farmerlan

[farmerlan]

Hello! I had a question about cultivation sects in general and MDZS (hypothetically) specifically, if you were willing to answer. What exactly does it mean to be the head disciple of a generation? Wei Ying is Head Disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, so he’s everyone’s shixiong technically even if people are older than him, but is there another disciple who is the head of the generation before him? Are there (potentially) 40 year olds running around Lotus Pier with their own shixiong? And is Lan Wangji the head disciple of Gusu Lan and does he have a generation of 40 year olds hanging around just ignoring Xichen teasing Wangji about his brand new crush during the lecture days?

Hi! I think a lot of people get tripped up on seniority within sects. To be entirely honest, while the general rule of seniority is based on when you became a disciple, sects you can imagine are kind of like mafias (lol not sure what better analogy there is). It’s really up to the sect leader how they want to run it! In some wuxia, it is up to the head disciple to take the mantle on after the head of the sect. In MDZS, it seems to be based on familial ties. To be honest, since sect politics and ‘jianghu’ is not really the focus of the novel, the author kind of just borrows a lot of the concepts and does her own thing with it haha. Which is totally fine! It’s all fiction anyway!

So it is not entirely clear what exactly the author meant for the different roles, but to respond to your questions:

1. Head disciples - typically first in line to take the reins of the sect. Usually the first follower of the master. NOT necessarily the most talented or skilled - in fact, in many stories, a younger protege comes along and is way more talented. A way for authors to set the scene for some interesting power dynamics as you can imagine. In MDZS this does not seem to be the case.

2. Novel is unclear but typically, there is only ONE head disciple. As to why Wei Ying was awarded this honor despite neither being the first follower nor the oldest in age...well, who knows. As with all organizational politics...we’ll have to ask Jian Fengmian lol

3. Shixiong is a broad term meant to refer to all those in seniority of you. So yes, 40 year-olds will refer to anyone more senior than them in the sect as shixiong. Not just Wei Ying.

4. No clue on LWJ. Novel does not mention. I would usually assume it is LXC since he took over running of the sect eventually, but as explained above, I don’t think head disciple = governance in this case. So we have no way to tell. And probably, heh.

[farmerlan]

Hey, I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve wondered for a while what exactly Sanren means? I got the feeling that it’s not a name but Google wasn’t helpful. Would you mind explaining that?

散人 means someone who is a wanderer; i.e. does not belong to any sect!

[farmerlan]

CQL related texts in my GC [1/∞]

[farmerlan]

Hello! I hope I'm not bothering with you with this ask! Firstly I wanted to say your posts are very informative and helpful! I really appreciate it alot! It has helped me so so so much with understanding the Chinese language and culture (?) More!

Secondly I wanted to inquire about how females are addressed or rather their honorifics! Um For example like how Si zhui/Jin ling would address a female from another sect! Does their seniorities play a part? Like the shidi and shimei type of stuff or is there an entirely another way to address her? Um for example Si zhui address Jin ling as "young master jin" so how would you address the female counterpart? From what I researched online the most common is xiao jie or gu niang(?) I believe..there was also 嗣女 and 女继承人 for heiress I think!

Lastly how would you differentiate between the older and younger sister? I saw there was大小姐/大姑娘 and the second is 二小姐/二姑娘, would it change if the official titles were different too? Like for 嗣女 and 女继承人!

I'm sorry for the super long ask and for bothering you! If you this makes you uncomfortable or if I explained it too confusingly you don't have to answer it! Thank you for your time and may you have a lovely day ahead!!

It depends on if they are within the same sect - you would not usually address another sect's disciple with 'shi-' anything because the prefix shi (师) means master/teacher - which means you usually share or have shared a common teacher. What you said is right - xiao jie, gu niang are all good. If they are clearly much older, qianbei is a polite way to address them, or even 女前辈, literally 'female elder'.

嗣女 and 女继承人 are typically used to refer to someone when discussing their position, - i.e. She is the heiress of X sect. They are not used face-to-face to address someone who is actually an heiress...it's kind of hard to explain but it's like. Imagine CEO - you would say, he/she is the CEO of this company, but you won't address that someone as CEO X. You would just call them Mr./Ms. X.

You're spot on for younger/older sister and that doesn't change with titles!

[farmerlan]

Hi! I've just found your post about honorifics in the Untamed, and think it's really great. Do you mind if I'll translate it to Russian and post here on tumblr with link to your original post? Thanks for it anyway

Sorry - catching up on asks :) Go for it!

[farmerlan]

Hi! Thank you so much for your writeup on the different honorifics used in the Untamed, it’s really helpful! If I can ask, how would an older commoner address a younger rogue cultivator? Would “Gongzi”be correct? Thanks!

Yes! Gongzi works!

[farmerlan]

Hi! I travelled here by following your honorifics post - great post, have reblogged but not willing to come off anon in case this is a stupid Q! You mention Shige and Shixiong are both variations of older martial brother. Is there a reason why you would use one or the other (e.g. formality as in MXTX where LWJ using Xiongzhang rather than Dage for LXC)? I see in fic shixiong most commonly but I THINK JC introduces WWX as his shige to the guard/LWJ at Cloud Recesses?

Also assuming Jin Zixun is Jin Zixuan's older paternal cousin, what would be the proper terms of address since Zixun is the senior in age but Zixuan is the sect heir to the Jin sect? Which is more important in address and respect, familial relationship and seniority or position within the sect?

Thanks so much! You're doing great work helping us newcomers to Wuxia etc learn!

Hihi! A lot of times it is interchangeable re: shige and shixiong...because ge, as in 哥哥, stems from literally 'brother', and xiong, as in 兄弟, can also refer to a brotherly relationship, but IMO shige is just very very very slightly more familial as 兄弟 can also mean like, brotherhood without actually being family (like bros).

To be honest, I have no idea whether sect or family comes first, but I would wager family (just think in terms of WWX and JC - granted, WWX is sorely lacking in decorum, but him calling JC sect leader as opposed to JC will be construed as him deliberately putting distance between them). So in that case, I would say Zixuan would call Zixun 表哥 (cousin) and Zixun will likely call Zixuan by his name.

[farmerlan]

Granny… Fourth Uncle… were you waiting here all this time?

魔道祖师 MO DAO ZU SHI 3.10 TO DETEST LIFE 

[farmerlan]

Recent new art for the seasons from the MDZS donghua Weibo. Absolutely beautiful—you can see hints of the other in their respective art (Wei Wuxian’s ribbon is a lot more obvious, but Lan Wangji’s forehead ribbon is present too). 😭

[farmerlan]

The Untamed + r/AmITheAsshole, part 1/?

[farmerlan]

LMAO ok when I saw this I panicked and thought i just completely missed the fact that S3 was out. BUT THIS TRAILER!!!

Mo Dao Zu Shi S3 | Yi City Arc

[farmerlan]

Twin Jades of Gusu

No sabía lo difícil que es hacer sombra a ropa blanca jejeje

[farmerlan]

Snow Day! 

[farmerlan]

I completely forgot this part happened in the novel!! (chapter 101) I guess with the love of his love finally confessing to him, our restrained Hanguang Jun has finally turned into a big pile of SOFT. All the cringe Jiang Cheng must have felt while fighting….

[farmerlan]

thank you so much for your post about honorifics in mdzs/cql! i hope it's ok to ask a further question. is there a specific honorific or term of address that would be used for the head disciple of a sect by the sect leader/the sect leader's spouse?

Not as far as I can think of!

[farmerlan]

Hi! Thanks so much for answering my previous ask about honorifics. I have a slightly related question, does Jiang Cheng always get addressed as Jiang-zongzhu, or can he just be called Zongzhu? Is that a thing? (I'm having trouble finding an example in the show.) Thank you!

Probably by his own sect disciples/members, because then you are kind of referring to him as ‘Chief’ (like, your chief) vs. as a title?? Does that make sense lol. When in doubt go with Jiang-Zongzhu

[farmerlan]

concept: lan wangji is the nutorious bad boy of cloud recesses