English localization of Zhongli’s and Nahida’s Archon titles, Genshin Impact Character Title Localization in General, and Zhongli’s title of Yanwang Dijun
I was reading the wiki page for the current Archons (and their names & titles) and the more I think about their titles the more I feel the English localization of Zhongli’s title is strange.
Here (just the ones from the five released regions):
.
Venti/Barbatos, Lord Barbatos, God of Freedom, Anemo Archon, of Mondstadt
Zhongli/Morax, Rex Lapis, God of Contracts, Geo Archon, of Liyue
Raiden Ei/Beelzebul, Raiden Shogun, God of Eternity, Electro Archon, of Inazuma
Nahida/Buer, Lesser Lord Kusanali, God of Wisdom, Dendro Archon, of Sumeru
Furina/Focalors, Lady Furina, God of Justice, Hydro Archon, of Fontaine
.
….face in hands. Why is Zhongli’s Archon title 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun / Yan3wang3 Di4jun1) officially localized in Latin (with the meaning of King of Stone). Of course I’m used to seeing it because he’s consistently referred to as Rex Lapis in English, but if you really think about it:
“Hello, I’m a god in what’s basically a Chinese xianxia setting. I’m the god of stone and contracts, and I know a lot about the traditions of my nation, which is based on Chinese culture. For some time, I was seen as the leader or even emperor of my nation. I’m worshipped with a Latin title by my own people”
…
(I’ll explain the Chinese title’s meaning further below.)
-
Some time ago, I watched the first few minutes of the Sumeru Archon Quest in Japanese. Paimon mentions the Dendro Archon by title: クラクサナリデビ.
In romaji, this is Kura Kusanari Debi. (According to her wiki page, literally speaking, this title means Little Kusanali Devi.)
I can’t confirm its accuracy, but the etymology section of her page says this:
.
The name Kusanali likely refers to the Kusanāḷi-Jātaka, one of the poems within the Jātaka, a series of 547 Buddhist poems detailing the previous births of Buddha. The Kusanāḷi-Jātaka specifically details the encounter with a tree sprite.
"Kusanāḷi" itself is derived from the Pali words kusa ("kusa-grass," a sacred plant used in Hindu ceremonies) and nāḷi ("a hollow stalk or tube").
.
and
.
In Korean, the name is 쿠사나리 데비 Kusanari Debi. The word 데비 Debi derived from the Sanskrit or Pali word devī ("goddess" or "queen").
In Japanese, the name is クラクサナリデビ Kura Kusanari Debi, where デビ Debi may be of the same derivation as above, and クラ Kura may be derived from the Pali word khudda ("small", "inferior" or "low"). Kura may also be derived from the Persian word خدا Khuda ("Lord" or "God").
.
Genshin Impact doesn’t have Sanskrit as an available subtitle language but I wonder what would her title be in Sanskrit…? And if any of the official subtitle languages are similar to a theoretical Sanskrit title…
-
Oh, also, a note on character titles in Genshin Impact:
Since the original language is in Chinese, it seems most of the time a (non-Liyue) character’s Chinese title will not be a phonetic transcription. Instead, the Chinese title will be based on meaning, and the English localization will likely take that meaning and either localize it into English, or into the language “native” to the in-game region (and real-life culture).
For example, a Fontainian title, a Mondstadtian title, and a Liyue title would all have Chinese meaning in the Chinese version, but they’ll probably be localized into either English for all three, or French, German, and Chinese pinyin respectively (….or Latin. It’s not very consistent in Liyue) in the English version.
Here:
.
Lyney’s Chinese title (from his key visual) 惑光幻戏 (Magic of Puzzling Lights) is localized as “Spectacle of Phantasmagoria” in the English version, but theoretically they could also localize it into French as “Spectacle de fantasmagorie” (as it is in the official French version)
Albedo’s Chinese title 白垩之子 (Son of Chalk) is localized as the German “Kreideprinz” (Chalk Prince) but theoretically they could also could localize it into English as “Chalk Prince”
.
(What’s a good example for a Liyue character that doesn’t need extensive explanation on Daoism… Ah whatever. I’ll explain Zhongli’s own Archon title.)
.
Zhongli’s title as an Archon is 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun, roughly meaning God of King of Stone). The first two hanzi characters mean stone and king (hence the English localization of Rex Lapis, Latin for King of Stone). But that lacks the nuance and cultural significance in the Chinese title.
.
帝君 (dijun) is (I believe…) a Daoist title of reverence added to a god’s name. So putting it together, 岩王帝君 can either be localized into pinyin as Yanwang Dijun (in a similar way that MDZS’s 夷陵老祖 Yiling Laozu is known as the Yiling Patriarch)… Or Lord Stone King if you really want but that has different religious connotations…
帝君 is similar to 真君 (zhenjun, another Daoist title for gods) which is often used for the Liyue 仙 (xian, localized as Adepti) characters. (In English, an adept, plural form adepts, refers to someone who’s very skilled at something. It seems in the game 仙 includes both Adepti with animal forms and Adepti with human forms, and 仙人 xianren specifically refers to Adepti who appear human, like Xiao.)
42 notes
·
View notes
神仙出山谢圣王
文: 大陆大法弟子
【明慧网二零二三年二月十三日】在二零二二年十二月份,我发现有些山中的神仙已经出定,在关注世间。二零二三年一月初,我发现,有许多神仙打开结界封存,陆续的要出山。在我的角度看,山体的内在发生微变,而且大陆的地脉已经残破不堪了,空气污染严重。我想:神仙出山,也许还有我所未知的原因吧。
在除夕夜,和老人一起吃过年夜饭后。我回家進屋后,发现出山的神仙联袂出现在客厅的空间里,数目颇为壮观。我愣怔一下却无暇多想,赶紧打开电脑观看神韵晚会。
大年初一这一天,我又看见了出山的神仙。
在初二,我继续写文章时,出山的神仙们又出现了。为首的神仙身穿紫袍,须发皆白,仙风道骨,我说:“请问,你们有什么要说的吗?”他们冲我行个礼,我还他们一个抱拳礼,他们笑了。紫衣神仙说:“谢谢转轮圣王的法旨,我们都看到了,圣王慈悲,从来都没有落下我们。我们修了几千年了,终于明白了,解迷了。”
他说完后,我知道了,他们和我一起看了师尊的新经文《为什么会有人类》,听了新唐人播音员诵读经文。我说:“你们这样明晃晃的出现、停留,前所未有啊。”紫衣神仙说:“我们无知啊。其实我们一直在听大法天机,却不作为,真是不应该啊,圣王慈悲,给予了我们前所未有的浩荡佛恩,揭开了三界的谜底。我们震撼啊。我们要请你传达对圣王的问候!谢谢圣王!”
一位白衣仙子说:“我们自以为的高洁,不入世俗,清修,实际上是借了大法的光。我们明白了三界的由来,明白了自己的由来,三界的创立,是法主的慈悲。”
另一位穿着赭色衣服的神仙说:“三界的巨变,要开始了。许多的机密都显现了。这个时期的选择太重要了,一念可進天堂,一念可下地狱。以前我们一直看不起你们,觉的你们口说修炼,实则人心重重。也认为你们把自己置于凶险之中,现在看来,基点都错了啊,你们无私无我无畏的付出,是任何修行都比不了的啊。”
我说:“现在最迷的是人,不明真相的人,我想知道的是,在你们的角度上,是怎样看现在的政权和支撑他们的一切,怎样看待红尘中迷茫的世人。我想把从你们的角度得来的观点,传递给读者,想来你们不会反对吧?”
紫衣神仙说:“现在的政权是魔鬼政权,历朝历代的政权都没有现存的政权恶,官员都魔变了,额头上打着红魔的兽记,干的都不是人的事儿了,他们最大的恶,就是迫害修炼人,活摘器官。在二零二零年圣王发出《理性》法旨后,我们都知道,大规模的报应开始了,那是一个节点,世间无宁日了。在大魔头死后,魔系官员死的非常多。你不也看到了吗?带着红魔烙印的阴魂络绎不绝的奔向地狱,为它们站台的人也大量死亡,其实,支撑他们行恶的一切都是有罪的,有司神、判官会审判他们。现在空气中的毒素、尸烟在污染世间,神仙也没有静修的环境了,功能也屏蔽不住自己封存的空间了,末世死灰在不停的飘落。神仙大都出山了,你肉眼不也看到了空气的变化了吗?”
我说:“的确啊,今年空气中飘落的尘埃格外多,环境也恶劣很多。”
我看到,出山的神仙有的修炼五、六千年了,可是没有接引他们上天的。有的高度破迷,但是,任是谁都不能知道世间这盘棋的终局。现在神仙破迷,他们要有选择了。我看到,一位神仙打出的意念是:要帮助曾经和自己结缘的大法弟子,尽力保护他们。
一位绿衣仙子说:“以往的改朝换代,都有异象,都有大量败坏的事情发生,这一次,简直是异象的大综合。我们也不能安生修炼了。而且这一次圣主的讲法,开示了许多的天机,本门的尊者开示过我们,无可修时,打开尊者留下的秘旨,那秘旨是天雷封印的,秘旨中说:最后来救人的才是真的,才能扭转乾坤,是救世的圣主,是众生的希望。”
我说:“我看见了,有的神仙打开了封印,那场景很壮观啊!大法师尊慈悲,讲法开示众生,破了你们心底的谜团。其实破迷最慢的乃是红尘世人,他们是最可怜的啊!”
白衣仙子说:“以往,谁把人看重啊!我们静观人世沉沦,自诩超脱。转轮圣王慈悲众生,慈悲世人,救度他们。我们现在知道了,世人有其可贵之处。世人的选择,和我们的选择,在一个起点上了啊,众生平等到了一个前所未有的新时期, 真是旷古未闻啊!”
又说了一些话,神仙们静静的离去。我也完成了自己的文章。以上是我个人现阶段修炼状态中的认识和经历。请同修们以法为师。
【编注:本文代表作者当前修炼状态中的个人认识,谨与同修切磋,“比学比修”。】
0 notes