writers from the Warring States and earlier would place the legend of Yi.

Yellow Emperor's Reign: Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Bu Wei (吕氏春秋) and Mozi's writings. Yi is listed as inventor of the bow and arrow, alongside other inventors from the Yellow Emperor's period. 吕氏 also mentions ten suns appearing before Yao's reign, but as a good omen. Also quoting from Zhuangzi, 吕氏 has Yao saying that “lighting fires while the ten suns are out" is a waste of effort, because their light cannot make the already bright environment brighter, just like Yao remaining on the throne cannot make the realm a better place when the sage Xu You is already going around helping people.

Xia Dynasty: Shang Shu (尚书), Guo Yu (国语), Zuo Zhuan (左传), Tale of King Mu (穆天子传), Qu Yuan's Tian Wen (天���), Confucius, Zhuangzi, students of Mozi. The three history books, Shang Shu, Guo Yu, and Zuo Zhuan all present Yi as an usurper of the Xia Dynasty who was then betrayed and murdered by his advisor Han Zhuo. Shang Shu also rationalizes Yi's shooting of the suns as a campaign against the Xi and He clans, two noble families charged with calculating the calendar, but who had neglected their duties. The Tale of King Mu also calls Yi the Xia Dynasty ruler of Yoqiong. Confucius and Zhuangzi both cite Yi as a powerful archer, but bad ruler. However, Zhuangzi portrays Yi as a man who understood his own faults and could not take pride in his ability to judge character. Mozi's students related a story about Yi receiving a jade pendant from heaven before his final failure and death, as an allegory of pride going before a fall. Qu Yuan has the most complete summary of Yi's myth, presenting him as a Heaven-sent hero who was meant to save the people of Xia, but usurped the king's throne, stole a river god's wife, abducted the woman Xuan Qi, lost Chang-E when she went to the moon, and finally was punished by Heaven and fell to the schemes of those around him. Other texts also mention Yi, but he's still implied to be a Xia Dynasty figure because there are pre-late Warring States texts setting him in any other time. Guizang, one of the earliest texts to contain Chinese myths, states that Yi shot down the suns and Chang-E stole the elixir of immortality and went to moon. Shan Hai JIng mentions Yi received a bow from the sky god Di Jun to slay monsters. Mencius mentioned Yi being murdered by his jealous student Feng Meng, but stated Yi bore some responsibility for the crime (neglecting mortal education). In contrast, Guan Zhong and Han Fei regarded Yi as a principled man dedicated to his craft, who understood the philosophy and not just the act of shooting an arrow, and who was the protective figure. Yi is often listed alongside his disciple Feng Meng as the example of a good archer.

Yao's Reign: Huainanzi (淮南子) and its oral sources. Yi shooting the suns is set during Yao's reign. Xunzi also mentions Yi as a title that can be given to any good archer. However, he also makes references to Yi and Feng Meng as specific individuals, in which case he's likely referring to Yi from the Xia Dynasty. ("Yi and Feng Meng cannot aim accurately with crooked bows"; "Yi's methods are not lost, but Yi is no longer in this world.") Meanwhile Han Fei makes vague comparisons between Yao and Yi as enforcers of the law, but never specifically calls them contemporary.

Later Han Dynasty commentaries would make the sun-shooting Yi from Yao's era a different individual than the Xia Dynasty Yi, but the myth of a single Yi who both shot the suns (or the individuals responsible for tracking the sun's movements through the year) and usurped the Xia throne came first and was the most popular before the Qin Dynasty.

Wonderful collection!

I only have one small correction: Qu Yuan's Tianwen does not make any connection between Chang'e and Yi.

There are lines about the death and revival of the moon, and the animal in it (夜光何德,死则又育?厥利维何,而顾菟在腹?), as well as the lines asking about why a woman in fine white robes is decorating herself in jewelry, followed by a question about where she gets the "fine pills" and why she cannot hide/keep them. (白蜺婴茀,胡为此堂?安得夫良药,不能固臧?)

It is commonly interpreted as referring to the Chang'e legends, but at least in the poem, it's not connected to the Yi-related lines.

Also, though the version of Guizang quoted in the ask mentions both Yi and Chang'e next to each other, the Qin era bamboo slips excavated from Wangjia Tai only mentions Chang'e stealing the pill of immortality and flying to the moon.

From what I know, though both the Yi and Chang'e mythology were floating around in the late Warring States-Qin era, they weren't yet connected to each other.

The earliest passage that featured the "Yi gets immortality pills from QMoW, Chang'e steals it and fly to the moon" plot is from Huainan Zi , and in the eastern Han annotation of the passage, they became husband and wife.

[web-novel-polls]

Priest (Author) Character Lower Bracket

[“Anti-propaganda” is not allowed. Please only give reasons to vote FOR a character, and please be courteous in the notes.]

Chu Huan from Of Mountains and Rivers / Shan He Biao Li 

Submission: 

His vibes are insane. A character pipi made by putting Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu in a jar and shaking, and then wrapping the result in the most unassuming shell possible. That one post that went like "perfectly normal man that has something seriously wrong with him" might as well have been made about him. Kills like 20 ppl in his introduction scene, falls off a cliff, gets on a bus, and agrees to become a teacher for those random guys he met because one of them is hot. Speaking of, his bi awakening and accepting it happens in a span of like, one second. *Sees a hot guy* welp, homosexual attraction is not a sin! Also, somehow has perfect tumblr shitposter vibes. Was asked what's a word for "good brother" in his language and after careful consideration said "bitch". Did I mention he's insane? "Play me a tune, and I'll go along with your BDSM play." Or that time he woke up after being clinically dead for a bit (saw his deceased loved ones asking him to go into the light and all) and to his bf's frantic questioning of "Does it hurt?" immediately went "Yes. It hurts a lot. You have to kiss it better." like bestie your priorities.... Anyway yeah what a guy.

Tong Ru / Lord Beiming from Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect 

“Beiming? Who deserves the title of Beiming? That’s merely an arrogant title given by some short-sighted people.” - Lord Beiming, Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect, Chapter 16

[No propaganda submitted]

“It’s just death, nothing serious.” - Lord Beiming, ch.30 

***I, the poll runner, have not gotten to the Lord Beiming reveal, so I’m not 100% sure the quotes from where I’m at are correct/for the same person (since there’s another person trying to claim the title of Lord Beiming)

(Also, Tong Ru and Han Muchun are sharing a picture because it’s way too blurry with just one lol)

Mu Xiaoqiao from Bandits / You Fei / Legend of Fei

Submission: 

"People tended to apply the highest of standards when judging the behavior of revered saints like the Sword of Mountains and Rivers: if they made even the smallest of missteps, they would be deemed unworthy of their sterling reputations, and be lambasted for hypocrisy. But people were much more magnanimous towards Mu Xiaoqiao and those of his vile ilk, for as long as these fiends didn’t go around killing everyone in sight…or as long as this violence was directed at others instead, they could sometimes even find something perversely charming about these villains." (Bandits, book 3, chapter 13)  Callout for who? Callout for me. Pipi is very right about this but also she is the one writing her murderous gays so epic and sexy and fascinating and irresistible and…

[isleofdarkness]

Important Tags

(Tumblr does not like my masterpost so I'm splitting it into a bunch of masterposts and making a masterpost of my masterposts)

My AU Tag- isle of darkness General AU Tag- descendants AU All Descendants Talk- descendants Mod's Tag- the darkness speaks Incorrect quotes- incorrect quotes Character profiles- character profile

Character Tags

OC tags- original character, descendants OC

Maverick Mim

Zachariah Darhk

descendants jay

descendants evie / Genevive Isabella Char

Claudine Frollo

descendants mal / Mal Briar

Carlos de Vil

descendants ben

descendants audrey

Lydia Snoops

Constantine Westergaard / Hans II

Anna Westergaard

descendants zevon

descendants yzla

Mara Mim

Molly Mim

Mordred Mim

Malcolm Mim

descendants hadie

Harry Hook

descendants uma / Uma Facilier

descendants gil / Gil LeGume

Calista Jane Hook / CJ Hook

Harriet Hook

Ginny Gothel

Diego de Vil

Anthony Tremaine

Belle LeGume

Maddy Mim / Mad Maddy

Clay Clayton

Mary Mim

Sammy Smee

Agony and Chaos / Amara Olympian / Callisto Olympian

Arika Sykes

Li Liang / Li Lonnie

Li Susu / Li'l Shang

descendants jane

Justice Olympian

Shan Sarangerel

Ivy de Vil

Mischa Rasputin

Polina Rasputin

Kira Rasputin

Nikita Rasputin

Freddie Facilier

Celia Facilier

Rick Ratcliffe

Desdemona Briar

Ruby Ayad

Hunter de Vil

Friendly Faces

stargirl1331

dante anon / unnamedrat

birb anon

cleverqueencommander

[niobefurens]

Lan Shi tidbits from the upcoming Italian edition of MDZS.

Mondadori is finally going to be releasing the Italian translation of MDZS Vol. 1 later this month March 3rd (🤞).

Meanwhile they throw us scraps to keep us hanging in there.

Interesting details; it might mean the italian edition will do justice to the work. Which, in my mind, SevenSeas has not.

The translations into English are mine.

Long post.

Translation: In Chinese tradition, the masculine ideal combines martial competence with artistic and literary skills. This is exemplified by the saying 文武双全 wén wǔ shuāng quán: "as expert in arms, as in letters".

Translation: In MDZS the clan that best represents this paradigm is the Làn clan, to which numerous quotes and images drawn from tradition are repeatedly referred.

Here are some examples of references to Tang era (618-907) poetry, the pinnacle of the Chinese lyrical tradition, used [by MXTX] in [her] characterisation of the Lan.

Translation: In CHinese, Cloud Recesses, the Lan estate, is called 云深不知处 Yúnshēn Bù zhī chù, literally: "clouds so thick, they disorient (confuse)". The expression is taken from the last verse of the famous poem "Visiting the Absent Hermit" (尋隱者不遇 Xún yǐn zhě bùyù ) by the poet Jia Dao 贾岛 (779-843).

The atmosphere of quiet and meditation within the Cloud Recess walls is portrayed with a reference to the legendary poet and hermit Han Shan 寒 山 (litterally: Cold Mountain).

My notes: the Italian fan-tran Gran Maestro della Scuola Demoniaca translated Cloud Recesses as "Meanders of the Clouds"; the new Italian translates it as Cloud Labirynth. With the aggravation of the word Dedalus in place of labyrinth, or maze.

Jia Dao's poem in English/chinese can be found here: https://chinesepoemsinenglish.blogspot.com/2010/03/jia-dao-visiting-absent-hermit.html

Translation:

Lan Wangji's curtesy name comes from the expression 鸥鸟忘記 Ōu niǎo wàng jì meaning: "seagulls are forgetful (of the world)", which appears in a verse of the poem "Offered to Tiansou (赠田叟 Zèng Tiánsǒu) by the poet Li Shangyin 李商隱 (813-858), who was, in turn, inspired by the taoist ideal of "inaction" (无为 wúwéi).

Note: "curtesy name", is rendered in Italian as "public name".

Translation: Lan Wangji's appearance in the novel is announced by the notes of his guqin, described as charged with the "cold rustling of pines" (松风寒 sōng fēnghán). The expression is taken from a verse of the poem "Playing the Lute" (听弹琴 tīng tánqín) by Liu Changqing 刘长卿 (786-789/90).

Recognition of the italian (glorious) fan-tran team is in the title: grand master of the demonic school.

[huachengslastbraincell]

Han Ying: Can we talk? one Zhou Zishu stan to another?

Wen Kexing: I don't see why not

[the-anxiety-academy]

Sheamus: Say no to drugs.

Hallie: Say yes to drugs.

Shan Sia: It doesn't matter if you say yes or no to drugs. If you're talking to drugs.. then you're on drugs.

[thanatophobia-thoughts]

A telling analogy for life and death: Compare the two of them to water and ice. Water draws together to become ice, And ice disperses again to become water. Whatever has died is sure to be born again; Whatever is born comes around again to dying. As ice and water do one another no harm, So life and death, the two of them, are fine.

Han Shan

[1five1two]

In order to solve the great matter of life and death, one must have a will as strong as iron and stone so as not be affected by illusory ideas and actual circumstances. One must purify all bad feelings and views that have been formed and accumulated. Truly let go of this bodily life so as not be hindered by the evil conditons of sickness and suffering in the cycle of life and death.

Han-Shan Te-Ch'ing

[infinitedonut]

My mind, a lonely cloud, Leans on nothing, Needs nothing From the world and its endless events.

Han Shan

[hanfugallery]

翼善冠yi-shan-guan, a type of hat in Chinese hanfu for ancient emperors and kings.

The term first appeared in Tang Dynasty and invented by Emperor Taizong of Tang. Quotes according to the official records of Tang, Song and Ming Dynasty. “唐贞观中，太宗采古制为翼善冠，自服之。朔望视朝，以常服及帛练裙襦通着之。若服袴褶，又与平巾帻通用。见宋王溥《唐会要．舆服上》﹑《旧唐书．舆服志》。明永乐三年，定皇帝常服冠以乌纱覆之，折角向上，亦名翼善冠。见《明史．舆服志二》。” 

The yishanguan also has a corresponding hat of very similar shape in the official class and the commoner class, called wushamao乌纱帽, and in fact the yishanguan can be considered a variant of wushamao.

Actually yishanguan does have another name, called wu-sha-zhe-shang-jin乌纱折上巾, which means a hat made of black gauze with folded wings upward, and that's what distinguishes it from an ordinary wushamao.

As for the origin of wushamao, it is futou幞头 in the Tang Dynasty. Futou in the Tang Dynasty originates from fujin幅巾 in the Han Dynasty. In the Han Dynasty, people wrapped their heads in a whole pair of soft cloth, so it was called fujin幅巾(It literally means a whole piece of cloth).

Some wushamao without wings, worn by officials, are similar in shape to the Yishanguan worn by the emperor. In Chinese historical dramas and costume dramas, jin-yi-wei锦衣卫, the imperial guards of secret service agent in the emperor's court often wore this kind of wushamao without wings. And most wushamao have flush, long oval wings. There is a type of wushamao with particularly slender wings that is inherited from the Song Dynasty and is considered more formal.

The pictures below are ancient wushamao from the museums' collection, as well as portraits of Ming Dynasty officials.

Because jinyiwei锦衣卫 resembles ancient agents, it is very popular among Chinese artists, who often draw characters wearing jinyiwei-style hanfu.

Then again, the following pictures are of Ming emperors wearing yishanguan. These pictures are accurate for reference.

Animated version drawn by 燕王WF

There are some ancient paintings from the Song and Ming dynasties, on which people are wearing various kinds of wushamao.

The above is the brief introduction about yishanguan and wushamao, after that I will also introduce more other types of hanfu hats.

[chalkrevelations]

Word of Honor Ep 5, and this is a lot of politicking. (Although not as much as there will be.)

Due diligence, first: If you are NEW or JUST VISITING, this is a re-watch, so there are SPOILERS not just for this ep, but for the entire show. Scroll away and come back later if you haven’t seen all 36.5 eps and want to watch unspoiled.

Before we get to the politicking, let’s talk about what we’re really here for: Date Night For Our Pair Of Merciless Killers. I’m going float a theory about this episode. I’ve talked in previous rounds of this re-watch about how Wen Kexing’s thirst takes on a different dimension when we know his backstory and how he’s trying to get info about Siji Manor and confirm Zhou Zishu’s identity, as well as reacting to him as his one-time shixiong. I’m going to suggest that a lot of the sexual harassment in this particular episode – at least in the back half of it – is about diverting ZZS while he’s trying to figure out an op that WKX’s actual Ghosts were involved in. I think WKX is laying it on so thick here – constant come-ons and physical crowding and repeated attempts to touch ZZS that we repeatedly see ZZS step away from or actually push away - because he’s deliberately trying to make ZZS uncomfortable in order to distract him. More on this in a bit.

Re: the politicking. Straight-up, I’ll admit that I didn’t follow this aspect as close as I maybe ought to have on the first go ‘round because I was distracted by WKX’s thirst, just like ZZS is supposed to be (so, another point to you, show). I’m going to take this in basically chronological order to try to make sense of it: We open on Shenshen fighting Hao Tong and Lv Liu (ugh) to protect Ao Laizi, leader of Tai Shan sect, a lesser sect; the last two living Danyang Sect shidi; and the Danyang Glazed Armor. Shenshen chases Insufferable Grandma and Grandpa away but is kind of an asshole about wanting the Danyang Glazed Armor. He does a credible job of trying to maneuver them all into coming back to the Five Lakes Alliance at Zhao Jing’s place after Zhao Jing shows up with one of the Tai Shan disciples who ran to Sanbai Manor for help. Ao Laizi was not born yesterday and appears to outmaneuver him, although if you pay attention, Zhao Jing actually allows them to slip the snare. I have my suspicions that Zhao Jing wants the Danyang Glazed Armor to stay in the wind, where he’s less likely to be blamed once Ao Laizi gets knifed in the back and gets his newly acquired Glazed Armor took, which I’m assuming – knowing what I know about Awful Yifu from my previous watch – is the plan. This will end up being a big mistake for everyone involved. WKX then gets himself and ZZS invited to dinner at Sanbai Manor, where they get to sit at the head table with Chengling, Zhao Jing, Shenshen, and a dude representing Yueyang Sect, who is apparently Gao Chong’s favorite disciple, despite not being his head disciple, so you lose again, Deng Kuan, sorry. There’s a lot of ostentatious poetry quoting and bullshit toasting of each other at the head table, interrupting ZZS’s actual work of drinking. WKX attempts to feed ZZS by putting a prawn on his plate, which goes over about as well as you’d expect at this stage of their relationship, and which I now have to compare to the New Year’s dinner we’ll see in a later ep, at Siji Manor, which shows just how far their relationship comes. EVERYTHING about how awkward and uncomfortable this banquet is stands in stark contrast to that New Year’s dinner.

Cut to Mu Yunge – oh, this is the guy who was sitting in the back row of the cast during the WoH concert, when I couldn’t figure out who he was or why he was there instead of say, Wang Rong (Han Ying, my beloved …). We saw him earlier with the Five Lakes Alliance contingent that shows up to look vaguely horrified and tearful post-massacre at Mirror Lake. Now, he’s staggering along a deserted street after nightfall, running from Ghost Valley, who appear to be the legit deal this time, in the form of the Department of the Unfaithful. He runs into Ao Laizi and his charges (don’t they have a home to go to?), begging for help, before he gets yoinked away by a red banner that acts an awful lot like a tentacle. Ao Laizi goes running after him. BIG MISTAKE.

Back at the banquet, Shenshen appears to be disgracefully drunk (can none of these Five Lakes Alliance assholes hold their liquor? Damn.) and is busy berating Chengling about learning to drink like a man. There are a lot more weird sympathetic looks from WKX here, along with ZZS. Zhao Jing sends both Shenshen and Chengling to bed like 5-year-olds, and WKX takes advantage of his shameless persona to ask pointedly about the strapping young fellow who escorted ShenShen to bed (aka Song Huairen, Gao Chong’s favorite disciple from Yueyang Sect). There is literally no reason for WKX to need to know this, but it will help us, as the audience, to know it later. Cut to Song Huairen putting Shenshen to bed and leaving, and then we find out, surprise! Shenshen is not drunk! Is not sleeping! Is apparently going to get up and go skulk around secretly …. somewhere. Who knows? We don’t see him again until he has a chance to berate Zhao Jing, which is always a good time, even if Shenshen is insufferable. Pick your fighter, I guess. Back at the banquet again, we and WKX meet … oh. It’s This Guy, Yu Qiufeng, leader of Mount Hua Sect – remember this asshole, he’ll show up again, in various iterations – and his son, Tianjie. ZZS, meanwhile, wanders off, also acting disgracefully drunk, pretending to throw up in the bushes so the maids will leave him alone and he can drink in peace. I’m not sure why we act like WKX is the only shameless one in this marriage. Also, this is … actually not the last time he’ll resemble Shenshen in this episode, now that I think about it. Anyway, ZZS spots Yu Tianjie sneaking away suspiciously and follows him to some part of Sanbai where Tianjie sneaks in then chases out someone in dark robes with his face covered who looks suspiciously like Song Huairen, Gao Chong’s favorite disciple. The banquet gets interrupted by someone who sounds like Happy Ghost berating the Five Lakes Alliance, a maid comes screaming up the stairs, and we all rush out to discover Ao Laizi and two of his disciples, dead, hanging outside the front gate. This really is the worst party ever. Significantly, WKX takes a minute to look around the banquet hall, as if to see if anyone is eying him suspiciously. He does NOT follow everyone to the front gate, but instead ends up outside Chengling’s room when Chengling yells for his shifu because someone’s trying to get him. When they all run to Chengling’s room, WKX is faffing about outside, leisurely fanning himself and saying that surely that wasn’t Ghost Valley, because they were SUCH mediocre fighters and ran away the minute he started fighting. I JUST BET THEY DID.

OK, so, here’s the thing. Back in Ep 4, A-Xiang told Lovelace to take a message back from WKX to tell everyone to assemble at Sanbai Manor. I’m thinking that this time, this is actual Ghost Valley, that they grabbed Mu Yunge essentially as bait to get Ao Laizi, and then killed Ao Laizi and took the Danyang Glazed Armor, so that Ghost Valley is actually IN POSSESSION of a piece of the Glazed Armor, finally. They also, in the process, stole it out from under Zhao Jing’s nose, taking away his chance to have (probably) Xie’er go after Ao Laizi and get it. Ghost Valley then hung Ao Laizi at the gate and presumably menaced Chengling, either as a distraction or to make WKX look good or both.

So, we get Chengling back in bed and see ZZS tell him to go to sleep and not to cry because men don’t cry – thanks, Shenshen. I’ll be sure to remember that when you figuratively stab me in the HEART with your sad little face and crystalline tears later in the show. ZZS has a flashback to telling baby Qin Jiuxiao at Siji Manor basically the same thing, and I’m wondering if this is following Qin Huaizhang’s death? I don’t know, I don’t think we get enough info. ZZS then sneaks onto the roof to listen to Shenshen berate Zhao Jing, who supposedly discovered he had his own piece of Glazed Armor stolen during this ruckus. NOW, LISTEN. Was the dark-robed figure chased by Yu Tianjie actually Xie’er, “stealing” Zhao Jing’s Glazed Armor? Because we know, later, Xie’er wears the Tai Hu Glazed Armor as a necklace. It seems like a lot of trouble to go through, to make him actually “steal” it, when you could just give it to him and act like it was stolen, but Zhao Jing also didn’t know (I think?) that ACTUAL Ghost Valley was going to show up and create a convenient ruckus and an obvious scapegoat to pin the theft on. This is also where I’m unsure about which particular faction scared the shit out of Chengling. I’m assuming it’s actual Ghost Valley, who were “conveniently” driven off by WKX, because also in Ep 4, the Scorpions were told to assemble at Yueyang, not Sanbai Manor, and will make their kidnap attempt there in a later episode.

Anyway, we’re finally back to Date Night For the Merciless Killers, and ZZS chases WKX through the treetops, set to a romantic tune, until they arrive at what will turn out to be a crime scene, where WKX stops ZZS from walking into some Hanged Ghost-style Soul Winding Threads. ZZS remarks this must be the “real” Hanged Ghost, unlike the one at Mirror Lake, because A-Xiang wouldn’t have been able to kill the REAL Hanged Ghost. (SO CLOSE, my friend, but we know that the real Hanged Ghost got got in Ep 1. Although whoever was at Mirror Lake did have access to Soul Winding Threads, as Shenshen and his group discovered them.) At this point, WKX wants to know if ZZS is afraid of ghosts because he’s a VIRGIN, hahaha? He also starts getting up on ZZS, who walks away to continue his investigation of the tree with the Soul Winding Threads. Blood drips from a corpse in the tree down onto ZZS’s sleeve, and ZZS comments that blood “disgusts” him; I think there may be some significance to this word choice, as it correlates to his past breakdown over his work in Tian Chuang and his reaction to the deaths of the Four Sages of Anji - this is the metaphorical blood on people’s hands, including his own, literalized. Anyway, at this point, WKX cuts ZZS’s sleeve. I mean. :hands: He also tries to joke and bet about the identity of the corpse in the tree, who turns out to be Yu Tianjie. ZZS once again will not be diverted and keeps investigating this crime scene like the most devoted Fantasy Ancient China CSI ever. WKX rushes after him, saying that HE’s afraid of ghosts (implying that HE’s a virgin?) and getting right up on ZZS, enough so that ZZS physically pushes him away, as they reach a second body on the ground. Dark-robed, masked, turns out to be Song Huairen, Gao Chong’s (former) favorite disciple, who ZZS theorizes is the traitor who was after the Tai Hu Glazed Armor. There’s a repeated pattern here of WKX really pushing the sexual harassment and other diversionary tactics every time ZZS is working to figure out a piece of this puzzle, which might take him too close to WKX, up until the point when ZZS advances a theory that points away from WKX. ZZS is clearly working his way toward WKX, though, even with some of the wrong turns he’s making. The last thing we do in this ep is move on to the Zhao Coffin Home, where they encounter the Drunk Like a Dream incense and the Drug Men. On entering the place, ZZS pulls WKX back from more Soul Winding Threads, but he then pulls away when WKX tries to put a hand on his shoulder. WKX asks ZZS who he is, again, and it sounds like this time he’s asking more than what the face under the mask looks like. ZZS responds by asking WKX who HE is, and the way he says it – this is where I really begin to think he’s getting suspicious. You can see the wheels turning.

Final observation:

We get two SUPER SIGNIFICANT things at the end of this ep: There’s what I think is the first use of “Lao Wen,” shouted by ZZS in warning when WKX is wandering around high and the Drug Men show up. And WKX calls ZZS “Zhou Zishu” – not Zhou Xu – when he complains about being made to drink the Drunk Like A Dream antidote. ZZS notices.

[marcherarrant]

"Let Marcher Arrant from now on learn to live alone! The world and him are not made for one another. And why should he run around like one on an errand?" Adapted quote from a poem by Tao Yuanming. I don't talk about it much because it was an influence from another life I led, and also because of the hippy and "spiritual" connotations which were not my experience of these things in the least, but my art is influenced from my early practice of Zen and Taoism. I had a great love for the wandering and hermetic poets zen and taoists of China and Japan. One of my favorites was Han Shan, a Chinese hermit who would walk around the mountains and write poems on rocks. At one point I wanted to be a Zen Monk. I Spent a month at Tassajara monastery, and then lived for a year at Green Gulch monastery outside of San Francisco. I had previously been an extremely hardcore Christian due to the influence of a homeless christian (a member of The Brethren, or Garbage Eaters if anyone is familiar.)I had met on the streets. I sold everything I had and gave it to the poor. But I got obsessed with biblical interpretation and nearly lost my mind trying to find the "right" interpretation. I feel in love with Zen because I thought I could find a "real" experience outside of the mind. But as it turns out states are open to interpretation as well. I then went on to study philosophy and religion objectively, academically in grad school. More interpretation. Then I found Nietzsche, who addressed my interpretive problems. Influenced by him I no longer sought "truth", but sought to create. My whole life had been a searching and walking, so I decided to make an art of that.

[specialability]

I was digging around looking for ancient chinese erotic poetry, as one does, and picked up this book "Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China" by Hinsch Bret (2008). It's academic, but a nice read with some great gems quoted. Here is one story I found hilarious from the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties period:

The first time Shan Tao met Xi Kang and Ruan Ji he became united with them in a friendship "stronger than metal and fragrant as orchids". Shan's wife, Lady Han, realized that her husband's relationship with the two men was different from ordinary friendships, and asked him about it. Shan replied, "It's only these two gentlemen whom I may consider the friends of my mature years".

His wife said, "In antiquity Xi Fuji's wife also personally observed Hu Yan and Zhao Cui. I'd like to peep at these friends of yours. Is it all right?

On another day the two men came, and his wife urged Shan to detain them overnight. After preparing wine and meat, that night she made a hole through the wall, and it was dawn before she remembered to return to her room.

When Shan came in he asked her, “What did you think of the two men?" His wife replied, "Your own ability is in no way comparable to theirs. It's only on the basis of your knowledge of men and your judgment that you should be their friend."

Basically: a woman asks her husband about his gay poet friends, spies on them for a whole night, and then tells her husband he needs to git gud at sex cause he does not even remotely compare.