#liu meng edits

[swiftletinthecloud]

— marjorie | taylor swift.

说英雄谁是英雄 || Heroes || Luận Ai Xứng Danh Anh Hùng (2022)

@asiandramanet august bingo: typography

[rinbylin]

公主，将来的事，此刻谁又说得准呢？

FANG DUOBING and PRINCESS ZHAOLING | 莲花楼 Mysterious Lotus Casebook

[gabrielokun]

[xbethelight]

Time will go on ceaselessly. Happiness will never end. Dark clouds are temporary since there will always be wind. - 去有风的地方 (2023)

[unforth]

Danmei and Baihe C Novels and Manhua Officially Licensed in English

Things are getting licensed fast enough that keeping a list like this up-to-date is basically impossible, but I saw someone asking in the tags so I figured I'd try. All titles are danmei unless otherwise noted (very little baihe is licensed so far). I've included Chinese titles, but sometimes publishers change the original titles so much that I can't track them down, apologies. I've hit the link limit on this post so I've had to remove NovelUpdate links, but they're still in the version of this post on Wordpress. Note that Taiwanese titles are not included on this list.

This is everything I know of as of October 24, 2024. There might be more. I tried. Resources used to compile this list: Danmeinews.com; this Carrd, last updated in March 2023; this other carrd last updated October 23 2024; list of danmei with official licenses on NovelUpdates; a similar list on Goodreads; danmei-specific list on Reddit that to my eye looks accurate for the larger publishers but isn't thorough for some of the smaller ones.

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Seven Seas:

The full list of danmei novels licensed by Seven Seas is here. The full list of danmei manhua licensed by Seven Seas is here.

These titles are in various stages of publication, from "entire series released" to "license literally announced less than a week ago." As far as I know, all Seven Seas titles are available world-wide, through major distributors and libraries, and in e-book and print formats. Seven Seas translation quality varies but the editing is general strong and the editions are sturdy and nice. Note that Seven Seas isn't without controversy, especially for treating their contractors poorly resulting in them unionizing. Some people have also been unhappy with the fidelity of their translations compared to the original Chinese (I've been satisfied personally but ymmv).

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu titles:

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) manhua

Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)

Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat titles:

Case File Compendium (Bing an Ben)

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Erha he Ta de Bai Mao Shizun)

Remnants of Filth (Yuwu)

Meng Xi Shi titles:

Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu)

Peerless (Wushuang)

priest titles:

Guardian (Zhenhun)

Silent Reading (Modu)

Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang)

Fei Tian Ye Xiang titles:

Astrolabe Rebirth (Xing Pan Chongqi), written under the pen name Arise Zhang

Dinghai Fusheng Records (Dinghai Fusheng Lu)

Dinghai Fusheng Records (Dinghai Fusheng Lu) manhua

Joyful Reunion (Xiang Jian Huan)

Legend of Exorcism (Tianbao Fuyao Lu)

Mu Su Li titles:

Copper Coins (Tong Qian Kan Shi)

The Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years (Bujian Shang Xian San Bai Nian)

Lv Ye Qian He titles:

The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post (Shenmu Nao Bujin)

The Wife Comes First (Qi Wei Shang)

Other titles:

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine (Canji Zhanshen Jia Wo Wei Qie Hou) by Liu Gou Hua

Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) by Tang Jiuqing

BAIHE: The Beauty’s Blade (Meiren Jian) by Feng Ren Zuo Zhu

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish (Canji Baojun de Zhangxin Yu Chong) by Xue Shan Fei Hu

I Ship My Rival x Me (Wo Kele Duijia x Wo de CP) manhua by PEPA

HET: Love Between Fairy and Devil (Cang Lan Jue) by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang

Mistakenly Saving the Villain (Lun Jiu Cuo Fanpai de Xiachang) by Feng Yu Nie

My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin (Wo he Laogong Shui Guancai) by Wu Shui Bu Du

Run Wild (Saye) by Wu Zhe

There’s Something Wrong with the Chief (Du Zhu You Bing) by Yang Su

Thrice Married to Salted Fish (San Jia Xianyu) by Bi Ka Bi

The Villain’s White Halo (Fanpai Baihua Guanghuan) by Hao Da Yi Juan Wei Sheng Zhi

You’ve Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post (Fei Ge Jiao You Xu Jin Shen) by Blackegg

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Rosmei:

Rosmei licenses are Singapore distribution rights only. There is a list of international partners organizing group orders here. I've personally placed my orders through Yiggybean, as discussed in reply to this ask. Most of these titles are only being released as print editions, tho titles that weren't originally on JJWXC (of which there are several here) WILL have e-book editions. My first book from Rosmei arrived, and I found the translation and editing to be very strong. I can't speak to how accurate it may be to the Chinese original, but it read smoothly and had very few errors. Overall, though they've made some mistakes, they've been communicative and responsive.

Ning Yuan titles:

BAIHE: At the World's Mercy by Ning Yuan

BAIHE (I think???) The Creator's Grace by Ning Yuan

priest titles:

Coins of Destiny (Liu Yao)

The Defectives (Can Ci Pin)

Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire (Lie Huo Jiao Chou)

Other titles:

Albert, from Earth (Aerbote Laizi Diqiu) by Jie Mo Jun

The Bat (Bian Fu) by Feng Nong

Breaking Through the Clouds (Po Yun) by Huai Shang

Don't You Like Me (Ni Shi Bushi Xihuan Wo) by Lv Tian Yi

The Earth is Online (Diqiu Shangxian) by Mo Chen Huan

Everyone Loves the Cannon Fodder (Chuan Cheng Wan Ren Mi de Paohui Zhuma) by Qie Zai Shan Yang

Global Examination (Qianqiu Gao Kao) by Mu Su Li

Gold Class Enforcers (Jinpai Dashou) by Pao Pao Xue Er

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuanyue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ruhe Huming) by Yi Yi Yi Yi

Kaleidoscope of Death (Siwang Wanhuatong) by Xi Zi Xu

The Killer of Killers (Sha Qing) by Wu Yi

Nan Chan by Tang Jiuqing

Obsessed (Ki Ma) by Wu Chen Shui

Wine and Gun (Jiu yu Qiang) by Mengye Mengye

Wow, You Guys are Really Good at Gaming (Nimen Nansheng Da Youxi Hao Lihai O~) by Yi Xiu Luo

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Peach Flower House:

Peach Flower House titles are primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. Whether titles are e-book only, print only, or both varies by title. In my opinion, Peach Flower House has inconsistent inconsistent editing quality, but the books are very readable, and I'm excited that they're working with translators such as E. Danglars. I haven't bought any of their special editions so can't speak to their extras, but I've bought all their print translations and will continue to do so going forward.

Da Feng Gua Guo:

The Imperial Uncle (Huang Shu)

Peach Blossom Debt (Taohua Zhai)

Other Titles:

Golden Terrace (Huang Jin Tai) by Cang Wu Bin Bai

In the Dark (Zai Hei An Zhong) by Jin Shisi Chai

Little Mushroom (Xiao Mogu) by Shisi

University of the Underworld (Yinjian Daxue) by Ziloi

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Via Lactea:

The partial list of danmei novels licensed by Via Lactea is here, but there are titles I've seen them selling that aren't on this list.

Via Lactea titles are primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. All titles are either print-only or e-book + print. Only a handful have actually been released, the rest are licensed and presumably in progress. I've now read three titles published by Via Lactea and while the translations are decent I could wish the editing was more consistent. Everything reads as if it would have been improved by one more thorough proof read.

Jing Shui Bian titles:

Salad Days (Jing Jiu)

Silent Hearts (Mo Mai)

Other Titles:

Apocalypse (Quanqiu Jinhua Hou Wo Zhan Zai Shiwulian Dingduan) by Qi Liu

As I've Told You Before by Sheng Jiang Tai Lang

Dawning (Liming Zhihou) by ICE

Embrace You Till the End of the game by Hu Yu La Jiao

Euthanasia (Anlesi) by Feng Su Jun

The Fall of Summer (Ting Shuo Ni Hen Nan Zhui) by Jue Chu

Falling (Luo Chi) by Yu Cheng

Psycho (Feng Zi) by Xiao Yao Zi

Limerence (Wo Xichen Ni Nan Pengyou Henjiule) by Jiang Zi Bei

Lingering Game (Chanmian Youxi) by Tao Bai Bai

Lip and Sword (Chun Qiang) by Jin Shisi Chai

May I Touch Your Spirit? by Qing Mei Jiang

The Missing Piece (Maoheshenli) by Kun Yi Wei Lou

The Omega Who Wants His Baby Back by Yao Yao Yi Yan

Raising Myself in 2006 by Qing Lv

Rose and Renaissance (Wo Zhi Xihuan Ni de Renshe [Yule Quan]) by Zhi Chu

Killing Show (Sha Lu Xiu) by Fox

Soul Vibration (Linghun Saodong) by Dr.solo

To Rule in a Turbulent World (Luan Shi Wei Wang) by Gu Xuerou

A Tyrant's Cover-up Plan by A Ci Gu Niang

Was I a Scummy Bottom? by Cheng Zi Yu

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Aloha Comics:

A tiny, Hawaii-based press focusing on manhua. Titles are available through major retailers such as Amazon and Bookshop.org. I've purchased one of these titles - Nirvana in Fire - and was please with the quality despite a couple minor errors.

All these titles are manhua!

Day Off by Qing Cai

Heaven Official's Blessing Animation Manhua by Bilibili and Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (this is a manhua made based on the donghua, using donghua art)

Here U Are by DJUN

Link Click by Li Haoling and Haoliners (not technically danmei!)

Nirvana in Fire (Lang Ya Bang) by Hai Yan (not technically danmei!)

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Monogatari Novels:

Monogatari Novels is based in Spain. These titles can also be ordered from at least some major retailers. Note that there has been some controversy about Monogatari Novels. I'm personally not ordering these works until more information is available.

BAIHE: A Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (Jing Wei Qing Shang) by Please Don't Laugh

BAIHE: Female General and Eldest Princess (NuJiangjun he Zhang Gongzhu) by Please Don't Laugh

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuan Yue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ru He Huo Ming) manhua by Yi Yi Yi Yi

The Legendary Master's Wife (Chuanshuo Zhi Zhu de Furen) by Yin Ya

The Silent Concubine (Ya Nu) by Qiang Tang

BAIHE: Soulmate manhua by Wenzhi Lizi

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BLoved Publishing:

ngl I can't figure out exactly what is up with this, and there seems to be some controversy related to them and their relationship with Monogatari Novels. Their website is depressingly low on details. However, this list is for completeness, so here we are. I'm not ordering from them based on the information currently available. There's more about the conflict between them and Monogatari here.

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuan Yue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ru He Huo Ming) manhua by Yi Yi Yi Yi

The Legendary Master's Wife (Chuanshuo Zhi Zhu de Furen) by Yin Ya

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Chaleuria:

As far as I can tell, Chaleuria has not updated their webpage since April 2023, so the current status of in-progress titles is unknown. All titles are digital and/or e-book, and I'm not sure how to purchase them as I haven't tried.

The Complete Guide to the Use and Care of a Personal Assistant (Zhuli Shiyong Zhinan) by Why Radiance

Deep in the Act (Ru Xi) by Tongzi

Fake Slackers (Wei Zhuang Xue Zha) by Mu Gua Huang (no longer available)

From Body to Love (Leng Yan E Nan: Xian Shenhou Ai) by Wan Wan Yi Xia

Interstellar Power Couple (Xingji Qiangli Lianyin) by Kun Cheng Xiongmao (no longer available)

Intoxicated Friends (Zui Qing Zhi Pengyou) by Ye Shu Ying

The Long Chase for the President's Spouse (Zongcai Zhui Fu Lu Manman) by Three Thousand Crow Language

No Money No Divorce (Mei Qian Lihun) by Shou Chu

Reborn into a Hamster for 233 Days (Chong Shengcheng Cangshu de 233 Tian) by Yi Shu

Records of the Dragon Follower (Cong Long Ji) by Yueren Ge

Urban Tales of Demons and Spirits (Dushi Yaogui Lu) by Qie Er

World Hopping: Avenge Our Love (Ni Wufa Yuliao de Fenshou, Wo Du Neng Gei Ni Song Shang) by Xiaomao Bu Ai Jiao (no longer available)

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Webnovel:

When I first made this list, I heard that Webnovel had a few titles but couldn't actually find them - but now I've found them, thanks to a list someone else put together. I'm including direct links to them, since I had so much trouble finding them at all.

Comrade: Almost a Cat-astrophic Love Story (Jintian ye Yao Nuli Dang Zhimao) by Demonic Fire (link)

My Boyfriend is a Dragon (Nanpiao Shi Tiaolong) by Chubby Strawberry Sauce (link)

The National Sweetheart Livestreamer is a Pro! (Quanmin Zhubo Shi Duiba) by Mo Shang Wang (link)

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Honorable Mentions:

There are a handful of titles I know of that are official translations of C Novels. These are not books with contextual queerness, but for folks with an interest in Chinese history and culture, they are worth checking out anyway, especially because understanding these stories can help understand the above books. Also, some have active shipping fandoms (for example, I've written for Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Daomu Biji). I've included two above under the entry for titles from Aloha Comics (Link Click and Nirvana in Fire) and here are a couple others I currently know of:

Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng) by Cao Xueqin, available in translation for free from Project Gutenberg

The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles (Daomu Biji) by Nanpai Sanshu (six volumes are available in English from Things Asian Press)

Journey to the West (Xiyou Ji) by Wu Cheng-en, in four volumes from University of Chicago Press

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (She Diao Yingxiong Chuan) by Jin Yong, in four volumes from St. Martin’s Press

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), attributed to Luo Guanzhong, available in translations for free from Archive.org

The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (Zonglie Xiayi Chuan), attributed to Shi Yukun, available in translation for free from Archive.org

Water Margin (Shuihu Zhuan) by Shi Nai’an, from Tuttle Publishing

RESOURCE: List of Chinese speculative fiction in English translation

RESOURCE: More Chinese speculative fiction in English translation

I will add to the "Honorable Mentions" list if I find any other more mainstream titles with official translations.

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Rumored Licenses:

Sometimes, I hear rumors about titles being licensed before the license is announced - and thus before we know which publisher has licensed them (assuming the rumor is even true). I thought I should note these somewhere. Titles I know of rumors about currently are:

A Certain Someone (Moumou) by Mu Su Li

Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know (Mozun Ye Xiang Zhidao) by Cyan Wings

The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua (Chenghua Shisi Nian) by Meng Xi Shi

Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating (Wanglian Fanche Zhinan) by Jiang Zi Bei

Immortal Koi is Going to Debut (Jinli Daxian Yao Chudao) by Mo Xi Ke

Mist (Bowu) by Wei Feng Ji Xu

-

A handful of other licenses are mentioned on the Carrd I linked at the beginning of this post; I have no idea the status of those titles and wasn't able to find information on them while putting together this post other than what was listed on that Carrd, so I've omitted them.

Now go forth, and buy some books!

[dangermousie]

Upcoming 2024 cdramas (maybe???) from least appealing to most

We got less than two months, so let's gooooo! Now with cdramas, you never know if something will air until it drops and sometimes not even then, so this is rumored.

The Immortal Ascension - Yang Yang is my least favorite cdrama actor and that topic is boring as hell to me so yeah, nope.

Duoluo Continent 2 - aka "we can't afford Xiao Zhan any longer, sorry." I couldn't even get through the first season of this "Harry Potter Chinese edition" mess despite my love for XZ, so I am highly unlikely to check this one out.

Moonlight Mystique - aka a rainbow vomited. Honestly, I hated the trailer. And while I adore Bai Lu, her leading man? You know how there are apparently those antis who think Liu Yuning is ugly and I go are you blind? It's the reverse for ARP for me - clearly the industry finds him hot enough to be leading man material but I find him genuinely ugly, which is a feat for a cdrama actor to be. It might be OK if I found him a good actor but...

Brocade Odyssey - I hate women empowering themselves through business (of a suitably feminine nature, of course) narratives as much as I do ML is the specialiest wuxia boy in all the world narratives. I am fond of Seven though so here is hoping.

The Demon Hunter's Romance - I was way more excited for it before SZE got into a limbo. Now I am sort of meh. Plus, despite my soft spot for RJL, he's a terribly uneven actor so you never know what yu will get with him. This said, if this does air, we might actually have a chance to see Prisoner of Beauty.

A Moment But Forever - an old school xianxia in vibe from the trailers but sometimes that's what you need. Plus, Tang Yan being sent to kill fragile gorgeous Liu Xueyi but choosing to protect him instead is my jammy jam jam!

Blossom - out of all the trailers for upcoming dramas, this is my favorite, I adore Meng Ziyi, LYR is getting upgraded to ML status and it's the director of Provoke, Butterflied Lover and A Familiar Stranger.

Guardians of the Dafeng - can't believe it's my most anticipated but here we are. Now, this could either be truly terrible or truly sublime but I am a fan of high risk/high reward concept. I have never been impressed by Dylan Wang except for CLJ but I was blown away there. Director of Shen Li and screenwriter of My Perfect Husband. So...anyway, I want to gamble.

[sizhui]

I am so autistic about my books if I don't take them out and rearrange them once a week its over for me 🙂‍↕️ listed under the cut for the like minded

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (1-4), Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (1-5), Heaven Official's Blessing (1-8) [Legally buying MXTX's entire opus may just be the worst thing I have ever done, and I ran Stardoll scams of young children when I was in middle school]

Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou: Remnants of Filth (1-2), The Husky & His White Cat Shizun (1)

Meng Xi Shi: Thousand Autumns (1)

Gothic & Lolita Bible, volume 45

CLAMP: Cardcaptor Sakura (Collector's edition), volume 3

Min Jin Lee: Pachinko

Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre

Nakahara Chuuya: Collected Poems (Translated and edited by Paul Mackintosh and Maki Sugiyama)

Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis (and other stories) (translated by Cristopher Moncrieff)

Pat Barker: The Silence of the Girls

R. F. Kuang: Babel

Masashi Kishimoto: Naruto (volumes 22 & 24)

Yoshihiro Togashi: Hunter x Hunter (volumes 8, 14 & 36)

The Diary of Lady Murasaki (Translated by Richard Bowring)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Mexican Gothic

Milivoj Solar: Literary Theory

Sophocles: Tragedies (volume 1, edited by David Greene and Richmond Lattimore)

Liu Cixin: Death's End, The Three-body Problem (translated by Ken Liu)

Veljko Gortan, Oton Gorski & Pavao Pauš: The Latin Grammar

Masashi Kishimoto & Shin Towada: Sasuke's Story [Sunrise]

Osamu Dazai: No Longer Human (translated by Donald Keene)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust (1-2)

The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem

Oyinkan Braithwaite: My Sister, the Serial Killer

Toni Morrison: Love

Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne & Kadija Sesay: This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

Ovid: The Metamorphoses

Zen Cho: Black Water Sister

Judy I. Lin: A Magic Steeped in Poison

Sue Lynn Tan: Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Heart of the Sun Warrior

Xiran Jay Zhao: Iron Widow

Kazuo Ishiguro: Klara and the Sun

Toni Adeyemi: Children of Blood and Bone

N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season

[hunxi-after-hours]

hunxi’s danmei awards 2.0! (aka 2022 edition)

Featuring the return of some categories such as:

Best Worldbuilding

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Best Unreliable Narrator

As well as never-before-seen categories like:

Best Himbo

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Most Ambitious Scope

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama

…and more!

This year’s candidates in the running:

《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

《默读》 Mo Du by priest

《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (nominally) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

(unmarked spoilers, including but not limited to these titles, under the cut. for introductions of these titles, click here. for last year’s danmei awards, click here)

Best Worldbuilding

Winner: 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

This award goes to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for the effortless ease with which p大 manages to merge the genres of imperial intrigue, steampunk mecha, alternate history, and wuxia elements. Over the course of the novel, priest explores how the development of 紫流金-based technology leads the fictional Liang Dynasty into industrial revolution, and doesn’t hesitate to include all the negative consequences of early industrialization. So you’ve rolled out mechanical alternatives for farming? Have fun dealing with the uprisings of unemployed farmers while fending off international threats on your borders. So you want to roll out paper currency/government bonds to stimulate your war-torn economy? Good luck even getting people to trust the validity of paper the way they trust the hardness of coin. In a way, 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang carries on the tradition set down in priest’s earlier novel 《七爷》 Qi Ye of protagonists using decidedly underhanded methods to effect the change they wish to see in the world, and the morality thereof remains just as thorny in 《杀破狼》. what would you do in the name of peace? how much of yourself can you give away before you are no longer the same person?

oh and I have to give a shout-out to the trains in this book, I’d give this award to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for its (re-)invention of trains alone

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

I listened to 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu via audiodrama before I read the novel, and every time I finished an episode I would have to just sit for a few hours, processing. Despite its seemingly lighthearted premise,  《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu shows us an apocalypse in all its cruel magnificence. The oppressive atmosphere of unending martial law, the seductive proximity of despair, the omnipresence and unpredictability of death, the utter lack of justice or closure or meaning in a world slowly grinding to a halt, the vast, inhuman lengths civilization will go to in the name of survival... to this day,  《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu haunts the solemnity of my early mornings with questions like what would you condone to survive? and wherein lies the locus of meaning when everything it means to be human has been stripped away? and like. I haven’t been the same since my mushroom phase, okay

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Winner: Ji Bolan from 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

This poor man had to deal with his childhood friend growing up to be a governmentally-licensed and universally-reviled mass murderer, the complete breakdown of the laws of physics, and witnessing Lu Feng and An Zhe flirt in front of his salad soup, all during the apocalypse that he is frantically trying to solve. Frankly, he’s allowed to roast Lu Feng as much as he wants, and the fact that he’s voiced by the same person who did AD!Jiang Cheng and AD!Xiao Zheng (winner of last year’s Best Beleaguered Side Character Award) is 1) extremely funny, 2) very on-brand, and 3) further proof that being in voice actor fandom 其乐无穷

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Winner:  《默读》 Mo Du by priest

The character of Fei Du in priest’s 《默读》 is easily the character who had me clawing at the walls the most for the better part of this year (I’m still clawing at the walls, if we’re being honest). I am in love with everything about the way priest wrote him; from his introduction as the flamboyantly aggravating playboy chasing after Tao Ran (brilliant character work there as well as brilliant comedy, 感谢陶然不弯之恩 etc etc) to the slow, methodical reveal of his backstory and how deeply, deeply traumatized he is, Fei Du is one of the most complex and intelligent and nuanced and terribly lovable meow meows characters I’ve had the good fortune to run into

To pick a single Fei Du moment? A single one? Well if I have to choose, unfortunately it’s going to have to be chapter 180 朗诵（五） for the simple reason that it hurts me:

他恨不能撕裂时空，大步闯入七年前，一把抱起那个沉默的孩子，双手捧起他从不流露的伤痕，对他说一句“对不起，我来晚了”。

[Luo Wenzhou] wished he could tear apart time, to barge back into that moment seven years ago and pick up that silent child, to cradle those hidden wounds and say to him, “I’m sorry I was late.”

“我来晚了……”

“I was late...”

直到上了救护车，费渡才好像是有了点意识，难以聚焦的目光在骆闻舟脸上停留了许久，大概是认出了他，竟露出了一个微笑。

Fei Du only seemed to recover a semblance of consciousness when they loaded him into the ambulance. His eyes, unfocused, stopped on Luo Wenzhou’s face for a while before smiling slightly.

骆闻舟艰难地看懂了他无声的唇语。

Luo Wenzhou read his words in the soundless shape of his lips with difficulty.

他说：“没有了……怪物都清理干净了，我是最后一个，你可不可以把我关在你家？”

He said, “They’re all gone... All the monsters are taken care of, I’m the last one. Can you lock me up in your house?”

I’m just. if you need me I’ll be screaming about sunflowers in the abyss

Best Unreliable Narrator

Winner: Yan Zhuoqing and the Deer God of 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

surprising shortage of unreliable narrators in this year’s contenders, but 《问鹿三千》 makes up for it by having not one, but TWO unreliable narrators involved. can you believe that BOTH of these semi-immortal dumbasses have amnesia? smh Deer God you’re literally the god of time and memory, how you’ve even gotten this far I’ve got no idea

honorable mention: Fei Du from 《默读》 by priest. this man had the audacity to say the words “我没有创伤” / “I’m not traumatized” after asking for Luo Wenzhou’s assistance in recovering some of his repressed memories that he’d blocked out because of the — you guessed it — trauma

Best Himbo

Winner: Situ Jin from 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I think it’s safe to say that Situ Jin is a Very Good Egg With No Braincells Whatsoever. None. This man had to be bullied into a hurt/comfort scenario by his future wife, and when she came to him for comfort, grieving her father’s death, he responded to her “now I’m all alone” with “don’t cry: you’re one, I’m one, together we’re two.” proud of u for basic math, bro, but is now really the time. his other highlights include: thinking dreamily about his wife while in prison, defending innocent bystanders regardless the personal cost, and continually failing to seek medical attention while bleeding out

Side Character I’m Still Mad About (aka the Gongyi Xiao Award)

Winner: Fu Luo from 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

so it turns out that I am Weak for this very specific kind of character, the one who is a Good Kid, the one who tries their best to be responsible and reasonable, the one who could honestly be a protagonist in another novel. double points if you can trust them with a spreadsheet (Bian Yanmei), triple points if they’re delightfully lowkey devoted to the actual protagonist (can I get a wahoo for the Jiangzuo Alliance in here??)

and you know what the author does? murders them with prejudice

tl;dr I’m still not over Fu Luo, because like oh man that scene was well done but also ouch

"most memeworthy/meme-able"

(this one’s for you, @presumenothing)

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I mean I literally—

this book is a Very Serious and Somewhat Grimdark book, but I have to say the sheer amount of misunderstandings that occur are comical in their quantity. have you ever met two people more in love with each other and less capable of uttering a single sentence about it, it is only by the grace of the author that these two didn’t murder each other before their happy ending at the many given opportunities throughout the book

"most deserving of a shenshen OST"

(this one’s also for you, @presumenothing, ty for all the brilliant category recs)

Winner:  ........?

this is such an interesting award category to consider, because it’s like asking “which one of these texts would you like to hand a steak knife to gut you with,” but it also begs the question of what a shenshen OST would bring to the text that the existing music/adaptation doesn’t. it also raises the question of what kind of narrative (grand, sweeping, vast in scale or minute, gentle, heartbreaking?) would be most compatible with a shenshen OST?

my first thought was 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu, since it has both the monumental scope and the fragile, breakable heart that shenshen OST’s are so suited for (他只是一个小蘑菇 goodbYE—), but the music of the 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu AD is already so perfect I don’t actually want to add anything to it. my next thought would be 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian — again, for that blend of scale and sorrow, wistfulness at what can never be and gratitude for what we have. but 《问鹿》 also has five songs already, and while a shenshen OST would be nice, it most certainly isn’t necessary

so I think I’m going to cheat and give this award to a title that isn’t even on the list of candidates this year, one that already has a shenshen OST: 《天宝伏妖录》 Tian Bao Fu Yao Lu by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang, which has the great fortune to have Zhou Shen’s 《天地为念》  for its ongoing donghua title song. what a beautiful, meditative song; what an ethereal, gently sorrowful melody. extra brownie points because I maintain that Zhou Shen and 锦鲤 Jin Li (the voice of Kong Hongjun) are counterparts of each other in their respective industries, and also because I’m ride or die for both of them

"most untranslatable ever"

(category shout-out to — you guessed it — @presumenothing)

Winner: oh ABSOLUTELY 《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

I consider myself fairly proficient in audiodramas on 猫耳FM as a medium/genre now; I’m familiar with the ways script adaptation dovetails with post-production, the roles the voice directors and producers and casts play, the different twists that can happen with 报幕, what names to keep an eye out for while checking out the production team... so when I say that this audiodrama knocked me flat on the ass when I first listened to it, I really do mean that I was in no way prepared for the chaos that was to come. where do I even begin to describe it? the speed? the unhinged energy? the unending 吐槽 / roasts? the brilliant comedic pacing? the extremely 洗脑 片尾曲？whatever the hell this is?

this audiodrama is not only the most untranslatable ever due to the high concentration of internet and culture-specific slang, but also apparently the most impossible to explain ever. idk. listen to this AD and lose your mind

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Winner: ch. 116 of 《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

I described 《无双》 Wu Shuang as “a book about roasting your rival first, saving your dynasty second,” but perhaps didn’t do justice to the sheer lengths these two will go to one-up each other. I’d like to take this moment to recognize a certain flamboyant demonic sect leader (that is somehow not Yan Wushi) for not just habitually backstabbing (gently, for funsies) his love interest but also getting some frontstabbery (once, with great intention) in as well. truly, no one out here is doing it like Feng Xiao

honorable mention: 《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao, for the sheer quantity of backstabbing that occurs. maybe this is simply what happens when all of your characters are professional evildoers at fluctuating levels of retirement

Best Comfort Media

Winner: 《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

earlier this year, I went around asking various people: what makes a book, movie, or other text comfort media for you? listening to the answers, it occurred to me that I don’t really have texts that I turn to on a semi-regular basis to re-read or re-watch. especially because my favorite books tend to be the ones that rip my heart out through my throat, the idea of choosing a “comfort read” from among them seems somewhat, er, misguided

and then I ran into 《哏儿》 Gen’er, which is the only text I’ve chosen to carry over from last year’s danmei awards because the second season of the AD  aired this year. this webnovel/AD is also, genre-wise, the outlier in this year’s awards — no magic, no speculative elements, not a single sword in sight, just slice-of-life, daily trials and tribulations, characters balancing budgets and bantering backstage and discussing art over hotpot. the cast and characters of 《哏儿》 feel real and lived-in in a way that is so deeply precious to me; at times throughout the year, I would simply cue up the beginning of S2E2 to listen to the first fifteen minutes or so to quiet down. the ongoing discussions threaded throughout the narrative about the roles of traditional culture and art in modern society, how to adapt traditional forms to contemporary values and preferences, and the ever-relevant question of how to get other people to care about things you love... 《哏儿》 hits different, hits real close to home, asks thought-provoking questions in a gentle, lighthearted manner in a way that is totally unique among the danmei works I’ve read, so here I am, conferring this new, foreign honor upon it. it’s a first for both of us!

Most Ambitious Scope

Winner: 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

I know, I know — very bold of me to give this award to an audiodrama that’s still airing, that we don’t know if it’ll ever be completed, but I still have to take a moment to yell about this completely original episodic gufeng AD, because like... wow. there is no answer key; there is no original work; there is no blueprint to work off of, no pre-existing fanbase of readers to appeal to. this entire project with its xuanhuan scope will succeed or fail based on its merits alone, and what scope it has, too — from the five voice actor songs (I guess everyone in 光合积木 can sing too??? sure that’s fine I guess) to penning scripts that play specifically to the voice actors’ strengths, to engaging with thorny dynamics of family and relationship and devotion and misalignment, I think it’s real gutsy of the 《问鹿》 creative team to embark on such a vast and ambitious project, and carry it off as well as they did. now it’s just 乖巧坐等更新.jpeg hours, fingers crossed they come back for a season 2

Best Work I Was Songbaited Into

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

Definitely the first thing that even put 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu on my radar was 奇然’s 《风过荒野》  appearing in my YouTube algorithm. The song’s arrangement is haunting, lyrical,  and so unlike any other AD song I’ve ever heard. The second season’s 《极光入夜》 is also transcendent in lyrics, composition, and the fact that both of the main voice actors can sing 哎呦还让人活吗—and don’t even get me started on the beautiful piano and string covers they work into the soundtrack! 声罗万象请受我一拜！

let’s put it this way: I actually went out of my way to translate the 《小蘑菇》 songs (here and here) for how hard they go. one day I’ll get over the lines “玫瑰静默凋谢” and “审判是我于你的吻别” but today will not be that day

honorable mention: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su, for having the opposite energy of the 《默读》 AD asdlfskdfjs no less than FIVE original songs composed for a THREE season AD. I was on the fence about listening to this AD until I heard 远皓ZIL’s 《燃灯》, which immediately joined my playlist before I’d even read the book. Again, the lyricism, the arrangement, the melancholy, deeply thoughtful atmosphere of the song got me interested in exactly what kind of maddeningly angsty plot could result in these lyrics:

我愿抚拂前尘 燃着灯 做你归途的引 / I would brush away the dust of our past and light a lamp, and be what guides you back

只求你破迷津 渡极乐 回首看我在等  / I only pray that you break free from the labyrinth and deliver paradise, to look back and see me waiting

我匍匐入尘埃 叩长阶 奉上所有虔诚 / I crawl through the dirt, pressing my forehead to the stone steps of the long stairway, offering up all of my piety

 只为听你亲将 相思说 那纸情书太薄 / just to hear you say, yearning for me, that this love letter is too thin

不载残生颠簸 无你我 苦不可脱 / it cannot carry what’s left of our tumultuous lives — without you or me, life would be bitter with no escape

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Episode

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

Adaptation is a delicate and tricky practice; how do you accommodate for the limits of production, the requirements of medium, when it comes to translating a work across dimensions? And particularly when it comes to AD’s, how can you capture a listener’s attention within the first few episodes, to bait them into the story and make them willing to pay money to unlock what happens next?

this award has to go to 珞玉 Luo Yu and 子穆木 Zi Mumu for their adaptation of 杨溯 Yang Su’s novel 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing. The book itself runs chronologically, from the two main characters first meeting each other as children, the months they spend together, their sudden (and deeply traumatic) parting, and then resumes the narrative the next time they meet each other seven years down the line, attempting to kill each other (in their defense, it was dark, and neither of them were sure if the other survived the massacre that separated them in the first place). Episode 1 “故人来” of the AD begins with that reunion as Shen Jue, disposing of a body, finds an injured assassin just outside the palace walls. They grapple in the dark until they recognize each other, and the way post-production editing fills in their backstory through a quick, tantalizing flashback and brings the listener back out of it by overlapping young!Xiahou Lian and present!Xiahou Lian saying the same lines (“shaoye, remember: don’t look back, don’t say anything—”)... well done, well played, I sure paid money to listen to the rest of this AD

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Ten Minutes

Winner: 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

haha I think I’m hilarious, but while 《督主》 has the strongest first episode I would also like to shout out how good the first ten minutes of 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue are. seamless transition from baby Hailian to adult Hailian, from quiet lullaby to sea battle, and establishing Hailian’s sass, competence, kindness, and swashbuckling swagger as well as introducing Fang Tinglan (and his shamelessness asldfksj). credit has to go to the director 齐杰, the scriptwriter 虾仁猪心@一梦还江月, and the post-production editor 时柒@丶为之奈何 for pacing the opening scene so well, and an extra special shout-out to 梅梅 (韬韬你是最棒的) for the funniest little “bye~~~” as he throws someone off a boat

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama (aka the Knifiest Award, audio edition)

Winner: S1E7 of the 《默读》Mo Du audiodrama

I can yell for years about how talented voice actors are, but there are specific moments while listening where I have to pause for a second or ten and silently mouth “damn”

杨天翔 Yang Tianxiang’s performance as Fei Du in season 1, episode 7 of the 《默读》 Mo Du audiodrama knocks it out of the goddamn solar system with the plaza broadcast scene — this was a scene that I was pretty eh on in the novel, but after listening to it in the AD... 当! 场! 封! 神! with Yang Tianxiang’s measured delivery, the slow excavation of the depth of Fei Du’s anguish, the forced steadiness of his voice when he says “你们如果都这么狠心，为什么以前还要表现出好像很在乎我们的样子?” / “If all of you were always this cruel, why did you pretend to care about us so much in the beginning?” underlaid by the devastatingly quiet, melancholy piano backing of 《以沫》 that then kicks into the sequence that culminates in 何忠义 He Zhongyi’s “等我回来!” / “Wait for me to come home!”... (silently screams into a paper bag) I’m not okay and I haven’t been okay for months

Honorable Mentions:

S2E2 “也恨相逢” of 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su: specifically for 梅梅’s line “少爷，这是我的命” / “shaoye, this is my fate.” for a scene that didn’t even exist in the original novel... hot damn wow

E12 “绝不复寡“ of 《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu: 锦鲤 has the range and this AD proves it! While he spends most of the AD being generally the comedic, satirical commentary, Zhong Yan/Qin Mingxi absolutely begging, tears in his voice, for Gu Xuanyan to leave him to die in this scene? look I’m not immune to this trope either

S1E13·上 of 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio: (cups hands around mouth, yells) 马! 老! 师! it’s hard to explain the heartbreaking context of the line I have in mind without giving away the entire story, but 马正阳’s throat-scraping scream of “我要你爱我” / “I want you to love me!” is wince-inducing from the sheer force of the raw anguish in it

wooooo and that’s a wrap! thanks for tuning into the 2022 danmei awards :)

looking forward at my reading list, I’m not sure I’ll be doing a 2023 round since my reading is taking me in different directions and I simply might not have enough candidates to fill out a whole awards post next year (and I suspect I’ll have gone so far off the map that people won’t even have the faintest idea what I’m talking about anymore asldkfajsd)

it’s been fun!!! catch you all in the new year!!

[moonwaif]

Who should smoke some weed? (SVSSS Edition, Round 1)

Does it fix them? Make them worse? Just give them the munchies? You decide! Time to smoke up one of these blorbos.

(Block "scum villain weed bracket" if desired.)

Bracket one:

A1. Luo Binghe vs. Zhuzhi-Lang

A2. Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan vs. Six Balls

B1. Liu Mingyan vs. Mobei-Jun

B2. Airplane/Shang Qinghua vs. Qi Qingqi

Bracket two:

C1. Old Palace Master vs. the Skinner Demon

C2. Qiu Haitong vs. Wei Qingwei

E1. Sha Hualing vs. Shen Jiu

E2. Tianlang-Jun vs. Liu Qingge

Bracket three:

F1. Gongyi Xiao vs. Ming Fan

F2. Yue Qingyuan vs. Meng Mo

G1. Madam Meiyin vs. Su Xiyan

G2. Elder Hammer vs. Little Palace Mistress

[swiftletinthecloud]

— We weathered through the storms.

Ke Zhui 《可追》| Heroes OST (in/sp)

说英雄谁是英雄 || Heroes || Luận Ai Xứng Danh Anh Hùng (2022)

@userdramas event 18: music ↬ Ke Zhui 《可追》 | Zeng Shun Xi, Liu Yu Ning 《曾舜晞、刘宇宁》

@asiandramanet august bingo: music

@pscentral event 30: friendship ↬ Wang Xiao Shi, Bai Chou Fei, Su Meng Zhen, & Wen Rou

[promochinaterror]

Most Wanted Chineses

Quer pensar em um personagem chinês, natural da nossa cidade de Shiwang, mas não sabe quem?

Segura essa lista dos nossos most wanted que estará disponível também na central.

Edit: Seguem fcs que possuem a etnia chinesa, não necessariamente nascidos na China.

femininos

Tzuyu

Guan Xiaotong

Dilraba Dilmurat

Bai Lu

Crystal Liu

Angelababy

Hebe Tien

Zhao Lusi

Kelly Yu

Ni Ni

Gillian Chung

Xu Jiaqi

Wang Fei Fei

Amber Kuo

Amber Lio

Kuo Beating 

Victoria Song

Crystal Zhang

Liu Yufei

Qiao Xin

Handong

Meng Jia

Crystal Zhang

Zeng Mengxue

Yuqi

Shuhua

Gulinazha 

Zhou Jieqiong

Cheng Xiao

Xuanyi

masculinos

Xu Kai

Cai Xukun

Zhu Zhengting

Zhou Yiran

Zhai Xiaowen

Aaron Lai

Wang Hank

Chen Zheyuan

Yang Yang

Jay Chou

Yao Chi

Chen Xiao

Andy LAu

Cheng Yi

Wang Yibo

Zeng Shunxi

Liu Xueyi 

Bai Jingting

Zhang Linghe

Gong Jun

Deng Wei

Zhang Wanyi

Xiao Zhan

Jing Boran

Wei Daxun

Fan Chengcheng

Huang Minghao

Bi Wenjun

The8

Chengxin Ding

Espero que possa ajudar vocês!

[sneaselsawashiro-blog]

As a bit of personal insight, I think it's safe to say that DW Fa Zheng doesn't fully understand himself as to why he serves Liu Bei other than his personal obligation to his home province of Yi.

But I think it's also to add to DW Liu Bei's character in that "hey, this murderous trickster obsessed about revenge and/or debts of any kind is somehow unnerved from this guy's charismatic kindness". The more I look at it especially with Fa Zheng's hypothetical DLC scenario (where Jiang Wei wasn't recruited in Tianshui which I find funny lol), the more I see Fa Zheng as a guy who owes far too much to Liu Bei always being so generous to him, being so off-put by his kindness and/or actually being a softie in reality (tsundere Fa Zheng lol).

But overall I'm all for at least making him a deeper-layered character regardless even if the novel whitewashed him a bit. At least in history, everyone in Shu acknowledged Fa Zheng's death to be a major setback whereas why tf did no one in the novel mourn his passing even IF it went out of its way to say he basically corrected some of his wrongdoings? That kind of inconsistency is another thing to get mad at the novel about that I'm glad DW goes out of its way to avert (e.g. Lu Su since DW8, amazing since sliced bread *chef's kiss*).

The one other aspect I like about Fa Zheng's character is that while he's a vindictive debt-repayer, he's not one to consider bad timings. He no doubt made it a point to Liu Bei in his DW9 DLC route where after the events of Yiling and defending Yangping Gate from another punitive Wei assault from the north, he already considered the "revenge against Wu to be served" and that "yeah, we already used resources against them in that regard, let's not go overkill for such things, and you need to remember you vision for virtue/benevolence you cared so much about since look on the bright side, Guan Yu is still alive".

And it also impresses me that he managed to have Liu Bei himself go down to Nanzhong to talk with Meng Huo himself. Even it had to involves some bs trickery on Wu's part (Lu Su would've no doubt stopped such bs and Lu Xun would've known better too), it was cool to see an alternate take on the Nanzhong Campaign and what if Liu Bei and Meng Huo met. It sounds bs just like with Zhuge Liang vs. Meng Huo, but alas. Nanman and Shu friendship always interested me.

Edit via 8/29/2024: I also noticed that Liu Bei too likes to actually make sure he can pay back his debts hence his times serving under Tao Qian and then Liu Biao, and I assume Fa Zheng also finds a bit of kinship towards Liu Bei on that (via their Warriors portrayals that is).

Dynasty Warriors: Who Is Fa Zheng?

In March of 2018 I wrote a very long article about Fa Zheng. I was going to write articles like that for everyone in DW9 but soon realized it was entirely unsustainable. This article was 6,000 words long with over 100 citations and footnotes. In other words, hopelessly long-winded. It does, however, let me know precisely what I was thinking at that time, which makes this much shorter article easier to write.

I didn’t really expect Fa Zheng to ever be added to Dynasty Warriors. The franchise has generally preferred to credit his achievements to others (particularly Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang) and the dark stuff in his personal life taints the image they try to project of the saintly Liu Bei and his Benevolent Buddies. Nevertheless, they included him in DW8:XL so he was grandfathered into DW9.

In Koei’s various strategy games (ROT3K and Dynasty Tactics) he usually enjoys extremely high intelligence and is skilled in whatever ability impacts domestic policy. He tends to struggle in other areas, but that’s to be expected of the “strategist” type characters. He was added to Total War with the Fates Divided DLC, where he gets a unique appearance and ability. It’s a lot of respect to put on him.

Of course, by their nature, none of those titles give the sort of personalized narrative that he has in DW9, so that’s what I have the most to talk about.

Through his story in DW9 Fa Zheng is depicted (accurately, in my opinion) as a cunning but thoroughly villainous man. He is quick to betray Liu Zhang and help arrange Liu Bei’s attack on Shu. During the campaign he mocks Liu Zhang for not surrendering sooner. Fa Zheng’s lack of moral fiber is a recurring theme, one that causes conflict with other officials. At the end of his story, though, the narrative has Zhuge Liang agree that Fa Zheng’s lack of morals is useful, which is not a position I expected the game to take with those characters. That gets it a few points from me.

Fa Zheng comes off as one of the most genuinely intelligent characters in the game. Throughout his brief story he correctly predicts many future problems, particularly in Jing province. Though these concerns are ignored by Zhuge Liang and his other colleagues, he is ultimately proven correct. I’ll give them credit, intelligent and immoral are certainly the two words I’d use to describe Fa Zheng, and those characteristics really come through.

On the negative side, Fa Zheng has kind of a one-note obsession with revenge, retribution, etc. that gets kind of grating but at least he has other things going on in addition to that (compared to his various colleagues shouting “Justice!” “Benevolence!” or, in Huang Zhong’s case, “AARP!”)

The main narrative issue I have with his story is that they give him the stated goal of “saving Yi province.” This feels like a slapdash attempt to paint a nice gloss over actions that are otherwise just self-centered ambition. It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense (he isn’t even from there!) but I guess they wanted a little complexity to an otherwise pretty simple character.

One final note about him in fiction: in Kessen II he is a loyal officer of Liu Zhang who only joins Liu Bei after his lord’s death. I’m confident that you wouldn’t even know who that character was supposed to be if they changed the name.

With all of that opinion given, then: who actually is Fa Zheng? Where did he come from and what was his deal? Let’s look at a brief rundown of his life.

Fa Zheng was from Youfufeng, near Chang’an, and his family was highly respected.[1] His grandfather Fa Zhen was noted as being an excellent judge of talent as well as a very accomplished scholar. He constantly refused court appointments and spent his whole life as a private scholar, dying in 188 at the age of 89.[2] Fa Zheng’s father Fa Yan pursued an official career and eventually served as an assistant to one of the Excellencies and to the Minister of Justice.[3] Not a spectacular career, but a respectable one that put Fa Zheng on the fringes of the upper crust.

Around 196, Fa Zheng and his friend Meng Da fled from Youfufeng to escape a local famine and the general destruction of the region. Together, they traveled to Yi province (which covered the geographical regions of Ba, Shu, and Nanzhong), where they took up service with the local governor Liu Zhang. For the next several years. Fa Zheng served as the head of a county in Guanghan. He was later transferred to Chengdu to serve as a military adviser of petty rank. Fa Zheng was always dissatisfied with these appointments. In addition to his low rank, other refugees from his home region spread word that he was an immoral man, and as a result Liu Zhang never put much trust in him. Despite his ambitions, Fa Zheng never rose high in Liu Zhang’s administration.[4]

In 208, Cao Cao received the surrender of Liu Zong/Cong, governor of Jing.[5] Concerned by Cao Cao’s growing strength, Liu Zhang sent an envoy named Yin Pu to meet with him. Cao Cao granted Liu Zhang and his brother titles as generals, effectively confirming their control over Yi province. Liu Zhang next sent his steward Zhang Su to Cao Cao with 300 soldiers as a tribute. Cao Cao rewarded this display by naming Zhang Su as executor of Guanghan canton.[6] Liu Zhang then sent Zhang Su’s younger brother Zhang Song with a third embassy.[7]

Fa Zheng’s biography describes Zhang Song as the steward of Yi, the same position his elder brother held.[8] Presumably, Zhang Song was promoted to this position after his brother received Guanghan. Zhang Su was noted for being handsome, while Zhang Song was short and unattractive. However, Zhang Song was the more intelligent of the brothers.[9]

When Zhang Song arrived, Cao Cao had settled Jing and was focused on pursuing Liu Bei and defeating Sun Quan. He largely ignored Zhang Song, much to the envoy’s chagrin.[10] Zhang Song did befriend one of Cao Cao’s secretaries, the scholar Yang Xiu. He showed Zhang Song Cao Cao’s commentary on Sunzi’s writings, and Zhang Song could recite it all after reading it only once.[11] This has been the source of various fictional anecdotes about Zhang Song’s intelligence. When Zhang Song returned to Yi, after witnessing Cao Cao’s defeat at Wulin, he did so with a firm hatred of Cao Cao and urged Liu Zhang to break off relations with him.[12]

Zhang Song was one of the few friends Fa Zheng made. In addition to Zhang Song’s enmity towards Cao Cao, he and Fa Zheng both detested Liu Zhang. On Zhang Song’s advice, Liu Zhang decided to sever ties with Cao Cao and ally with Liu Bei instead. Fa Zheng reluctantly served as his ambassador.[13] He and Meng Da were also ordered to bring a small body of soldiers to bolster Liu Bei’s forces as a token of goodwill.[14] Fa Zheng’s visit went well, and he was impressed by Liu Bei. He and Zhang Song conspired to replace Liu Zhang with Liu Bei at the first opportunity.[15]

For the details on how all of that shook out, you can read my article on Liu Bei's conquest of Yi province. Fa Zheng played a crucial role in orchestrating the campaign and it would be fair to regard him as the mastermind, along with Pang Tong.

Upon taking Yi, Liu Bei named Fa Zheng as executor of Shu canton, the capital of that province, as well as a general. In addition to governing Shu itself, he also served as Liu Bei’s chief military adviser. However, Fa Zheng proceeded to abuse his authority. While he rewarded anyone who had once shown him kindness, he also used his power to take revenge against anyone who he felt had slighted him. He even went so far as to murder several people, executing them without any authority or due process. Some asked Zhuge Liang to intercede and stop him, but Zhuge Liang refused due to Fa Zheng’s contributions to Liu Bei’s success.[16]

Let’s be honest, Fa Zheng has a pretty negative reputation and it’s easy to see why. His betrayal of  Liu Zhang has met with mixed opinions over the years (what’s a little light treason between friends?) but it’s hard to get around the whole “killing people for personal vengeance” thing. Still, there was more to him than that, so there are a couple of other things to look at from his time in government.

One personnel issue that came up for Liu Bei was the subject of a man named Xu Jing. He was Fa Zheng’s predecessor as executor of Shu and was a highly respected scholar. However, he planned to desert Chengdu while it was under siege and because of this Liu Bei held him in low regard. (Pot, meet kettle.) Fa Zheng told Liu Bei that although Xu Jing was a man of empty reputation, he nevertheless had a great reputation. Since Liu Bei couldn’t go door-to-door explaining why he didn’t make use of Xu Jing, it would be better to employ him lest the people of Yi think Liu Bei did not value men of talent. Liu Bei followed his advice and treated Xu Jing well.[17] He was subsequently made Liu Bei’s adjutant.[18] His nephew Chen Zhi eventually became one of Shu’s leading officials.[19]

During this time, Fa Zheng also helped compose a new legal code for Shu, along with Zhuge Liang, Liu Ba, Li Yan, and Yi Ji.[20] The fifth-century commentator Pei Songzhi recounts a discussion between Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng regarding law. Fa Zheng argued for greater leniency and thought that since Liu Bei was new to the province, it was wisest for him to adopt the local customs and expectations before introducing new laws. Zhuge Liang believed it was best to begin with strict, even harsh rule so that any future leniency would have a greater impact.[21] Chen Shou, author of the Sanguo Zhi and a native of Shu, regarded these laws, and Zhuge Liang’s policies in particular, as strict but fair.[22] Of course, I can’t let the opportunity pass to note that while advocating for strict laws and harsh punishments, Zhuge Liang was content to let Fa Zheng commit outright murder. But laws never apply to those who make them.

After spending a couple years establishing LIu Bei’s government in Yi, Fa Zheng started advocating for war again in 217. Liu Bei accepted his arguments and launched his campaign for Hanzhong at the end of the year. You can read abut it here. Once again, Fa Zheng can be accurately described as the primary architect of the campaign. Although Liu Bei’s army suffered many setbacks throughout 217 and 218, the tide turned at the start of 219 and Liu Bei was ultimately able to claim the region.

In autumn of 219, Liu Bei named himself King of Hanzhong. Leaving Wei Yan to guard the territory, he subsequently returned to Chengdu.[23] Fa Zheng was named Director of the Secretariat and General Who Protects the Army. However, Fa Zheng did not enjoy these honors for long. He passed away the next year, at the age of 44. He was posthumously awarded a marquisate, and Liu Bei personally wept for him.[24] In subsequent years, Zhuge Liang would continue to praise Fa Zheng’s abilities. When Liu Bei was defeated in Yidu in 222, Zhuge Liang lamented, “If Fa Xiaozhi were still here, then he would have been able to hold back our ruler, and have him not go east, but even if we had gone east, then it certainly would not have been this much of a disaster.”[25]

Holding the two of them up side-by-side, the DW9 Fa Zheng does have a lot of overlap with the real deal. 

As always, most fictitious depictions of Fa Zheng can be traced back to SGYY and it’s various inspirations. He first appears in chapter 60, which tells a somewhat distorted but still recognizable version of Zhang Song’s embassy to Cao Cao and Fa Zheng’s mission to Liu Bei.[26] For the next several chapters, he and Pang Tong employ various plans to capture Yi province, an endeavor in which they are ultimately successful. In the novel, Pang Tong generally takes the senior role.[27]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the novel glosses over Fa Zheng’s misdeeds while in government. It describes him repaying favors and avenging past slights, though it doesn’t say he had people killed. It also says that he subsequently changed his ways and made amends.[28] That’s the sort of distortion I really hate in this book.  Fa Zheng was a murderer. There is no evidence that he ever regretted it or reformed. But since he’s associated with the heroes of the story his crimes get painted over  and watered down.

Fa Zheng next appears when Liu Bei is making plans to capture Hanzhong. Zhuge LIang sends him to supervise Huang Zhong and together they defeat Xiahou Yuan, earning a huge victory.[29] His subsequent appearances are brief. He is rewarded for his role in taking Hanzhong[30] and convinces LIu Bei to marry Wu Yi’s sister.[31] Strangely, Fa Zheng dies off-screen. Although his passing is later mentioned by Zhuge Liang[32] it doesn’t come up until after the fact.

I’ve already complained about the Yanyi glossing over Fa Zheng’s crimes inventing a redemption arc for him so I don’t need to repeat myself here. Aside from that, his appearance in the novel is actually reasonably accurate. The liberties the novel takes with him are rather small and easy to understand in the context of the story.

Endnotes

1. SGZ 37.2 2. Sānfǔ Juélù Zhù 三辅决录注; SGZ 37.2 3. PSZ; SGZ 37.2 4. SGZ 37.2 5. SGZ 1 6. SGZ 31.2 7. SGZ 31.2 8. SGZ 37.2 9. Yìbù Qíjiù Zhuàn 益部耆旧传; SGZ 31.2 10. SGZ 31.2 11. Yìbù Qíjiù Zhuàn 益部耆旧传; SGZ 31.2 12. SGZ 31.2 13. SGZ 37.2 14. SGZ 31.2 15. SGZ 37.2 16. SGZ 37.2 17. SGZ 37.2 18. SGZ 38.1 19. SGZ 39.5 20. SGZ 38.5 21. PSZ; SGZ 35 22. SGZ 35 23. SGZ 32 24. SGZ 37.2 25. SGZ 37.2 26. SGYY 60 27. SGYY 61–64 28. SGYY 65 29. SGYY 70–71 30. SGYY 73 31. SGYY 77 32. SGYY 81

[byneddiedingo]

Chen Daoming in Coming Home (Zhang Yimou, 2014)

Cast: Chen Daoming, Gong Li, Zhang Huiwen, Guo Tao, Liu Peiqi, Zu Feng, Yan Ni, Xin Baiqing, Zhang Jaiyi, Chen Xiaoyi, Ding Jiali. Screenplay: Zou Jingxi, Zho Xiaofeng, based on a novel by Yan Geling. Cinematography: Zhou Xiaoding. Production design: Lin Chaoxiang, Liu Jiang. Film editing: Meng Peicong, Zhang Mo. Music: Qi Gang Chen. 

Coming Home is a story of post-traumatic stress, in which the PTSD is not just manifest in particular people but in a whole society. The immense trauma of the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s was shared by an entire people, though it's embodied in Zhang Yimou's film in a single family: Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), his wife, Feng Wanyu (Gong Li), and their daughter, Dandan (Zhang Huiwen). Like many intellectuals, Lu, a professor, is sent during the Cultural Revolution to the countryside to work as a laborer, but he escapes and returns to his family, which has been warned by the authorities to turn him in. When he shows up at their home, Feng wants to hide him, but Dandan, an ambitious young ballet student, betrays him on the promise that she will get the lead role in a production of The Red Detachment of Women. When Lu is finally released and returns home, he finds that Dandan has given up her ballet career -- the promised lead role was denied her anyway -- and is estranged from her mother, who has never forgiven her. But Feng has suffered another trauma, which affects her memory: Not only does she forget mundane daily tasks, she also fails to recognize Lu when he appears. Because she has been told that he will be returning on the fifth of the month, she goes to the train station once every month to wait for him, returning in disappointment. Lu tries everything he can to restore his wife's memory: He pretends to be a piano tuner so he can play a song they once shared, and when a cache of letters he wrote to her on scraps of paper while in prison shows up, he reads them to her, becoming a familiar figure in her life and engineering a rapprochement between her and Dandan, but never quite breaking through the block in her memory. It's a somewhat conventional and sentimental story, but Zhang makes it work, with the special help of three exceptional actors. Gong Li gives one of her finest performances as the deeply damaged Feng Wanyu, her face revealing the exact moment when her flickering hopes of reunion with her husband are extinguished by doubt or disappointment or fear. Chen Daoming makes Lu's patient, dogged attempts to cope with his wife's disorder credible, even when the script by Zou Jingzhi sags occasionally into predictability. And Zhang Huiwen, discovered by Zhang Yimou at the Beijing Dance Academy, is both a fine dancer and an actress capable of evoking Dandan's adolescent petulance.   

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[xinyuehui]

I am not going to bid you farewell now, we will meet again soon.

梦华录｜A Dream of Splendor

[sandu-zidian]

Nirvana in Fire || Episode 31

“Tell me the truth. How bad is his illness?”