#zhangsun bodhi

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

I loved Thousand Autumns, so I started Peerless yesterday. Completely delighted by my new pair of absolutely awful men, but the standout exchange of the first volume is really this one--

Zhangsun Bodhi: So are you...are you a man or a woman?

Qiao Xian: Rookie mistake.

Zhangsun Bodhi: Ok then.

[mxtxfanatic]

The gender commentary in this novel is lowkey hilarious:

For the first time, Zhangsun Bodhi’s gaze lingered on Qiao Xian for a long while, confusion showing in his eyes. “You — are you a male or a female?” Qiao Xian replied plainly, “After reading Buddhist scripts for so long, don’t you understand that ‘looks are only the mind’s perception’, and are meaningless’?”

—Chapt. 19: You Whose Surname is Feng, You Motherfucking Bastard!, fan translation

Presently, people of literature would reprimand others with words like ‘traitor, how dare you scheme behind my back! Lecherous!’, but another type of people would often use the female gender as a metaphor such as ‘you cry like a woman’ as if they were laughing because the other made themselves resemble little timid ladies. One could say that it was degrading to be treated like a helpless woman. Feng Xiao despised these sort of discriminations. When one has reached to positions such as Cui Buqu or himself, they know the world and its people. They wouldn’t care whether the other is a man or a woman. To them, there were only two types of people: friends and enemies, and or useful and useless people.

—Chapt. 41: Cui Buqu Wants to Kick That Person Down the Horse Carriage, fan translation

It's essentially that only weak, powerless, small-minded people are concerned with gender and enforcing gender roles. Actual enlightened people, those with the strength and determination to forge their own life paths, judge others based on their skills and attributes rather than their genitalia and assigned sex. Which should be the case! Just did not expect this politic to crop up in a discussion of cross-dressing 😭

[cn-alastair-lite]

if no one volunteers to draw cui buqu, qiao xian and zhangsun bodhi with friendship bracelets, i will

[angieloveshua]

Wushuang, chapter 17.

Zhangsun Bodhi has not appeared that much, and I'm already like this:

[angieloveshua]

With each time she saw Zhangsun Bodhi, Song Liangchen would ponder over a very serious question: Isn’t he cold if he’d shaved all his hair in such chilly weather?

The disrespect. 🤣