Footnotes

 

Chapter 92: Giving Pointers

[1] “-lang” can be used by married women to address their husbands.

 

Chapter 94: Momentous Changes

[2] 总有理. Literally, “always justified.”

 

Chapter 95: Invitation

[3] 道友. Literally “Daoist friend.” A polite address for cultivators or Daoists.

 

Chapter 96: Fish-Head Soup

[4] Li Qingyu’s personal name (青鱼) means “green fish.”

 

Chapter 99: A Storm Approaches

[5] 泰山. Mount Tai is the most important and famous of China’s Five Sacred Mountains.

 

[6] 关公门前舞大刀. Guan Yu was a general who served under Liu Bei before and during the Three Kingdoms period. A renowned master of the blade.

 

Chapter 101: Shimei

[7] 掌教. Literally “sect leader,” commonly used for Daoist sects.

 

[8] 五娘. Literally “fifth daughter.” Refers to how Gu Hengbo is the fifth in seniority of her martial siblings.

 

[9] 少侠. Literally “young hero.” A general address for martial artists from the jianghu.

 

Chapter 103: Intimate Associate

[10] 项庄舞剑，意在沛公. Xiang Zhuang was a general of Chu. In 206 B.C.E., the start of the Chu-Han contention, he hatched a plot to assassinate the future Emperor Gaozu of Han, then known as the Duke of Pei, at a feast.

 

Chapter 106: Nighttime Chat

[11] A reference to a very old and famous poem, “The Peacock Flies Southwest.” In it, the newlywed bride exalts their marriage and love, describing herself as the pampas grass, flexible yet steadfast, to her husband’s bedrock, solid and immovable. Yan Wushi is poking fun at the analogy.

 

Chapter 108: Sophistry

[12] 十年修得同船渡，百年修得共枕眠. A Chinese idiom. Literally, “After ten years of virtue, you’ll share the same ship crossing; after a hundred years of virtue, you’ll share a pillow.”

 

[13] 西施. One of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China.