Book of the year 2024: 射鵰英雄傳 by 金庸

[lordsuso]

I want to read my first 金庸 novel this year. I have chosen 射鵰英雄傳 because it's his earliest and shortest major work and it has an official English translation. I will be reading the revised 40-chapter version, as far as I know there aren't any controversies regarding the different versions so the newest one should be best.

 

I will probably start reading sometime in March, but whenever suits most people works for me. It's going to be pretty hard to time an actual read-along with such a long book anyways, so feel free to chime in whenever you read it.

 

If you have never read 金庸, I recommend reading the novella 白馬嘯西風 first. It is very short (60k characters) and it can give you an idea of the difficulty level before you attempt such a behemoth (assuming all his works are similar in difficulty...). Personally that's all I've read from him, but I am already quite familiar with the wuxia jargon thanks to 古龙, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I tend to read 100-150k characters per month, so I should finish the ~800k characters in ~6 months, but I will probably take a few small breaks along the way.

 

I hope to see many of you in the 江湖! 

[Woodford]

I suppose I can't avoid participating in this group, since I have a copy of that book (all four volumes) looking down at me menacingly from my bookshelf. I think the English translation is this one (which even has a high-quality audiobook version!): https://a.co/d/dg51KAX

I think I'd like to keep myself accountable with the English translation. My overall reading skill has been cultivated fairly well since I started reading Chinese books, but there are inevitable moments (especially when I'm reading something on the literary side) where I still just don't understand a phrase here or there. Especially certain bits of dialogue. So maybe this experience will help me grow.

 

Similar to you, I may be committing to just 100K characters a month (roughly 5 pages a day, I think), and my February is quite busy, so I may also wait a bit.

[lordsuso]

Glad you're in! What "scares" me the most are the classical-style sections and poems, I don't know how frequent they are.

 

For those interested I found this website with some useful wuxia vocabulary https://immortalmountain.wordpress.com/glossary/wuxia-xianxia-xuanhuan-terms/

[杰娃娃]

I've had this book sitting on my ereader for a while now, so I'd be willing to join in. I've also read 白馬嘯西風 , a few 古龙, and a few other short wuxia from that era.

 

I did a little analysis of the length of each chapter of the book and this is what I found:

 

Chapter - Total characters

第一回 风雪惊变 - 22837
第二回 江南七怪 - 22193
第三回 大漠风沙 - 19236
第四回 黑风双煞 - 20143
第五回 弯弓射雕 - 18413
第六回 崖顶疑阵 - 22756
第七回 比武招亲 - 22342
第八回 各显神通 - 13443
第九回 铁枪破犁 - 20464
第十回 冤家聚头 - 14218
第十一回 长春服输 - 23840
第十二回 亢龙有悔 - 25559
第十三回 五湖废人 - 26117
第十四回 桃花岛主 - 19150
第十五回 神龙摆尾 - 15619
第十六回 《九阴真经》 - 20017
第十七回 双手互搏 - 15858
第十八回 三道试题 - 20945
第十九回 洪涛群鲨 - 18089
第二十回 窜改经文 - 11496
第二十一回 千钧巨岩 - 25069
第二十二回 骑鲨遨游 - 22629
第二十三回 大闹禁宫 - 18720
第二十四回 密室疗伤 - 18143
第二十五回 荒村野店 - 24801
第二十六回 新盟旧约 - 16120
第二十七回 轩辕台前 - 16169
第二十八回 铁掌峰顶 - 17538
第二十九回 黑沼隐女 - 18050
第三十回 一灯大师 - 17434
第三十一回 鸳鸯锦帕 - 21616
第三十二回 湍江险滩 - 16192
第三十三回 来日大难 - 9150
第三十四回 岛上巨变 - 20595
第三十五回 铁枪庙中 - 17830
第三十六回 大军西征 - 17948
第三十七回 从天而降 - 19086
第三十八回 锦囊密令 - 15258
第三十九回 是非善恶 - 15160
第四十回 华山论剑 - 18580
成吉思汗家族 - 15904
关于“全真教” - 4426
后记 - 2419

 

I could probably commit to reading two chapters a week. I would be reading digitally, so I'm not sure where the books are split into individual volumes.

[lordsuso]

 

I will also read digitally but my copy is split into 4 volumes (matching those of the printed version I guess?), all roughly the same size with 10 chapters each. I think they split it into 4 volumes just for convenience, after all it was published as a serial from start to finish.

[Lu]

I'm in! Hoping to pick up a copy this Friday. I first tried reading Jin Yong in 2008 and it was too ambitious, but I think I should be able to manage now.

[mouse]

I'm going to try and join after reading 白馬嘯西風. Hopefully I'll make it in time to catch up.

[Lu]

Alright, I've finished the first chapter. I was planning to summarise the first few chapters in the open and after that in spoiler tags, but so! much! happened! already! So I'll put most of my summary in spoiler tags already.

 

We meet sworn brothers 杨铁心 and 郭啸天, Shandong guys who moved south because they didn't want to live under the Jin. Because it's the Southern Song period, a few emperors in. The Song has left the North of China to the Jin, the emperor has bad advisors and cares mainly about refined cultural things instead of defending the country, or taking it back. Guo and Yang grumble about this. Also in the village lives 曲三, a crippled bar owner. Guo and Yang have each married a local wife and are pretty happy.

 

Spoiler

Both Yang and Guo are descended from famous 武侠 folk, and it turns out 曲三 is a pretty great fighter as well, crippled and all. One evening, a 道士 shows up. He fights with Yang and Guo, but they discover they're all on the same side, so they drink together and become friends. Then a group of black-clad bad guys appear for the 道士. He fights them and kills them all, and they continue to drink. The 道士 introduces himself as 丘处机, a famous 武侠 fighter as well, and on request he picks names for Yang and Guo's future children (both wives are pregnant): 杨康 and 郭靖. The two men also decide that their children will be sworn brothers, sworn sisters, or married to each other, depending on their sex. That night, Yang's wife, 包惜弱, finds a wounded black-clad man in the bushes behind their house, and true to her name she patches him up a bit, saving his life. The next morning he has disappeared.

 

A few months later, the police show up to bring Yang and Guo to court for treason. They fight, but both men are killed. Lots of chaos, we lose track of 郭啸天's wife 李萍. 包惜弱 finds herself in a tent (I think), saved by no other than the man she has patched up. He promises her he'll make sure her husband is buried and avenged, but for now they should go North, across the 长江, for her safety. Okay, she says.

 

A few words that I remember tripped me up (there are more, but I didn't systematically write them down):

 

女真 Jurchen

浑家 wife

捕快 sheriff-like figure

 

I'm pleasantly surprised by how well I can read this. I occasionally reach for Pleco, but most of the time I can just read on. And what a story, things are happening all! the! time! Not a paragraph goes by without a new development, something pushing the story forward.

 

Another interesting observation is that my laptop's character input system knows all the names I've typed up so far in that summary (except for 李萍).

[lordsuso]

Ok I also recently started this, and the first "sub-chapter" (where they introduce the historical background that Lu summarized above) has been absolutely brutal. It gets easier after that. I will share my vocabulary notes in a few days after I finish chapter 1. 

 

On 2/20/2024 at 9:52 AM, Lu said:

the emperor has bad advisors and cares mainly about refined cultural things instead of defending the country

I am wondering if things like these are historically accurate? Was the emperor really incompetent or is it just fiction? I know there are historical elements in 金庸 books but I wonder whether I should take them at face value.

[Lu]

On 2/22/2024 at 10:49 PM, lordsuso said:

I am wondering if things like these are historically accurate? Was the emperor really incompetent or is it just fiction?

I don't know much about the Song, but the part about how the Southern Song was very into refined culture is something I remember from my Chinese history classes. If I get around to it, I'll reread the Song part of the Chinese history book on my shelf.

[lordsuso]

将 is used multiple times in a way I had never seen before: action + 将 + direction/result complement (出来, 下去, etc).

 

This sentence also stumped me: 秋尽冬来，过一天冷似一天。Apparently 似 is also a preposition "than".

 

CHAPTER 1 SPOILERS

Spoiler

I was a bit surprised about how nonchalant Yang, Guo and the priest are after killing and burrying 10+ people. In the other wuxia stories I've read killing is a more jarring experience.

 

I am not sure I trust the Yanlie fellow, he seems fishy. He also says that he saw Yang die by a spear, but we don't know if that's true (the last time we saw Yang he passed out from an arrow, unless I misunderstood sth).

 

CHAPTER 1 VOCAB

Spoiler

proper nouns:

临安    臨安    línān    Lin'an, county-level city in Hangzhou 杭州[hángzhōu], Zhejiang
黄龙    黃龍    huánglóng    Huanglong county in Yan'an 延安[yánān], Shaanxi
绍兴    紹興    shàoxīng    Shaoxing, prefecture-level city in Zhejiang
汴梁    汴梁    biànliáng    old name of Kaifeng 開封|开封[kāifēng]
女真    女真    nǚzhēn    Jurchen, a Tungus ethnic group, predecessor of the Manchu ethnic group who founded the Later Jin Dynasty 後金|后金[hòujīn] and Qing Dynasty
秦桧    秦檜    qínhuì    Qin Hui (1090-1155 AD), Song Dynasty official said to have betrayed General Yue Fei 岳飛|岳飞[yuèfēi]
匈奴    匈奴    xiōngnú    Xiongnu, a people of the Eastern Steppe who created an empire that flourished around the time of the Qin and Han dynasties
高宗    高宗    gāozōng    Gaozong, the temple name of various emperors, notably 唐高宗[tánggāozōng], 宋高宗[sònggāozōng] and 清高宗[qīnggāozōng] (aka 李治[lǐzhì], 趙構|赵构[zhàogòu] and 乾隆[qiánlóng] respectively)
岳飞    岳飛    yuèfēi    Yue Fei (1103-1142), Song dynasty patriot and general
赵构    趙構    zhàogòu    Zhao Gou (1107-1187), personal name of the tenth Song Emperor Gaozong 宋高宗[sònggāozōng] (reigned 1127-1162)
辽东    遼東    liáodōng    Liaodong peninsula between Bohai 渤海 and Yellow sea; east and south of Liaoning province; east of Liao river 遼河|辽河
长春子    長春子    chángchūnzǐ   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiu_Chuji

 

other words:

羯鼓    羯鼓    jiégǔ    double-ended skin drum with a narrow waist
狼牙棒    狼牙棒    lángyábàng    wolf’s-teeth club (ancient weapon with spikes on one end and a long handle on the other)
了帐    了帳    liǎozhàng    settle a debt; square an account; bring sth to an end
抢步    搶步    qiǎngbù    疾行﹐紧步。
芳魂    芳魂    fānghún    志行高尚者的灵魂。 · 美人的魂魄。
切莫    切莫    qièmò    you must not; Please don't...; be sure not to; on no account (do it)
看官    看官    kànguān    (old) (used by novelists) dear readers; (used by storytellers) dear audience members
适才    適才    shìcái    just now; a moment ago (often used in the early vernacular)
遮莫    遮莫    zhēmò    尽管;任凭。 · 不论;不管。 · 即使;假如。 · 莫要;不必。 · 什么;为何。 · 莫非;或许。 · 大约;约摸。
怎生    怎生    zěnshēng    how; why
乌桕    烏桕    wūjiù    Tallow tree; Sapium sebiferum
罢免    罷免    bàmiǎn    to remove sb from their post; to dismiss
奸臣    奸臣    jiānchén    a treacherous court official; a minister who conspires against the state
昏君    昏君    hūnjūn    incapable ruler
胡虏    胡虜    húlǔ    the northern tribes, who used to invade China from time to time through the dynasties
宰相    宰相    zǎixiàng    prime minister (in feudal China)
打紧    打緊    dǎjǐn    important
拜把子    拜把子    bàibǎzi    to become sworn brothers
比邻    比鄰    bǐlín    neighbor; next-door neighbor; near; next to
浑家    渾家    húnjiā    wife
兀那    兀那    wùnà    犹那﹐那个。可指人﹑地或事。
怦怦    怦怦    pēngpēng    thumping sound · to be eager and anxious (to do sth) · faithful and upright
阑珊    闌珊    lánshān    coming to an end; waning
卷轴    卷軸    juànzhóu    scroll (book or painting)
委实    委實    wěishí    indeed; really (very much so)
韬略    韜略    tāolüè    military strategy; military tactics

匝地    匝地    zādì    (literary) all over the ground; everywhere
酒肴    酒殽    jiǔyáo    wine and meat; food and drink
沽酒    沽酒    gūjiǔ    to buy wine
瓦罐    瓦罐    wǎguàn    earthen jar
凑趣    湊趣    còuqù    to comply in order to please others; to accommodate sb else's taste; to make fun of
蓑衣    蓑衣    suōyī    woven rush raincoat
甫    甫    fǔ    (classical) barely; just; just now
鄙夷    鄙夷    bǐyí    to despise; to look down upon; despicable
恁地    恁地    nèndì    (dialect) so; like that; (in) that way
鼠辈    鼠輩    shǔbèi    a scoundrel; a bad chap
箭杆    箭桿    jiàngǎn    arrow shaft
殉国    殉國    xùnguó    to die for one's country
搠    搠    shuò    daub; thrust
缨    纓    yīng    tassel; sth shaped like a tassel (e.g. a leaf etc); ribbon
回马枪    回馬槍    huímǎqiāng    sudden thrust (that catches the opponent off guard)
曾祖    曾祖    zēngzǔ    great-grandfather (father of one's paternal grandfather)
卓绝    卓絕    zhuójué    unsurpassed; extreme; extraordinary
热肠    熱腸    rècháng    warmhearted; enthusiastic
虎虎    虎虎    hǔhǔ    vigorous; formidable; strong
拨转    撥轉    bōzhuǎn    to turn; to turn around; to transfer (funds etc)
坐索    坐索    zuòsuǒ    stay in sb's house demanding payment of a debt
三脚猫    三腳貓    sānjiǎomāo    jack of all trades
乌木    烏木    wūmù    ebony
窃据    竊據    qièjù    to usurp; to claim unjustly; to expropriate
文定    文定    wéndìng    a betrothal; an engagement ceremony; to become betrothed
蓦    驀    mò    leap on or over; suddenly
体惜    體惜    tǐxī    to empathize; to understand and sympathize
过堂    過堂    guòtáng    to appear in court for trial (old); (of Buddhist monks) to have a meal together in the temple hall
手谕    手諭    shǒuyù    (dated) personally written orders (or instructions)
连珠    連珠    liánzhū    joined as a string of pearls; in rapid succession; alignment
觔斗    觔斗    jīndǒu    a somersault
危殆    危殆    wēidài    grave danger; in jeopardy; in a critical condition
拖曳    拖曳    tuōyè    to pull; to drag; to haul
某甲    某甲    mǒujiǎ    somebody; certain individual
笑谑    笑謔    xiàoxuè    to tease; to make fun of
畿    畿    jī    territory around the capital
殉    殉    xùn    to be buried with the dead; to die for a cause
相强    相強    xiāngqiǎng    force; compel; impose
疑窦    疑竇    yídòu    (literary) doubts; suspicions; cause for suspicion
官人    官人    guānrén    有官职的人。 · 宋朝对一般男子的尊称。 · 妻子称呼丈夫（多见于早期白话）。
隐僻    隱僻    yǐnpì    remote; isolated · obscure and rare
投店    投店    tóudiàn    to stop at a hostel
故世    故世    gùshì    to die; to pass away
不第    不第    bùdì    to fail the civil service examination (in imperial China)
当口    當口    dāngkǒu    at that moment; just then
刎    刎    wěn    cut across (throat)
漱洗    漱洗    shùxǐ    to rinse the mouth and wash the face
服丧    服喪    fúsāng    in mourning

 

[Lu]

On 2/24/2024 at 11:36 PM, lordsuso said:

CHAPTER 1 VOCAB

I am amazed how many of those words I don't know, did not look up, look pretty useful in understanding the text, and that I despite all that didn't miss.

[honglam]

@lordsuso I've read through the word list and I think most are uncommon concepts, concepts of historical China and usages of Early Mandarin, which is quite common in old novels and old-styled novels. Here are some other things I found.

1. The "Dynasty part", I guess, should be merged with the "proper noun" part. Or you can make it as "places' name", "people's name" and "other proper noun".

2. For places' name, Historical names of a city or county may be different with their Modern names. And those historical names may be used as the modern name of administrative region of lower levels. The background of the story is 宋. So 臨安 should be describe as "old name of 杭州" in this context as well.

3. It should be mentioned that Jurchen is renamed as Manchu by 愛新覺羅·皇太極(Aisin Gioro Hung Taiji) in 1635. So describing Jurchen as the ancestors of Manchu people is a bit strange. The ethnic group is named 女真 even during the first Emperor of 後金/清, 愛新覺羅·努爾哈赤(Aisin Gioro Nurgaci)'s reign.

4. 黃龍. I've never read 射鵰英雄傳 but I think 黃龍 may be no place name sometimes.

5. You listed 李治, 趙構 and 乾隆. I think I'd clarify one point here. 乾隆 is actually a reign title(wiki named it "Era name"). The name of the emperor is 愛新覺羅·弘曆/爱新觉罗·弘历(Aisin Gioro Hung-Lii). The emperors of 明 and 清 tend to use only one reign title/era name during his reign era(except 朱祁鎮), so people tend to address them by their era name.

6. 昏君 is more likely to be those fatuous emperors rather than merely the incapables.

7. 沽酒 means both buying wines and selling wines, according to the context.

8. I think "Jack of all trade" should be 萬金油. 三腳貓 tend to be those who have some degree of certain skill but don't master it(or to say, don't have real knowledges) so they cannot finish some hard task.

9. I think "throat" shouldn't be put in the brackets. 刎 is use to describe the very action of cut across one's throat, not other part. Sometimes people will put a not quite meaningful 頸 as an object to put it 刎頸. But without 頸 it still has the same meaning.

10. 鼠輩 means that someone's social status is as low as mouses, used as appellation for humiliation. Both scoundrel and bad chap cannot describe the exact meaning I think.

11. 韜略 can be used to describe strategies in struggle, which doesn't necessarily have the meaning of military. 

[lordsuso]

@honglam thanks a lot for those clarifications! The definitions come from the CEDICT dictionary when available (otherwise from a Chinese-Chinese dictionary that I downloaded a while ago and don't remember the name of).

 

On 2/25/2024 at 5:57 PM, honglam said:

The emperors of 明 and 清 tend to use only one reign title/era name during his reign era

 

Does this mean that in other dynasties the emperors have multiple era names?

 

@Lu I still struggle with that, I am not good at filling the gaps so I tend to check absolutely everything (particularly in the first few chapters of every book). I find it extra hard with Jin Yong because he uses so many single-character words that I struggle to parse the sentences into words, let alone guess their meanings.

 

 

 

[honglam]

On 2/26/2024 at 2:19 AM, lordsuso said:

Does this mean that in other dynasties the emperors have multiple era names?

Yes, especially for emperors in 唐 dynasty. A typical example is 武则天, empress of 武周(mere named 周 during her reign. People called it 武周 to distinguish from a former 周 dynasty. In history study this dynasty is generally considered as a part of 唐 dynasty.). She used 17 era names:

光宅(Sep. 684 - Dec. 684)

垂拱(685 - 688)

永昌(Jan. 689 - Nov. 689)

載初(Nov. 689 - Aug. 690)

天授(Sep. 690 - Mar. 692)

如意(Apr. 692 - Sep. 692)

長壽(Sep. 692 - May 694)

延載(May 694 - Dec. 694)

證聖(Jan. 695 - Sep. 695)

天冊萬歲(Sep. 695 - Nov. 695)

萬歲登封(Dec. 695 - Mar. 696)

萬歲通天(Mar. 696 - Sep. 697)

神功(Sep. 697 - Dec. 697)

聖歷(Jan. 698 - May 700)

久視(May 700 - Jan. 701)

大足(Jan. 701 - Oct. 701)

長安(Oct. 701 - Dec. 704)

Actually, 光宅, 垂拱, 永昌, 載初 is the era name of 李旦(唐睿宗). 武則天 was enthroned in Oct. 690, yet she grasped the highest power during this period. Even though she has used more than ten era names.

As I've mentioned, the background of the story is set in 宋. Emperors of 宋 tended to use more than one era names as well.

[honglam]

BTW there is one emperor of 明 dynasty that has used 2 era names. 朱祁鎮(明 英宗) was enthroned in 1427. His first era name, 正統, was used between 1427 and 1449. In 1449 he was captured in the war with the Oirat people.(瓦剌, 斡亦剌惕 or 衛拉特. 瓦剌 is the Chinese translation during 明. 衛拉特 is a modern translation.) His brother was enthroned then as the emperor. Several years later 朱祁鎮 was sent back and regrasped the power, thus he used 天順 as his second era name. People tend to use 天順帝(i.d. the emperor of 天順) to address him, but sometimes 正統帝 is used as well.

[lordsuso]

thanks @honglam that's very cool, and also very confusing haha

[lordsuso]

Chapter 2 has tons of action, which means it was very hard to follow. I find this book noticeably harder than 白馬嘯西風. Speaking of action, I never know for sure when a blow actually lands, like this sentence for instance: 两件暗器一先一后往他飞到。 To me the 到 means they landed, but in this case he avoided them. The only times I'm sure a blow landed is with the result complements 入 and 中.

 

CHAPTER 2 VOCAB

Spoiler

proper names
苏东坡    蘇東坡    sūdōngpō    Su Dongpo, another name for Su Shi 蘇軾|苏轼 (1037-1101), northern Song writer and calligrapher
伍子胥    伍子胥    wǔzǐxū    Wu Zixu (-484 BC), powerful politician, famous as destitute refugee begging in the town of Wu
孙武    孫武    sūnwǔ    Sun Wu, also known as Sun Tzu 孫子|孙子[sūnzǐ] (c. 500 BC, dates of birth and death uncertain), general, strategist and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period (700-475 BC), believed to be the author of the “Art of War” 孫子兵法|孙子兵法[sūnzǐbīngfǎ], one of the Seven Military Classics of ancient China 武經七書|武经七书[wǔjīngqīshū]
伏羲    伏羲    fúxī    Fuxi or Fu Hsi, legendary Chinese emperor, trad. 2852-2738 BC, mythical creator of fishing, trapping and writing
天竺    天竺    tiānzhú    the Indian subcontinent (esp. in Tang or Buddhist context)
暹罗    暹羅    xiānluó    Siam (former name of Thailand)
葛洪    葛洪    gěhóng    Ge Hong (283-363), Jin dynasty Daoist and alchemist, author of 抱樸子|抱朴子[bàopǔzǐ]
燕京    燕京    yānjīng    Yanjing, an old name for Beijing; capital of Yan at different periods
越王勾践    越王勾踐    yuèwánggōujiàn    King Gou Jian of Yue (c. 470 BC), sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons 春秋五霸
吴王阖闾    吳王闔閭    wúwánghélǘ    King Helu of Wu (-496 BC, reigned 514-496 BC), sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons 春秋五霸; also called 吳王闔廬|吴王阖庐
吴越    吳越    wúyuè    states of south China in different historical periods; proverbially perpetual arch-enemies
宁宗    寧宗    níngzōng    Emperor Ningzong of Southern Song (1168-1224)

 

other words
惫懒    憊懶    bèilǎn    naughty; mischievous person
小二    小二    xiǎoèr    waiter
元配    元配    yuánpèi    first wife
拐带    拐帶    guǎidài    to kidnap (women or children); abduct; carry off
泼皮    潑皮    pōpí    (dated) hooligan; hoodlum; ruffian
衙役    衙役    yáyì    bailiff of feudal yamen
知府    知府    zhīfǔ    prefectural magistrate (during Tang to Qing times)
脓包    膿包    nóngbāo    pustule; (fig.) worthless person; a good-for-nothing; useless weakling
蹂躏    蹂躪    róulìn    to ravage; to devastate; to trample on; to violate
蹙眉    蹙眉    cùméi    to frown
扬长    揚長    yángcháng    with swagger; ostentatiously; to make the best use of one's strengths
结纳    結納    jiénà    to make friends; to form friendship
女儿红    女兒紅    nǚérhóng    kind of Chinese wine
拾级    拾級    shèjí    to go up or down stairs step by step
多蒙    多蒙    duōméng    致谢之词。蒙受，承蒙。
干休    干休    gānxiū    to let matters rest
酒保    酒保    jiǔbǎo    barman; bartender
衲子    衲子    nàzi    a monk, especially a peripatetic monk
和事老    和事老    héshìlǎo    peacemaker (esp. one who is more concerned with stopping the bickering than settling the issue)
前愆    前愆    qiánqiān    (literary) past faults
遗孀    遺孀    yíshuāng    widow
坟起    墳起    fénqǐ    凸起，高起。
没来由    沒來由    méiláiyóu    without any reason; for no reason
兼人    兼人    jiānrén    胜过他人;能力倍于他人。 · 谓兼并别国。
拟待    擬待    nǐdài    犹打算。
劲卒    勁卒    jìngzú    elite soldiers; a crack force
炼丹    煉丹    liàndān    to concoct pills of immortality
道藏    道藏    dàozàng    Daoist scripture
祝祷    祝禱    zhùdǎo    to pray
践    踐    jiàn    to fulfill (a promise); to tread; to walk
粉头    粉頭    fěntóu    prostitute (old); crafty character (in opera)
指日    指日    zhǐrì    犹不日。谓为期不远。
见教    見教    jiànjiào    I have been enlightened by your teaching (humble)
酣战    酣戰    hānzhàn    to fight lustily
角力    角力    juélì    to wrestle; (fig.) to lock horns; to tussle; to wrangle
铁菱    鐵菱    tiělíng    (military) caltrop (spiky metal device laid on the ground to create a hazard for enemy horses or troops in ancient times)
马步    馬步    mǎbù    (martial arts) horse stance (with legs wide apart, as when riding a horse)
虎口    虎口    hǔkǒu    tiger's den; dangerous place; the web between the thumb and forefinger of a hand
沙弥    沙彌    shāmí    novice Buddhist monk
竟尔    竟爾    jìng’ěr    犹竟然。

 

[Lu]

On 3/2/2024 at 6:38 PM, lordsuso said:

Speaking of action, I never know for sure when a blow actually lands, like this sentence for instance: 两件暗器一先一后往他飞到。 To me the 到 means they landed, but in this case he avoided them. The only times I'm sure a blow landed is with the result complements 入 and 中.

I agree, I also had to read sentences like this twice. Same with deaths: After that big fight in the monastery, I'm starting to realise that the only way I can be sure a person is actually dead is if they are clearly described as having been wounded in a way that can only be fatal, preferably followed by a statement that this person is indeed dead. So, bangs his head against a pillar and has his head break and the brains spilling out, followed by the statement that he is dead: definitely dead. Head is hanging from pole: definitely dead. Poisoned, cut, hurt by spear: quite possibly still alive! Between that and what you said in your earlier post, I start to think that 杨铁心 is actually not dead at all, as I previously thought.

 

Meanwhile I'm on to chapter three, in which 李萍 turns out to be extremely badass, and Jin Yong turns out to not really understand how childbirth works. But who cares! Badass!

[杰娃娃]

Just tuning in to say that I started reading the book recently, and while I found the first half of the first chapter to be a bit of a struggle, I flew through the second half and went straight onto the second chapter. I'm really enjoying it so far, but I want to finish the other Chinese book I'm reading before I'm able to dedicate more time to this book.