by Jin Yong
From the “Cliff of Contemplation” to the “House of Integrity” of the Huashan Sword School, it was somewhere between three or four miles. Other than Lu Dayou, everybody had good Qing-Gong skills and it took them almost no time to arrive at the outside of “House of Integrity.” As soon as they got there, Linghu Chong saw Lao Denuo, Liang Fa, Shi Daizi, Yue Lingshan, Lin Pingzhi, and the bunch of dozens of apprentice brothers and sisters all standing outside of the hall way looking quite worried. Seeing that the big apprentice brother had arrived, everyone felt a bit relieved.
Lao Denuo greeted them and whispered to Linghu Chong, “Big apprentice brother, Master and Master-Wife are greeting guests inside.”
Linghu Chong turned his head back and signaled Peach Valley Six Fairies to not make any sound while they stand there waiting.
“Those six are my friends. You don’t have to worry about them. Let me go have a look,” he whispered to Lao Denuo and then peeked inside from the crack of the hall windows.
Normally when Yue Buqun and Madam Yue greet guests, apprentices would never have peeked in from the outside, however, since the Huashan Sword School was in great trouble right now, all the apprentices didn’t think what Linghu Chong did was anything inappropriate at all.
Notes
[←1]
Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian Province, which is in the southeast part of China, just across the strait from Taiwan.
[←2]
Note here that Pingzhi is actually the first name. In China, one’s family name is always placed before one’s first name to show respect to the family heritage. The same applies to all names mentioned in the story.
[←3]
Bamboo Green is the name of a very famous Chinese wine. It got its name because the color of the wine is like the leaves of bamboo.
[←4]
Tael is a unit of weight (about 32.5 grams). It was popular as the unit for silver currency in ancient China.
[←5]
Sichuan is a province south of central China. It is far away from the province of Fujian and is famous for its very spicy food.
[←6]
In ancient China, it was considered low class for people to not wear anything on their legs.
[←7]
It is an old tradition in China that when a relative or an official in great power dies, people tie white cloth on their foreheads to show respect.
[←8]
Marquis Zhuge Liang was a very famous and well-respected military counselor in Sichuan of ancient China. (See his story in “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong.)
[←9]
To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in ancient China.
[←10]
Hunan is a neighboring province northwest of Fujian Province.
[←11]
See the story “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong.
[←12]
Qingcheng and Emei are two famous mountains in Sichuan Province. Martial arts groups tend to name themselves after either the style of their martial arts, or the name of the place they live in.
[←13]
In Taoism and Buddhism, the high-level monks or Taoists will shut themselves in a cave or somewhere secluded to meditate for a few weeks or months, without seeing anyone. They believe this kind of meditation is helpful in their studies.
[←14]
Luoyang is a large city in Henan Province, which is far northwest from Fujian Province.
[←15]
Shaolin is a Buddhist temple in Henan Province. Its monks are very famous for the Shaolin style martial arts form. Wutang is a Taoist temple in Hubei Province. It is the second most famous martial arts group after Shaolin. The well-known Tai-Chi martial arts form was created by Wutang.
[←16]
In Chinese, “Shan” stands for mountain. These are five large mountains in central, eastern, southern, western and northern China. People call them the Five Mountains. Two of these have the same pronunciation, so we will be distinguishing them by using Hengshan and Heng-Shan. They are:
Central: Songshan (Henan Province);
Eastern: Taishan (Shandong Province);
Southern: Hengshan (Hunan Province);
Western: Huashan (Shanxi Province);
Northern: Heng-Shan (Hebei Province).
[←17]
This is a Chinese way of greeting, by cupping one fist with the palm of another hand and bowing slightly.
[←18]
In the Chinese zodiac, an animal represents each year. There are a total of twelve animals, and the cycle starts over every twelve years.
[←19]
This is a very famous dish in China. It got its name from a story: The smell of the dish was so good that the monk next door climbed over the wall to steal it.
[←20]
In ancient China, people did not have glass to seal their windows. Instead, they used paper to seal the frames.
[←21]
“Ying Xiong Hao Jie” is a Chinese phrase meaning heroes. The four great apprentices of Qingcheng each use one character in their names. Yu Renhao is using the character “Hao.”
[←22]
When Chinese martial artists name their moves, they always like to use names from legendary stories. Zhong Kui was half-god half-human in Chinese mythology and he had the special power to drive evil spirits away.
[←23]
According to Chinese martial art and medical procedures, there are many “acupoints” on a human body. By pinning or hitting them, you can disable the movements of muscles, blood flow or information flow from the nerves. Fang Renzhi hit their acupoints so that they could not move and had to stay still.
[←24]
In ancient China, polygamy was legal and common among rich people.
[←25]
A general term for certain two-stringed bowed instruments, popular in ancient China.
[←26]
An ancient breathing exercise that helps improve health and develop extra power and strength (sometimes an almost magical power that cannot be explained by science).
[←27]
Beggars Clan was a group made up of beggars. Members of the Beggars Clan used the number of bags carried to identify his status in the clan. When a new member joined the clan, he would be carrying only one bag. The higher his status was, the more bags he would be carrying.
[←28]
Like it was mentioned in chapter one, Ying Xiong Hao Jie means “heroes” in Chinese.
[←29]
In Chinese, “Lu” has the same pronunciation as the number six.
[←30]
Uncle-Master is the title used when a junior calls a senior master who is the apprentice brother/sister of the junior’s Master. It is used regardless of the gender of the senior master.
[←31]
Pronounced as “hur”, not “he.”
[←32]
A form of Chinese Martial Arts that will allow the practitioner to jump higher and further, or run faster than an average person. The technique uses a combination of physical exercises and breathing exercises.
[←33]
“Bull-nose” is a mean name for Taoist Priests.
[←34]
In Chinese, Huiyan means attracting the wild geese back.
[←35]
It was a unique phenomenon for eunuchs to exist in Ancient Chinese. Chinese Emperors always had thousands of wives in the palace. Men were needed in the palace for many tasks, but the Emperor was afraid that these men would have affairs with his wives, so all men who wanted to work in the palace had to be castrated to ensure that no affairs would happen. It isn’t known when exactly this started, but one can trace it back to at least 2,000 years ago.
[←36]
In Chinese, the character of Lin (meaning “Woods”) is made up of two Mu characters (meaning “Tree, or wood”).
[←37]
In Buddhism, monks and nuns a
re required to shave their heads, but in Taoism, Taoist Priests are not required to shave their heads.
[←38]
“Xiang” is another name of Hunan Province.
[←39]
According to Buddhism beliefs, there are eighteen levels of hell. The eighteenth level is the bottom-most one, and also the worst one. When one dies, he falls to one of levels of the hells. The smaller the number, the better it is, because then he can be reborn sooner. If one falls to the eighteenth level of hell, then he will have to spend eternity in hell, with no chance of being reborn.
[←40]
In Chinese philosophy and religion, there are two principles – one negative, dark and feminine (Yin) and one positive, bright, and masculine (Yang) – from whose interaction produce all things and dissolve all things. Here, Mu Gaofeng is referring to a method of having intercourse with multiple females and using the energy absorbed to nourish one’s own health. This method is actually recorded in ancient Chinese medicine books, but most people consider this pornography.
[←41]
A Buddhist’s way of praying.
[←42]
The Chinese character ‘hu’ is a combination of the character ‘dog’ and the character ‘melon’.
[←43]
Bodhisattva Guanyin is a very famous Buddha. Most believe Bodhisattva Guanyin is a female, but others believe Bodhisattva Guanyin is a male. He/she is the main Buddha nuns pray to.
[←44]
Blunderbuss shots and music/drums were typical in ancient China as formal greetings to government officials. Gongs were used in front of the official’s wagon to inform people on the street to yield the way for the government official. People blocking the way would be thrown into prison right away.
[←45]
Also explained in chapter two: A general term for certain two-stringed bowed music instruments, popular in ancient China.
[←46]
Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi are both famous philosophers in ancient China. Lao Zi started Taoism, and Zhuang Zi is a good scholar in Taoism.
[←47]
Sima Zhao was an emperor of Jin Dynasty in ancient China.
[←48]
The Four Books and the Five Classics are books from ancient China. They were used as standard textbooks for people to study with.
The Four Books are:
The Great Learning (Da-Xue)
The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhong-Yong)
The Analects of Confucius (Lun-Yu)
Mencius (Meng-Zi)
The Five Classics are:
The book of Songs (Shi-Jing)
The Book of History (Shu-Jing)
The Book of Changes (Yi-Jing)
The Book of Rites (Li-Ji)
The Sprig and Autumn Annals (Chun-Qiu)
[←49]
Xiucai: one who passed the imperial examination at the county level in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
[←50]
Zhuangyuan: title conferred on the one who came first in the highest imperial examination.
[←51]
A pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves (normally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival).
[←52]
The town of Dragon-Spring in Zhejiang Province is well known for making quality blades.
[←53]
Shanxi Province, where Mount Huashan is. It’s at the northwest part of China.
[←54]
Reminder: Fujian province is the Province Lin Pingzhi came from. The Fortune Prestige Escort House Headquarters was located at Fuzhou, which is the capital of Fujian Province.
[←55]
Reminder: Qing-Gong is a form of Chinese Martial Arts that will allow the practitioner to jump higher and further or run faster than an average person. The technique is a combination of muscle exercises and breathing exercises.
[←56]
Reminder: Qi-Gong is an ancient breathing exercise that helps improve health and acquire extra power and strength (sometimes an almost magical power that can not be explained by science).
[←57]
Chang-An is today’s Xi’an city in Shanxi Province (Provincial capital). It was the capital for many dynasties including Tang Dynasty. It was considered one of the most populous cities in ancient China.
[←58]
This might be confusing. Shanxi (third intonation) province and Shan-Xi (first intonation) province are actually two neighboring provinces. Shan-Xi province is famous for it’s coalmines, wine, and vinegar. But Mount Huashan and Chang-An are in Shanxi province.
[←59]
Li Taiba, also called Li Bai, was a famous poet during Tang Dynasty. He was nicknamed the Fairy of Poem because of his exceptional talent in poems and Fairy of Wine because he loved drinking wine. The “Banished Fairy Wine House” was named after him hence he was banished by the Royal Court because of his drinking problem.
[←60]
In Chinese language, character “Hu” means fox. Tian Boguang is implying that Linghu Chong is as cunning as a fox.
[←61]
Emei in Chinese genuinely means beautiful women. Emei sting here has nothing to do with Emei Sect mentioned earlier in the novel. It’s used because the weapon is specifically used by women.
[←62]
Just want to clarify that the character Feng here is a different one from the Feng in Feng Qingyang’s name.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Massacre
Chapter 2: Eavesdropping
Chapter 3: Rescue
Chapter 4: Seat-Fighting
Chapter 5: Healing
Chapter 6: Hand-Washing
Chapter 7: Music Score
Chapter 8: Meditation
Chapter 9: Invitation
Chapter 10: Sword Training
