#ying chong

[wangsejabin]

Chapter 64

Su Fengyi was pregnant!

With twins no less!

The Crown Prince brought back two cooks from Jiangnan because Su Fengyi is from Yangzhou and likes Huaiyang cuisine!

Since her return, Su Fengyi has not gone to the Hall of Virtue to pay her respects even once!

Naturally, no one dares to say such things to people's faces, but how many of those who can stay in the palace are fools, everyone has eyes clear as water, who couldn't see that much.

On the day Su Fengyi returned, it took the servants a whole afternoon to help carry in the chests. It was said that the chests were so heavy that two people couldn't lift it, so four people were needed.

Many people wanted to get through to him to serve Su Fengyi, because it was clear that when Su Fengyi finished giving birth, the young master would need someone to serve beside him. This is a path to heaven. When the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne, the young master will be a prince at worst when he grows up, and if he can serve by his side from a young age, he will be a great eunuch of the royal family.

The young master might even be lucky enough to go further, and the thought of it made people shiver with excitement. In the Hall of Virtue, the morale that had been lifted with much difficulty was shattered again. The Prince Consort went through anger, panic, anger again, and then numbness. No, to put it bluntly, it was still panic that prevailed.

If we say that before the discovery of Liu Chenghui's incident, the Crown Princess still had a trace of the Prince's goodwill, but since that incident, the Prince has not given her the same face as before. She was busy raising her baby, and then the Crown Prince went on a tour of the south, giving a period of reprieve to the relationship between the two.

With the birth of Duo, she sent many letters to the Prince out of apprehension, in which the couple talked about the child and seemed to be back to their old ways. She thought that it had passed, but turns out it actually hadn't passed at all, but had gotten worse.

From that evening when the Crown Prince only sat in the Hall of Virtue and then went to Su Fengyi's, the Crown Princess sensed it. She thought it was because she had given Su Fengyi a hard time outside the gates of the Eastern Palace earlier and the Crown Prince was displeased with her that she had done so.

She even regretted that she had not been able to keep her composure and had planned to bow down to the Crown Prince tomorrow and talk about Duo'er's affairs, so that she might be able to ease up. But when she met the Prince, he told her that Su Fengyi was too pregnant and that she should be excused from paying her respects.

After that, one case after another, even if it was a small matter, the Prince Consort's heart ached like a sore spot. Sister Chen had not allowed anyone to report it, but she ordered them to do so. Then as she listened, she calmed down. This could not go on. The Crown Princess said to herself that if she went on like this, she would lose, and while it didn't matter if she lost, what about the Second Princess and Duo'er? While she was thinking about this, the Crown Princess was in the Grand Duke's room.

The Second Princess was very fond of her brother and visited him every day. In the year since the Prince left, the Crown Princess had been busy with her son's affairs, but she had not forgotten the Second Princess. Knowing that the Prince does not like her treating the Second Princess too delicately, she had to harden her heart and forced the child to walk and learn the rules.

Now the Second Princess was learning to walk in the same way that the First Princess did when she was less than four years old. In fact, if you look at it seriously, you will understand why the Prince liked the First Princess, but was indifferent to the Second Princess.

One has to go through some trials to see oneself more clearly, and the Crown Princess feels that she is going through them right now.

That's why she was calm as never before. Sister Chen and the others were afraid that she would do something again in a moment of confusion, but she was calm and collected. So when she heard that the Empress had summoned Su Fengyi to Kunning Palace to speak, she did not get angry, but ordered that few more servants to wait on her, so that nothing would happen.

Sister Chen was surprised, the Crown Princess looked fine, but smiled bitterly in her heart.

--

Pan'er was carried in a soft sedan chair all the way to Kunning Palace.

In her previous life, she had ridden in the Forbidden City on a palanquin and even in Emperor Jianping's dragon carriage, but this time she was a bit frightened to ride in such a sedan chair. It was not only the Empress who wanted to see her, but also the Crown Princess.

She was surprised that the Crown Princess was not angry, but even ordered to bring more people with her so that there would not be any problems on the way. To be honest, Pan'er was surprised, but more than that, she was subconsciously defensive. Okay, she was a bit of a villain, but perversity is a demon. Not only did she bring along Xiang Pu and Qing Dai, but she also brought along Bai Jue and Xiao Dezi.

If there were more people in the courtyard, she wouldn't have minded bringing a few more of her own, but unfortunately, there were only a few people under her, so she was already out in full force. The journey was quiet, nothing happened and they arrived at Kunning Palace.

Nianci was waiting outside with her people, and when Pan'er got off the sedan chair, she was busy welcoming her.

Not that Pan'er, a little Fengyi, was usually worthy of her attention, but Pan'er's belly was so big that even Nianci was a little surprised at first sight. It was a blessing that the Empress had summoned Su Fengyi to speak, but it must not turn out to be a bad thing. Empress Fu included, and when Pan'er entered, she was surprised and hurriedly ordered someone to give her a seat.

"This palace knows that you are pregnant with twins, but did not expect your belly to be so big? What did the Imperial Doctor say, is this safe?"

"Your Majesty thinks that my belly is big because this one is thin. Ever since the doctor diagnosed the twin pregnancy, this one has not dared to eat too much, and the doctor said that the baby should not be too big, otherwise it would be easy to risk premature delivery."

"So that's how it is."

When Empress Fu was still a bit worried, Nianci smiled and said, "Your Majesty, since the doctor said it, it must be correct. Although the doctor said that there is a high chance of premature birth, there are so many doctors in the palace, Su Fengyi will be able to give birth to your grandson safely."

Empress Fu nodded and looked at Pan'er and said, "I don't want anything else now, I just want you to give birth to your child safely and raise a healthy grandson. At this time of the year, you are still pregnant with twins, so I should not have called you here, but I would have worried if I would not have been able to see you. Now that this palace has seen that you are well, this palace is much more relieved. Since the doctor does not allow you to eat much, then eat something that suits your taste."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I will not restrain myself." Pan'er said respectfully.

Empress Fu was pleased with her attitude: "I have previously thought that you are a well-behaved and understanding woman, and the Crown Prince has also told me that you are an intelligent woman, so I will make an exception, if you can help the Crown Prince give birth to a healthy grandson this time, I will personally give you the title of Liangdi."

This time Pan'er could not contain herself and looked up at Empress Fu in surprise. She had thought that when the child was born, the Crown Prince might promote her, but she had never thought that the matter would be brought up by Empress Fu, or that it would be the position of Liangdi.

She knew that the Crown Prince could only appoint two liangdi, and since the Crown Prince had no rank of cefei, so liangdi was considered a side consort. The so-called three wives and four concubines did not only refer to men having many wives and concubines, but was a long-established practice in ancient rites.

For example, in the Han dynasty, it is recorded that in addition to the main wife, men also had a partial wife and a concubine, and in the Northern History, it is written that in ancient times, nobles married nine women, and soldiers had one wife and two concubines. The ancient rites have changed from polygamy to monogamy and concubinage, meaning that a husband could only have one wife and the others were all concubines.

But there were always exceptions to this rule, so where else would the side concubines and ordinary concubines have come from, and the two-headedness of some merchant families was just a gimmick that some people created to distinguish the higher status women from their concubines, which was not recognised by the court law itself, but was recognised by society.

Pan'er did not look deeper into these matters, she only knew that if she could become a Liangdi, she would be able to go on the Jade Tablet.

Yes, although there were many concubines in the Eastern Palace, only Fei and Liangdi had official positions. They were allowed to be listed on the Jade Tablet, even though they were only listed as a concubine, but if they had an heir, the name of the heir would be listed under their name. For the others, unless they had given birth to a child of merit, a small entry was made under the name of the child born to a certain family. It may seem like a single entry, but in fact it is very significant.

In the palace, it was always said that 'the mother was honoured by the son' and 'the son was honoured by the mother', both seemingly similar, but in fact having very different meanings. To use the simplest analogy, can a child born of a third-rank consort be compared to a child born of a fifth rank noble lady? Even if a noble lady has been promoted to a higher rank because of her meritorious childbirth, she is still two steps down from her counterpart.

Empress Fu's words were clearly a promise that Pan'er would be given the position of a Liangdi first, as it would take a year or even a few years for a royal child to be listed on the Jade Tablet. This had to do with the fact that children were prone to die early, so we will not go into details here. All these thoughts happened in a flash of lightning and immediately Pan'er was duly surprised and made to kneel down to thank her. Empress Fu stopped her.

"All right, you don't need to be polite, you should keep what this palace has said in your heart, and don't spread it around, this palace is waiting for you to establish a merit for the Eastern Palace." Empress Fu had always been self-controlled in front of people, to be able to say these words was proof that those gossips about the prince's eldest son's weakness were not without impact on the middle palace family, but probably had a great impact, which was why Empress Fu had lost her composure today.

Pan'er's eyes were half-lidded in silent thought, but her face only nodded in response, after which Empress Fu ordered someone to send her out of Kunning Palace without mentioning it. After Pan'er was sent away, Nianqiu, who had not said anything, said with some concern, "Your Majesty has made such a promise to her, if she is an unstable person, I am afraid that something will happen again."

Empress Fu said, "Do you also think that this palace was rushed? But, indeed, I am in a hurry. Those two hussies have ordered people to spread the word that the crown prince's eldest son is weak, and that the crown prince is over twenty-five years old, but his heirs are very meagre, and they have even implicated the crown prince's infirmity at an early age, saying that this infirmity may have taken root."

"Now there are even ignorant ministers in the court, saying that for the sake of the country, the crown prince's matter should be discussed separately." She slapped the armrest angrily, and the more she said, the heavier her face became: "If Chen isn't smart enough to understand the importance of this situation, I don't care if she wants to blame me, as my daughter-in-law has been blaming me for a lot anyway. She knows how much she has sinned, and if it wasn't for her, how could the Prince's heirs be so few and far between? I am already giving her face by allowing her to continue to sit in the position of Crown Princess." Empress Fu had already said this, so naturally Nian Qiu could not say more.

To put it bluntly, as Empress Fu's confidant palace maid, she was not without grievances towards the Crown Princess. Although this had something to do with the Grand Duke's frailty, since he had survived the hundredth day, he was not as serious as outsiders might think. It is true that he is weak, but not so weak as to be unbearable, but the Prince Consort takes the child too seriously.

Of course, this is true. But Empress Fu has implicitly and explicitly hinted to the Crown Princess to bring the child to herself, but the Crown Princess just ignored it. But at the very least, it showed one thing: she doesn't take Empress Fu seriously. When Empress Fu was unable to see her grandson, she had no choice but to go there herself.

The Crown Princess also seems to be complaining and has not come to Kunning Palace to pay her respects for a long time. The reason for this is to take care of the eldest son, but who knows why.

The world is full of people who are unscrupulous because others are good-tempered, so they have to let her suffer a loss before she can be sensible. This is Nianci's original words, Nianqiu actually feel quite reasonable at this time.

[xiaozhan-appreciation]

THE LONGEST PROMISE | Chong Ming taking care of Shi Ying

[tokumusume]

[ginsoakedgirl80]

two demonic cherubs on a cloud

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan - yuguyao weibo update ; behind the scenes

时影@X九少年团肖战DAYTOY朱颜@actor仁敏重明@李明德has a perfect understanding of the play, constant laughter, and the relaxed atmosphere overflows the screen, Ah Yao seemed to be there too.

[zhansww]

[thecarelessvoice]

Back here after a loooooong time.

Watched the longest promise, had multiple break downs. SY is gorgeous, fuck we don't deserve his elegance. Also ZY is such a good character and their chemistry and story was *chef's kiss.

Saw an edit on twitter of SY and WY being twins. Had another break down. Came up with this disastrous and silly AU. (A mix of cql and mdzs novel) (Feel free to use it 😁)

When Baoshan Sanren took little Shi Liu to her mountain, she gave her the courtesy name Cangse and officially dubbed her as her disciple.

Years later Cangse Sanren gave birth to a twin, Shi Ying was born first, easily getting calm when put into changze's arms, named after her mother's maiden name. Then a minute later came wei ying, hollering and bawling his eyes out. Named after his father. It took a while for him to calm down in cangse's arms.

When changze asked her why the character for wei ying's first name was different than shi ying's she laughed and said he was the youngest, so of course he is my "baby".

They had four happy years together until fate decided to take away the twins parents from them.

The twins waited a year in the streets of yilling, starved homeless but having each other as company. Until one day shi ying went to find food for them but didn't return.

The rest of the story happened the same.

In the battle of nightless city wei ying jumped off the cliff ready to die, but then later he opened his eyes staring at his face looking back at him.

Later Shi ying told him that when he went to get food for them all those years ago, dogs attacked him and he was injured badly, when he finally gained his consciousness, he was told that he was brought in to the mountain by their mothers master baoshan sanren. It took two years for him to convince her to look for wei ying but by the time she went back to yilling wei ying was gone.

Shi ying then swore to become a powerful cultivator like their parents and to help people, he eventually managed to reach immortality and baoshan sanren left him the mountain and ascended to godhood. He got married to another discipline named zhu yan. He told wei ying his wife and had a similar personality to wei ying so they became fast friends :).

I guess then wei ying told him about his life and what he went through and shi ying helped him develop another core and told him he would be by his side if he ever wanted to revenge but wei ying told him there's no reason for him to get back to the cultivation world.

13 years later when a curse appeared on wei ying's arm, the twins, with zhu yan accompanying them, went to mo village together to solve the mystery of the mo manor.

Then lan zhan dealing with the fact that apparently we ying is alive(??) And has a twin brother(??) Who's literally second in power compared to immortal(now a heavenly official/god??) baoshan sanren (also shi ying is so much like him based on his manners that shufu would qi deviate again if he learns cangse sanren had another son), and tries to get along with his brother in law.

[themidnightcircusshow]

I know I put poly ships in everything, but genuinely

Society if the priest, the princess, the merman, and the bird just shagged out their problems

[bellaroles]

Reading about Lu Xu's past incarnation rotting away like this, I'm sad.

[thewhiphandbaby]

Cute picture of Xiao Zhan and fried chicken 😂

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

im giffing the scene with gao xiaolian and gao chong (and shen shen! but this is not abt him!) in ep10, the one were xiaolian pleads her dad to stop sending her with gifts to chengling as part of their arranged betrothal that chengling doesnt want anyway. you can really feel the genuinety behind the love these two have for each other, father and daughter, despite not seeing eye to eye in this matter. xiaolian adores her father and gao chong doesnt seem happy at causing her any hurt, even if he expects his only daughter to carry out her filial duty

[barananduen-blog]

From "The Journey of ChongZi" spinoff movie "重紫之雪仙情"

[nemainofthewater]

Welcome to the 'Best Character with [X] surname' polls!

This is where I take several characters from different Chinese media (mostly cnovels and cdrama) and run a poll on which one is the 'best'. What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

NB: the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often they will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

If you can't find a surname, it's because I couldn't find enough candidates (at least 3 from 3 distinct medias) to compete. Feel free to submit candidates!

I will be posting several polls at a time, so do come back and check this masterpost to remember which polls are ongoing, who the winners are, and who's coming up next!

Finished polls: Xing/Rong/Nan/Ren/Pan/Qu/Fu/Sui/Tan/You/Sima/Xuan/Chang/Xun/Shangguan/Jian/Qian/Shu/Xi/Yuwen/Cai/Sha/Yin/Ceng/Helian/Zeng/Lou/Mi/Ji/Ping/Tong/Tuoba/Ge/Murong/Hei/Niu/Tao/Si/Pang/Zi/Gongsun/Mao/Qing/Lian

Chi/Shan/Tian/Dao/Chao/Xin/Ran/Sang/Cang/Miao/Yao/Zang/Chong/Nangong/Kong/Hai/Deng/Kang/Jun/Chun/Gui/Peng/Gong/Dai/Bao/Bian/Leng/Xian/Kan/Hou/Shao/Kou/Zuo/Lai/Tie/Huan/Min/Xiong/Cen/Dou/Misc

There's only a certain number of hyperlinks that can be added per post, so the rest of the completed polls can now be found here

All the details of the individual polls under the readmore

An - posted 15/03/24 WINNER An Zhe

Bai - posted 28/02/24 WINNER Bai Fengxi

Baili - posted 22/03/24 WINNER Baili Qingmiao

Bao - posted 1/05/24 WINNER Bao Rongxing

Bi - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Bi Changfeng

Bian - posted 1/05/14 WINNER Bian Cheng

Cai - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Cai Quan

Cang - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Cang Jiumin

Cao - posted 8/02/24. WINNER - Cao Weining

Cen - posted 7/05/24 WINNEER Cen Xiao

Ceng - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Ceng Aiyu

Chang - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Chang Geng

Chao - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Chao Zi

Chen - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Chen Qingxu

Cheng - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Cheng Shaoshang

Chi - posted 19/04/24 WINNERS Chi Zhanggui and Chi Xiaochi

Chong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Chong Ming

Chu - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Chu Wanning

Chun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER Chun Shen

Cui - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Madam Cui

Dai - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Dai Mubai

Dao - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Dao Mingsi

Deng - posted 27/04/24 WINNER Deng Kuan

Di - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Di Feisheng

Ding - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Ding Rong

Dong - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Dong Yi

Dongfang - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Dongfang Qingcang

Dou - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Dou Cheng

Du - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Du Cheng

Duan - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Duan Baiyue

Fan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Fan Xian

Fang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Fang Duobing

Fei - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Fei Du

Feng - posted 28/02/24 WINNER 'Other'

Fu - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Fu Yao

Gao - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Gao Xiaolian

Ge - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Ge Chen

Gong - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Gong Yu

Gongsun - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Gongsun Heng

Gu - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Gu Xiang

Guan - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Guan Hemeng

Gui - posted 29/04/24 WINNERS Gui Wen, Gui Yang, Gui Bai and 'Other'

Guo - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Guo Changcheng

Hai - posted 26/04/24 WINNER Hai Lanshi

Han - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Han Ying

Hao - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Hao Du

He - posted 22/03/24 WINNER He Xuan

Hei - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Hei Xiazi

Helian - posted 9/04/24 wINNER Helian Yi

Hong - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Hong Qigong

Hou - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Hou Bin

Hu - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Hu Tianying

Hua - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Hua Cheng

Huan - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Huan Xiaoyan

Huang - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Huang Shaotian

Huo - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Huo Xiuxiu

Ji - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ji Xue

Jia - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Jia Kui

Jian - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Jian Buzhi

Jiang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Jiang Cheng

Jiao - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Jiao Liqiao

Jin - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Jin Ling

Jing - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Jing Beiyuan

Jun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER 'Other"

Kan - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Kan Jian

Kang - posted 27/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Kong - posted 26/04/24 WINNERS Kong Xiu and Alexis Kong

Kou - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Kou Baimen

Lai - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Lai Zhongshu

Lan - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Lan Wangji

Lei - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Lei Wujie

Leng - posted 2/05/24 WINNER Leng Yue

Li - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Li Lianhua

Lian - posted 18/04/24 WINNERS Lian Yufan and Lian Qiao

Liang - posted 13/03/24 WINNER 'Other'

Lin - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Lin Chen

Ling - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Ling Wen

Liu - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Liu Qingge

Long - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Long Zhi

Lou - posted 10/04/24 WINNER Lou Yao

Lu - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Lu Guang

Luo - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Luo Binghe

Ma - posted 13/03/24 WINNER Ma Xiuying

Mao - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Mao Panfeng

Mei - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Mei Changsu

Meng - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Meng Zhi

Mi - posted 10/04/24 WINER Mi Chong

Miao - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Miao Renfeng

Min - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Min Yunzhong

Ming - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Ming Yi

Misc - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Gongyi Xiao

Mo - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Mo Xuanyu

Mu - posted 22/02/24 WINNER Mu Nihuang

Murong - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Other

Nan - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Nan Feng

Nangong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Nangong Si

Nie - posted 15/03/24 WINNER Nie Huaisang

Ning - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Ning Yingying

Niu - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Niu Chunmiao

Ouyang - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Ouyang Zizhen

Pan - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Pan Zi

Pang - posted 16/04/24 WINNER Pang Yizhi

Pei - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Pei Ming

Peng - posted 29/04/24 wINNER Peng Sanbian

Ping - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ping An

Qi - posted 22/02/24 WINNER 'Other'

Qian - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Qian Jin

Qiao - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Qiao Wanmian

Qin - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Qin Banruo

Qing - posted 18/04/24 WINNER Qing Ge

Qiu - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Qiu Congxue

Qu - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Qu Lingfeng

Ran - posted 22/04/24 WINNERS Ran Lin and Ran Yun

Ren - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Ren Ruyi

Rong - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Rong Changqing

Ruan - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Ruan Nanzhu

Sang - posted 22/04/24 WINNER Sang Zan

Sha - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Sha Hualing

Shan - posted 19/04/24 WINNER Shan Gudao

Shang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Shang Qinghua

Shangguan - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Shangguan Qin

Shao - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Shao Lin

Shen - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Shen Wei

Sheng - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Sheng Minglan

Sima - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Sima Yi

Shi - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Shi Qingxuan

Shu - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Shu Yanyan

Si - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Si Yilin

Song - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Song Lan

Su - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Su Zhe

Sun - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Sun Wukong

Sui - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Sui Zhou

Tan - posted 1/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Tang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Tang Fan

Tao - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Tao Ran

Tian - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Tian Qi

Tie - posted 5/05/24 WINNERS Tie Yinyi and Tie Miansheng

Tong - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tong Lu

Tuoba - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tuoba Yan

Wan - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Consort Wan

Wang - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Wang Pangzi

Wei - posted 8/02/24 WINNER Wei Wuxian

Wen - posted 2/03/24 WINNER Wen Kexing

Wu - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Wu Xie

Xi - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Xi Ping

Xia - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Xia Dong

Xian - posted 2/05/24 WINNERS Xian Ge and Xian Qing

Xiang - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Xiang Liu and Xiang Nanfang

Xiao - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Xiao Jingyan

Xie - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Xie Lian

Xin - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Xin Ziyuan

Xing - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Xing Zhi

Xiong - posted 7/05/24 WINNERS Xiong yipei and Xiong Chumo

Xu - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Xu Da

Xun - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Xun Feizhan

Xuan - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Xuan Shen'an | The Empress

Xue -posted 11/02/24 WINNER Xue Yang

Yan - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Yan Wushi

Yang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Yang Wuxie

Yao - posted 24/04/24 WINNER Yao Zhen

Ye - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Ye Baiyi

Yi - posted 9/03/24 WINNER Yi Bichen

Yin - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Yin Yu

Ying - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Ying Hecong

You - posted 1/04/24 WINNER You Huo

Yu - posted 11/02/23 WINNER Yu Ziyuan

Yun - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Yun Biqiu

Yuan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Yuan Boya

Yue - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Yue Qingyuan

Yuwen - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Yuwen Xuan

Zang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Zang Ming

Zeng - posted 9/04/24 WINNER Zeng Xiangdong

Zhan - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Zhan Yunfei

Zhang - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Zhang Qiling

Zhao - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Zhao Yunlan

Zhen - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Zhen Ping

Zhi - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Zhi Xiu

Zhong - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Zhong Li

Zhou - posted 2/02/24 WINNER Zhou Zishu

Zhu - posted 9/03/24 Winner Zhu Hong

Zhuge - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Zhuge Liang

Zi - posted 16/04/24 WINNER 'Other'

Zuo - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Zuo Ran

[zuko-always-lies]

ATLA Overall Character Stats

One thing I have been wondering for a while is how many lines of dialogue each character has in ATLA. I recently figured out an easy way to calculate it, so here are the stats for the entire series. You can look at the stats for Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 at those links.

There are 9985 total lines of dialogue in the series. They are divided up as follows:

Aang 1796 lines, 17.99% of total lines Sokka 1635 lines, 16.37% Katara 1433 lines, 14.35%(this increases to 1439 lines and 14.81% when you include "Young Katara") Zuko 776 lines, 7.77% (this increases to 809 lines and 8.10% when you include "Young Zuko) Toph 508 lines, 5.09% Iroh 337 lines, 3.38% Azula 211 lines, 2.11%(this increases to 232 lines and 2.32% when you include "Young Azula") Jet 134 lines, 1.34% Suki 114 lines, 1.14% Zhao 107 lines, 1.07% Mai 82 lines, 0.82%(this increases to 83 lines and 0.83% when you include "Young Mai") Hakoda 77 lines, 0.77% Roku 67 lines, 0.67% Ty Lee 64 lines, 0.64%(this increases to 66 lines and 0.66% when you include "Young Ty Lee) Bumi 55 lines, 0.55% Ozai 55 lines, 0.55% Yue 53 lines, 0.53% Hama 49 lines, 0.49% Long Feng 46 lines, 0.46% Piandao 43 lines, 0.430645969% Mechanist 42, 0.420630946% Kuei 40, 0.400600901% Bato 38, 0.380570856% Pathik 38, 0.380570856% Pakku 37, 0.370555834% Teo 35, 0.350525789% Chong 33, 0330495744% Warden of Boiling Rock 33, 0.330495744% Young Zuko 33, 0.330495744% Jeong Jeong 32, 0.320480721%

More obscure characters below

Guard 29 0.290435653 Haru 29 0.290435653 Joo Dee 29 0.290435653 June 28 0.280420631 Wu 28 0.280420631 Zhang leader 28 0.280420631 Xin Fu 27 0.270405608 Zei 27 0.270405608 Chit Sang 26 0.260390586 Sozin 26 0.260390586 Shyu 25 0.250375563 Gan Jin leader 23 0.230345518 Fong 22 0.220330496 Smellerbee 22 0.220330496 Ursa 22 0.220330496 Young Azula 21 0.210315473 Actress Aang 19 0.190285428 Gyatso 19 0.190285428 Yu 19 0.190285428 Arnook 18 0.180270406 Meng 18 0.180270406 Sun Warrior chief 18 0.180270406 Wan Shi Tong 18 0.180270406 Canyon guide 17 0.170255383 Captain 17 0.170255383 Jin 17 0.170255383 Lee 17 0.170255383 Oyaji 17 0.170255383 Tong 17 0.170255383 Actor Sokka 16 0.160240361 Actress Katara 16 0.160240361 Fisherman 16 0.160240361 King Bumi 16 0.160240361 Li 16 0.160240361 Tho 16 0.160240361 Tyro 16 0.160240361 Warden 16 0.160240361 Yon Rha 16 0.160240361 Bully guard 15 0.150225338 Due 15 0.150225338 Actor Zuko 14 0.140210315 Chey 14 0.140210315 Lao 14 0.140210315 Male guard 14 0.140210315 Pirate captain 14 0.140210315 Chan 13 0.130195293 Dock 13 0.130195293 Herbalist 13 0.130195293 Ghashiun 12 0.12018027 Huu 12 0.12018027 Ticket lady 12 0.12018027 Calm man 11 0.110165248 Female guard 11 0.110165248 Kay-fon 11 0.110165248 Lo 11 0.110165248 Lo and Li 11 0.110165248 Ying 11 0.110165248 Actress Azula 10 0.100150225 Earthbender captain 10 0.100150225 Gan Jin tribesman 10 0.100150225 Great Fire Sage 10 0.100150225 Headmaster 10 0.100150225 Jee 10 0.100150225 Kanna 10 0.100150225 Oh 10 0.100150225 Qin 10 0.100150225 Senlin Village leader 10 0.100150225 Song 10 0.100150225 Yung 10 0.100150225 Dai Li agent 9 0.090135203 Fisherman's wife 9 0.090135203 General Sung 9 0.090135203 Gow 9 0.090135203 Hahn 9 0.090135203 Haru's mother 9 0.090135203 Koh 9 0.090135203 Pipsqueak 9 0.090135203 Shinu 9 0.090135203 Soldier 9 0.090135203 The Boulder 9 0.090135203 The Duke 9 0.090135203 Xu 9 0.090135203 Gansu 8 0.08012018 Kenji 8 0.08012018 Kwan 8 0.08012018 Mother Superior 8 0.08012018 Old man 8 0.08012018 Shuzumu 8 0.08012018 Yagoda 8 0.08012018 Cabbage merchant 7 0.070105158 Fire Sage 7 0.070105158 Fung 7 0.070105158 General How 7 0.070105158 Koko 7 0.070105158 Male student 7 0.070105158 Man 7 0.070105158 Pao 7 0.070105158 Tashi 7 0.070105158 Than 7 0.070105158 Trainer 7 0.070105158 Villager 7 0.070105158 Warden Poon 7 0.070105158 Due to Tumblr limatations on length, I had to put the remaining characters(those with 6 or fewer lines) in a two separate posts .

[tendaysofrain]

Random Stuff #14:  Cats in China--History (Part 2)

(Link to Part 1)

(Warning:  Very long post ahead with multiple pictures!)

Cats Becoming Pets

In the book Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (《 東京夢華錄 》), a memoir by Meng Yuanlao/孟元老 about life in the then “Eastern Capital” or Bianliang/汴梁 (today known as Kaifeng/开封, located in Henan province) in Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), there was a section called “Miscellaneous Goods”, which revealed that there were special street vendors who sold horse feed, dog food, and of course, cat food and cat treats:

“If you kept horses, there were two people who sold hay daily; if you kept dogs, there were dog food being sold; if you kept cats then there were cat food and small fish”. (“若養馬，則有兩人日供切草；養犬則供餳糟；養貓則供貓食並小魚”)

Another book that shed light on this change in more concrete terms is Fleeting Dreams of Splendor (《夢粱錄》)--which as you can probably guess from the title, is a memoir modeled after Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, this time about life in Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279 AD) capital city Lin’an/臨安 (today known as Hangzhou/杭州, located in Zhejiang province).  In the book it was mentioned that people in the capital kept white or yellow long haired cats, called “lion cats”/獅貓, which couldn’t catch mice and were only kept for their looks, or in other words, these cats had become actual pets:

“People of the capital kept cats to catch mice, and the cats have long hair.  Those that were white or yellow were called ‘lion cats’, these cats could not catch mice and were kept because they looked beautiful”. (“貓，都人畜之捕鼠，有長毛。白黃色者稱曰「獅貓」，不能捕鼠，以為美觀”)

During Song dynasty, folk customs also developed around cat adoption.  Cat adoption, called pin/聘 or na/納, was treated like a “wedding” of sorts, complete with a “bride price” and a “marriage certificate” contract/契.  The “bride price”, of course, was paid to the family that the cat came from, and usually took the form of some salt (this act is called ”bringing salt”/裹鹽; historically salt is a valuable commodity) or some small fish skewered on a willow branch (called “buying fish and skewering with willow”/買魚穿柳 or simply “skewer of willow”/穿柳).  The contract, however, had quite a mysterious air about it and vaguely resembled a Daoist talisman:

^ Template of a cat contract, from Yuan-era (1271 - 1368 AD) book Newly Published Reference on Ying Yang and Selection of Dates/《新刊陰陽寶鑑剋擇通書》.  Top says “Cat Contract”/貓兒契式.  Content consists of a drawn picture of the cat in question at the center, and the terms of the contract written in a counterclockwise order that spiraled outwards from the picture of the cat, which read:

“A cat is Black Spots¹, it used to live before the bodhisattvas of the West, Sanzang² brought it home with him, and it has since been protecting Buddhist scriptures among the people.  The Offeror is Moujia³ , who is selling (this cat) to a certain neighbor.  All three parties⁴ has agreed upon the price of __, so __ will be returned as the contract finalizes.  May the Offerer become as wealthy as Shi Chong⁵, and as long-lived as Peng Zu⁶.  (From now on, the cat) Must patrol the grain storage diligently, and must catch rat thieves without slack.  (The cat) Must not harm the chickens and other livestocks, and must not steal any sort of food.  (The cat) Must guard the home day and night, and must not wander to the east or west.  If (the cat) breaks these terms and wanders off, it shall be punished in the courtyard.  __ year __ month __ day, Offeror __.”

The foot of the contract read:

”To evaluate a good tabby cat:  there must be stripes on the body, and the stripes on the limbs and tail must be just right”⁷

“King Father of the East⁸ see to it that (this cat) does not wander south”

“Queen Mother of the West⁸ see to it that (this cat) does not wander north”

“Received on a day blessed by the Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues⁹”

“Returned on a day blessed by the Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues”

Notes:  

“Black Spots”/黑斑:  placeholder cat name.

Sanzang/三藏 refers to Xuanzang/玄奘, as in the real life inspiration of the character Tang Sanzang/唐三藏 in Journey to the West.  It was widely believed that domestic cats had came to China from India with traveling Buddhist monks, and that they were protecting the scriptures from damage by rodents.  

“Moujia”/某甲:  placeholder human name.

“Three parties”:   Offeror, Offeree, and Witness.

Shi Chong/石崇 was an extremely wealthy official during Western Jin dynasty (266 - 316 AD) who loved to compete with others over who was the wealthiest.  

Peng Zu/彭祖 is a figure in legend and a Daoist immortal who had lived for 700 years according to legend.)

This is part of the practice of evaluating cats based on looks, called xiangmao/相貓.  

King Father of the East/東王公 and Queen Mother of the West/西王母 are gods of Yang and Yin respectively.  

Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues/天德貴人 and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues/月德貴人 are deities representing celestial objects, and are part of the Four Pillars of Destiny/四柱命理 concept in Chinese astrology, where basically different days and times are presided over by different celestial objects and therefore different gods.  A day that is blessed by both of the aforementioned Eminent Benefactors is considered to be a very auspicious day.

As a cat owner, I could most definitely feel the helplessness and desperation emanating from this contract.  Invoking deities in the hopes that the cat will do its job, not destroy stuff, and not simply run away......I’m sure many cat owners throughout the ages and across the world could sympathize with this sentiment.  The special emphasis that was placed on keeping the cat from running away was probably because back then, people lived in residences that consisted of buildings surrounding a courtyard in the middle (for example, a siheyuan/四合院), so it was extremely easy for cats to run out of the residence and become lost.

Anyways......back to history.

Song-era poets wrote many poems about cats, and both Song-era and Yuan-era painters painted many works about cats (which I will cover in my next posts!).  At the same time, cats were painted in Song-era tomb murals along with sparrows as a sign of longevity, since cats are māo/猫 and sparrows are què/雀, and when said together they sound like the word mào qí/耄耆, which means “elderly people”.

^ Tomb mural depicting a tabby cat with a sparrow in its mouth.  From a Northern Song-era tomb discovered in Dengfeng, Henan.

Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD) emperors were also big-time cat lovers.  Of note were Emperor Xuanzong of Ming/明宣宗 (personal name Zhu Zhanji/朱瞻基), who painted cats, and Emperor Shizong of Ming/明世宗 (better known as Jiajing Emperor/嘉靖帝), who reportedly loved his cat Frosty Brows/霜眉/Shuangmei (I swear this name sounds a lot more artsy in Chinese) so much that he bestowed the title of Qiulong/虯龍 (note:  Qiulong is a type of Chinese dragon that is either defined as horned or hornless depending on the source) upon it, and when Frosty Brows died, he ordered a tomb be constructed just for his cat, then ordered high-ranking officials to write eulogies for Frosty Brows:

“During Jiajing Emperor’s reign, there was a cat in the palace whose fur was slightly blue-ish except the glowing white brows, so it was named ‘Frosty Brows’.  This cat understood His Majesty well, and when His Majesty went somewhere in the palace or visited a consort, it would walk ahead and lead the way.  While His Majesty slept, it would stay nearby.  His Majesty adored it the most.  When it died, His Majesty ordered it be laid to rest at the shady side of Mt. Wansui (today called Jingshan/景山), and a stone stele was to be erected marking its grave as ‘The Grave of Qiulong’”. (嘉靖中，禁中有貓，微青色，惟雙眉瑩潔，名曰“霜眉”。善伺上意，凡有呼召或有行幸，皆先意前導。伺上寢，株橛不移。上最憐愛之。後死，敕葬萬歲山陰，碑曰‘虯龍塚’)

-- Old Rumors Under the Sun, “Within the Palace of Ming Part 3″/《日下舊聞考·宮室·明三》

“Later when a lion cat of the Palace of Eternal Longevity died, His Majesty grieved and ordered it be laid to rest at the shady side of Mt. Wansui in a coffin of gold, then ordered the senior officials to write eulogies and a funeral ritual be done, so the cat’s soul may achieve transcendence.  However because the prompt seemed awkward, most of the senior officials could not perform at their usual levels, only the Scholar of Rites Yuan Weiwen came up with such words as ‘the lion metamorphosed into a dragon’, which delighted His Majesty”.  (“最後西苑永壽宮有獅貓死，上痛惜之，為製金棺葬之萬壽山之麓，又命在直諸老為文，薦度超升。俱以題窘不能發揮，惟禮侍學士袁煒文中有「化獅成龍」等語，最愜聖意”)

-- Compiled Rumors of Wanli Era, Chapter 2/《萬曆野獲編·卷二》

^ A Nebelung cat (image source).  According to the description above, Frosty Brows probably looked like this cat but with white markings above the eyes.  RIP Frosty Brows, you shall be remembered.

Of course, Frosty Brows wasn’t the only pet cat in the palace.  According to Moderate Records/《酌中志》, a book that’s mostly about life in Ming-era imperial palace (which is the same as the Palace Museum today), there was a special place called the “House of Cats”/貓兒房 that employed 3-4 servants just to take care of the cats that were favored by the emperor.  These cats even had titles and nicknames:  un-neutered male cats were called xiaosi/“小廝”/”lads”, neutered male cats were called laoye/”老爺”/“old men”, female cats were called yatou/”丫頭“/”gals”, and cats with titles were called maoguanshi/”貓管事”/“cat butlers” .

Speaking of royal kitties that left their names in history, Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799 AD) of Qing dynasty commissioned a series of paintings of his cats from the court painter and Jesuit missionary Ignatius Sichelbart (also known by his Chinese name 艾啟蒙/Ai Qimeng), and this series of 10 paintings were collectively known as 《貍奴影》, or “Cat Images” (li/“貍” or linu/“貍奴” are both archaic names for cats).  Here is a Douyin video of these 10 paintings and the names of these 10 royal felines, translation courtesy of @rongzhi​.

The Ins and Outs of Feline Ownership

By Qing dynasty (1636 - 1912 AD), there were two encyclopedia-like books specifically about cats, called The Compendium About Cats/《貓苑》 and The History of Cats/《貓乘》 respectively, which were extensive compilations of records and mentions of cats from older texts, including everything from folktales about cats to cat behavior to how to take care of cats, which served as guides for new cat owners back then.  Although cat owners today have much more reliable and scientific sources on how to take care of cats (***Please keep in mind:  this post is for fun!  If you have any questions regarding the health of your cat, please ask your local veterinarian!***), books like these still provide an interesting glimpse into how cat owners of old went about taking care of their cats.  Here I will be presenting a few passages from The Compendium About Cats/《貓苑》 that I found to be pretty cool or interesting:

How people used to bring cats back home and litter train them:

“The way to adopt cats:  use a dou¹ or a bucket, and carry it in a cloth sack.  Once you reach the home of the previous owner, ask them for a single chopstick, then put both cat and chopstick in the bucket inside the sack to bring them back home.  Should you encounter potholes on the way back, you must fill the pothole with rocks before passing over it.  Upon arriving back home, take the cat along to worship the household stove god and greet the resident dog.  When you are done, take the chopstick and stick it in a mound of dirt in the yard, then tell the cat to never urinate or defecate inside, but still allow the cat to sleep on the bed.  This way the cat will not run away”. (“納貓法，用斗或桶，盛以布袋，至家討著一棍，和貓盛桶中攜回。路遇溝缺，須填石以過，使不過家，從吉方歸。取貓拜堂灶及犬畢，將箸橫插於土堆上，令不在家撒屎，仍使上床睡，便不走徃”)

How people thought neutering changed behavior:

“Male cats must be neutered to blunt its might, so their toughness may be softened, and they will soon become plump and friendly”.  (“公貓必閹殺其雄氣，化剛為柔，日見肥善“)

What to feed cats and what not to feed cats:

“Cats will grow sturdy when fed eel, and will grow plump when fed pork liver.  However if cats are fed too much meat broth, it will give them intestinal issues”.  (“猫食鳝则壮，食猪肝则肥，多食肉汤则坏肠”)

“Catnip”:

“Cats will become inebriated after eating mint²”... “Mint is the alcohol of cats, as such the leaves are fresh and relaxing”.  (“貓食薄荷則醉”...“貓以薄荷為酒，故葉清逸”)

Treatment for fleas:

“When a cat has fleas, mash up peach tree leaves and chinaberry tree roots, boil the paste into a warm brew and bathe the cat in it to kill the fleas; otherwise rubbing camphor tree shavings over the cat also works”.  (“貓生虱，桃葉與楝樹根搗爛，熱湯泡洗，虱皆死，樟腦末擦之亦可”)

Notes:

Dou/斗 (here pronounced dǒu), was historically a type of container that was originally for wine, and then became an apparatus used to measure volume (particularly for grains), so dou also doubled as a unit of volume.  This unit of volume can be traced back to at least the Warring States period (770 - 221 BC), but is considered archaic today and could only be found in chengyu and other sayings that originated in history (ex:  升斗小民, “sheng and dou commoners”; since both sheng and dou are relatively small units of volume that ordinary people used in day-to-day life, this chengyu was and is still used to imply “ordinary people”).

“Mint” or “薄荷” here is likely just a species of mint.  However, catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a member of the mint family, and its native range seems to span much of Eurasia, including parts of China, so it’s unclear exactly which member of the mint family this text is referring to.

Cats in the Age of the Internet

Thanks to scientific and technological advances, many people no longer adopt cats to keep rodents away, but keep them solely as companions.  However, being our feline overlords, cats require a lot of affection, attention, service, and commitment from their humans, thus giving rise to the playfully self-mocking terms of "official(s) of poop-scooping”/铲屎官/chanshiguan and “slave(s) of cat(s)”/猫奴/maonu, while cats are called “cat master(s)”/猫主子/maozhuzi due to their seemingly volatile moods and behavior.  People even imagined that cats were aliens from another planet called the “Planet Meow”/“喵星” who came to Earth to conquer humans with their cute appearance, thus giving rise to the term “Meowish”/“喵星人”, meaning “inhabitant of Planet Meow”.  A cat who raises its hind leg up straight to lick its backside is described as “sending signals back to the mother planet (Planet Meow)”, and a common euphemism for a cat passing away is “(the cat) has returned to Planet Meow”.  

^ An inhabitant of Planet Meow sending signals back to its mother planet.

Another common internet slang for the act of kissing, sniffing, or hugging a cat out of adoration is “sniffing cat”/“吸猫”/ximao.  As some might notice, the term subtly and playfully draws a parallel between the addictive aspect of cuddling with a cat and the addictiveness of illicit drugs.  Finally, because 喵 (miāo), the character for “meow”, is a homophone of 妙 (miào), the character that can mean “great”, on videos where there are cats meowing clearly, you can see barrage comments from many people asking questions like “how is my exam going to go” or “how is my job interview going to go”, as a playful way of wishing for things to go smoothly in the near future.  

^ Some examples of these barrage comments, with people asking “how is my job interview score”, “how is my luck in the future”, “am I going to be accepted into Tsinghua University”.  Video from Bilibili.

And that is all for the history of cats in China!  In Part 3 and Part 4 I will cover famous paintings about cats and poems of cats, and these posts will be coming out within the next two weeks, stay tuned!