hi! thank you for all your work, i just had a quick question! jiang fengmian refers to yu ziyuan as 三娘a few times. i don’t think she’s his third wife though, do you know where this comes from?
Ah okok so,
There is a pattern of addresses (which can be platonic or romantic or even sometimes rude) that uses the words 娘 and 郎。
娘 (niang) is used for women, while 郎 (lang) is used for men. They are almost always preceded by a number, which in the case of YZY is three 三. You’re right friend, the number does not mean she is his third wife. What it does mean is that she is the third child amongst her siblings.
(side note: If you google it, niang’s literal meaning is “mother”, but don’t let that bother you, because Chinese characters can’t always be translated in its singular form without context. “gu’niang” 姑娘 - for example - is unequivocally a very benign polite term for “Miss.” or “lady” or “maiden”. It has nothing to do with mother.)
Other examples:
Empresses in the Palace《甄嬛传》- Emperor Yongzheng (of Qing Dynasty) is called “si-lang” 四(four)郎 by his favorite concubine Zhen Huan. This is because the emperor is the 4th prince/son of his father.
The Story of Minglan《知否知否应是绿肥红瘦》- The man male character is referred to as “er-lang” 二(two)郎. He is the second son of his family.
《武林外传》(an oldie but a classic!) - the mother of the character Bai Zhantang is known in the fugilist world as Bai “san-niang” 白三(three)娘. Her actual name is never mentioned in the show. We don’t know how many siblings she has, but it’s safe to assume she is number 3 in her family.
This is a very common moniker in cdrama, and there’s not always a clear cut rule onto who this moniker gets applied to. Technically, if WWX wanted, he can refer to LWJ as “er-lang”. (I personally find this extremely cute).
Now, the use of “lang” is pretty benign, but the use of “niang” is... more nuanced.
In the case of using “number”+“niang”, you often find this type of moniker being used for women with quite a strong personality and/or high in martial arts/cultivation skills. When you hear the moniker “last name” + “number” + “niang”, your automatic first instinct is: ah shit, this is a person I don’t wanna mess with.
It’s not weird for JFM to call YZY “san-niang”; in fact, he’s probably called her that even before they were married. He’s probably not the only one to call her that during their youth. However, it is a moniker, not a title. Just like with “lang”, people who are allowed to use this are probably family and close friends, and it’s probably only being used in private settings. Publicly, he will refer to her as “my lady”. Other people like...say LQR probably can’t call her san-niang, unless they’re like...friends or something. It would be rude if he did.
In the wuxia genre, there may be female fighters/rogue cultivators who make a name for themselves and go around referring to themselves as “Lastname” + “number” + niang, because they want to give the impression that they are tough and not to be messed with. In this case, this moniker is used a “badge of honour” so to speak, and will be used by people generally.
