"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 154 - 161

[x_los]

Weeks 38 and 39 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 154 - 161 (inclusive). This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on January 30th.

I'll be doing a weekly post with thoughts on this community. Feel free to join in/discuss. If you'd like to join the Discord, contact superborb for an invite.

Chinese text: https://sj.uukanshu.com/book.aspx?id=17338
English translation: https://merelhyn.tumblr.com/post/641747965727358976/the-langya-list-epubpdf

SPOILER POLICY: I personally don't give a fuck or even like to give unearned credence to the concept, so since I'm writing the post, anything's fair game.

(If anyone is interested in dankodes running further poetry content during or after NiF, please let me know what you'd be keen to discuss. I'm happy to work with you on that. I'll probably ask this again once NiF draws to a close.)

 

Comments

Chapter 154

[x_los]

Oh, so *this* is why they wanted Xia Dong to come out, so that she could discuss the situation with her spouse, see the proof of his survival and then give her consent (with her husband) to the medical treatment Lin Chen has proposed. That makes sense.

Chapter 155

[x_los]

- Can a complexion be black or green?
- Xia Dong's acceptance of her husband's 'monstrous' body doesn't have an iota of monster-fucking vibes about it. It reads like more of NiF's relentless 'only non-sexual love is real' schtick.
- Well General Meng, it was kind of foolish to think that Changsu was hiding stuff from Jingyan but not you. Also, Meng Zhi's reaction serves as a counterweight to fandom's blithe assurance that Changsu was wrong to hide his identity. Even Meng Zhi now agrees that he shouldn’t tell Jingyan.
- I know that Jingyan’s marriage is political, but the way the bride herself hardly enters into this discussion of the marriage feels like further adventures in NiF's ace agenda. It's especially odd that who she is doesn't matter at all in a book where the various personalities of the inner palace have driven significant plot developments.
- ‘He turned around and left’ But then he’s still in the room? Awkwardly translated, maybe.

Re: Chapter 155

[superborb]

It does also feed into the feeling that whatever comes after the Chiyan case overturning / Jingyan becoming emperor doesn't really matter. Jingyan is an upright emperor / his key ministers are upright and that's going to be enough.

Chapter 156

[x_los]

Oh, so that's what’s up with Lin Shu's dad's assumed name! That makes sense.

Chapter 157

[x_los]

- HALF AN HOUR? Are they sure?
- The steps are jade? Like the *whole entire steps*? Fuck me, that's a lot of jade.
- I feel like 'mother consort' and 'Meng qing' as translation choices aren’t giving me much as a reader. 'Your highness', or simply 'Meng' rather than 'General Meng', might have made these points a little more clearly.
- This is by far the shippiest either Jingyan or the book as a whole have ever yet been.

Re: Chapter 157

[superborb]

No, it's half of fifteen minutes, lmao the translators really cannot keep time units straight.

I assume the jade is descriptive and not... literal jade.

Chapter 158

[x_los]

Wait, whatever happened with Banruo? She dropped out of the narrative after Lin Chen mentioned capturing her. If they executed her, they might say.

Chapter 159

[x_los]

Oh, this is a pretty well-executed lie. Well done, team.

Chapter 160

[x_los]

- 'whether or not we can evidence of’ Something’s gone wrong, there. Find evidence?
- I’m befuddled by the strict nature of the national mourning. Again, who invokes one of these Super Mourning periods? It can't be any member of the imperial family, or they'd never have time to reproduce. Even her great grandson (who may only have a nominal relationship to the Dowager Empress, rather than a blood tie) cannot consummate a new marriage for three years after the Dowager Empress's death. Or does that mean that even a couple in an established union with that degree of blood relationship to the deceased must also give up sex for the duration?

Re: Chapter 160

[superborb]

It's only for emperors, empresses, and former ones, so I suppose it's not going to happen that often?

At least in some dynasties, you're not supposed to have babies during that time. However, the actual length of the mourning period and who is supposed to hold the strictest of the mourning changed through history.

Chapter 161

[x_los]

Is Xuanji being called a Prince despite being a woman for any particular reason? The next page uses Princess again, so I'm inclined to attribute the discrepancy to uneven editing rather than a textual gendered or role-based marker.

We're nearly done with the book now, and sadly I don’t feel like the novel is as successful as the show. I’m sure the meh translation is running interference, but the key issue seems to be that the novel just isn’t terribly invested in the emotional tensions/payoffs that make the show work for me. The issue might be that the show allows for a redrafting of the novel, another stage of editing. The medium change absolutely affords new resonance and perspective, but there again, the novel should have its own affordances. The novel's habit of limiting readers' access to information characters possess and holding you at a distance from their decision-making processes results in a curtailed, cool emotional register. Also, I think my coming to the show first has done the novel no favours. The plot developments have been deprived of novelty, and the ensemble is, comparatively, a bit lifeless on the page (again, that’s in part due to the translation). The show is about characters, and the novel isn't, really.

(Also the ‘no sex please, we’re Confucian’ vibe is way more palpable in the book. In the show, it was kind of deniable. In the book, anyone who ever wanted to fuck is a fool at best, and very likely an out-and-out reprobate. A whole series of Consequences befalls he who would fuck.)

Re: Chapter 161

[superborb]

Uneven editing, I think.