the horror and joy of having a crush on your fellow apprentice and being normal about it :///
for a "genius jester" this guy's kinda dumb huh
[ENG] TSOMD Novel - Sui Zhou x Tang Fan | Introduction
This is an introductory post to The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty - Novel by Meng Xi Shi. It is meant to be an accompanying post to my FanZhou Novel Highlights masterpost here.
*Please read this introduction first before heading over to the highlights!
I wouldn’t use drama!TSOMD as a benchmark for any of the cases (in fact the only case that’s the same is the first one only) or Sui Zhou/Tang Fan/Wang Zhi’s characterization, especially Tang Fan’s.
Translations: Translations are entirely mine, some phrases might be edited based on my own interpretation. Please do not take out without credit or repost elsewhere!
History: So apparently Wang Zhi exists in history? So this entire novel is kind of inspired from the times of two Emperors - Cheng Hua and Hong Zhi.
Regarding Courtesy Names: So courtesy names as some of you may know from The Untamed for example, are names given to people after they’re of age and they’re used over their birth names. In that case you only use the person’s birth name if you’re very close to them, and courtesy names are used out of respect usually. But strangely enough in TSOMD’s case it’s the other way round - one usually uses the birth name Tang Fan or Sui Zhou for normal address and only uses the 字 (courtesy name) as an indication of familiarity (this is mentioned in Ch. 26).
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Original Novel Sources - JJWXC | ZHXS
Novel in Print - Taiwan Edition (2016) vs. Beijing/China Edition (2020)
Live-Action Drama - The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty starring Darren Chen & Paul Fu
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Summary: In Cheng Hua’s 14th year, prefectural judge Tang Fan meets Embroidered Uniform Guards’ officer Sui Zhou when they are investigating the same case. Despite a rocky first meeting, they become gradual friends as Tang Fan displays his intelligence and wit, while Sui Zhou becomes the reliable, trustworthy shield that always has Tang Fan’s back. As they end up living together, solving increasingly complex cases and deal with a larger conspiracy behind them, they fall in love. A period crime/thriller novel. Slow burn but plenty of fluff.
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Main Characters
- Tang Fan 唐泛 ／Tang Run Qing 唐润青
In the novel Tang Fan is a bit more level-headed and is a genius detective who’s always a few steps ahead of everyone else. He is still whiny, lazy and cannot take care of himself much, but that’s what Sui Zhou is for. His courtesy name (表字) is 润青 Run Qing, surname 唐. His sister has a nickname for him called Mao Mao 毛毛, and both Sui Zhou & Wang Zhi use it to tease him after they find out, but he likes it the most when Sui Zhou calls him Run Qing, I think.
- Sui Zhou 随州 ／ Sui Guang Chuan 随广川
Sui Zhou’s character is the most aligned with drama!SZ’s portrayal - he always looks out for Tang Fan, and i mean always. His courtesy name (表字) is 广川 Guang Chuan, surname 随.
His grandma is the Empress Dowager’s sister, so both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor really like and trust him. In the novel he doesn’t get bullied because the Emperor has his back most of the time - in fact he’s the one going up the career ladder and he’s conferred the title of the equivalent of an Earl despite being the unofficial Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. Whenever Tang Fan pisses the Emperor off, it’s Sui Zhou’s job to sweet talk the man and get Tang Fan back into the Emperor’s good graces.
- Wang Zhi 汪植
Personally I prefer show!WZ’s personality - in the novel he’s a bit more selfish and childish, but of course he always has Tang Fan’s back. He treats Sui Zhou and Tang Fan as a package deal most of the time and he’s the one Tang Fan goes to when he needs relationship advice. As Wang Zhi is very ambitious (his dream job is to fight wars and gain more status and power that way), he gets into trouble sometimes with the Emperor, and Tang Fan tries to give him advice but the man never listens until it’s too late.
was transferring my sunrise research notes and organising them in obsidian (tealdeer: microsoft services suck so fucking bad) and came across something re: official salaries that i thought would be useful to stick on my blog, because when i was writing one of my novels it was almost impossible to find information about that in english.
Early 1500, monthly salaries of govt officials:
9 qian for unskilled labourers, 2 [liang] for skilled
Top officials like commander in chief: 60 [liang]
Chief minister 42 [liang]
Provincial governor 33 [liang]
Prefect 12 [liang]
County magistrate 5.2 [liang]
this was sourced from disorder under heaven: collective violence in the ming dynasty (p xvi james w tong 1991). the original text employs the term "taels" for 两, while i've used the pinyin out of personal preference. chinese money in the ming dynasty (as well as many others) was based on weight (with one liang of silver being 50g).
from pages xv and xvi, some information on costs of foods for context (though at the end of the 16th c, rather than the start):
[...]in Beijing around 1593, a jin (1.33 pounds) of pork or fresh fish cost 0.2 qian (0.0027 oz) of silver; a jin of beef or mutton 0.15 qian. As for poultry, a chicken cost 0.034 qian, a duck 0.3 qian, and a large goose 2 qian. Fruits and vegetables cost as much per jin as meat and poultry—grapes 0.4 qian; lychees 0.5 qian; cherries 0.45 qian; peaches and plums 0.4 qian; walnuts 0.18 qian; chestnuts 0.13 qian; spinach 0.15 qian; chives 0.25 qian; celery 0.3 qian; and lettuce 0.25 qian. For seasoning and cooking, granulated sugar cost 0.4 qian per jin; salt 10 qian; flour 0.12 qian; honey 3.2 qian; firewood 0.07 qian; and charcoal 0.1 qian. [...]a deluxe banquet to entertain civil examination candidates and officials cost 4.8513 liang (6.45 oz)
obviously the costs and salaries over the ming dynasty varied, but you can probably justify using these numbers for the ming dynasty overall in major cities, such as the capital, unless you're considering specific events that led to historic inflation or depression of costs for a specific type of food or labour (in which case you probably have more resources than i do and i'd love to get my hands on them).
so..............go forth and do whatever you want with this knowledge! (i will personally be using it in writing chssn fics. once i finish the fucking show.)(and sunrise as well, but i think that was fairly obvious)
Imperial examination candidates gather around the wall where results had been posted, excerpt from the handscroll "Viewing the Pass List", traditionally attributed to Qiu Ying (1494-1552), but now suspected to be the work of a late-Ming painter with Qiu Ling's name added.
The imperial examination (科舉) was a civil service system in Imperial China used to select government officials based on merit rather than birth. Originating in the Sui dynasty (581–618) and formalized under the Tang and Song dynasties, it lasted nearly a thousand years until its abolition in 1905 during the late Qing reforms. The exams tested candidates on writing, Confucian classics, and literary style, fostering a unified bureaucratic culture and legitimizing imperial rule.
Over time, the system evolved into multiple levels—local, provincial, and court exams—with the highest degree (jinshi) granting access to elite offices. However, the system also produced an oversupply of lower-degree holders (shengyuan) and, by the 19th century, became criticized for stifling innovation and favoring rote learning. Despite its decline, the imperial examination profoundly influenced the development of modern civil service systems in East Asia and beyond, inspiring similar merit-based recruitment in countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and later in Britain, France, and the United States.
Anonymous asked:
were there any specific clothing for children or did they wear the same outfits as adults? :0
ziseviolet answered:
Hi, thanks for the question! The Chinese-language Wikipedia article on “hanfu” has a section on children’s clothing, so I took the following information from there:
Children’s clothing was generally similar to that of adults. Cross-collar designs were favored, as they were considered gentle on children’s delicate skin. Children mostly wore outfits with separate tops and bottoms, such as shuhe(cross-collared top extending to the knees + tied trousers). They also wore banbi(half-sleeve jacket) by itself. Below: Song Dynasty child wearing shuhe (left), and Tang Dynasty child wearing banbi (right).
Full-body one-piece garments were worn as well, though not as often as two-piece garments. Below: children from the Song Dynasty (left) and Ming Dynasty (right).
Tang and Song Dynasty girls wore ruqun, and Ming Dynasty girls wore aoqun. Below left: Song Dynasty girl dressed in beizi (jacket) and ruqun, and wearing a guzi (headband). Below right: Ming Dynasty girls wearing aoqun.
Some young children would just wear underwear such as dudou, moxiong,liangdang, etc. Below: Song Dynasty children wearing dudou (left), and liangdang (right).
Children had headgear unique to them. Babies and young children often wore tiger-hats, because of the belief that the tiger’s power could protect them and make them strong. The fengmao (wind hat) was a hat with an extended back used to block wind. Children did wear some of the same headgear as adults, such as fujin. Below left: children wearing fujin (top) and fengmao (bottom). Below right: Ming Dynasty child dressed in a pifeng (Ming-style jacket) and wearing a tiger-hat.
Guzu was a headband/hat that was often decorated with tigers, flowers, etc. Below left: Ming Dynasty child wearing guzu and dressed in yuanlingshan(round-collar top). Below right: child wearing pifeng (Ming-style jacket).
Finally, young children often wore shoes with designs of animals, such as tiger-shoes and pig-shoes.
Hope this helps!
I love how in this offical art Mayuri is with the 11th squad members (+Kira...poor guy)
Like he talks about how he hates Kenpachi any chance he gets but still chooses to spend time within his vicinity...You aren't subtle Kurotsuchi 😒🖐
Reading 268 again... And the only thing I keep thinking is sukuna taking pauses before responding. I swear I need to see in his head to understand what he was thinking when he heard those words.
It's as if he just couldn't believe he can be loved too. A cursed,wretched figure who just knows how to curse others. Who doesn't know how to coexist with others except with this brat..
That there's someone who would want him without his title of the strongest.. Even though he's become a blob.. .
That there's someone who holds him gently and is ready to throw away his everything just to make sure sukuna gets to live with someone.
And by doing this he's essentially tying himself to a curse that made his life hell. He not only wants to live with him but also plans to die with him. He would be cursing himself by living with sukuna.
And that's why he thinks Yuji Itadori is a fool or at least acting like one..
wishfulsketching