#she's not jiang-er'niangzi?

[coquelicoq]

sorry for coming out of my rewatch obsessed with zhao ke (the gardener) but actually i'm not sorry because he rules. also listen. when xiao heng was on grampa-mandated house arrest for five years, he apparently spent all his time "listening to music and gardening". that started eight years ago. zhao ke has been a gardener for the jiang family for seven years. so i'm imagining him being i guess originally a xiao family servant maybe, and him keeping xiao heng company during his confinement and the two of them getting really into gardening together, and then him becoming xiao heng's first spy. because at least HE is allowed to leave the property. right? and xiao heng MUST have started his spy network during his confinement, or are we supposed to believe he's built it up from nothing in the past three years?? i think that would be a bit much, suspension-of-disbelief-wise. so yeah budding (no pun intended) schemer child!xh who does nothing all day except listen to music and garden had to start somewhere, and because of the gardening connection and the fact that zhao ke has been planted (no pun intended) with the jiangs for seven of the eight years since xiao heng's father's death, i think zhao ke as the inaugural field (no pun intended) agent is solidly rooted (okay i did intend this one) in the evidence.

[coquelicoq]

episode 33: holy shit. magnificent. incredible. fed. watered. etc

episode 34: hm. hmmmmmmm

[coquelicoq]

Jiang Li's family tree and familial terms of address in The Double

I'm making this guide for my own reference because there were several family relationships in The Double that I misinterpreted at first based on how they were translated in the English subs, so I've gone back and compared to the Chinese subs. I'm also hoping it will be helpful to people wanting to write fic in English! What little I know about Chinese terms of address has largely been gleaned from other tumblr users' posts predating this show, and I'll link to my sources.

The only significant potential spoiler is some basic biographical information about Jiang Li’s older sibling, who is not directly mentioned until episode 26 but whose existence can be inferred from the fact that Jiang Li is referred to as Second Lady Jiang.

I am basing all of this solely on the drama, not the novel it was adapted from.

Apologies in advance for any inconsistencies in the pinyin punctuation (hyphen vs. apostrophe vs. space vs. smooshed together); it varies widely across sources and I don't think I have a clear enough understanding of the nuances to be confident I'm being consistent in applying the conventions, but I'm including the hanzi as well as an English translation (if the translation is in quotation marks it’s from the subs, usually Viki but not always). Also apologies if I messed up any of the hanzi. I welcome corrections and insights from those with more knowledge!!

I'm referring to Jiang Li in the present tense here for convenience, but since she's dead for the majority of the show, when I say "Jiang Li calls so-and-so xyz," of course it's almost always actually Xue Fangfei acting as Jiang Li who's doing that.

Each image is of that character's first appearance, when the hanzi for their name is given. The hanzi and any other caption are transcribed in alt text.

Jiang Li

Jiang Li (姜梨), aka Jiang Ruoyu (姜若雨), is the second child and second daughter of Jiang Yuanbai. She’s his only child with his first wife, Ye Zhenzhen.

According to this title card, her given name is Ruoyu and her courtesy name is A'Li (阿梨). This means that in this universe, people are given courtesy names in childhood rather than upon maturity. No one ever calls her or refers to her as Ruoyu that I noticed.

She is 18 or thereabouts (she was sent away from the family 10 years ago at age 8).

She has an older sister, Jiang Yue, a younger sister, Jiang Ruoyao, and a younger brother, Jiang Bingji. More about them below.

Sometimes in the subs she's referred to as the eldest daughter or the firstborn. For instance, when Ji Shuran says in episode 7 梨儿终究是我家嫡女, the Viki subs give "Li'er is the firstborn." Another example is in episode 5; someone in the crowd at Jiang Ruoyao's coming-of-age ceremony refers to Jiang Li as Jiang Yuanbai's 嫡长之女, which Viki translates as "eldest daughter". I think this might be a mistranslation. She's not the eldest daughter, but she is the eldest legitimate daughter (born to a legal wife rather than a concubine). In episode 6, Jiang Li refers to herself as 嫡女, and that time it's translated as "legitimate daughter" (Jiang Ruoyao also refers to herself as the same thing in episode 26, and it's "legitimate daughter" there as well). In episodes 26 and 32, Jiang Li is referred to as 姜家的嫡娘子, translated as "legitimate daughter of the Jiang family". The character 嫡, di, means "legal wife" or "child of legal wife" and also is one of the characters in the title of the novel The Double was based on, 嫡嫁千金 (Marriage of the Di Daughter).

She was accused of fratricide and attempted matricide at age 8 when she was blamed for her stepmother's miscarriage.

As the second daughter of a noble family, she is referred to outside the family as Jiang-er'niangzi (姜二娘子, “Second Lady Jiang”, or sometimes translated as "Miss Jiang"). Family servants call her niangzi or er’niangzi (translated in direct address as "my lady"). (Note that Tong'er calls Jiang Li niangzi but tends to call Xue Fangfei jiejie (姐姐, older sister) when they're alone.)

Peers who are close to her, like her school friend Liu Xu and her (slightly) older male cousins Jiang Jingrui and Ye Shijie, call her Jiang Li in the earlier episodes and eventually start calling her A'Li as they become closer.

Her younger sister Jiang Ruoyao and younger cousin Jiang Yu'e call her er'jie (二姐, older sister, second in the birth order; subs often translate this as “Li” even though they’re not actually using her name at all) or er'jiejie. Her younger brother calls her jiejie.

People in her family who are older than her call her A'Li (阿梨], "A" being an affectionate/familiar prefix and "Li" being her given name) or Li'er (梨儿, "er" being an affectionate/familiar suffix). Most people who call her one of these things (including Xue Fangfei, her paternal family, her mother, and her mom’s friend Liu-furen) call her Li’er, while her maternal family (other than her mother) tends to call her A’Li. Her maternal cousin Ye Shijie calls her/refers to her as both Li’er and A’Li, though I noticed him using Li’er more often.

Her paternal grandmother calls her Li'er, haizi (孩子, child), and er’yatou (二丫头, literally second girl). The latter two are generally given in the subs as Li or Li’er.

Her aunt (her father’s younger brother’s wife) calls her wo de hao zhinu (我的好侄女, “my dear niece”) at one point when she's feeling particularly appreciative.

Note that while some people close to Jiang Li call her A'Li (阿梨), when Su-guogong calls (Xue Fangfei as) Jiang Li A'Li, the Chinese subs use 阿狸 (different "li" character). They are pronounced identically, but the latter is the way that Xue Fangfei’s given name, Xue Li, is spelled (薛狸).

Paternal family (Jiang jia 姜家)

Parents

Jiang Yuanbai (姜元柏) is the current head of the noble Jiang family and a high-ranking minister in the imperial court.

His title is Jiang-xiangguo 姜相国, translated as "Grand Chancellor" or "Secretariat Director", depending on the subs.

Xiangguo is a more general honorific that is used for some other ministers as well. His position more specifically seems to be zhongshuling (中书令, “Secretariat Director” or “Chief Secretary”) and taishi (太师, “Grand Preceptor”).

The emperor calls him (and other officials) qing (卿, noble, minister). He also refers to him at least once as laoshi (老师, teacher).

Servants call him zhujun (主君, translated as “my lord” when in direct address).

Jiang Li calls him fuqin (父亲, formal term for "father"). I don't think Xue-Fangfei-as-Jiang-Li ever calls him die (爹, less formal term for "father") at any point, but that is presumably what Jiang Li called him as a child, since he refers to himself as diedie in a flashback when she’s young.

His brothers call him da’ge (大哥, older brother, first in the birth order). His sister-in-law (Jiang Yuanping's wife) also calls him da'ge.

Jiang Jingrui and Jiang Yu'e call him da’bofu (大伯父, father’s older brother, first in the birth order, "Uncle").

Hi wife Ji Shuran calls him fujun (夫君, husband).

He and his brothers share a generation name (one shared character in the given name of each descendant of the same generation), 元, yuan. However, they don’t appear to have continued the tradition in the next generation, because Jiang Jingrui's and Jiang Bingji's names don't share a character. At first I thought at least the girls shared a character, because Jiang Li (whose given name is Ruoyu) and her sister Jiang Ruoyao both have 若, Ruo, but their older sister and their uncle’s daughter don’t have that character in their names, so I guess not.

Ye Zhenzhen (叶珍珍) was Jiang Li's mother.

She died when Jiang Li was a baby, at least six months after giving birth.

She was Jiang Yuanbai's furen (夫人), his official wife (as opposed to a concubine).

When Jiang Li talks about her, she refers to her as a'niang (阿娘, mother) or shengmu (生母, birth mother).

Xue Fangfei addresses her as Ye-furen in her head/when praying to her.

Her younger brother Ye Mingyu calls her Zhenzhen-jie (珍珍姐).

Ji Shuran (季淑然) is Jiang Li's stepmother.

She is Jiang Yuanbai's current furen. Jiang Yuanbai married her after Ye Zhenzhen died.

She's over 30 and probably under 40.

She's the mother of Jiang Ruoyao and Jiang Bingji, who call her niang. Jiang Ruoyao sometimes calls her or refers to her as muqin.

She's referred to as Jiang-furen (姜夫人, “Madam Jiang”) by those outside the family (women keep their own surname when they get married, but when honorifics are used, they're attached to the husband's surname). At one point she refers to herself as Jiang jia de zhumu (姜家的主母, "madam of the Jiang family").

Her husband and the family servants call her furen.

Jiang Li calls her muqin (母亲, formal term for "mother"). In flashbacks, like when she miscarries and when Jiang Li refuses to go home with her maternal grandmother, young Jiang Li calls her niang. She’s sometimes referred to as Jiang Li’s houmu (后母, stepmother).

Consort Li, her younger sister, calls her jiejie.

The Marquis of Ningyuan calls her xiangguo-furen (xiangguo being her husband’s court title).

Jiang Jingrui calls her da’bomu (大伯母, wife of da’bofu). Jiang Yu'e calls her bomu ("Auntie Shuran").

Her husband's younger brother Jiang Yuanping calls her saozi (嫂子, sister-in-law).

Before her marriage, as the eldest child/daughter of the Ji family, she was called Ji-da’niangzi.

Paternal grandparents

Jiang Yuanbai's mother is referred to as Jiang-lao'furen (姜老夫人, "old Madam Jiang").

She was Jiang Yuanbai’s father's furen. Her husband also had at least one concubine.

Jiang Li and her siblings and paternal cousins call her zumu (祖母, father's mother, "Grandmother").

Her two sons and her husband's son from a concubine call her muqin.

Members of her household, including her daughters-in-law, refer to her as lao’furen.

[Not pictured because he never appears onscreen] Jiang Yuanbai's father, who's deceased, is referred to a few times.

Tong’er refers to him as Jiang-lao’taigong (姜老太公, “Old Master Jiang”).

Jiang Li refers to him as zufu (祖父, “Grandfather”).

His widow refers to him as taigong (太公, grandfather, “Old Master Jiang”) in the context of Jiang Li. She addresses him as lao’Jiang at one point.

Paternal aunts and uncles

Jiang Yuanping (姜元平) is Jiang Yuanbai's younger brother from the same mother and father.

Jiang Li calls him er'shu (二叔, father’s younger brother, second in the birth order; “ Second Uncle Jiang”).

His son Jiang Jingrui calls him die (爹, "Father").

Jiang Yuanping’s wife's surname is Lu (卢).

Jiang Li calls her er'shumu (二叔母, wife of er'shu; “Second Auntie Lu”). Interestingly, all the tumblr guides I’ve seen say the wife of your father’s younger brother would be shenmu, not shumu, but she is clearly saying shu according to the subs, and shumu is in the dictionary.

Her husband calls her furen (translated as "My Lady" or "my dear"); her son calls her niang ("Mother").

Jiang Yuanxing (姜元兴) is Jiang Yuanbai's younger half-brother; they have the same dad, but his mom was their dad's concubine.

Jiang Li calls him san'shu (三叔, father’s younger brother, third in the birth order; “Third Uncle Jiang”).

Jiang Yuanxing’s wife's surname is Yang (杨).

Jiang Lu calls her san'shumu (三叔母, wife of san'shu; “Third Auntie Yang”).

Siblings

Jiang Yue (姜月) is Jiang Yuanbai’s oldest child and Jiang Li’s older sister. She was born to a maid (so, not the furen). This means that while she is the oldest child, she's not the oldest "legitimate" child.

She’s not directly mentioned until episode 26 (unless I missed something), so I won’t say anything else about her, to avoid spoilers.

Jiang Ruoyao (姜若瑶) is Ji Shuran's oldest child, Jiang Li's younger sister, and the third child and third daughter of Jiang Yuanbai.

She can't be much younger than Jiang Li, possibly two years younger at most would be my guess? I can't remember if they ever say her age. She has a coming of age ceremony in one of the early episodes.

Jiang Li calls her san'mei (三妹, literally "third younger sister", which refers to her position in the birth order as the third daughter of the Jiang family, rather than meaning that she's the third youngest of Jiang Li's younger sisters (Jiang Li only has one younger sister)).

She calls Jiang Li er’jie (二姐, older sister, second in the birth order; subs translate this as just “Li”).

Her parents call her Yao’er.

Those outside the family call her Jiang-san'niangzi (姜三娘子, “Third Lady Jiang”). Family servants call her niangzi or san’niangzi.

Jiang Bingji (姜丙吉) is Ji Shuran's second child, Jiang Li's younger brother, and the fourth child and only son of Jiang Yuanbai.

He was born after Ji Shuran’s miscarriage (source: he refers to the fetus as gege (哥哥, older brother), meaning it would have been born before him). This means he’s less than 10 years old, since the miscarriage/Jiang Li’s exile was 10 years ago.

Jiang Li doesn't have a lot of interaction with him, but in his intro she calls him didi (弟弟, little brother) and he calls her jiejie (姐姐, big sister).

Family servants call him xiao'gongzi (小公子, "Young Master").

Paternal cousins

Jiang Jingrui (姜景睿) is Jiang Yuanping's son.

Jiang Li calls him tangxiong (堂兄, older paternal male cousin, i.e., son of father’s brother, older than her) the first time they meet, which causes him to accuse her of not being Jiang Li because it's too formal. Jiang Yu’e also calls him tangxiong.

Jiang Li's childhood nickname for him was xiao'Ruirui (小睿睿). In the present she mostly calls him Jiang Jingrui.

Liu Xu refers to him as Jiang Li’s gege.

He calls Jiang Li “Jiang Li” and sometimes refers to her as Li'er.

Those outside the family call him Jiang-gongzi (姜公子, “Mr. Jiang”).

Jiang Yu'e (姜玉娥) is Jiang Yuanxing's daughter.

This was something that I didn't pick up on for a while: She and Jiang Li refer to each other (and others refer to them) as sisters (Jiang Li calls her si'mei (四妹, fourth younger sister) and she calls Jiang Li er'jie), but they're actually cousins; their dads are brothers.

Jiang Jingrui also calls her si’mei.

She has a lower position in the family because her dad's mom was not the furen but a concubine.

As the fourth daughter of the Jiang family (though again, not the fourth daughter of Jiang Yuanbei; she's the fourth girl born to the previous generation of Jiang sons), I think she's addressed by those outside the family as Jiang-si’niangzi (四三娘子, “Fourth Lady Jiang”).

Jiang family servants

Tong’er (桐儿) is Jiang Li’s maid.

Sun-mama (孙妈妈, “senior maidservant Sun” or "Madam Sun") is Ji Shuran’s maid.

[Not pictured because I never saw a title card for her] Zhang-popo (张婆婆, “maidservant Zhang”) is Jiang-lao’furen’s maid.

Maternal family (Ye jia 叶家)

Maternal grandmother

Ye Zhenzhen’s mother is referred to as Ye-lao’furen (叶老夫人, “Old Madam Ye” or “Old Mrs. Ye”).

Jiang Li calls her wai’zumu (外祖母, mother’s mother, “Grandmother”).

Maternal aunts and uncles

Ye Mingxuan (叶明轩) is Ye Zhenzhen's brother, the second oldest son in the family.

Jiang Li calls him er'jiu (二舅, mother’s brother, second in the birth order).

Ye Mingxuan’s older brother (Ye Shijie’s dad) and father are dead, making him the current head of the family.

It’s unclear if he’s Ye Zhenzhen’s older or younger brother. Because the term for a mother’s brother is the same whether the brother is older or younger than the mother (jiu), it’s impossible to tell from what Jiang Li calls him. I’m listening for other times someone else calls him something that could give a hint to this, but the only thing I’ve found is Jiang Yuanbai calling him something translated as brother-in-law, qingjia xiongdi (亲家兄弟), but xiongdi in my understanding refers generally to brothers and doesn’t specify older or younger. I don’t think there are any flashbacks in which Ye Zhenzhen talks to or about him. And we can infer that the birth order terms used for the men in this family do not include the women, because we know Ye Mingyu, who is referred to as third uncle and so must be the third son, actually must be the fourth child overall (assuming there aren't any other Ye daughters), because Ye Zhenzhen calls him younger brother, which means he has three older siblings (the two sons who are older than him, plus Ye Zhenzhen). So we know that Ye Mingxuan is second in the birth order of sons specifically, but he could have one or more older sisters as well.

Ye Mingxuan's wife’s surname is Zhuo (卓).

Jiang Li calls her er’jiumu (二舅母, wife of er’jiu).

I assume she's called Ye-furen (叶夫人) by those outside the family but haven't encountered it in my rewatch yet.

Ye Mingyu (叶明煜) is Ye Zhenzhen's younger brother, the third oldest son in the family.

Jiang Li calls him san'jiu (三舅, mother’s brother, third in the birth order).

He refers to Ye Zhenzhen as Zhenzhen-jie. In his flashback of her getting married in episode 15, she calls him san’di (三弟, third younger brother, meaning younger brother who’s the third son; it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s the third of her younger brothers. She does have three brothers, but it’s possible one or both of the other two are older than her; see above).

The clerk in his family’s store calls him san’lang (三郎, “Third Master”).

Ye Jia’er calls him san’shu and I assume Ye Shijie does as well, since in both cases he’s the younger brother of their fathers.

Maternal cousins

Ye Shengxuan (叶圣宣), courtesy name Shijie (世杰), is the son of the oldest (now deceased, and I never caught a name if it was given) son of the previous generation of the Ye family. (Source: Ye Mingxuan introduces himself as Ye Shijie’s er’shu, meaning he’s second in the birth order and the younger brother of Ye Shijie’s dad, so Ye Shijie's dad must be first in the birth order.)

Jiang Li calls him biaoge (表哥, term for an older male cousin when you're related through one or both of your mothers (so, one of his parents is your mom's sibling and/or one of your parents is his mom's sibling. In this case, Jiang Li's mom is his father's sister)). Jiang Jingrui refers to him as Jiang Li’s biaoxiong (表兄, another term for an older male maternal cousin).

He calls Jiang Li Li'er, A’Li, or Jiang Li.

Jiang Jingrui calls him Shijie or biaoge, though he is not Jiang Jingrui's maternal cousin (he is the maternal cousin of Jiang Li, Jiang Jingrui's paternal cousin).

People who aren’t close to him call him Ye-gongzi (叶公子) or Ye-longjun (叶郎君), both translated as “Mr. Ye”.

Ye Jia’er (叶嘉儿) is Ye Mingxuan's daughter.

Jiang Li calls her biaojie (表姐, term for an older female cousin when you’re related through one or both of your mothers) or Jia’er-biaojie.

She calls Jiang Li biaomei (表妹, younger female maternal cousin).

The clerk in the family store calls her Jia’er-niangzi (嘉儿娘子; in this case the “er” is part of her given name, rather than the “er” meaning “second”).

I assume people not associated with the family call her Ye-niangzi, but I haven’t come across that yet in my rewatch.

Ye family servants

[Not pictured because I didn't see a title card for her] Li-mama (��妈妈, “Madam Li”) is Ye-furen's maid.

I'll update the above as my rewatch continues, so watch this space!