CHARACTERS
MAIN CHARACTERS
XUE XIAN 薛闲 (“IDLE”): A dragon that was left partially paralyzed after being maimed.
XUANMIN 玄悯 (“PROFOUND COMPASSION”): A wandering monk with a mysterious past.
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SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
NINGYANG COUNTY
JIANG SHINING 江世宁: A scholarly ghost who perished three years ago in a fire.
LIU XUE 刘诩: The scribe of Ningyang County, also called Scribe Liu.
LIU CHONG 刘冲: Liu Xue’s mentally disabled eldest son.
LIU JIN 刘进: Liu Xue’s second son.
OLD LADY LIU 刘老太太: Liu Xue’s deceased mother.
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WOLONG COUNTY
LU NIANQI 陆廿七: A young boy looking for his older brother.
LU SHIJIU 陆十九: A blind fortune teller and Lu Nianqi’s missing older brother.
LU YUAN 陆垣: The Lu siblings’ deceased father.
OLD MAN LIU 刘老头: The old boatman who vanished with Lu Shijiu.
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NAME GUIDE
NAMES, HONORIFICS, AND TITLES
Diminutives, Nicknames, and Name Tags
A-: Friendly diminutive. Always a prefix. Usually for monosyllabic names, or one syllable out of a disyllabic name.
DA-: A prefix meaning “big” or “elder,” which can be added before titles for elders, like “dage” or “dajie,” or before a name.
XIAO-: A prefix meaning “little” or “younger,” which can be added before names or titles for juniors like “xiaodi.” Often used in an affectionate and familiar context.
Courtesy Addresses
GONGZI: A respectful address for young men, originally only for those from affluent households. Though appropriate in all formal occasions, it’s often preferred when the addressee outranks the speaker.
SHIFU: A respectful address usually meant for one’s master, but can be used for Buddhist monks as well.
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PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Mandarin Chinese is the official state language of mainland China, and pinyin is the official system of romanization in which it is written. As Mandarin is a tonal language, pinyin uses diacritical marks (e.g., ā, á, ǎ, à) to indicate these tonal inflections. Most words use one of four tones, though some are a neutral tone. Furthermore, regional variance can change the way native Chinese speakers pronounce the same word. For those reasons and more, please consider the guide below a simplified introduction to pronunciation of select character names from Copper Coins.
More resources are available at sevenseasdanmei.com
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NOTE ON SPELLING
Romanized Mandarin Chinese words with identical spelling in pinyin—and even pronunciation—may well have different meanings. These words are more easily differentiated in written Chinese, which uses logographic characters.
Xuē Xián
X as in shy, uē as in yay
X as in shy, ián as in yawn
Xuánmĭn
Xu as in shoot, án as in Canadian
Mĭn as in mean
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GENERAL CONSONANTS
Some Mandarin Chinese consonants sound very similar, such as z/c/s and zh/ch/sh. Audio samples will provide the best opportunity to learn the difference between them.
X: somewhere between the sh in sheep and s in silk
Q: a very aspirated ch as in charm
C: ts as in pants
Z: z as in zoom
S: s as in silk
CH: ch as in charm
ZH: dg as in dodge
SH: sh as in shave
G: hard g as in graphic
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GENERAL VOWELS
The pronunciation of a vowel may depend on its preceding consonant. For example, the “i” in “shi” is distinct from the “i” in “di.” Vowel pronunciation may also change depending on where the vowel appears in a word, for example the “i” in “shi” versus the “i” in “ting.” Finally, compound vowels are often—though not always—pronounced as conjoined but separate vowels. You’ll find a few of the trickier compounds below.
IU: as in ewe
IE: ye as in yes
UO: war as in warm
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GLOSSARY
DHARMA NAME: A new name given to monks during a Buddhist initiation ritual. It serves as a symbol of severing any ties to the physical world.
DIVINATION: Chinese fortune-telling covers a wide variety of techniques and methods. Generally, diviners use their understanding of qi, the five elements, yin and yang, and astronomy to calculate and make observations.
The art of geomancy or feng shui involves the diviner calculating and manipulating the qi flowing through the area through different layouts and orientations. The balanced and harmonious flow of energy within a location is believed to impart powerful benefits.
With physiognomy and palmistry, a diviner reads a person’s fate and state of health through their facial features, complexion, body, palms, or bones.
EXORCISM: Both Daoist priests and Buddhist monks could be tasked to remove spirits from a location, but their methodologies differ. In contrast to Western and Daoist exorcism techniques, which focus on forcefully or even violently expelling the spirit, Buddhist monks sought to help the spirit move peacefully to the afterlife, known as “transcendence.” Even now, Chinese funerals will hire the services of monks, who perform rituals to guide the deceased’s spirit onward.
QIMEN DUNJIA: An ancient form of Chinese divination, rooted in Daoism and calculated over a 3×3 cosmic board of squares that correspond to the nine palaces. The Eight Gates—Initiation, Life, Death, Obstruction, Repose, Scenery, Injury, and Fright—move around the eight outer squares depending on the divination results.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE: Traditional medical practices in China are commonly based around the idea that qi, or vital energy, circulates in the body through channels called meridians, similar to how blood flows through the circulatory system. Acupuncture points, or acupoints, are special nodes, most of which lie along the meridians. Stimulating them by massage, acupuncture, or other methods is believed to affect the flow of qi and can be used for healing or incapacitation.
Another central concept in traditional Chinese medicine is that disease arises from an imbalance of elements in the body caused by disharmony in internal functions. For example, an excess of internal heat can cause symptoms such as fever, thirst, insomnia, and redness of the face. Excess internal heat can be treated with the consumption of foods with cooling properties, such as lotus tea.
YIN ENERGY AND YANG ENERGY: Yin and yang is a concept in Chinese philosophy that describes the complementary interdependence of opposite and contrary forces. It can be applied to all forms of change and difference. Yang represents the sun, masculinity, and the living, while yin represents the shadows, femininity, and the dead, including spirits and ghosts. In fiction, imbalances between yin and yang energy may do serious harm to the body or act as the driving force for malevolent spirits seeking to replenish whichever energy they lack.