#Huang Shifu

[mx08z7kz6gqrs]

人间不值得 - This Human World Isn’t Worth It

人间不值得 - 黄诗扶 This Human World Isn’t Worth It - Huang Shifu Original Song Here Lyrics: Chi Yi Composition: Huang Shifu Arrangement: Mzf Xiao Mu 渡口爱上深山 薄雪中意晚莲 夕阳熬红双眼 想等来晨钟聊聊天 The harbor falls in love with the mountains in the distance, and a beautiful evening lotus catches the eye of the cold winter snow. The sunset stays awake until its eyes are brimming red just waiting for the dawn to come by for a chat. 心上人在梅边柳边 偏不在身边 小白蛇浇透临安 许仙却没带伞 My beloved stands there beside plum blossoms and willow trees, but remains out of my reach. The white snake finds herself soaked through near the West Lake, but Xu Xian did not bring his umbrella. 少女压坏秋千 书生十年落选 命运总是挑挑拣拣 诸事不成全 A young girl tumbles as her swing falls apart beneath her, and a young scholar fails his exams again ten years counting. Fate is such a fickle thing, never fulfilling anyone's wishes. 小和尚没化到缘 又路过烧鸭店 A young monk comes back empty handed, as he passes by roasting ducks on a street stand. 拈杯酒眯着眼 说专心看人间 看长安建安与潘安 都想沾一沾 Cups of wine in hand, with heavy eyes barely open, they say they are watching this human world carefully. Looking over the beauty of Chang'an, Jian'an, and Pan'an, they wanted a taste of everything. 神仙掐指算 此去少圆满 得来失 聚了散 千万莫求全 The gods count each one out one by one- few things are ever truly completed. Things we gain will lead to loss, and those who come together will inevitably part, so we must be careful never to ask for too much. 借泥炉烧碗饭 在檐上种炊烟 管小寒大寒与心寒 都来暖一暖 Let's borrow a clay oven, and cook a bowl of food, raising billows of smoke over the eaves Whether it's a icy storm, a cold spell, or a bitter, frozen heart- may they all be warmed a little. 好提胆闯人海 再叩风月关 兜兜转转八十一难 我们走着看 So that we may gather the courage to push through the sea of people around us, we bow again to the quiet moonlight above. No matter the ups and downs that await us on this winding path of life, let's walk along and see. 竹马去寻竹马 青梅意兴阑珊 A young boy comes along on a bamboo horse, but trots away to play with the others, And the little girl beneath green plum trees grows tired of waiting. 伯牙琴弦摔断 叔夜刚绝交山巨源 Bo Ya snaps the strings of his qin in grief, And Shuye (Xi Kang) severs his ties with Ju Yuan (Shan Tao). 知己半路就散 结发总另结新欢 小情侣恰好遇见 喜鹊没来上班 The friend you hold closest abandons you halfway through, as the one you love marries another, A pair of young lovers finally happen to meet, and yet cupid seems to have abandoned his post. 长生岂能如愿 古稀尚靠垂怜 老病倒比莺莺燕燕 多陪二十年 Over the course of such a long life, how could you expect everything to go as you may have wished? In the end, the elderly continue to lean upon the mercy of others. The illness of old age accompanies you twenty years longer than the spring of youth. 小嫦娥偷吃灵药 却反而羡人间 A young Chang'e stole the elixir of immortality, only to turn and envy the lives of humankind. 拈杯酒眯着眼 说专心看人间 看长安建安与潘安 都想沾一沾 Cups of wine in hand, with heavy eyes barely open, they say they are watching this human world carefully. Looking over the beauty of Chang'an, Jian'an, and Pan'an, they wanted a taste of everything. 神仙掐指算 此去少圆满 得来失 聚了散 千万莫求全 The gods count each one out one by one- few things are ever truly completed. Things we gain will lead to loss, and those who come together will inevitably part, so we must be careful never to ask for too much. 借泥炉烧碗饭 在檐上种炊烟 管小寒大寒与心寒 都来暖一暖 Let's borrow a clay oven, and cook a bowl of food, raising billows of smoke over the eaves Whether it's a icy storm, a cold spell, or a bitter, frozen heart- may they all be warmed a little. 好提胆闯人海 再叩风月关 兜兜转转八十一难 我们走着看 So that we may gather the courage to push through the sea of people around us, we bow again to the quiet moonlight above. No matter the ups and downs that await us on this winding path of life, let's walk along and see. 人生在世不称意呀 失眠或失恋 只劝你来把个盏 侃呀么侃大山 喝完大酒撑条船 说今生不靠岸 去天涯海角浪个遍 失意当尝鲜 Our time in this human world can be so bitter, whether it's sleepless nights or broken hearts. One can only advise you to take a cup, and come by for an bit of idle chatter After finishing the wine, take a boat out and say promise never to land again in this lifetime. Go forth to the ends of the earth and sea, and taste each new disappointment as it comes. 这一路手握剑 身侧有千帆 时不时～回头看看 百味是人间 时不时～也睡个懒觉 醒来多加餐 Along the way, keep a sword at hand, and a thousand sails beside you. Every now and then, look back at the hundreds of flavors of the human world. Every now and then, sleep in a bit, and once you wake, help yourself to a another meal. Side Note: There are a lot of direct references to Chinese literature here, and some other more ambiguous ones. I'll be posting some notes later to capture the ones I found. There are some localizations I did where possible, but for the most part I left things relatively literal because there was so much.

[add1ctedt0you]

"You have my word. You are back in Peach Blossom Island's fold."

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

One must wonder how Yuding Zhenren feels during the events of Lotus Lantern...

[ID: A monochrome purple comic. In the first panel is Yuding Zhenren from the shoulders up, resting his head on his hand while reclining and looking up with a cold, angry expression, saying "Yang Jian." In the second panel is Erlang Shen from the shoulders up, looking down at Yuding Zhenren with a detached expression, responding "Shifu." The third panel zooms out to show Yuding Zhenren reclining on a mat while looking up at Erlang Shen, who is standing a few feet away. Yuding Zhenren says, "My... How you've grown." Yuding Zhenren and Erlang Shen both cast reflections on the pond beside them. While Yuding Zhenren's reflection looks largely unchanged, where Erlang's reflection should be, are the image of him and his sister as kids, crying and kneeling in front of Yuding Zhenren. End ID]

[tavina-writes]

is it possible for a woman to inherit a sect or only sons?

Hi nonny!

I wrote about this a bit here, but traditionally to like, the wuxia genre: 1) this was (depending on the sect in question of course) mostly a meritocracy, so it's not strictly true that the daughters or sons of the former sect leader is inheriting the sect but also 2) the gender for many sects is entirely irrelevant, many prominent jianghu families in many many wuxia books aren't exactly like, desperate for sons even if they have (1) child and that child is a girl, like what will girl do? girl will learn martial arts. like it's hard?

In fact in classical wuxia it's actually quite...common to have female sect leaders (either of entirely female sects or of mixed gender sects) because sects are kind of, things you join rather than things you're born to and you inherit them because shifu said so, not due to biology.

For example, Huang Rong in Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes, is the sect leader for the Beggar Clan, which is the largest and most powerful sect in the wulin instead of her husband Guo Jing, who was also a disciple of the previous sect leader.

Xiao Longnv from Return of the Condor Heroes comes from the Ancient Tomb Sect which, only accepts women btw, so all of their sect leaders have been women.

Yuan Ziyi's shifu, Baixiao Shenni, from Young Flying Fox was the sect leader of the Tianshan sect and a Buddhist Nun.

Dingxian from Xiao Ao Jiang Hu and her sisters, Dingjing and Dingyi, form a group called the "Three Elder Nuns" who are the leaders of the Northern Hengshan Sword Sect. Also from XAJH, Lan Fenghuang is the leader of the Five Immortal's Cult.

I'm not going to keep going down the list of like, female sect leaders in the traditional sense of the jianghu (for the record, all of the above books were written and published in the 1950s-1970s so it's not a recent phenomenon at all), but like, wuxia as a genre has in general, been surprisingly egalitarian on matters of gender. The fact of the matter is, this was the genre that first told me, at 7 or 8 years old that like, women can be powerful and intelligent and unhinged, whether they're villains or heroes or anywhere in between.

So uh, I think the reason you might not be aware of this Nonny (which is not a strike against you in any way!) is because danmei is primarily what's popular right now and danmei as a genre from what I've seen does not have uh, a great track record of bountiful female characters who are well rounded and extant or in positions of power.

[chicademartinica]

The 红线, « the read thread of fate that may stretch or tangle but never break » being the boxing straps ???!!! And baby boy wanting to be tied (by fate and you know TIED) by and to Qian ?

ALSO Kurt Huang plays ALL the nuances of desire so well. Thirst ? Check. Yearning ? Check. Horny ? Check ! Hunger ? Check.*

*Categories by my shifu @absolutebl

[shijiujun]

Can I interest you guys in how Huang Haibing and Zheng Guolin looked like in xianxia/wuxia/historical when they were younger compared to what they look like in TTEOTM hahahahaha

THIS IS SUSU PAPA (Zheng Guolin)

THIS IS SHIFU!!!! (Huang Haibing)

THIS IS THEM STILL HANSUM AND KICKING ASS IN XIANXIA 20 YEARS LATER

This came about from a post on Weibo talking about how these two men were making some of our hearts flutter and saying how these two men were their childhood male 男神 

[shentunans]

Actor Wang Yang: “I’m envious of the bond between Ruolai and Tunan - as Shifu & Disciple - their pure friendship in troubled times is a rare thing. And of course, Secretary Huang is good too!”

[velvet-vox]

The complete and utter alienation of Tai Lung: Part 2

Very recently I've done a marathon of all the Kung Fu Panda movies after not seeing them for a couple of years, watching one after the other in a single day, and aside from the emotional whiplash of seeing Kung Fu Panda 3 right after 2, it really got me to rethink about the colour theory present in the Kung Fu Panda movies, and more specifically about Tai Lung's.

Now, it's no secret that my first Tai Lung analysis blew up (unexpectedly), and it's still getting new hearts to this very day, and thus it only felt natural to make a sequel that could touch upon things that I didn't talk about originally.

So... let's bring up the colour table again, shall we?

As we have already established, Po is yellow, Shen red, Kai and Oogway green, and Tai Lung blu....... right?

The thing is, this simple association of the colour's meaning doesn't leave much room for an interesting, in depth discussion, that's why I wanted to go a little bit deeper into what I've head cannoned as the individual meaning of each primary colour, so that we can expand upon our current colour dynamics.

Just for reminder:

Cyan+Magenta=Blue

Magenta+Yellow=Red

Yellow+Cyan=Green

Just like we said, Yellow is the colour of Po, our heroes, the good side, (the Chameleon) and justice; whenever Yellow is present on the scene, you know that you can put yourself to ease, as nothing bad is probably going to happen;

I believe this to be the most straightforward primary colour, for obvious reasons, but especially because all the other colours gain their meaning when compared to Yellow (Po, our protagonist), therefore it also has to be the one we understand the most.

Indeed,

Po = Yellow

Now, this is where it starts to get interesting:

....I believe cyan to be Oogway's true colour. I think about it. When we first met Oogway, the only lighting present in the room was the cyan light of the Dragon scroll's pond, there was actually very little green accentuated in that scene, it was all mostly mellowed out by the cyan.

It also makes sense when you consider that Tai Lung and Kai had a relationship with Oogway, while Shen didn't because red isn't made out of cyan.

There's also the whole popular belief that "cyan represents patience" which also fits Oogway, but it's not really important to this discussion, so you can think what you want about it.

So,

Oogway = Cyan

Magenta... is particular.

Particular in the sense that it's extremely rare in both the movies and outside material.

Of magenta/purple things that come to mind we have Crane and Tai Lung's clothing, Shen's mother, Feng Huang related things, that weird sexual panda from the third movie... and probably some more.

As you can see, magenta is incredibly hard to pinpoint its meaning due to how infrequently it's used, which makes sense: Magenta and purple have ties to royalty in both China and other countries around the world; it's a sacred colour, so it has to be used sparingly, and I don't think it was ever intended by the writers for a meaning to be extrapolated from it.

....

Yet I tried to anyway.

Now, let it be known that I'm planning to make a post talking about Po's weird relationship birds, as it feels like whenever a bird is on screen the conflict is already more personal for Po.

For now... you could argue that magenta means danger, since it's the closest colour to purple aka yellow's opposite, and both Shen and Tai Lung are a direct threat to Po while Kai is treated as a joke for the entirety of the final movie, but I doubt bad writing has any deeper meaning.

I actually wanted to attribute magenta the meaning of closeness. For me, it was the easiest way to justify his rarity: it can't be Shifu's colour because he lost relevance after the first movie, and no other character is closely associated with it, so it makes sense for it to just be a colour that's taken for granted by Po since his adopted dad shares those tones.

However, I think I came up with a much more interesting idea: it's the colour of pride and approval, as Tai Lung and Shen both sought the approval of their parents to satisfy their ego, while Kai wasn't seeking anybody's approval for his evil actions.

Ultimately, magenta, much like in the movies, is irrelevant to the narrative, so I'm going to ignore it, but for now,

Approval = Magenta

Finally, (a worthy opponent) with all that out of the way, let's talk about everybody's favourite snow leopard!

And the first thing to mention, is the gold.

The Gold.

The GOLD.

It's everywhere. Whenever you look at him, Tai Lung is always chasing the gold, he was welcomed by the gold when he had no one by his side, and said gold was always what he dreamt about when he was in jail, he basked in the gold his entire life, and when that gold rejected him, he had nothing left in his life to cling onto because his entire life was dependent by that gold.

While Shen and Kai have Yellow as part of their secondary colour by nature, Tai Lung doesn't, yet he wants to. But that yellow keeps rejecting him and putting an end to his actions;

When Tai Lung's first rampage is interrupted, the (chi) body block technique that Oogway uses to stop him is yellow; when Po kills him at the end of the movie, the after wave of the Wuxi finger is, again, yellow; TAI LUNG'S EYES ARE YELLOW. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S ALWAYS ON HIS MIND.

... And that makes all the similarities that he shares with Tigress kind of sad (For both).

Like, I already knew that Tigress and Tai Lung were similar and meant to be foil, but it's only after my most recent rewatch the underlying pain and tragedy present in their rivalry really hit me.

If Tigre's pupils weren't red, she would have easily turned out as the next Tai Lung.

And Tai Lung upon seeing how similar he is to Tigress, probably thinks "This is what Shifu replaced me with. A cheap knock-off copy of the real deal".

It hurts him deeply, because it reminds him of how little Shifu really cared for him, despite not being true, and it scares Tigress, who's nervous for their entire interaction, due to now finally seeing Tai Lung in the flesh and not as just some story she overheard.

Tragically, once Tai Lung finally manages to get his paws on the Dragon scroll (yellow), it doesn't fix anything for him, instead, it sends him spiralling one last time before Po can finally put him out of his misery.

And with that, Tai Lung goes out of his miserable existence, only finding peace in the afterlife, and not in death.

<<<<Previous part

[k1201a]

Da Feng Gua Guo did write a legit OT4 novel, it’s called Spring Once More. Mind you tho, the MC is a top, he has relationship with three bottoms at the same time. Da Feng Gua Guo in her early days was just wild. Her other novel Huang Shu (Royal Uncle) was set in the same timeline as A League of Nobleman. The MC also has a wife heh. Zhang Ping was briefly mentioned in the Royal Uncle, he held the position of prime minister for a short period of time. His shifu’s fortune telling in the drama was spot on.

[romantamsxiangshi]

Translation of Roman Tam's and Jenny Tseng's 1983 鐵血丹心 (Iron Blood, Loyal Heart) from The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Jin Yong is hailed as the finest wuxia (martial arts) novelist of modern China, and is one of the best-selling Chinese authors of all time. His hit 1957 series, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, is set in the warring Jin/Song Dynasties (early-mid 1200's), and follows three generations of the Guo and Yang families. LCH was adapted into a TV series by Hong Kong's Guangdong TV Station in 1983. The show became an international sensation, and featured the breakthrough of stars such as Barbara Yung (who played Huang Rong). My dad, who grew up in the mainland, remembers entire streets emptying when the show was running; whole neighborhoods without TVs would crowd into shops or bars to watch. Since then, LCH has been remade into myriad shows and movies, but the 1983 version is hailed as a classic of Chinese and HK cinema.

I just started watching the 1983 LCH, after a lifetime of listening to the soundtrack, and I've fallen in love with its earnest dissection of legacy, lineage, and loyalty. I'm especially wowed by the embodiment of these tensions in the relationship between Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Huang Rong--who runs away from her heretical father and cross-dresses as a beggar--is a character I relate to on such a visceral level. She rejects her own lineage/parentage, yet is desperately resentful of Guo Jing and Yang Kang for upholding theirs. She is genderqueer, in both the novel and the show (cross-dressing, refusing to be called Brother or Sister, carefully and perfectly imitating various gender roles to get attention/power). She scorns human attachment and idealism of all forms, yet is fascinated by Guo Jing's caring and principled nature.

The slowburn of her romance with Guo Jing is one of the most beautiful portrayals of queer love I've seen in Chinese media; although Guo Jing is smitten with her from the beginning (buying her meals and saying he feels like he's known her his whole life, asking her to be his sworn brother, confessing his love to her, rejecting his shifu for her, offering her both the betrothal sword given to him by Genghis Khan and the sword with Yang Kang's name), it takes her a very long time to be honest and vulnerable enough to reciprocate. Just as Guo Jing helps her believe in and act on a commitment to a greater good, Huang Rong helps him step away from the expectations placed on him since birth and realize what he really wants (which is, and I quote, to live a peaceful life of anonymity). They are the original queer girlboss/malewife power couple, and the theme song of the 1983 LCH is a duet by Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng that captures their love. This duet is the first of four in the official OST, which I will translate in the next few days.

Song:

Translation:

JT: 依稀往夢似曾見 I've dreamt this only vaguely before, JT: 心內波瀾現 The sorrow that now grips my heart in waves. RT: 拋開世事斷愁怨 Let go of worldly worries. Together: 相伴到天邊 Come with me to the ends of this world. (1)

RT: 逐草四方沙漠蒼茫 We'll chase the plains; the deserts are vast. JT: 冷風吹 天蒼蒼 The wind's so cold; the sky's so blue. RT: 那懼雪霜撲面 We fear the snows; we'll face our fears. (2) JT: 藤樹 相連 All these wildernesses are but one. (3) RT: 射雕引弓塞外奔馳 I'll raise my bow to shoot; we'll ride free beyond the Great Wall. (4) JT: 猛風沙 野茫茫 These winds and sands are beastly. RT: 笑傲此生無厭倦 In this life, I wish only to smile without weariness. JT: 藤樹兩纏綿 We are but two wild things clinging to each other. (5)

JT: 應知愛意是流水 You ought to know that love is meant to flow like water. RT: 天蒼蒼 野茫茫 The sky is so blue, so vast and wild. JT: 斬不斷理還亂 Reason cannot stem what's meant to be free. (6) RT: 萬般變化 The world will always change around us. Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture (7) Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness. (8)

RT: 逐草四方沙漠蒼茫 We'll chase the plains; the deserts are vast. JT: 冷風吹 天蒼蒼 The wind's so cold; the sky's so blue. RT: 那懼雪霜撲面 We fear the snows; we'll face our fears. JT: 藤樹 相連 All these wildernesses are but one. RT: 射雕引弓塞外奔馳 I'll raise my bow to shoot; we'll ride free beyond the Great Wall. JT: 猛風沙 野茫茫 These winds and sands are beastly. RT: 笑傲此生無厭倦 In this life, I wish only to smile without weariness. JT: 藤樹兩纏綿 We are but two wild things clinging to each other.

JT: 應知愛意是流水 You ought to know that love is meant to flow like water. RT: 天蒼蒼 野茫茫 The sky is so blue, so vast and wild. JT: 斬不斷理還亂 Reason cannot stem what's meant to be free. RT: 萬般變化 The world has always changed around us. Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness.

Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness.

Translation notes:

(1) A more literal translation is, "come with me to Heaven's side," or "the edge of the sky."

(2) A more literal translation is, "why should/must we fear the snows?" I thought it sounded better as a two-part statement, when placed in relation to the two-parters above.

(3) This and (5) are one of those cases where I interpret as I translate. A literal translation of this line is, "trees and vines are all intertwined." But I chose to translate it in a way that would best match (5), as I think this metaphor is ultimately about their love, and the tension between their commitment to good and their desire to be free.

(4) A more literal translation is, "I'll bend my bow to shoot a condor." This just sounds a bit clunky--also, the "condor" in the title of LCH is disputed, given how condors aren't native to China. Although "condor" is most commonly used, a more accurate translation might be "eagle."

(5) To reference back to (3): this line translates more literally to, "two vines/trees are intertwined." However, 纏綿 also bears connotations of emotional attachment and commitment. Given this line's weight as the end of this stanza, I'm almost positive it's about Guo Jing's and Huang Rong's commitment to each other as two people who aren't/don't wish to be bound by traditional norms of gender, legacy, or patriotism. I therefore chose to give myself more creative liberty, both with "wild things," and with "clinging to each other."

(6) A more literal translation would be, "reason tries ceaselessly to cut, but still chaos remains." Given the earlier reference to flowing/free water, I thought that the object of reason's cutting would be love--fitting, as almost everyone around Guo Jing tries to dissuade him from loving Huang Rong, mainly by appealing to reason (she's not a good fit for his mission; she'll probably betray him and the country; her bloodline's bad). I think it very beautiful that chaos, love, and water are connected throughout this stanza: that the unreasonableness/irrationality of love isn't a bad thing at all.

(7) Others have translated this line to, "I have faced trials and tribulations," which sounds better in English. However, the individual characters of 身經百劫 refer to, 身 "body," 經 "endurance/scripture/holiness/tradition," and 劫 "sufferings/disasters." 劫 also has connotations of being taken by force, implying how a body that has been committed to enduring and upholding traditions/legacies is left with little agency. The use of 百 "hundred(s)" in this phrase also refers to the multitude and duration of these things--I therefore translated the line to include "know," a verb that implies a process of learning (quite literal, when it comes to the martial arts) and the duration of said process.

(8) 恩 "gratitude"/"loyalty" and 義 "righteousness"/"commitment to good" are both concepts Guo Jing is praised for, and are commonly found in Chinese classics as standards for good children. As much as Huang Rong helps Guo Jing grow away from the immense expectations of revenge/patriotism, I still think his arc is about finding what these things mean to him--whether that is refusing to kill (it's Huang Rong who kills Yang Kang, Guo Jing's fated enemy), or throwing caution to the wind to care for Huang Rong and those close to him. I therefore chose "goodness" as a more general term--one that doesn't carry the connotations of parental/generational/cultural expectation, but is still very Guo Jing.

In general, I think this translation is less faithful than my others--mainly because I feel so strongly about the love between Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and will therefore take as many creative liberties as possible for others to understand why.

[boomstyle]

Sonic OC Part 1 Gu Jian the Mandarin Duck

Gu Jian the Mandarin Duck was a young adult former Master Huang's student and tutor who specalized in kung fu and cooking. She come from a happily married family who owned dumpling soup restaurant known for their delicious xiao long bao (soup dumpling). She was raised in Dumpling city where dumpling was popularized in Chunnan. Her parents recognized her talent for martial arts and culinary abilities from a young age and sent her to Tao Hua Island to study under the guidance of a renowned Shifu when she was 11 years old. Her upbringing at the dumpling restaurant and exposure to the beauty of nature during her outdoor adventures has shaped her personality and aspirations.

Gu Jian the Mandarin Duck is a confident and ambitious character, with a natural talent for martial arts and culinary arts. She is determined to become a master in both fields and sees no reason why she can't excel in both. She is also known for her quick wit and resourcefulness, often coming up with creative solutions to problems.

In battle, Gu Jian is a formidable opponent, utilizing her agility and speed to her advantage. She is particularly skilled in acrobatics and evasion, allowing her to avoid attacks and strike back with precision. Gu Jian also uses her culinary skills to surprise her opponents, incorporating ingredients and utensils into her fighting style. She is not afraid to take risks and is always looking for ways to improve her skills.

Outside of battle, Gu Jian is a friendly and outgoing character. She enjoys socializing and making new friends, and is always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. She is also passionate about her culinary creations and enjoys sharing her dishes with others. Gu Jian is confident in her abilities but is not arrogant, and is always willing to learn from others.

Overall, Gu Jian is a dynamic and multi-talented character, with a strong sense of determination and a friendly personality.

Her main weapon is chopstick and bowl. She could use weapon but she found it more comforatle using kitchen utensil as it's more convinient for her as kung fu chef.chopstick to create precise attack and bowl for defence and supriae attack.

However, her stubborness and impatience can get the best of her. She had tendency to rush into situations without fully analyzing them, which could lead to her making mistakes or getting into dangerous situations.

Furthermore, she had a knack for social skills despite her outgoing and friendly demeanour. She may started out socializing normally but when it come to keeping a relationship, maintaining long term conversation, presentation and joining griup activities, her social awkwardness get the best of her. This affect her ability to connect with her younger students as a tutor. In fact, she was made fun of by her classmates from both from the older, younger and same class year when she was younger. However, her social skills had sligthly improved thanks to Shifu's help, Perci the Bandicoot and the Five fist.

[add1ctedt0you]

Insane over shifu-disciple relationships

[chouxtranslations]

Shizun - 007 - Divine sand inquiry

The two taoists were so shocked by the massive amount of divine energy that was granted to them, they didn’t quite know how to control it.

The idol exploded and the sealed spirit burst out. It tore through the flag with all of its strength and desperately rushed to escape.

Lu Yunzhen saw that ball like dark shadow come towards him. He didn’t know what to do, reached out without thinking, and managed to catch it.

The black shadow seems to be some kind of snake or frog spirit. It kept squirming in his palm and felt quite gross.

Lu Yunzhen was frozen in fear and filled with regret. He wanted to throw it off but was too scared to. He held out the spirit at Mo Changkong, not knowing if he should should it away or put it back.

He also didn’t know what to say.

Mo Changkong show that he understood by taking the spirit. He squeezed it in his palm, then threw it in his mouth and swallowed it cleanly.

“...”

The two Taoists held the sword, did some calculations, then ran over. Seeing the two who looked like they knew something, one decided to tentatively ask, “sir, did you see anything?”

Lu Yunzhen tugged at Mo Changkong’s sleeve curiously, trying to get him to hurry up and spit the spirit out.

This is someone else’s evil spirit! Not ours!

It was normal for monsters to consume each other in order to increase their powers. Mo Changkong thought this pathetic little spirit was worthless, but it was a gift from Shizun! How could he not eat it?

And now that he’s swallowed it he can’t spit it out anymore.

Lu Yunzhen felt a lot of guilt looking at these two Taoists. He was a stem major for twenty years and knew nothing about the supernatural. He only learned about this world last night, he didn’t know the rules, he didn’t know that he couldn’t seize someone else’s target...

Poor people couldn’t afford to pay back a spirit that cost vintage liquor.

Lu Yunzhen asked carefully, “How were you going to take care of this spirit?”

The older Toist was named Luo Fu. He has been cultivating for many years and is relatively steadfast. The younger one is named Huang Ming. He was blessed with talent and learned divine summons after studying for less than two years. He’s the hope of the generation at Baimao sect and has been pampered by his shifus and shixiongs. He also has a more upbeat personality.

Seeing that Lu Yunzhen was around the same age and could also spirits, Huang Ming concluded that he must be someone in the same business and relaxed. He admitted, “Of course we’re going to take him back and let Shifu take care of it.”

Lu Yunzhen asked again, “And what if you couldn’t?”

Ming Huang smiled wryly, “If a spirit of this level escaped... Shifu is going to kill us.”

They seemed relaxed but was really rather tense. It was worrying to think of the spirit running amok and hurting innocents.

Cultivators care a lot about karma. Every action has its consequences. And the crimes of a spirit that they released will partially be counted against them and affect their cultivation.

Since their patriarch answered their prayers and bestowed power on them, it was clear that this was an important matter. Perhaps it was because it was foretold that this spirit was catastrophic and this was meant to help them to defeat the spirit and restore the righteous way.

The patriarch must be disappointed.

The more he thought about it, the more afraid Huang Ming became. He didn’t have the temperament of his Shixiong and couldn’t hide his worries. Even though he was smiling his forehead was covered in a cold sweat. He started once more, “My colleague, let’s end the chitchat and tell me which direction the spirit went.”

Lu Yunzheng hesitated. The fact that Mo Changkong ate an evil spirit... seemed to be abnormal no matter how he looked at it. If he told the truth and his supernatural status was revealed, it was unclear what these cultivators would do to him...

That’s too dangerous.

He couldn’t sell out Mo Changkong. After thinking about it he decided to take the blame and gaslight them.

 Lu Yunzhen had worked as a summer part timer on film sets before. He spent two weeks as an extra. For his serious effort he had garnered the praise of the director and an extra chicken thigh. Now, he pretended to be one of the actors in the xianxia dramas, and laughed breezily, “my friend, you need not seek it any longer.”

Huang Ming was stunned for a moment and couldn’t quite connect the dots.

Luo Fu asked calmly, “what do you mean?”

“I am acquainted with Xuanyuan Zhenjin. It was quite a coincidence that I came across this today.” Lu Yunzhen said nonchalantly. “That insignificant spirit had broken its shackles. I foresaw that it would create issues and and exorcised it as it was convenient. It has now been scattered and you will find it no longer.”

Mansplain. Manipulate.

Mo Changkong had said that Xuanyuan Zhenjun was friends with him. Regardless of the truth of the situation he’ll lie first and find out later. Since he’s of such a high position and outside the mortal realm there’s no way he’ll come to pick a fight with a measly little human.

Huang Ming was furious. The patriarch of the Baimao sect had ascended thousands of years ago. This guy who looks around twenty dares to say that he knows the patriarch?

That evil spirit had been cultivating for centuries and was about to gain a corporeal form. It was amazingly strong and the two of them couldn’t possibly vanquish it. That’s why they were going to seal it and take it back to Shifu.

There had only been half a minute since the spirit escaped.

Even his Shifu, who had cultivated for fifty years and is of immense strength, would not dare to brag that he could exorcise such a spirit in half a minute!

Huang Ming resisted the urge to chew the man out with the patience of a cultivator and replied sarcastically, “kid, that’s quite impressive. You must be powerful enough to reach the heaven?”

Lu Yunzhen smiled but didn’t reply.

Luo Fu is quite a bit older than his shidi. He was more experienced and more reflective. The act of a cultivator meeting a god and receiving opportunities is rare but not unheard of.

And the spirit really was gone.

Lu Yunzhen seemed like a normal boy, but the silent man in black next to him was not normal in the least. Even though his appearance and atmosphere were amazing, he had controlled it to the extreme. It was as if he was a rock and there was no aura to him at all.

Heavy swords are often edgeless, while true craftsmanship is not manifested through delicate touches.

Through his observations, Luo Fu realized that the man in black has already physically cultivated to perfection. Such a man has never been seen in the xuanxue world before...

He felt fear in his heart and bowed to Mo Changkong. Politely, he asked, “And who is this friend?”

Mo Changkong was unruly and never cared for anyone other than his Shizun. Since Shizun didn’t ask him to speak he had no intention of being bothered by a little cultivator. Instead he performed a disciple’s bow at Luo Yunzhen to indicate his role.

Lu Yunzhen smile again, “my disciple isn’t good with words.”

In the Xuanxue world, the positions of master and disciple isn’t something to joke about.

Luo Fu became even more shocked. He suspected that Lu Yunzheng is actually some powerful being in disguise, who had hidden away his powers and is pretending to be mortal in the city.

Huang Ming didn’t notice that his shixiong’s face is now a different color and kept up with his taunts. “Hah. And how are you going to prove that you know our patriarch?”

Lu Yunzhen waved his hands, “You can go ask him.”

Huang Ming almost choked to death.

Lu Yunzhen felt bad that he might get punished once they went back to the sect, and asked. “Do you need me to give you another spirit as an apology?”

Even though he doesn’t have money, he could always go around the city with Mo Changkong and a shovel over the weekend. Haiping city was so big, there must be another evil spirit or two around, right?

Huang Ming gritted his teeth, “that won’t be necessary”.

He suspected that this guy was mocking the two of them. How awful!

Lu Yunzheng let out a sigh of relief when he realized he wouldn’t need to pay anything. He smiled, turned around dashingly, and slowly walked away. As soon as he turned the corner he immediately shifted expressions, dragged Mo Changkong into a job, and left the scene of the gaslighting as soon as he could to not give it away.

Once they were safe, he said smugly, “Well then, if they could they can go ask that plaque of theirs and see if their patriarch answers.”

Mo Changkong replied, “He will. They can perform a divine sand inquiry.”

Lu Yunzhen really was stunned....

After quite a while, he asked carefully, “I didn’t reveal my name, did I?”

“No.” Mo Changkong confirmed.

Lu Yunzhen went back to being relieved, “Well that’s good then.”

His hide is safe.

The district is quite large. Even if the Taoists had realized they were lied to, they probably wouldn’t be able to find him.

And even if they found him, he could... provide an apology and reparations...

Lu Yunzhen thought things through as he took Mo Changkong hime, then dragged him to the sink in the yard. His hands were washed seven or eight times, and his teeth were brushed three times.

He scolded, “Next time don’t eat random things, evil spirits are dirty!”

“Yes.”

“Does your stomach hurt? Do you need stomach medicine?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

...

The two Taists remained in the spot for quite some time.

Mr. Wang from the development company got terrified the moment the idol exploded and took his workers to hide for a long time in the building. After te coast was clear, he carefully poked his head out. When he saw that the two masters were standing there seriously, he was worried that the worst had happened and that the entire investment was going to go down the drain. He was seized by bitterness and almost shed tears.

He walked out and asked with hope, “Sir, is there still a chance?”

Huang Ming lifted his head, “Shixiong, do you really believe that kid?”

Luo Fu replied decisively, “Divine sand inquiry for the patriarch!”

The two of them got Mr Wang to retrieve the tray of sand and tools, then set up in an empty spot. They asked first where the spirit went and second who the two strangers were.

The patriarch answered the former rather quickly, saying that the spirit was exorcised.

The second question was when the patriarch started behaving strangely. The two almost couldn’t hold on to the madness within the sieve. The patriarch kept writing divine words at a dizzying speed.

Divine writing was rather complicated and difficult to decipher.

In normal divinations, the gods would provide very simply answers. The two cultivators had never seen so many words. New lines would appear before they had finished the previous sentence, and they were about to cry from the stress.

Luckily the patriarch realized that his disciples were useless and summarized the important points, allowing Luo Fu to finally understand the situation.

The patriarch has ordered everyone in the Baibao sect, including the old sect leader in his eighties, to perform a bow for respected elders at that young man. There must be no delay, no questions, and no disobedience.

The Baimao sect was established to rely on divine favour. Every word that comes from their god was worth its weight in gold.

Luo Fu and Huang Ming didn’t dare to question things any further. The two knelt and kowtowed thrice, then immediately prepared to go home and inform the sect leader of the new sect rule. Then they would investigate who that young man was and apologize with kneeling and offerings.

Seeing that the two were about to leave, Mr Wang rushed up to ask about his worried.

Luo Fu smiled, “the spirit has been exorcised, you can start work now.”

Mr Wang was delighted and handed over a prepared bank card with a flurry of gratitude. “Thank you ever so much for saving us, please accept this small gift as a token of my appreciation.”

The card was pre-loaded with a million yuan. The password was 888888.

“There must be no reward for no work.” Luo Fu rejected the card with a wave of his hand. “The spirit was not removed by us but by another master. Please take this back.”

Mr Wang was shocked and asked hesitantly, “Sirs... where did that other master go? I would like to give him the reward money.”

Luo Fu thought of Lu Yunzhen’s grace. He had a passion for justice, exorcised evil, helped the people. When he was done he left with a shake of his sleeve without asking a thing and without a trace of the red dust on him. How divine.

He was ashamed of his own behaviour and replied, “The master cares not for material wealth and left long ago. You should donate this to a good charity and gather good karma.”

Mr Wang was immediately awed and agreed. He was only disappointed that he was too much of a coward to have seen the master before the man left.

Luo Fu took his shidi, said his farewells, and immediately took a flight back to Maibao sect. The sect leader was shocked at the report and immediately tried to divine the young man’s name.

The patriarch responded that the young man bears divine secrets and could not reveal his true name. But emphasized again that the man must be respected, and that everyone must take care not to be a miser in front of him, lest the entire sect becomes misers!

In the coming days, the patriarch was much more generous with providing power. Everyone in the sect benefited quite a bit and made leaps and bounds with their cultivation.

They were all curious as to who the young man was.

The younger disciples were more quick minded and immediately went to the cultivation forums. They made a new thread titled “Shocking appearance of immortal bossman in Haiping City, his real identity is...”

Baimao sect was a rather small sect, but the disciple was a good writer and often wrote dog blood novels. He narrated the events brilliantly and with great suspense, ending the post with a question about who the man was.

Everyone joined in the speculations and it quickly became a hot topic.

...

Lu-Immortal bossman-Yunzhen thought the weather was getting quite chilly. He sneezed a few times in a row and rubbed his nose.

He bought a few more changes of clothes for Mo Changkong then went on a second hand site to get a fold out bed. His wallet was getting rather flat and he was preparing to get another part time job.

So poor...

[tavina-writes]

Just there to say, loch 2017 fight scenes are the best thing ever!! I like them SO MUCH. so, I am wondering, very foolishly, how is jin yong writing style? Does he write great combat scenes?

Also, I am insane over how everyone can teach everyone?? I remembered in mdzs a part where it is stated that people can't learn different cultivation styles, or their cultivation will be compromised. It's an interesting world building. Like, loch world building is quite different from mdzs. It's such a great drama!

omg I am SO GLAD you're also hyped up on the fight scenes. The fight scenes in LOCH 2017 are spectacular and SHOULD be hyped. Everyone has very distinct and VERY cool fighting and I adore it.

On to Jin Yong's writing style and combat scenes, I think this depends a number of factors, but I really love Jin Yong's writing. It's a bit difficult to get across in translation, but there are some REALLY great imagery and poetry in his work and honestly it's a crying shame the translation has a hard time getting this across. I think the best way I can describe it is that it's evocative? Sweeping?

For example:

Though the two’s laughter had gone, their faces still carried a smile, the valleys quietly echoed back the sounds of two people laughing. Northern Beggar and Western Poison have been adversaries for many years, they hated each other, how could it be that they ended up dead together on Mount Hua. The two of them were enemies when they were alive, just before they died they were hugging each other, laughing. All the feuds and arguments that they have had over the years were finished over a laugh! - Return of the Condor Heroes, Chapter 11: A Pause From Roaming

or:

Tuolei gazed at Guo Jing's back, which became smaller and smaller. Like a dark shadow on the vastness of the desert, [he] finally disappeared on the southern horizon. - Legend of the Condor Heroes, Chapter 38: Secret Order in the Embroidered Pouch

As for the fight scenes themselves, I think they're often really dynamic and fun to read about (though the narrator LOVES digressions into historical stuff surrounding the fight scenes; I could talk about the LOCH narrator all day but I'll contain myself since this post will be REALLY LONG regardless) and they're very detailed, but they do kind of rely on the reader having some genre knowledge -- what certain acupuncture points are/where they are/strong visualization abilities to figure out where everyone is/etc.

On to your second paragraph of thoughts: actually! Well, okay so I think there's a slight difference between being a cultivator and like, being a LOCH style martial artist. This is fermenting in my documents somewhere re: society related meta but typically in cultivator novels, cultivation (of Qi, internal energy, etc) is separated from the martial arts bit (which weapon you fight with, palms, fist, sword etc). MDZS is a bit complex in that it doesn't really uh, distinguish between these two things and also doesn't really care much about say, "this sect has these specific specialties and moves" etc.

But basically: the way you cultivate your qi in these sorts of novels is typically sect specific and very secretive and incompatible with how other people in other sects cultivate their qi and this is actually no different in LOCH! But for like, external martial arts -- how you punch and swing a sword or be able to do x or y -- that tends to be transferable between people of different sects and you even have characters who are easily capable of imitating what they see from other sects/reverse engineering how a character can do x move or y move. (Huang Rong in the book is a great example of this!) Specific moves are also very heavily specialized to specific sects (the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms are a Beggar Clan specialty, etc) -- so people in Jin Yong universes are able to recognize each other's sects and maybe even specific shifu(!) by the types of moves they use if they're seasoned jianghu travelers. Which. Also can't happen in MDZS bc MDZS doesn't really care about this sort of thing.

What's happening to say, Guo Jing in LOCH regarding so many people being able to teach him stuff, is that:

His qi/internal energy basis is from the Quanzhen Sect which is Taoist and the most orthodox sect in the martial world, which means he's got a very mainstream and well established internal energy basis and can very easily incorporate anything that is Taoist philosophy related regarding how to cultivate qi. (The 9 Yin Manual was developed by a government minister who read too many Taoist Philosophy Manuals, Zhou Botong, while not a Taoist Priest has long been affiliated with Quanzhen and his own qi cultivation philosophy also aligns with orthodox Taoist cultivation practices etc).

A lot of the moves that people are teaching other people in this story are external martial arts moves. How to punch, how to use this particular weapon, etc. Most of this is not strictly, in Jin Yong philosophy, linked to your internal qi cultivation. These are therefore, easily transferable.

We actually get an example of what happens when you try to cultivate qi via a way that isn't compatible with how you know how to cultivate! When Mei Chaofeng and Guo Jing meet at the cave in Zhao Palace early on in the story, she's actually suffering from a qi deviation that blocked her ability to use her legs because her qi cultivation basis is an unorthodox method based on Peach Blossom Island's personal philosophy, and she'd been trying to work out instructions on how to cultivate qi in the 9 Yin Manual which was Taoist philosophy based and actually heavily injured herself while doing it! Which is why she can't walk or use her legs.

This is all explained in the novel by our helpful narrator friend who is the most bonkers of all the narrators I've ever met. Narrator friend will tell you all #TrueFacts but they WILL drop some out of the 17th story window and never ever come back to address this ever again bc narrator friend doesn't care and refuses to explain themselves if they don't want to. If narrator friend told you it's 100% factually true, but. At What Cost. (Imagine if you will, you're being told a very long and rambling story by a friend who, if you ask them to expand on a certain thing will sometimes go "oh we don't have time for that! MOVING ON THOUGH, let me tell you about the politics of late stage Song Dynasty China, you want to know that right?????")

:D Thanks for the ask Mar! I'm glad you're having a good time with LOCH 2017.

[chicademartinica]

Shifu @absolutebl I was practicing my Mandarin watching Chinese variety shows and I almost had an aneurysm because I had to watch Johnny Huang and Gong Jun laugh and say “we are all in the same family” because Huang Xiaoming asked what 0/1 (seme/uke) meant. On TV. Wearing very sexy suits. In no BL here China.

[the-mothmaam]

On Kung-Fu, Pandas, and Geriatric Tortoises.

I am writing this here in lieu of the comments on YouTube because I am making an effort to leave more unsaid. However, after typing this response and sitting with it before deletion I realized this is a subject I am passionate about. It should be no surprise that a fusion of Taoism, Jack Black, and Animation would illicit such a response from me.

---

As a practitioner of the Tao and someone who respect the lore on which must of this mythos is based I had a few thoughts while watching this. Oogway is far from perfect. And that fact actually shows exactly the lesson he attempted to impart in all his students.1) The final test for Tai Lung was how he would handle finding out he was not the Dragon Warrior. Oogway was merely initiating the final test. Had Tai Lung accepted the judgement in peace and found balance in knowing he was special without the title, ironically would have made him a real candidate for the fake label. Accepting that we will not always be accepted was the final test. And you can't just tell someone that's the test, it would defeat the whole purpose. They must know their own self worth without being told to become whole. 2) Blaming the actions of others on the deeds of just one man fails to hold each and every one of them accountable for their own actions. We can not know what they would have done should Oogway have not propagated the legend of the Dragon Warrior. One must be willing to accept their own faults before they can overcome them.

3) I may be wrong and assuming too much but it seems as if Feng Huang's betrayal was written to reflect the legend of Bak Mei and the splintering of the original Shaolin Monastery when Pride rose above Prosperity the mind of a single student. The story is very akin to the fall of Anakin Skywalker as well. Oogway did the only thing in his power to control that darkness and prevent it from infecting others. Was it flawed? Yes, probably so. I do not know that he had a better alternative though. Feng Huang was already of the opinion that she was stronger. A plea to her humility would only have fallen on deaf ears.

4) Ding... okay you got me there. Perhaps Oogway did what he thought was best by allowing others who understood Ding's power to train him. Maybe not, we can't just ask the turtle dude. But the prodigal son that is sent away to learn and then return - but then does so with contempt and malice in his heart is an ancient trope that is based on just how easily some people can become slighted. Same with Taotie. Oogway chose to measure the success to a fish by it's ability to climb a tree. He was wrong.

5) As far as Legacy goes. You are right. His students are flawed. But Oogway did not foster that flawed nature in them. We all come flawed from the start. And it is not the responsibility of our teachers to iron these imperfections out of us. Instead it is their job to hold a mirror up to us and provoke within us the desire to better ourselves. Shifu did not learn this lesson until too late to help the ones he loved most. Generational trauma is not the fault of the people who pass it on to us, because they in turn suffered long before we came into the picture. All that we can do is to draw a line in the sand and say, "No more." We can break the cycle. But blame and pointing fingers does not break a cycle, it perpetuated it. We must rise above and learn forgiveness before we can put an end the trauma. Because it's trauma all the way down, and it always has been, and it always will be until we choose to end it.

The take away is that the lessons of the Dragon Warrior are a life-long commitment. Not simply a lesson to be taught by a geriatric turtle.