Please note that all translations below are just the best we could think of, and not necessarily entirely accurate. Translations are inherently a product of the translator’s interpretation; there’s not really any such thing as a “perfect” or “right” translation, and attempting to find one is just an exercise in futility.

<aside> 💡 notes

• The genre of the novel this show is based on, according to the author herself, is 仙侠修真 immortal heroes (xianxia) & cultivation. It draws very heavily on cultural aspects such as religion, in particular Buddhism and Daoism.
• CQL is essentially a remix of traditions and eras across the many different dynasties and time periods, including some very modern references, so there’s really no point in trying to date it.
• Do note that most, if not all, of the explanations in this page will apply only to Han Chinese culture.
• Spoilers will be hidden under a toggle; just click the triangle to reveal it. </aside>

Language

Pronouns

• First-person pronouns make for a very complicated situation in classical Chinese and ancient Chinese contexts. There are different such pronouns depending on the speaker’s relative social status, the situation the speaker is in, and the speaker’s general status—for instance, 朕 is a first-person pronoun that may only be used by the emperor. Below are some examples that are used in CQL.
  • 在下 / this lowly one
  • [姓]某(人) / this unworthy/no-good/good-for-nothing [family name]
• Using the third-person as a self-address is quite normal in Chinese. It effectively serves to shift the dialogue into a more formal register, since it increases the distance between speaker and listener in a manner that usually demonstrates respect on the speaker’s part.
  • Self-referential third-person pronouns that begin with 本 / this, however, are usually used in situations where the speaker is the highest-ranking person in the room, and may thus take on a tone of arrogance.

Miscellaneous notes

• There are no tenses in Chinese, which means that, unless it’s inferable, we’re often basing our choices of tense on guesswork or personal inclinations.
• Lan Wangji’s usual speech register is extremely literary and elevated, which, in Chinese, means that his language is pared down to the bare minimum he can get away with while still being grammatically correct. Since literary English usually winds up being more verbose, we’ve attempted to reflect his elevated register as much as possible by fitting his lines into various poetic metres (usually either iambic or trochaic metre, for the sake of our own sanity if nothing else). We’ve also done our best to translate quotations from classical texts in the same manner.
  • Side note: the way literary Chinese was learned back in the day was by reading and memorising classical texts and slowly absorbing the language through that, so the immediate assumption is that Lan Wangji is incredibly well-read.

Prefixes / Suffixes

• 阿 a is a particle used in southern dialects in many things, such as before kinship terms and to form name diminutives.
  • e.g. 阿姐 a-jie; 阿羡 a-Xian; 阿澄 a-Cheng
• 儿 er is the northern counterpart in name diminutives.
  • example: 渊儿 Yuan’er
• Numbers can be prefixed to either addresses or family names to signify the addressee’s position in the referenced hierarchy, often a familial one.
  • Addresses: 大哥 da-ge / eldest brother; 二哥 er-ge / second eldest brother; 三哥 san-ge / third eldest brother.
  • Family names: 蓝二 Lan-er / second eldest Lan
    • This is a more informal way to address someone.

Addresses

As far as possible, we’ve tried to translate addresses since it’s harder to consult footnotes while watching a show compared to reading a novel. Exceptions are made for addresses whose translations would be too clunky or misleading. They’re sorted alphabetically according to their pinyin.

General

• 客官 keguan / good patron(s): a polite, if dated, appellation for a guest or customer
• 前辈 qianbei / senior: a respectful address for someone whose age, seniority, or experience is higher than that of the speaker
• 小二 xiao’er / waiter
• 姓[…]的 xing […] de / you [family name] bastard: lit. “the one with the family name […]”
  • Creative liberties were taken to express how rude this is.

General: Men

• 公子 gongzi / young master: lit. “the son of a duke”; a respectful address for young men who are usually from noble households
  • 小公子 xiao-gongzi / little master
• 老板 laoban / [shop]keeper: used to address the proprietor
  • The female version would be 老板娘 laoban-niang.
• 老爷 laoye / sire/lord: a respectful address for a master by a servant
• 老丈 laozhang / gaffer: a respectful address for an elderly man of lower social standing
• 少爷 shaoye / sire/young lord: a respectful address for a master’s son by a servant
  • Unlike gongzi, shaoye is usually used within the household to refer to the sons of the head of the household. A shaoye doesn’t need to be particularly educated, only to have a certain amount of wealth or servants at his disposal, so we decided to use lord.
• 先生 xiansheng / lore-master: lit. “born first”
  • In a historical context, xiansheng is usually used in a more scholarly setting, for someone who is both older than the speaker as well as more knowledgeable/experienced/of a higher status. Thus, we’ve elected to translate xiansheng as master, as both an archaic title for a man of high rank and/or learning, as well as an address for a teacher (eg, a master-disciple relationship).
• 兄 xiong: lit. “brother”
  • Appending xiong to some part of the addressee’s name serves as a friendly address between men of the same generation.
    • e.g. 魏兄 Wei-xiong; 忘机兄 Wangji-xiong

General: Women

• 大娘 daniang / madam: a respectful address for a mature woman
• 夫人 furen / lady: a lady of high rank; mistress of the household
  • Chinese women do not usually take their husbands’ names when marrying, even in modern times. However, when addressed as furen, their husband’s name would be appended to the front, not their own.
• 姑娘 guniang / maiden: a respectful address for young and unmarried women
  • The exact translation depends on if the addressee is of the gentry or a commoner.
  • Historically, you could tell simply by a woman’s hairstyle: having her hair up would be an indicator of marriage.
• 三娘 san-niang: Jiang Fengmian’s address for Yu Ziyuan
  • This address implies that Yu Ziyuan is the third eldest of her siblings/sisters. Furthermore, the [姓]+[数]+娘 / [family name] + [number] + niang moniker in the 武侠 wuxia genre is often used for women with strong personalities and/or high martial/cultivational skills, both of which apply to Yu Ziyuan.

Familial

• 父亲 fuqin / father
  • 爹 die: an archaic address for one’s father. Variations include 爹爹 diedie and 阿爹 a-die, though the former sounds more childish.
  • 爸爸 baba: a less formal address for one’s father. Variations include 爸 ba and 老爸 lao-ba (lit. “old dad”).
• 哥 ge / 哥哥 gege: elder brother
  • This term can be used for an older person unrelated to the speaker as a gesture of familiarity. The duplicated form (gege) sounds a bit more childish/casual.
  • 兄长 xiongzhang: a very formal way of referring to one’s eldest brother. 兄 means elder brother, while 长 indicates the addressee’s position in the family as the eldest.
• 姐 jie / 姐姐 jiejie / 阿姐 a-jie: elder sister
  • This term can be used for an older person unrelated to the speaker as a gesture of familiarity. The duplicated form (jiejie) sounds a bit more childish/casual.
    • 大小姐 da-xiao-jie / young mistress: a dated address for the eldest daughter of a rich family, now used to refer to spoilt young women
• 舅舅 jiujiu: one’s mother’s brother
• 母亲 muqin / mother
  • 娘 niang: an archaic address for one’s mother. One variation would be 阿娘 a-niang.
  • 妈妈 mama: a less formal address for one’s mother. Variations include 妈 ma and 老妈 lao-ma (lit. “old mum”).
• 叔叔 shushu: one’s father’s younger brother; it can also be used for any man one generation older than the speaker
  • 叔父 shufu: an archaic address for one’s father’s younger brother

Martial

Traditional martial lineages are considered to be as close as family. However, regardless of how martial relatives behave towards each other, they are not actually related. It entirely depends on each individual relationship as to whether it will remain familial or turn romantic.

• 师伯 shibo: elder martial uncle
• 师弟 shidi: younger martial brother
• 师父 / 师傅 shifu: one’s master, teacher; lit. “teacher-father”
• 师哥 shige and 师兄 shixiong: elder martial brother
• 师姐 shijie: elder martial sister
• 师妹 shimei: younger martial sister
• 师母 shimu / 师娘 shiniang: the wife of one’s shifu
• 师叔 shishu: younger martial uncle
• 师侄 shizhi: martial niece/nephew
• 师祖 shizu: the shifu of one’s parent or shifu
• 宗主 zongzhu / clan leader

知己 zhiji is an untranslatable concept that is often referenced in classical literature and shows up many times in canon itself between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. By virtue of the fact that 知 means to know; to understand; to recognise, 知己 is then perhaps best translated as the one who knows me, rather than the popularised translation of soulmate. It is not an inherently romantic term, nor is it some incredibly archaic term that is only used to define the deepest and most complicated relationships—in fact, it can be used in casual contexts, or between people who don’t know each other all that well.