Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Names, Places, Titles and Weapons

One of the daunting challenges in reading San Guo Yan Yi is that there are so many names, places, titles and weapons. I'm giving Indy some head start by standardizing on some of the names. Please help me to correct any mistakes or misunderstandings on my part.
  • 刘备 Liu Bei (family name + given name)
  • 曹操 Cao Cao
  • 幽州 YouZhou (name+territory. Han dynasty had 13 Zhou 州)
  • 巨鹿郡 JuLuJun (each Zhou had a few Jun 郡)
  • 涿县 ZhuoXian (each Jun had a few Xian 县)
  • 汜水关 SiShui Pass
  • 汉献帝 Emperor Xian of Han
  • 宦官 Eunuchs (they had no official titles, but when an Emperor placed his trust in them, they started to mess around with other official "royal officials".)
  • 皇亲(国戚,国舅...) Royal Relatives or Royal Pain (they may or may not have official titles, but when an Emperor placed his trust in them, they started to mess around with other official "royal officials".)
  • 大将军 Commander-in-Chief
  • 大都督 Commander-in-Chief
  • 大将(将军)General
  • 相国 Prime Minister
  • 丞相 Prime Minister
  • 司徒 Deputy Prime Minister
  • 太守 Governor (of a Zhou)
  • 刺史 Inspector (generally to check and report back to the royal court on the governor of a Zhou. Each Zhou had one Inspector, who grew more powerful in Eastern Han than the governor of Zhou. BTW, variations of such "check and balance" mechanism is still in place in present day of China.)
  • 督邮 Superintendent (generally to check and report back to the governor of a Zhou on governors of Xian. Each Superintendent was snooping around on a few Xian.)
  • 县尉 Police Chief (of a Xian)
  • 参军 Chief of Staff
  • 青龙偃月刀 Long Green-dragon-halting-Moon Broadsword
  • 丈八蛇矛 Long Serpent Spear
  • 方天画戟 Long Heavenly Double Lance-Ax
  • (长)枪 Long Spear
  • 大刀 Big Long Broadsword (Big Head Chopper) :-)

1 comment:

Eddie Cheng said...

刀 is usually translated as broadsword, while sword is 剑