HeadInTheClouds:

Heh! I forgot the smiley face to mark my comment as sarcasm  :-)

Oh got it, lol. 

I think windiaaa posted a while ago an article about the meaning behind the fish playing with lotus that XY made for XL, does anyone has it? 

 blabla100:

That's what I thought too, but 32 days back is exactly a full moon night. 32 days is 2 days pass XY and Jing s wedding night, take 30 days out of it and it fits a full moon. 

I'm not sure I understand. I thought XY was telling her story about Jing one night after the full moon/wedding night, not two nights after. Can you point me to the text that indicates she's telling her story 2 nights after?

 solarlunareclipse:

I'm not sure I understand. I thought XY was telling her story about Jing one night after the full moon/wedding night, not two nights after. Can you point me to the text that indicates she's telling her story 2 nights after?

I am not sure I understand much anymore either, lol.  So she said her vows to the moon the night she was supposed to get married to Jing. The full moon night. 30 nights since she last saw Jing. The same night she got the message to go to the east sea, where she arrived the second day. She met XL and spent the night togheter, so that adds up to 31 nights. The day after they got on the boat, where she sang her song while looking at the moon and it was then when she said about how she haven't seen Jing for 32 days. The timeline adds up, unless I am missing something. 

 solarlunareclipse:

I'm not sure I understand. I thought XY was telling her story about Jing one night after the full moon/wedding night, not two nights after. Can you point me to the text that indicates she's telling her story 2 nights after?

The planned wedding night was full moon and XY vowed to the moon to be Jing wife. After that she got the message and she and Miao Pu went to the sea where she met the albatross demon during the day. Thus that day was 1 day after fullmoon night.

Then she was buried in the crystal coffin which was driven to the vortex at night. XL saved her and they landed to an island where he took her blood and then cooked for her. It was 1 night after fullmoon. 

After that they searched for the boat with Miao Fu, Left Ear and the albatross demon and encountered it during the day. Thus it was the 2nd day after full moon. At night XL and XY had the discussion and he said sth like she was idiot and wanted to undo the poison lovers'bug between them. And XY distracted the topic by her story about Jing and looking at moon and sang the song which XL heard on the first time they met. So, the night she sang to the moon in front of XL was 2 nights after the fullmoon. 

Note: In Vietnam, we also use lunar calendar which almost identical with Chinese lunar calendar. There are some 29-day-months and some 30-day-months. Traditionally, the fullmoon day is the 15th day of the month regardless how many days of the month. On 15th day of the month, there is religious custom to pray for the the anchestor. We don't do it on 16th day. In term of physical appearance of the moon, the roundness of moon in the evening of 15th day or 16th day  are almost identical. Sometimes the moon looks rounder on 16th day but definition of fullmoon day is always 15th day.  Therefore, according to this calculation, XY vowed to the moon to marry Jing was evening/night of 15th day. XL saved her on 16th night and she sang on the boat on 17th night. The night when she last met Jing was 32 days ago which was also 15th day, fullmoon day as generally speaking of 30-day-month

blabla100  and H19279 

Thanks for the detailed explanations! I didn't realize that a whole night had passed since she first met XL and when she told her story. It makes sense now that the timing of her story is consistent with the moon cycle.

 H19279:
Note: In Vietnam, we also use lunar calendar which almost identical with Chinese lunar calendar. There are some 29-day-months and some 30-day-months. Traditionally, the fullmoon day is the 15th day of the month regardless how many days of the month. On 15th day of the month, there is religious costume to pray for the the anchestor. We don't do it on 16th day. In term of physical appearance of the moon, the roundness of moon in the enening of 15th day or 16th day  are almost identical. Sometimes the moon looks rounder on 16th day but definition of fullmoon day is always 15th day.

This is very interesting. I'm always learning something new on this forum.

@H19279

"sang the song which XL heard on the first time they met."

 The song she sang, the crystal ball she sent, so similar to the pursue of the merpeople. Too bad that the one who responding to her song was the fisherman and not the merman. 

 blabla100:

@H19279

"sang the song which XL heard on the first time they met."

 The song she sang, the crystal ball she sent, so similar to the pursue of the merpeople. Too bad that the one who responding to her song was the fisherman and not the merman. 

It's quite interesting that it's the fisherman who responded...hehe...becuase they "catch" thier fishes.

Dear all,

I was very busy yesterday with moving to new house, and just within 10 hours I saw notification of 24 then 30 unread posts. Wow, so crowded!

@liddi, @solarlunareclipse & @Blabla100

With regard to the night when XY looked at the moon after the news of XL's death was confirmed I am with @solarlunareclipse. Base on the calculation that @Windiaaa did carefully, their wedding was at the end of the month. A few days later, XY heard the news when new month came and there was new moon but it should be crescent shape. In the past I also tracked the novel for the date of each event when I read @Windiaaa'  s post about the date of their wedding. And only that day I realized that XY had been staying inside the blood spelled Shell for 1 month in the water of Jade Mountain. (EDIT: I managed to find my post at that time. Here is the link: https://br.mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2855377&page=325#p2855377 )

I also checked the vietnamese translation, it said it was a bright moonlight night. It did not say fullmoon when she got out the palace and looked at the moon. In my opinion, if the word may have various meaning or interpretation, we should look at other evidence to consult the definite meaning. If I remember correctly, XY looked at a bright moon and wonder when XL died if the moon also shone on him. It is not necessary to be a special full moon. Moreover, their special date was on a full moon, going from Gourd lake  to the sea and when XY saw him the last time, she shoot him and said she didn't want to see him anymore was also a full-moon on Gourd lake. Love started and ended at the same spot.

I am NOT proficient in Mandarin and use dictionary to check the meaning of words. According to Hanbook dictionary, the word  轮 means wheel,  disc, ring etc and they also give example of fullmoon = 月 轮 (so the word [yue] stands in front of the word [lu'n]). 

I remembered that around the time of Windiaa about the wedding night, I wrote a short post about the moon when XL saved XY in jade mountain. It was also a full moon (that was why I realized that it was 1 month after her suicide). When XY committed suicide, Tong Hua used the word 圆  to indicate that it was a full moon night. XL came to Jade mountain also on a full moon TH used the word "满月". Both words mean full moon and if we combine the adjective to make 圆 满 which means satisfactory. And I remember TJC used this word in his interview about the ending of XL. The moment when he finished the process of removing the lovers'bug, cutting the last connection between him and XY, he had already saved and woken Jing. His mission with XY was completed and he could accomplish his duty with the remanant army without worrying of XY's future.

According to Hanbook dictionary 

  • "圆满" expresses perfection and thoroughness, which means that the development of things fully meets people's expectations, and is mostly used in meetings, events, etc.


EDIT:

After re-reading my previous post about the moon when XL saved XY in jade mountain, I'd like to add some thought about the debate of "一轮". In chapter 48, TH used the phrase "一轮满月"

一轮满月,悬挂在黛色的天空,清辉静静洒下,瑶池上水波荡漾,银光点点,相柳犹如一条鱼儿无声无息的没入瑶池,波光乍开,人影已逝,只几圈涟漪缓缓荡开。(chapter 48, edition 2013)

The meaning of 一轮 here is to indicate another time/round of full moon. And base on the calculation, the night XY heard XL's death was on the beginning days of the month, thus it also means another round of the moon cycle 

 


@H19279

Very interesting, thanks for the infos. Do you happen to know when and how many times did TH used "full moon" that clearly illustrates a full moon? 

 H19279:
I am proficient in Mandarin and use dictionary to check the meaning of words. According to Hanbook dictionary, the word  轮 means wheel,  disc, ring etc and they also give example of fullmoon = 月 轮 (so the word [yue] stands in front of the word [lu'n]). 

I honestly don't want to rehash this as it had been beaten to death yesterday, and discussions in the middle of the night are rarely conducive to any lucid discourse. Nonetheless, I will say this. 

I may be wrong, but my impression was that @solarlunareclipse's contention it was not a full moon was because she was sure Xiao Yao married on the day of a waxing crescent moon. Since she initially thought Xiao Yao learnt of Xiang Liu's death the day after the wedding, she cannot accept that Xiao Yao saw a full moon that night, because it would mean Xiao Yao got married on a full moon day. Nonetheless, as pointed out, no one is denying that Xiao Yao married on a waxing crescent moon day. The point is Xiao Yao only learnt of Xiang Liu's passing several days after her wedding, after Sir Bi and Lie Yang finally left for Jade Mountain. So there was no way whatever moon she saw was similar to the one on the day she got married. 

一轮 is used to describe something that is round.

Contrast this to the scene when Xiao Yao was singing to Jing at the sea. The novel specifically mentions that it was already past the full moon day, but if one did not look closely, the moon still seemed to be round even though it was no longer so. There is no use of 一轮 to describe the moon in that scene.

The term 一轮 is only used 5 times in the novel. If we were to be pedantic since there is contention on what it actually means, it can be translated as "round" unless specifically mentioned:

1. When Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu looked at the moon hand in hand and he told her life was precious as long as such sights existed:

没有多久,一轮明月,缓缓从海面升起,清辉倾泻而下,小六被天地瑰丽震撼,心上的硬壳都柔软了。
Not long after that, 
a bright round moon slowly rose from the surface of the ocean, clear, bright moonlight shining down. Stunned by the breathtaking sight, the hard shell around Xiao Liu’s heart softened.
-- Vol 1 Ch4


2. After finding out about the lovers bug in Bai Li, and choosing to stay one extra night on the ship:

微风习习,一轮明亮的圆月悬挂在天上,海面波光粼粼,十分静谧美丽。
There was a gentle breeze. 
A bright full moon hung in the sky, while the waves on the surface of the ocean shimmered, very tranquil and beautiful.
-- Vol 3 Ch4  (Chapter 37)


3. When Xiang Liu went to save her and wake her up at Jade Mountain:

一轮满月,悬挂在黛色的天空,清辉静静洒下,瑶池上水波荡漾,银光点点。相柳犹如一条鱼儿般无声无息地没入瑶池,波光乍开,人影已逝,只几圈涟漪缓缓荡开。
A full moon hung in the dark sky, casting down a clear light. The water on Jade Lake rippled, dotted with silver lights. Xiang Liu disappeared silently into Jade Lake like a fish. As the ripples spread, his figure had vanished, leaving only a few ripples slowly moving outwards.
-- Vol 3 Ch15  (Chapter 48)


4. Xiao Yao staring at the reflection of the moon the night before she was to be the new Royal Mother:

小夭一身素净的白衣,头发松松绾起,双脚悬空,坐在水榭的栏杆上,呆呆望着碧波中倒映的一轮月影
Xiao Yao was dressed in pure white, her hair loosely tied up, her feet dangling as she sat on the railing of the waterside pavilion, staring blankly at 
the reflection of the round moon on the blue-green waves.
-- Vol 3 Ch16  (Chapter 49)


5. Staring at the moon the night she found out about Xiang Liu's death:

宫墙外,一轮皓月,冷冷清清。
Outside the palace walls, 
a bright round moon hung in the sky, cold and desolate.
-- Vol 3 Ch18  (Chapter 51)


Nonetheless, do note the saying "一轮皓月 玉宇无尘" is a couplet commonly used during Mid-Autumn festival (the time of the full moon), to describe a starless clear sky with only the bright moon hanging in the sky.

As such, I still believe that it was very likely a full moon night when she reminisced about Xiang Liu after his death.

@liddi

I agree with you on the measure word being explicit about the full moon being round. Measuring words are not just used as a way to measure things; they are also used as descriptions of the shape and size of the object following them.

Hmong uses measure words exactly the same way Mandarin uses measure words. To say a fully round moon, we say 'lub hli,' with 'lub' being the measure word to describe anything that is a 3D object, particularly those with curvatures in nature.

There is a cultural understanding that the word 'lub' used with 'hli' automatically denotes a full moon unless there is an adjective after it. So, to describe a crescent moon, you would have to say 'ib lub hli rab liag,' meaning 'a moon like a scythe'.

 H19279:
EDIT:
After re-reading my previous post about the moon when XL saved XY in jade mountain, I'd like to add some thought about the debate of "一轮". In chapter 48, TH used the phrase "一轮满月"

一轮满月,悬挂在黛色的天空,清辉静静洒下,瑶池上水波荡漾,银光点点,相柳犹如一条鱼儿无声无息的没入瑶池,波光乍开,人影已逝,只几圈涟漪缓缓荡开。(chapter 48, edition 2013)

The meaning of 一轮 here is to indicate another time/round of full moon. And base on the calculation, the night XY heard XL's death was on the beginning days of the month, thus it also means another round of the moon cycle 

While 一轮 can refer to a cycle / round of occurrence, it is used as a descriptor for the moon that is round. As such, a cycle is not the meaning of the text "一轮满月“ within the context of the excerpt. Here, 一轮满月 literally means a (round) full moon.  

 plor20:
I agree with you on the measure word being explicit about the full moon being round. Measuring words are not just used as a way to measure things; they are also used as descriptions of the shape and size of the object following them.

Thank you very much for explaining what I tried to but failed to elaborate properly.

Yes I agree. Chinese quantifier terms 量词 also serve to describe the object in terms of its physical appearance, not just its quantity. Sometimes, the description associated with the quantifier is intuitively evident in Chinese, that I take for granted it is obvious. For the contended text on hand, in the past when I translated the texts, I automatically described it as "the bright moon" as opposed to "the bright round moon", since the descriptor seemed obvious and redundant i.e. "moon = round". However, it appears that I need to keep in mind that such distinctions may be really necessary in translations after all.

It is a challenge especially when translating between two languages which are rather dissimilar structurally. I remember watching sageuks and preferring  Chinese subtitles as opposed to English ones, because so many of the nuances are lost in its English translation, while historical Korean terms are very similar to its Chinese counterpart.

What term did TH use when she described the healing that went on every month during the 37 years? 

I personally find this debate quite interesting, but I am mostly disappointed that Jing and XY had a full moon night after all. 

 blabla100:
Do you happen to know when and how many times did TH used "full moon" that clearly illustrates a full moon? 

If we use the strict definition of "full moon", then we can only be certain of a full moon when the words "满月" (mǎn yuè) are used, since "满" (mǎn) means full. The word "圆“ (yuán) means round, so "圆月" (yuán yuè) means the moon appears round, but does not necessarily confirm a true full moon. I've already laid out my arguments that "一轮" (yī lún) is a quantifier and cannot be reliably used to infer the shape of the moon. Even if we interpret "轮" (lún) to carry a connotation of round, a round moon does not necessarily mean a true full moon.

In the text, there are only five chapters with passages that mention the full moon (满月 or 月满).

1) The night of Xiao Yao's introduction ceremony was a full moon night. This was when Xiang Liu colluded with A Nian to push Xiao Yao off a cliff into the ocean.

今夜是满月之夜,月色真的很好,银辉落在树梢,又洒在青石小路上。小夭踏着月色,一个人慢慢地走着,距离山脚已不远,海潮拍打礁石的声音隐隐传来。
Tonight is the night of the full moon. The moonlight is really beautiful, casting silver brilliance on the treetops and sprinkling on the bluestone path. Xiao Yao walks alone under the moonlight, taking slow steps. The foot of the mountain is not far away, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks can be faintly heard.


— Vol 1 Ch 13 (Chapter 13)

2) Xiang Liu had to feed Xiao Yao his soul blood every full moon night during their 37 years at sea.

相柳说道:“今夜是上弦月,像一把弓。每次满月时,我都要给你疗伤,不可能带你来海上,我也好多年没有看见过满月了。”
小夭心想,原来我没有估计错,他真的是每月给我疗伤一次。听说满月时,妖族的妖力最强,大概正因为如此,相柳才选择满月时给她疗伤。
Xiang Liu said, “Tonight is the waxing crescent moon, like a bow. Every full moon, I have to heal your injuries, so I can’t bring you to the surface of the sea. I haven't seen a full moon in many years."
Xiao Yao thought to herself, "So I didn't estimate it wrong; he really does heal me once a month. I heard that during the full moon, the demonic power of the demon clan is strongest. It's probably because of this that Xiang Liu chooses to heal me during the full moon.”


— Vol 2 Ch 5 (Chapter 22)

3) Right before Xiao Yao said her vows to the moon, she reminisced on why Jing chose the day of the full moon to get married.

望日是月满之日,璟选定这个日子成婚,应该想要他们的婚姻圆圆满满吧?可竟然是团圆月不照团圆人。
The "sun-gazing day" is the day of the full moon. Jing's choice to get married on this day, should be in hopes that their marriage would be perfect and fulfilling. However, it turned out that the reunion moon did not shine down on reunited people.


— Vol 3 Ch 9 (Chapter 42)

4) Xiao Yao and Jing’s wedding was planned for a full moon night. If Xiao Yao’s story about the last time she saw Jing before he disappeared is true, then she saw Jing on a full moon night.

太阳渐渐落下,月儿从海面升起,刚过满月之日不久,不仔细看,月亮依旧是圆的。
The sun gradually sets, and the moon rises from the sea surface. It's just past the full moon, so if you don't look closely, the moon still appears round.

小夭扑哧笑了出来,凝视着月亮,说道:“璟选了满月之日成婚,我本来想问他为什么,但有些不好意思,想着成婚后有的是时间,就没有问。我们最后一次见面,是在三十二天前,孟夏之月的满月日。他下午来小月顶和我辞行,说是晚饭前走,可用过晚饭后依旧没走,一直到月亮攀上了山顶,我们依旧在山涧踏着月色散步。那一晚的月亮很美,我拉着他月下踏歌,他不会,我边唱歌边笑他笨拙。后来,他骑白鹤离去前,指着月亮,对我说‘下个满月之日后,不管月亮阴晴圆缺、人世悲欢离合,我和你长相守、不分离。’”
Xiao Yao burst out laughing, and said as she stared at the moon, "Jing chose to marry on the day of a full moon. I initially wanted to ask him the reason, but was little embarrassed to do so. I thought we would have plenty of time after the wedding, so I did not ask. The last time we saw each other was thirty-two days ago, on the day of a full moon during the first month of summer. He came to Xiao Yue Summit in the afternoon to bid me farewell, and said he would leave after dinner, but he still had not left even then. We strolled under the moonlight along the mountain stream as always until the moon had risen high over the peak of the mountain. The moon was very beautiful that night. I dragged him along to sing and dance under the moonlight but he did not know how to, so I sang while laughing at his clumsiness. Later, before he left on the white crane, he pointed to the moon and said to me, 'After the next full moon, regardless of the waxing or waning of the moon, the joys and sorrows, partings and gatherings in the world, you and I will be together forever, never to part.' "

银色的月光哀伤地洒落,波光粼粼的大海温柔地一起一伏,小夭的手伸向月亮,微笑着说:“没有见到他的尸体,他在我的记忆里,永远都是倚着白鹤笑看着我,指着月亮对我说‘下个满月之日后,不管月亮阴晴圆缺、人世悲欢离合,我和你长相守、不分离’。我大概真的很愚蠢、很软弱,我没有办法相信他死了,总觉得也许下个满月之日,他就会回来。”
The silver moonlight sorrowfully falls, and the shimmering sea gently rises and falls. Xiao Yao extends her hand towards the moon and smiles, saying, "Without seeing his body, he remains in my memories, forever leaning against the white crane, smiling at me, pointing to the moon, and saying, 'After the next full moon, regardless of the moon's phases or the joys and sorrows of the world, we will stay together and never part.' Perhaps I am truly foolish and weak; I can't believe he's dead. I always feel that maybe at the next full moon, he will come back."


— Vol 3 Ch 10 (Chapter 43)

5) When Xiang Liu went to heal Xiao Yao on Jade Mountain, it was a full moon night.

一轮满月,悬挂在黛色的天空,清辉静静洒下,瑶池上水波荡漾,银光点点。相柳犹如一条鱼儿般无声无息地没入瑶池,波光乍开,人影已逝,只几圈涟漪缓缓荡开。
A full moon hangs in the indigo sky, casting a quiet and clear radiance. The water on the Yao Pool ripples gently, with scattered silver lights. Xiang Liu, like a fish, silently submerges into the Yao Pool, creating ripples as his figure fades away, leaving only a few slowly dissipating circles of ripples.

— Vol 3 Ch 15 (Chapter 48)