hello, can you explain cwn's titles? how did he get them and what are the implications?
Ooooh! I have been meaning to look into this so thank you for asking and making me get off my lazy butt.
So CWN, according to baidu, has also been called: 楚宗师 (Chu Zongshi)、玉衡长老 (Elder Yuheng)、玉衡 (Yuheng)、师尊 (Shizun)、神仙哥哥 (Fairy/Immortal- gege)、恩公哥哥 (Savior-gege)、仙君 (Xianjun/Immortal [a formal way to refer to a cultivator, very polite])、夏司逆 (Xia Sini)、夏师弟 (Xia-Shidi)、晚宁 (Wanning [wtf baidu, this is obvious])、宝贝 (baobei [mo ran is a dog, no class, barf... maybe bark?])、小白菜 (little cabbage)、楚仙君 (Chu Xianjun)、西子芙蕖 (Lotus Xishi [1], referring to his beauty and his red lotus home)，临安楚郎 (Young Chu of Linan [young indicates a male youth... but that’s not an easy thing to translate])，and ‘晚夜玉衡，北斗仙尊’ (Yuheng of the night sky, the Beidou Immortal). [Note: i translated all of these without having read the rynn/suika translation so if i’m misaligned, oh, well. It’ll be good enough.]
Since most things cwn is called are self explanatory (feel free to send a followup if you disagree), I’ll focus on ‘晚夜玉衡，北斗仙尊’. So 玉衡 (marked blue in the figure below) is one of the Chinese names for Alioth (aka Epsilon Ursae Majoris), the brightest star in constellation Ursa Major (aka the big dipper, as shown in the figure). 北斗 is the Chinese name for Ursa Major. 北 meaning north and 斗 meaning some sort of funnel/dipper thing. Sometimes the constellation is referred to as 北斗七星 or the seven stars of beidou.
From a story perspective, the title 玉衡 was given to CWN when he became an ender at Sisheng Peak. (The big dipper is often traced in daoist ritual walks. Since cultivation and wuxian/xianxia is somewhat rooted in daoism, the nod to the constellation makes sense narratively.) His work in protecting the people made him stand out from everyone else in the cultivation world. Imagery-wise, remember that (according to wiki) Epsilon Ursae Majoris is the 32nd brightest star in the sky and definitely stands out in the constellation. And since 玉衡 is in the big dipper, calling him the Beidou immortal makes perfect sense.
In my searching, I also learned that the other elders (other than 戒律 Jièlǜ which means discipline and probably refers to that elder’s role in the sect) that came to mind for me and @wanning-of-the-night-sky / @merelhyn were all stars of the big dipper or related to the constellation in some way. In the figure above, Pojun, Lucun, and Tanlang are marked in red and Xuanji is marked in yellow. Xuanji shows up as parts of the name of two different stars and also as an old chinese term for the group of four stars marked by yellow circles. (IMO, from a deranged (affectionate) Meatbun perspective, I think she picked a pretty name for CWN and thematically matched the rest of the Sisheng elders to his name.)
Another thing found interesting is that 琁玑玉衡 is the name of an instrument/tool related to ancient Chinese astronomical/astrological observation. Googling it yielded images of disks with a hole in the middle and notches on the outside.
[1] Xishi is a famed chinese beauty. One of the 4 greats in chinese history. there is an idiom that Mo Ran used at CWN when CWN was making wontons for him after Shi Mei’s death -- 东施效颦 which means mimicking someone’s actions but making a fool of themselves. The idiom comes from a story where Dongshi, who is unattractive, mimics Xishi’s actions. Dongshi ends up seeming less attractive and makes a fool of herself.
Jièlǜ: T.T I wish I had a big dipper name!
Xue Zhengyong:Uh... sorry. Discipline is important. Take one for the team.
JL: But why. I’m an elder too!
XZY: look at it this way: you having a dipper name will make it so we no longer represent every other star. You would throw things off balance! Would you be Wuqu? Wenqu? Jumen? You can’t really be Lianzhen because that would conflict with Yuheng. You’re out of luck friend.
JL: ...
Then again, I’d like to think Jièlǜ actually has a big dipper related name but no one knows it or remembers it.
«It wasn't that he didn't care for those around him, only that he did it quietly. Such solitude, day after day, without anyone to see or notice, was also a kind of torment»
This is the first intake of my latest cosplay project. I love Chu Wanning SO MUCH.
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