Courtesan From Hell, From The Series Sketches By Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1882)

Courtesan from Hell, from the series Sketches by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1882)

From now on I’ll be putting my name and number on a adhesive and sticking it inside my clothes

You know how on that one night, Xie Lian and San Lang got to talking and San Lang was like what if the real me is ugly tho, and Xie Lian was like no no that won’t matter to me because we friends now (earnest face).

And then San Lang was chuckling to himself and Xie Lian was feeling hurt and upset, which brings us to this exchange from the original work, which I ADORE so much:

你好没诚意。

我发誓，上天入地你再找不到一个比我更有诚意的。

While a word-for-word translation is often unhelpful, I think in this case it’s actually more fun to read this exchange a bit more literally:

you (are acting like) you so don’t have ______

I promise, search all heaven and earth and you won’t find one that has more ______ than I do.

What is this thing that Xie Lian accused San Lang of not having? It’s "诚意" (chéng yì), honest/sincere/earnest intentions.

Xie Lian was like ‘I was being super sincere and saying moving shit and I thought you were moved by it but it turns out you were laughing?? 😤 !!’ (He’s too cute for getting so upset when he’s all zen with everyone else. He already cares about San Lang. In the original work he also covered the both of them with Ruoye 🥹 despite being upset)

And San Lang was like na-ah trust me I have it 😏 I have sooo much of it you have no idea, Dianxia... 🥺 (erm..)

Now “having诚意 “ is commonly translated as "sincere" and therefore not having it “insincere” and that’s how the dub and the book handled it iirc. But the word takes on a deeper meaning when San Lang used it in his response. It’s less about sincerity (honesty, truthfulness), but “having earnest intentions” (conviction, determination, and devotion). He’s almost saying that “I promise, search all heaven and hell and you will not find one as devoted (to you) as I am.” “Pious” even, in his case.

The phrase "上天入地" (shàng tiān rù dì) in San Lang’s response, due to the setting of TGCF, could also be interpreted literally as "to go up to heaven or go down to the underworld," covering everything between the heavenly and the ghost realms. In MXTX’s synopsis for TGCF, she described Hua Cheng as a “C天R地小妖精” (“little demon seductress that beeps heaven and hell” i guess? too good)

So many of Hua Cheng’s lines are so well-crafted, seemingly lighthearted and playful, but the underlying layer of depth and significance can do so much damage to my kokoro.

It’s also interesting that San Lang’s response was directly communicated to Xie Lian in the original work, but got turned into his inner monologue in the anime adaptation.

The only sun Hua Cheng doesn’t hate when it burns his heart…

sunshine

This is the first HuaLian fic that I post on AO3!! 🥰

Summary:

(Spoilers for the Revised Chinese Version!)

In the original and revised version of the Novel, Hua Cheng ends up losing his memories while they are in Bai Jing's mind. This fanfic is my version of some things that could have happened and a little of Hua Cheng's p.o.v about the events.

Trying out new sketching styles… weekend come fast, got some full pieces to finish 🙏