The sexual tension between me and writing a fanfic in which Bingge, fresh back from Bingmei's timeline spends every waking moment in the cave where he's keeping Shen Jiu imprisoned much to his harem's confusion and anger and he's angry and resentful and he's looking at this face that is so similar to the one that kissed him before and he wants it too, he realizes belatedly, but there's this darkness that clouds his mindset and that confuses his thoughts. Like, he wants Shen Qingqiu but he also wants to hurt him, he wants to ravage him, to possess him, to mark him as his, and his hands were so gentle and he is still haunted by the way they brushed his hair and he burned those hands along with the arms in this universe and it's already too late, and he's resentful to Shen Jiu because he let himself fall so low and he was too weak to keep his arm so he wants to put him back together and punish him a little, so he scours the demon realm and sew him back together with the limbs of demons he slaughtered - and only the finest limbs for Shizun mind you - and in the process he laughs off Shen Jiu's pain, while stroking those slender hands saying something along the line of "Shizun has such beautiful hands. Aren't you glad this disciple found you such beautiful hands? Aren't you grateful? But you hate demons, of course this would be unbearable to you. You hate it don't you? Does it hurt? Shizun, tell me, does it hurt?" while kissing his fingers and Shen Jiu is wincing, unable to look at him, struck by the vicious tone in Bingge's voice, and the refined cruelty with which he addresses him, and the discomfort of those new limbs and the pain of it, like they could fall at any given moment - and of course, knowing that the only way to keep those is through dual cultivation and of course Bingge knows that too and he intends Shen Jiu to stroke his hair every day with those new limbs. It goes on for a long humiliating and painful year, until Bingge wants Shen Qingqiu to call him, to say something because he misses his voice, so he goes on to find him a tongue, and when he does it's a human tongue and Shen Qingqiu begs him to kill him, because he gets it, Binghe hates him and his vengeance is complete, so can he just kill him out of mercy? And that is when Bingge realizes that no, he doesn't want that, because what would the world be without him to hate (love), and he refuses and seal his tongue, vowing that the next time Shen Qingqiu will utter something, it will be to tell him "Binghe, I love you."
Hi I love your zhaoxie posts! Feel free to ignore this if it’s a dumb question (I haven’t finished woh yet), but why does Zhao Jing call Xie’er “barbarian”?
This is actually a very interesting question! The answer itself is short, but it also brings up some aspects of the Chinese culture that may be relevant for better understanding World of Honor and Priest’s Lord Seventh, as well as as other Chinese media where “southern barbarians” appear.
Very short answer: Zhao Jing call Xie’er “barbarian” because that’s who he is.
In the original Zhao Jing calls Xie’er 小南蛮子 xiao nanmanzi which can be translated as “little southern barbarian”.
Nanman, or nanmanzi - this is how non-Han people of the Southern China and Vietnam were called by the Han Chinese in the old times.
Nan 南 means “south”, man 蛮 means “southern barbarian” (as an ethnonym, or exonym, to be precise), and also "wild, barbaric; rude, arrogant; headstrong, tyrannical” - the Han Chinese considered themselves more civilized that other nations so they looked at their neighbors with condescending contempt, same as people of the Roman Empire looked at “barbarians” on their borders.
If you read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or played Dynasty Warriors, Meng Huo, Zhurong - they are Nanman.
Nanmanzi was also a derogatory name for those Han Chinese who lived to the south of Yangtze. E.g., during the split into Northern and Southern Song dynasties that’s how the southerners were referred to by the northerners.
小南蛮子 xiao nanmanzi is an affectionate nickname which Zhao Jing uses for Xie’er. At least once he also shouts it when angry, clearly not meaning it as a term of endearment. So, depending on intonation, the connotation may change from ”oh, my cute little southern barbarian” to “you, stupid little southern barbarian”.
I’d like to stress that practically all the time Zhao Jing is very warm and gentle towards Xie’er, calling him by the diminutive form of his national name (Xiejieliubo -> Xie’er, like John -> Johnny) or using 小南蛮子 xiao nanmanzi as a term of affection. These nuances were lost in the translations, I believe.
In anger, Zhao Jing either calls Xie’er by his full name (Xiejieliubo) or uses xiao nanmanzi as a derogatory term.
Here are the related topics that I write about below the cut:
1. Barbarians in the Chinese culture: Sino-barbarian dichotomy, and the Four Barbarians concept: Di, Yi, Man, Rong.
2. Miao (Hmong) people and the Chinese folklore about gu 蛊: the relation between “southern barbarians” and poison.
3. Why you should never blindly trust Google Translate: Nanjiang =/= Southern Xinjiang, “southern barbarians” =/= Uyghur.
4. What does Xie’er’s hairstyle have with him being a “barbarian”?
1. Barbarians in the Chinese culture: Sino-barbarian dichotomy, and the Four Barbarians concept: Di, Yi, Man, Rong.
The ancient Chinese mytho-geography and cosmography was based on a round heaven and a square earth. In the center lived the Han Chinese. They were surrounded by barbarians: Beidi, or Northern Di - in the north, Dongxi, or Eastern Xi - in the east, Nanman, or Southern Man - in the south, and Xirong, or Western Rong - in the West.
The anthropologist Mikhail Kryukov writes:
Evidently, the barbarian tribes at first had individual names, but during about the middle of the first millennium B.C., they were classified schematically according to the four cardinal points of the compass. This would, in the final analysis, mean that once again territory had become the primary criterion of the we-group, whereas the consciousness of common origin remained secondary. What continued to be important were the factors of language, the acceptance of certain forms of material culture, the adherence to certain rituals, and, above all, the economy and the way of life. Agriculture was the only appropriate way of life for the [Chinese].
(Cited from Wikipedia.)
The important thing is that this is not ethnic, but a territorial classification. The ethnicities that composed the Four Barbarians constantly changed: some were incorporated into the Chinese Empire, adopted its language and customs and were no longer considered barbarians, some were fully assimilated by the Han Chinese. Due to migrations, new people moved to the Chinese borders, and, as the borders of China grew, it constantly came in contact with new ethnicities.
2. Miao (Hmong) people and the Chinese folklore about gu 蛊: the relation between “southern barbarians” and poison.
Important: everything that is described below has no relation to the real beliefs and religious practices of the Miao and other ethnic minorities of Southern China! What I’m talking here are only superstitions and the Han-Chinese folklore.
In the old times, the south beyond the Yangtze was a place of exile where no one went voluntarily: there were diseases from which the northerners didn’t have immunity, swarms of mosquitoes, poisonous insects and reptiles, mountains covered by impassable jungles, hostile "barbarian" tribes, an unbearably hot and humid climate... Being exiled to the South meant practically a death sentence. Since most people died from various diseases, like malaria, which couldn’t be diagnosed back then, people believed that evil sorcery and poison were at work. That’s how South - and ethnic minorities of the South - eventually came to be associated with poison.
Evil sorcery related to poisonous insects and reptiles is called gu 蛊, or 巫蛊 wu gu - shamanic gu.
Gu usually refers to: 1) poisonous insects; 2) evil magic associated with poisons and curses. There are other meanings as well but these 2 are the most common.
The character “gu” 蛊 (or 蠱, in the traditional Chinese) consists of elements 虫 (or 蟲) - “insect”, and 皿 - “pot”:
To acquire the gu poison, one had to put poisonous snakes, millipedes, scorpions, toads and spiders in a pot and leave it closed for a long time. The creatures inside killed and devoured each other until there was only one left. It was believed that this survivor absorbed the poisons of defeated and eaten enemies and turned into the most poisonous creature in the world. It could be used as a source of the gu poison - the main weapon of black magicians and sorcerers.
According to some legends, the creature-gu was for the sorcerer something like a familiar for the European witches. With its help, one could inflict diseases or malicious curses on enemies - or keep the house clean and tidy. If a gu-creature was fed small children (adults were also ok), it defecated in gold and silver, making its owner rich. It was said that in the South it was customary for families to rely on a gu-creature for the prosperity of the household.
For some reason, the Miao (Hmong) people who live in Southern China, in Vietnam and in some other countries of South-Eastern Asia, came to be especially strongly associated with gu.
The Han Chinese believed that each Miao wielded a sinister sorcery-gu. Miao women were considered the most knowledgeable in gu witchcraft. Men-travelers were warned against romance with Miao women: they would seduce, then secretly add gu to the food and make their lover promise to come back. Woe to the one who breaks this promise: the slow-acting poison will mercilessly kill the unfaithful lover. Travelers to the southern lands were even advised to use silver chopsticks: supposedly their tips would blacken if gu poison is added to food. The fear of gu was so strong that even in the beginning of the 20 century in China the Miao were forbidden to visit the markets.
That’s why, if there is a “southern barbarian” in the Chinese media, most likely he/she will be associated with poison. Is there is an expert in poison - most likely that will be someone from the South.
Also that’s why, in the Chinese WoH fandom, there is a fanon that Xie’er is Miao: a “southern barbarian” who uses poisons (and with character “scorpion”, 蝎 xie, in his name) inevitably draws an association with Miao and with all the gu-folklore.
In this case, Wuxi, Du Pusa (as a poisonous femme-fatale) and Qin Song (since his hairstyle and make-up are very similar to Xie’er) should be Miao as well.
Btw, the Chinese fandom, at least in Zhaoxie fanfics, is very creative with how gu creatures can be used: as an aphrodisiac, or a mind-control device (like a Brain Slug), or a gu creature transforms into tentacles that obey the gu master (tentacle porn ensues), or what not. There is a cute fic about Xie’er’s childhood, where he learns how to grow various types of gu: I still can’t get over Zhao Jing stroking Xie’er’s pet - a fluffy poisonous many-eyed black tentacle monstrosity - and finding it cute; the fic is in progress; I hope it WON'T end up with tentacle porn!
In Poison of the Human Panacea swarms of gu insects live inside the body of their master.
Gu are fun! Take note, fanfic-writers! xD
3. Why you should never blindly trust Google Translate: Nanjiang =/= Southern Xinjiang, “southern barbarians” =/= Uyghur.
I watched WoH with Rakuten Viki subtitles, as I believe, many other people, since their translation was the 1st available back in March 2021. There is one particularly sad and important error in their translation. The same error was also made in the English translation of Lord Seventh, but there it was corrected eventually. I don’t know it this error is present in the Netflix translation of WoH or in the English translation of Faraway Wanderers.
What error is it?
The country from which Wuxi and Xie’er are from is called Nanjiang 南疆 in the original. It is translated as “Southern Border”, so it’s clearly an exonym invented by the Han Chinese for a “southern barbarian” state or a tribal alliance at their southern borders.
However, if you put 南疆 in Google Translate, the result will be “Southern Xinjiang” - the southern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) where the Uyghur Muslim genocide is currently taking place. The Viki subbers used this translation which is absolutely incorrect and misleading!
Yes, 南疆 indeed can be translated as “Southern Xinjiang” - but not in this case. In the book it is said several times that Nanjiang is in the south, it’s climate depicted as humid, its landscapes - as rivers, woods and mountains. In the tv-series the action takes place south of the Yangtze - while Xinjiang is on the opposite side of the modern China:
Not to mention that the name “Xinjiang” came to be only in 1884, after this territory came under the rule of the Chinese Qing dynasty in the 18th century.
Because of this translation, initially I thought that Xie’er is meant to be a Turk! I thought it was strange because his character absolutely doesn’t fit the archetype of a Northern nomad in the Chinese tv-dramas. And why is he called a “little southern barbarian” if he is from the North?! And then Wuxi and Jing Beiyuan appeared, and I was like: “Wait! How long did it take for you two to travel from Xinjiang to Jiangnan?! How did you manage to come so quickly?!”
(Jiangnan 江南 - this is how the region south of the Yangtze is called, where most of the action of WoH takes place. The lakes of the Five Lakes Alliance are located there.)
Perhaps, I wasn’t the only one who was confused by this translation.
Xinjiang and the Southern China are complete opposite in terms of landscape.
Southern China:
Xinjiang:
And Southern Xinjiang in particular:
Quite a difference, eh?
Xinjiang: steppes, drought, flocks of sheep, horse breeding, the ancient cities of the Silk Road, nomadic Turks and Mongols in sheepskin coats - brute but honest warriors.
Nanjiang (Southern China): wet and impenetrable subtropical forests, poisonous snakes and other creatures, mosquitoes, fever, sinister southern witchcraft and mysterious tattooed southerners.
As an illustration of cultural archetypes, here are portraits of southern barbarians from the game Romance of the Three Kingdoms:
And here are northern barbarians, nomadic people living at the northern borders of China:
So, Xiejieliubo and Wuxi are absolutely not from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, they are neither Turks, nor Mongols, nor any other Great Steppe nomads.
4. What does Xie’er’s hairstyle have with him being a “barbarian”?
In the Chinese cinematograph, the stereotype “braids = barbarian” is widely used. If you need to visually label a character as a “barbarian”, that’s easy - just braid his hair into small braids! 1) It’s stylish and beautiful; 2) it’s strikingly different from the traditional Han hairstyles.
Why braids are associated with barbarians?
Historically, most of the tribes of the Great Steppe wore braids. For example, Cumans (Polovtsy, or Kipchak) wore 1-4 braids that they put for protection into special cases made of leather or felt with metal ornaments.
This is also how the Xiongnu were described during the Han era. Later the enemies of the Tuoba-Xianbei (Tabgach) called them 索头虏 - "savages with braided hair".
What exactly were the Xiongnu or Xianbei braids - one, two, many small ones, or a lock of hair on a partially shaved head which could be braided or not, like a Tuvan kezhege, a Ukranian chub, a Turkic aidar, or a Manchurian bianfa (below) - unclear.
Here is a Tang Dynasty figurine of a hu (North-Western) barbarian from the Metropolitan Museum (7th century). The description on the museum's website says that he has two braids, but there is no rear view:
Many small braids apparently were also worn by some of the Great Steppe people. Here is a statuette from a burial on the territory of the mixed Han-Xianbei state of Northern Qi (571):
With their free-lying braids, the Steppe nomads were strikingly different from the Han Chinese, who wore their hair in buns at the top of their heads.
That’s how the stereotype "braided hair = barbarian" came to be. It has existed since ancient times and is still very popular: if in the movie it is necessary to label a character as a "barbarian", not necessary a Steppe nomad (like in the case of Xie’er and Wuxi in WoH), this character's hair will be braided in small braids, sometimes even in cornrows:
In addition to braids, by the way, the Steppe people had more interesting hairstyles. For example, the Khitan shaved their heads, leaving strands at the temples and behind the ears. Later this custom was inherited by the Mongols.
Among the Turkic people (Kazakh, Kyrgyz), bangs or unshaven strands over the forehead (kekil) meant a young, not yet married man, who doesn’t have his own children. Men with kekil weren’t taken to dangerous missions in order not to endanger their bloodline.
Interestingly, it’s very similar to the male hairstyles of the Edo period in Japan, when the hairstyles of young men also differed from the hairstyles of adult men by an unshaven locks above the forehead. Below - two young men, then a woman, a young man and an adult man - for comparison.
The Chinese also braided hair, at least in some eras - but only as an addition to the bun. The bun was always obligatory, until the conquest of China by the Manchus in the 17th century.
Here are the hairstyles of the soldiers of the Terracotta Army (c. 200 BC) - and their imitation in Nirvana in Fire:
Important: the Chinese have never worn freely lying hair, ponytails, bangs, etc. At least in pre-Manchu time. Only hair buns. Most modern TV shows don’t depict old hairstyles correctly.
On top of the buns, Chinese men wore a headdress according to their official rank and status, of which there were a great many styles. Those without official rank tied a piece of cloth around their buns or wore a simple hat. Loose hair meant that this person is either a "barbarian", or a tramp who fell so low that can’t even look after his appearance, smth like this.
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