Most Certainly Uncertain

Sure!

To start with, the Chinese phrase is:

天官赐福，百无禁忌！

(tiān guān cì fú, bǎi wú jìn jì!)

So, it’s based on a couple different things:

First, the ‘tian guan’ part actually comes from a particular Daoist deity (called Tianguan), although in TGCF, it refers to any generic official in heaven. The full phrase ‘tian guan ci fu’, for Daoists, is a prayer for blessings from the god Tianguan, who presides over fortune and is associated with the Shangyuan festival (I got this info from this twitter post zhang made--see that post and this wikipedia page for for more info about Tianguan).

As for the second part, it’s a chengyu (that is, a four-character idiom) meaning ‘all taboos are off/anything goes/nothing is taboo’ (although Suika translates it as ‘no paths are bound’). It was recorded in the Qing Dynasty in Fan Yin’s Yue Yan. (Source)

As for how this phrase relates to the themes of TGCF--in chapter 3, we first have Ling Wen saying the first four characters and Xie Lian saying the second four--Ling Wen is basically saying good luck, while Xie Lian is replying in a carefree manner--I think his main point in saying ‘anything goes!’ is to convey that Ling Wen doesn’t have to be so polite to him; it won’t make a difference in his luck. Xie Lian is used to not thinking much of himself and getting caught in all sorts of misfortune--he’s been through the worst, so nothing is taboo to him anymore.

And, over the course of the novel, we see that indeed, nothing is taboo for most of the heavenly officials--they all have skeletons in their closets. So, it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, pairing a prayer for good fortune from the oh-so-holy heavenly officials with the phrase ‘nothing is taboo’. Xie Lian is thought to be the worst, most taboo and unlucky god, but in the end he is actually the most honest and most generous.

The phrase comes full circle with the ending lines of Ch.244--previously, Xie Lian has been suppressed by all sorts of taboos, so no one in their right mind would worship him. But, with Hua Cheng’s help in exposing the wrongdoings of heaven and freeing Xie Lian from his shackles, it becomes possible for Xie Lian to once again accept prayers and bestow blessings, without any taboos in the way.

So,

By heaven official’s blessing, all taboos are off!

Such increased literacy would allow even the common folk of our kingdom to read the great works of the Confucianists, thus promoting loyalty, filial piety, and virtuous behavior!

I was going to cherrypick some highlights out of king sejong’s wikipedia to make him look good, but it turns out its basically all highlights

created think tanks and research grants for doctors and scholars

created an alphabet for the korean people that is easier to write AND better suited to the language.

disseminated ideas by establishing schools, cultural institutions, innovations the the printing press, and the preservation of rare books, leading to a flourishing of art, culture, and intellectual thought

elevated marginalised classes

created policies for the humane treatment of prisoners

forbade imprisonment of people over 70 or under 15

maternity AND paternity leave

LOOK! he failed to totally unify the coinage! AND HE STOLE MY DESIGN!!!!!

FINISH HIM!!!!!

the old ipad's karked it for good this time: here's a sketchbook drawing instead

We enjoyed @closebutnotquitewright's post a lot so we narrated it.