#tiantong

— Counterplay:

From 解杀还杀 (jiě shā huán shā).

Another xiangqi-specific term! This is referring to a “turn the tables” sort of maneuver. A xiangqi player who resolves a threat (解杀) while simultaneously issuing a threat of their own (还杀) would be engaging in 解杀还杀.

— Come quietly:

From 束手就擒 (shù shǒu jiù qín). A more literal interpretation might be something like: hands tied, be captured. Quan Diyan is telling Tiantong to stop resisting and let himself be arrested.

— Xun above, gen below:

Prior to this chapter, Tiantong has invoked the Eight Pure Hexagrams in many of his techniques. This chapter marks the first appearance of a “non-pure” hexagram — that is, a hexagram comprised of two different trigrams, rather than two identical trigrams.

The exact hexagram in question is 漸 (jiàn). It is comprised of a wind trigram (xun above) on top of a mountain trigram (gen below).

☴ (巽 - xùn) 

☶ (艮 - gèn)

䷴ (漸 - jiàn)

The name of this hexagram means gradual, in the sense of gradual progress. Perseverance and steady development. A slow-growing tree upon a mountain. It is actually quite a gentle hexagram, which strikes a hilarious contrast against Tiantong’s dramatic display this chapter.

— A paltry attempt at skill:

From 雕虫小技 (diāo chóng xiǎo jì).

A more literal interpretation of this idiom might be something like:

engraving worms, trifling techniques

Worm (虫) refers to bird-worm script (鸟虫书), an ancient style of seal script with strong nature/animal imagery. This is a very decorative script style! You would use it for adornment of things like weapons and ornamental tiles, rather than for bodies of text. It’s too overdesigned to be very useful for actual writing.

— Shu Tiantong:

From 鼠天瞳.

At last, we have a surname reveal for Mister Tiantong!

Unsurprisingly, 鼠 (shǔ) means “mouse” or “rat”.

— Pawn: 

From 棋子 (qí zǐ). Expresses pawn in a figurative sense; i.e., a person used by others. 棋子 can also indicate a literal chess piece, but should not be confused with the pawn chess piece, which is more typically represented by 卒 (zú) or 兵 (bīng). Pawn in English carries a double-meaning that I quite like. To pawn an item is to offer it as a security in exchange for a loan. And while that is… not precisely what happens in the chapter, a transactional atmosphere is still there. Tiantong strikes a bargain with Wu Bodu, using severed hair as proof that he can uphold his end of the deal.

— Wine vessel: 

Bodu’s drinking vessel is a 葫芦 (hú lu), a fruit also known as a bottle gourd or calabash. After it is dried and hollowed out, it can be used as a nice container to hold your stuff, whether that stuff be liquor, medicine, crickets, the sound of music, or video content on an American streaming service (not a joke; apparently Hulu’s name is partially based on the Chinese 葫芦). In Chinese culture specifically, 葫芦 is associated with good health and longevity. Li Tieguai, deity figure characterized by alleviating sickness, is practically married to calabash symbolism. Go on: look up any image of the Eight Immortals. Whichever dude is involved with a gourd is almost guaranteed to be Li Tieguai.

For another in-manhua example, you can see a hulu in Year of the Horse. One of the Eight Golden Ones, second one down from the top, can be seen pouring a drink from a gourd into a cup.

— Gen above, gen below: 

Gen (艮, gèn) is the mountain trigram (☶). Two gen trigrams stacked on top of each other make a pure gen hexagram (䷳). We last saw this technique in Year of the Rat:

上艮下艮八纯卦 Eight Pure Hexagrams: Mount  定 Bind —Year of the Rat

Despite differences in translation, the phrasing in Pawn (Chapter 5) is identical save for a single omission of 八纯卦 (Eight Pure Hexagrams):

上艮下艮 Gen above, gen below 定 Bind —Chapter 5, “Pawn”

I would like to someday make a proper guide to Tiantong’s Bagua techniques, explaining the theory as I tenuously understand it, as well as my dubious translation choices. Someday. Someday!

— One stone, two birds: 

From 一石二鸟 (yī shí èr niǎo). Basically a word-for-word translation. Note that this is different from the idiom mentioned in Year of the Ram (一箭双雕 / one arrow, two eagles), but in terms of basic meaning they are largely interchangeable here: accomplishing two tasks with one action.

— Tiantong’s speech: 

Whereas most characters will use 我 (wǒ), Tiantong uses 吾 (wú) as a personal pronoun (“I”, “me”, “my/mine”). This gives his speech an archaic flavor, since 吾 is a somewhat dated term. In English, I try to convey a similar feeling via the “my/mine” pattern for personal possessive determiners. Older forms of English modify "my” to “mine” when preceding a vowel sound: mine eyes, my nose, mine ears, my mouth. People nowadays do not typically follow the “my/mine” pattern unless they are trying to sound fancy and antiquated.

— Tiantong’s desk: 

This image panel (accompanying text: Did it finally... appear?) includes a lot of neat foreshadowing elements. I will not get into the specifics because spoilers, but it is a fun image to revisit after getting further into the story.