Shan You Mu Xi (山有木兮) Translation Project Page
Translated by: cyrrene
Original: JJWXC by Feitian Yexian (非天夜翔)
Translations hosted on: Chickengege.org. Access requires Proof of Purchase. Please read the instructions, then fill out this form. Everyone is welcome to submit. If you have been verified in the Secret Code discord, please select Verified at the end of the first section and your form will be fast-tracked for approval.
Total Chapters: 200 (+3 extras as of now)
Other links: Glossary, Map, Character List | NU
Synopsis:
There are trees in the mountains and there are branches on the trees,
I adore you, oh! You do not know.
- from “Song of the Yue Boatman”
Hundreds of rivers converge, the thousand-mile rise of Taishan’s bluffs, and a myriad of waves surge in the Eastern Sea.
All beneath the heavens, is the extent of the ruler’s land. All within the territory of a state, are each the ruler’s subjects.
Beacons light up all over the Divine Land, danger lurks in every corner of the State of Yong.
After reuniting with Geng Shu, Jiang Heng begins to put all his effort into assisting the ruler of Yong State’s plans, but he unexpectedly falls into perilous situations time and time again. Geng Shu, who always accompanied Jiang Heng by his side, is acutely aware that the various mishaps all appear to be closely related to Jiang Heng’s past—was Jiang Heng really his own blood-related younger brother?
These two extraordinary young men wander throughout the country from state to state, experiencing trials, however, the truth obtained uncovered a cruel and unexpected past that couldn’t be erased. The lingering heroic spirits each possess their own unfulfilled long-cherished wishes. With the great Divine Land【1】 finally unified, how would they confront their own choices of the future?
The seven stars of the Northern Sky【2】 bore witness to the end of a stormy period of history,
Until the ruins once again transform into the richly ornamented tall towers of a manor.
When the blazing city lights languidly flicker,
Those people and events worth engraving into memory
Will forever be preserved within every stroke of ink in a painting of this vast expanse of rivers and mountains.
Table of Contents (Translation Progress):
*Note: Progress may show future unlinked chapters to what is currently posted. Translations for those chapters have been drafted, but final edits are pending and unreleased.
Prologue: Cry of the Qin Resounds Across the Realm (琴鸣天下)
— The blind qin master sat in the midst of the hall, playing the qin and performing the last song of his life.
001 | 002
Volume 1: Ambush from Ten Sides (十面埋伏【3】)
— While within this magnificent and eternally vast universe…sometimes, at just the slightest turn, loved ones would thereafter be separated in life as if in death.
003 | 004 | 005 | 006 | 007
008 | 009 | 010 | 011 | 012
013 | 014 | 015 | 016 | 017
018 | 019 | 020 | 021 | 022
Volume 2: Let Me Return! (归去来辞【4】)
— “If Jiang Heng is still alive, we’ll definitely meet again.”
023 | 024 | 025 | 026 | 027
028 | 029 | 030 | 031 | 032
033 | 034 | 035 | 036 | 037
038 | 039 | 040 | 041 | 042
043 | 044 | 045 | 046
Volume 3: Wild Geese Alight Upon the Sandbank (落雁平沙【5】)
— High above the city gates, that ancient bell conferred to the Ye clan by the Son of Heaven of Jin rang with a thunderous clangor. What night is tonight? The prince has returned to his country.
047 | 048 | 049 | 050 | 051
052 | 053 | 054 | 055 | 056
057 | 058 | 059 | 060 | 061
062,| 063 | 064 | 065 | 066
067 | 068 | 069 | 070 | 071
072 | 073 | 074 | 075
Volume 4: The Phoenix Seeks His Mate (凤求凰【6】) / Guangling Melody (广陵散【7】)
— People will die someday, but their torch will pass on to successors and in so doing, it will burn across the land forever. There is bound to be someone to finish what must be done.
076 | 077 | 078 | 079 | 080
081 | 082 | 083 | 084 | 085
086 | 087 | 088 | 089 | 090
091 | 092 | 093 | 094 | 095
096 | 097 | 098 | 099 | 100
101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105
106 | 107 | 108 | 109
Ex 1
->Volumes 5-7
Footnotes:
【1】 Shenzhou (神州) is an ancient name for China.
【2】 The Chinese constellation focused on in this novel is the Xuanwu (玄武, or Black Tortoise). It is both a god as well as a constellation in ancient China regarded as one of the four symbols. When referring to the constellation, it’s also known as the ‘seven stars of the Northern dipper’ (北斗七星).
【3】 Ambush from Ten Sides 《十面埋伏》 is the name of a classical pipa song, and is about the Battle of Gaixia when Xiang Yu was defeated by Liu Bang.
【4】 The title of Volume 2 is the name of a poem written by the poet Tao Yuanming of the Six Dynasties period when he resigned from office to live in the countryside. There is an article with a translation and more detail about it here.
【5】 There is a qin piece called 雁落平沙 “Wild Geese Alight Upon the Sandbank”, evoking the scene of thousands of wild geese calling while landing and flying off from the sandbanks.
【6】Volume 4 of the web novel and the simplified physical print have different names. The web novel version is titled after 《The Male Phoenix Seeks its Mate - 凤求凰》, a famous qin melody with lyrics that depicts one of the most well-known love stories.
【7】 The simplified physical version is named after 《Guangling Melody - 广陵散》, a well-known qin melody associated with the qin-master Ji Kang (嵇康, 223–262)) as well as the famous story of 《Nie Zheng Assassinates the Han King - 聂政刺韩王》 from the Warring States period which was inspired by a story for the same figure in Sima Qian’s《Records of the Grand Historian - 史记》.
