Footnotes
Footnotes
1. 金风玉露一相逢. From the poem “鹊桥仙,” translated as Immortals at the Magpie Bridge, which describes the annual meeting between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl during Qixi, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day.
2. In the original text, “noble and unsullied moral character” is 品性高洁, but 性 when taken out of context can also mean “sex.” Therefore Shen Qingqiu jokes that the original flavor might not match the entire phrase, but with his various scandals he definitely matches that word alone.
3. 腰牌. This was a metal plate carved with a person’s name and position. Usually worn on the waist, it was often used for authorization checks for entering restricted areas.
4. 冤家路宰. An idiom for when you unexpectedly meet your enemies or nemeses. Approximately equivalent to the English “it’s a small world,” but only for people you hate or who hate you.
5. 药不能停, “you must not stop taking your medication!” originated as a slogan to encourage people with depression to not stop taking their medication. The phrase was later co-opted as internet slang as a way to say “there’s something wrong with you.”
6. This is a play on a quote from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, “Throw them into danger and they will survive; put them on deadly ground and they will live.”
7. 肉芝, “flesh mushroom,” is another name for the real life lingzhi mushroom, which the Sun-Moon Dew Mushroom is based on.
8. 脱胎换骨, an idiom describing being reborn as a Daoist, but can also mean “turn over a new leaf” or “change completely.”
9. 易筋洗髓, refers to 增演易筋洗髓内功图说, a 内功 (martial arts focusing on qi circulation) manual.
10. 春山很: Chunshan literally translates to “Spring Mountain,” while 恨 can imply resentment, hatred, and/or regret, depending on context. Since the story seems to be about Luo Binghe’s despair over losing Shen Qingqiu as told by the brothel ladies, “regret” seems closest to the intended meaning, though this is narrower than the original Chinese.
11. 喜之郎, SQQ’s nickname for Zhuzhi-Lang is also a jelly brand in China.