surreality51:

foxghost:

greenjudy:

razziecat:

allsortsoflicorice:

razziecat:

greenjudy:

surreality51:

I know other writers have already beat this poor horse to death*, but it still really jars me when I see just “Zhao” or “Shen” used to refer to the main characters in Guardian. I’ve been thinking about why that is, and I had a thought:

Keep reading

A shout-out to the kind-hearted readers and writers laying this kind of stuff out for those of us unfamiliar with Chinese naming conventions; you may have saved a WIP today.

Thank you for this. I feel that even when writing in English, we should use the full name as the Chinese do, just as basic respect for their culture. It’s not that hard to get used to once you realize that’s the way the Chinese people do it.

I hope I don’t get a lot of hate for this, but I’ve always liked it when the names were translated. I might be wrong, but I always understood that the names had meanings, and when a Chinese-speaking person heard the name – when Zhao Yun Lan hears the name Shen Wei – it has a meaning for them, even a symbolism, a meaning Zhao Yun Lan can riff on. English speakers lose that aspect of the names when they’re not translated. The names become mere sounds. 

Fair enough. Heck, all names once had meanings. We’ve lost that in Western culture, it seems, choosing names more for the way they sound than for what they mean. I love knowing what a name means.

I always appreciate the stories that work in the details about name meanings one way or another. But I don’t mind the untranslated names. It’s such an interplay…I’m thinking of the way ZYL changes Shen Wei’s name; I feel like you need sound and meaning both present for that to work.

Do explain names! Here’s another bit of information: chinese introductions also introduce meanings, to make clear which characters are used, because there are so many other characters that sound the same. We come up with lines for them, usually based on a 成語, and/or famous ancient people, and usually complimentary。 For example, if ZYL wasn’t raised in a barn *coughs*, he would have introduced himself as：
趙雲瀾， 趙雲， 像那個名將， 力挽狂瀾的瀾。
Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yun, like the general, and “lan” from the words for “turning the tide.”
Bonus: if Zhu Hong is here, she would have added, 不是瀾倒波隨的瀾嗎？(Don’t you mean “lan” from the words for “going with the flow”?) /bc he’s often described as “choosing the path of least resistance.

Oooooh, I like ZYL’s introduction and Zhu Hong’s side commentary. Headcanon accepted!